By Zephyria Ryu Jeong, who woke up late for the first time in a while on a Sunday, washed the rag as soon as he made his bed and swept and mopped the floor. He couldn’t even think about cleaning on weekdays, so he felt relieved only when he mopped the floor on his days off.
After washing the rag cleanly until the tips of his fingers turned red, and wringing it out well, he spread it out in the sunny yard. Then, Ryu Jeong took a quick shower and left the house. All he had to eat at home was a little rice and a few packs of ramen he had received from the community center, so he was planning to buy some food to keep.
On the way, he stopped by Old Lady Jeong’s house and received a few crumpled bills. A block of tofu and a little bit of bean sprouts. He repeated the few items over and over in his head so as not to forget them. Leaving behind Old Lady Jeong’s kind nagging, telling him to walk slowly so he wouldn’t fall, as if she still thought he was a twelve-year-old boy, Ryu Jeong stepped out of Wolhyeon-dong.
After stopping by a side dish shop at the market and buying a few dried side dishes, Ryu Jeong headed home on foot as he had come. On the way, he stopped by another franchise convenience store and bought One Plus One kimbap and lunch boxes. He could have bought them at the convenience store where he worked, but he didn’t feel like it because he didn’t usually hear good things there. Using a garbage bag as a shopping basket instead of a plastic bag, he carried the quite heavy bag and climbed the hill. In the distance, an approaching figure looked familiar for some reason.
“…….”
The slouching gait, dragging slippers on bare feet without socks, belonged to only one person in Wolhyeon-dong as far as he knew. Ryu Jeong, recognizing who it was, stopped abruptly in embarrassment. If he turned around, he would look suspicious, and there was no side road to escape to. He just stood there, not knowing what to do, when the person who recognized Ryu Jeong quickened his pace and approached.
“Hyung!”
It was Hee-cheol. Ryu Jeong unknowingly hid the garbage bag he was holding behind his back. The Shop Owner hated seeing his part-timer buying things at other convenience stores. Then Noh Hee-cheol, his son, would feel the same. Ryu Jeong, quickly hiding the bag containing the items he had bought at another convenience store, awkwardly raised the corners of his lips.
“Oh, hello.”
“Hyung, what is it?”
“Huh?”
Hee-cheol frowned seriously and questioned Ryu Jeong. Ryu Jeong, not knowing what he was asking, blinked with a very nervous face.
“No, what is it, really?”
“Oh, Hee-cheol. That, that’s…….”
So he found out. Ryu Jeong decided to confess. Just as the word “sorry” was about to come out, Hee-cheol, who had been scanning Ryu Jeong up and down, asked in a contemptuous tone.
“Hyung, are you getting sponsored or something?”
“…What?”
What is he saying now…? Ryu Jeong asked back blankly, hearing the word for the first time in his life. Sponsored? He had no idea where that was coming from. As he blinked like an idiot with his mouth open, Hee-cheol frowned even more, taking a step back this time, as if he had taken it to mean something.
“No, weren’t you a Beta, Hyung? Are you an Omega?”
The next question was also absurd. All the residents of Wolhyeon-dong except for him were Betas, so there was no reason to suspect Ryu Jeong of being an Omega at all. Even if something happened where someone recognized that he was an Omega and tried to sexually harass him like before, he was the only part-timer working at that time, and the Shop Owner, who hated troublesome things, didn’t ask what happened, so there was no situation to be suspected of being an Omega.
But suddenly Hee-cheol came running and asked if he was an Omega, so Ryu Jeong immediately sensed that something had happened while he was at the market. But even if he had heard something from someone, Noh Hee-cheol, who was a Beta, couldn’t smell Ryu Jeong’s pheromones. Ryu Jeong decided to deny it for now.
“Omega… I’m a Beta…….”
“Right? Ha, shit. Then what is it? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Did something happen……?”
“Yeah. Something really weird.”
Even after confirming through Ryu Jeong’s mouth that he was not an Omega, Noh Hee-cheol still looked doubtful. Hee-cheol spat on the ground and took out a cigarette from his pocket.
“I was sleeping when some guy gave me some really expensive-looking fruit and meat. He was really handsome, but his personality was shit… He looked down on me for living in this kind of neighborhood, you know? Anyway, when I said I was the only one here, he said, ‘Oh, really?’ and asked if I knew where Hyung went?”
“Me……?”
“Yeah. When I said I didn’t know, he asked if you lived alone without any family, and if you were close to him. So I said I wasn’t close to you, but you’ve been working your ass off at my dad’s convenience store for years, and then he just left.”
A series of incoherent words followed quickly. It should have been a story that he could understand as soon as he heard it, but Ryu Jeong couldn’t understand what it meant at all. He stared blankly at Hee-cheol and repeated the words he had said in his head, and there were several suspicious points.
He said he was going to hand out meat and fruit as bribes, asking people to agree to the redevelopment project. The handsome assessment from Hee-cheol, although he didn’t know about the shit personality and looking down on him, immediately reminded him of Lee Do-hyeon.
“Did that person… give meat and fruit to other houses too? To Old Lady Jeong’s and Hardware Store Grandpa’s…….”
“I don’t know about that. But who is he really, giving you that kind of stuff while talking about you? Is it really a sponsor?”When Ryu Jeong looked like he didn’t know what he meant, Noh Hee-cheol sighed in frustration as if he was dying of frustration.”
“Not a sponsor… he’s the one who’s going to do the redevelopment project here.”
“…Redevelopment? Really?”
“He’s going to build a hotel here. So he needs the residents’ consent, and he must have given it out asking for their help.”
“Wow, crazy. He’s got a lot of money.”
I knew it. He looked like he had a lot of money. Hee-cheol nodded, whistling as if he finally understood the situation. Ryu Jeong, relieved that the suspicion about him had been lifted, still fiddled with the garbage bag behind his back. He wanted him to go his way quickly now. He was glancing around, thinking that he would have to go if he didn’t leave, when Noh Hee-cheol, who had been muttering “No,” suddenly frowned as if there was something he didn’t like.
“Isn’t it a thief’s mentality to just give them that kind of stuff and ask them to sign? They’re going to make a lot of money when the redevelopment starts, so they should give them money, not something that disappears when they eat it.”
The lower part of his face, which resembled the Shop Owner, was raised and lowered towards the sky several times. Ryu Jeong’s face turned pale at Noh Hee-cheol, who was showing off his greed at this opportunity, even though he had just told the truth without thinking.
“From now on, Hyung, if you see that bastard coming by, don’t just let him go and call me or my dad. I’ll tell the others too. Got it?”
“Ah, that…….”
“Got it? Don’t play solo. We have to squeeze out as much as we can, shit. When else would we get an opportunity like this?”
Hee-cheol brought his face close to Ryu Jeong’s and chuckled, saying each word clearly in case Ryu Jeong forgot. He rolled his eyes, wondering what he was imagining, and then sucked on his cigarette with a smirk. He blew out the acrid cigarette smoke, whether there was someone right in front of him or not, and waved his hand, saying he was going now.
“Then I’ll see you at the convenience store tomorrow, Hyung. I have a drinking appointment with some girls today and tomorrow? So I think I’ll be a little late. Sorry in advance.”
He didn’t look sorry at all. Ryu Jeong’s shoulders drooped as he stared blankly at Noh Hee-cheol’s back as he walked away, humming a strange melody. The garbage bag, which he didn’t need to hide, flowed heavily downwards as if it would fall to the ground.
Ryu Jeong, who had been standing blankly in the middle of the alley for a while, suddenly came to his senses, realizing that this was not the time to be doing this, and climbed the stairs. It was a road he used to climb without even panting, but today he walked as if he was running in a hurry, so Ryu Jeong’s breathing was quite rough when he reached near his house.
If Noh Hee-cheol had asked about his whereabouts, it meant that he had already stopped by his house once. It was already time for him to have left after finding out that he wasn’t home, but the reason Ryu Jeong was rushing home was because of the expectation that he might be there. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but Ryu Jeong wanted Lee Do-hyeon to be waiting for him without leaving.
The green gate was visible in the distance. Ryu Jeong squeezed out the last of his strength and hurried his steps, hoping that he would be there. As if his wish had come true, he saw a figure loitering around his house’s fence.
“Do……!”
Ryu Jeong unknowingly smiled brightly and opened his mouth. But that smile was only for a moment. The moment the figure, sensing the presence of someone, turned around and looked this way, Ryu Jeong was so surprised that he had to stop abruptly.