By Zephyria “Would you like to print the statement?” After hearing the stiff but kind mechanical voice, Ryu Jeong pressed the ‘Yes’ button, received the statement smaller than his palm, and turned away from the ATM. He walked around the back of the people waiting in line, stepped away from the passersby, and stared intently at the statement with the black ink printed on it.
It wasn’t a large sum, but thanks to the daily wage he received from a single part-time job at the hotel and the check that Lee Do-hyeon had finally given him, he was able to transfer the principal and interest for the month, and there was still some balance left in his account. Having only seen empty balances every month, he felt a strange sense of wonder looking at an account with a bit of leeway. Ryu Jeong gently rubbed the page where the balance was printed with his fingertips, as if he were caressing actual bills.
Then, suddenly, worry washed over him that he might have made a mistake. He had checked the account number several times while entering it, but he became anxious that he might have pressed the wrong number. Ryu Jeong took out the note he had kept in the pocket of the outerwear Lee Do-hyeon had bought him and unfolded it. On the carelessly torn scrap paper, the account number written in bright red pen was scribbled.
The loan shark, who used to come to his house every month to collect the money in person, for some reason said that it was no longer necessary and gave him the account number. He had barged into his house as usual, but it happened to be when Ryu Jeong was working part-time at the convenience store. Knowing full well where he worked, the loan shark didn’t come to the store but left the note behind. It was unexpected that he did that, after always giving him unpleasant looks, curses, and violence.
But good is good, Ryu Jeong didn’t bother trying to think deeply about it. It was a stroke of luck that Lee Do-hyeon wasn’t there when he found the note, and that he saw it alone, refusing Chief Yoon’s offer to help.
As he was thinking about how fortunate things were in many ways, his pocket vibrated. It was his cell phone, which usually only rang with requests, or rather, demands, from the Shop Owner at the convenience store to cover shifts, or with calls from the loan shark demanding payment, but recently Lee Do-hyeon had been contacting him much more frequently, so Ryu Jeong took out his cell phone with a bright face.
But as soon as he checked the caller’s name, his lips, which had been drawing a curve, stiffened. It was because the loan shark’s number, who rarely ever called, was displayed.
“H-hello?”
Afraid that someone might hear the conversation, Ryu Jeong carefully answered the phone, covering half of his mouth with his hand. He swallowed nervously. He hadn’t missed the payment deadline, and he had deposited the exact amount without any shortages, so he wondered if there was a problem.
“Uh, hey, it’s me.”
“Yes… hello.”
“Hello, my ass.”
The loan shark, who never failed to show his displeasure and get annoyed whenever greetings were delayed, didn’t let it slide even with the quick greeting. Ryu Jeong bit his lip tightly and prepared himself, anticipating that he wouldn’t hear pleasant words today either.
But the words that followed were unexpected.
“I… I confirmed the deposit.”
“Ah… yes.”
He had only ever heard threats that he was short on money, that the deadline had passed, or that he had to pay late fees, so he couldn’t quite understand the meaning of the unusually docile words, even after hearing them. Ryu Jeong, momentarily dazed, rolled his big eyes, unsure of how to react. Still unable to grasp the situation, Ryu Jeong cautiously opened his mouth.
“Is it… over?”
“Then what else do you need if I say the money came in okay… need? Isn’t that enough?”
The loan shark’s voice seemed to be filled with annoyance, but at some point, the annoyance suddenly subsided. He sighed deeply as if he was frustrated, and muttered a vulgar curse, “Aish……” just loud enough to be heard. Ryu Jeong, who knew he was capable of spewing curses that would shatter eardrums, was frightened and held his breath.
An awkward silence passed for a while. Ryu Jeong, watching his step as he swallowed hard at the unusual atmosphere coming through the receiver, held his breath for a moment.
“…So, well, are you doing okay with work?”
The loan shark, who had been grumbling incessantly, asked an unexpected question. His voice, which had always been unpleasant, was somehow more subdued than usual. Ryu Jeong hesitated to open his mouth, unsure of what his intentions were.
“I’m just… doing it as usual.”
“As usual, huh.”
“I’m working at the convenience store… and serving, and going to the cafe.”
“Then you’ll be grilling pork belly soon?”
“…It’s not pork belly, it’s spicy stir-fried chicken……”
“Talking back, huh. It’s all the same, serving food to others.”
Chicken and pork were clearly different, but the loan shark’s tone was the same as ever, as if that wasn’t important. It seemed that his feeling that he had become strangely gentle was purely his imagination.
“Anyway! Take it easy. If you overdo it just because you’re young, you might go down all at once. What was it… get a comprehensive health checkup, or something.”
“I don’t have money……”
“Aish, don’t be so pathetic. Hey, don’t skimp on food and health. And even if you pay, you’ll get it all back later. You’re young, how don’t you know this?”
The conversation suddenly veered off into the topic of health checkups. Ryu Jeong thought he would just scold him briefly and end the call, but the loan shark gave him more information than he expected and hung up. Ryu Jeong, who had been too busy paying off his debt to worry about his health, was puzzled by the loan shark’s words, but stared blankly at his cell phone for a while.
Should I just… look into it? There hadn’t been any changes in his body since he took the emergency contraceptive pill, but he was still worried.
Ryu Jeong put the now-black cell phone back into his coat pocket along with the crumpled note. Getting to work was the priority for now.
“Until… this week?”
He had left with plenty of time to stop by the bank, but he arrived at the restaurant 10 minutes earlier than usual. Ryu Jeong bowed politely to the CEO couple, who greeted him with a strange expression, took off his coat and hung it on the hanger where he always hung his clothes, and put his neck through the apron. The CEO and his wife, who had been exchanging glances, cautiously started talking, saying they had something to tell him. Before Ryu Jeong could even tie the apron strings, he heard news that was like a bolt from the blue.
“We’re only doing lunch service until Friday, and we’ve decided to move our things out right away on the weekend.”
The CEO, who had brought the parboiled spicy stir-fried chicken to the customer’s table instead of Ryu Jeong, who was a part-time worker, pulled up a chair and sat down. His tone was calm, but he seemed to be watching Ryu Jeong’s reaction.
“So suddenly……? Is something wrong?”
“It’s not that something’s wrong, but I’ve been wondering for a while whether we should stop. As you know, Jeong, my wife’s knees aren’t doing so well.”
The CEO glanced at his wife sitting next to him and sighed deeply. The CEO’s wife, sitting with her small, thin shoulders hunched, had her hand on her knee under the table.
Since being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a few years ago, the CEO’s wife, who had been in charge of the kitchen work, had difficulty standing for long periods of time and couldn’t even last a few minutes. It was when the CEO’s wife had problems with her knees that the CEO, who had been handling the charcoal fire in the back alley of the restaurant, began to parboil the meat and divide the side dishes.
“Business isn’t good, but prices keep going up. We gritted our teeth and endured it because we had loans to pay off, but since my wife is sick, I can’t take it anymore.”
In addition, the steadily decreasing sales year after year were also one of their concerns. The long-standing problem of university district restaurants was the sales situation, which was no different from seasonal business, and it seemed difficult to cover fixed costs with the fluctuating monthly income.
The CEO, who sighed deeply, repeatedly washed his face with his dry hands. His face and hands, which had been doing business in the same place for many years, were full of fine wrinkles and dark age spots, as if proving the hardships he had endured.
“Actually, I was thinking of gradually wrapping things up… the lease renewal period is also coming up soon, and I guess I’m getting old too, so my body isn’t what it used to be. I can’t just keep standing in front of the fire……”
The CEO, who had been dragging out his words as if making excuses, sighed deeply once again. The CEO’s wife, who had been silent all along, had a gloomy look on her face.
“I’m sorry, Ryu Jeong. For making you quit so suddenly… I should have told you in advance.”
The CEO’s voice, who was at a loss for words, had no energy. It was the first time Ryu Jeong had heard that voice from him, who never lost his hearty laughter even when scolded by the CEO’s wife.
“No, it’s okay. There are still 5 days left.”
“There was no one as diligent as you, Ryu Jeong… ….”
“I can find another job. Your health isn’t good either. You should rest now……”
Ryu Jeong fiddled with the apron strings as a habit and nodded, trying to force a smile. In the midst of her busy schedule, the CEO’s wife, who had always looked after Ryu Jeong’s meals as if she were taking care of her son, seemed sorry and regretful.
She said it was okay several times and spoke cheerfully, but in fact, her heart had not been good since the CEO had said the word ‘closure’. Even though it was a place where she worked for only two hours or so a day, she knew that it would be difficult if the money she earned from serving was cut off. It was only a matter of time before the next month became a problem.
Just 30 minutes ago, she had been happy that she had money left over even after paying off her debt, but when she looked back at herself, she felt pathetic. She thought she had been having a lot of happy things lately, but life was not easy for her. Her heart, which she thought had become so hardened that it was numb, was about to collapse helplessly, but she couldn’t show it in front of the CEO couple. Ryu Jeong, who forced herself to pull up the corners of her mouth that kept going down, asked in a brightly feigned voice.
“Then… are you planning to rest now without working?”
“I have to. I didn’t even have time to go to the hospital because I was busy, but now I’m going to go to the hospital regularly. Oh, my daughter had a baby a while ago. I’m going to go and take care of my grandchild, too. I was so busy making a living that I neglected my child… I don’t think I’ll be able to face my daughter if I do that to my grandchild.”
“Wow, a baby?”
“Yeah. Should I show you a picture? It looks just like my daughter. It looks just like my daughter when she was born, so I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.”
The CEO, who had been depressed all along, smiled as he told the news of his daughter’s birth. He rummaged through his old cell phone and showed her pictures of the small baby who had just been born. Apart from the complicated thoughts in her head as she calculated the money that would be going out, she felt her heart melt as she looked at the wriggling baby. Ryu Jeong repeatedly muttered that it was cute and couldn’t take her eyes off the picture.
“I’m just looking at the pictures all day long. Yesterday, she sent me a video of her babbling, and I watched it ten times in a row. It’s probably because it’s my grandchild, but it’s so cute.”
“No, it’s so cute in my eyes too……”
The CEO smiled contentedly and replayed the video, holding his cell phone out to Ryu Jeong again. The small, soft creature was moving its mouth and making unintelligible sounds.
As she watched, she felt a lump in her throat for some reason. She was mesmerized by the video, with her lips tightly pursed, when the CEO laughed heartily and said.
“Later, you’ll get married and have children too. I don’t know which woman will take you, but she’ll get a good, handsome, and diligent guy. If the child looks like you, they’ll be pretty and handsome.”
“Marriage……?”
Ryu Jeong’s eyes widened in surprise and he lifted his head. He was dumbfounded to hear a word that he had vaguely thought would not exist in his life. He blinked blankly, as it was something he had never imagined, and the CEO’s wife, who had been watching from the side, misunderstood and began to scold him.
“This man has no filter. You can’t say things like that these days. Do you think it’s natural to get married and have children?”
“You won’t even let me talk, really. Then should I get married, or should I grow old and die alone? It’s a blessing, a blessing.”
“Times have changed, you know? Whether it’s a blessing or not, it’s better to just shut your mouth and stay still.”
Eventually, the CEO’s wife slapped the CEO’s arm hard enough to make a sound and glared at him as if he were disgusting. Then, she apologized to Ryu Jeong, telling him to pretend he didn’t hear anything. Ryu Jeong was not upset, but simply embarrassed, so he had to wave his hand with an awkward smile.
Just then, a customer asked for some water, and Ryu Jeong said he would go and quickly got up from his seat. Ryu Jeong’s steps, heading to the hall with a water bottle from the refrigerator, were heavy.