By Zephyria Some people only raised their voices, while others, having found a gap, brazenly took things away. A small commotion erupted as they tangled with other employees trying to stop them. Unable to approach and just standing there, watching, someone recognized Ryu Jeong from afar and waved with a welcoming gesture.
“Oh, Hyung!”
Naturally, his eyes turned towards the sound. It was Noh Hee-cheol. Noh Hee-cheol, who seemed to have just come from the restroom, shaking his wet hands, looked at the chaotic scene with a displeased expression, just like Ryu Jeong, and then seemed to have accidentally found Ryu Jeong. Noh Hee-cheol, happy to see him, rushed over and greeted him, asking how he had been. Ryu Jeong, taken aback by the sudden friendliness, hesitantly nodded.
“I heard you quit your part-time job?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Did you move? There was nothing in your house.”
Noh Hee-cheol spoke casually, as if he had even visited his house. Ryu Jeong awkwardly nodded, unaware that he had said ‘nothing’ instead of ‘no one.’
“Well, did you go into some kind of Goshiwon or something?”
“…Something like that.”
“Okay, whatever.”
Noh Hee-cheol, as if having no more reason to talk, nodded indifferently and looked away. He glanced at Ryu Jeong, who was standing next to him, while looking at his own father, who was raising his voice in the middle of the commotion, with a look of disgust.
His gaze was too obvious to ignore. Ryu Jeong, unable to bear it any longer, awkwardly opened his mouth.
“Why……?”
“Huh? What is it?”
“No… I just kept feeling you staring.”
“Me? Huh, when did I ever stare at you?”
“Ah…….”
He got annoyed, saying ridiculous things, and Ryu Jeong felt others glancing at him. As he was apologetically mumbling, the Shop Owner, pushed out of the commotion, panting, approached, saying that he couldn’t reason with them.
“Ryu Jeong, did you get that?”
“Get what……?”
“The Hanwoo. They said it’s one per household, and you live alone, right?”
“……”
Unlike Noh Hee-cheol, the Shop Owner, skipping the greetings, suddenly glared. Ryu Jeong, realizing his intention from the question seeking confirmation, lowered his head without a word.
“You can’t eat it all by yourself anyway. Instead of letting it rot without eating it, why don’t you just put it in our fridge? You can come and eat sometimes, feeling like you’re eating at your parents’ house.”
His words were flowery, but he was just asking for it. Even though he had quit the convenience store, the exploitation didn’t stop.
If it were before, he would have reluctantly nodded, but strangely, he didn’t want to now. A sense of rebellion surged, thinking that he wasn’t his employer anymore anyway. The problem was that he only thought so in his head, and he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth. Ryu Jeong, who had become accustomed to the Shop Owner’s coercive exploitation over the past few years, could only bite his lip and couldn’t give an affirmative answer.
The Shop Owner was the one feeling frustrated because of that. The guy he thought would readily agree was just standing there, so the Shop Owner glared.
“Ryu Jeong. I’m not trying to take your stuff, am I? Huh? Look at his face? Hey, how dare you glare at an adult like that?”
“Ah… Dad, stop it. It’s embarrassing, damn it…….”
As vulgar curses were mixed in, the residents who were still arguing also glanced over. Noh Hee-cheol, annoyed that he had drawn attention, lowered his head and poked the Shop Owner in the side. However, the Shop Owner, caught up in a sense of being ignored, scolded Ryu Jeong despite his son’s dissuasion. He didn’t realize that he had gained another listener.
“Are you protesting now? Huh? What reason do you have to do that? You’re the one ignoring me when I’m talking nicely, you impudent brat.”
“……”
“Quitting is the end? Is that it? Huh, I’m done too! I’m telling you this just in case, but now, what, weekly allowance, night allowance, and what else was it? Yeah, severance pay. You’re just trying to stab me in the back with that kind of bullshit. Do you think you’re the only one with something to say? I have a lot too!”
“Excuse me.”
“You’re just a young punk… what?”
Just as he was about to strike, raising his hand high, someone suddenly appeared and painfully grabbed his wrist. The Shop Owner, barely suppressing a scream, frowned and turned around.
“Are you the one who brought up the issue of fairness?”
As the voice, which had been drowned out by the shouting, flowed out again, Ryu Jeong, who had been staring at the tips of his sneakers, was surprised and quickly raised his head.
It was Lee Do-hyeon. He stood there with his characteristic expressionless face, not knowing what he was thinking, and very easily grabbed the Shop Owner’s hand, which was floating in the air, and slowly pressed it down. It wasn’t a threatening movement, but the Shop Owner’s face contorted, as if it had quite a bit of force.
However, he couldn’t act according to his temper. He had grabbed the microphone the most as a resident representative at the meetings, so he immediately recognized who the man in front of him was. The Shop Owner, turning his wrist, which had quickly turned red, this way and that, hesitated and moved his lips.
“No… how can you prepare and distribute the same thing when you don’t even know how many people live in each house?”
“May I ask how many people live in your house?”
“Well… my son, my wife… and my mother, so there are four of us.”
It was a lie. Ryu Jeong had never even seen the Shop Owner’s wife, who had run away a long time ago, and the person called his mother had also passed away a long time ago. The Shop Owner, who had become arrogant, didn’t think that they would have already figured out who lived in the neighborhood before the demolition work, and added, raising his chin.
“It’s not even enough to feed a fly if you take such a small amount.”
“Hmm.”
The Shop Owner passionately presented his argument, spitting as he spoke. It was plausible overall, but the conclusion was still that he wanted more. Lee Do-hyeon nodded with his still expressionless face.
“After listening, your words make sense.”
“R-really?”
Ryu Jeong, who was stuck in the middle, rolling his eyes, suddenly raised his head. Did he not know that everything the Shop Owner was saying was a lie? He moved his lips to tell the truth, but the Shop Owner, who had already noticed, pouted his lips and glared. Ryu Jeong had no choice but to close his mouth, feeling the unspoken pressure not to say anything.
Lee Do-hyeon, persuaded by the absurd logic, instructed Chief Yoon and the staff next to him about the things that needed to be supplemented. The Shop Owner, who was going to receive another set as he wished, couldn’t hide his joy and chuckled.
“Oh, thank you. As expected, people in high positions are, huh? Easy to talk to.”
Lee Do-hyeon looked at the Shop Owner, who was flattering him with his greed-filled cheeks twitching, with indifferent eyes and opened his mouth.
“Sir.”
“Yes, yes?”
“Is that all?”
“…Excuse me?”
The Shop Owner was even more confident because no one had ever fallen for his flattery. He knew very well that even though there weren’t many, they couldn’t even start digging with a shovel because of his words, so he was more arrogant than usual. The Shop Owner, who naturally expected that this young man sitting as the President would soon bow down to win his favor, was embarrassed by the strange question.
He couldn’t answer rashly because he didn’t know what he meant by ‘is that all,’ since he had cut off the context. Lee Do-hyeon smiled mockingly, revealing his teeth, saying that a smiling face can’t spit. Then, he gently wrapped his arm around Ryu Jeong, who was standing there dejectedly, and brought him forward.
“Shouldn’t you apologize for insulting him just now?”
“Ah…….”
A small sigh came from Ryu Jeong’s mouth, not the Shop Owner’s. Ryu Jeong, who had been slightly disappointed that Lee Do-hyeon was following his words to separate public and private matters to the letter, felt a tingling in his heart at Lee Do-hyeon’s attitude of appropriately taking care of both public and private matters.
Soon, the Shop Owner’s face turned bright red.
“Um, I’m sorry. I was too excited…….”
“……”
It seemed quite humiliating to apologize to Ryu Jeong, who was young enough to be his son, in a public place. The Shop Owner, swept away by Lee Do-hyeon’s strangely coercive atmosphere, apologized reluctantly. Ryu Jeong, as well as Noh Hee-cheol, were surprised because the Shop Owner, who had stubbornly kept his mouth shut even in the face of several incidents caused by his mistakes, apologized so readily.
“What will you do? Will you accept the apology?”
Lee Do-hyeon asked a pointed question as Ryu Jeong could only blink without saying anything. Ryu Jeong nodded as if possessed by the same stiff tone as when he first met him at the convenience store.
Only then did Lee Do-hyeon take his eyes off and lightly gesture to an employee standing a few steps away. He pointed to Ryu Jeong, who was standing there blankly, and told him to take care of him, and the employee, answering quickly, made eye contact with Ryu Jeong and pointed outside.
“Sir. If you’re heading out, may I take it out for you outside? I’ll take it out from the truck.”
“Ah… yes…….”
Ryu Jeong hesitated, bowed to Lee Do-hyeon, and quickly followed the employee. The Shop Owner, left alone like a duck out of water, huffed and puffed as if he couldn’t believe what he had just experienced, then changed direction and disappeared.
“President?”
Lee Do-hyeon’s gaze, watching each person’s back one by one, sank more coldly. Lee Do-hyeon continued to stare in one direction until Chief Yoon, who was looking at Lee Do-hyeon with a puzzled expression, called out to him.