#106

After a long time of drinking during the day, and perhaps because I had walked through the scorching heat, I felt a bit tipsy. Tae-heun transferred to the city bus several times and made his way to Hwangmu-eup. During that time, he listened to a tape of “My My.” In the middle, he changed his clothes. He thoroughly removed his makeup and stuffed the bucket hat and clothes he had been wearing into his backpack, then threw the whole bag into a trash can. Of course, he transferred everything he had received from the tall man into a new bag. Thus, a journey that would normally take an hour by intercity bus took him two hours.

He had really been busy, but when he returned to Hwangmu-eup, it was only 3 PM. The voice of his uncle, who used to insist that the early bird catches the worm, echoed in his ears. The bird that had greedily eaten its fill was now frantically looking around without a moment’s rest. It was in a panic, unable to distinguish between cold rice and hot rice. It was digging its own grave.

Tae-heun hummed a tune in excitement. He went to room 401 via the emergency stairs, changed his clothes, and immediately went up to room 501. Catching his breath, he lit a cigarette and placed it in the ashtray. While the cigarette burned on its own, he dumped everything from his bag onto the bed. He turned on his cellphone first.

There were three text messages. They were texts sent right after Tae-heun had parted ways with the two men. Although they were called texts, they were all made up of numbers. Latitude and longitude.

The content was as follows. In case of an emergency, he was to grab the bag containing a fake ID and go to the location marked on the map he had received from the men earlier to hide. When the time came, they would contact him again, and at that time, he would move using the private car hidden about 100 meters away from the hideout. It was a kind of escape simulation. It felt a bit early, but it wouldn’t hurt to prepare in advance.

There were three places where he had hidden the escape gear: inside the chicken coop at the man’s house, in a one-room apartment in Hwangmu-eup, and in Incheon. Except for Incheon, all escape routes were through the mountains.

Tae-heun unfolded the map and found the location indicated by the latitude and longitude. Since he had tested it several times with his past accomplice Lee Seon-jae, finding the place was not difficult.

He hoped he wouldn’t have to unfold this map, but what could he do? He thought it was just a bit of bad luck and that he had no choice but to run away diligently. Normally, he would have thought about it this easily. But this time, he felt uneasy.

Of all things, the escape route was through the mountains. While the man could follow without much difficulty, what about the child? It was a headache. This was why married men with children were dangerous. There was no easier prey for gangsters like them than a married man. Unless one was a complete scoundrel, they couldn’t abandon their family, that was the point. Tae-heun found a subtle joy in the fact that he was that married man with a child.

“If my wife finds out, she’ll really give me hell!”

He mumbled nonsense and lay flat on the bed.

The room was filled with cigarette smoke. Tae-heun picked up a flyer from the side table. He chose a Chinese restaurant and ordered a sweet and sour pork set that included jajangmyeon and jjamppong. He deliberately pretended to have just woken up.

When the delivery person arrived, he was lying on the bed in his underwear. His hair was tousled, and his eyes were half-open as he smoked a cigarette. With the air conditioner on and the windows closed, the room was thick with cigarette smoke. The delivery person frowned as he opened the delivery bag.

“Ah, could you ventilate a bit?”

He grumbled in a small voice.

Only when he saw the service dumplings coming out of the delivery bag did Tae-heun get up from the bed. He handed over two ten-thousand-won bills, and as the delivery person opened his hip bag zipper to give change, he said, “You can keep the change.”

Tae-heun instead handed him another ten-thousand-won bill.

“This is a tip. But please unwrap the food before you go.”

No matter how much he tipped, the delivery person requested in a tone that suggested he was annoyed, while puffing on a cigarette.

Tae-heun could see the delivery person holding back his anger. When he reluctantly accepted the money that he didn’t want to take, he let out a deep sigh and roughly unwrapped the plastic from each dish.

“Enjoy your meal.”

He still didn’t forget his service spirit until the end.

He would probably curse as soon as he closed the door. In that person’s memory, Tae-heun might be seen as a bum or a gangster who lounged around in a motel all day. Tae-heun smiled.

“Let’s see how the food tastes.”

He quietly got up and moved the dishes on the floor to a small round table.

The taste was just okay, but he was hungry. The previous bibimbap had strangely not suited his taste, so he had barely eaten it, and after riding the bus for two hours on an empty stomach and transferring several times, he was extremely hungry. Still, it was overwhelming to eat jajangmyeon, jjamppong, sweet and sour pork, and dumplings all by himself. He barely finished the jajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork, but he didn’t even touch the dumplings and jjamppong.

It was a shame. If the man and the child had been there, the three of them would have enjoyed the meal together. He thought he should invite them to the Chinese restaurant next time and put the food outside the door.

It was time to head home. After leaving the motel, Tae-heun went to the mart to buy groceries for the man and the child for tomorrow, then got into the Benz parked in the public parking lot. The man had probably given up his nap to work, heading to a funeral home. He might have arrived home by now.

Tae-heun hurried home as well.

The way to meet the man was always exciting.

* * *

The funeral started at 5 PM at the Lee family’s home. Tae-heun did not go. There would be no one to welcome him, and it would only cause trouble, so he voluntarily gave up. In fact, he didn’t want to go. He hated funeral homes.

Since Officer Oh had clarified the rumors, Tae-heun had been ostracized. Except for a few of the oldest seniors in the living room, no one acknowledged Tae-heun. They acted as if they didn’t see him, treating him like he didn’t exist.

“You should still go.”

The man seemed disappointed.

“I’m fine. If I go, it’ll only make people more uneasy.”

“But still.”

“Just go, Ki-beom.”

Tae-heun tied a tie for the man, who didn’t know how to tie one.

The air was thick with tension. It had only been two days apart, but he felt restless. It felt like a dream that he had licked the man’s butt. He wanted to savor that white, small thing once more. He wanted to drink from the well that never ran dry. He wanted to strip the man, who was so neatly dressed in a black suit, and roll around with him naked.

However, it was not easy to even kiss, let alone get naked. It was all because of that damn bugging device whose location was unknown. He sighed, looking up at the innocent fluorescent light. The man glanced at the fluorescent light, following Tae-heun’s gaze. They exchanged meaningless touches, trying to sootheir disappointment.

“Ki-beom, your zipper is down.”

Tae-heun joked.

“Huh?”

The man hurriedly looked down at his pants. It couldn’t have been down. Smiling, Tae-heun took the opportunity to reach for the man’s zipper. The man stepped back, glaring at him with a look that said not to do that.

“Geez, you’re so stiff.”

He whispered lowly, bringing his lips close to the man’s ear. He brushed his cheek against the man’s cheek lightly. Then, as if nothing had happened, he fiddled with the man’s tie. The man stared at him in disbelief before finally laughing.

“By the way, where’s Ji-hye?”

“She’ll manage. I’ll wait in front of the community center like a chauffeur and pick you up on time.”

“Not the community center, the church.”

“Church? Are they having a study session today too?”

It was strange that a pastor would skip the funeral of a local resident.

“Yes, they are.”

“Don’t they go to the funeral home?”

“Well, I heard the service was canceled.”

“Okay, I got it. I’ll go to the church.”

“Thank you.”

“Thanks? Go eat my share of yukgaejang. It’s yukgaejang, right?”

The man nodded and chuckled.

“I haven’t had yukgaejang in a while.”

He didn’t even like red soup, but he was just teasing.

“Should I bring a bowl back?”

“Oh, no need.”

Tae-heun stopped him. Just in case he might pack it, he added, “I’ll eat it later in town.”

Suddenly, Tae-heun thought of his own funeral. That empty place, a shabby room that no one would visit. At least Mr. Lee would have all the townspeople attending, so he wouldn’t be lonely on the way. He had a bland thought.

The two of them walked the short distance to the porch, holding hands. This was something that could only be done when there were no children. They smiled at each other, conscious of holding hands.

Tae-heun stepped out onto the porch before the man and quickly went down the step to get shoes from the shoe rack. The man sat on the porch and lowered his feet. As if waiting, Tae-heun knelt on one knee and pulled the man’s foot. Then he helped him put on his shoes. When the man was startled and tried to pull his foot away, Tae-heun quickly grabbed it. The man’s eyes widened.

“I’ve never done this before. You know, in fairy tales, the prince’s kids do this for the princess. I always wondered why they did such a silly thing, but now I understand. It’s surprisingly erotic.”

Tae-heun rambled as he clumsily put on the man’s shoes.

The man grumbled, “That’s only in Cinderella.”

“No, it must have happened elsewhere too.”

In truth, the only one he remembered was Cinderella, but he insisted.

“No way, it didn’t happen.”

“There is! If I find it, what will you do for me?”

“What will I do?”

The man replied sulkily.

Tae-heun pouted his lips and pretended to kiss him.

“Let’s make that the deal.”

“What if not?”

“Then I’ll do what Ki-beom wants. But I’ll win. I’ll find it before you come back, so just wait.”

He was passionately enthusiastic by himself.

The man laughed a deflated laugh. Then he lowered his voice and cautiously asked, “But why is this erotic?”

“Of course it is. Can’t you see I’m excited right now?”

“Why?”

The man blinked his big eyes.

“Ki-beom, come on. I’m holding your foot.”

The man still looked like he didn’t understand.

“Oh dear. It’s the foot that’s the problem.”

“It’s a foot, right?”

“Enough. I’ll explain it properly later, but for now, let’s just go.”

Tae-heun snapped, putting shoes on the man’s other foot.

“You have no mood at all, do you?”

But in truth, he didn’t understand why it was erotic either.

It was fine until he knelt in front of the man. But the moment he grabbed his foot, he got excited. When he held the man’s ankle, he wanted to take off his black socks. He wanted to rip them off like stockings. But it was just a foot, and thick socks wouldn’t tear easily like stockings.

Am I crazy?

He didn’t understand himself.

Of course, he knew the term foot fetish. He had seen it a few times in porn. But he had never been excited by it. Yet, when he grabbed the man’s foot, especially that rough foot in black socks, he almost got an erection. It seemed he had developed a fetish that he never had before.

Seeing the man standing on both feet, Tae-heun also stood up. They smiled at each other again. While they were laughing, the man suddenly had a look of realization.

“But it’s a funeral home we’re going to, so laughing is a bit…”

He explained the reason to Tae-heun.

“What’s wrong with that? Even if I don’t know, I’m sure the Lee family will laugh and cry too. They’ll eat well and sleep well.”

Tae-heun said nonchalantly.

Everyone was like that. They would cry as if they were dying from the sorrow of loss, but then smile at visitors, and sometimes burst into laughter while chatting with friends or acquaintances. That’s just how life was.

“Let’s just think about living well.”

He winked at the man, saying that his smile made him happy.

Then the man looked at Tae-heun with the same eyes he had when they talked about ramen a few days ago. They sparkled.

“Hey, why are you looking at me like that again?”

Every time the man looked at him like that, he felt a bit shy.

“It’s just amazing that a pretty person says pretty things.”

The man casually said something that gave her goosebumps.

Tae-heun felt a rush of heat in an instant. She must have turned red.

“Well, that’s something.”

She was flustered and couldn’t spit out a proper sentence.

How could he only think such beautiful thoughts?

Tae-heun was at a loss for how to respond to the compliment she had never heard before in her life.

I just realized I’m pretty.

She thought of a reply too late, but the moment had passed.

Somewhat awkwardly, the two crossed the yard.

Fortunately, the silence didn’t last long. She thought of something to ask the man.

“By the way, what did we decide about meeting in town today?”

Kwon Yong-jun and… what was his name again?

Anyway, originally, the man was supposed to go out for drinks in town, not to a funeral home.

“We postponed that to next week.”

“Then is Yong-jun coming to the funeral home too?”

“Probably. I think he’ll come with the chairman.”

The man hesitated when he mentioned the chairman. Was he starting to realize something? She glanced back at him, but his expression showed no significant change.

Tae-heun was curious about the man’s true feelings. He was truly a difficult person to understand; his outward appearance revealed so little, and sometimes it was so easily confused that it was hard to grasp.