GC Ch 10

“Honestly, unnie. If you have eyes, look at the kid’s face. His lips are all split open, and he’s standing there looking like someone who hasn’t eaten a single bowl of thin gruel. Did I ever act like this to you, asking you to pay back the money?”

“Aah, alright, alright. I’ll do it within reason. Minjo, starting tomorrow, don’t ask and just turn on the warm water yourself to wash. Happy now?”

“I’m serious, unnie. It’s things like this that decide whether the girls stick around here or not. Do you get what I’m saying?”

“I said I get it! Geez, if anyone saw, they’d think you were his wife. What, do you actually have feelings for him or something?”

“Do you really want to act like that at your age?”

In the end, Kim Jeongsuk was the first to leave. Miss Jin glared after Kim Jeongsuk until the end as she walked toward the kitchen, grumbling all the way.

“Living with that murderer bastard, now she wants to become a murderer herself, huh? That fucking bitch, ruining my mood right from the morning. If it weren’t for the money, I would have cut ties with someone like you long ago, you fucking bitch.”

If it weren’t for the age difference, I would have planted a kiss on her right then and there. That was how fucking awesome a woman Miss Jin was. Letting go of my face and pulling out a cigarette to clamp between her lips, her appearance was charisma itself.

“Thank you, Noona. Every single time….”

“Forget it. I didn’t do it to hear words like that. Just give me the car keys. I’ll go and come back on my own.”

“No, let’s go together. I think it’d be better if we go together. Just 5 minutes. I’ll get ready quickly and come out!”

Rather than remaining with Kim Jeongsuk, it was better to drive even while holding onto my head that felt like it was going to split open. Since I couldn’t show my bare ass, I walked backward toward the storage room, and Miss Jin turned around to give me space. She understood a person’s heart so well.

Although my body was in poor condition from the hangover, my mood had become amazingly good. To the point where I completely forgot about the terrible scene I had witnessed yesterday.

On days when I was protected by someone, good things always happened, whether big or small, and somehow I had a premonition today would be the same. Not just a good thing, but it felt like a massive stroke of luck was definitely going to burst through.

∞ ∞ ∞

These days, Miss Jin was seeing Team Leader Baek, an apartment construction supervisor. He was a man in his late forties who had come down from Seoul, but somehow he was also originally from Mugwang. In his early twenties, he fell in love with a woman and held a wedding ceremony after just three months, only to suffer from delusional jealousy for ten years until the woman committed suicide, leaving him alone again. Ever since then, let alone marriage, he claimed he didn’t have the slightest desire to meet anyone seriously, and had reportedly held onto Miss Jin all night while drunk, crying his eyes out—a story I couldn’t understand. If he felt that way, why the fuck was he holding onto a woman and crying? What, because she does this kind of work, does she look easy?

Still, he seemed like a good person. While you could never know what was inside, as far as outward impressions went, he was so much of a pushover that if Miss Jin set her mind to it, she could strip him of his entire fortune and then some.

I saw Miss Jin walking back to the car. Beside Miss Jin was Team Leader Baek, wearing work clothes and a hard hat. Opening the rear door of the car, Miss Jin loaded the coffee bundle first and bade farewell to Team Leader Baek.

“Call me when you’re done. I’ll just head off work then, too.”

“Yeah. Think about what you want to eat.”

“Got it. Go on in quickly.”

It was my first time hearing his voice, and while I thought he would speak neat Seoul dialect, that wasn’t the case at all. Then again, I heard he moved up to Seoul after his wife died, so speaking Seoul dialect would actually be the stranger thing. But as Team Leader Baek was about to turn and leave, Miss Jin suddenly grabbed onto him hurriedly.

“Ah, right, oppa. Do you have any cash on you right now?”

“Why cash? Coffee money?”

“No way. When did I ever take coffee money from you, oppa? It’s not that, but the kid over here in the front is our car-man, and he’s extremely sweet. Give him a little pocket money before you go.”

“Ah, really?”

At Miss Jin’s words, Team Leader Baek walked over to the passenger side and opened the car door. Rummaging through his work clothes pocket, he pulled out his wallet and looked at me, asking:

“You look extremely young, though. How old are you?”

“I am twenty-three.”

“A complete kid. You have a license and you’re driving, right?”

“Of course. I got it as soon as I graduated from school.”

They said going in as a driver in the military was easy, so as soon as I graduated, I scraped together all the money I had and didn’t have to get it, but even thinking about it now, I felt I did a great job.

“Here, forty thousand won. This is all I have, so even if I want to give more, I can’t.”

“Aww, no. Even this is a huge amount of money. I will accept it gratefully. Thank you, Boss.”

Bowing my head, I held out both hands to receive the money. At the title ‘Boss,’ Team Leader Baek’s mouth stretched wide to the sides.

“Later, if you ever want to try doing construction work, tell me. Getting you a single job like that is something I can do easily.”

“Yes, I will do that.”

“No, forget it, never mind. Your face and body don’t look like they could handle hard labor at all, but do you have another job on the side?”

As he kept striking up conversation, Miss Jin urged Team Leader Baek from behind.

“Oppa, go in quickly. They’re making a fuss over there looking for someone.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright. Then Eunjin-ah, I’m going in! I’ll call you later, so make sure to answer!”

Making a telephone shape with his hand and holding it to his ear, Team Leader Baek ran off into the distance, whereupon Miss Jin cursed, “Fuck.” Climbing straight into the passenger seat, she clamped a cigarette between her lips and asked me:

“How much did he give you?”

“Forty thousand won.”

“That’s a decent amount. Even if that guy looks like that, he spends money well.”

If this was luck, it was quite a good score in its own way. Since Kim Jeongsuk wouldn’t know about today’s affair even in her dreams, there would be no chance of it being taken away. Starting the car, Miss Jin, who flicked ash out the window, abruptly turned her head toward me.

“I heard you went out on a delivery to Gimun yesterday. And that you received thirty as a tip from Boss Chu alone.”

“Ah, yes.”

Miss Jin exhaled smoke in a long sigh.

“Be careful. That man doesn’t throw money around to just anyone.”

“Ah….”

“I’ve also worked for three years at a hostess bar managed by those guys, haven’t I? Boss Chu is definitely not a man who pays money to fuck. Nor is he someone who ever hands out tips. There are girls all over the place spreading their legs and crawling on their own—why on earth would he spend his own money? One bitch unknowingly demanded money, and he asked her if she came here to sell him something and almost killed her.”

“….”

“For a man like that to spend his own cold, hard cash.”

‘There is something I want from you real fucking bad right now. Before I step up and forcefully take it from you, bring it over yourself first.’

Miss Jin said so, then opened the window and tossed the cigarette out. The sound of the wind, which had been noisy for a while, grew quiet as the window closed. Miss Jin’s voice, which had dropped a notch lower than before, struck my ears.

“He’s not a good person just because he gives money. He’s the scariest person.”

“….”

“Don’t get caught up in the wrong place and ruin your fucking life; stay away from him right from the start, stay away. There’s no need to do everything just because Jeongsuk tells you to. Frankly speaking, is that your debt? It’s your mother’s debt. You know what I mean, right?”

“…Yes.”

I heard she had a youngest sibling younger than me, and it seemed to be true. There was always sincerity felt in the words Miss Jin gave me. A sincerity that must not be recklessly ignored.

∞ ∞ ∞

Around two o’clock, when I returned to the coffee shop after picking up Miss Byeol, who had gone out on a delivery to a billiard hall, Kim Jeongsuk offered a new bundle as if she had been waiting.

“It’s Gimun. Go on over.”

At Kim Jeongsuk’s words, Miss Jin, who was sitting in the hall, jumped to her feet.

“I told you to assign it to someone you can assign it to, yet you still do this. Ah, give it to me. I’ll go.”

“This fucking bitch has been getting on my nerves since earlier. Who the hell do you think you are? Are you his wife? A nobody bitch continuously acting up!”

“Fucking bitch? A nobody bitch? Did you just curse at me? Want to have a go at it?”

“Hey, Kim Eunjin. No matter how much I live owing you money, fuck, I’m your business owner! Don’t act up!”

A thoroughly enraged Kim Jeongsuk shouted at Miss Jin as if she were about to throw the bundle she was holding. Gang Munsu, who had been sitting in his dedicated spot in the corner of the hall, stood up at the shouting sound and approached. Miss Jin and Gang Munsu originally had a bad relationship, frequently getting into fights with each other. My heart pounded with anxiety, fearing that trouble would break out because of me.

“What is it. What’s all the loud noise about?”

“This fucking bitch must have gone crazy for money. She’s saying she’ll go herself to a place where a request came in for another kid.”

A request. It seemed Gimun had ultimately requested me specifically. With what I had heard from Miss Jin on my mind, my heart grew heavy. I thought a series of big and small strokes of luck would continue, but it seemed to have ended with that forty thousand won. Gang Munsu stepped forward, pushing his massive body right in front of Miss Jin.