GC Ch 19

“No, what do you mean fifty million? The money that was thirty-five million just three weeks ago! Are you joking?”

“Wh—what are you saying, this guy.”

Though flustered for a moment by my outburst, Kim Jeongsuk began to refute point by point.

“The principal is thirty-five million, and the interest had been steadily growing since before that. Having money ripped off was five months ago, so calculating at fifty percent monthly interest, it easily comes out to that much and more.”

“Fifty percent monthly? You never said anything like that! What do you mean fifty percent! If it’s fifty percent monthly, the interest alone is 600 percent a year. Does that make any sense?”

“How does it not make sense? If someone ran off with money, it’s only natural to calculate it according to the heart of the lender. Not just me, everyone collects it like that. And feeding you and housing you and doing everything for you, huh? Why don’t you count that? Isn’t all of that money? Am I running a volunteer organization with you?”

Kim Jeongsuk was Kim Jeongsuk. No matter how terrified she was, she was a woman who knew how to skillfully handle and hide those emotions. It was the moment when, unable to overcome her slickness, I was about to leap to my feet. A step faster than me, Boss Chu tossed out his words.

“So. Is that the excuse you used to snatch all the kid’s money away?”

“Wh—what did you say?”

Just as Kim Jeongsuk stammered and asked back, Boss Chu pulled out a cigarette from his chest pocket. Slowly pulling out the cigarette and clamping it in his mouth, he tossed his lighter to me. It was an order to give him a light. With trembling hands, I picked up the lighter, cupped both hands together, and brought it in front of his lips. The moment a flame caught and I lowered my hands, he blew out smoke. His long, slit eyes narrowed even longer. The bloodthirsty gaze exhaled from there soon shifted from me to Kim Jeongsuk.

“The money I left in this guy’s care. Did you take it all? I asked.”

Boss Chu spoke as he tapped the ashes into the glass cup he had put his lips to and drank from just a moment ago. At Boss Chu’s low voice, Kim Jeongsuk’s face returned to a terrified expression in an instant. Swallowing her saliva hard, Kim Jeongsuk barely answered in a trembling voice.

“T—to lower even the interest for him… I did it thinking of this kid….”

Unable to even properly finish her words, Kim Jeongsuk just broke out in a cold sweat. Boss Chu stared intently at Kim Jeongsuk, who wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Then, with a emotionless grin, he nodded his head.

“It seems you did that because he’s a kid you cherish like a nephew, but I’ll make a request nicely for the first and last time. Don’t do that from now on.”

“Th—then it’ll increase limitlessly…. Later on he won’t be able to handle the interest and it’ll only become harder for this kid.”

“It’s fine, so put it all on his tab in his name. No matter how much it swells up. Should I explain further?”

Kim Jeongsuk seemed surprised for a moment along with me, but soon nodded her head busily as if she understood.

“Yes, I understand. It’s not a difficult thing, so I’ll just do as ordered.”

“And Boss.”

Boss Chu, who had wrinkled the space between his brows severely, stopped mid-sentence and puffed heavily on his cigarette. Doing so two or three times, he dropped the cigarette into the glass cup where he had tapped the ashes and spat out phlegm. Dragging the sticky saliva down onto the ember, Boss Chu glared at Kim Jeongsuk.

“If a product has defects, what do you think will happen to it?”

“…Pardon?”

Boss Chu grabbed the glass cup where the cigarette and his saliva were tangled together, then suddenly overturned it onto the table with a loud noise. Holding the glass upside down like that, he spoke to the flinching Kim Jeongsuk.

“It all gets treated as scratched goods and can’t fetch its proper price. If that happens, whose heart would burn more?”

I didn’t understand, but Kim Jeongsuk caught on right away and answered. “Yes, I understand. Don’t worry about that either. I will never lay a hand on him again.”

At Kim Jeongsuk’s words, I could belatedly understand what Boss Chu meant by saying those words. He was threatening her not to lay a hand on me. That is, if she wanted to sell me to him for a proper price.

Suddenly, Boss Chu held out his palm and flicked it toward Jangbae sitting at the next table.

“Jangbae, give me your wallet.”

“Yes, hyung-nim. Here it is.”

From Jangbae’s hand to Boss Chu’s hand, the wallet was handed over. It was a plain, black men’s wallet. Even if it wasn’t as thick as Boss Chu’s, it was bulky with a lot inside.

Boss Chu opened the wallet and began pulling out the contents inside. Several cards, including his ID card, dropped onto the table with a thud. He didn’t touch a single bill of the thickly packed cash. I wondered what he was doing, but a moment later, the wallet was tossed to me.

“Carry it around. The stuff inside that is likewise all your pocket money and my goodwill.”

“Pardon?”

I asked in shock, but Boss Chu easily ignored my words and talked only to Kim Jeongsuk. “Look here.” Reaching out his arm, he wrapped it around my shoulder and pulled me violently toward his side. Boss Chu’s scent, which I couldn’t explain what kind of fragrance it was, attached itself roughly to me. Feeling his chin touch near my forehead and pull away, I heard a voice echoing above my head.

“This whole thing belongs to me. As a whole. You know what I mean, right?”

“…Yes.”

“If you understood, get up now.”

With a single hand gesture, Boss Chu made Kim Jeongsuk stand up and sent her away. Quickly disappearing, Kim Jeongsuk looked decently okay compared to when she was called over. Her light footsteps were the proof.

While watching Kim Jeongsuk disappear with my eyes, he untangled his arm and let me go. Then he pressed down hard on my chest with his index finger. Even though it shouldn’t show through a loose t-shirt, it was precisely the nipple area.

“You heard, right? This whole thing belongs to me.”

Just as I thought his hand was pulling away from my chest, it suddenly passed over to the back of my head and yanked me in hard. While I gasped in shock, Boss Chu’s face was placed right in front of mine in an instant.

“Me. Even if I like difficult things, I detest things I can’t solve to the end.”

“….”

“One time left. One time.”

“….”

“Keep it in mind.” Touching my cheek a couple of times with his other hand, he pushed me away and stood up from his seat. Barely standing up after him, I pressed against one side so he could step out. Suddenly, a man was caught in my field of vision. I don’t know when he had come, but Gang Munsu was sitting with his chin propped on the counter, staring intently over here. Having played cards all night, both of his eyes were hollow.

“I’m going.”

Boss Chu said as he brushed past me. The wallet held in my hand felt as heavy as a brick. Unable to overcome that weight, I slumped right back down onto the sofa.

The hulking guys swarming out of the shop following Boss Chu felt terrifying anew. The empty glasses they left behind were terrifying too. More than that, Chu Gio, who had personally come all the way here just to try eating someone like me once, was the most terrifying of all. What on earth had I done? As Gang Munsu said, were those dress shoes the cause?

“Fuck….”

As I slumped on the sofa letting out a hollow laugh, Gang Munsu approached in front of me. The bastard placed his hand on the crown of my head and gripped it tight. When I scowled and looked up, an unpleasant laugh fell onto my face.

“Must be full, you fucking bitch. From cracking open and eating so many pumpkin seeds.”

“Don’t talk bullshit, remove your hand, and get lost. It’s annoying even to deal with you.”

“Just because he said that, you think I can’t touch you?”

“Try it then.”

When I opened both eyes wide and glared at Gang Munsu, the bastard scowled crookedly and grabbed my hair hard. In an instant, Kim Jeongsuk bolted out from the kitchen and shrieked at Gang Munsu.

“Tone it down a bit! Can’t you tell seeing him come all the way here since morning! That crazy dog is sincere, sincere! Yesterday’s credit was all done on purpose too!”

Be that as it may, Gang Munsu didn’t loosen the strength in his hand, but bent his waist down to meet my eyes. Having overheard Boss Chu’s words in the meantime, the bastard looked at me and retorted to Kim Jeongsuk.

“Who says they don’t know? That’s why I’m greeting him, saying thank you. Since this is all money to be sold off, how could I not be thankful?”

Gang Munsu gently stroked the crown of my head and continued speaking.

“You stay attached here for just three more months. I’ll receive one hundred million for you and sell you off properly. Got it?”

∞ ∞ ∞

The current time was 9 PM. All the girls had left work, so the coffee shop was forced to close for business. I thought she would tell me to go on a delivery instead, but Kim Jeongsuk merely pulled down the coffee shop shutter without bringing up a single word. She was clearly walking on eggshells around Boss Chu.

Tomorrow, Sunday, was the coffee shop’s day off. However, there was no such thing as a day off for me. Because whether it was weekdays or weekends, running without distinction was the life of a debtor.