I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 30
Hyunjin’s ears were tickling. The quiet sound of Jaewoo’s voice was so pleasant that he didn’t want it to stop. So he walked home with the phone still pressed to his ear.
Hyunjin saw the blue gate in the distance. When he arrived outside the gate and listened, Jaewoo’s voice became even clearer. It seemed like Jaewoo was sitting on the floor by the entrance while he spoke on the phone. It was cold out; he should be in his warm room. Hyunjin quickly passed through the gate and went inside.
“Hyunjin!”
Jaewoo, who was holding a white phone to his ear, smiled and waved his hand.
“I’m home.”
Only then did Hyunjin put down his phone.
“You were so close?”
“Yes.”
After answering, Hyunjin felt a bit of belated embarrassment. He’d only just hung up the phone call, and he quickly tried to change the subject in the hopes that Jaewoo wouldn’t realize how much he had wanted to hear his voice.
“You haven’t eaten dinner yet, right? I’ll make you some porridge.”
“Sure? Oh, I already fed the kids, by the way.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me for something like that.”
Hyunjin took off his jacket, washed his hands thoroughly, and entered the kitchen. He debated what sort of porridge he should make. After thinking about it, he decided to try making vegetable porridge1. Hyunjin finely diced the vegetables, then stir-fried them. He added a handful of rice and some water, then let it boil. Once it was bubbling, he seasoned it lightly with salt, and that was it. Although the recipe was simple, it turned out quite tasty.
Jaewoo let out an exclamation as Hyunjin carried the entire pot in and placed it on the table.
“Wow, it looks delicious!”
Jaewoo picked up his spoon and took a bite of the still hot and steaming porridge. The seasoning was bland, but he liked the taste of the vegetables. While eating the porridge that Hyunjin had cooked, Jaewoo glanced at him.
Since he had been living like an unemployed person all this time, Hyunjin would get suspicious if he suddenly started leaving the house all day for no reason. So he needed to come up with some sort of excuse. Once his bowl was half-empty, Jaewoo put down his spoon and cleared his throat.
“I’ve got some good news.”
“Good news?”
Hyunjin, who was sitting across from him and eating, asked Jaewoo.
“I’ve found a job, so I’m going to start working too.”
“A job? I thought you said you had a lot of money.”
“No, it’s not that. I’m not a kid anymore, I can’t just play around forever.”
Good, he hadn’t sounded suspicious.
“That’s great.”
Fortunately, Hyunjin seemed to believe him. However, Jaewoo was a little nervous about the following question.
“Where do you work?”
Oh, right. ‘There’s this crazy guy who says that if I come and work for him, he’ll reduce your debt by half, so I agreed.’ Jaewoo could never tell Hyunjin that. His throat suddenly felt dry, so he picked up his water glass and took a gulp. After finishing, he finally felt ready to reply.
“It’s the supermarket that’s further away. I won’t be a cashier, I’ll be stocking shelves.”
“Which supermarket?”
“Um, if you keep going down the hill, it’s the bigger supermarket there.”
“Ullim Mart?”
“Yeah.”
Jaewoo tried his best to answer as naturally as possible. Fortunately, Hyunjin didn’t ask anything more, so he guessed his story passed. Jaewoo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After he finished eating the porridge, he took his prescribed medicine. He felt better after going to the emergency room, but with Hyunjin watching him like a hawk, he couldn’t avoid it. After taking his medicine, they all lay down.
“When do you start working?”
“Tomorrow.”
“How long is your shift?”
Hyunjin sounded concerned. Only then did Jaewoo remember his promise to feed them and spoke urgently.
“It’s the usual working hours. And don’t worry about the kids’ food. I’ve prepared all the side dishes, so all you have to do is take them out and add some rice.”
“No, that’s not…”
Hyunjin said those words but then shut his mouth again. It was only after a long time that he opened it again.
“It’s because I’m worried.”
“What? You’re worried that I skimped on the kids’ food?”
“Not that part, the other one.”
“The other one?”
“Hyung, have you ever worked before?”
Hyunjin was worried about that? Jaewoo fiddled with the blanket for some reason. Certainly, the original Jaewoo may have been a guy who had never worked a day in his life, but this Jaewoo was different. Before he’d started working as a freelance writer, he’d had a decent social life and was physically fit.
“I understand what you’re worried about, but it’s okay. I know I’ll be good at the job, even if I look like this.”
“Okay…”
Hyunjin trailed off, as if he didn’t believe him.
“Really!”
“I believe you.”
Jaewoo didn’t think that he believed it.He glanced at Hyunjin lying next to him as he spoke again.
“Be careful not to get hurt while working. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
He was saying all this because he was worried, so what could Jaewoo do?
“Thank you for your concern.”
In the end, all he could do was laugh quietly.
After the night, morning came, as it always did. Yet today, Jaewoo found himself disliking that fact. Hyunjin had already gone to work and the children were at school. Jaewoo, who had been procrastinating for a while, finally looked at his watch and sighed.
“I shouldn’t be late.”
After all, what if Mujin tried to kill him because he was a few minutes late? It was better to stay safe. Right, safe… Jaewoo got up, took a 5 minute shower, and dressed neatly. Then, he went to the kitchen and took out his secret weapon, which he’d stored in an airtight container overnight.
‘Just in case.’
He’d do his best for his first day, but if it didn’t work out and he needed to quit, this was his trump card. Jaewoo packed some small ingredients in his bag and headed out the front door. He usually walked everywhere, but today he was going to need to take the bus.
Looking at the address, it wasn’t that close. After all, the neighborhood around here was all pretty cheap, so there’re no fancy apartments that would be suitable for a main top to buy. Jaewoo went down the slope, boarded the bus, and waited for it to reach the stop. After that, he got off and saw that the scenery was entirely different from the neighborhood around his house.
It was a street where you could see tall buildings and people in suits walking around. After walking for a little while longer, he could see his destination.
‘I’m exhausted just from this little bit of walking.’
Jaewoo took a deep breath and stepped forward. As he approached the entrance, a security guard appeared from nowhere and blocked his way.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t pass through without permission.”
“I’m looking for room 1606, Mr. Choi Mujin.”
“Please wait a moment. I’ll check.”
Confirmation was completed quickly. Jaewoo was guided to the lobby of the apartment building where Mujin lived and went inside.
‘This place sparkles both inside and out.’
Jaewoo had a suspicion that his best friend’s house had been like this. Maybe that’s why he wasn’t particularly intimidated. He got into the elevator and pressed the button to go up, and soon reached his destination.
Ding dong.
Jaewoo rang the bell, and the door opened shortly afterwards. The person who opened the door was a man he had never seen before.
“Who are you?”
Jaewoo stared at him blankly for a moment before asking the question. The expression on the man’s icy face changed slightly, as if he’d heard something absurd. But the really absurd thing was that Jaewoo was equally as surprised. He hadn’t expected that someone he’d never met would appear at Mujin’s house. He was even wondering if he had the wrong place, but when he checked the apartment number, he knew that he had found it correctly.
“Then who are you?”
“Oh!”
Jaewoo hesitated for a moment and then straightened his posture.
“My name is Seo Jaewoo.”
“Very well, please come in.”
The man guided him inside quite politely. As Jaewoo entered the house, he was hit with another sense of familiarity. It was a cold-looking space with only the bare minimum of furniture in neutral tones. Jaewoo knew of another house like this.
‘What’s wrong with your house?’
This was something he’d said out of shock on the first day he visited his friend’s house. It was supposed to be a place where people lived, but there was no sign of habitation at all. Jaewoo had bought a big, cozy-looking pink teddy bear and left it on the soft. His friend was horrified and complained every time he saw it, but he didn’t throw it away.
‘But I still can’t remember his name…’
Jaewoo frowned and thought for a moment, but nothing more came to mind. Well, it will come up again as time goes by. With that in mind, he put on his gray slippers and entered the living room.
“Welcome.”
Mujin, wearing a light black shirt, greeted Jaewoo.
“Hello.”
Jaewoo reluctantly returned the greeting and followed him to sit across from the sofa.
“You were supposed to sign the contract today, right? Dongsoo.”
As soon as Mujin finished speaking, the man next to him, Dongsoo, took out a document from a square black bag and placed it in front of Jaewoo. There was nothing special about the content. If Jaewoo worked here for a month, Hyunjin’s debt would be reduced by half.
“What happens if I change my mind partway through?”
The corners of Mujin’s mouth slightly turned up at Jaewoo’s question.
“Are you considering it?”
“It would be good to know.”
“Yoo Hyunjin. This young man’s debt will return to normal. That’s all.”
Was that really all it would be? Jaewoo looked suspicious. He knew that Mujin was not the sort of person who would be satisfied with just that. He was a man who dragged people down to hell and then laughed at them.
“Don’t believe me?”
Who would believe him? Jaewoo nodded his head with a nervous expression.
“Oh my, my, Jaewoo-ssi, have you always been the type of person who discriminates against others based on their occupation?”
He was a smooth-talker, as well.
“Yes, I’ll admit I’m a bit biased. So let’s add a few clauses.”
“Great. Of course. What would you like to add?”
In response to Mujin’s question, Jaewoo showed him several clauses that he had written down in advance.
Do not increase Hyunjin’s debt in any way from now on.
The smile disappeared from Mujin’s face when he saw that. When Jaewoo had thought about it, he knew that was how it would be. Even if they somehow halved his debt now, Mujin could always add to it in the future. After all, he was the one who had taken advantage of Hyunjin’s blood ties and inflated his debt to this point.
Mujin crossed his legs and rested his joined hands above them.
“What makes you think I would do something like that?”
Was he kidding? Considering Mujin’s usual behavior, wasn’t it natural to not have faith in him? Of course, Jaewoo couldn’t say that to his face.
“It’s just a precaution. What’s the harm? Of course I trust Director Choi.”
Did Jaewoo trust him? Very little. Still, he couldn’t make that obvious, so he spoke in a friendly voice. Of course, Mujin wouldn’t give in that easily.
Footnotes
야채죽 – vegetable congee or porridge. It’s a type of porridge made by boiling rice in a large amount of water, then adding vegetables. Wikipedia, Recipe
