Chapter 19
Chapter 19. The Double 'S'
========
“No, if you’re asking for a refund now……”
“What the fuck, I pay 30 [thousand won] each to rent two rooms. Huh, I get yelled at by a drunk old man, the air conditioner smells, do I, uh, have to live like this in a place like this? Huh?”
As Taeseo yelled at the top of his lungs, Ahn Yuna’s uncle tried to add something but shut his mouth tightly, leaving only Ahn Yuna flustered and unable to do anything.
“No, but right now……”
“Fuck, then come and check the air conditioner right now! Hurry up and check it, huh?”
“I’ll check it right away, right away.”
At Taeseo’s harsh words, Ahn Yuna passed her uncle and headed toward the building. Taeseo followed her for a moment, then stopped and spat on the ground.
“No, fuck. If the air conditioner doesn’t work, fuck, I’ll pack my bags and leave right now.”
He wasn’t usually one to speak so crudely, but Taeseo spoke even more gruffly, as if to make sure Ahn Yuna’s uncle could hear him.
Today, the swear words containing the double 's' sound just rolled off his tongue.
“There are plenty of dormitories at the construction site in Namgyeong, I’d rather sleep there, fuck.”
Ahn Yuna’s uncle put his hands in his pockets and couldn’t say anything to Taeseo, who walked away swaggering.
Feeling his presence, who couldn’t even retort while puffing with anger, Taeseo’s lips curled upwards.
\ \ *
Ahn Yuna entered Taeseo’s room with a deathly pale face and examined the air conditioner.
Her heart must have sunk, wondering where she could scrape up the money to fix the air conditioner, given her circumstances.
She picked up the remote, repeatedly turning the wall-mounted air conditioner on and off, then angled the vents towards her face and sniffed.
Ahn Yuna’s hair, tied back in a ponytail, was disheveled by the air conditioner’s breeze, with stray hairs fluttering around.
Her cheeks, flushed red from rushing to the convenience store right after work, cooled in the frigid air.
He wanted to keep her in front of the cold air, even for a moment. He wanted to watch Ahn Yuna standing in front of the air conditioner a little longer.
After standing in front of the air conditioner for about three minutes, Ahn Yuna tilted her head.
“I’ve been sniffing it, but I don’t think there’s any smell.”
Taeseo, who was about to tell her the air conditioner wasn’t broken, changed his mind when he saw her.
“What are you talking about? The smell is so bad. Your nose is the one that’s weird.”
“Is it?”
Ahn Yuna stood there for a long time, feeling the air conditioner’s breeze, then pulled over a dining chair. Standing on the chair in front of the wall-mounted unit, she opened the cover of the main body and checked the filter.
“The filter looks clean too……”
It was time to end the charade. Taeseo spoke from behind her, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Actually… the air conditioner is fine.”
“What?”
“It doesn’t smell, and the air conditioner is working properly.”
Ahn Yuna turned to Taeseo with a look of incomprehension.
“You said it was broken earlier……”
Taeseo, who was about to retort by asking if she wanted him to get hit, closed his mouth.
It would look bad, like he was boasting about saving her, and besides, he was the one who would be handing over a large sum of money to Ahn Yuna’s uncle anyway.
He was thinking of leaving this dreary rural town, not by paying the paltry sum of 600,000 won a month, but by calculating the land price at 1 million won per pyeong for 400 pyeongs and handing that money over to Ahn Yuna’s uncle.
He didn’t want to deceive Ahn Yuna by giving the impression he was looking out for her.
Ahn Yuna, who had been staring intently at Taeseo, soon figured out the answer.
“Ah… you were trying to save me, weren’t you? Because Grandpa was going to hit me……”
Ahn Yuna’s shoulders slumped as she stepped down from the chair she was standing on. Then, looking exhausted, she plopped down onto the chair. She seemed relieved to see that the air conditioner wasn’t broken.
It was absurd to see her trembling at the thought of the cost to fix a broken air conditioner, even though she was working two jobs and renting out a studio. Taeseo teased her.
“You’re sitting in someone else’s room without permission?”
“I’ll just sit here for a moment. I’m so relieved to see the air conditioner is fine. I’ll just sit for a bit and then leave.”
Ahn Yuna, having concluded that Taeseo had saved her from her uncle, had a much more relaxed expression.
Sitting on the chair, she blinked her eyes and looked at the dining table behind Taeseo.
“It looks like you were about to have dinner.”
“Yeah. I was on my way out to buy some instant meals.”
“Oh, right. More importantly, I didn’t pay you for the hospital visit yesterday. How much is it? I’ll transfer it right away.”
As Yuna took out her phone to transfer the hospital fees, Taeseo said,
“Don’t worry about the money. Just bring me a couple of meals later.”
The treatment cost only a little over 20,000 won, so it felt awkward to insist on taking it. To him, 20,000 won was practically pocket change, an amount he could forget about as a good deed.
“How much could those instant meals cost? The hospital bill must have been more.”
“I said it’s fine. Just bring me the meals.”
Despite this, Ahn Yuna stubbornly held her phone. Taeseo changed the subject.
“By the way, what if that filter smells? Do you replace the filter?”
Yuna turned her head and looked at the wall-mounted air conditioner where Taeseo’s gaze was directed.
“You can buy a new one and replace it. But these are filters that can be cleaned and reused. Usually, you take out the filter, scrub it with a brush, dry it, and put it back in.”
“Really? Then rest here for as long as it takes to clean the filter.”
“No, I don’t need to… I have to go to work at the convenience store.”
“If you don’t listen, I’ll really cancel the refund and evict you, so stay for a bit.”
Taeseo left Ahn Yuna in the room. He went straight down to the convenience store on the first floor, picked up two instant meals, a spicy ramen, tuna, and a strawberry-flavored soda, and headed to the counter.
An Yunho was working the counter. He stood there with a sullen expression, annoyed that Yuna hadn’t come straight to the convenience store and had gone up to the second floor instead.
“Checkout.”
At Taeseo’s words, An Yunho looked at him with displeasure.
“I said, checkout.”
“Ah, seriously. Do you know me? Why do you keep using informal speech every time I see you?”
“Don’t you know the customer is king?”
“That’s for proper customers, not obnoxious ones like you.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Ah, I’m twenty-eight. Age before beauty, as they say. Since I’m older, I’ll speak informally. Got it? We’re on first-name terms now.”
“Ha. Whatever.”
An Yunho was being prickly, but Taeseo had initially planned to keep Yuna there briefly and send her away. However, seeing him scan the items with a displeased look, Taeseo changed his mind and decided to keep Ahn Yuna there for as long as possible.
“Give me a plastic bag, too.”
“Ah, fuck, I already swiped your card… Sir, you usually ask for things like that before paying.”
“Ahn Yuna gets them for free.”
“That’s because she’s breaking the law.”
“Then report Ahn Yuna.”
An Yunho, looking incredulous, took out a plastic bag and charged for it separately.
Taeseo’s lips curled to one side as he took the card An Yunho handed him and gestured towards the items on the counter.
“Pack them.”
An Yunho’s composure finally broke.
“Ah, fuck. You’re really something else.”
“If you swear at a customer, I’ll report you to headquarters?”
“Ha, seriously, wow, seriously. Whatever, ah, fuck.”
An Yunho muttered curses, barely audible, as he packed the items into the plastic bag.
“Hey.”
As Taeseo watched him, smirking, An Yunho’s father, Ahn Yuna’s uncle, hesitantly approached him.
“What is it?”
“I’m the owner of this building.”
The building owner was Ahn Yuna’s grandmother. When he checked the contract, the owner’s name was Kim Kkotnim. Yet, he was claiming to be the owner.
Some people believe everything their parents own is theirs, and Ahn Yuna’s uncle was one of them. A smirk appeared on Taeseo’s face.
Given his personality, it would be as easy as pie to push him into selling the land in Namgyeong.
“I saw earlier that there seemed to be a problem with the air conditioner……”
He seemed curious about what kind of problem had arisen in a unit that generated income.
Taeseo, who had intended to keep Ahn Yuna on the second floor a little longer, replied nonchalantly.
“Wow, fuck, the air conditioner smelled so bad. Be grateful I’m not demanding a new one.”
Knowing he was someone who didn’t operate on common sense, Taeseo put on a big show for him. Even so, Ahn Yuna’s uncle didn’t seem particularly displeased.
“About the air conditioner, well, that…”
He seemed to have something specific to say to Taeseo.
“What is it?”
“I think it would be better if the rent from now on was paid through our son here, rather than through Yuna. The rent… you pay in cash, right?”
Just as he expected, Taeseo responded indifferently.
“Why would you need your son to be the intermediary?”
This was an opportunity.
“The rent is due in ten days, so come and collect it directly.”
The negotiating party had come to him, extending his hand.
“I’ll have the rent ready in cash. Oh, and if you have a business card, give me one.”
The man’s face lit up at Taeseo’s words about having the rent ready in cash.
“Yes, I’d be very grateful if you did. By the way, I don’t have a business card…”
“Then on rent day, I’ll contact you through your son here. 600,000 won isn’t pocket change, so I should deliver it in person.”
“You’re really going to give me the rent…?”
Watching him, who seemed willing to give up his liver and kidneys for 600,000 won, Taeseo smiled brightly, unlike before.
“I don’t find seeing people fight over money pleasant either. Honestly, I’d like to pack my bags and leave right now…”
At the mention of packing his bags and leaving, the man waved his hands in the air as if to dissuade Taeseo.
“I didn’t consider the tenant living here. I’ll be more considerate from now on, so please contact me on the 15th of next month, okay?”
With this, Ahn Yuna’s uncle would no longer threaten or lay hands on Ahn Yuna. Moreover, he had established a way to contact the negotiating party, making it a win-win.
“Yes, well. I’ll do that.”
“Oh, thank you. Thank you.”
He bowed repeatedly to Taeseo, then went to the beverage refrigerator, took out a bottle of soju, and left the convenience store.
In the meantime, An Yunho packed Taeseo’s purchases into a plastic bag and handed it over.
Taeseo took the plastic bag and left the convenience store, uttering a double 's' curse word with all his might.
“Ah, fuck, anyway, that air conditioner. Ah, fuck, I don’t know if washing the filter will get rid of the smell.”
This was to prevent An Yunho from rushing Ahn Yuna to come down.
“Ah, fuck……”
As he tried to string together consecutive double 's' sounds, his lips twitched.
Taeseo pressed his trembling lips with his hand and stepped onto the stairs leading to the second floor.
