Chapter 25
\\\\\
Distributed by Agit Novel (formerly Agitoon Novel).
Enjoy it conveniently in real-time on the web.
http:https://novelagit.xyz
\\\\\
Episode 25. Roly-poly toy
========
“Ahem.”
He picked up the remote control from the desk in one corner of the studio apartment and turned on the TV. The announcer’s voice from the morning news broke the silence.
“I should watch the news in the morning. That way, I can know the weather…”
He wasn’t the type to sit and watch the news even if forced. Still, he felt like he had to pretend to watch.
Beep, beep, beep. The microwave’s alarm sounded. Taeseo walked over to the microwave, took out the tteokgalbi, and brought the side dishes from the refrigerator to the dining table.
He pushed the single remaining piece of tteokgalbi towards Yuna. Then, Yuna pushed the plate of tteokgalbi Taeseo had pushed towards her back to the center.
“I’m fine.”
“You eat it.”
“There’s only one left. You have it.”
“No thanks.”
“Then let’s split it.”
“I said no. You need to eat meat for your wounds to heal faster.”
Seeing that she wouldn’t listen after one mention, Taeseo added something he didn’t think she’d be curious about.
“I never eat the same side dish more than once per meal.”
Ahn Yuna looked at him as if asking if such a person existed in the world, then nodded as if agreeing. Only then did she take her hand off the plate in front of her and leave it as it was.
The two began to eat in silence.
The side dishes prepared by the Seongwoo Baekban owner suited Taeseo’s taste, but since he had to practice his rule of not eating the same side dish more than once per meal, he only ate the doenjang-guk and hobakjeon that Ahn Yuna had made.
Every time Taeseo reached for the hobakjeon, Ahn Yuna would glance at the tip of his chopsticks and then cautiously ask,
“Um… how is it?”
“How is it?”
Taeseo tilted his head at the question about its taste.
Was there really a taste to doenjang-guk and hobakjeon?
Hobakjeon was eaten for the taste of zucchini, and doenjang-guk for the taste of soybean paste, wasn’t it?
When Taeseo looked at Yuna with an uncomprehending gaze, her expression fell.
“It’s… not good?”
Only then did Taeseo realize that Ahn Yuna was waiting for a specific answer from him.
“No, it’s delicious.”
His thought that hobakjeon tasted like zucchini and doenjang-guk tasted like soybean paste hadn’t changed, but words different from his thoughts came out. A look of relief appeared on Ahn Yuna’s face.
Seeing Ahn Yuna relieved, it felt worth saying a white lie.
Taeseo picked up the hobakjeon in front of him, put it in his mouth, and chewed. Ahn Yuna’s gaze followed the tip of his chopsticks, landing on Taeseo’s lips before falling away.
“When do they take the stitches out?”
“I can go to the hospital in three days.”
“Isn’t that too soon? It’s a woman’s face.”
“Whether it’s a woman’s face or a man’s face, they take the stitches out after a week.”
Yuna seemed unaware of how pretty her face was.
Seo Jia, whom Taeseo had dated, would visit dermatologists as if they were her second home for even a single pimple.
Therefore, Yuna’s composure despite a wound deep enough to require stitches was bound to feel strange.
“They said it might leave a scar?”
“Wouldn’t it, probably?”
“What kind of girl talks about scars so casually?”
Then, Yuna flipped over the arm holding her chopsticks. On the inside of her elbow, a scar about 3cm long remained. The scar, looking like a stitched wound, was raised.
“I have a lot of scars like that, so it’s fine.”
“What’s that scar from?”
“An old injury.”
Once again, Ahn Yuna spoke nonchalantly and resumed eating, and Taeseo’s mind recalled what the Seongwoo Baekban owner had said.
‘In the past, she’d break her arm and cause trouble all the time. Now that Yuna brings in money, they leave her limbs alone, but if she were to strip her bare, there wouldn’t be a single uninjured spot.’
That scar might also have been caused by Ahn Yuna’s uncle. The thought made him curious about how she got injured.
Even though he knew Ahn Yuna wouldn’t welcome questions about scars, his mouth moved first.
“Did you break your arm?”
“It wasn’t a break, it was a torn wound.”
“Were you stabbed with a knife?”
“I fell and injured myself.”
Ahn Yuna’s denial only solidified Taeseo’s suspicion. If you fall and get injured, you’d hurt your elbow, not the inside of your elbow, right?
Taeseo’s gaze fell on Yuna’s arm holding the chopsticks. As she gripped and released the thin chopsticks, her slender wrist, which could be held in one hand, moved. Her fair skin showed blue veins beneath.
Ahn Yuna’s body was small and frail all over. Ahn Yuna’s uncle was also thin and small, but there’s an inherent difference between men and women.
He could vividly imagine how violence would be inflicted upon someone so delicate and weak, how flesh would be torn and bones broken, and for a moment, an indescribable murderous intent arose in Taeseo’s chest.
Taeseo suppressed the unfamiliar emotion and asked,
“Don’t you want to go to college or anything?”
“College?”
“Is it because you couldn’t study well?”
“I wasn’t bad at it.”
Her casual tone suggested she wasn’t lying. Taeseo asked a question that seemed obvious.
“Then is it because you had to take care of your family?”
“College tuition isn’t the only expense. You need living expenses too, and where would that come from?”
“So you couldn’t go, not that you didn’t want to.”
“Yes. But I’m satisfied just living like this. If I work hard for about 5 or 6 years, I’ll pay off all the loans, and it won’t be too late to go to college then.”
Ahn Yuna was being optimistic, thinking things would be easier in 5 or 6 years, but having lived 8 years longer than her, Taeseo knew that at twenty, you have twenty-year-old worries, and at twenty-one, new anxieties arise.
It was obvious that Ahn Yuna, who was living with the worries of her entire household at just twenty, would face even greater troubles, but Taeseo couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Alright. When that time comes, live however you want.”
“That phrase sounds a bit odd?”
“Live as you please. You absolutely should.”
Perhaps she didn’t dislike the idea of living as she pleased, Yuna smiled faintly.
“Yes. I hope I can live like that.”
As the two were finishing their meal, a voice calling Yuna came through the open window. It seemed someone from the village, heading out for farm work early in the morning, had stopped by the convenience store.
Since the entire village knew each other, if the register was empty, people would leave money or a note for credit, and sometimes they’d call out like this to pay.
“Go on down.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t clean up. Thank you for the meal. I’ll take what I ate down with me and throw it away.”
Without even having time to finish the single disposable meal, Ahn Yuna plunged back into her life.
\ \ *
On a Sunday afternoon, Taeseo, having run out of cigarettes, entered the convenience store in his sweatpants.
He didn’t glance at the items on display and went straight to the counter, saying,
“Cigarettes.”
An Yunho, who was manning the counter, looked at Taeseo with narrowed eyes.
“If you smoke in the studio apartment, I’ll kick you out.”
“What kind of bullshit is that? There was no such clause when I signed the contract.”
“New studio apartments are all like that. Don’t smoke in the room.”
“New apartment, my ass. I know all the appliances inside are used.”
From his conversation with Yuna the other day, Taeseo knew the appliances in the studio apartment were from a used appliance store.
Though the items were as clean as new, looking again, the air conditioner, TV, and microwave were all products several years old.
Having a place filled with used items didn’t make a new studio apartment not new, but An Yunho fell silent in front of the assertive Taeseo.
Yunho took out cigarettes from the display and, picking up the card Taeseo had placed on the counter, said,
“As I said before, don’t use informal speech. It’s unpleasant to hear.”
He seemed to have a lot of pent-up resentment towards Taeseo, clenching his teeth with every word. Taeseo ignored that look and asked,
“Never mind that, where’s Ahn Yuna? Why are you working at the convenience store?”
“She went to do farm work.”
At the mention of farm work, Taeseo looked out the convenience store’s glass door. The sun had already risen high in the sky while he slept late on his day off. Heat shimmered from the asphalt heated by the sun.
Suddenly, he remembered Yuna’s unhealed wound on her forehead. Working under this scorching sun, sweat would inevitably get into the stitched wound.
It could cause inflammation or leave a scar…
“Stop overworking her. You’ve served in the military, aren’t you ashamed in front of the neighbors?”
“Mind your own business. Whether I overwork her or roast her.”
An Yunho tossed the cigarettes and card onto the counter. Taeseo picked them up and walked out of the convenience store.
As he opened the glass door and stepped outside, the hot summer air, heated to a boil, filled his lungs. The weather was so hot it was a burden to even breathe. It was stifling just standing there.
“It’s like Africa. It’s just like Africa.”
Standing in front of the convenience store, he put a cigarette to his lips and lit it when he saw Ahn Yuna walking in the distance, sweat pouring down her face.
“Why is she walking in this blazing sun again?”
Her face, visible beneath the wide-brimmed hat, was bright red. Taeseo exhaled a sigh along with the cigarette smoke.
“Such an idiot…”
Ahn Yuna wouldn’t survive even if she had three bodies.
If she had three bodies, it was as clear as day that her family would send Ahn Yuna 1 to the convenience store, Ahn Yuna 2 to do housework, and Ahn Yuna 3 to the factory.
When their eyes met, Yuna gave a slight bow of greeting, but Taeseo didn’t return it.
An Yunho was pressed against the convenience store glass, watching outside. The previous time, he had told his grandmother that Ahn Yuna had arrived in Taeseo’s car, which led to Yuna getting hit.
Remembering that incident, Taeseo didn’t even glance at Ahn Yuna.
He tapped the cigarette ash into an ashtray and took another puff. The convenience store glass door opened with a chime, and An Yunho shot out like an arrow.
A bus was approaching from one end of the road. An Yunho, having taken off his convenience store uniform as if he had somewhere to go, was dressed more carefully than usual.
As he passed Ahn Yuna, An Yunho said,
“I took 100,000 won from the safe.”
Then, Ahn Yuna, who had been walking listlessly, was startled and ran after An Yunho.
“Oppa! You can’t take that.”
“I’ll put it back on Monday.”
“I said you can’t.”
Ahn Yuna finally grabbed An Yunho by the collar. Meanwhile, the bus was approaching the road near the convenience store.
An Yunho, annoyed, tried to shake off Ahn Yuna’s arm, but even while being cursed at, Ahn Yuna didn’t loosen her grip.
An Yunho’s shirt hem, tucked into his pants, came out. The neatly ironed shirt was crumpled messily in Ahn Yuna’s hand.
“Hey, you son of a bitch, let go.”
“Give me the money.”
“I’ll put it back! I said I’ll put it back!”
“You’ve never put the money back. The electricity bill will be deducted on Monday. How can you take bits and pieces when you know how high the electricity bill is?”
An Yunho anxiously watched the bus that had stopped on the road in front of the convenience store. Two elderly people were getting off the bus one after another from the rear door.
The movement of the elderly people, supporting themselves with their hands on their knees as they got off, was slow, but the bus would leave soon. An Yunho grabbed Ahn Yuna by the collar and threw her to the ground.
Taeseo threw the cigarette butt in his hand onto the ground. He started to run to grab An Yunho by the collar, but Ahn Yuna stood up like a roly-poly toy and lunged at An Yunho.
“You took my wages the other day!”
