Midday Guest Chapter 15

“Farm work. You mean gardening.”

“This or that, it’s all the same.”

Yiwon let out a faint smile as he listened to Shin Heeyoung’s nagging. He then applied the ointment and pressed the bandage down firmly. As he pressed it a couple of times with force, the memory of Cha Seokjoo’s touch as he rubbed the area near his neck came back to him. He even remembered those characteristically cool eyes, cast downward to examine the wound.

Shaking off the thought, he lifted his head. Today, his reflection in the mirror felt strangely unfamiliar; the yellow water-duck floating on his white face had somehow lost its way and was drifting about.

After leaving the bathhouse, he walked through the downtown area of Yonggung-ri with Shin Heeyoung. The streets were quiet, and the shops had already begun preparing to close for the day.

Yiwon’s gaze shifted toward the small restaurant across the street. Through the gap of the half-open door, he could see the place filled with men in dress shirts. On the forearms of those bulky figures, who had rolled up their sleeves in the hot weather, were dense, colorful tattoos.

What made Yiwon flinch and stare seemed like nothing at all to the elderly owner of the restaurant. The elder accepted money from someone with a nonchalant expression.

It was Cha Seokjoo. Even in front of a shabby checkout counter, he emitted an aura so distinct that Yiwon had no choice but to recognize him instantly. His eyes kept gravitating toward that body held with a loose tension and the face that sat so poised in contrast.

Shin Heeyoung, interpreting Yiwon’s captured gaze in his own way, tilted his head and asked.

“Want to have a drink?”

“You said you have a walking test.”

“A little bit is fine.”

“Are you going to starve yourself again then?”

“How did you know.”

“It’s obvious.”

“Let’s just eat first. I’m hungry.”

While being dragged along by Shin Heeyoung, Yiwon stole a glance at the restaurant. The sound of a foot stepping down rang out loudly as someone steadied their body after losing balance. Hearing that, he locked eyes with Cha Seokjoo, who was coming outside with his staff.

Yiwon sent a light nod. Cha Seokjoo continued to gaze at Yiwon from where he stood. Since it wasn’t a situation where he could really say anything more, Yiwon approached the restaurant with his mouth shut.

At that, Cha Seokjoo’s gaze shifted to Shin Heeyoung. Only then did Shin Heeyoung seem to recognize Cha Seokjoo, letting out an “Oh” sound.

Yiwon worried that Shin Heeyoung might grab hold of Cha Seokjoo and say something ridiculous, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Regardless, Shin Heeyoung entered the restaurant, and Cha Seokjoo moved toward the outside. Because the door was narrow, they had to twist their bodies to pass each other.

“Excuse me.”

Cha Seokjoo’s voice rang out low. It flew and lodged itself so clearly in the ear of Yiwon, who was following behind Shin Heeyoung.

Yiwon slowly raised his head.

“…”

His eyes met Cha Seokjoo’s again, who was already looking down at him. Because the distance was excessively close, he became acutely conscious of it. When Yiwon flinched and stepped back, Cha Seokjoo supported the small of his back so he wouldn’t bump into the doorpost.

“Be careful. You’ll fall.”

“…Ah, thank you.”

The hand touching his waist lightly patted Yiwon’s back and moved away. The simple touch vanished in an instant, but Yiwon remained hovering in the same spot.

He lowered his head and then looked up to see Cha Seokjoo’s gaze fixed on the bandage. He left behind a faint, barely visible smile and stepped outside.

Suddenly, the spot where the bandage was attached felt hot.

As soon as they sat in their chairs, Shin Heeyoung hunched over the table and let out a long breath.

“Wow…”

Shin Heeyoung, glancing outside, spoke while gripping the utensil container.

“That man, he’s the one currently staying at Haeundang, right?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s even more intense seeing him up close. What is with that aura? It’s crazyyy.”

“… .”

“Hey, just get him into bed already.”

Yiwon cut Shin Heeyoung off by placing a cup of cold water down with a clack.

“Soju? Beer?”

“Both.”

“Boss.”

Yiwon placed the order. One surf clam soup with its excellent milky broth, one seasoned octopus dish, and one flatfish rice bowl. These were the menus they always ordered when the two of them ate at this restaurant.

Ignoring the pouring questions, he mixed somaek one after another. Shin Heeyoung’s curiosity was soon quelled, but the person who had surfaced in Yiwon’s mind refused to disappear.

He felt sorry for Shin Heeyoung, but Yiwon could hardly focus on the drinking session. His gaze kept wandering toward the aluminum sliding door of the restaurant. The afterimage remaining from the moment he brushed past Cha Seokjoo kept appearing in his head.

When his gaze, scanning the empty street, was reflected in the glass of the sliding door, Yiwon flinched in surprise and turned his head. It felt as if he had come face to face with a strange foreigner.

“Why, is someone outside?”

Only then did he realize his slip and looked at Shin Heeyoung.

“No, just…”

As soon as Shin Heeyoung put his arms on the table and looked outside, rain poured from the sky. Drip, patter. It took only a moment for the one or two falling raindrops to turn into a torrential downpour like a waterfall.

“I was thinking about how we didn’t bring an umbrella.”

“We can just drink until it stops. Why do you have such useless worries.”

Listening to Shin Heeyoung’s mumbling, Yiwon pulled his gaze back to the table. Seeing Shin Heeyoung tearing off the cap of the second soju bottle, he ended up letting out a laugh. Shin Heeyoung’s eyes, as he shouted for them to pour and drink, were already completely unfocused.

Only then did their usual conversation resume. Listening to stories about incidents at Shin Heeyoung’s agency and happenings caused by jealousy and envy, Yiwon put his lips to his glass.

The two of them drank somaek in succession. The golden ratio Shin Heeyoung said he’d learned somewhere had a truly remarkably smooth taste, so he couldn’t help himself. There was also the fact that drinking with a friend he hadn’t seen in a long time made him feel even more relaxed.

They cleared the table while listening to the sound of the rain. They wanted to have one more drink, but they had to leave because the elderly owner said it was time to go in and rest. By then, the pouring rain had reached a temporary lull.

“Ah, it feels like we got cut off right in the middle.”

Shin Heeyoung showed his disappointment. Yiwon’s mood wasn’t much different. After a moment of thought, he nudged Shin Heeyoung with his shoulder and spoke.

“Round two at my place? I can at least make some vegetable pancakes.”

“You said you have a guest. Is it okay?”

“He said he’d be back late. He might not even come back.”

“Let’s go right now.”

Shin Heeyoung moved with staggering steps. They bought two bottles each of beer and soju at the supermarket and headed toward Haeundang. The drunk Shin Heeyoung was generous with his laughter.

“Hey, walking like this with you reminds me of the old days.”

“Back then, we didn’t drink alcohol, we drank banana milk.”

“True.”

Around the time they were walking along the road sharing trivial stories, a police car passed by them with its siren blaring.

The pleasant intoxication that had been swirling around vanished in an instant.

“Gosh, that startled me.”

“… .”

“Isn’t that crazy?”

He pushed Shin Heeyoung, who was jumping back near the roadside, toward the inside and fixed his gaze in the direction the police car was racing. Behind the police car was an ambulance as well.

There were cases where they patrolled from the police station or practiced dispatching from the fire station, but it was rare for them to drive at such a high speed with sirens wailing.

Shin Heeyoung squinted and muttered.

“…What’s that. Was there an accident?”

“I don’t know, I’m not sure either…”

Yiwon and Shin Heeyoung’s gazes moved to the place where the police car and ambulance had stopped. The mill was surrounded by yellow police line.

“Coming through for a moment.”

“Please step back, you cannot enter the scene.”

The ambulance door opened and a stretcher was unfolded. The paramedics immediately ran toward the scene secured by the police. The stretcher, rolling with a rattle sound, stopped in front of the mill.

The village people craned their necks to look inside the mill.

“Is it for real?”

“Yeah, they say the village foreman went to buy rice and fainted right on the spot.”

“What is all this, how could something like this happen in our neighborhood.”

Just then, the mill door opened and a person covered in white cloth was carried out. Behind the wife of Mister Park from the mill, a red rope tied to a rafter was swaying.

“Did somethin’ happen to Park?”

“…Well, there was somethin’ a bit botherin’.”

“What is it.”

“I don’t know if it’s ‘cause of this or not.”

“Just tell us first. We’ll listen.”

“Actually, Park mentioned somethin’ about money to me not long ago. I was debatin’ it ‘cause the amount was quite big, and right then my son came home from work and heard it and was dead set against it… Tsk. Lookin’ back, my heart felt a bit uneasy so I did give him a little somethin’ to use when things got urgent. But now that it’s turned out like this, my heart feels complicated.”

“To you too?”

“What. He asked you too?”

“Goodness, I didn’t know the situation was that urgent.”

“Did anyone know. But it’s strange. He was a person who never spent a penny wastefully his whole life…”

“Who knows. A person’s circumstances.”

The people of Yonggung-ri each added a word while looking into the mill. While stories whose truth or falsehood could not be determined spread far and wide, the ambulance moved away, emitting its lights.

For a short while after that, Yiwon stared blankly at the mill.

Only someone who has been chased by money would know that feeling. Yiwon quietly lowered his head at a situation that he somehow seemed to understand. Praying that Mister Park from the mill would find peace in the next world.

“Officer Yoon, close the door and preserve the scene.”

“Yes, Chief.”

The officer, called by the chief, grabbed the sliding door of the mill. However, the old and worn-out door was stuck in the frame and wouldn’t budge.