Midday Guest Chapter 48

A sigh escaped my lips involuntarily. Even though he had been making silly remarks to lighten the mood, it was clear that the incident with Park Junseo had pricked his nerves.

I hoped it wouldn’t last long. It felt as though I wouldn’t be able to set foot near the bathhouse for the time being.

Rubbing the nape of my neck, I headed toward the room. It was summer, and there were no marks from being hit by Kim Sunwoo, but I had no choice but to pick out a long-sleeved linen shirt to wear.

I left the sleeves unrolled to the elbows and opened only a single button. That was the limit. I checked my reflection in the mirror several times. I even checked my back, something I never usually bothered with. Whether it was good luck or bad, all the marks Cha Seokjoo had left behind were located in places that could be covered by clothes.

Having finished getting ready to go out, I dragged my slippers toward the laundry shop.

The laundry shop owner asked as soon as he saw me.

“The suit?”

“Yes.”

“Go look over there. I hung it up.”

Hanging on the rack the owner pointed to was Cha Seokjoo’s suit, encased in a plastic cover. Fortunately, the food stains had come out well, and the cleaning seemed to have been done without any issues.

“Clean, isn’t it?”

“Yes, thank you.”

I paid with the fifty-thousand-won bill I had received from Cha Seokjoo. I left a polite greeting and stepped out of the laundry shop.

I walked along, listening to the plastic rustling in the summer wind. With a hanger in one hand, I used the other hand to create a shade over my forehead.

It was a day where the sunlight beat down ferociously.

It really is hot today, too. I was lost in meaningless thoughts like, It’s summer, so of course it’s hot, but how can I feel it’s brand-new hot every single year?—when suddenly,

“…!”

Startled, I stepped down into the roadway. Park Junseo was standing under a telephone pole a few paces away. He was making a clicking sound with a thick, sharp utility knife.

“…Sunbae?”

“You’re calling me that again.”

“You startled me.”

“Sorry. I was just watching because I was glad to see you, and before I knew it…”

He had his usual smiling face, but the feeling was strangely different. Click-clack, click. The sound of him flicking the utility knife was adding to the strange atmosphere.

“Where are you headed?”

“The laundry shop… I was on my way back.”

Park Junseo’s gaze turned toward the suit held in my arms. His heavily sunken complexion took on an incomprehensibly dark shade.

“That guest’s clothes?”

“Yes.”

“I guess you drop off laundry for them and pick it up too.”

“Sometimes, when it’s needed.”

Click-clack. The sound rang out again. I wanted to avoid this spot. I didn’t know why I kept feeling this way, but the thought persisted.

“Sunbae, about yesterday…”

“It’s okay. I didn’t know you had an appointment with a guest. If I had known, I wouldn’t have just barged in.”

“…I’d be grateful if you’d say so.”

“It looked like you were working hard.”

It was just as I was trying to wrap up the conversation with a moderate smile. Park Junseo suddenly asked a question about Cha Seokjoo.

“Do you two know each other? You looked close.”

“It’s not that we knew each other. It’s because he’s a long-term guest. He’s been staying at Haeundang for a while.”

I answered briefly and let the words flow past, but at that answer, Park Junseo let out an “Ah” and his expression softened. I couldn’t tell exactly which part made his mood improve, but I was relieved it seemed a bit better.

“What about you, sunbae?”

“Me?”

“Yes, I was wondering where you were headed…”

Park Junseo retracted the utility knife and put it in his pocket. He shrugged his shoulders, showing the art supply tube and the bundle of flyers he was holding in both hands.

“As you can see, I’m working a part-time job.”

“…Ah.”

The thick tape hanging on his wrist also caught my eye. So it was because of this. The strangely lingering tension vanished, and my nerves went limp with relief.

“It’s hard because the weather is so hot.”

Park Junseo’s forehead and hair were a mess with sweat. It was bound to be that way, wandering around under the scorching sun at this time of the afternoon.

If it were someone with no experience, that would be one thing… but he was born and raised in Yonggung-ri and knew full well that one shouldn’t work in the middle of the day, so why was he working so hard? I pretended not to notice the sweat trickling down Park Junseo’s temple and continued speaking.

“It’s dangerous to work at this hour. You might collapse.”

“I almost wish I would.”

Park Junseo’s gaze, as he murmured something incomprehensible, landed on the collar of my shirt.

“Thanks for worrying about me.”

“No. It’s just, it’s hard if you get heatstroke…”

“Yeah.”

Chirp, chir-ree. The cicadas cried as if to tear my ears apart. Park Junseo’s hand went into his pocket. He was now staring intently at my lips.

“It’s hot, so head on in. I wouldn’t want you to collapse too.”

“Aren’t you going, sunbae?”

“I have work to finish.”

“…Ah, okay.”

“See you again.”

Park Junseo turned his back. I walked past him toward the direction of Cha Seokjoo’s office. Under the telephone pole, Park Junseo bowed his head and was tearing off a finger-length piece of tape to stick it onto his arm.

A person who never worked even a single part-time job as a student… doing a flyer job?

The stories the villagers had been whispering about came back to me belatedly.

Did they say the mill was tied up in loans?

If so, it wasn’t something I couldn’t understand. I had heard somewhere that if you study abroad in America, you can easily spend 100 million won a year.

In Korea, there’s a saying that “one must at least get a diploma,” and Park Junseo was currently attending university in America. I didn’t know how many semesters he had left, but a simple calculation of the money spent so far would easily reach the hundreds of millions.

On such a hot day…

He probably couldn’t even feel the heat. There was a time when I lived like that too. A period when I lived without knowing it was hot even when it was hot, and without knowing it was cold even when it was cold.

This house, or that house.

Life truly wasn’t easy.

A summer breeze blew through, caressing Park Junseo’s slumped shoulders as it passed. The heavy wind felt exactly like a sigh from the late Mister Park from the mill. It would be unfair enough that he closed his eyes unintentionally because of Kim Sunwoo, but looking at Park Junseo now, I had a thought that he might not be able to leave this world in peace.

The suffering at the hands of Kim Sunwoo was the same for Mister Park and me, but the fact that our two houses ended up with such different results made me feel a sense of debt.

I had intended to go to the office, but I changed direction and headed for the supermarket. It seemed I should pay for the cup of coffee I was treated to in front of the laundry shop.

I bought a few drinks at the supermarket.

I walked with a cup of coffee with a straw in it in each hand. Even though I had moved quickly, Park Junseo was nowhere to be seen. Since he had to walk while sticking up flyers, he couldn’t have gone far. I moved my feet while checking the side paths branching off to the left and right.

“…Has he already gone?”

Even if you call it downtown, the main street was only about a block long. It was the afternoon, when the sun beat down so hard it made the crown of my head sting. Not a single soul was to be seen in the city, and the shops that were open had their doors tightly shut to keep the air conditioning in.

If I had known, I should have at least said he was working hard. I didn’t feel good. I walked along with heavy steps, not even thinking of drinking the beverage in my hand. While lost in thought for a moment, I arrived near the building where Cha Seokjoo’s office was located.

“…Oh.”

My eyes went to a person stuck close to a telephone pole. The person I had been trying to find while searching every nook and cranny of the obvious Yonggung-ri downtown was standing there, looking up at the sky.

Park Junseo stood there for a long time like someone possessed.

Standing there as if he had lost his soul, Park Junseo pulled out a flyer from his side.

He peeled off a piece of the tape he had stuck all over his arm, attached it to the corner of the B4-sized printout, and pressed it firmly onto the telephone pole. His hands were quite fast, perhaps because he had already done it many times.

I approached Park Junseo with slow steps.

By the time I was close enough that he would recognize me if I just crossed the street and raised my voice slightly, Park Junseo’s appearance became even clearer.

“Sunbae.”

“…Huh?”

Park Junseo turned away from the telephone pole and looked at me. He was staring at me with wide eyes, like someone truly surprised.

After a moment of hesitation, I held out the cup of coffee, saying, “Here.”

“I bought some coffee. I thought it would be good to take a break while you work since it’s so hot. It’s not much, but since I was treated to one last time…”

“…Are you giving this to me?”

“Yes.”

“Ah….”

Park Junseo took the drink. He had a look on his face as if he were deeply moved by something. I was glad he seemed to like it. Though it was unexpected that he seemed to like it quite so excessively.

“I’ll—I’ll enjoy it. My throat was getting dry anyway.”

Park Junseo put a hand to the back of his head and laughed.

“It would be nice to have it together. Why is it so hard to even have a cup of tea with you?”

A cup of tea is no big deal. I looked around and nodded toward a nearby spot. In front of a closed shop, I saw a ledge built to about ankle height. It was so low it was practically non-existent, but it was better than sitting on the ground.

“Would you like to sit there for a moment?”

“Sha—shall we?”

I sat on the ground first, and soon after, Park Junseo sat down right beside me. His excited movements froze stiffly when he saw the items I had set down.

“……”

There was the laundry plastic cover draped calmly over my lap, and right next to it on the ground was an open black plastic bag filled with various drinks, including the cup coffee.