Midday Guest Chapter 9

His ears perked up at the word “check me in.” If he could get even a small amount, he would be able to send money to Kim Sunwoo. Plus, the man didn’t seem like the type to throw punches randomly or browbeat people.

‘I came to catch that guy.’

The man said he came to catch Kim Sunwoo. If he could live without constantly walking on eggshells around Kim Sunwoo….

Somehow, he felt that if he borrowed this man’s hand, things might turn out that way. He figured he could just treat him as a guest and keep things at that level.

His deliberation didn’t last long.

“Which room should I prepare for you?”

“I can’t share a room with other people.”

The man’s voice became quite serious. Rooms were meant to be used alone, of course. Was this his first time at a guesthouse? Yiwon responded with a voice that was a bit kinder than before.

“You can pick whichever room you like and use it comfortably.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I’m taking all of them.”

This time, Yiwon’s eyes widened.

“All four rooms?”

“Why. Are they booked?”

“Ah, no. It’s not that, but…”

“Good then. Is this it? The room rate?”

The man held out his phone. 100,000 won per night. Since there were four rooms, that was 400,000 won a day…. Yiwon swallowed hard and asked.

“How many days will you be staying?”

“I don’t know that yet.”

“You have to give me at least an estimate so I can give you the rooms.”

The man put his phone in his pocket and said.

“Then just make it a month.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t you know what a month is? 30 days.”

…A month would be 12 million won.

His heart pounded as if it would burst. It was the first time since opening Haeundang that he had made this kind of revenue during the off-season. Even including the peak season, it was rare for all rooms to be booked out. He was stunned. The words wouldn’t come out easily.

“…Oh.”

“What now. Ah, is it prepay?”

As if he were too annoyed to speak any further, the man called out his subordinate’s name, “Taesik,” and went into the guest room.

☼

Last night, he had to keep waking up and falling back asleep.

It was because the lightheartedness of having solved his money problems and the anxiety of having someone who chased people down as if to kill them sleeping in the next room were fighting each other.

Vrrr, the phone he had placed by his head vibrated. He fumbled with his hand to check the screen.

Kim Sunwoo

+:+Deposit/Confirmed+:+ Make sure you prepare in advance So that next month we can see each other With smiling faces.

It was a message that arrived after he sent the overdue interest and the back payment. Once he confirmed the amount, Kim Sunwoo became as quiet as if nothing had happened.

If the promised amount isn’t deposited on the promised date, a debt collector comes instead of a message. They call themselves debt collectors, but in reality, what they do is closer to being gangsters.

At least four, as many as six. Breaking the house with wooden clubs and iron pipes was the first warning; beating a person to a pulp was the second warning.

Those who couldn’t endure it gave up what they had and left. Houses, shops, cars. The only chicken shop that used to be in Yonggung-ri closed down this way. The hair salon next to it, too.

Even rural land is still land, and house prices had risen quite a lot over the last few years. They were still rising. At this rate, giving Haeundang over to Kim Sunwoo didn’t make financial sense.

After all the ways he had held out until now.

He couldn’t let someone else reap the benefits after he had done all the hard work. Yiwon planned to hold out no matter what to receive the redevelopment compensation, and to do that, he decided to endure the man in the guest room.

Tossing and turning, unable to sleep at all, Yiwon decided to start his day a little early and pulled himself out of bed. He pushed the topper to one side of the room and spread the blanket wide to cover it, finishing the bedding arrangement.

After finishing his shower, Yiwon took two hangers out of the closet. Should he wear a long-sleeved shirt or a short-sleeved T-shirt? After thinking for a moment, he decided to wear short sleeves. The unsightly bruises had faded a lot now, and since the man already knew about his physical condition, he felt there was no need to go out of his way to hide them.

When he stepped outside, the door to the guest room was tightly shut.

It was his first time receiving such a guest, but also his first time having a long-term resident. Let’s not give him anything to nitpick. However, when morning came and he tried to serve breakfast, he found himself in quite a bind.

Most people in Yonggung-ri cook and eat at home. Even if you go out to the place they call “downtown,” there aren’t many suitable places to eat out.

If it were just the village next door, they might sell bread, but in Yonggung-ri, that was still difficult.

He couldn’t serve leftovers from yesterday.

It wasn’t the time or the environment to order delivery food, either.

Staring at the kitchen and worrying, Yiwon decided to head out to the town center.

The street was busy with movements preparing for morning business. Mr. Kim from the supermarket was just opening his doors, and Mr. Oh from the local food market seemed frantic displaying the freshly arrived vegetables.

Looking around, he decided to visit the relatively quiet mill first.

“Hello.”

Mr. Park at the mill didn’t answer. He had his nose buried in his phone, doing something intensely. The sight reminded him exactly of Mr. Kim at the supermarket.

Unlike then, today the screen was visible. On the palm-sized screen, cards fanned out with a shloop, and not long after, the granary of Mr. Park’s character was completely emptied.

[All, in. A-all, in!]

The mocking voice was somehow not even irritating. Mr. Park buried his face in the phone and pressed buttons frantically.

[100 million, 1 billion, 10 billion. Bonus Jackpot Winner!]

Yiwon called out to him again.

“Mister, hello.”

“Huh?”

Mr. Park reacted as if he only just realized Yiwon was there. It was impossible to tell if he had been there for a while and was only now acknowledging him, or if he really didn’t know because he was playing the game.

“What brings you here so early in the morning?”

“I want to buy a bottle of sesame oil.”

“Chinese?”

“Please give me the domestic one.”

“Domestic is ten thousand won more expensive. Thirty-three thousand won. If you pay in cash, I’ll give it to you for thirty thousand.”

“Here you go.”

Yiwon took thirty thousand won out of his pocket and handed it over. Mr. Park, having confirmed the money by rubbing it between his fingers, grabbed a bottle sitting on the lower shelf.

Transparent caps on the top shelf, red caps on the lower shelf.

The sesame oil on the lower shelf was Chinese.

“Mister, the domestic one.”

“Eh?”

“I gave you thirty thousand won.”

“Oh my, look at my mind.”

A disgruntled expression flickered past. The son of Mr. Park from the mill was the village youth president, and the youth president had once confessed to Yiwon in high school only to be flatly rejected. The youth president was male, and two years older than Yiwon.

Anyway, because the youth president had gotten drunk and cried and wailed that he was dying while confessing, the village was turned upside down, and Mr. Park had to be carried to the emergency room clutching the back of his neck.

Yiwon didn’t have even a hair’s worth of interest in the youth president. It goes without saying that he didn’t behave in a way that could be misunderstood. However, separate from that, after being subjected to the “confession attack,” Yiwon became something like a public enemy in this village.

Lately, territorial bullying had emerged. Ever since Yiwon began operating Haeundang, petty harassment started to continue openly.

Complaints poured in, saying they couldn’t walk on the road because of the cars guests had parked, that they couldn’t sleep a wink because it was noisy all night, or that trash was flying everywhere.

Parking was done in the parking lot, there were no guests who made noise all night, and there were certainly no guests who threw trash just anywhere.

It was unfair treatment, but since he had nowhere else to go, he couldn’t speak up. In the end, what Yiwon chose was the side of living by moderately going along with things.

“What’s with you. You’ve been living like a real cheapskate, checking every single price.”

“It’s for a guest.”

Mr. Park wrapped the sesame oil bottle in newspaper and handed it over.

“Still, I guess guests are coming and going there even now.”

“Not many, just every now and then.”

“I seeee.”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Mr. Park grabbed his phone and started spinning the cards. He didn’t seem to care about the screen, which had become greasy from being touched by sesame oil.

“Thank you. Goodbye.”

“Yeah.”

Yiwon bowed to the person who didn’t even acknowledge him and left the mill. He bought some chives, tofu, and stew meat before returning to Haeundang. It was 7:00 AM.

Yiwon, having set the groceries he bought in the morning down by the outdoor tap, brought out a few baskets from the kitchen.

Tap water poured out in a torrent from the blue water hose attached to the faucet that stuck out next to the flower bed nestled snugly in the yard.

Because it was an old house, if he prepared ingredients covered in dirt in the kitchen, the drain would often get clogged and cause trouble. So usually, sitting in the yard and trimming ingredients was his routine.

He squatted on the ground and began trimming the ingredients. He washed the chives and put them in a red basket, then washed a green onion and an onion together and set them on top. Once the smooth things soaked up the water, they took on quite a fresh color.

Dice the ones for the stew, cut the chives for seasoning only once. Just as he was moving busily with his “level 9 bachelor” hands and turned around, the man who had decided to stay at the guesthouse was leaning against the doorway, glaring at Yiwon. Yiwon was truly startled by that movement, which made no sound at all.

“Don’t you ever sleep?”

“Did you sleep well?”