Winter Season Chapter 66

Seunghyeok took his eyes off Yihyeon, who was standing there with a fierce glint in his eyes, without a single lingering regret and roughly yanked open the metal drawer beneath his desk. What he pulled out carelessly was a stack of cash—dozens of fifty-thousand-won bills—loosely held together with a rubber band.

“Take it.”

Seunghyeok tossed the bundle of money toward the front of the table where Yihyeon was standing. The stack of bills lightly clipped Yihyeon’s shin before falling to the floor. Yihyeon’s gaze slowly shifted downward. Seunghyeok, tilting his head crookedly, continued.

“Don’t worry about the promissory note; I’ve already torn it up. Consider that as your service fee.”

“…”

“You took drugs and even spread your legs to provide some service, so it is only right that I show at least this much sincerity from my end.”

Yihyeon, his eyes fixed on the bills dropped on the floor, slowly parted his lips and swept the inside of his cheek with his tongue.

While it was true that meeting people and heading to bed had been frequent and easy, Yihyeon had never once received anything in exchange during that process.

That small, simple principle was his minimum conviction and the basis of his pride. Since it wasn’t the truth, he had always thought there was no need to react to every single provocation of that sort.

But strangely, today of all days, every single word of Seunghyeok’s seemed to pierce him like a sharp dagger. Could it be that he had been thinking, even for a moment, that Gu Seunghyeok might show a different reaction than usual when they met today? Just because they had shared their bodies once like an accident due to the tangled circumstances?

Yihyeon slowly bent his waist and picked up the bundle of money that had fallen. No matter what he might have been thinking subconsciously, he hadn’t come all this way to be treated like this. His feet, which had been fixed to the floor as if rooted, moved slowly toward Seunghyeok.

“…”

Seunghyeok was staring quietly down at Yihyeon as he approached with a face frozen expressionless. Yihyeon was the one who had been insulted, yet Seunghyeok was the one looking as if he were the angry one. Stopping in front of Seunghyeok, Yihyeon spoke slowly.

“I am sorry you couldn’t find the item, but I wasn’t the one who told Gu Jinhyeok.”

“…”

“And I should return this.”

Yihyeon, looking down with an indifferent face at the bundle of bills he was holding, soon pulled back one side of Seunghyeok’s jacket and shoved the money into the inner pocket. Then, staring straight at Seunghyeok, who was looking down at him with an expressionless face, he whispered quietly.

“Since this is your service fee.”

“…Ha.”

Seunghyeok let out a hollow laugh a beat late, the sound of breath escaping him. He touched his jaw and mouth with an expression as if he’d been caught off guard. Yihyeon let go of the jacket he was holding, took a step back, and then turned around without a hint of regret.

Until he reached the office door and gripped the handle, not a single sound was heard from behind him. Yihyeon, pausing for a moment while facing the door, spoke.

“Since the debt is paid, we have no more business with each other.”

“…”

“If possible, let’s not see each other again.”

The door opened with a click. Yihyeon stepped out without delay, but at the end of his footsteps heading outside, there was a trace of hesitation that even he hadn’t realized.

“Have you ever worked at a convenience store before?”

“For about a year and a half.”

“Then that makes things easy. Good, start coming in next week.”

Yihyeon, who had been sitting in the back room of the convenience store fiddling with his fingers, gave a silent nod at the manager’s answer. He had used up all his resume papers, so he was in a position where he’d have to buy new ones if he failed this time; it was a relief that a positive answer came back.

After exchanging numbers with the convenience store manager and saying goodbye to the part-timer who was working, a biting wind brushed past his pale cheeks as he stepped out. Yihyeon buried his face in the scarf he was wearing and moved his feet quickly.

The past few days, which he’d spent in constant anxiety wondering if Gu Jinhyeok would contact him or if he would show up in front of his house, were so peaceful it made his worries seem ridiculous.

He had returned to a life not much different from before: looking for part-time jobs during the day and going to work at the bar he’d started at recently at night.

A plain, dry life where he didn’t have to face men in black suits with bodies bloated with fat and muscle, and where he didn’t have to lie to deceive anyone.

An old, worn-out multi-family villa instead of a high-rise officetel with a dizzying view of the Seoul city nightscape. Those were the things that truly suited him.

Looking back, it had only been a deviation of a few weeks, but it felt as if months had passed. To think that walking down the street in broad daylight wearing a comfortable knit and a coat—instead of a suffocating suit that constricted his body—would feel foreign. Yihyeon let out a quiet, mocking laugh at the absurd thought.

“Hello.”

When he pushed through the cold wind, climbed the narrow stairs, and opened the door, the bar—not yet open—greeted Yihyeon. The person pushing a mop while wearing black pants and a white shirt was Haewon, who had been working here for two years.

Haewon, who lifted his head at the sound of the greeting from the entrance, softened his eyes upon discovering Yihyeon.

“Oh, Yihyeon, you’re here? You’re early.”

“The convenience store interview ended early.”

“Really? How did it go?”

“I’m supposed to start next week.”

Haewon followed behind Yihyeon as he headed to the staff room, unwrapping the scratchy scarf he was wearing. Yihyeon, who took off his coat and hung it on a hanger installed on one side, tilted his head at Haewon, who was leaning against the doorframe.

“Is there something you want to say?”

Even as he took off his knit and straightened the white shirt he was wearing underneath, Haewon was still staring at Yihyeon with a strange expression. Unable to ignore it any longer, Yihyeon stopped moving and turned his head, and Haewon spoke with a mysterious face.

“So, about yesterday. Did you get home okay?”

Yesterday? Ah… yesterday.

“That man used to come maybe once a week, but lately I felt like he’s been showing up often for some reason. He’s the most decent out of all the customers we’ve had recently. So, well, was there any progress?”

Haewon narrowed his eyes and poked Yihyeon’s forearm with a sly grin. Yihyeon pressed his lips together, lowered his eyes, and organized the knit he had taken off.

“It’s nothing like that. We just said our goodbyes in front of the shop and parted ways.”

“Eh? Seriously? Why? Is that type not for you, Yihyeon? He was tall and his face was manly; he was quite sexy.”

The man Haewon was talking about was a customer who had left the bar with Yihyeon yesterday after closing. He had been drinking in front of Yihyeon on the first day he started working here, and he used to show up at the bar about every other day.

The man, who had sat at the bar table sipping his whiskey every time he came, had stayed in his seat until closing time yesterday and followed behind Yihyeon as he left work.

The man had pulled out a cigarette in front of the shop and offered Yihyeon a light, then proposed they have one more drink together.

There was no major reason why Yihyeon, who had been deliberating for a moment while exhaling a mix of breath and cigarette smoke, shook his head. While the man wasn’t bad as a one-night stand, he just didn’t want to do it.

“Just because. I’m not in a position to have the leeway to meet anyone yet.”

Yihyeon, who set the neatly folded knit in a corner, gave a slight nod in front of the door. Haewon, his eyebrows curving as if disappointed, stepped aside and followed closely behind Yihyeon as he headed into the hall.

“Then the next time that customer comes, can I take him? He was totally my type.”

“Yes.”

“You should also tell me quietly if you see a decent customer while working. You need at least that kind of joy while doing this job, don’t you think?”

Yihyeon smiled faintly and picked up the mop Haewon had set down. As he pushed the mop with force, a long water trail remained on the black tile floor before immediately disappearing. Yihyeon, having rolled up his shirt sleeves, adjusted his grip on the mop handle.

For an hour or two after opening, there were almost no customers, but as soon as the dinner hour passed, seats began to fill up one by one. The two men sitting at a table and clinging to each other were busy whispering something in each other’s ears even when Yihyeon set down their appetizer. With an indifferent face, Yihyeon gave a small nod, returned immediately, and dipped his hands into the running water.

As he lifted his head while wiping his hands on a towel, the image of that man from yesterday entering the entrance suddenly caught his eye. When he nudged Haewon’s side, Haewon quickly set down the dish he was washing.

Haewon looked at the man with a bright smile, but the man took a seat directly in front of Yihyeon, who was taking a lemon out of the refrigerator.