Place to Be Chapter 46

“I didn’t expect to run into you in a place like this. What brings you here?”

“The same goes for you, Mr. Wigeon… Is that gentleman someone you know?”

As Seo Chiyoung hesitated and gestured with his head toward the direction the Superintendent had gone, Jang Wigeon let out a casual laugh.

“He’s a junior colleague cherished by a very close friend of my father’s… sounds a bit strange put like that. He visits our house occasionally, so I’ve met him a few times. Today, since I was in the neighborhood, I came by to give him my regards and we’re just getting back from having a meal.”

“To be honest, since the location for my shop around here was finally decided, I’ve got a bit of a hidden agenda as well,” Jang Wigeon added, shrugging his shoulders somewhat playfully. Seo Chiyoung nodded, saying, “I see.”

He was momentarily confused about which part to react to first. But soon, his thoughts leaned toward the part about “a shop around here.” I see. Then, does that mean I’ll be able to run into him quite often coming and going from now on?

To Seo Chiyoung, who was lost in thought with a heart subtly swelling, Jang Wigeon tilted his head curiously. “By the way.”

“What are you doing here, Mr. Chiyoung?”

“Pardon? Ah…”

Seo Chiyoung, who had been dazed for a moment, became instantly flustered. As he faltered, unable to quickly think of an excuse, Jang Wigeon looked at the inspector standing beside him, seemingly finding Seo Chiyoung’s behavior strange. When their eyes met, Jang Wigeon greeted him first with a pleasant smile, “Hello.” The inspector also replied stiffly, “Ah, yes, hello.” Then, the inspector opened his mouth with quick wit before even being asked.

“Mr. Seo Chiyoung came to file a report because his shop was burglarized, but it seems he met his friend here just in time.”

“He’s a classmate, not a friend…” Seo Chiyoung added, feeling pointlessly uncomfortable, but Jang Wigeon, who frowned slightly, focused on a different part than that.

“Burglarized? When? How much?”

Jang Wigeon looked Seo Chiyoung over carefully from head to toe. Then, as if giving up on hearing more of an answer from Seo Chiyoung, who was glossing over it by saying it was nothing much, he turned completely to the inspector.

“It seems a thief broke in when he stepped away from the shop for a moment around two or three in the morning the day before yesterday…”

Hearing the inspector’s reply, Jang Wigeon fell silent. For a moment, he silently stared at Seo Chiyoung, who was scratching the back of his neck and awkwardly averting his gaze, before speaking in a low, rebuking tone.

“So that’s when the thief broke in.”

“…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“…Just… because it wasn’t a big deal. You would’ve just worried for nothing…”

Jang Wigeon, who watched Seo Chiyoung silently as he stuttered out excuses, let out a displeased sigh and asked.

“What’s the amount of the loss?”

Seo Chiyoung merely rolled his eyes while hesitating, and only after Jang Wigeon called his name in a more stern voice, “Mr. Chiyoung,” did he mutter almost inaudibly, “420,000 won…”

He hadn’t wanted to tell him. If he had intended to tell him, he would have said it last night. But if Jang Wigeon found out a thief broke in while he was away because of them, he would surely feel guilty and offer to compensate him, and Seo Chiyoung didn’t want to receive money from him. Even now, though he had spoken because he was caught by bad luck, he vowed in his heart that he would not accept compensation from him.

“420,000 won,” Jang Wigeon muttered, and his expression softened. Just as he seemed relieved, as if thinking if it’s that much, he suddenly fell silent again. After appearing lost in thought for a few seconds, he asked while observing Seo Chiyoung’s expression.

“…Is that, by any chance, a lot of money?”

Needless to say, it was a lot of money. But for Jang Wigeon, it was an amount that warranted the phrase “by any chance,” and that was exactly why Seo Chiyoung couldn’t answer. It was because it seemed like the man would take that amount out and press it into Seo Chiyoung’s hand right this second.

However, even without Seo Chiyoung answering, Jang Wigeon, who had been scanning every inch of his expression, seemed to have figured out the answer soon enough. Including why Seo Chiyoung wasn’t answering.

“…Will your household finances be okay this month?”

At Jang Wigeon’s cautious question after a moment’s hesitation, Seo Chiyoung nodded with a flushed face. That much is fine. There is money saved up, and he can just be a bit more frugal.

Jang Wigeon looked down at Seo Chiyoung and let out a heavy sigh.

“I think it’s something I should rightfully take responsibility for, but even if I were to compensate you for that money, you wouldn’t accept it, would you, Mr. Chiyoung?”

“…Because it’s not something you should take responsibility for, Mr. Wigeon.”

It was his own responsibility for not properly locking the shop door. If Seo Chiyoung had tried to lock the door properly then, Jang Wigeon would have certainly waited those few dozen seconds, and it was he himself who had thoughtlessly assumed it would be fine since it was just for a moment.

Seeing Seo Chiyoung shake his head firmly, Jang Wigeon had a face that said he expected as much. Seo Chiyoung stole a glance up at Jang Wigeon, who was looking at him with a complicated expression.

Just as Seo Chiyoung considered it his own responsibility, Jang Wigeon surely considered it his own fault as well. Seo Chiyoung didn’t think it was Jang Wigeon’s fault at all, but as he observed the man’s troubled expression, he cautiously offered an alternative in his own way.

“…Then, please come often. Come to the shop often to eat. So business goes well.”

Only after saying that did he think that this might be an even more burdensome request. Yet, on the other hand, it was something he blurted out impulsively, but he thought it would be wonderful if it happened.

Even now, the man tended to come relatively often, but customers are such that it’s never strange for them to stop visiting at any time. He might lose his taste for gopchang starting this very day, or he might get busy and not be able to come.

Jang Wigeon stared fixedly at Seo Chiyoung, who looked momentarily flustered after speaking and subtly dropped his gaze, as if he had heard something unexpected. Suddenly, he burst into a low laugh.

“Alright. Let’s do that. I’ll come by every day like I’m punching a time clock and eat 10 servings at a time.”

“10 servings… then in a week…”

Seo Chiyoung, who had unconsciously done the math in his head and muttered with a bit of regret, “Is that all it comes to?”, only realized the words were a joke after hearing Jang Wigeon’s laughter grow louder.

“Why are you calculating that so seriously? I don’t really have the confidence to eat 10 servings in one sitting. Besides, it’ll be hard to go every day. I’ll get busy as I start preparing for the shop in earnest soon.”

Come to think of it, he had said earlier that the location for the shop had been decided.

“Uh… then are you returning to the company?”

“Not officially, but soon. Well, I haven’t exactly been playing around comfortably until now either…. But since I’ll have to keep coming and going from this neighborhood for a while anyway, I’ll stop by often even if it’s not every day.”

Jang Wigeon’s words didn’t seem like common flattery, so Seo Chiyoung nodded happily. Only after nodding quickly three or four times did he see Jang Wigeon turn his head slightly and laugh, and Seo Chiyoung stopped moving, puzzled.

“I think this sometimes, but just when I think I have no idea what you’re thinking, Mr. Chiyoung, your thoughts show so clearly on your face… No, it’s nothing.”

Jang Wigeon finished his sentence with a wave of his hand and laughed for a while after that. As if a thought had occurred to him, that laughter slowly faded. After being lost in thought for a moment, his voice became a bit lower as he added, “And.”

“Regarding this incident as well, if you ever find yourself short on money that you need urgently right away, I can help you out to some extent. So…”

Jang Wigeon closed his mouth mid-sentence. Whether he knew from looking at Seo Chiyoung’s face that he wouldn’t do so, he gave a bitter smile.

“So, if you’re ever in a hurry, don’t borrow from dangerous places.”

“Yes,” Seo Chiyoung nodded. He had already experienced poignantly what happens when you borrow money from dangerous places by the time he finished high school. But he also knows that there are situations where one has no choice but to borrow from such places even while knowing full well they are dangerous.

Jang Wigeon, who had been silent while watching Seo Chiyoung nod mutely, opened his mouth as if to conclude the conversation there, “Alright then.” He suddenly looked down at his watch and asked curiously.

“By the way, Mr. Chiyoung, aren’t you opening the shop today?”

“Pardon?…!”