Hazardous Concentration Chapter 26

“Uh… what?”

Only after some time had passed did Eunhoo, who had finally recalled what Yeo Taejun had said, open his lips with a stammer.

“Ah, at [Desire]….”

“Not that.”

“Yes?”

Flinch.

Yeo Taejun, who had approached close to him before he knew it, crouched down in front of him. Eunhoo’s pupils rippled wildly like a rough wave at the gaze that had become close in an instant.

“Then what….”

Is this what it feels like to face a fierce beast right in front of one’s eyes? His body wouldn’t move. Breath leaked out of his lips with a wheezing sound. Yeo Taejun looked at Eunhoo’s face persistently and then chuckled.

“You’re still like a baby.”

A moment later, Eunhoo’s eyes opened wide.

∞ ∞ ∞

Even though he slept, his body didn’t feel refreshed. It was past 3:00 AM by the time he finished his part-time job that lasted until dawn. Unable to overcome the physical fatigue, Eunhoo fell asleep as if he had half-fainted.

“Ugh….”

He tossed and turned, suffering, before waking up with a start.

He had a nightmare. Eunhoo rolled his eyes anxiously for a while, unable to distinguish reality from the dream. It was the sound of the alarm that helped him escape from the nightmare that had unfolded endlessly. As soon as he realized it was a dream, Eunhoo felt relieved and swept his face with both hands. His hands were damp with cold sweat.

Eunhoo sat blankly in his spot until the second alarm rang. Then, following the habit he had formed, he stopped by the bathroom to wash his face and began preparing for work. As for preparation, all he had to do was get dressed. The clothes he wore yesterday were drenched in sweat and couldn’t be worn. He took them aside to wash and pulled out a new t-shirt and pants from his bag to put on.

By the time he finished, it was exactly 8:00 AM. Since it was only a one-minute walk from the accommodation to the workplace anyway, Eunhoo moved leisurely.

Entering the restaurant, as expected, no one had arrived yet. Eunhoo first opened the kitchen window for ventilation and took out a dishcloth from the sterilizer to wipe the cooking table. As he did so, it neared the time for others to arrive for work. The person who arrived after Eunhoo was the youngest, Eunseong.

“I’ll be in your care today, too!”

Eunhoo replied lightly to Eunseong’s energetic greeting and headed to the refrigerator containing the ingredients. Contrary to his worries, Eunhoo’s daily life hadn’t changed at all from before.

If he had to pick one thing that changed, it was the type of nightmare. In the past, the past he hated seeing the most repeated itself, but lately, the anxiety about what might happen in the future tormented Eunhoo.

Since the man who was the collector ended up in that state, he thought there would be a massive fallout. He trembled, wondering if the loan sharks would break down the door to his room today, or if he would get a call. Having done that so much, he now flinched at even spam texts.

The situation was not much different when going out. He couldn’t let his guard down, worried that they might suddenly break in and drag him away like that day. One day, feeling too anxious to bear, he went to visit that alley. Just like Yeo Taejun’s hint that there would be no problem, it had returned to its original state as if nothing had happened. Then, seeing the faint red marks left on the yellow wall, Eunhoo came to his senses as if splashed with cold water.

That incident wasn’t a dream.

Eunhoo became anxious again. So he overworked his body even more. He felt that without doing so, even a light sleep wouldn’t come. And without fail, he had nightmares. He must have repeated that for about a week. Only then did Eunhoo truly believe that nothing would happen. He was dumbfounded by that fact, yet relieved that it was fortunate.

“Joo Eunhoo, are you done cleaning the abalone?”

Since the quality of his sleep hadn’t been good for several days, his head felt dazed even after waking up. The fortunate thing was that his body aches had disappeared.

“Yes!”

When it came to cleaning, there wasn’t much to it. Scrubbing it well with a brush, separating the flesh from the shell, and removing the teeth at the end was all. Because it was fresh, it didn’t separate easily and required some strength, but it wasn’t that hard since it was simple work. It was a hundred times better than cleaning the octopus, which was the senior’s task.

The main dish for lunch at [Songnim] today was haesintang (seafood and chicken soup). It would be a while until Chobok (the start of the dog days of summer), but it was decided that way because good chicken and seafood came in from the place where the owner traded ingredients.

Eunhoo placed the cleanly cleaned abalone in a basket and held a paring knife to peel the garlic, but then he flinched.

His right middle finger had been throbbing since yesterday, and he could see that the area around it was red and swollen. It was the spot where a hangnail had formed and he had plucked it a few days ago. He thought it would cost more money if it got worse, so he went to the pharmacy, bought antibiotics, and took them, but it was no use. Until the morning, it had just been tightly swollen, but now it looked like it was soft and filled with pus. When he had this happen once before, it healed right away when he popped it with a needle used for bloodletting. But where would there be a bloodletting needle here? There weren’t even regular needles. He tried to roughly wrap a bandage around it and be careful, but it was of no use since he had to keep putting his hands in water.

Eunhoo had a dazed expression on his face while peeling the garlic stalks. Even though he told himself not to, his mind kept wandering to what happened with Yeo Taejun.

It was unbelievable that Yeo Taejun had remembered him completely. He had thought, of course, that he wouldn’t recognize him. But to think that he would recall it now, after 4 years had passed. Eunhoo was devastated by the fact that his ugly state of falling to the bottom and struggling had been discovered. Even though he tried not to, he couldn’t help but be conscious of the man named Yeo Taejun.

Just when he felt dizzy from the sudden situation, three men entered the alley. Two were wearing casual clothes, and the other one was in a suit. Before Eunhoo could be surprised and scream at the appearance of others, the man in the suit bowed respectfully toward Yeo Taejun.

‘Handle it cleanly without any repercussions.’

‘Do not worry.’

Then, the man in the suit handed over something square that fit in the palm of his hand from his pocket. Yeo Taejun took it as if it were natural and gave a slight nod toward Eunhoo.

‘Let’s go out of here for now.’

Eunhoo, who had been sitting down while holding his breath, agreed with those words. He didn’t want to be here for even a moment longer. As he was staggering to his feet, his legs gave out and he wobbled. As soon as Yeo Taejun, who was standing in front of him, grabbed his arm, Eunhoo recoiled and shook off his hand.

‘Ah….’

Unlike Eunhoo, who was surprised and frozen, Yeo Taejun only raised his eyebrows once and that was it.

Eunhoo, who finally stood up after putting strength into his legs, followed the man who was walking ahead. Just yesterday, his right ankle had been throbbing a bit, but now, perhaps because he was surprised by the tremendous events or because it had healed, it felt perfectly fine.

Following him, he could see a sedan parked at the entrance of the alley. It was a car he hadn’t seen earlier. Eunhoo bit his lip, confirming that Yeo Taejun being here was not a coincidence.

‘Get in.’

Yeo Taejun opened the passenger door. When Eunhoo stood hesitatingly, he gestured with his chin as if asking what he was doing.

‘Ah, I….’

He wanted to say he wanted to go back to the restaurant now. Since he had left without a word, he was worried, and he didn’t want to think about anything else anymore. But Yeo Taejun was not a pushover.

‘Shall I contact them to say you can’t go?’

‘Yes?’

‘You have a bad habit.’

He only frowned slightly, yet Eunhoo felt nervous for no reason.

‘I’m telling you, I don’t like saying things multiple times. It would be better for you to fix that habit starting now.’

It was absurd. However, the reason he couldn’t question him was because of the atmosphere that pressed down on his ability to breathe in an instant.

‘…’

Eunhoo, feeling suppressed, reluctantly got into the car, and the door closed with a thud.

Eunhoo clasped both hands together tightly. The moment the door closed, he felt trapped. He nibbled his lips in anxiety, and Yeo Taejun opened the driver’s door and sat down.

Why is he doing this? What kind of conversation is needed between us?

Is it because of what happened at [Desire]? But wasn’t that a mistake? At the time, he was so flustered that he didn’t have the mental capacity to think about anything else. Then, the next day, Eunhoo opened his phone and went, “Oh.” There were dozens of missed calls from the same number. It appeared that the designated driver service had also contacted him several times. He thought, “I caused such an accident yesterday, I’m going to get an earful.” But the person in charge reacted unexpectedly.