Rabbit Hole Chapter 15

By the time he got to work, Geumseo’s condition had worsened. Only then did it occur to him that he might actually be sick. But it was already too late. He was already at work, and there was no one to cover his shift. That was because the boss had thoroughly exploited Geumseo, who never got sick and was undeniably diligent.

That day, there were especially many people. It was chaos. Geumseo was the only one on the floor. Even as he ran back and forth, people kept calling out for a staff member nonstop. With no one else but Geumseo besides the person handling the register and relaying orders to the kitchen, he really had no choice but to run around like crazy.

And then it finally happened. He dropped the tray full of beer glasses. It was in an instant. Just for a very brief moment, he thought, I’m dizzy, and the floor seemed to sway like the surface of the water he had looked up at from below during the day. And then he fell right over.

“Hey, you—!”

The boss burst out of the kitchen. The boss raised his fist in the air out of sheer rage but then realized they were in front of customers and gritted his teeth to hold back.

“You… know this is all coming out of your hourly pay.”

The boss deducted not just the cost of the glasses but the price of the beer too, even at the menu price. In an instant, Geumseo’s daily wage was wiped out. With the help of the employee at the register, he cleaned the floor while simultaneously apologizing and taking orders.

“Geez, hyung. What’s with you today.”

The other employee, who always discreetly read the room, pushed all the dirty work onto Geumseo, and only did the easy jobs himself, poked him with an elbow and nagged. Geumseo’s head felt mushy like jelly and blank. Is it my fault…? It must be my fault…?

It wasn’t that long ago, but it was still about two years back. Yet today, for some reason, he kept remembering the time he’d frequently met with loan sharks. He’d bring them money every week. He’d done his best by his own standards, but they’d slap his face and press him, asking if this was his best. It kept repeating until he admitted he’d been lazy, that he’d tried to get away with it. After enough of that, it really starts to feel like your own fault. There were even times when saying it was his fault was easier and faster.

As if fleeing from those memories, Geumseo staggered over to the boss.

“Boss, I think I’m sick today, could I possibly leave early…?”

“Hey. Who’s going to cover the floor if you’re gone.”

A muttered bastard was tacked on quietly. Geumseo answered, Right you are, with a heh-heh laugh, but muttered Fuck to himself inside. Because he was sick, he’d gotten sensitive, and because he was sensitive, he was angry. Still, since he wasn’t Go San, he couldn’t curse in a place like this. Well, even so. If it were Go San, he wouldn’t even be working in the first place. Geumseo swallowed a sigh inwardly, blaming Go San for it. Strangely, he felt a little better. Now that there was a justifiable reason called Go San, it wasn’t his fault anymore, and he suddenly had something to say about his mistake. How strange. To think he’d feel better because of the very person who had been the cause of his recent misery.

Maybe that was why Go San’s voice even sounded like an auditory hallucination.

“Busy, huh.”

However, thanks to the somewhat snarky voice of the counter employee, he knew it wasn’t a hallucination.

“Why is Go San here?”

“How would I know?”

The other employee snapped back. That wasn’t even a question aimed at him….

“I asked if you’re busy.”

“Did you come alone?”

“Yeah. I’m busy.”

The three voices tangled together. Go San watched the brusque employee’s response with interest. Then he looked back and forth between the employee and Geumseo and let out a “Hmm” and an amused laugh.

“Busy enough that you can’t even take my calls?”

At those words, the employee whipped his head around to look at Geumseo. Geumseo, his head fuzzy and dazed as if drunk, didn’t notice this strange undercurrent.

He wanted to respond, but he was genuinely too busy. Geumseo was getting irritated. The kitchen kept calling out table numbers and menu items. That was when Go San strode right inside on his own.

“Oh! You can’t do that!”

“It’s better than the orders piling up and the store rating going to hell.”

Go San had no qualms about cutting people off even upon first meeting. He was so natural that even his sudden informal speech didn’t feel off, and he carried such an overwhelming presence that he was hard to challenge.

“Where’s table 7.”

Geumseo, holding menu number 5, ended up pointing out the location of table 7 in a daze. Go San easily lifted a heavy tray in each hand. He was in short sleeves despite the cold. The muscles in his forearms flexed tight beneath them.

“Table 7, rolled omelet and spicy pork, five draft beers, correct.”

Despite his blunt, somewhat rude tone, there were no complaints. With Go San’s help, the backed-up orders began to clear out smoothly one after another. The brief resentment toward Go San dissolved so quickly, before it could even ripen, that it felt almost futile. Yang Geumseo’s emotions hadn’t been allowed to drag on too far or too long ever since the winter just before his twentieth birthday, when his family went completely broke. He had learned that such time itself could be a luxury.

“Tell your friend clearly. I didn’t hire him, so there’s no daily wage for him.”

At the busiest moment, the boss growled into Geumseo’s ear. When Geumseo nodded, the boss looked satisfied. Geumseo rubbed his ear, which hurt from being pulled, and moved again. His fever was steadily rising. He could feel the inside of his mouth drying in real time.

And Go San’s patience was also decreasing in real time. The slips of paper with remaining table numbers on them had all been stuffed into the trash. The pocket of the black apron Yang Geumseo had arbitrarily tied around his waist also held several napkins with numbers written on them. When asked for his number, Go San answered that he didn’t have a phone. Looking at Yang Geumseo’s more dazed-than-usual face, he was angry enough to lose his mind. When he felt like just flipping the whole place over, he held back by remembering how Geumseo had clumsily hugged him, supposedly to tie the apron around his waist. That had the side effect of being kind of a turn-on instead.

“For the work you did today, I’ll pay you. The money….”

When Geumseo shuffled over to his side during a slight lull and started talking about money, Go San answered immediately.

“Bullshit.”

Yang Geumseo definitely had a fever. There were still about two hours left until closing. But as far as Go San’s patience was concerned, this was more than enough. Go San tossed the apron, which was definitely emptied but somehow had napkins in it again, onto the counter.

“Tell him he quits.”

“Huh, what do you mean. Why would Geumseo hyung quit.”

“You’ve got two employees, and one bastard is worked to the bone while the other bastard stands at the counter yawning, and the boss sees all this shit and says nothing—so, fuck, what do you mean why.”

“What? You bastard, what did you just say.”

The boss growled, his voice lowered as much as possible. In Korea, there was a certain finesse to resigning, but Go San, maybe because his nationality wasn’t the Republic of Korea, did whatever he pleased. From Go San’s perspective, however, the boss was the one doing whatever he pleased.

Geumseo began to flounder between them. Clicking his tongue, Go San whispered into Geumseo’s ear.

“Hey. Collapse.”

“Huh…? Do what…?”

Frustrated, Go San clicked his tongue again. Then he pressed firmly on a certain spot at the back of Geumseo’s neck. And astonishingly, Geumseo’s consciousness cut off instantly. He’d known Go San was good at everything physical, but he hadn’t known he had this kind of talent too. Even though he’d known him for quite a long time, he really hadn’t known at all.

‘What do you even know about me. You don’t know shit.’

He thought he might have heard a voice that sounded exactly like something Go San would say.

“It’s not a dream, dumbass.”

“Uung….”

“Just try to fall asleep again.”

Geumseo felt his lying body sway along with the sound of the car vibrating and realized he was being moved. He kept his eyes closed and pretended to be asleep but said what he had to say.

“I’m not going to your place…. I want to go to my place.”

“Why.”

“You’ll rip my clothes again….”

“You think I’m a bastard who only knows sex?”

“Yeah.”

That meant he did think he was a bastard who only knew sex. Go San let out a short laugh, then thought for a moment and nodded. Well, it’s true.

“So Yang Geumseo doesn’t not know shit about me after all.”