Chapter 1.8
“By the way, is this kid a girl or a boy?”
It was a question that didn’t spoil my first impression of him. Yeon Woojeong, who had been eating quietly, raised his head and looked at me. I felt his gaze scanning over me was making my neck stiff. The rice that was wet because of the soup slowly melted on my tongue. Then, he opened his mouth.
“I think you need to check your glasses prescription again.”
Yeon Woojeong’s eyes landed on seolleongtang again. He was about to spoon the rice but stopped.
“Ah.”
“…”
“Does it have nothing to do with the glasses?”
After mumbling like that, Yeon Woojeong nonchalantly put the rice in his mouth. Looking at the prominent nose under the forehead and blinking eyelids, I focused on eating again. I caught a glimpse of that man’s lips twitching.
“So, what kind of crime did this bastard do for you to bring him?”
‘This bastard’ the man addressed to was me. The man’s annoyance at being unable to win against Yeon Woojeong was now directed at me. It was natural. Humans were animals, and animals could easily know the creatures weaker than them.
“I know you sometimes buy kids meals, but do it moderately. You can’t educate a black-haired animal with rice.”
Sometimes buying kids meals meant I wasn’t the first. Did he only buy them meals? Did he also bring them home and give his card? Where did those kids go? My head turned messy just like seolleongtang in the other table that was mixed with kkakdugi.
It was noisy in my head. If I broke that man’s head with the earthen bowl that was just placed before him, his seolleongtang would splatter and litter everywhere, wouldn’t it? Since Yeon Woojeong sat next to him, he would surely also get dirty.
I’m irked with bastards who talk gibberish when there are foods presented before them. They make my small wish to eat peacefully become a luxury. The most important thing for me was always filling my stomach.
“You punk, get a life. It seems like you’re fighting here and there. Bastards with healthy arms and limbs always don’t want to work, making any kind of ex—”
“Prosecutor Lee.”
When I was thinking it was best to just shove that man’s face into the bowl, Yeon Woojeong put down his spoon. His voice was flat and clear, but oddly sounded heavy. Thus, I couldn’t help but pay attention, even though the one he called wasn’t me.
“Just say pretty kids as pretty. Don’t get jealous.”
“…… What? Jealous?”
Yeon Woojeong smiled brightly and checked on my bowl, which was already empty. He didn’t defend me, nor did he make an excuse like I’m not the kind of person that man thought I am. He only blocked that man’s mouth with absurd words. That man’s face was more pathetic and funny than when he was shoved to the seolleongtang bowl in my imagination. I felt like my laugh was close to bursting out.
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about, Prosecutor Yeon? Why should I be jealous of this kind of kid?”
“If you’re not jealous, then why are you spouting hate out of nowhere? We’re the same black-haired animals, after all.”
“…”
“We’ll leave first since we’ve already finished. Enjoy your lunch.”
Yeon Woojeong smiled leisurely and got up. I followed behind him. When we reached the public parking lot after leaving the alley, I opened my mouth.
“Mr. Yeon, you’re lacking social skills.”
“Really? Oh, dear.”
Yeon Woojeong lamented despite not feeling regret at all. Anyway, it meant he really did that with an intention to ruin that man’s mood. I completely buried my body on the seat that quickly turned warm. My stomach was happy.
“If you’re going to call me, then we have to buy a mobile phone first.”
“… Mobile phone?”
“I told you to call me before you come, right?”
I straightened up. I filtered words of little use so that I didn’t spit them out. Alas, I had no talent for choosing conversation topics.
“Did you also treat other kids like this?”
“Other kids?”
“Did you buy them meals, a mobile phone, and give them a place to stay?”
“You’re the first I ever picked.”
I am the first? I tried to read Yeon Woojeong’s face, but it was hard to figure out his real intention.
He might be lying that I was the first, so there was no need to think deeply about it, was there? Even if I was truly the first, it was not important. The most important thing was the reason. There was no way this man was a volunteer worker.
I decided to not ask for the reason now. There must be a price, but it was best to ask for it much later. Even though the sum would get bigger by then.
The car stopped in front of a mobile phone retail store. As I followed Yeon Woojeong inside, the worker welcomed us. When he said we want to take a look, the worker introduced us to phones that were recently launched. I didn’t know what was the difference between them, so her explanation made little sense to me.
“Choose the one you like.”
Yeon Woojeong gave me the right to choose, and thanks to that, the worker stuck to me and explained to me in a friendly tone. If I said nothing, I felt like I had to hear all of this long explanation, so I called Yeon Woojeong, who was checking his phone.
“What is your phone, Mr. Yeon?”
“Mine? It has been a long time since this was launched.”
He showed his phone a bit to me. The corner of the LCD was broken. He should have changed his.
“I’ll go with that, then.”
I didn’t think there’d be a time when I’d be using the phone anyway, so I didn’t mind if it wasn’t a new product or smartphone. It was true that it’d be easy to search for a way or something using a smartphone, but everything pricey was a debt.
Yeon Woojeong looked gazingly at me as he heard my reply, and then one corner of his lips went up. Again. A smile as if ridiculing me. I creased my forehead and turned away.
“Please give me the same thing.”
The worker took out a new phone with a regretful face. While filling up the document and waiting for the phone to be registered, Yeon Woojeong kept touching his phone and talking with someone. It seemed like they were talking about work.
I took a look at the clock on the wall. It seemed like it had been an hour since we left the prosecutors’ office. When ‘12:59’ turned into ‘13:00’, the worker said it was done while handing out the phone and a shopping bag, and Yeon Woojeong accepted that. We walked to the car.
“I’ll drop you in the station. You can go alone, right?”
Yeon Woojeong touched my phone, then handed it to me along with the shopping bag. Yeon Woojeong’s number was saved on the phone. When I nodded, he drove the car away.
The machine in my hand felt strange. I never expected that I would have a phone this early, but I also never expected that the first number I would save was a prosecutor’s. I played with the phone in my hand, then glanced at him. Perhaps because his skin was white, the veins on the back of the hand holding the steering wheel stood out.
“When should I return this?”
“When you want to stop using it.”
“What about the card?”
“Huh?”
“Do you even know how much I’ll use for you to just give it to me?”
Yeon Woojeong looked at me for a moment, then let out a vain laugh.
“It has a limit. Unfortunately, I’m not a conglomerate, you see.”
“…”
“How much is it? Just use it moderately.”
There was no sign of worry in his voice. I wanted to see his flustered expression by using it to the limit, but I thought he wouldn’t get shaken by that. The fact that trivial things could not affect him brought me a faint secure feeling and at the same time upset me inside.
We arrived in front of the station and I opened the door, digging up meaningless thoughts and trampling on my muddy head.
“Ah, the key.”
When I turned my head at the sound that was holding me by the neck, he took out something small like a toy and reached it to me. It wasn’t the ordinary shape of a key, so maybe it was a key that would open the door when it was touched there. I didn’t take that and looked straight into Yeon Woojeong’s eyes.
“I know — the password.”
Hearing my words that I said to somehow provoke him, Yeon Woojeong opened his eyes slightly bigger, then smirked.
“Good.”
The red tongue inside the lips that let out a voice leisurely was cunning. As I closed the door to the reply that was out of the topic, the car left. I chased the rear of the Benz with my eyes, then walked down to the subway station.