Boredom and Reorganization
I was bored. I had only taken a single day off, yet boredom had already set in. I was so incredibly bored that I actually considered calling Dae-hoon out. Even so, I endured it well. In fact, I tried to embrace the boredom. I put down my smartphone, left the TV off, indulged in deep contemplation, and simply stared out at the scenery. When else would I ever get a day like this?
You might ask, if I was so bored, why didn't I just go back to the Philippines? Well, I could have, but I wanted to rest for now. I had worked far too hard in the Philippines. And to think, I'm a man who truly has no greed.
But as I went about my business, certain things came up that I simply couldn't ignore. I had only intended to set up a basic front, but the scale of operations kept ballooning. And those guys kept bringing me more work. Besides, those guys in the Philippines were truly bizarre. Usually, they did perfectly fine on their own, but the moment I showed up, they insisted on asking me about every little detail. Sandro, Dennis, Ana, Simon—they were all highly capable, yet they always deferred to me whenever I was around.
Now, even Manager Kang was asking for my input. What did I know about interior design? All I could do was give him a thumbs-up and say, "Looks great. Wonderful. Excellent." The only person who didn't ask me for advice was Im Yu-na. But with her, her face turned bright red whenever I spoke to her, making it look like I was scolding her or something. It made talking to her rather awkward.
In any case, the Philippines was running smoothly without me now. You could say the system had finally stabilized. I only needed to make the critical decisions; the rest of the machinery ran on its own. Of course, another traitor like Manager Nam would eventually crop up, but that was inevitable. As I always said, betrayal and greed are human instincts. They aren't things that can be conquered by reason alone.
But should I work under the assumption that everyone is a traitor? That would be even more unrealistic. If you constantly suspect everyone of betrayal, you can't get anything done. You trust them, delegate the work, and judge them later based on the results. That was my standard. I didn't want to live my life in constant anxiety, endlessly doubting people and worrying about when they might stab me in the back. I did this for my own sake, not theirs. Once you start hating and doubting someone, your own mind becomes a living hell, not theirs. So, I chose to trust them first.
For the time being, I planned to stay here in Seoul and take some time to reorganize my thoughts regarding the Philippines. I intended to conduct a comprehensive review of all our business ventures. Until now, I had kept our various operations strictly compartmentalized, preventing any overlap. However, the recent election had completely broken down those walls. Sandro had grown close with Dennis, and Ana had started working with Candy Tour. Because of these shifts, I needed to reevaluate our Philippine operations.
This time, I wanted to watch as a spectator, not a player. I wanted to observe from a distance. Only when you step back can you see the game clearly and offer the best advice. Everything is easier when you treat it as someone else's business. It's only hard when you take it personally. That was why I chose to plan from Seoul rather than the Philippines. Seoul was a logical city.
There was another reason as well. Internally, I considered this a vacation. When I left the Philippines, I wanted to clear my head and get a change of scenery. I wasn't sure how many more days I would stay, but I planned to remain for at least a week.
I tried to enjoy my staycation, but in the end, I lost to the boredom. The hotel room was starting to feel a bit suffocating. Let's head out. I'll grab a beer at the hotel bar. But as I was heading down, it felt silly to drink at the hotel bar when I had come all this way. South Korea was safe, and I spoke the language fluently; there was no reason to confine myself to the hotel.
The weather was nice, so I walked for a bit until I reached a bustling commercial district. But why on earth were there so many academies? There were cram schools everywhere I looked. The street itself was literally called Academy Street. My desire for a beer evaporated. Seeing the young kids in school uniforms brought back old memories, suddenly making me feel like I should be running off to do a bread shuttle errand.
Before I knew it, I walked into a convenience store and picked up some bread and a drink. Instinctively, my eyes scanned the price tags, trying to keep the total under 2,000 won. I didn't need to do that anymore, but I wanted to. However, I failed. The convenience store was far more expensive than the school cafeteria of my memories.
Come to think of it, it had already been over seven years since I graduated high school. Inflation had really taken its toll in the meantime. I picked up a cheap, dry-looking pastry and a carton of milk. This was the exact combination of bread and milk I had bought and handed over every single day back when I was a bread shuttle. If I eat this, will I understand how Yang Jeong-won felt? Will I feel a sense of superiority? Is this some kind of magical potion? I decided to buy them and find out.
Holding the bread and milk—a combination that didn't suit me at all—I headed toward the counter. But the moment I rounded the corner, thud! I collided with someone. Looking down, I saw a young woman who appeared to be a college student. She had a kind, innocent face, the kind of face that looked like she had never committed a sin in her life. Neither of us fell, but the impact must have startled her, as she let out a soft cry.
"Ah!"
"Are you okay? I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going."
"I'm fine. I wasn't looking either."
"We hit each other pretty hard. Shouldn't you go to a hospital just in case?"
"A hospital for something like this? No, I'm perfectly fine. Are you alright, mister?"
"I'm fine."
"Then I'll be on my way. I'm late for a meeting."
With that, the student hurried out. I paid for my bread and milk and headed toward the exit. But then, on the convenience store floor—right where we had collided—I spotted something. It was a pink pouch, smaller than the palm of my hand.
Ah, I shouldn't do this... but I'm curious. I could have just picked it up, handed it to the cashier, and said, "I found this, please return it to the owner." But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was too curious about what was inside. After a brief hesitation, I decided to satisfy my curiosity first before handing it over to the counter. That way, my itch would be scratched, and she would still get her pouch back. Wasn't that a win-win? Marveling at my own logic, I sat down on one of the plastic chairs outside the convenience store.
Between the bread and the pouch, I chose the pouch first. When faced with a choice, the more interesting and better option always comes first. Save the best for last, and it might go to waste—though, of course, I could always just store things in my Inventory. Items in the Inventory never spoiled.
I carefully took hold of the zipper on the pink pouch. I felt a strange pang of guilt. It's not like I'm stealing it. I'm just checking the contents so I can return it to its rightful owner. Making excuses to myself, I pulled the zipper. Why on earth was my heart racing? It felt as if I were opening up someone's private life, exposing their secrets.
Ziiip. The pink pouch slid open.
Inside the pink pouch were a resident registration card, a single debit card, 21,000 won in cash, and a small ziplock bag containing several candies smaller than a fingernail. It was just an ordinary wallet—or rather, an ordinary pouch containing an ID, a card, and some cash. Nothing special.
But those candies... Why did they look so familiar? I felt like I had seen them somewhere before. Were they candies I ate as a child? No, there was no way I had the luxury of eating candies during my childhood, so I ruled that out. I racked my brain, trying to remember. The memory hovered just out of reach, teasing me. It was incredibly frustrating.
Ah! I remembered. I had seen them when I was in Macau. Marian had told me about them—they were drug-infused candies that were highly popular in Thailand. Now it all came back to me. I recalled there being various flavors, but why were they in this pouch?
No way. A college student? There were countless candies with similar designs, so I had probably misidentified them, or my memory was playing tricks on me. I was a simple guy with a poor memory, after all. My memory had to be wrong.
Having reached that conclusion, I stopped thinking about it. I needed to prevent my thoughts from spiraling. I had to do something else to distract myself. I needed to redirect my focus. So, I began eating the bread and milk. It was something I had to do anyway.
I chewed on the dry bread, but I couldn't taste a thing. I felt absolutely nothing. I had ambitiously chosen this bread to experience what Yang Jeong-won had felt, but it was a total failure. This bread couldn't turn me into Yang Jeong-won. The milk was no different; it merely washed down the dryness in my mouth.
But why did I suddenly need to use the restroom at such a crucial moment? I asked the convenience store clerk for the location of the restroom. The clerk scowled as he pointed me in the right direction. Geez, it's not like I'm going to take a massive dump. No need to be so uptight.
On my way out of the restroom, I spotted the college student running somewhere with her back to the convenience store. It seemed she had returned to look for her pouch while I was in the restroom, and was now leaving empty-handed. Of course it wasn't in the convenience store—I had it.
If I left the pouch at the convenience store now, she would miss it. Besides, it felt wrong to leave a pouch containing suspected drug candies with a random clerk. If I hadn't noticed, that would be one thing, but I had. I began running after her. She was moving at a brisk pace, scanning the ground as if searching for the pouch.
She headed toward a study cafe. Outside, three or four young men and women in their early twenties, carrying laptops and tablets, were searching the ground nearby. The student who had bumped into me quickly joined them. They looked like ordinary college students you could see anywhere on the street, radiating youth and innocence.
"It's gone. I think I really lost it."
"Really? Look again."
"I definitely had it up until the convenience store. I think I dropped it when I bumped into someone there, but I went back and it wasn't there."
"What about the path you took?"
"I searched every inch of it. Nothing."
"This is bad. Didn't you say your ID was in there too?"
"Yeah. I didn't have a good place to put it, so I just threw it in the pouch. I'm seriously screwed."
"It'll be fine. It just looks like candy anyway. No one will ever know. They'll just ignore it."
"You think so?"
"Of course. Even we wouldn't think it's a drug just by looking at it."
"Right?"
"Haha. It'd be fucking hilarious if some idiot turned it in to the police."
One of the guys in the group, completely misreading the room, laughed as he spoke. The girl who had bumped into me snapped at his words.
"Shut the fuck up, you dumbass. Even if the police saw it, they'd just think it's regular candy and move on. Why would they investigate it? And do you think I'd just quietly go to jail if I got caught? You think I'm taking the fall alone, you piece of shit?"
"What?"
"Of course I'd drag you down with me and tell them we did it together."
"You crazy bitch. Just try it, and I'll—"
"So instead of standing around swearing, go look for the fucking pouch, you idiot! Stop wasting time here!"
"Why are you yelling at me when you're the one who lost it?"
"Is that what's important right now? Finding the pouch is what matters! We need to put out the fire first. You stupid bastard, you don't even know how to prioritize. I have no idea how someone as brainless as you passed the corporate hiring exam."
"Fine. Let's just find the pouch first. It was a pink one, right?"
Hearing their conversation, my hope that it was just a similar-looking candy shattered. My memory was indeed accurate. I wasn't stupid, nor did I have a bad memory.
I briefly considered quietly handing the pouch over to the police. But then they would ask where I found it, what my name was, and if drugs were discovered inside, things would get incredibly complicated. Despising unnecessary complications, I abandoned the idea of reporting it as lost property to the police. I absolutely hated getting dragged into annoying situations. Still, I had to return it to its owner.
I walked over to them. The female student recognized me immediately.
"Huh? Mister?"
"Is this what you lost?" I held up the pink pouch.
"Oh! Why do you have that? Give it back, quick."
"I'll give it to you. I will, but before I do, I have a few questions."
"Like what? Wait, did you open it?"
"Of course I did."
"Why would you just open someone else's things like that? It's private property."
"I had to open it to figure out who it belonged to. I don't have X-ray vision, you know. Though I do have other abilities."
"Whatever. Just give it back."
"But tell me. Where did you get those candies?"
"What? I just bought them at a grocery store. To eat whenever my blood sugar drops."
"Is that so? Well, my blood sugar is dropping right now. Mind if I eat one? I'd love to eat one and then pay a visit to the police station."
"Ah, what the fuck are you talking about? Why would you eat candy and go to the police station?" The female student reacted hysterically to my suggestion of eating the candy, immediately spitting out profanity. The innocent face I had seen earlier was completely gone.
"How about I go and say, 'Officer, I ate a candy from a pouch I found, and now I feel amazing. Please help me find the owner.' Should I do that? Your ID is in here too, and your name is..."
"Fucking hell, seriously."
"I know exactly what this is. Wouldn't it be better for both of us to just get what we want and keep things clean?"
"What do you want? If you have questions, ask them quickly. I have to get to my study group."
"Where did you get the candies?"
"Uh..."
"Should I head to the police station?" When I made it look like I was actually going to walk away, she hesitated for a moment before spitting out the words like a machine gun.
"There are guys who sell them. A ton of them. They market them as concentration-boosting jellies and candies. Honestly, a huge number of job seekers around here eat them."
"Really?" I was genuinely shocked. I had assumed these kids were an isolated case, but I had no idea it was so widespread.
"Yes. At first, friends just pass them around for you to try. But then you realize you can focus so much better when you study after eating one, so you ask that friend where you can buy more."
"And then?"
"They gave me a messenger ID."
"Do you take this knowing it's a drug?"
"I didn't know at first, but I do now... Still, they said the drug content is extremely, extremely low. They said it's only illegal in our country, but perfectly legal everywhere else, even sold in supermarkets. They said it's fine... Look, can you please just let me go? I'm really late for my study group."
"Fine. Go ahead."
I handed her the pouch. The moment she grabbed it, she bolted. I had actually kept the candies, but she didn't even check. She was the perfect target to get scammed somewhere.
But was this really happening? Even college students were doing drugs now? And all for the sake of "improving concentration"?
That innocent-looking girl probably didn't take those candies because she wanted to get high. She just wanted to get a good job. She was desperate to succeed in this brutal job market, willing to do whatever it took. She was struggling to survive. She was doing everything she could just to stay afloat in this society.
It was just that her method was slightly warped. And those money-mad bastards were taking advantage of these job seekers' desperation to peddle drugs. No matter how much people loved money, and no matter how many bastards there were who would do anything for a buck, wasn't this crossing the line? Feeding drugs to the youth of the nation?
If things continued like this, would the Seoul I eventually returned to live in become a city of junkies? The situation was far more severe than I had imagined. I had only been back in Seoul for a short while, but this was unacceptable. The drugs had penetrated too deeply.
I recalled the peaceful Han River. I didn't want this city, this Seoul, to be ruined. Something had to be done.
Over dinner, I looked at Dae-hoon and spoke.