Prologue - Repo Nightmare
"Han Dae-jin? Han Dae-jin? You in there?"
The voices of unfamiliar men calling out to Han Dae-jin, who had been dozing off. He was still buried under the blankets, lost in sleep. His officetel room near the station looked like a masterpiece of modern art—scattered papers, cup ramen containers, and empty soju bottles rolling everywhere.
The knocking at the door finally roused him. He jolted upright, eyes landing on the crumpled paper beside him.
Collection notice.
His BMW F8X M3, which he'd been paying off for ages. He'd fallen behind on the installments, and now the overdue notices and final demands had arrived.
As he stared at the paper, the men's voices grew louder, the pounding on the door matching their fury.
"Come on out."
Han Dae-jin threw on his ratty clothes and shuffled to the door. Outside stood several men in suits. He followed them quietly.
They rode the elevator down and walked to the nearby public parking lot. He'd just had peace stickers slapped on the plates to keep them from getting yanked, but it was all for nothing. They'd found it.
"Mr. Han Dae-jin. Hiding it here doesn't make your problems go away. Hand over the keys."
"Just give me a little more time..."
"Hell no! Last time you begged for time, paid a pittance, and that was it! Not this time!"
"Please, just once more! This time I'll really turn it into a proper race car, win some prize money..."
"Modifying a seized vehicle? What kinda bullshit is that? Give me the keys, you fucker!"
The leader bellowed, and Han Dae-jin suddenly remembered something. He fumbled for the key fob, hit the button, and lunged for the car. But before he could, the men grabbed him, slamming him to the ground.
"Snatch the keys!"
"Got 'em!"
"Where the fuck do you think you're going, you piece of shit..."
The suited men unleashed a frenzy of shoe-stomps on Han Dae-jin. Meanwhile, the others fired up the engine and prepared to peel out.
With the roar of the engine in his ears, Han Dae-jin's consciousness faded...
The next sensation was the numb tingle in his arm, propped under his head as a makeshift pillow.
"Hah...!!! Hah!!! Fuck... what a goddamn shitty dream..."
Han Dae-jin bolted upright, naked. His room was still the Osan Officetel, but far tidier than the chaos of his dream. A desk held his desktop and video-editing laptop side by side. The new-build interior was decent enough. And beside it, Kim Ji-ho slept.
His current fling... a coworker with a husband... yeah, they were having an affair.
While she slept, Han Dae-jin slipped down to the first-floor convenience store for drinks. He grabbed a cola and headed to the underground parking.
There, on the first level, sat his car, quietly parked. The white Avante 3—Science 3rd Unit. He'd always wanted the Avante 3 Sport or Avante Sport. That was the plan with his own money, but surprise—Mom beat him to it. Drive this to job hunt.
And by some miracle, he landed a job. But his office life was a total shitshow. Couldn't adapt, kept screwing up, skills atrophied. The affair with that woman was some small comfort, but it never felt like enough.
And now, after days of dreaming about losing a BMW M3 he didn't even own...
Han Dae-jin wiped cold sweat from his brow, cola trembling in his grip as he headed back inside.
Kim Ji-ho was awake by then, asking what the hell his deal was.
"Had the dream again."
"The one where they repo the BMW?"
"Yeah."
He poured her a cola too.
"When's your husband and family flying in with the kid?"
"Tomorrow's flight. Let's do it once more before work."
Kim Ji-ho swept the blanket aside, revealing her barely covered naked body. Han Dae-jin grinned.
She lit a cigarette and stuck it between her lips. Once it burned out, they'd fuck like animals.