Starting Over (29)
After showering, Min Suyeon stands before her desk, staring at her ringing phone. She considers letting it go to voicemail. She really doesn't want to answer. But as the phone continues to chime, she lets out a sigh, swipes the green button to the side, and answers.
She hasn't even properly dried off, and she's already annoyed at why this man is calling so early in the morning. She readies a shout, but—
"Don't you think you should answer when someone asks you a question? Forty-one million won!"
"...Stop being so annoying."
"I'll keep coming back until you do!"
"You're acting like a stalker, you..."
Click. He hangs up first, and for some reason, looking excited, he grabs the steering wheel and turns his car toward Incheon. He had considered just turning back instead of visiting if her reaction was cold. That’s how much the insults she hurled at him yesterday had rattled him.
Ding-dong—
"..."
There was no response. Besides, this house is incredibly dangerous. The front door on the first floor is wide open, and not a single person stopped him while he walked up the stairs. Ultimately, if he had brought a hatchet, breaking the doorknob and committing a robbery would have been incredibly easy. Truly.
...Around that time, the door opened slightly.
"It worked yesterday, so why not today?"
"...Get lost. Right now."
She latched the security chain.
"Open up, please. Min Suyeon, did you know?"
"Shut up."
"With forty-one million won, at the legal maximum interest rate of 20%, you could earn 8.2 million won in interest per year. I’ve lost even that opportunity cost."
"..."
"So, today, I’m not buying your time with forty-one million won, but with that interest!"
Even though the value of her time had changed to 20% of 41 million won in just one day, she had no choice but to open the door, just like yesterday. Only, when she opened the door yesterday, it was because of the 5 million won she had given the gas station owner; today, it was because of that filthy thing called interest.
"The thug isn't coming today, right?"
"...I'm not a thug, I'm a lender..."
"What are you, my boyfriend? Correct your title."
"...Just say what you have to say and get lost. Because of you, I can't even rest..."
"Yes, ma'am."
The reason he was able to come to this woman's house again? It was simple. Her tone had changed, hadn't it? Yesterday she was using formal honorifics, and today she was shouting. Of course, from Min Suyeon's perspective, she opened the door because she firmly believed that if she became an eyesore to him, a creditor more terrifying than any loan shark would be born, but he wasn't interested in that. He just needed to get Min Suyeon to the negotiation table.
"So, have you thought about it?"
"What the fuck."
"...Could you use a bit more polite language?"
"Don't force that on me, you filthy Korean man..."
The word 'creditor' floated around in her head, and because of that, she couldn't finish the last word. Of course, he knew exactly what she meant, but he just smiled broadly and said, "I mean, let's have a conversation using more refined vocabulary—that's all."
"..."
"You wouldn't force refinement only on women, would you?"
Looking around again, he thought about the 'negotiation table' and really wanted to sit down. However, the only things here that could serve as a desk were the sink... and that desk over there that looked like the wood was rotting.
"Where do you eat?"
"Eat...?"
Min Suyeon thinks it's been a long time since she heard the word 'eat.' To her, the only place she eats is the company cafeteria. What about weekends? She eats during her part-time job at the gas station, which runs from 9 AM to 11 PM. Hamburgers and fries eaten while smelling gasoline. In other words, she could count on one hand the number of times she'd eaten a meal at home.
It had been nearly three years since she moved into this house. Every April, there's an adjustment for the four major social insurance programs, so she gets about 150,000 won more in her monthly salary, plus the small performance bonuses that come in June and December. While others received 20%, 40%, or 100% of their salary, her performance rating was always an 'R,' so... maybe 100,000 won?
"Don't tell me you hate food? Are you on a diet? Do you exercise?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...It seems like you have a lot to say. Hmm..."
Then, he sat on the desk chair, pulled a stool-like object over, and tapped it, saying, "Sit down and let's hear it."
"...What, I have nothing to say to you..."
"Let's not talk about boring work, let's talk about food."
Back in school, he was what you'd call an 'insider.' He was so sociable that he was friends with every student in his grade.
"Suhyun, are you skipping night study again?"
"Yeah, I'm not doing it even if I die."
"Wow... doesn't your father get angry?"
"He's on a business trip. Karaoke?"
A foolishly kind kid. That’s the kind of person he was.
"What's this?"
"Bought it while I was shopping. Our classroom smells like shit..."
He’d even hand out perfume to the kids because the smell of 'old bachelors' annoyed him.
"Someone explain what this problem is, for fuck's sake!"
"Give it here. ...Hey, why can't you solve this?"
"No, how am I supposed to know the speaker's attitude toward the mountain? You see a mountain, right? It's just green..."
"Look at this. Just read it one sentence at a time from here. At the end, it says 'longing for,' which means missing something."
"...Hmm... keep... keep going. You're right, longing..."
Even while skipping night study three times a week, he was smart and got good grades, and despite being a massive busybody who was more focused on teaching others than studying himself, he was always ranked first.
"I heard you're poor."
"...?"
"Then use this. I'll just buy another copy. You've been watching the books I solve every day."
"Are you looking down on me?"
"No, I'm not looking down on you. It's just unfair if you can't study because you don't have money."
"..."
"So, let's make it fair."
He even erased every single pencil mark from a workbook used in a live lecture at a famous Gangnam academy and handed it over to a friend who looked like they couldn't afford it and was always peeking at the books. Even though that friend was the second-best student after him.
The prejudice that people from chaebol families only gather in their own sanctuaries and call people who fit in with them, casting aside those who don't, was hard for those around him to hold after meeting him.
His mother had taught him that way—emphasizing multiple times that he should make friends across the board, take an interest in people in various environments, and that not everyone lives the same way he does.
"You don't understand what I'm saying. Are you and I the same?"
"We're different. We are. I know that. But..."
"...?"
"But if I listen, I can understand."
Like the otaku resident doctor, the fund manager, and the police officer who had visited his house before, he met friends with all sorts of diverse professions. By experiencing so many different people, he grew his ability to understand others. He also knew exactly how to approach people according to their types—distinguishing between those who needed a straightforward approach and those who needed to be handled carefully, like a baby.
"Don't act like you know everything, you nouveau riche bas..."
"I'm not nouveau riche."
"Ha... then what the fuck are you? Who are you to understand me or not, just stop that fake bullshit—"
"I'm a human. The same, human. Aren't I?"
He made eye contact with Min Suyeon. And he asked slowly. He asked to start with the story about food, and why she reacted that way when she heard the word 'food.'
Min Suyeon, whose eyes looked like she might pull a knife from a drawer and press it against his throat, gradually withdrew her murderous intent. As he kept staring at her like they were having a staring contest without saying a word, she slowly lowered her gaze.
"I'm listening. Speak. I won't interrupt you now."
"..."
Approaching a difficult woman like Min Suyeon was surprisingly easy. The first step was to break through her seemingly solid shield with distraction. He had to give her enough of an impression of, 'Why is this guy like this?' It was clear that such a person's life must be filled with loneliness, having never attracted the interest of anyone. Next, as soon as he pierced the shield and got inside, he had to show that he was many times more mature. Only then should he carefully convey a gaze that tries to understand everything and a heart that feels pity, but it must not be seen as cheap sympathy. If that happened, it would backfire.
He had to make sure not to interrupt while listening to her story. By doing so, he had to plant the impression that he was listening to her words. The more he suppressed his curiosity and didn't interrupt, the more she would surely open up and tell him more stories.
"What do you think food is?"
"Food, well, it's delicious. It's something that tastes even better when eaten with good people..."
"Is that so?"
"..."
"I see."
What is it? Did I answer wrong? What is she unhappy about? This cold reaction...
"See, you and I are... different people. Just a different world, a different person."
"...? Min Suyeon, if we're different people just because of that one sentence, then what is this..."
"There are people who live eating only tasteless food. ...You think food is delicious, but I can't even feel the taste. Eating with good people..."
"..."
"Do you think there are good people around me?"
I said one word about food, and now we're filming a documentary.