The Incredible Ability That Came to Me
Living life day by day is never easy.
People say that money earned through hard work and sweat is rewarding, but the effort it takes to earn that money differs from person to person.
Since the work itself is never the same, of course the effort isn’t either.
“Alright, everyone gather up.”
After hoisting the last of the large tiles into place and wiping the sweat from his brow, a young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties approached the one who had called them together. Others were gathering as well—middle-aged men peeling off their work gloves and wiping their faces.
“Good work today, everyone.”
He handed out envelopes one by one to the men who had clustered around him.
Last in line was the young man.
Lee Seong-min took his envelope as well.
“It’s been a while. You holding up okay?”
Seong-min wiped his sweat and smiled at the older man’s question.
“Been so long I almost quit halfway through.”
“Everyone feels that way. But it feels good once you finish, right?”
“It does. Even when it’s hard, the money you earn working like this feels rewarding.”
“Yeah. Business has been slow lately so jobs are scarce, but the moment something comes up I’ll call you right away.”
“I’d really appreciate that.”
The man clapped Seong-min on the shoulder as he grinned.
The work that had started at seven in the morning finished before four.
Carrying those last big tiles from the first floor all the way up and stacking them from the fifth floor down to the third had been genuinely brutal.
“Twenty sheets, right?”
“Normally, yeah. But it’s twenty-three.”
“There’s an extra thirty thousand in here?”
He had come in expecting a daily wage of two hundred thousand won. Hearing it was two hundred thirty thousand, Seong-min’s eyes widened.
“Even though it’s been a while, the volume was heavier and the work was rougher than expected, right?”
“It was seriously rough.”
“So the boss threw in a little extra.”
“He’s a generous guy.”
They could have paid him two hundred thousand and been done with it. The extra thirty thousand meant the job had been that punishing.
“You put in some real labor for the first time in a while, so stop by a sauna on the way home or something.”
“Heh heh… Gotta save to live well. A sauna costs fifteen thousand won.”
“You little…”
The older man—no, the team leader—clicked his tongue with a laugh.
He knew exactly what kind of person Seong-min was.
“I’ll be heading out then.”
“Take care.”
Seong-min left the construction site and made his way down to the subway station.
It was still only June, before the real heat of summer hit, which was a relief. Under a blazing sun it would have been pure hell.
Still, it felt good.
It had been his first gombang work in a long time.
Jobs had dried up because of the bad economy, so he hadn’t been able to go out for a while. Then the team leader’s call had come, and today he had earned his daily wage.
Riding the subway, Seong-min cooled off in the air-conditioned breeze. When he reached his stop he got off, rode the escalator up, and before turning into the alley he stopped at the neighborhood mart. He bought pork belly, soju, lettuce, perilla leaves, and finally ssamjang, loading up thoroughly before he left.
Bags in hand, he entered the alley and pulled out his phone to check the time.
Past five already.
It was already after five in the afternoon.
Following the alley, Seong-min stopped in front of a house’s front gate.
He opened the side iron door and stepped into the courtyard, where a pretty woman who looked no older than her early forties was hanging laundry.
“Seong-min, you’re back?”
“Yes, just got in.”
The woman finished pinning a clothespin and smiled at him as he came in.
Her slender face and gentle smile gave her a truly kind impression.
Her name was Oh Hye-suk.
She was the landlady of the house where Seong-min rented the rooftop room.
“You said you were going to a construction site today. Wasn’t it hard?”
“It was. But more importantly—guess what this is~”
Seong-min held up the black plastic bag.
“Hmm? What could it be?”
“I stopped by the mart on the way and bought pork belly, soju, and a bunch of other things.”
“Oh my. You bought pork belly at the mart? I heard meat prices have gone up lately—are you sure it’s okay?”
“Don’t worry~ Even so, I’ve got more than enough to buy a little pork belly.”
“Give it here.”
Oh Hye-suk held out her hand.
“Whoa~ You’re going to grill it for me at your place, Auntie?”
“Isn’t that exactly why you bought it?”
“Heh heh heh… Honestly… I was hoping a little.”
“Honestly.”
Hye-suk shook her head as if he were hopeless and took the bag he offered, peering inside.
“Oh my, there’s a lot.”
“It’s not just for one person, so I had to buy plenty.”
Even just by the weight of the bag it was clear the amount of pork belly wasn’t small, soju or not.
“Go upstairs, change, and come back down.”
“Yes~ I’ll get ready right away.”
Hye-suk watched Seong-min hurry up the stairs and smiled with her eyes.
Climbing the stairs to the rooftop, Seong-min punched in the door-lock code on the locked rooftop room and stepped inside.
“Door locks are so convenient.”
He used to carry a key around, but earlier this year Auntie had installed a digital lock for him.
He opened the closed kitchen door, went into the room, quickly opened the wardrobe, stripped off his sweat-soaked clothes, pulled out a towel, and wiped himself down. Then he took out sweatpants and a T-shirt, changed into comfortable clothes, stuffed all the work clothes into the washing machine installed under the eaves outside on the rooftop, added detergent, and started it.
Being on the rooftop, hanging laundry was never a problem.
He slipped his slippers back on and went downstairs.
“Hurry in and take a shower.”
“Yes!”
Seong-min entered through the first-floor front door, kicked off his shoes, crossed the living room, and hurried to the bathroom.
Telling him to change and come down had meant he was free to shower on the first floor.
It was a world of difference from crouching in the rooftop room’s tiny bathroom with a handheld showerhead.
“This is so much more comfortable~!”
Humming under his breath, Seong-min stripped completely and stepped into the tub, turning on the wall-mounted shower.
Whoosh…
The cool stream of water hit his head and quickly washed away the dried grime and sweat from his body.
Ah~ This feels amazing.
His body was exhausted and aching from the brutal gombang work, but standing under that cool shower right now felt truly refreshing and good.
I’m really lucky. Meeting someone like Auntie Hye-suk.
Until two years ago Seong-min had bounced from one goshiwon to another. Then, by pure luck, he had been able to move into this house’s rooftop room, and of course it was far better than living in a goshiwon.
The rent was only a one-million-won deposit and one hundred fifty thousand won a month, which was wonderful.
Finding a decent rooftop room in Seoul for that kind of deposit and rent was rare.
Just thinking about those things made him feel incredibly lucky to have found this place. More than anything, Seong-min’s income was never steady. He earned money through day labor like gombang work or the occasional part-time job.
He felt genuine gratitude toward the woman who had rented this rooftop room to someone like him.
“Gotta wash my hair too~”
He shampooed his hair clean.
He worked up a lather with body wash and thoroughly scrubbed and rinsed every bit of grime from his body. When the shower was completely finished he stepped out, opened the vanity shelf, and dried himself with a towel.
After carefully drying every part of himself he put on the underwear, sweatpants, and T-shirt he had left outside and came out into the living room.
“Did you wash up nicely~?”
“Yes, I feel completely refreshed~!”
Hye-suk smiled at the grinning Seong-min and told him to go dry his hair with the hair dryer. He went into the room, plugged it in, and stood in front of the vanity drying his hair when a framed photograph caught his eye.
It showed a mother and son smiling happily together at a university graduation ceremony.
The mother was of course Auntie Hye-suk, and the son was her son—Park Seong-jun, who was like an older brother to Seong-min.
He wasn’t in Korea now; Seong-min knew he had found a job in the United States and was working there.
He came back to Korea once in a while around the end of the year or for holidays, and Seong-min had met him several times and shared meals, so they knew each other. Seong-jun’s personality was so good they had quickly become close enough to call each other hyung and dongsaeng. He was twenty-six by full age, two years older than Seong-min.
After finishing drying and tidying his hair, Seong-min stood up, came out to the living room, and headed for the kitchen. The table was already set with a grill pan, steaming white rice, lettuce, perilla leaves, ssamjang, and various side dishes.
“Wow, you’ve got everything ready already?”
“It’s nothing difficult. Did you wash your hands?”
“I just came out of the bath.”
“Ho ho ho, that’s right. Sit down.”
He sat and waited while Hye-suk carefully lifted the earthenware pot from the gas stove with kitchen mitts and set it on a trivet.
“Is this doenjang-jjigae?”
“Mm-hmm~ You can’t have meat without doenjang stew—it just feels incomplete.”
“Auntie’s sense of timing is always perfect, I tell you~!”
Seong-min gave a thumbs-up and grinned like a mischievous kid, and Hye-suk laughed out loud along with him.
While the pork belly sizzled deliciously on the grill, Hye-suk opened a bottle of soju.
“Here~ Have a glass.”
“I’ll gratefully accept~!”
He carefully received the soju she poured with both hands.
“Let me pour one for you too.”
“Will you?”
“Of course~! Leaving someone with an empty glass is bad form.”
“Ho ho ho. Then go ahead and pour one for me too, Seong-min.”
Seong-min took the bottle and carefully filled Hye-suk’s glass.
“Well~ You worked hard today~”
“You worked hard taking care of everything today too, Auntie.”
“Cheers~!”
They lightly clinked glasses. Seong-min brought his to his lips and drained it in one go.
“Khh~ Bitter.”
He scooped a spoonful of the bubbling doenjang-jjigae from the pot and brought it to his mouth.
“Hooo~!”
He blew on it to cool the heat.
Then carefully put it in his mouth.
The rich, savory taste of the doenjang stew came through, along with a sharp kick—she must have added cheongyang peppers.
“As expected~! Auntie’s cooking always hits the spot~!”
“Ho ho~ Where would my skills go?”
“Right. It’s not like they have feet and can run away. Heh heh heh…”
He used tongs to pick up the nicely browning pork belly and snipped it into bite-sized pieces with scissors.
When it was perfectly cooked he turned down the heat, prepared a wrap, and layered a piece of meat, a clove of garlic, grilled kimchi, and ssamjang with a bit of pepper.
“Here.”
“Whoa~! You’re wrapping it for me?!”
“You worked hard, so this is service.”
“Nice!”
Seong-min immediately opened his mouth and took the wrap, chewing with a face full of pure bliss.
Honestly, he’s hopeless.
Watching him, Hye-suk felt good.
She knew full well.
That Seong-min was an orphan with no family and no home of his own.
That knowledge always left a pang in her heart.
Her desire to take better care of him and look after him more came from that same sense of pity.
What was fortunate was that even in those circumstances he still lived with such an innocent smile.
The way he hadn’t gone astray and was trying his best to live diligently looked truly good and admirable to Hye-suk.
“Alright~ Since you wrapped one for me, I have to wrap one for you too.”
He laid a perilla leaf on a lettuce leaf, added three pieces of meat, a pepper dipped in ssamjang, and garlic, then topped it all with a spoonful of rice.
“Here, open wide. I’ll put it in for you.”
“Honey~ Isn’t this way too big?”
“What are you talking about! You have to eat heartily to have energy—this is all my sincerity~!”
It was an intimidating wrap that looked like it might not even fit.
But seeing Seong-min’s sparkling eyes, she couldn’t disappoint him and accepted it.
“Ah… oof… khwaaa…”
It filled her mouth and still stuck out; she had to push it in with her hand.
She could barely speak, and chewing was difficult.
“I put my heart into wrapping that, you know. So you have to finish every bit~!”
It felt like she had been had by Seong-min’s teasing again.
After enjoying the delicious pork belly dinner and soju, Seong-min helped Auntie clear the table.
Then a text came; he checked it and shouted, “Nice~!”
“What is it? Something good happen?”
Hye-suk paused mid-clearing and looked at the delighted Seong-min with curiosity.
“Another job just came in—they want me to show up at the location they sent tomorrow~!”
“Oh my, really?”
“Yes. Gombang work has been scarce lately so I was disappointed, but two days in a row—my luck is really good~!”
“That’s wonderful~”
“It really is! Heh heh heh…”
Seeing how happy Seong-min was, Hye-suk smiled.
After helping finish clearing the table, he sat on the living-room sofa and drank the iced americano Hye-suk had made for him.
“If I have to leave early again tomorrow, I should head up and sleep now.”
“Yes, you should.”
Seong-min finished the remaining coffee and ice and stood up.
“I’ll head up then.”
“Rest well.”
She saw him off as he said goodbye and left.
Back in the rooftop room, Seong-min took the finished laundry out of the washing machine, hung the clothes on the line, went inside, carefully packed the clothes and gear he would need tomorrow into his bag, and lay down on his bedding.
“My luck really is good. Two days in a row.”
His body was tired, but he felt great.
If he kept living diligently like this, he believed there would come a day when things would finally turn around.
And so the next day.
Seong-min woke a little after five, washed up, and got ready.
He grabbed his bag, locked the door, and stepped out.
It was still early; the sun hadn’t risen yet.
As he came down the rooftop stairs to the first floor, Auntie appeared wearing a robe.
“You should sleep more.”
“I stopped by the bathroom and just came out for a moment.”
“Is that so?”
“Mm…”
Seong-min knew she was saying it out of consideration for him.
“Have a good day today.”
“I will.”
“Here, take this.”
“What is it?”
“A lunchbox.”
“Huh?”
“I just threw together some simple things—Vienna sausages, fried eggs, seasoned beans—so don’t feel pressured.”
“You said you just stopped by the bathroom.”
“…Did I?”
Seong-min gave a wry laugh, and Auntie smiled back with a shameless little grin.
Seeing him off like that, Seong-min headed for the location that had come by text, telling himself he would work hard again today.