Chapter 1
Chapter 1.
The glass door opened with the sound of a bell.
I turned my head toward the entrance.
It was the store owner.
My shift change was at six, but he had arrived twenty minutes earlier than usual.
“Good morning, sir?”
“Morning? It’s not even six yet. Anything unusual? Any drunk troublemakers?”
“There weren’t any.”
“That’s good. You can go.”
“There are still twenty minutes left.”
“It’s fine. Go home and get some rest. You’ll be tired if you have to go to another part-time job this afternoon.”
“Then… thank you.”
The convenience store owner where I worked always let me leave ten or twenty minutes early.
Most other owners tried to squeeze every last minute out of their workers.
But our owner was not like that.
I went into the locker room, changed my clothes, and came back out.
Just like always, I was wearing running clothes today.
Seeing this, the owner shook his head.
“You’re running all the way home again? Your knees will give out like that. Take care of your knees. I’ll give you bus fare.”
“No, it’s really not about the money. I run because it’s good exercise. You’d understand if you tried it too.”
“I don’t want to understand.”
The owner, a large man with a generous build, looked like he truly could not comprehend it.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After leaving the convenience store, I slowly increased my pace.
The cold dawn air woke up my tired body.
I liked the refreshing feeling of early morning.
At first, I started running to save transportation money.
But now I ran because I genuinely liked it.
If I ran for about an hour without thinking about anything, all the stress from the day disappeared.
The improvement in stamina was just a bonus.
By the time I arrived home, my whole body was drenched in sweat.
I opened the door and stepped inside.
A small apartment filled with everyday belongings welcomed me.
“I’m home.”
“You’re back, son?”
My mother, who was preparing to leave for work, greeted me.
“You must be tired. Eat first.”
A meal and side dishes she had prepared for me were on the table.
“I told you not to prepare food. I can serve myself.”
“If I can’t even do this for my son who worked all night, what kind of mother would I be?”
“But you’re tired too. You should sleep a bit more…”
My mother worked at a company cafeteria.
Because I had once worked part-time at a restaurant myself, I knew how exhausting kitchen work could be.
The heat and humidity from the stoves.
Even after only a few hours, the kitchen was the kind of place that left a bitter taste in your mouth from exhaustion.
“Even if I’m tired, I can prepare a meal for my son. Don’t worry.”
“Alright. I’ll wash up and eat.”
“Okay. Eat and rest. I’m leaving for work.”
“Have a good day.”
My mother was heading toward the entrance when she suddenly turned around and walked closer.
“Deoksu, you don’t have to push yourself too hard. Take it easy. If you ruin your health it’ll be serious.”
“It’s okay. I’m not tired.”
She looked at my face as if trying to find traces of fatigue.
“I’m really not tired at all.”
“Alright… If it gets hard, tell me. Okay? Your health is the most important.”
“I know. Go to work quickly. You’ll be late.”
“Okay… Wait a second. Come here.”
“Ugh, what are you doing? That’s embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing? You’re my son.”
My mother hugged me tightly.
“You’re so handsome too. I believe in you, Deoksu. You work hard and you’re lucky too. Everything you do will turn out well. Fighting!”
“Ah, just go already.”
Embarrassed by his mother’s praise, Deoksu gently pushed her away.
“I’m going.”
Watching her put on her shoes and leave, Deoksu felt a strange sense of guilt.
His mother’s friends played golf and traveled overseas.
If only I could get a job soon.
It had already been six months since graduating from university, but he still had not found employment.
Because of the family’s financial situation, he had taken several leaves of absence during school.
That meant he graduated later than most people.
Perhaps that was why finding a job had been so difficult.
Left alone, I went into the bathroom and washed my sweat-soaked body with warm water.
After eating the breakfast my mother had prepared with care, I was about to wash the dishes.
At that moment, the door to the master bedroom opened.
My father walked into the living room.
“You’re back?”
“You should sleep more.”
“When you get old, sleep disappears. I have to go open the store soon.”
My father was the owner of a franchise shabu-shabu restaurant.
Calling him an owner sounded nice, but the business was so bad that he could not afford employees.
He did everything alone.
Usually he left in the morning and returned late at night.
After leaving his previous company, he had taken loans to open that franchise restaurant.
At first, business had been good.
Our entire family had poured our souls into it.
But once the restaurant began doing well, the franchise headquarters became greedy.
They brought up contract renewal and suggested my father sell the shop to them.
When he refused, they opened a large company-run store just one hundred meters away.
A spacious, modern store with aggressive promotional discounts.
Against the headquarters’ full-scale offensive, my father’s store was left empty.
The taste and brand were exactly the same, but theirs was cheaper.
Customers had no reason not to go there.
Eventually he could not even pay the interest on the loan he had taken to open the restaurant.
In the end, the employees he had grown attached to all had to leave.
Even the last remaining employee, my mother, had to find work elsewhere.
Even with two people working, they could not earn enough for one.
“You should eat.”
I tried to set the table, but my father stopped me.
“Leave it. I’ll do it. Go sleep. You’ll be tired if you have another part-time job this afternoon.”
“It’s okay.”
“Hey.”
His voice became firmer.
“Then I’ll at least clean up what I used.”
“No. I’ll do the dishes too.”
“…Alright.”
I understood him.
He was acting that way out of guilt.
If I insisted any further, it would only make him feel worse.
I took off the rubber gloves I had been wearing.
My father blamed himself for my night shift job and my mother’s cafeteria work.
But no one in our family blamed him.
The fault lay with the franchise company that abused its power and chased profit without conscience.
“Go sleep. Even ten more minutes.”
He waved his hand as if shooing me away.
“Then I’ll sleep for a bit. Have a good day at work.”
“Alright.”
I went into my room and lay down on the bed.
My body was tired, but sleep did not come easily.
How long do we have to live like this?
My father’s debt was five hundred million won.
Store deposit rights, interior construction, and various equipment.
Opening a large store had required enormous expenses.
Just the monthly rent was over five million won.
Loan interest alone was three million won each month.
Thinking about that three million won made me want revenge.
But an ordinary poor person with no connections and no money could do nothing.
My mother and I worked hard to pay the interest.
Yet the debt did not decrease.
It only kept growing.
Part-time jobs alone could not solve it.
I had to find a full-time job as soon as possible, but it was not easy.
I applied everywhere, yet no one called me.
It was probably because of my age.
Due to an accident during military service and repeated leaves of absence for family finances, I graduated five years later than my peers.
In this era of severe employment competition, someone graduating five years late had little advantage.
While I was lost in thought, it was already past eight in the morning.
I did not want to waste my already limited sleep thinking useless thoughts.
So I closed my eyes and forced myself to sleep.
“Ugh.”
I stretched and got up.
I had only slept four hours, and my body felt stiff.
I moved my limbs around to wake myself up.
Sleeping more would be dangerous.
If I did not wash up and leave now, I would be late for my afternoon part-time job.
Right. The Seongjin Group first round results come out this morning.
Before going to wash up, I turned on the computer.
I was curious about the result.
Would I pass? Or fail?
The email I had been waiting for arrived.
Seongjin Group public recruitment first round results.
With a desperate heart, I opened the email.
“Damn it.”
I had failed.
After being rejected so many times, I should have gotten used to it by now.
But it never felt good.
My university friends had already found jobs.
Some were even promoted to assistant manager already.
Meanwhile I felt like I was falling further behind.
“If this keeps up I’ll really be late.”
Now was not the time for self pity.
I washed my face quickly and left the house.
My second job was at a bakery café.
My work there involved taking orders and preparing drinks like coffee.
It was a famous bakery café in the city, so business was good.
The work was tiring, but enjoyable.
The people I worked with were kind.
And most importantly, the pay was twenty percent higher than other places.
Still, by the time my shift ended, I was quite exhausted.
“See you tomorrow.”
“Alright. Good work. See you tomorrow.”
After leaving the café, I began walking toward the convenience store for my night shift.
It was about five kilometers away.
Instead of taking the bus, I simply walked.
Even though it was late at night, office buildings were still brightly lit.
Inside them, office workers were doing overtime.
They were probably full of complaints about not being able to go home.
But I envied them.
They had jobs where overtime existed.
Ring.
The sound of a phone ringing pulled me out of my thoughts.
The caller was my former company commander from the army.
It was nice to see his name after such a long time.
But I hesitated for a moment.
If we talked about how our lives were going, I would have to admit that I was still stuck where I was.
Still, I could not ignore the call.
I answered as cheerfully as possible.
“Loyalty, sir.”
“Hey! You’ve been discharged for years and you’re still calling me sir?”
“One a company commander, always a company commander…”
“That’s enough. We’re not the Marines. What are you doing tomorrow? Working?”
“No. It’s my day off.”
“Perfect. Let’s grab some soju. It’s been a while. Sounds good?”
I hesitated for a moment.
Originally I had planned to stay home, catch up on sleep, and revise my job applications.
But I also wanted to see my commander again.
While I was thinking, he spoke again.
“I’ll take that as a yes. See you tomorrow. I’ll send the location on KakaoTalk.”
“Co, commander!”
The call had already ended.
He really was straightforward.
He had always been like that since the army.
And that was part of his charm.
“When was the last time we met?”
It must have been almost a year.
How had he changed?
In the dull routine of endless part-time work, the sudden drinking appointment felt refreshing.
The walk to the convenience store somehow felt lighter.
The next evening.
I went to Yeouido to meet my former company commander at a sundae soup restaurant.
It was said to be the best place in Yeouido, famous for tender jokbal and rich broth.
Our commander loved soup.
His tastes had not changed at all.
That face with soup.
Still strange.
As I approached the restaurant, the strong smell of meat tickled my nose.
Even the smell alone proved it was a famous place.
“Welcome.”
“Hello.”
When I entered the restaurant after greeting the staff, my commander waved at me.
“Hey, Deoksu! Over here.”
I walked toward his table.
Just as expected.
A bottle of soju and beer were already empty on the table.
Did he have a liquor spirit living in his stomach?
I gave him a crisp salute.
“Loyalty! Company Commander!”
People nearby looked at me with confused expressions.
“Hey! I told you not to do that in public. Stop calling me commander now!”
Embarrassed by the surrounding gazes, his cheeks turned red.
“Come on. Once a commander, always a commander.”
“Stop saying that awkward phrase too.”
As soon as I sat down, he mixed me a glass of somaek.
The ratio was one to one.
I decided to down the first glass but pace myself afterward.
If I kept drinking at the same pace he did, I might experience death.
“So what’s the rule for the first glass?”
“One shot.”
“Hehehe.”
He looked happy.
I hated to admit it, but he looked a little cute.
Clink.
We clinked our glasses and emptied them in one gulp.
The refreshing carbonation of beer and the bitter taste of soju flowed down my throat perfectly.
Even back in the army I thought this.
The somaek my commander made was the best.
When the jokbal arrived, we began talking warmly.
We talked about the army, about life.
For over two hours we laughed together over old memories.
After a long conversation, a brief silence came.
My commander spoke.
“So, did you get a job?”
“Ah… not yet. I’m still sending applications.”
“Then how about applying for an internship at our company? If things go well, it could turn into a full-time position.”
“An internship… at a securities company?”
My ears perked up.