Three Days
Three days.
“Owww...”
I stretched my back and there wasn’t a single place on my body that didn’t ache. Gyeong-jun let out a long, heavy sigh of his own and sank into the sofa until he was practically one with the cushions.
Only after last night’s wild party with Taesik hyung finally wound down had we been able to let the tension slip at the lodging. The moment we did, we hit our absolute limit and collapsed where we stood.
“You holding up, Gyeong-jun?”
“Not even a little.”
After a job we always ended up wrecked. That was why the basic cycle was to grab a pension or some quiet place and rest for at least a day.
“Shit, Eunsol’s KakaoTalk is blowing up. I’m going insane.”
Gyeong-jun had opened his phone for the first time in three days and nearly had a heart attack at the mountain of messages. I checked mine too, just in case, but nothing had come through.
Right. Hui-gyeong didn’t have a phone.
Truth was I wanted to get home as soon as possible, but we needed time to switch our heads back into something resembling normal. The work we did wasn’t exactly the kind of work you could just walk away from and immediately live an ordinary life. Keep that level of tension running all the time and you’d end up a raving monster like Taesik hyung.
Even the way we looked right now would make anyone think we were a pair of murderous young men just waiting for someone to rough up.
“Heeheehee, over a hundred messages from Eunsol! See? Told you it works!”
Maybe Gyeong-jun turning into a grinning idiot the second he was back in ordinary life, and me being a total amateur at romance and soft with people, were just the rebound from that other world. All either of us wanted was to get as far from that brutal place as we could.
“Gyeong-hun.”
“...”
“Jo Gyeong-hun!”
“Yeah, what.”
“Hey. You’re thinking about what Taesik hyung said again, aren’t you?”
Gyeong-jun studied my face with real worry. He was a genuinely good guy. He had to be dying inside because of Taesik hyung too, yet he was still fretting over me.
‘How the hell do you two get even better after retiring?’
‘Thank you, hyung. Let me pour you one.’
‘Nice! Gotta take the drink Gyeong-hun pours. Gyeong-hun.’
‘Yes.’
‘Heard you two made pretty good bank with the money you earned here as seed capital?’
‘Pocket change, hyung.’
‘Bullshit. I heard a few hundred million.’
‘Well, yeah, but...’
‘What’re you gonna do with it? Hand it over to me. Or how about this—you wipe out that Gwanseo-dong bastard and take over the neighborhood business yourself? You’re someone I could trust with it. Give me your cash and I’ll cut you in for a bigger share after I clean it up.’
‘No, hyung. I don’t have a head for business. All I know is throwing punches and running. I’m not cut out to be a boss like you.’
‘You little shit! Hey~ Jo Gyeong-hun! You barely talk normally, but when you open your mouth you really know how to make a guy feel good. You talk pretty. I like it!’
‘Thank you, hyung.’
‘So where’s the money going?’
‘Well...’
‘I said give it to me. Hyung started a loan-sharking operation. Year one and it’s already flying. Not enough money to lend out, you hear me? If you’ve got cash, invest. You too, Gyeong-jun.’
‘Hyung, I just want to use that money to get a house with no debt and live quietly.’
‘Gyeong-hun, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Park the money with me for a few years and I’ll make sure you get a house free and clear and then some.’
‘...I’m sorry, hyung.’
‘Hyung’s asking and you’re still saying no all the way to the end?’
‘...’
‘You little bastard? Nice! I like seeing Gyeong-hun with some backbone.’
‘I’m sorry, hyung.’
‘Fine. Hey. Use that money. Use it however you want—I’ll allow it. Forget everything about today’s job, everything related to that slippery Gwanseo-dong bastard’s goods. You too, Gyeong-jun.’
‘Understood.’
‘Hey. Swear it. Properly.’
‘...Hyung.’
‘What?’
‘Something that small doesn’t even compare to sharing a drink with you right now. Who do you think kept me and Gyeong-jun fed? All we’ll remember is the kindness of taking in a couple of strays with nowhere to go.’
‘...Nice. Gyeong-hun really knows how to talk pretty.’
Last night had ended there, for the time being.
That maniac Taesik hyung had kept trying to drag the two of us in deeper just so his own mistake wouldn’t get exposed. If word reached Gyeong-jun’s father that the “slippery eel of Gwanseo-dong” had turned out to be some punk kid who’d only grown big because of Taesik’s own negligence, there would have been hell to pay.
Ironically, that was exactly why the eel’s life had been extended. They could take him out right now, but that wouldn’t cover up the screw-up. Taesik needed to bring back results big enough to paper it over, something that would let him save face. So for a while he’d intercept the calls asking the eel to send product to the big-shot junkie, pretend to cooperate, and quietly suck the guy’s wallet dry in the meantime.
Even without the eel business, Taesik hyung kept treating us like walking wallets he was too fond of to discard. Every time he heard the rumor that we’d made some money, he’d lean on us with the same investment threats. Our silver tongues were starting to hit their limit, and the worry sat heavy on both of us. Because of him we couldn’t even spend our own money freely. The second word got out that we’d blown cash on anything other than the original goal—anything just for ourselves—he’d show up demanding his cut. No matter how big a player he was, at the root he was still just a thug.
“...Still, at least he gave us permission to buy a house. That’s something.”
“True. That bastard’s word is solid. Even the stuff he says casually, he keeps. So that much should be fine.”
Fuck. My own money, and I couldn’t spend it right now because of one thug and a clingy father. My sigh mixed with Gyeong-jun’s.
We were still young, but cold reality had been grinding people down since the day we were born.
“Ah, I miss Eunsol.”
I missed Hui-gyeong too. But after what happened the day before we left, I still didn’t know how to face her. A thousand thoughts crowded my head, but none of them mattered.
I just... miss you. Hui-gyeong.
When Hui-gyeong woke around noon, her eyelids felt hot and swollen. She touched them and felt dampness; she must have cried herself to sleep again. Sniffling, she let out a quiet sigh. She had fallen asleep clutching the pillow Gyeong-hun used to use.
She missed him. She wanted him beside her. That was the honest truth.
The incident from the other day still left her heart unsettled, and it was too soon to forgive, but she still wanted Gyeong-hun close. Yet if he actually appeared in front of her right now, she hadn’t decided how she would treat him. Would she smile? Would she get angry that he’d stayed away so long? She couldn’t get a grip on her own feelings or attitude.
In the moment, she resented him. She resented the curt way he’d answered the next day after what happened. She resented him for hiding that he was the one earning the living expenses alone. But those thoughts soon faded, replaced by the worry that she might have been too harsh, by a tender ache for her older brother carrying the whole household on his shoulders, and finally by nothing but the desperate wish to see him, to touch him, no matter what.
“I’m hungry.”
The more she thought, the faster her stomach seemed to empty. She hadn’t eaten properly since the day before yesterday; by the third day the hunger was impossible to ignore. Listening carefully for any sound outside, Hui-gyeong quietly slipped out of her room and made her way into the kitchen.
On the table sat side dishes her mother Gyeong-ae had prepared, covered in plastic wrap. As silently as she could, she scooped rice, peeled back the wrap, and ate bite by careful bite. Stir-fried pork—her favorite.
“It’s good.”
Even after their fierce fight, Gyeong-ae had still made food for her. And Hui-gyeong, for her part, didn’t throw another tantrum; she just ate it in secret and behaved. They were angry, but they weren’t cutting each other off.
Suddenly she realized it would be the same with her brother. They would still be angry, they might not speak, but they would still want to share the same space—and especially at night, Hui-gyeong would absolutely end up using Gyeong-hun’s arm as a pillow. Neither of them had the slightest desire to sever the relationship completely.
She barely managed a few bites before her appetite vanished. Like a good daughter she left everything exactly as it was and crept back toward her room—only to run straight into Gyeong-ae, who had just opened her own door.
“...”
“...”
Awkward, and their eyes had already met. The silence stretched. Just as Hui-gyeong was about to force her feet to move, Gyeong-ae finally spoke.
“He might come home today.”
“...”
“Gyeong-hun...”
“I heard.”
The words came out snide without her meaning them to. It made her stomach drop, but she pretended not to notice and hurried into her room with short, quick steps. Her heart was pounding.
He’s coming today?
Technically her mother had said “might,” but in Hui-gyeong’s head it was already settled that he was definitely coming.
But why did he only contact Mom?
Annoyed that he hadn’t reached out to her, she punched his pillow a few times—then realized.
Oh. I don’t have a phone.
For the first time, the fact that she had no phone actually bothered her. If she’d had one, they could have texted every night before sleep, could have heard each other’s voices.
Wow. I like Oppa a lot more than I thought.
Still, it wasn’t enough. The feeling had soaked into her thoroughly, but it hadn’t filled her completely. The two weeks of patience had almost been enough to overwhelm her with emotion, but that was long gone; something decisive was still missing.
Leaning her back against the cool wall, Hui-gyeong sat and stared blankly at the ceiling.
“Ah, you selfish bitch.”
Deep down, she already knew.
“I’m heading straight to see Eunsol.”
“Me? Guess I’m going home.”
After resting about half a day we left the lodging. We’d slept with every light off in the dark; stepping outside, the blazing sunlight licked the ground. Summer. It was already evening, yet the day was still bright.
“Whoa~. So this is what happens when I can’t get in touch—put a little distance and the reaction is just pure fire. Just like the books said!”
Gyeong-jun had fully returned to romance-idiot mode. Whether he was faking it or not, I couldn’t tell, but that was how he was acting.
...Please just stay an idiot. Don’t graduate into full-blown moron.
“I’m off!”
“Take care.”
Guys with dicks never look back after a single wave. The distance called for a bus, but I just trudged along on foot. Even after all that sleep my body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, and my heart felt twice as heavy on top of that.
What good was strength? What good was money? Because of two pieces of human garbage, nothing went the way I wanted. Not even romance.
When I see Hui-gyeong, what am I supposed to do? Say I’m sorry? Say I’m back? I don’t know.
After walking about thirty minutes I reached the neighborhood as the sun finally started to drop. Under a sky turning blackish blue, the streets emptied fast. This bleak, hollow place... really suited our family.
“Hm?”
Someone was standing there. Short shorts, sleeveless top, long straight hair. Hui-gyeong.
She recognized me too. I walked toward the girl who stood frozen, watching me. I didn’t run—my body was too exhausted for that. But my heart ran instead.
When I got close enough to make out her features, her expression, something indescribable rose up and tightened in my chest.
Step by step, neither slow nor fast, I stopped in front of her. I needed to say something, but my mouth wouldn’t move. I didn’t feel the need to force it.
Hui-gyeong looked up at me quietly, then opened her arms. With a faint smile I pulled my little sister into a hug.
“Uuuu...”
I felt the front of my shirt growing damp. The arms wrapped around me were squeezing with everything she had. A moment later she pulled back, cupped my face, and kissed me. A short kiss, just tasting each other’s tongues.
Afterward she spoke.
“Why’d you take so long?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I was so lonely, you know?”
“I’m sorry.”
I apologized to the fragile version of her standing in front of me.
“I’m... sorry too, but I’m not going to say it.”
Wasn’t that the same thing? We looked at each other. The force in Hui-gyeong’s eyes loosened the longer they stayed on me. The tears that had been gathering spilled over again.
“Oppa... I’m sorry... I’m sorry I hurt you...”
In the end she couldn’t hold it in and apologized. I had no choice but to pull my little sister into my arms again; I couldn’t bear not to.
“Let’s stop doing things we have to apologize for.”
“Yeah. I really hope so, Oppa. I’ll try hard too, so please... don’t make me lonely.”
I wiped her tears and smiled as if to say not to worry.
“Hui-gyeong.”
“Yeah.”
“Want to go on a date tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
“We’ll do something fun, grab dinner, then come home.”
“Okay. Okay.”
All she could say was “okay.” Hui-gyeong held my hand tight and refused to let go the entire walk into the house, as if she was afraid I might disappear somewhere the second she loosened her grip.
“But we made up, so that means we’re dating now, right?”
“...”
“Just now we basically declared out loud that we like each other.”
“...”
I got a solid kick to the shin and was left abandoned.