Phase 2. Hui-gyeong (18)
“I confirmed the deposit.”
I’d left the transfer limit on the default setting, so I couldn’t send that kind of money in one go through the banking app. I had to go to the bank in person. While I was at it I tried to raise the daily limit as high as it would go, just in case, but the teller talked me down and I settled for about ten million won a day. Even the transfer itself took forever because they grilled me about whether it was voice phishing.
“How does a college student have this much money?”
“I saved it up. Working part-time with Gyeong-jun.”
“What kind of part-time job pays that well?”
“There are plenty of places that throw money at you if you’re willing to wreck your body.”
“And then it all goes to hospital bills.”
“Lucky for us, then. Part of it just went toward bailing Gyeong-jun out.”
My stupid attempt at banter only sharpened her stare. Yeah, I definitely couldn’t pull off the slick act the way Gyeong-jun could.
Hwang Eun-hui.
A sharp-faced senior from the same year, always wearing a cap pulled low over a ponytail. She was a slender beauty with endless legs and small but perfectly shaped breasts—the kind of body that made you look twice. She favored black or gray clothes and had a foul mouth. People who knew she was secretly soft-hearted treated her casually; everyone else found her scary and kept their distance. She was also the president of the hard-boiled noir club that was about to shut down after our batch. And, as she’d just revealed, her family ran a private investigation agency.
“Noona, do you like Gyeong-jun?”
“Did you think I was joking when I said I’d tear that bitch apart?”
“I heard you, but you never actually said you liked him.”
“Yeah, I like him. Enough that I want to marry him right now.”
“What do you like about him?”
Her face went bright red. I hadn’t realized she was this blunt and unfiltered. Some kind of tsundere, maybe?
“We already agreed to work together to get rid of Eunsol, so I figure it’s okay to tell you.”
“Why should I?”
“Because if it’s you, Noona, I honestly think you’re exactly the person Gyeong-jun needs.”
I pulled out the Bluetooth earbud and held it out. Even now Eunsol’s muttering was crackling through it, but if I kept listening I was going to lose my mind. That pig of a woman was spewing every kind of insult about my innocent friend, and it was starting to make me mad at Gyeong-jun just for being tangled up with her.
“Do I even look like I match with Gyeong-jun?”
“You look perfect together.”
“I’m a total tomboy… and my mouth’s filthy.”
“Noona. Look at what Gyeong-jun’s doing right now. He needs a woman like you to keep a tight grip on him if he’s ever going to live like a proper human being.”
“You’re serious, huh. Yeah, you wouldn’t have thrown that kind of money around otherwise.”
“Exactly. So I want to know how serious you are. He and I have been through life-and-death together, you know.”
“Ugh, typical guy bullshit. Life-and-death? Come on.”
“It’s true.”
“Jo Gyeong-hun, don’t drop your voice like that. You’re already such a needlessly serious type that you look like you’ve got a whole tragic backstory.”
“I’m telling the truth.”
Eun-hui looked a little surprised that her vicious glare didn’t faze me. On my end I was just desperately trying to figure out what she was really thinking. Because of his family, Gyeong-jun could never settle down with a normal girl. Someone like Eun-hui, whose family already had one foot in that world, was probably the perfect fit.
“Hmph. Still trying to look cool till the end. I’m curious what kind of story’s going to come out of that mouth of yours, but if we’re going to crush that bitch right now we need more people and better gear.”
“How much more?”
“Two more people, plus better wiretaps and trackers.”
“Gear I get, but two more people?”
“What, you want you and me stuck together doing all the wiretapping and tailing? Even with two more we still have to rotate shifts.”
What? I had to tail people too?
“I have to do it too? I already paid!”
“I paid out of pocket too. You only put in one person’s share—ten million. I’m spending a few hundred myself. And for the record, it’s ten million a week. If this drags on, we’re fucked.”
Gyeong-jun, I think you were wrong. Not even an hour after dropping ten million and nothing’s solved—now we’re looking at another weekly hit. And fuck, this is all your fault!
My hands were shaking, but I pretended to check my phone. Might as well look at KakaoTalk while I was at it…
329 Unread Messages
I almost jumped out of my skin at the mountain of notifications and hurriedly opened the chat. Instantly a flood of messages from Hui-gyeong poured out.
A chill ran down my spine. I never expected Hui-gyeong to get this clingy with me. At the same time, an endless wave of affection for her welled up in a corner of my heart, making me feel like some kind of hopeless pervert myself.
Bzzzzzt—!
Incoming call…
She even called. I answered without a second of hesitation.
“Yeah, Hui-gyeong!”
“You saw the KakaoTalk. Why didn’t you answer?”
Under that calm voice I could feel a fire smoldering.
“Sorry, I just saw them and was reading everything you sent. Oppa was in a career counseling session with the professor and couldn’t check my phone. He’s super strict… Sorry, I’m really late, right?”
“Career counseling? Universities do that?”
“Yeah, employment rates are part of a professor’s performance. Same as high-school teachers bragging about which colleges their kids got into.”
“Is that true?”
“Of course it’s true. Why would I lie?”
Fuck, the guilt was crushing. I couldn’t tell her the real reason anyway, and the fact that I was lying to Hui-gyeong pressed down hard on my chest.
“Still, you could’ve said something right after class.”
“The professor was really busy so I had to go straight there… No, those are all excuses. Oppa’s sorry.”
“No, I didn’t know your situation and I was being too pushy. I’m the one who’s sorry.”
“Yeah, yeah. Oppa’s heading out right now. I’m taking the subway so let’s keep talking on KakaoTalk.”
“Can’t we just stay on the phone?”
“There are a lot of people and it’s underground so the call won’t be clear.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll text you right away.”
I was about to wrap it up and hang up when Hui-gyeong made a demand.
“Tell me you love me.”
“Huh? Right now? We’re on the street and there are people around…?”
“Say it. Say you love me.”
I hesitated for a second on pure reflex, and that alone was enough to piss her off. The way her voice dropped the second time she asked made it obvious.
Eun-hui was watching with keen interest right in front of me. There weren’t many people around, so she could hear the entire call. I waved for her to leave, but she just grinned and shook her head. Completely annoying.
“I-I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you.”
“Say it with my name.”
“I love you, Hui-gyeong.”
“One more time.”
“Hui-gyeong, Oppa loves you so, so much.”
“Eeeee~. Hui-gyeong loves Oppa so, so much too~.”
“I’ll KakaoTalk you~.”
“Okay~.”
Call ended.
I lowered the phone from my ear with a complicated expression. Gyeong-jun, I’ve never seen Eun-hui smile that big before, you know?
“Jo Gyeong-hun, you got a girlfriend?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“How long have you been dating?”
“Two days now…?”
“Does Gyeong-jun know?”
I shook my head. If it was Gyeong-jun he’d definitely dig for who it was, and I couldn’t exactly say it was my little sister.
The big smile on Eun-hui’s face vanished as she slammed the wall with a bang.
“Fuck, I’m so jealous! Couples saying they love each other—I’m so fucking jealous!”
What the hell? This noona’s crazy. Scary!
“I want to kiss and suck face and say I love you with Gyeong-jun too!”
“O-okay, I’ll help! Just stop, people walking by can hear you!”
“There’s nobody around anyway.”
The way she suddenly pretended to be normal again was somehow even more infuriating.
“Anyway, I’ll find people, upgrade the gear, and contact you. Wait for it.”
“Got it.”
“If Gyeong-jun calls you, run over right away and record every word.”
“Got it.”
“And if he ever asks about me, make sure you actively pitch that there’s no woman better than me.”
“I said I got it!”
We never even brought her up when it was just the two of us! Annoyed that she only cared about her own agenda, I decided to put some pressure on her for once.
“Noona, how about you explain the wiretap on Gyeong-jun first.”
“…Huh?”
“How long have you had it on him?”
“Quite a while now?”
“How much of our conversations do you know?”
“Jo Gyeong-hun, you’re as sharp as they say.”
In the worst case, this noona might already know everything about the underworld part-time jobs we’d been doing lately. Even my family situation.
She didn’t answer. Sensing she was stalling, my expression slowly went blank. Facing that look, Eun-hui went—
“Nigerundayo~!”
—and bolted.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going!”
She was already fast, and when she ran for real she was already far away.
“Ah, for fuck’s sake!”
Bzzzzzt.
My phone vibrated again.
13 Unread Messages
Man, nothing about this is easy.