Funeral Goods
The door burst open.
"Oh, Manager Kang!"
It was the afternoon of the day after the exorcism ritual, and Kwak Young-ho, already standing beside Shin Jeong-ah, greeted him the moment he set foot in the office.
"I'm back, Department Head."
"Where's your coffee?"
It was his roundabout way of saying he had plenty of questions, so let's take them up to the rooftop. Kang Hyeong-seok broke into a broad smile and set his bag down at his desk first.
"Haven't made it yet."
"Then brew yourself a cup and come on up. You, me, and Manager Shin can talk up there."
Apparently he had something to pass along. Everyone else already had coffee in hand, so Kang made only his own and carried it with him.
The rooftop door banged open as he stepped outside, and the day came out to greet him — a breeze with the worst of the heat finally broken, a sky grown higher than yesterday's, and the smell of the smokers' cigarettes.
"Haaahm." Yawning behind his hand, Kwak fished out a cigarette and set it between his lips, and Shin Jeong-ah did much the same — an e-cigarette, these days, whether she was thinking of making the switch or not, one that looked a touch large against her hand.
"Manager Shin, how much do those things run?"
"Thinking of getting one?"
"No, no — it's my wife. She's on my case day in, day out about how my dress shirts reek of smoke."
"Ah, if that's the problem, this one's probably overkill. The budget ones — you could pick up a device for around fifty thousand won, I'd think?"
"Can I just grab one at a shop?"
"Pfft, just order it online."
There was something about smokers talking shop about cigarettes that made it nearly impossible for a non-smoker to break in.
So Kang Hyeong-seok sipped his coffee alone until Kwak turned to him.
"Manager Kang, good trip?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Shin Jeong-ah shooting Kwak a look that said, Wow, he didn't waste any time.
"Yes, sir. I'm back."
"You about gave me a heart attack when I heard you were coming in today. You could've taken the whole day off."
"I figured showing my face by the afternoon was the right call."
Kang Hyeong-seok was a company man, after all. Honestly speaking, if the chance to rest presented itself, he'd take it in a heartbeat. But he also knew that stirring up expectations for no good reason could make the aftermath a chore.
"It wasn't anything major. We just met up and did a little camping."
"Oh, is that right?"
"Yes. No business talk came up, I'm afraid."
Kwak smacked his lips, looking disappointed.
"Well, either way, good work. Judging by the clock, you came straight here — you holding up all right?"
"Yes. More to the point, how should I file my report?"
Kwak apparently had it thought through already; he waved a hand as he took a drag.
"Don't sweat it. Director Shin introduced us to a client a while back, remember? Just fold it into that — say you made a goodwill visit as part of client care."
Fortunately, Kwak Young-ho had a plan. In any case, with Kang back from his "business trip," this would at least shut down the lingering hope of so — anything good to report over there? Let that kind of thing pile up and it curdles into disappointment, and disappointment bleeds straight into your performance review.
"Anyway!"
Kwak glanced once at Shin Jeong-ah, then addressed Kang.
"It came up briefly this morning. Think you could take a business trip tomorrow with Manager Shin?"
"Tomorrow, you mean?"
"Yeah. The request came in from their side first. They're asking us to come by."
Odd, isn't it? That was unmistakably what Kwak's eyes were saying.
"Whew-! It's not like it never happens, but it's strange. No referral, nothing — and they're the ones reaching out to us first, of all things."
"You want us to look into it first, then?"
As if that were exactly the right answer, Kwak rubbed his thumb and forefinger together hard enough to rasp — the age-old gesture for money.
"Worst case? There are outfits out there that'll take your payment and vanish into thin air."
Behind him, Shin Jeong-ah pulled deeply on her e-cigarette, her brow creased with displeasure. The artificial, cloying sweetness of strawberry rolled over him — every bit as thick as the foreboding pressing in right now.
"We'll make the visit together tomorrow morning."
"Aigoo, now I feel bad for nothing. Didn't like hitting you with work the second you walked in, either."
"It's my job, after all."
When Kang said it with an easy smile, Kwak's eyes went soft and misty with feeling.
"If this one wraps up nicely, I'll put in for paid leave — for you and Manager Shin both."
"Huh? Really?"
Shin Jeong-ah pulled the e-cigarette from her mouth in surprise, while Kang bent his brows into an awkward arc.
"Oh, Department Head, you don't have to..."
"I know! I know it's a busy stretch."
Tap. With the hand that wasn't holding his cigarette, Kwak gave Kang's chest a light pat.
"And do I strike you as someone who goofs off? We've got Min-ah, and Assistant Manager Lee besides. And when people put in the work, they deserve to be treated like it."
If he couldn't even spare this much care for subordinates who did their jobs well, what was the point of being department head at all? That was the thought that came through in Kwak's eyes and voice alike.
"...Understood, sir."
It had become impossible to refuse a second time, so Kang managed a strained reply, and Kwak clapped him on the shoulder with a grin.
"Then head straight out first thing tomorrow. Anything comes up, you just call me right away."
"Yes, sir."
Kang answered, meeting Kwak's gaze with a faint smile.
"Manager Kang, are you free tonight?"
It was quitting time. Kang Hyeong-seok and Shin Jeong-ah, who had stayed a little later than everyone else to wrap up some work, stood talking in front of the elevator.
"Tonight, you mean?"
"Well — for one thing, I'm curious about yesterday."
Sure enough, Shin Jeong-ah seemed to have sensed that something had happened.
Ding! Stepping into the elevator that arrived just then, Kang pressed the button for the underground parking level.
"Yes. I did some work with Director Shin."
"Oh my?"
The doors closed and the elevator began its descent, but Shin Jeong-ah never touched the button for the first floor. She was a public-transport commuter. That she was riding along with Kang anyway meant she had a lot she wanted to say.
"And yes, I'm free."
"Haah."
Looking visibly relieved, Shin Jeong-ah slipped her hands into her pockets.
"Then let's talk with a little breathing room. Dinner's on me."
"Is something wrong?"
"Not exactly. It's just that tomorrow's going to be slammed from first thing in the morning, so I figured I'd give you the heads-up now."
Fair enough. Kang nodded without a word, and Shin Jeong-ah tipped her head back, arms folded.
"Ugh, I'm starving."
Whether she meant it or was just forcing her mind onto other tracks, he couldn't quite tell.
Ding! The elevator reached the garage, and with Shin Jeong-ah settled into his car, Kang set her apartment as the destination for the time being.
"There's a sashimi place on the way. Let me show you."
"Sashimi?"
"It's easier on the stomach. Good for you."
"It is better than fried chicken, I'll give you that."
"They do it right there. You'll like it."
Shin Jeong-ah gave a playful grin.
And so they arrived at a tuna restaurant that wasn't too large, and Kang Hyeong-seok was fully intending to order a modest spread suited for two —
"Boss! The Manager's Special course for two!"
— and that intention held fast, right up until Shin Jeong-ah placed the order before they had even sat down.
"Isn't that a bit much?"
"You're the one taking time out of your day for me, Manager Kang. Besides, you need to look after yourself. Did you get by on convenience-store lunch boxes yesterday? Your face is telling on you."
One eyebrow raised, Shin Jeong-ah drank the water Kang had poured for her — then raised the other one too.
"...Hold on. For real?"
"If you're asking about the convenience-store lunch boxes, then yes."
"But you were out there with Director Shin, weren't you?"
"There weren't any restaurants nearby."
"Huh... Well, good thing we came, then. Think of this as a recuperation meal and eat plenty."
"I will."
Clatter, clatter. The side dishes the server brought out spread across the table first.
By the time they'd finished the abalone porridge — just the thing for warming a worn-out stomach — out came tuna sashimi heaped on an enormous round platter, and it certainly had the looks to earn the word "special" in its name.
"Do you come to places like this often?"
"Once in a while, with Ha-yoon."
Shin Jeong-ah turned the platter so the fatty belly cuts ended up in front of Kang, then opened her mouth with uncharacteristic care.
"So what exactly happened yesterday?"
Kang threw a quick glance around the room and answered as he raised his chopsticks.
"I conducted an exorcism."
"...Wow."
"It worked out, thankfully."
A faint smile even rose to the corners of his mouth, as though he genuinely felt the relief.
"A Bumaja — someone possessed by a demon — turned up at a church retreat. Fortunately, with the proper rites observed, it appears to have passed without any serious trouble."
"Hm? At a church?"
"Yes. What remains is the church's reputation, and that's a burden the pastor will have to shoulder himself."
The pastor had known, beyond any doubt. About what had happened on that retreat ground. He wasn't a bad man — and yet, knowing full well, he had dismissed it all as superstition, and because of that, Oh Ju-yeong had been made to suffer pain she never should have had to endure. That much karmic debt, at the very least, was his to carry away with him.
"Honestly. You're something else, you know that? In every possible way."
Wearing the face of someone who had simply given up on being surprised, Shin Jeong-ah raised her chopsticks and started in on the meal.
Tuna, so long as it wasn't the instant sort, was always superb. All the more so with a light dusting of gold leaf scattered over the top, as this had.
"So — what was it you wanted to talk about?"
"Ah, right."
As though she'd just remembered, Shin Jeong-ah flicked her eyes upward, then brought them back to meet his.
"The thing is, I made a few calls to a place I used to work, just to check."
"Mm-hm?"
"And you know what the funny part is?"
Tap-tap. Drumming her fingertip on the tabletop beside her soy sauce dish, she went on.
"They said they'd gotten an inquiry from them too."
"That is strange. Genuinely."
"The way I see it, the Department Head's instincts are probably right."
Kang's opinion was much the same. The odds of something pitch-black lurking underneath were simply too high. And yet, if he entertained the possibility that it wasn't fraud, it might just make for a rather fine piece of business.
"It could be a genuinely urgent situation. Isn't that exactly why the Department Head wants us to verify things first?"
"Hmm. And what's your take, Manager Kang?"
"I don't see the harm in taking a look."
In any deal, the party in a hurry is always the one who ends up conceding more. Played well, they might just bend the contract terms in Daejeong Mulsan's favor.
"Got it. If that's how you see it, I'll start thinking about it in earnest too."
"Thank you."
Kang answered with a smile, and Shin Jeong-ah carried on with the meal wearing one of her own.
When everything had been eaten, the two of them burned a cigarette out front of the restaurant before setting off.
"Thanks for today."
"Don't mention it. You bought me sashimi, even — I'm the one who ought to be thanking you."
Shin Jeong-ah released her seatbelt and stepped out of the car. The night around them had settled dark, and the evening air was crisp.
"See you tomorrow, then."
She was reaching to shut the door when a question that had only now surfaced struck him, and Kang put it to her.
"Oh — wait, Manager."
"Hm?"
"That company. I realize I never heard a single word about what kind of place it is."
"Ahh, my bad. Looks like I never got around to telling you."
Shin Jeong-ah rubbed at her lips, an odd look in her eyes — like a woman who'd been beguiled by some ghost and only half knew it.
"It's been around a long time, though it's not big. Word is, they manufacture funeral goods."
"Funeral goods?"
"Yeah. Burial shrouds and urns for the ashes, if I've got it right?"
"...Ah."
"With goods like these, all you need is a solid foothold in the funeral homes and the revenue comes in like clockwork. So like you said — as long as nothing about them smells wrong, we're better off signing."
With the apologetic face of someone admitting she should have said all this ages ago, Shin Jeong-ah pulled the door shut. Then she waved from outside the car, called out, "See you tomorrow!" and started off toward home.
The engine woke with a long, low hum, and Kang Hyeong-seok began the drive home.
Funeral goods...
A line of business he'd never once imagined for them — was that why, then? Why a feeling like this had settled in?
In the darkness of the car, where the only light was the dashboard's faint glow, Kang Hyeong-seok bit down on his lower lip, his face crowded with thought.