The Trap is Set
“Finally, I’m setting a flag.”
It was a phrase used when it was almost certain that ‘something bad was about to happen.’
“Like saying you’ll get married to your girlfriend after this war ends?”
“Hey, no way.”
Ignoring Choi Deok-bae’s words, Yoon-gi moved to sit next to Jin-su.
“Are you finally paying off all your family’s debt?”
“Yeah. It really… felt like it took forever.”
A long time ago, in return for Park Yeon-ji having suffered burns on her behalf, Jin-su’s family had received special treatment. It was a job as a housekeeper that paid a significant salary. Even so, hearing that they had only just finished paying off their debt made Yoon-gi click his tongue.
“Just how much debt was there?”
“I don’t know the exact details. But they said my grandfather gambled away everything the family had, so there was no other way.”
Gambling. In this day and age, if you gamble, the police drag you away, but before the 1960s, it was common for people to gather in rural houses to gamble. It was truly the era of the tazza (professional gamblers). Because of that, even if you were a wealthy landowner, if you were ‘worked’ by gamblers, losing your entire fortune in an instant was nothing out of the ordinary.
“That must have been hard….”
Because it was difficult to pry into the unfortunate parts of a friend’s family life, Yoon-gi had never bothered to ask until now. But hearing the reason for the debt, he felt a sense of pity for Jin-su.
“But it’s okay! We paid it all off now. If we just use my father’s salary today to pay off the last bit, our house will truly be debt-free!”
Seeing Jin-su’s cheerful face, Won-hee also smiled brightly and spoke up.
“Then I should be the one to pay!”
“I told you I’d pay!”
Jin-su and Won-hee, who were bickering even though something good had happened, were true friends. ‘It’s good to see.’ Imagining Won-hee and Jin-su working at YK in the future, Yoon-gi thought he should treat Jin-su a bit better.
‘Of course, to do that, I’ll have to make them study hard.’
Unaware of Yoon-gi’s wicked(?) thoughts, Jin-su paid for the bread that day in a truly good mood.
Why do bad premonitions always come true? In fact, it’s not that they always come true, but rather the psychology of a person who obsesses over bad things, but unfortunately, Choi Deok-bae’s premonition came true.
“Hey! Did you pay off all the debt?!”
As soon as he arrived at school, Won-hee ran toward Jin-su and shook his body violently. Under normal circumstances, Jin-su would have been annoyed, saying, ‘Ah, damn! What is it!’ But Jin-su had no reaction.
“What, why are you like this?”
Won-hee looked closely at Jin-su’s face and was shocked. It was because Jin-su’s face was as dark as if he were about to die.
“Hey, you, what is it? Did something happen?”
Won-hee was urging Jin-su when he saw Yoon-gi open the classroom door and walk in.
“Yoon-gi! Hey, his condition is a bit strange.”
The moment he heard that, Yoon-gi sensed that Choi Deok-bae’s premonition had come true. Sighing inwardly at Choi Deok-bae’s words, Yoon-gi approached Jin-su with a troubled expression.
“Something went wrong, right?”
Because Yoon-gi was someone he could lean on more than Won-hee, Jin-su shed tears and opened his mouth.
“My father… had his salary pickpocketed….”
However, Jin-su suddenly wiped his tears and began to laugh.
“I-it’s okay. I can pay it back next month anyway. Next month… next month….”
Seeing Jin-su forcing himself to stay strong, neither Yoon-gi nor Won-hee had anything to say.
‘I can’t just say I’ll pay it for him….’
The reason Jin-su was so happy yesterday. It was because they had paid off the debt through their family’s own strength. If Jin-su’s family had just asked for help in the first place, the debt would have been paid off a long time ago. It was just that Jin-su’s family had adamantly refused.
“Stay strong….”
All Yoon-gi and Won-hee could do was hug Jin-su.
“Yoon-gi.”
“Yeah?”
Yoon-gi, who was dipping tteokbokki at the snack shop, stopped his fork at Won-hee’s words.
“Why do bad things always happen only to Jin-su?”
Since Jin-su had left saying he had to go home early, Yoon-gi and Won-hee had created this opportunity to talk to each other.
“It’s probably because the concept of a ‘bad thing’ is relative.”
“Relative?”
To Won-hee, who found it hard to understand, Yoon-gi nodded and continued.
“Won-hee.”
“Yeah?”
“How do you feel if you lose a thousand won on the street?”
“A thousand won? Well… I’d feel a bit bad, but I’d just let it go, right?”
“But how would Jin-su feel if he lost a thousand won?”
“That’s… uh, I think I know what you’re trying to say.”
They say the measure of misfortune is one’s mindset, but in reality, most measures of misfortune are determined by the state of one’s wallet. Yoon-gi could lose 100 million won in a stock market dip and just shrug it off, but Won-hee wouldn’t be able to eat properly for a while. On the other hand, what if Jin-su lost 100 million won? He didn’t have 100 million won to lose in the first place. Ah, of course, there is a way. Borrowing money from here and there to invest 100 million won. And if he lost that 100 million won, naturally, an unbearable misfortune would follow. Yoon-gi had explained this example to Won-hee very simply.
“Sigh, anyway, it’s a pity. I could see how happy he was…. Yoon-gi, isn’t there a way? He won’t accept it if I give him money, and it’s heartbreaking to see him struggling like that for a month….”
Yoon-gi stared blankly at Won-hee, who had a troubled expression.
“W-why?”
“No, just because. If you were a girl, I’d think you were Jin-su’s girlfriend.”
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
To Won-hee, who was almost genuinely angry, Yoon-gi showed a faint smile.
“Sorry, I’m joking. Of course, I was already thinking of a solution.”
“Really? Do you have a good way?”
At the mention of a solution, Won-hee was interested, despite his previous anger.
“They probably reported it to the police, but it’ll be hard to catch them.”
“That’s… true.”
“So, I think you need to use your strength a little.”
“Huh? Me?”
Yoon-gi wore a wicked expression toward Won-hee, who looked flustered.
In the 2010s in Korea, it’s really hard to see pickpockets. There are two reasons. One is that because there are CCTV cameras and dashcams everywhere, even if they succeed in pickpocketing, they are often caught later. The other is cash. In the 2010s, people only carried cards, so even if they stole them, they couldn’t use them. However, people in the 80s carried a lot of cash. Especially on the 10th or the end of the month, which were the most common paydays, it was a festival for pickpockets. Because there were an incredible number of people who carried their pay envelopes in their back pockets.
Perhaps people from the 60s and 70s would relate to this a lot? The day they waited for their father to come home from work with pork, only for him to return without the pay envelope. The experience of pork kimchi stew turning into soy sauce stew, and that soy sauce dish not disappearing for a month. It was no different in the 80s, and Jin-su’s father had also been pickpocketed and lost his entire salary.
“Yoon-gi, will this really be okay?”
Yoon-gi smiled broadly at Won-hee, who was wearing casual clothes instead of his usual attire.
“Don’t worry. If it’s you, you’ll be able to attract pickpockets enough.”
Won-hee’s appearance looked quite naive. Because of that, Yoon-gi even matched his outfit to a ‘naive rich kid’ and put a thick wallet in Jin-su’s back pocket.
“Just ride the subway for two hours as you are now, and go back home.”
“Huh? Just go back home?”
“Yeah. That’s the only way we can help Jin-su.”
“Umm… okay.”
Nodding, Won-hee immediately started heading down toward the subway. Yoon-gi did the same. Keeping a considerable distance from Won-hee, Yoon-gi watched Won-hee’s side without anyone else noticing. Since he had instructed his bodyguards to only provide long-range protection today, no one was watching Yoon-gi either. In the first place, what was there to worry about when he had a high-performance radar named Choi Deok-bae?
‘According to Jin-su, the bait should be taken in about 30 minutes….’
He already knew which company Jin-su’s father worked for. Therefore, Yoon-gi guessed that the incident would happen between the subway station Jin-su’s father took when leaving work and the subway station near Jin-su’s house.
‘He said he definitely had his wallet until he got on the subway. And after getting on the subway, he put his ticket in his wallet and checked his pay envelope, he said.’
In the 2010s, to ride the subway, you just had to swipe your phone at the turnstile, but in this era, a ‘ticket’ was essential. As such, the words of Jin-su’s father that he had his pay envelope until he got on the subway were credible. In addition, Jin-su told him that his father found out about the pickpocketing at the turnstile of the subway station near their house. When he tried to take out his wallet to retrieve his ticket, he realized his wallet and pay envelope were missing.
‘Now, take the bait. It’s a really attractive prey from your perspective, right?’
Won-hee’s back pocket, which was bulging, was a gold mine for pickpockets. Furthermore, since pickpockets almost always have fixed operating areas, Yoon-gi was certain that the person who stole Won-hee’s wallet would be related to this incident in one way or another.
‘Looks like he’s a bit bored.’
Riding the subway for two hours doing nothing was truly boring. Therefore, Won-hee started reading a book he had prepared in advance.
‘He really is naive.’
Although he gave a bitter smile, Yoon-gi thought that behavior would actually help. Bait that is focused on something else is really easy to eat.
‘Got him!’
In fact, not even five minutes after Won-hee started reading the book, someone appeared and slowly approached Won-hee. And a moment later, the sight of the guy naturally taking the wallet from Won-hee’s back pocket with incredible speed was revealed. The subway started to stop just in time. In short, it was proof that the opponent was a seasoned pickpocket who even knew the timing of the stops.
‘You’re dead.’
Yoon-gi, who was riding in the next car, got off the subway and checked outside, confirming the pickpocket quickly exiting the subway.
‘Can’t let him get away.’
Yoon-gi also had a body honed by years of exercise. As such, following the pickpocket was not difficult.
‘He’s not even paying the fare.’
The sight of the pickpocket jumping over the turnstile. Avoiding any potential trouble with the staff, Yoon-gi put his ticket into the turnstile as quickly as possible and came out. But then.
Tap-tap-tap-!
The sight of the pickpocket running away at a considerable speed caught his eye. As expected of guys who live by their wits, they had noticed Yoon-gi’s approach.
‘Actually, I’m grateful!’
There was no need to follow slowly; he could run with all his might. Therefore, Yoon-gi chased the pickpocket who had run out of the subway and was able to catch him in an alley not far away.
“What! Why are you following me!”
Perhaps because it was his first time experiencing something like this, the pickpocket, who looked to be in his early 20s, struggled with truly cliché words.
“Then why are you running away?”
“I ran away because you were chasing me!”
“Oh, is that so?”
Yoon-gi took Won-hee’s wallet out of the guy’s jacket pocket.
“T-that’s….”
Normally, he should have thrown the wallet and run away. But because Won-hee’s wallet was so thick, this guy couldn’t bring himself to give up on the greed. Of course, since Yoon-gi wasn’t an ordinary opponent, he would have kept chasing him even if he had thrown the wallet away.
“Who’s your boss?”
At Yoon-gi’s demand to name his boss, the opponent started rolling his eyes.
“W-what are you talking about? I work solo!”
At the opponent’s claim that he worked alone, Yoon-gi firmly twisted the opponent’s arm.
“Speak, who is your boss?”
“I-I told you there isn’t one!”
“I told you to speak!”
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
As Yoon-gi applied proper force, the opponent screamed like crazy from the pain of feeling like his joints were about to break.
“It’s easier if you talk. So talk.”
“T-there isn’t one. I really don’t have one!”
“Hmm.”
Yoon-gi released the joint he was twisting, and only then did the pickpocket let out a sigh of relief. However.
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
The pickpocket, clutching his index finger, started to shed tears and snot, and Yoon-gi twisted the arm of the pickpocket again.
“I’ll ask again. Who is your boss? If you don’t talk, the next one is your middle finger. After that is your ring finger, well, the choice is yours. The choice of when to talk, that is.”
Eventually, the pickpocket, who had even wet himself, named his superior.
“G-Gyu-sik hyung-nim!”
“Gyu-sik hyung-nim…?”
For a moment, Yoon-gi wore a puzzled expression. It was definitely a name he had heard somewhere. Yoon-gi started to trace back through the past.
A past that stopped once about 10 years ago, and once 660 years ago.
“By any chance, are you talking about Kim Gyu-sik?”
“Y-you know hyung-nim?”
It was the name of the dog butcher.