Confession?
An intimate little hof bar, bustling with customers.
Yeongho had claimed a table with his friend and ordered a few simple snacks and a beer each.
He didn’t usually care much for alcohol, but after so long apart, he felt it only proper to have at least one drink with an old friend.
I couldn’t even drink to take the edge off after quitting my job because I was stuck like this, but... the cast comes off in a few days anyway. I guess there’s no real reason not to start drinking again.
With that thought in mind, he looked across the table at his friend.
A sly grin, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Kang Jaeyong.
When they were kids, he had been the most precious friend Yeongho had; after marriage, though, he’d become so busy that seeing him was hard, and the calls had grown fewer and fewer until, at last, the relationship had gone cold.
When was the last time we talked... sometime in my early thirties?
After nearly seven or eight years, Jaeyong’s face was lined with age, no doubt from all he’d been through.
Even so, that look in his eyes and the expression on his face hadn’t changed at all.
His outward behavior might seem light and reckless at first glance, but beneath it he’d always been unexpectedly deep and serious.
Meeting Jaeyong again on the eve of their forties, Yeongho could still find the same old memories of their teens and twenties shining through his friend’s face.
“So how’d you screw up your leg like that?”
“Huh? This?”
It was the most obvious topic to start with, and when his friend asked, Yeongho let out a bitter smile and laid out the whole story.
“What the hell? You got hurt saving a kid, and they fired you? What kind of insane company is that? You should’ve sued the bastards!”
“I looked into it as much as I could. It wasn’t exactly simple, though.”
It had been an accident on the way home from work.
He’d wondered if it might count as workplace injury, but reality had not been kind.
Even if the cause of the accident itself had nothing to do with the job, if it could be proven that it happened on the commute home, and if the route had been one the worker normally took, then workers’ compensation could still, in theory, apply.
He had thrown himself into the road himself, so in a sense the injury had come from a personal act.
But if saving the child could be judged an urgent, public-spirited act, the Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service could verify the facts and recognize it as a covered case.
The problem was that, to get the injury fully justified, cooperation from the company was practically essential.
And the company’s answer had been to recommend his resignation.
I asked them to help me get the injury acknowledged, and I never imagined they’d just tell me to quit and get out.
He’d heard all about shitty small-time companies and black companies, but he had never expected his own workplace to pull something like that.
They wanted to avoid an illegal dismissal charge, so they pushed for a recommended resignation and did everything they could to paint him as an incompetent deadweight who was no help to the company.
He’d busted his ass for a company like that, and at the time, the self-loathing had been brutal.
“Recommended resignation” was a polite way of putting it, but when a company decided to make your life hell, how much could an ordinary employee really hold out?
In the end, crushed by the pressure inside the office and sick to death of the company, he’d signed the papers and walked out.
At least it had been a recommended resignation, so they’d thrown in a bit more severance, and he could still collect unemployment. Maybe he should count that as a blessing.
“Honestly, I felt pretty betrayed. But if I’d tried to fight it as unfair dismissal, I didn’t have it in me to keep digging in until the end. I even went to the labor board for advice, and they said that once you go through civil suits and everything else, it can take two or three years before there’s even a conclusion.”
“...Yeah. Lawsuits are a royal pain in the ass for regular people like us.”
“And I didn’t want to live my life stressed out over that crap. How was I supposed to know when I’d win, anyway? I’d have to keep paying legal fees the whole time. And if people found out I was in a legal fight with my old company, I figured getting hired again would be even harder.”
“True. Other companies would all look at you sideways too. Damn this shitty world!”
At the bitter turn in the conversation, they each spat out a colorful curse and raised the fresh beer that had just arrived, gulping it down.
“Ahh! So what are you doing now? You working at another company?”
“Yeah. Not for some corporation or anything. A younger guy I know started a business, and I’m working with him there.”
“Self-employment? Must be hard to make a living that way these days. Well, then again, when hasn’t it been? How’re the kids?”
“They’ve grown. You haven’t seen them since Jae-min’s first birthday, right? If you saw them now, you probably wouldn’t even recognize them.”
“Guess so, huh? Heh. Their uncle should’ve been giving them pocket money once in a while and all that...”
“Enough about me. Tell me about you. What’ve you been up to all this time?”
When Yeongho turned the question back on him, Jaeyong idly toyed with his beer glass for a moment before speaking.
“Truth is, I got married.”
“What?”
Yeongho was still reeling from the news he’d never known when Jaeyong calmly continued his story.
“That was five years ago. We hadn’t talked in years, so I was too embarrassed to even send you a wedding invitation. To be honest, I thought of you as a friend I’d never see again.”
“...I get it. I’m not exactly in a position to be hurt, since I was the same way.”
He’d made excuses about being busy and worn out and simply forgotten his friend.
He hadn’t kept in touch either, so it wasn’t as if he could act offended at not knowing about the marriage.
“And then about a year later, I got divorced.”
“Ah...”
“Once we actually lived together, there were a lot of things we just couldn’t compromise on, so we kept fighting. Maybe I’m just narrow-minded... but it always felt like I was the only one making concessions, the only one losing out, and I just couldn’t keep living like that.”
“I see. These days... there are so many divorced families that it’s not even considered a stain anymore.”
Unsure what else to say, Yeongho searched for something vaguely comforting.
Jaeyong snorted and waved him off.
“You guys seem to be doing fine, though. Sorry to bring up something depressing.”
“No need to be sorry. I don’t regret getting married myself, but who among married men can honestly say they don’t understand a divorced guy’s heart at all? Everybody lives with that little thought in the back of their head once in a while—‘Should I just split up and be done with it?’”
“Really? Anyway... after that we fought over property division and alimony for a while, and only barely got everything settled. It’s been a little over two years since things finally went quiet.”
“Man, you really went through a whole damn saga without me knowing.”
Looking at the empty beer glasses before him, Yeongho called the server and ordered more.
Once he started hearing the story, he couldn’t stop drinking.
“After that, I was such a wreck I didn’t have any fight left in me. Before I knew it, I’d quit my job and was living like a loser.”
“...Yeah. Just hearing it makes me think it must’ve been rough.”
“Still, I couldn’t just starve to death, so I got back on my feet and tried something else. These days I’ve got a business going, and luck was on my side—it’s doing well enough that I’m making serious money.”
“Oh, really?”
Thankfully, the end of the story wasn’t all gloom, so Yeongho brightened and raised his fresh beer for a toast with Jaeyong.
After a few hearty gulps, Jaeyong rummaged in his pocket and placed something on the table.
“Man, this is the life. Look at this.”
It turned out to be a car key.
Inside a circular emblem was a three-pointed star logo.
“What, you’re driving a Benz?”
“Told you I was making money. Here, take this.”
He handed over a business card next.
The design and colors looked oddly flashy, and when Yeongho held it close to read it, he found himself staring in disbelief.
“Adult... toys? You run an adult goods shop?”
“Yeah. I was embarrassed at first, but this is my bread and butter now. Turns out I’ve got a real knack for business in this line.”
“Whoa, you bastard... I guess you really do look like the type who’d be into that kind of thing.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean, punk? Anyway, even the first year was pretty decent, but this year my net profit blew right past a hundred million won. That’s why I just got myself the Benz recently.”
“Nice. But buying a foreign car just because you’re making money is a little... You should be saving up.”
At Yeongho’s words, Jaeyong pointed at him and chuckled.
“Look at Mr. Responsible over here. Hey! A man living alone without a wife or kids is basically destined to be a YOLO type.”
“YOLO? What decade are you living in? Nobody even says that anymore.”
“Yeah? Well, we’re old men now, so who cares? Besides, what’s the point of keeping up with the slang kids use these days if you can’t even understand it? Anyway, I didn’t bring this up just to brag.”
With a smile, Jaeyong tipped back his glass, then suddenly turned serious and met Yeongho’s eyes.
“Honestly, I’d been agonizing over whether or not to contact you until pretty recently. Funny thing is, when I was struggling, I never even thought of my friends—but once I started making money and had some breathing room, I suddenly found myself desperate to see you.”
“...What are you talking about? I’m a married man. If you’re going to suddenly confess and all that, this gets awkward.”
“No, I’m serious. I’m telling you how I really feel. After getting burned once, I just couldn’t see myself meeting another woman. And even if I worked hard and bought a nice car, the satisfaction only lasted a moment. Without someone laughing and talking beside me, I was incredibly lonely.”
“Hmm.”
“And then my old friends started coming back to me in bits and pieces. Especially you—I kept wanting to see you, but I’d gone and ignored you for years, so I felt too sorry to just call out of the blue. Then somehow, by pure chance, I end up running into you like this. Heh...”
At Jaeyong’s words, Yeongho stayed silent and listened carefully.
His friend seemed to have gone through a hard time too.
Looking back on all those years when he’d forgotten him under the excuse of being busy and miserable, Yeongho felt a sour twinge of guilt.
Even if he’d been swamped, he could’ve at least called first every now and then to check in.
“Anyway, I’m glad we met again. Since we’re here, if you’re interested, why don’t you set up a shop and run it?”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
“That’s the thing—I’m already at the point where I need to expand. Just making the existing store bigger wouldn’t mean much. I’d been thinking I should open a branch in another area, so I was out today doing some market research.”
“Oh?”
“If you’re willing to give it a shot, I’ll cover the deposit for the store. You just pay the monthly rent with the money you make. I’ll also supply all the goods myself, and you can pay me back after you sell them.”
At the sudden proposal, Yeongho stared at his friend, flustered.
“What the hell kind of business is that?”
“There isn’t one. But you’re someone I trust, so it works. I’ll share the routes I’ve already opened up and all my sales know-how too. It’s the kind of business you’d be embarrassed to brag about anywhere, sure, but the profits are solid, I’m telling you.”
“It’s just so abrupt that it’s ridiculous, man.”
“Let’s make a lot of money together. Make enough that we can keep living our busy lives, and then once in a while meet up like this for a drink... laugh like idiots and fool around the way we did back in school, you dumbass.”
Yeongho closed his mouth and looked steadily into Jaeyong’s eyes.
Normally, when an old friend who rarely contacted you suddenly started talking business, it was natural to be suspicious and keep your guard up, no matter how sad the story sounded.
And yet, in the eyes of this friend he’d finally seen again after so long, Yeongho could feel the sincerity in them, and knew it was no lie.
A genuine desire to help a friend honestly.
And, alongside that, maybe even the hope of being recognized by a friend who could ease his loneliness from time to time.
“I appreciate the offer. It’s a good one, really. But I’m already doing something these days, so I can’t take you up on it. My side is growing in its own way, and I’m finding a lot of fulfillment in the work too.”
“...Oh?”
Their eyes met for a brief moment, then Jaeyong leaned back in his chair with a grin.
“I thought you were doing some part-time thing with a younger guy you know because you quit your job and your leg’s messed up, so I figured you might be looking for something on the side.”
“No, seriously, I found work that suits me, and I’m doing well with it. I’m making a lot of money too.”
“Oh ho, well isn’t that something worth celebrating. So that means you’ve got time to have a drink together once in a while, right?”
“Of course. Call me whenever you’re bored.”
“Look at you. Hearing a married man talk like that means you must really be doing well. Guess I stuck my nose in where it didn’t belong, huh? But I wasn’t just saying that for no reason, either. If you ever feel like getting into business later on, tell me anytime.”
“Sure. Thanks for thinking of me.”
The drinks went down easy.
Once they’d moved past work and back into casual chatter, the years of pent-up stories they had to share kept the conversation rolling, and before long the time had flown by.
Without them noticing, empty beer glasses had multiplied into rows of soju bottles.
“Ugh, I should get going now.”
“Yeah! Yeongho! Seriously, it’s so good seeing you again!”
The two drunk men stood up at last, barely hanging onto their senses.
“You idiot... you keep saying the same thing over and over, you’re already wasted.”
“Heh heh! Am I? Well, if not on a day like this, when would I get drunk!”
They bickered over the check—my treat, no, mine—and eventually stumbled outside.
Sitting down had felt manageable enough, but now that they were standing and walking, the buzz seemed to hit harder.
“Ah, but seriously, what do you do? You’ve been dodging that question pretty hard.”
“Hmm...”
Trying to keep his fuzzy head together, Yeongho hesitated at Jaeyong’s question, then scratched his head and answered.
“Well... actually, I haven’t even told my wife yet. Looks like I’m going to confess to you first.”
“Huh? What the hell kind of thing is it that your wife doesn’t even know about? Hey! Don’t tell me you’re more embarrassed to say it than that you sell masturbation aids!?”
“Ah, damn it! Don’t yell that crap out loud, you bastard!”
“Heh heh heh! Yeongho, you’re a certified beta male~ Living while watching your wife’s every little reaction, huh? A man’s gotta have pride~ If that’s how you are, why don’t you get divorced too? Bwahaha!”
“Watch your mouth, damn it.”
“Oops! My bad! I’m divorced, remember? I don’t have any filter when I talk! Heh heh heh!”
Watching his swaying, laughing friend, Yeongho suddenly had a thought.
No filter, huh.
Well, whatever. I was going to tell my wife soon anyway.
Since the subject had come up, should he just blurt it out right here?
Maybe because he’d drunk quite a bit after such a long time, his thoughts flowed in a simple, straight line.
“Right... it’s about time I told her. Hey, Jaeyong! I’m gonna call my wife, so if you want to hear the details, hang on a sec. We should at least do things in the proper order.”
“Oh? So your wife comes first no matter what, huh? Damn, all right—let’s see just how big a deal this is!”
And so the call began.
Humming a tune with a goofy grin, Jaeyong wandered around nearby, only to sense something odd in the broken-up snatches of Yeongho’s call.
“Hey! Honey! I’m drinking with a friend! You remember Jaeyong, right? Yeah! But listen, I’ve got something to tell you! No, it’s important!”
“Hey, hey, keep your voice down on the phone. This punk’s drunk too, huh? Right! If you’ve got something to say, say it like a man!”
“I actually play games these days! I’m not going to work at a company anymore! I’m streaming games online!”
“......?”
“Yeah, it’s okay! I’m gonna make a ton of money and spoil you rotten! Oh, right! Jae-min says he wants to be a pro gamer! So I signed him up for a gaming academy too! It was a million won for two weeks! Next month I’ve gotta pay two million! It’s absurdly expensive, right? Heh heh heh!”
“Yeongho...?”
“I’m telling you, it’s fine! I’ll pay for everything! I’m really working hard at games! At this rate I might even become a pro gamer myself, hahaha! Ah, I’m going in now! I love you!”
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.
As he watched Yeongho end the call and turn around, Jaeyong felt the warm buzz in his head evaporate all at once.