TE Ch 14

When Mookyeong let go of the shirt collar he had been holding, Hongju lost his balance and fell on his butt. The sight of him sprawled on the floor in a disheveled state was utterly pathetic.

“I thought, since you were so late, that you two were having a go at it.”

Chuckling, Mookyeong raised his cigarette in the air. Thump, the fallen cigarette ash landed on Hongju’s sneaker and crumbled. Mookyeong bent his knees and lowered himself. Hongju watched him without even blinking, and Mookyeong didn’t avoid his gaze either.

“…..”

His black, cold eyes felt eerie. Mookyeong stubbed out his cigarette right in front of the sneaker where the ash had scattered. Sizzle. A dark gray line was drawn on the cement floor.

“The deal…”

He couldn’t let it be called off. At the end of his faltering words, Hongju swallowed hard. It was as if the lifeline that had barely reached him was swaying in the wind, drifting away.

“The condition is that you keep watch, whether I’m at the gambling house or not. Whatever situation you’re in, it doesn’t matter to me.”

It wasn’t wrong. Whether his shame was exposed, or he was beaten so badly he couldn’t even lift a finger, his job was to keep watch. That’s why he had been given the cell phone.

“Yes. I’ll keep a good watch.”

Hongju nodded quickly.

“This is the last time I’m giving you a chance.”

He stood up and brushed off his pants. Then, leaving Hongju sprawled on the floor, he headed for the hallway. His coat fluttered, spreading a pleasant scent.

“…..”

Mookyeong, who had appeared out of nowhere, was slowly starting to tighten his grip on the gambling house. He wasn’t the rich, easy pushover that Manager Yang and Koo Bbing thought he was. Hongju instinctively knew that he was someone who could easily swallow up a gambling house frequented by skilled card sharps and wealthy individuals.

Perhaps abandoning the sinking ship and joining him was the best decision he had made since entering the gambling house. Mookyeong had reduced his debt by a thousand in just one day. While sucking Koo Bbing’s cock only got him a hundred off.

“The last…”

Just like he said, Hongju, who had grown up reading people’s moods, knew where to place his bets.

 

* * *

 

After Koo Bbing paid the overdue payment and begged and pleaded, the workers agreed to take on the job again. Only then did the construction of the gambling house begin. The atmosphere in the temporary gambling house, which had been as cold as ice, gradually softened.

He was on his way back from depositing cash at the ATM. A low voice sounded above Hongju’s head as he walked, looking only at the ground.

“Finished with your errand?”

He could now recognize who it was just by the voice.

“Yes.”

It was a short answer, but his breath lingered like a tail. Mookyeong pointed to the car.

“Get in.”

“If I’m not there, they’ll say I’m slacking off and yell at me.”

Even if there was nothing specific to do, Koo Hongju was someone who always had to come when called.

Mookyeong took out his car keys. Beep. The car, which had been sleeping in the darkness, flashed its lights and came to life.

“What’s the problem when there’s someone to take responsibility for you?”

That’s true. They’d do anything Mookyeong said. As long as he made some excuse, he wouldn’t get in trouble.

“Where are we going?”

“Just get in.”

Mookyeong got in the car first, answering in a nonchalant tone. Hongju glanced up at the noisy, dilapidated building and opened the passenger door.

“What if Koo Bbing goes somewhere while I’m gone?”

“You worry too much.”

Did he have someone else watching him? Unlike before, he didn’t seem to care about Koo Bbing’s whereabouts today. While he was thinking that it was difficult to please him, the car turned onto a familiar road.

“This is the way to the gambling house…”

“Yeah. That’s where we’re going.”

Was he going to check on the construction since it had started? Hongju just kept quiet and looked outside.

The area was chaotic. The redevelopment zone had been changed, and it seemed like construction for a department store was also underway, slightly off to the side of Koo Bbing’s gambling house. A tall fence ran across the neighborhood. Large trucks, forklifts, and excavators were parked everywhere, making the neighborhood look like a war zone.

“Get out.”

Hongju got out of the car hesitantly. The gambling house was about to be demolished, with the walls, window frames, and even the doors removed. It looked similar to the building they were using as a temporary gambling house, with only the framework remaining.

It was always crowded with gamblers. The silence was so eerie that it gave him goosebumps.

“Where would be a good spot?”

Mookyeong looked around as if he were searching for something. He drawled and walked towards a corner on the first floor. The light from the streetlight in front of the building stretched far inside.

Where Mookyeong stopped, there was a table made of stacked boxes and three or four plastic chairs.

“Come here and teach me how to play cards.”

“What?”

Mookyeong kicked a chair with his foot to bring it closer, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and sat down after dusting off his coat, looking like the boss of a gang.

“Seotda¹. You know how to play, right?”

His voice, as he crossed his legs and spoke in a nonchalant manner, also sounded like one.

“I know how to play, but I’m not very good.”

“You don’t need to be good. Sit down.”

Mookyeong wiggled his fingertips and pointed to the chair opposite him.

“But we don’t have any cards. Should I just explain it to you?”

As if he had been waiting for this, he put his hand in his coat pocket. What he took out was a deck of cards sold at the gambling house. When did he even get that?

“We’ll use the gambling house’s cards.”

“Ah, yes.”

Hongju sat down and unwrapped the cards with a familiar touch, laying them out.

“Just show me the basics.”

Nodding, Hongju matched two cards each from January to October.

“Seotda is played with twenty cards. You can play with two or three cards, but here, they mostly play with two. Because the games need to go quickly.”

He slowly laid out the 20 cards on the box in order.

“When you get two cards with the same picture, it’s called a ‘ding’. Two January cards are called ‘1 ding’, two February cards are ‘2 ding’, and so on.”

Mookyeong, with his elbow on his thigh and his chin propped on his hand, listened intently.

“When the months are different, you add them up and only consider the last digit. If you have a March card and an August card, it’s 11, so you count the last digit, 1, as the score. That’s called ‘1 geut’, and ‘ding’ is considered higher than ‘geut’.”

His neatly styled head moved up and down slowly, as if nodding. Hongju placed a January card and a May card together in an empty space.

“If you get these cards…”

“Six points.”

“Yes. That’s how you calculate it.”

Mookyeong understood everything as it was explained. He easily memorized combinations higher than ‘geut’, such as ‘ali’, ‘jangbing’, and ‘saeryook’. It was as if he had played Seotda before.

“This is how you calculate the score. Playing is easy.”

Hongju gathered the cards that had been scattered on the box while explaining the hands. He held the cards in one hand and slowly shuffled them.

“The dealer sets the stakes when shuffling the cards. It can be from ten thousand to several thousand, but here, it’s usually around 100,000 won. Betting money is also called ‘going to school’.²“

Inside the empty building, where everything from furniture to wallpaper and flooring had been removed, only Hongju’s low voice echoed. Occasionally, Mookyeong would tap his foot on the floor as if in response. After shuffling the cards, Hongju held them out to Mookyeong.

“Cut the deck like you would when playing cards.”

“Hmm.”

Mookyeong took a deep breath and slowly reached out. His gloved hand completely covered Hongju’s palm. It felt as if the cold glove was heavily scratching his palm, perhaps to take more cards.

“That’s too many…”

He was about to say that he didn’t need to take that many, but Mookyeong only took a few cards.

“What’s next?”

Because it was so quiet around them, Mookyeong’s voice sounded particularly low and deep. Hongju’s eyes quietly studied Mookyeong. Sitting in the cold darkness, occupying the musty space where only the orange streetlight seeped in. His sharp, fierce, yet distinct features suited the shabby dawn very well.

“Next, do you just stare at your opponent like that?”

Mookyeong, who had been looking down with his chin propped on his hand, raised his eyes. The crease on his single eyelid became even more pronounced. At the blatant stare, Hongju flinched, startled.

“N-No. Like this, after cutting, you deal one card at a time…”

He took one card from the deck he was holding and placed it in front of Mookyeong. The trembling of his empty hand was too obvious. Hongju quickly grabbed the deck and placed one card in front of himself as well.

“If you were a card sharp, you could have paid off your debt faster. Why are you just collecting debts when you’re so frail?”

Hongju’s fingertips, which had been holding the cards with his thumb halfway covering the picture, froze.

“…I just don’t want to.”

He answered casually and lowered his thumb completely to check his card. When he was older, he had thought about learning how to play from Koo Bbing. The card sharps who came and went from the gambling house always had nice cars and nice clothes. He thought that if he became a sharp, he could pay off his debt quickly and spend money freely.

“You have that much debt, and you’re still picky about what you like and don’t like?”

The sharps traveled all over the country, playing in every game they could find. He thought maybe he could meet his father, who had abandoned him. With a bit of hope, he diligently learned the pictures on the cards by watching others.

“Koo Bbing said I have no talent for it.”

But Hongju never ended up playing. Because he didn’t want to become like his father. His kind father had changed after he started playing cards. He didn’t want to live with hollow eyes, spaced out like a loose screw, and trembling hands. He also thought about how devastating it would be for his father to come back and find his son in such a state.

“Check your card and bet. If you’re not sure, you can just fold. After a round, deal another card.”

Hongju continued the explanation as if changing the subject. He dealt another card to Mookyeong and took one for himself.

“Calculate according to the hands I showed you earlier. After another round of betting, it’s over. Show your cards. I have two points. What about you, boss?”

“One point.”

Mookyeong put down a May card and a June card. If it were a real game, Hongju would have won.

“Do you want to try?”

Hongju gathered the scattered cards and placed them in front of Mookyeong. He collected the cards while wearing his gloves. Then he slowly shuffled them. He brought a card from the middle to the top and repeated the same action. Because of the gloves, his movements were awkward and slow.

“Here.”

He cut a few cards from the shuffled deck. Then Mookyeong placed a card in front of Hongju. The card Hongju received was the 8-bright. As he looked down at the card, half of which was black, Mookyeong suddenly spoke.

“What are you betting?”

“I don’t have any money.”

He had been caught while running an errand, so he really didn’t have anything.

“I heard that if you don’t have money, you bet your hand.”

Who would say such a scary thing? Hongju fumbled in his pocket and asked.

“Who said that?”

“Madam Koo.”

“Ah.”

It was something they often said jokingly to guests who had run out of money. When did he even hear that? As Hongju was searching his pocket, his fingertips touched something hard.

“I only have this.”

Rolling on his white palm was a cheap ballpoint pen. He always carried it in his pocket in case he needed to get a new signature on an IOU.

“It’s either this or my cell phone…”

“Bet that. What should I bet?”

Mookyeong stroked his chin and exhaled slowly. At the same time, a loud honking sound came from outside. Just as Hongju’s gaze turned towards the open window, Mookyeong spoke.

“I’ll bet myself.”

There was no trace of playfulness in his dark eyes.