DMH Ch4

Even as the day waned, the humid temperature did not drop.

Wan opened the door to the infirmary and carefully entered. There were only 3 minutes left until the break bell rang. He quickly walked to the bed that the nurse had pointed to. Like the classroom curtains, the bed sheet, which he wondered when it had been washed, had strange patterns dotted on it. It must have been the seasoning of the lunch menu that had rubbed off from the uniform of the student who had come to the infirmary right after eating lunch and had taken a nap, or coffee stains that had been spilled while eating.

“It’s uncomfortable.”

Wan frowned and reluctantly lay down on the bed. Still, it was less uncomfortable than the moldy blanket he slept with at home. The infirmary blanket, which was washed even occasionally, would have fewer germs than the blanket at home. Wan covered the blanket up to his nose. He closed his eyes and waited for the school bell to ring. 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds. As he counted the numbers, flocks of sheep with fluffy fur began to appear one by one instead of the footsteps of the nurse he was waiting for.

“Ah… I’m sleepy.”

Yaawwwnn~ Wan yawned, his mouth stretching wide. He had eaten lunch and burned calories running around, so it was the perfect time to fall asleep. He adjusted his position and closed his weary eyelids. As if by magic, he was plunged into slumber in a single second.

“Wan, Wan. The bell rang.”

“Ugh…”

Park Wan put a hand on his forehead and got out of bed. The blanket he had been using slid down. The school nurse was looking at him with a worried expression.

“Are you very tired? Do you want to lie down for another hour?”

“No. I’m okay.”

The next class was math. He had a question he wanted to ask, so he had to go to the teacher and get it answered. The materials the school nurse was holding had the character for ‘Sex’ stamped on them in large letters. She looked at Wan, who was sitting on the bed in a daze, with a pitiful gaze.

“It’s okay if you’re tired and want to lie down longer. You need to take it easy.”

“No. I’m fine.”

Wan, feeling burdened by the school nurse’s gaze, quickly got out of bed. Why were people so eager to look at him with such pity?

“The teachers will say something if they see you. Hurry up and change into your indoor shoes.”

“Yes.”

The three-stripe slippers that Wan wore at school had broken yesterday when he slipped while cleaning. His foot shot forward, and the strap snapped off. Ah, buying indoor shoes also costs money.

Park Wan’s father, Park Gwangcheol, had an incurable chronic disease. It went hand in hand with unpromised hope. He chased after unpromised luck and wasted years that would never return. He squandered his time and youth on unprofitable pursuits. Park Gwangcheol felt sorry for his only son, but he was too weak to ignore the desires that stirred deep within him.

“Sorry, but can you cover for me today…”

Park Gwangcheol hurriedly finished the text message because of a friend who was urging him on. He often made such requests, but this time it had been almost several months. Because of these requests, which were like annual events, his son didn’t submit his cell phone. Even though he had never sent him to private education even once, Wan’s grades were better than those of the kids who went to academies.

Park Gwangcheol thought to himself. He needed a lot of money to support his talented son. Money earned quickly was also spent quickly, and working in someone else’s garden was not enough to support his talented son.

“Let’s go together!”

Park Gwangcheol quickened his pace, stepping on the shadow of his friend who was walking ahead. It was a hot day that made his T-shirt wet with sweat. He flapped his sweat-soaked T-shirt and wished that he would be able to catch a windfall today. At first, he had followed his friend there because of his sweet talk. It was the perfect place to reminisce over a small bag of snacks and a glass of beer. But after winning 500,000 won at once, he became too greedy to simply enjoy it as a spectator, like at a baseball stadium.

The image of the place, which he had considered a hobby, was turned upside down. When he thought about his daily wage, which didn’t even come close to 500,000 won even if he worked in the scorching sun for an hour, sitting here was a lucrative way to earn money for the time spent. He could earn 500,000 won in an instant just by playing with his fingers while enjoying the air conditioning. Park Gwangcheol used 100,000 won of the first 500,000 won he earned to buy his son sneakers, 100,000 won to give his son pocket money, and put the remaining 300,000 won on the game again.

It was an addiction. He was the only one who didn’t know it was an addiction. It would have been boring if he had done it alone, but Park Gwangcheol had a friend and made friends there. Familiar faces increased each time he spent a long time in the same place. They had better conversations than the partners he worked with in the garden. Laughter bloomed with every story they shared. The values of the people who gathered in such an obvious place were similar to each other. Everyone was there to make a killing, just like Park Gwangcheol. The ones who came to their senses early squandered their fortunes and left the place as soon as possible, but Park Gwangcheol was a foolish and foolish person.

“If we make money with this, we’ll buy a stud horse.”

“A stud horse?”

“Yeah, a stud horse! Don’t think of this as gambling.”

Park Gwangcheol was even gullible.

“This is an industry. People who don’t know any better curse it as gambling, but it’s clearly an industry that’s driving the country’s economic cycle.”

“…”

“When we get some money, we’ll buy a stud horse and train it properly.”

“And then?”

“And then? We send it to the racetrack. If the horse we bought is of good quality, we can sell it for a high price and bring in another stud horse.”

“Does that make money?”

“Why wouldn’t it make money!”

“Lower your voice. Why are you getting so excited?”

“I think you’re too outdated! How long are you going to live picking weeds in other people’s gardens?”

“I’m not picking weeds, I’m growing flowers and managing trees.”

“That or this…”

“……”

“Anyway, the horses we’re looking at now are all raised that way and sent to the racetrack. Or we can bring in a broodmare and breed it with the horse we raised. Wouldn’t it be a good way to run a ranch by producing that way?”

“That would require a lot of money…”

“That’s why we have to do this until we succeed.”

Park Gwangcheol was, to put it nicely, like a blank white canvas that was stained black by every speck of soot that landed on it, and to put it badly, he was a brainless idiot.

“There’s a new pachinko parlor that opened next door, so let’s go there after we’re done, since we’re bored.”

“Okay. We had that in high school.”

Park Gwangcheol and his friend chuckled and turned their heads to the small screen. On the small screen, rows of horses were revving their engines. The white-painted rails were soon covered in dust, like a faded photograph.

The next day, Park Gwangcheol, who had gone to work at the mansion, headed to the staff quarters to put on his work clothes. As he changed his clothes, he turned his back to the mirror. Last night, Park Gwangcheol had been greeted by his son with a back slap instead of a greeting when he returned home. After that, he could only go to sleep after listening to an hour of nagging about when he was going to come to his senses.

He rolled his tired eyes around and opened the door and went out. He felt affection and concern, ridiculously, in his son’s nagging voice. The back view, yelling at him not to call him today, still reminded him of his childhood. He couldn’t afford to upset his angry son. He had to stay quiet for about a week at times like this.

Park Gwangcheol also turned off his cell phone to ignore the calls from his friend, who was like a weight that would tilt his heart. He trudged towards the garden. Chief Kim was waiting for Park Gwangcheol, who was wearing work clothes and heading to the garden. Chief Kim, who was standing in Area B and sweeping the petals of the roses that Park Gwangcheol had planted, said to Park Gwangcheol with a blank expression.

“There’s someone who wants to see Park Gwangcheol.”

Here it comes. If the tail is long, it will be stepped on. Cold sweat ran down Park Gwangcheol’s neck. He was having his first conversation with the man named Chief Kim today, after working as a gardener at this mansion for about two and a half years. He was also stepping on the marble stairs leading to the mansion’s entrance for the first time. He was finally setting foot inside the palace-like mansion that he had secretly been eager to enter.

Chief Kim passed through the long corridor on the first floor and stood in front of a huge door and opened it. Park Gwangcheol bent his shoulders and went inside. Judging from the fact that Chief Kim bowed politely and closed the door, he guessed that it was someone higher than him.

The marble floor was dyed gold by the sunlight coming in through the skylight. The window frame of the glass skylight from the floor to the ceiling resembled the bars of a prison. Park Gwangcheol scanned the dazzling interior and lowered his head. He approached the center, where the sunlight was good. The sunlight turned his vision white. He couldn’t open his eyes properly, so he squinted. Park Gwangcheol stood alone in the center of a room the size of a basketball court and bowed so low that it was embarrassing to watch.

Long legs were visible above his gaze, which was fixed on the floor. The man’s ankles were also visible below the raised hem of his pants. He couldn’t properly look at the man, who was dressed as if he wouldn’t even walk on a dirty road in new shoes. He had a strong conviction that the man in front of him was the owner of this house. He was afraid that he would lose his job, which provided a regular income, if he unnecessarily offended a high-ranking person.

“Park Gwangcheol.”

“Yes?”

Mu Jeonghoo called out the name of Park Gwangcheol, who was standing there bowing. He was holding a few documents in his hand. Mu Jeonghoo didn’t seem to be calling his name to get an answer, as he then spat out the words.

“Spouse is dead, and one son below.”

“…”

“Your son’s name is Park Wan, right?”

“Yes, yes.”

The sun was briefly obscured by a cloud. The bright interior became a little darker, as if a dark cloud had settled in. Park Gwangcheol raised his face slightly. He was trying to see the owner of the mansion, whom he had only heard about. The person standing in front of him was a young man who looked to be about the same age as his son. However, the other person exuded such an oppressive atmosphere that he made him bow his head just by standing still. Park Gwangcheol bowed his head deeply again towards the opponent, who was much younger than him. His body shrank endlessly, like a dwarf who had arrived in a land of giants.

“The place you live is a bit far.”

“Y-yes, it is.”

“How did you end up working here?”

“I got the job through an acquaintance. He was someone I met when I was looking for a temporary job, and he introduced me to this place when he moved.”

“You got in that easily?”

Mu Jeonghoo raised his eyes. Sweat dripped down Park Gwangcheol’s ears. The man was right. The job of a worker at this mansion is not an easy one to get, as soon as one position is vacated. Because it was not an easy job to get, Park Gwangcheol worked twice as hard as he had at other jobs.