DMH Ch5

Park Gwangcheol was hired as a gardener at the mansion purely because a close acquaintance was on very good terms with the mansion’s hiring manager. The hiring manager looked at Park Gwangcheol’s acquaintance, who had worked there before, and automatically associated Park Gwangcheol with being a diligent and good person as well. However, the documents that Mu Jeonghoo was holding, which represented the human being Park Gwangcheol, were filled with only a few lines in the personal information and career sections, indicating that he was a person with many gaps in his life.

Just as Park Gwangcheol was about to make an excuse, Mu Jeonghoo opened his mouth.

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

“Pardon?”

“I heard that someone else came to work during your working hours yesterday.”

Park Gwangcheol closed his eyes tightly. His eyelashes trembled along the grain. Park Gwangcheol rubbed his sweaty palms on his slippery work clothes. It was the moment of truth. Although he was a young man, his impression was cold and aloof. He must have been called here to make him pay the price.

“That’s…”

Mu Jeonghoo took out an envelope from his pocket, leaving the person in front of him to hesitate and swallow his saliva. Even with the naked eye, the envelope was thick. He threw the envelope he had taken out of his pocket towards where Park Gwangcheol was standing. The heavy envelope fell to the floor and slid near the shoes Park Gwangcheol was standing in. The white envelope collided with the dirty shoe toe, and the opening opened slightly. Some of the contents inside spilled out of the open entrance. Park Gwangcheol’s pupils dilated as he lowered his head. He bent his knees to grab the contents that Mu Jeonghoo had thrown.

The sunlight returned to the place where the clouds had passed. A golden, shimmering color flashed across Park Gwangcheol’s pupils. Park Gwangcheol gathered the scattered pieces of paper and put them back in the envelope. Mu Jeonghoo looked at his back as he crouched down and hurriedly picked up the bills, and then burst into an absurd laugh.

“I think the welfare of the people who work at my house is important.”

Park Gwangcheol stopped at the low voice. Then, he looked at the young master of the mansion. His face was still covered in sunlight, dazzling. Park Gwangcheol felt a dizzying sensation, as if he were suffering from heatstroke, and blankly stared at Mu Jeonghoo, who was surrounded by a halo.

“That way, efficiency goes up.”

“…”

“Or am I wrong?”

Mu Jeonghoo asked Park Gwangcheol, who was staring at him blankly. Park Gwangcheol nodded his head vigorously, conveying an agreeing nuance.

“The employees mainly use the money I give them like this for hobbies.”

“Hobbies?”

“Weren’t you neglecting your duties yesterday while enjoying your hobby?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Park Gwangcheol puts the thick envelope in his grasp and straightens his knees.

“Ah, I didn’t call you to hear that.”

“…”

“Take a break sometimes.”

“…”

“I’m not that inflexible.”

Park Gwangcheol’s mind raced. The words of the person standing in front of him were as good as saying that even if he didn’t stay at his post during work hours like yesterday, he would be tolerated to some extent.

Mu Jeonghoo stared at Park Gwangcheol’s work clothes, which were covered in dirt. The reason he could continue to set foot in the mansion even after neglecting his duties was thanks to that guy’s son.

Mu Jeonghoo pointed to the door with his chin.

“Go.”

“Yes, yes, thank you.”

Park Gwangcheol bowed even more deeply than when he came in. The paper sticking out from his grasp was crumpled, showing how tightly he was holding the envelope. Park Gwangcheol quickly put it in his pocket, afraid that the money would run away. Chief Kim, who had brought him here, was standing outside.

As Park Gwangcheol headed for the entrance, he looked down at his muddy boots imprinted on the pure white marble floor. He was momentarily depressed by the black-and-white contrast, but his complicated feelings quickly dissipated as he estimated the fortune in his pocket. Park Gwangcheol took out the cell phone he had put in his work clothes pocket. He pressed the apple button to turn it on. Even the ambiguous answer to the problem sounded like a solution when someone more learned and prestigious than him pointed it out. As he always thought, it wasn’t gambling, but a hobby.

***

Wan passed through the gate. The sharp decorations at the end of the mansion’s gate represented Wan’s angry feelings. As soon as he had dinner, he felt the urge to throw his cell phone at the vibrating belt flowing down his thigh, but he barely suppressed it. He knew the reason for the vibrating belt ringing urgently at this time without even looking.

This uncle was going crazy every other day. It was as if he had discovered a gold mine; his return time was getting later, and the number of times he didn’t go to work was increasing. He was often at home even during the times written on the work schedule, and he was slow to go to work even when he did. Wan had blocked the number of the uncle who was always with Park Gwangcheol and who was not helpful in his life from Park Gwangcheol’s cell phone, but that terrible man kept calling from public phones.

“Is he getting paid in advance?”

Wan stood in the middle of the garden, which was divided into A, B, C, and D sections, and pondered. Otherwise, he couldn’t go out and play every other day. Today, Park Gwangcheol’s work schedule was the afternoon shift, starting at 1 p.m. But he had only worked for about three hours and then ran off to do what he wanted.

To fill the remaining work quota that Park Gwangcheol had left behind, Wan rushed to the mansion as soon as school was over. Wan stepped on the uneven stone floor with carvings. If you looked closely, various pictures were engraved on the stone floor as if they had been carved with a carving knife. Thin streams of water shot out in arcs from the center of the fountain. Wan approached the fountain at the sight that was cool just to look at. He sat on the edge and dipped his hands in the clear water.

“It’s lukewarm.”

Yellow roses were planted in a circle around the fountain, and white lilies were planted around the perimeter. In winter, the fountain was emptied, and plants were planted inside, he was told. Before his dad started going to the racetrack more often recently, he had worked diligently in his own way. On the day winter came and the flowers were decorated inside the fountain, Park Gwangcheol came home and boasted that the flowers planted inside the fountain were very pretty. Park Wan took his hand out of the transparent water. He suddenly wondered what the fountain would look like when winter came.

He wiped his wet hands on the white lily petals as if touching soft sand. He slung his school cardigan over his shoulders as he headed to section B of the garden. When he tied his arms to fix it, it looked like he was wearing a cape. These days, the temperature difference was large in the evenings, so the weather was chilly. When watering the garden, water would splash, and when the wind blew, the wet skin would feel cold. Wan headed to the outskirts of the garden and skillfully unwound the hose.

Looking out the window, Mu Jeonghoo poured a light white wine into an on-the-rocks glass. Instead of square ice cubes, the slushy ice at the bottom floated to the top. He handed the glass of white wine to Chief Kim.

“Want a drink?”

“I’m fine.”

He brought the glass he had handed to Chief Kim to his own mouth and said.

“It’s past your time to get off.”

“My work is until you go to bed, young master.”

“Do you still think I’m a kid?”

“…”

Mu Jeonghoo tilted his glass and looked down at the wide window. Chief Kim stood silently and then followed his young master’s gaze to the bottom. The blue sky was promising tomorrow. In that time, someone was belatedly watering the garden. He had only seen him once, but he immediately remembered the person watering. A small, chestnut-like head moved around. His hair fluttered in response.

“Do you have any thoughts?”

Jeonghoo smiled faintly at the word “thoughts” that came out of Chief Kim’s mouth. Every time he moved the glass in his hand, the slushy ice in the glass clinked. The wine in the glass disappeared in an instant. Jeonghoo chewed the slushy ice that had entered his mouth and said.

“How does he look?”

“…”

“You don’t like kids who are light down there.”

“Well. I don’t know yet.”

Crunch, crunch. The sound of chewing ice echoed coldly in the spacious space.

“Being light would be fresh, too.”

Mu Jeonghoo muttered quietly.

***

The splendid garden was submerged in soot-stained gray. He inadvertently looked up at the sky and realized that the surroundings were dark. When he realized that night had fallen, he felt the temperature drop eerily. Wan took off the cardigan he had slung over his shoulders, put it on roughly, and organized the hose. He slung the rounded hose line over his shoulder, returned, and hung it in its original place. Just as he was about to grab his bag and quickly head to the garden entrance, someone jumped out of the blocked bushes. At the same time, the two people moving towards the front collided in an instant. The groan came out of his mouth naturally because they collided quite hard.

“Ugh.”

“Argh.”

The other person was just as hurt. The person who collided with Wan was lying on the ground, rubbing their shoulder. Wan reached out his hand to the fallen mansion employee with a flustered face. However, the employee wearing a white apron around their waist did not see Wan’s outstretched hand and wore a tearful expression. Their gaze was blankly fixed on the teacup that had been broken beyond repair.

“Oh no, what do I do?”

“Excuse me…”

Wan gently grabbed the shoulder of the person who was flustered.

“Are you okay?”

The employee who had fallen was a head shorter than Wan. They picked up the shattered teacup pieces one by one instead of the sitting employee. When Wan started picking up the broken pieces, the employee who had been sitting uselessly grabbed Wan’s wrist.

“Don’t do that. I have to do it.”

The employees working here clearly divided their roles. They strictly distinguished between what they should and should not do and carried it out. Wan’s hand, which was holding the teacup pieces, became embarrassed. He put the teacup pieces on the tray and looked at the employee whose pants were covered in grass. The employee didn’t even think about getting up and muttered quietly.

“It’s going to be late again if I clean this up…”

Wan pondered for a moment. He had a mountain of things to do at home. He had a performance evaluation that the school had given him, and he had to study for the test that was coming up right away. However, he felt guilty about leaving alone after colliding with this person. He looked around at the dark night sky and the garden lights that were starting to turn on one by one and asked.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

The employee’s eyes, who was holding the tray and getting up, sparkled. The light that appeared and disappeared in a flash was caught on the grass tips of the garden and soon disappeared. Wan did not notice the change in the employee’s expression because the employee kept their head down. The employee, who got up, dusted off their apron and acted naturally.

Not getting up from the spot where they fell had worked. The other person had been caught. They had to carry out the orders of the young master they served no matter what. Even if they didn’t follow the orders, they wouldn’t be fired or severely punished, but you never know. Maybe they would get a bonus if they perfectly carried out the task they were given. The employee stuttered and opened their mouth.

“I have a lot of work to do right now…”

The employee felt a pang of conscience at the innocent face of the person they were facing.

“If you have time, could you help me?”

“Of course. I’ll clean up here. Go in and take care of other business…”

“No!”

The employee rejected Wan’s suggestion in a loud voice.

“I’ll clean up here. If you really want to…”

“…”

“Could you clean the bathroom on the second floor for me instead?”

It was a polite and desperate voice. If he refused the employee’s request, he wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink tonight due to the guilt of refusing his request. Wan reluctantly agreed, even though he was reluctant to clean someone else’s bathroom. Wan pointed to the marble stone steps he had stepped on last week with his finger and said.

“Is it here?”

Arriving on the second floor, Wan looked around the corridor as a whole. There were a total of three bathrooms on the second floor. The first bathroom he found was very small. Inside, there was a shower booth and a toilet of moderate size, and the second bathroom he found had a circular bathtub attached to the glass window overlooking the outside yard. However, the two bathrooms he had found earlier were not the bathroom that the employee had told him about.

‘That bathroom has a bathtub that looks like a curve. There is no separate shower booth. It’s a bathroom attached to the room, and all you have to do is wipe the water on the floor with a dry towel.’

Wan opened the doors of many rooms and finally found a bathroom that met the conditions the employee had mentioned. The black door was so imposing that he couldn’t even dare to enter. Entering the room, Wan realized once again that the room he had lived in and the room in this mansion were clearly different in concept. A sophisticated structure that could be mistaken for a large corporation’s office unfolded before his eyes. In the room where no one was present, only a few lights attached to the wall illuminated the interior with dim lighting instead of bright incandescent lights.