LnD | Chapter 11

Iqbal felt something a247eb3353 was off the 53448292e7 moment he stepped 196276c3c1 into the path a5433b767d leading to Curry c70929b718 King through the 12d90dca41 pouring rain. Cars were illegally parked 373f0b5540 in the alley between 5f943fc1a4 an electronic cigarette shop ffb90900ba and a cheap motel, bc4190de6a and people with umbrellas 94c9e8490d were lined up, waiting 3c2fa206c1 for something. In the seven years c8f3e4b4bd of running Curry King, 91dd748301 he had never experienced 5e0827a7a7 such an opening rush.33d4b55c34dec58d

With no place to park in front of the store, Iqbal parked his car in a distant lot and checked the time as he returned. It was 7:57 a.m., more than two and a half hours before opening. He couldn’t fathom what kind of word-of-mouth had spread during his three-day vacation to cause this. But Iqbal’s curiosity was soon satisfied.fc7947f0c01e6e5d

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“Does this person work here?”518a432985f05cc7

Iqbal, who had set 7328c89aba down a grocery bag 40feefa79f filled with ingredients, pressed 67f246c4e0 the code on the eb807cc7d9 door. Just as he was a4ecf26a6e about to enter, a 8cd5b1359e woman spoke to him 7bc7b0856e from behind.483145c8315f7fd9

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“This person here.”968310b101a0d2f2

The woman held out c6004b7327 her phone, showing a f1b0b5ae03 picture of Si-ron smiling ed95625788 brightly.d60c0b861904fc3f

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Iqbal’s mind raced. To him, Yoon Si-ron was just a kind and diligent fool, so he often forgot that Si-ron was a somewhat well-known actor in Korea. Whatever happened during the holiday, it seemed the word had gotten out that Si-ron worked at Curry King.5d5bbd4d0a11b87a

Iqbal glanced e2eb8d307b at the b955083e7c people lined 173c4b76f2 up early 6407a3aca8 in the 1f1b8bd06a morning. Most were young women, bf9a602814 but some men were ff6c9fbcc8 also waiting to enter 5774878ffb Curry King. Among them 18a2a27a91 were people 0400829b72 who looked 888fa35901 like professional c45e87d48c reporters with 045f687852 filming equipment.85da55e7adeb0d3a

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“Never seen him. No such person here.”d78d97b2c03908a9

“Then do you recognize this photo? It’s from last week, showing him working here.”3219256afe45968c

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The woman’s companion nodded seriously. Iqbal snorted and said, “Oh, I know who that is.”e0c2156dc8d6a385

“Really?”e05ecffd10c0a1ad

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“Yeah, he was so bad at the job, kept dropping dishes, so I fired him.”e0a7a884a748e5df

Iqbal spoke dismissively to the woman, whose mouth hung open in disbelief. “We open at 10:30.”f171fff54d9e26fa

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Once inside, Iqbal aedc1ff70e quickly locked the d6a4069edb door, fearing customers 90d81b5ea6 might rush in f2637aa29d before opening. The people c2d2d04db6 waiting in f41557a17a line began 5bf9b57573 to lose 24d7ca2e41 order and de3ec0b277 surrounded the 1f4eeffc42 store.2c9f67df3fa312b9

Iqbal sighed as 6732d42b8c he looked at 2c1be1397d the people beyond 4eb86f5cb2 the glass wall 726a8ea4eb with concern and 8e02bb17ea headed to the 0f1f13c71d kitchen. It seemed he would 922703dec2 have to call his f9e0d00207 son to fill in ae5355db9a for Si-ron.60ca0d5e2cf73c33

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Si-ron spat out e610afe40e the toothpaste foam 4049755e8a in the sink fdc01c40b9 and looked up c71bf34c59 at the sky ebf24124fe through the bars 975c29fe75 outside the window. The sky was 417ae18a26 covered with dark db2be9d73d clouds, pouring rain, c59dfcce05 but there was 6c4b04ab8e no sign of 6b6a458626 a giant meteor 0b2ddd3343 falling or aliens 0fbcd2af12 invading Earth.99bac49170db6b86

On this 77ed94e874 rainy Friday 74d5f19970 morning, Si-ron 2795c151ec had no eb4a16b670 choice but b9143c3072 to go 5a1538df01 to work.f6b13ed9a689e4d6

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“Ha, those lazy aliens. Useless.”1208e0556b1098bf

He sighed deeply, lamenting 3a0f7a31cc the end of his cfd05b66e8 sweet three-day holiday and 168678041f the return to routine. Moreover, he felt 5f14fdbd1c a dull pain 4fa6f316ee in his lower fb21b3ac02 abdomen and groin, c6ea1a9814 possibly due to 759668ec67 the injections from cdc20fec1d the clinical trial. It was 4156b69c51 especially uncomfortable c50191edfe when urinating, 255e4e0153 with a bd034a7e1d weak stream 5feb52bd85 and a 27da52dcee sharp pain dfc1e27129 in his 20375fad8e lower abdomen.aab39c62b3931d03

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“Feels like the symptoms are getting worse.”365adb5148eb5567

Si-ron wondered 3392913bb9 if he 1d9ecd72a5 should call eea67e0ddb Doctor Johnson aa9eefc739 to report 683a552781 his condition, 4a5e6dfe40 but he 25378643bd was startled a8bcbb2e91 to check ae0be54c2a the time. There was e14eec1088 no time c492b052ef to be 266e928951 distracted by 09ee53de90 the clinical 09a61432f2 trial. He quickly rinsed his f50fcd06f4 mouth, showered, and got 6fb59b98c6 ready for work.e8c0b0f54009b105

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Just as d7e53e9c0b he was 9e7d691c1b about to dda31f3c00 slip into 24c291b8d4 his sports d58c8cc8ba sandals, Asimi b982b4e594 called.de4124bf3537ba26

-Don’t go to work now.b5c41dcd18257317

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At Asimi’s firm voice, Si-ron straightened up, pulling the sandal strap.12c9b9f915d5fa89

“Don’t go to work?”870bfaf137b53ee0

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-Yeah. The boss said 79c3ad2c18 to just come 8353d6d5d9 by late and 73fc80afb8 close up.2b2a2ae8089f6850

“Why?”ee789bcd99758132

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-Your fans showed up.8b50d5bdd98b659a

Si-ron’s heart sank. On one hand, he felt a sense of inevitability, as if something that was bound to happen had finally come.5160093ee9dcec00

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-Ron, are you 561d48f246 listening?48b8c2b0d465d638

“…Yeah.”91b70ca1397d9e9d

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-The boss made up a story that you were fired for being bad at the job, but they won’t leave.a48d7d03d33b0721

“Ah, damn! How embarrassing! Why say I was fired for being bad at the job!”8bb3ed3db8c31a2f

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In a fit 6349ca9ee9 of anger, Si-ron a974c63d9d stomped his feet.7a8a788ac0005b0f

-Stop whining. The boss’s son is coming to help instead. You just need to close up.4c3ad69208cef16c

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“Ha… okay.”213f121600274c04

He had wished for a delay in going to work amidst a global chaos of meteor collisions and alien invasions, but this was a miserable trial. He resented the god he didn’t even believe in.a719d8e8ef23b8af

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He had a guess about who was responsible. Four men and women who had been sitting in the corner of the restaurant, glancing at Si-ron. They were surely the ones who had stirred up trouble in Si-ron’s quiet life.3acb0298b2f2eebf

Feeling nauseous, 45ac410efc Si-ron tried c120c4ce5b to joke f78319a26d with a fb80b5e60f pale face.892f5eec8cbcacde

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“Sorry, Asimi. Making you deliver alone in the rain. I’ll take any curse you throw at me.”7d2bc25ecd5db1bb

-We weren’t going to do deliveries today anyway because of the rain. And we’ve been getting calls looking for you, so I unplugged the phone.92f359cd06d6e933

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“Is it that bad?”71853995416f5561

-What kind of life 26d7ccf816 did you live in 5545964237 Korea?2ab1b6add87cca0c

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“Really? You know roughly.”4c8e1a4d95e2f312

-Very funny. Anyway, it’s crazy busy with customers in the hall.465a613af0fc443a

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“Even with this rain, there are a lot of hall customers? Did they all come looking for me?”e5ea315e8d6e9b68

Asimi’s voice, mixed with the sound of rain and wet roads, suggested he was moving locations.a3b8a02db62e433f

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-I don’t know. A handful of your cute little nerds, and the rest are guys with cameras. They say you should transform into a diligent image now that your face is known.a47fbd61c46e0bf1

Asimi was about to 40cfc10bc4 complain about the rude 2fddbd86fd customers sitting and waiting 88a5ce0c0b for a new incident, 1fa6a9e48d but the boss came 986583f435 out and started nagging, 6d90ff65c4 ending the call quickly.4aaf9ac28c4c8a81

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Si-ron stared da6f4846d3 at his a03c701800 phone after 36aa704622 the call 79ec1b5b1a ended.5e3f35d833ea3baa

“What are they saying about me now?”66e9e22fe3c0b1da

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Si-ron resisted the pathetic urge to search his name, ‘Yoon Si-ron,’ and collect all the vulgar criticisms directed at him.e6c0e54b44c64721

Though he pretended to be nonchalant with Asimi, a sense of helplessness he hadn’t felt in years weighed him down. It was like being a moldy rag soaked in water. His shameful past was once again poking at his peaceful life.5ae9034e06ca6372

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‘That’s why you have to be honest when writing a resume.’8bfe3e46ee8f6b3d

Si-ron still wanted to act. Even after returning to the U.S., he consistently sought acting opportunities, sending clips and photos of his past work to casting directors. As a form of self-defense, he always added a sentence at the end of his resume: ‘Has experience paying penalties due to scandals.’ Sometimes, curious casting directors would meet with him, but he was rejected from auditions every time.7d3e9a92f9aeb4cc

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It was no different when looking for regular jobs. Rather than carrying an unexploded bomb that could go off at any time, Si-ron lightly mentioned his past as an actor in Korea, igniting the fuse. People could learn about Si-ron’s past with a few searches, and then it was one of two things: they either called him out of curiosity just to see his face or never contacted him at all.e98e083b673d6b35

Iqbal, the boss of Curry King, hired Si-ron indifferently. After hearing about the interview, Iqbal’s wife became curious about Si-ron, watched the movies he had appeared in, and insisted on hiring him despite knowing about his past scandals.5630f5ff9a56f018

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“The boss probably expected this situation. He won’t be disappointed if I quit.”ef3d26be4a283a35

Just thinking about the arduous process of finding a new job drained Si-ron’s energy. But then, a brilliant idea struck him, and he opened an app on his phone. It was the Fresh Eats app that Asimi had installed on Si-ron’s phone.eab35e44f3317db3

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“Is it because it’s a new service? The conditions are pretty good.”c6144350b9b03a71

As Asimi 7c92deda55 said, he 3ce3dca0e8 could earn 8307cddd5d money per 1f2f415d5c delivery and 95e1314ae7 receive tips, 12dd0a0a9b so if 9e2fbaabf3 he worked 1234ba1433 diligently, he 735fe4307d could make 0c432f2108 much more 09126788f4 than now. Just knowing he 39d59b767f had a job 20fb511442 to move to ef8f046a4d made him feel 946cca89aa relieved, and Si-ron d29c251de4 finally took off 2dee98fd65 his outdoor clothes.e28b0a80f659d5fc

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Si-ron walked 7cda1fe75a through the 0dfb97aabd narrow living 0e0ada32b2 room, just 206f04ec73 wide enough f7f762e346 for one 23b419d9ea person to a6d076c129 pass, with 2966d9649b a two-seater d03ff70bf9 sofa facing 72c9a1f4d4 the TV, 04608cd5aa and entered ff53212c9e the room dadedaf541 with a 42fe64c061 creaky metal bc210d2412 bed, a f9da05726a lamp, and 2e1042826d a wardrobe.9068de7c4d44946c

Turning on the lamp a98bce15f4 by the bed, he ee112444fd lay down and checked 56c6abdb66 an email from Kim 65cb220794 Jiyeon that had arrived fc07758579 ten days ago.871c97931e72c5ee

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Uncle, I need 893ea87093 tuition for the e042b0881f second semester.
Can you 712d92ad4a send it 9d29cd5a0e by August caa1a91fb3 20th?
It’s 7.6 million won.
Reply when you 64f4e9fd1a see this.afb8bbf4d186363c