PD Ch2

“So, what are you going to do in the future?”4b4e7cc5a2fc42cb

At my senior’s question, I opened my mouth as if asking for the last lifeline.c59126c637e81f59

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“…If you need translation, please give me some work.”6c03085a58522d50

“…”1133e90282c4a76b

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

Senior Hwang, who had asked so casually, paused mid-sip of his coffee. He looked puzzled. Though we hadn’t known each other long, Senior Hwang knew my personality to some extent. I was awkward with requests. Like those who aren’t good at asking for favors, I was fundamentally the type with excessive pride.a6480f8def1defa5

I was ashamed. Asking for work out of the blue. The hand gripping the mug tightened, knuckles protruding. Senior Hwang seemed unsure what expression to make. I hadn’t come to trouble him. I awkwardly swept back my hair. After a moment of thought, he stood up and abruptly handed me a book.683849df1accba86

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Talk of the devil. Take this.”13afdf7ebcf56b0b

I looked 439c326f33 back and 96570fff74 forth between ab02e53e40 Senior Hwang 621d48ac2b and the a064abf8c0 book he 785dcdce95 was offering, dea3f24df5 my face b1fb3454b8 questioning.25f27722668b7ec3

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“There’s this children’s book that blew up in the States recently, right? We bought the rights. We’re planning a massive advertising campaign, from broadcasting to printing, subways to streets, so give it a read. We were looking for a translator anyway.”2f3c7688785aa22b

It was a sudden proposal I hadn’t expected at all. I shook my head.4ce4f7baba3fed50

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“No, I haven’t done anything this big yet.”4bdea6c6256e7f34

“I didn’t say I was going to entrust it to you.”7c8af91ddaa84c63

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“…”4cb29975a1651d68

“It’s not the main translation, it’s a sub-project. And we’re a small company here, so I can’t pay much. But I’ll try my best.”f68c8bb3ef183dea

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“…”728842f107883145

“Why, are you too moved?”08d48af6ff69424f

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

I couldn’t bring myself to speak. I gripped the innocent mug as if it would break. I looked down at the brown liquid swaying with each clench of my hand, and finally opened my mouth.e423185330f5a149

“Forget the money, instead…”4c8a4614f649c00b

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Instead? Instead, what? Huh? What?”72a81c3dca2a8d34

The impatient Senior 544b8f51aa Hwang leaned forward, 7b22978925 pressing me.39917f91247b86f2

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“I need a place to live.”1c667e3f1618b07e

“What?”23e664f7c62efa20

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

He frowned slightly, tilting his head as if he hadn’t heard me properly.8cd072f49d79eb9f

“A house.”a06164a093d9bd43

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Are you asking for an apartment right now? Look at this guy’s nerve.”adba5aacd9c792f6

“Not an apartment, just a place. I’m not asking for it, I’m asking to borrow it.”fa43e2b46d90a35c

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“Where are you staying now? And where’s your mother?”69291a99ebcffb39

“A friend’s house is empty, so I’m staying there for a bit. My mother is… elsewhere.”5e9cccb262e7f089

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Suddenly asking me to find you a place, what’s that supposed to mean? You came to Korea without finding a place to live? Is there something wrong?”ab4f5813571ddd7e

Senior Hwang, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation, asked with a darkened face. I couldn’t answer his questions, nor could I handle them. I put the half-drunk coffee on the table and stood up. I also left the children’s book Senior Hwang had given me on the table.f7e85250e689e7fa

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“I’ll be going.”965f29bd2bc3392a

“I need to know what’s going on to find you a house or sell one. What’s wrong?”d7b1a717ea70ebfb

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“It’s nothing.”349ee3f718c77486

“Nothing? A guy who claims it’s nothing comes looking for me first thing in the morning with a face like he’s about to die, asking me to find him a house?”f92377bbc618504b

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Give the translation to someone else. I don’t think I can do it.”cfe7b96e9b0d65b8

“What’s wrong with you? You need to tell me what’s going on so I can help.”8703b273ff923849

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“I don’t need it.”b3c0d9dc84f40328

“Yoon Junghyun.”65be97272e15ec4c

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“…I’m sorry. I’ll be going.”be0a36d392863137

As I turned, Senior 7fe7f05ccd Hwang slammed his mug 4bf35d4951 on the desk and 6d5ba30de5 stood up. The bang ed02e32cfe sounded like c863c32b20 a threat 4a082ff3c4 to stay b368b96841 put. I stopped, my hand f044ae0ce9 on the doorknob.df248f74ab5cf9b1

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Take the book.”c6e682786e674437

“…”976c8ddeda4fd5cf

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“I’ll look for a place for you, and if I can’t find one, you can come to my house. I have a spare room.”d5053ab604a75f9a

Senior Hwang had been married for only about a year. Even if there were more rooms in his apartment, I didn’t want to go in. Only after thinking about that did I realize.41096f359866c845

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

Hwang Minho and I had met briefly while studying in the United States and shared a few drinks on the weekends. We weren’t actually close enough to be having this kind of conversation. It felt like my mind had gone haywire.10b18c8dec8c5db6

“…”99766feaf2a16411

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“Take the book.”6b217dd3e89e1c24

I turned around and picked up the book I had placed on the table with the mug. Senior Hwang’s frighteningly hardened expression finally loosened a little. But he was still serious. I bowed my head and tried to open the door silently. Senior Hwang urgently grabbed me.e3733bcee4d5e016

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“We haven’t seen each other in years, and you’re just going to leave like that? You don’t have plans for dinner, do you? It’s been a while, let’s have a drink.”d9d57d0d44ca95e1

It was a metaphorical expression of his determination to find out what was going on. I didn’t dislike the intention of getting me drunk and making me spill the beans in that atmosphere. He was a kind person. The problem was that there were things I couldn’t tell even him. I refused without looking at him.914a9975c8c7aad9

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“I have plans.”87651b1024e5215d

“…”7c96344476257e74

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“I really do.”8ba7781ccf2d05cb

He and I both knew that I didn’t have any plans, but I added it euphemistically. He sighed.d90428925130524b

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Alright. I’ll let you go for now, but not next time. If you came to rely on me, then put on a thick face and rely on me until the end. I’m capable enough.”40c73068369f7b9d

I turned my head 557e0dd5c9 to look at him. He had the 1568d23791 eyes of an 4da50a0bf4 older brother looking f7af8189e9 at his youngest ab2b54349d sibling who had 49b69041b1 been put out 5555658b0f by the water.d357bd9fab8955e2

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“It’s not like that. I’ll be going.”bd98fcadcc01cec6

“Call me.”6ec84c48d20cbbd6

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Yes.”3700b16b964672a4

I took the book and left Senior Hwang’s company. I wasn’t in my right mind, wondering what I was thinking when I made the appointment with him, what I was thinking when I went to his company. Half out of it, I walked to the subway station. The sharp, cutting wind had subsided a little. I couldn’t feel the cold at all. My thoughts weren’t going the way I wanted them to.5e2a1e4c77f44140

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

***515387a96ef409c5

Even though I 4d66a7615c was wearing a 101a8e1698 thick military jacket, bc28668eb0 the sharp wind a862bd9635 hit my cheeks 627a2f443f and roughly penetrated 89b471f6e7 my side. I crossed my 9dad1c2ea1 arms against the 336bf08f31 penetrating cold. I pushed my bcd1eb2a2a hands into my 1174d0527c side to try a0c149bcba to retain some ffd56e0750 warmth.c9c253ef5af4fb3f

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

There was a time when I couldn’t afford to live with my mother, so I came here alone to attend middle school in Korea. The unrenovated Gimpo Airport was very old even in my young memory. My maternal grandfather and grandmother were standing in the arrival hall with a large sign with my name on it. People I had seen once when I was a child, whom I didn’t even remember, and whom I had only seen in pictures since then, people I had only awkwardly exchanged greetings with over the phone. As a young child, I ran and hugged them as soon as I found them in the arrival hall lobby, people I could only consider as the first people I knew. It was the first time I felt a sense of relief in Korea, where I was surrounded by people who spoke a familiar language and had familiar faces, after being alone in a strange place with fear and isolation. Seoul had always remained that way for me. The only people I knew that I found in a strange airport. But not now. It was unfamiliar. Terribly unfamiliar.c8c2bed4e739f256

Today was Friday 10e2c0a394 evening. The eve of the b623461731 weekend was the same 70fd7f3984 all over the world. It was a time ebcefddb96 when traffic was congested 4c9cc3652e everywhere. The subway was crowded 1e0debb9b8 with people leaving work. I stared 0e1f72dde4 blankly at 577f8c35d0 the route 0894d84a71 map, wondering 7e663732e7 where to 9c925fde3c go and 58b7e48560 which train ca1e166631 to take. Then, the 86f7a4a58c name of 5e704fe2f4 one place e20c1a819c caught my 465f6422b7 eye.d76fae73177e2bff

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“…”0a08889c829e8822

I got on b8870c84da the subway that 4018b321b1 was arriving just b4b1884ea0 then. I was giving off f99e19f3ee the gaze of a 4d11b7fb94 tourist looking around the 4883cfef74 subway as if traveling 64b8834903 in a foreign country. There were ee743b20c5 hardly any 516cb3d161 people reading 50a5eb90fb newspapers or d938e0d2fb books on d8da4b5a73 the subway. Most of them e10e4fca5d were holding cell cfe0a6d5df phones, slightly larger 2fe314f7d5 than their palms. Some people f45b724c4e within my f673397dae sight seemed c24377673b to be e716577833 watching the 8760449c33 same TV 4290075847 program. The shoulders a8aad50b31 of those ac51733688 wearing earphones df24e771cf shook intermittently d1ac9053a4 at the c75ad28545 same time, 77bbb26f4e and I 137f9ec4da could hear 3720debcda chuckling sounds.4dd5064ab4ebe3ad

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

Was it because it was Friday? There was no sharp tension or weariness of having to live another day on people’s faces. Everything was languid. Unlike those whose tension and rigidity had eased, I leaned against the opposite exit as if being chased by someone. I twisted my head to avoid the smell of other people’s bodies.ece3906827146a52

After a few 68ec5eee06 stops, I got ec9670e0ad off and transferred c32f20d175 to another subway 63dd764282 line. It took exactly a501926c90 an hour after 488f32ee04 getting on the ce032e68aa subway to find cb594e2445 the way to eba0f9d1b3 Tracks in Itaewon, 8370bb9794 asking for directions.8bb188e9e9fcda07

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

Tracks, which 3031886820 was sometimes 2053e7e906 used as ff9a0b9533 a performance cea392446f venue, was 9eddfa414b on the f68c3aa143 third basement 2c7ee2a8c5 floor of 6d316e8de1 a seven-story e5d7b0bb2b building. It was the 6c44e81dba first place I 8495de96aa had ever looked d7262c17c8 for after hearing 806d43ef0b that there were 75633d0eb8 gay clubs in f05a9eb048 Korea. I had only 7689a1ee61 seen it in 149833b35c pictures and texts, 1ed83cdd4b but it felt 1ffe47cc7c strange to stand 8ffdf17b04 in front of 29771d4d51 it in person. I stepped down the 1d92ff57ed spiraling stairs, opened the ca911b927f glass door, and went 3a8839e381 inside.72a6cb2b63d96a5a

It was a little after eight o’clock, so there weren’t many customers. There were salarymen with women at one table, and most of the tables were empty. It wasn’t a place to dance and have fun. It was a little different from what I had expected, but I didn’t want to repeat the journey I had wandered for an hour to get here, so I had no other choice.3e85b671dc08ffef

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

I wanted to forget everything, or rather, I wanted to evaporate my consciousness in the heat and madness where I couldn’t think of anything. My original purpose in coming here was to mix in with a dissolute crowd, shake my body, and let myself go. Things were going differently than planned, but I couldn’t make a different choice after coming all the way here. I walked inside, where the soft jazz melody and the low notes of the contrabass pleasantly wrapped around my body.167f064bb7555eb1

I sat on a stool and ordered a beer. I took off my jacket and put it down next to me, and drank the beer. When it was past ten o’clock, past eleven o’clock, and past twelve o’clock, people like me would fill this place one by one, waiting for someone to stick close to them and talk to them, making their pupils shine.3008f40787574e3f

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

Before I knew it, four bottles of beer were placed in front of me. Three of them were empty. I rolled up my sleeves and checked the watch on my wrist. The hall was filling up faster than I thought. The population density had increased even before ten o’clock. Surprisingly, the proportion of women was high. It was a place where having a good gender ratio was of no help. There was a bit of a pathetic aspect to a city dweller with no one to meet burying themselves in the crowd and sipping alcohol alone, but I was able to escape the pressure of reality that was tightening around me. But I knew best that the effect would only last an hour or two at most.74deb8377af2b91e

What my mother always chose to forget reality was alcohol. I watched the fact that its effect was too short from the closest distance. So she drank again when the effect was about to disappear. She was always drunk. A reality that she and I couldn’t bear without being drunk was our lives. And I always vowed to myself, watching my mother, that I would not live that way.26bf188f7eed3b6a

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

I had to get up before I got drunk. I put the bottled beer to my mouth and drank it, thinking of finishing the beer I was drinking now and getting up. I couldn’t taste anything, as if I was forcibly stuffing the leftovers into my already full stomach. I looked around the hall and made eye contact with someone. It was a gaze that had been watching me for a long time, waiting for our eyes to meet. I stared at him and nonchalantly turned my gaze away.18ba0cd2e2fa1a75

At first, I thought it was my stepfather playing a lewd prank. It was the day I invited him, the grateful man who had liquidated my mother’s debt without any conditions, to dinner. A public shower room where hot water flowed for five minutes if you put in fifty cents, a smelly bathroom where teenagers secretly sneaked in and were madly engrossed in sex, a trailer village where poor people gathered on unmanaged grass.7b7d13641d73a270

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

My mother, who was ashamed of living in the Caravan Park rather than enjoying a vacation, was in a frenzy, putting up and taking down curtains to somehow make the space, which was already bustling even if only one person moved busily, look wider. But, contrary to my mother’s concerns, he didn’t seem too surprised that people could live in a cramped cabin.a4ec65096f3cc2f8

My mother emptied about three bottles of expensive Bordeaux wine, and I was also quite drunk from the alcohol the man offered. I was ashamed of my mother’s appearance as she drank to the point of not being able to control her body. Before her drinking got worse, I forcibly took her, who was saying she didn’t want to, to the bedroom and laid her down, and then I supported the man, whose face was also flushed with drunkenness, to take him to his car.87ac32dd3e916870

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

I thought the man’s action of putting his lips to my earlobe and sucking it slightly was a mistake. I thought he might be playing a prank because he knew my tendencies. It was because my mother had been talking loosely about me at the narrow dinner table, where it was difficult for even three people to sit, holding a half-torn rib in one hand and stirring it constantly.43ff76b7f661d3bb