RGE Ch 1

Woo Yiwon had just finished his night shift at the convenience store.

As he was leaving, he received a call from Mr. Choi, who ran a special cleaning company and occasionally offered Yiwon daily part-time jobs. Yiwon answered immediately.

Mr. Choi’s urgent voice came through the phone, which Yiwon was still using with a cracked screen.

“Yiwon, are you free right now? Two people suddenly dropped out of the work team today, and I’m in a real bind. I know you’re busy, but please help me out just this once. I’ll pay you well.”

The daily wage Mr. Choi offered was a whopping 160,000 won. Yiwon’s eyes sparkled at the amount.

It happened to be the one day off from his six-day-a-week job at the barbecue restaurant. His secondhand scooter, borrowed from a friend, was at the repair shop, so he couldn’t do deliveries either. Yiwon was in a situation where he would waste the entire day if he couldn’t find a loading/unloading job at the logistics center.

Without hesitation, Yiwon replied, “Yes, I’ll do it. Where should I go?”

“Come out in front of your house in about 20 minutes. We’ll pick you up on the way.”

Yiwon checked the time after hanging up.

5:20 AM. He could run home in under five minutes. Yiwon dashed towards his dilapidated, almost crumbling two-story villa’s semi-basement apartment.

He soon arrived at the 46-square-meter (approximately 14 pyeong) monthly rental where his family of three lived.

It was a distorted living space consisting of a large room and a small room, with the connecting hallway serving as the living room and kitchen. Yiwon used the small room, which was barely big enough for a mattress, a clothes rack, and a full-length mirror.

Yiwon hurried into his room, shedding layers of clothing.

Standing in front of the mirror, he now had the physique of a young man, with broad shoulders extending from his long neck and a slim upper body toned from work.

The full-length mirror was only 160 centimeters tall, so Yiwon had to bend down considerably to see his face. He put on his work clothes in this awkward position.

Even though he was just going to work, Yiwon styled his bleached blond hair to his satisfaction and changed the elaborate piercings in his left ear. Since his respirator mask was black, his accessories had to be silver.

As he put the respirator mask around his neck, finishing his preparations, he noticed the Polaroid photos neatly arranged on one side of the mirror. They were pictures taken with his university friends from Seoul, whom he used to hang out with almost every day.

The walls of his room were also decorated with postcards of travel destinations he wanted to visit someday and covers of his favorite albums.

Yiwon picked up the duffel bag containing his basic cleaning tools from among the neatly organized bags under the clothes rack. He also kept separate backpacks and sling bags for construction site work and fitting model jobs to avoid confusion.

Finished with his preparations, he left his room and took out his work shoes from the shoe rack by the front door. As he carefully tried to slip his feet into his worn-out sneakers so they wouldn’t crease further, he heard a sleepy child’s voice.

“Uncle, where are you going again?”

It was his five-year-old niece, Woo Haeju.

Usually, at this time, Yiwon would come home from his convenience store job, wash up, and sleep before heading to the barbecue restaurant, so she was curious about him leaving again so soon.

Yiwon scooped up the sleepy, stumbling Haeju and headed to the large room where she had come from.

“Yes, Uncle has to go to work suddenly.”

“Is it a job that pays a lot of money?”

Yiwon chuckled at Haeju’s bright-eyed question.

Of course, Haeju hadn’t developed a sense of money yet. She preferred two 1,000 won bills to a single 5,000 won bill. She was simply asking because she remembered Yiwon being happy whenever he had unexpected income.

Finding Haeju adorable, Yiwon showered her forehead with kisses.

“Haeju, what do you want to eat for dinner? Uncle will make a lot of money and buy it for you.”

“Hmm… then I want samgyeopsal (pork belly).”

“Not chicken or pizza? Last time you said hamburgers were the best.”

Yiwon laid Haeju down next to his mother, who was sleeping on a mattress on the floor of the large room, and asked. Haeju yawned widely as Yiwon adjusted the bedding.

“Now I like samgyeopsal best. On days we eat grilled meat, Uncle, Grandma, and I eat for a long time. We talk a lot, too.”

Yiwon stopped and stared at Haeju, who quickly fell asleep and started purring.

It seemed Haeju missed having a warm family meal rather than actually craving samgyeopsal. Come to think of it, lately he had been so busy and tired that he had been rushing through preparing, eating, and cleaning up meals. Yiwon quietly kissed Haeju’s cheek and mouthed, “Sorry.”

Outside, the whole neighborhood was bathed in the bluish darkness of pre-dawn. The light from his phone screen illuminated Yiwon’s clean face like a reflector.

Yiwon looked at his phone screen through his hazy breath and sent a text message to his mother.

Woo Yiwon:

[I have a daytime part-time job today. Please make sure to eat breakfast and lunch with Haeju.] 5:35 AM

Having once seen his mother and Haeju waiting for him without eating anything until late at night, Yiwon made sure to text his mother whenever he had an unexpected schedule.

As soon as he put his phone in his pocket, he saw Mr. Choi’s van pulling into the narrow alley.

As he reached for the handle of the van’s backseat door, it swung open. Ms. Kim Mi-rim, a middle-aged woman who had worked with him for two years, albeit irregularly, greeted him.

“Oh my, look who it is! Are we working with our standoffish prince today?”

Standoffish prince. That’s what Ms. Kim Mi-rim called Yiwon, who was painfully shy.

Yiwon smiled, not minding the friendly gesture from Ms. Kim Mi-rim, who had initially looked at him with disdain, thinking, ‘I’ve never seen such a flashy young person with any real substance.’ He got into the van.

Another day had begun.

Ꮺ ۰ ͙⊹

The cleaning job wasn’t finished until well past two in the afternoon.

It took seven long hours even with three experienced women, Mr. Choi, and equipment. The work was quite demanding as it was a house that had suffered a fire and was awaiting remodeling.

It was no wonder the two twenty-year-old boys that Mr. Choi had specifically assigned to the team had run off that morning. This wasn’t uncommon for daily wage part-time jobs.

After the work was done, Mr. Choi called Yiwon aside under the pretense of smoking a cigarette.

Handing Yiwon a thick white envelope, he said, “I took some from my share and added it to yours. You saved me today.”

Yiwon’s face lit up as he immediately opened the envelope. However, his cheerful expression gradually stiffened as he counted the 10,000 won bills. There were twenty-two of them.

It was excessive for the work he’d done, but he couldn’t bring himself to refuse, so Yiwon just fidgeted with the envelope in his hand, looking embarrassed. Seeing through him without a word, Mr. Choi burst into hearty laughter and tucked the envelope into Yiwon’s pocket himself.

“This is why the ladies adore you. I’m giving it to you because I can afford it, kid. Just take it.”

Yiwon awkwardly nodded.

“When I first saw you, I thought you were too pretty and aloof to be a good worker. How can someone who looks like a young lady be so strong?”

The “young lady” comment made Yiwon sulk a little.

At 182 centimeters tall and with a naturally muscular build, he couldn’t possibly look like a woman. Even if he wasn’t as bulky as his older brother, he was well-built. The “prince” and “young lady” comments were just ways for the older generation to tease his shy personality.

Slightly annoyed, Yiwon grumbled a lie. “I’ve never heard anyone say that before.”

“It’s just an expression. Kids these days are much prettier than in my time.”

Mr. Choi grinned and gestured towards the van, signaling it was time to go home.

“Should I drop you off at home? Or are you going straight to your next part-time job?”

“I don’t have another job,” Yiwon replied, walking towards the van. He checked his phone for a reply from his mother.

Mom:

[Okay. Did you eat?] 11:40 AM

[I ate breakfast and went to your brother’s hospital for a bit.] 11:40 AM

“Brother” referred to Woo Jeongmin, Yiwon’s brother, twelve years his senior.

Jeongmin had been hospitalized for two years. He had been a detective but was now in a coma after an accident on duty.