TE Ch 08

Hongju came out of the restroom after spending a long time calming himself down. Choi Gun was sitting at the desk. Neither Koo Bbing nor Manager Yang were in sight.

“Koo Bbing bought this.”

Choi Gun offered him a coffee in a takeout cup. Hongju didn’t even glance at the paper cup and walked past the desk.

“I don’t drink. I’m going to step out for a bit.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Choi Gun, who was looking at his phone, nodded. Hongju headed to a nearby convenience store out of habit. He wanted to drink some water. Seeing this, the thugs or Choi Gun would sometimes nag him. They’d ask why he was wasting money when there was plenty of water and drinks at the gambling house, especially when he had no money. But Hongju couldn’t drink even water comfortably at the gambling house. Especially not anything Koo Bbing gave him. He didn’t know what might be in it.

There used to be a card sharp who stayed at the gambling house, and he would readily accept and drink the coffee Koo Bbing offered him. After walking around with dazed eyes a few times, the man packed his bags from the staff dormitory and went somewhere else. He didn’t know where he went, but seeing as he was driven around in Koo Bbing’s car, he probably stayed with him. And not long after, the man disappeared. They said he ran away after losing a lot of money in a game. But Hongju didn’t believe it. He knew Koo Bbing too well, remembered the man’s glazed eyes, and couldn’t forget the coffee he drank. He’d rather die than be drugged and raped.

“Thank you. Have a great day!”

Hongju emptied the water bottle like a man desperate for a drink. As he gulped down the cold water, his throat and mouth felt numb. He drank until he felt a chill in his solar plexus and then wiped his wet lips. His lips and the back of his hand were as cold as ice. His breath no longer carried a foul smell.

It was late at night. As usual, the gambling house was very crowded. Even Choi Gun and the thug came out to keep an eye on things. Hongju busily served, cleared tables, and did his part. Even in the midst of all this, Koo Bbing, instead of helping, sat at the desk with his legs up, playing on his phone. Beep boop. He seemed to be playing a game, as sound effects kept playing. After doing that for a while, he started talking on the phone loudly.

“I saw him before; he wasn’t bad. He won’t be going soon, right? Ah, he hasn’t arrived yet?”

Hongju held his frozen hands in front of the heater to warm them up. He felt a tingling sensation, like electricity, starting from his fingertips.

“Okay. I’ll be there soon.”

Koo Bbing put his legs down from the desk and took out a wad of cash from the drawer. Then he took out a shopping bag lying on the floor and neatly stacked the money inside.

“Hey. Tell Manager Yang I took a thousand, okay?”

“…Where are you going?”

When Hongju asked, Koo Bbing looked around. After confirming that no one was there, he whispered, “Curious? Then how about another round?”

He grabbed his crotch and shook it up and down. At that vulgar and crude gesture, Hongju finally cursed.

“Crazy bastard.”

“Haha. I’m going to Gwangpal’s gambling house, you punk. I’ll bring back a lot of money, okay?”

As he passed by, Koo Bbing squeezed Hongju’s ass hard. This wasn’t the first time he had done something like this, so Hongju simply frowned and swallowed his curses. Hongju, watching Koo Bbing’s back as he went down the stairs with the shopping bag, fell into deep thought. After much deliberation, he called out to the thug who had just come out of a room.

“I’m going to the restroom. Can you watch my spot?”

“Where did Koo Bbing go?”

“To Gwangpal’s gambling house.”

“Okay. Go ahead.”

The thug sat down on the empty chair. Koo Bbing had gone on an away game, and Manager Yang was dealing cards inside. Choi Gun was standing at the end of the hallway, and the thug was guarding his spot. Moreover, they wouldn’t invest money to install CCTV in a dilapidated inn building, and there were no eyes to watch him. Knowing this, his heart started to race.

Hongju entered the restroom and checked several times to make sure the door was locked. Then he took out the cell phone hidden in his chest pocket. The time it took for the power to turn on felt incredibly long. Even during that time, he kept his ear to the door, checking for any sounds. There was only one number in the call list. Hongju sent a text message to that number.

[He went to a gambling house in Jeongeon-dong. It will take about 6 hours.]

He pressed the send button and turned off the power. No matter how he thought about it, dying under Boss Mookyeong might be better than rotting away in the gambling house. It wasn’t so much that he trusted someone he barely knew, but rather that he knew Koo Bbing, whom he had known for a long time, all too well.

From the next day on, Mookyeong didn’t come to the gambling house. Instead, he sent two young men to help with the work. He said they would be helpful because they had worked there before when the gambling house was being expanded. They weren’t quite card sharps, but they were good enough at Seotda, and they were well-built, so they could easily handle any fights that broke out. Koo Bbing and Manager Yang welcomed them. The games ran faster, and the service was quicker than when Hongju was working alone. After a few days of having some breathing room, Koo Bbing put Hongju back on debt collection.

“Eight hundred.”

Hongju checked the name, number, and address written on the paper. He recognized the person immediately, as they were frequently late on their payments. This person didn’t work and only gambled, and he had a bad habit of hitting Hongju whenever he saw him. His wrist, which had been fractured by him before, seemed to ache again.

“Yes. I’ll go.”

“Yeah. I saw that bastard at Gwangpal’s gambling house last time. He was grinning, so it looked like he won some money. Make sure you get it.”

“I can only get it if he gives it.”

“Damn it, you never back down, do you?”

Hongju touched his lip, where the bleeding had finally stopped and a scab had formed. The wounds had healed a lot while he was serving at the gambling house. Usually, he wouldn’t have had time for them to heal like this. He felt a little sad thinking that he would get hurt again.

“I’m going.”

The man’s house wasn’t far, so he could get there in less than 15 minutes on foot. Hongju pulled the zipper of his padding jacket all the way up and went down the stairs. As he reached the entrance of the building, he smelled cigarette smoke mixed with a faint fragrance.

“Where are you going?”

“…Hello.”

It was the first time he had seen him since he sent the text message about Koo Bbing going to Gwangpal’s gambling house. He still had his well-groomed hair slicked back and wore a coat that reached his calves. A white cigarette filter was tucked between the fingers of his gloved hand.

“I asked where you’re going.”

“Debt collection.”

“Hmm.”

He puffed out his chest and took a deep drag of the cigarette. Whoo, a cloud of smoke obscured Hongju’s vision with a long exhale, but this time he didn’t cough. After blowing smoke in Hongju’s face a few more times, Mookyeong threw the cigarette on the ground. His clean shoe crushed the cigarette butt.

“Get in.”

“It’s close; I can go by myself.”

Despite Hongju’s words, Mookyeong didn’t back down. He abruptly opened the driver’s side door and tapped on the car a couple of times.

“Get in. We have things to talk about, don’t we?”

He looked around without realizing it. There was no one on the first floor, and no one to hear this conversation. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but be cautious.

“Shall we talk here? I don’t mind.”

“…I’ll get in.”

Hongju opened the passenger door. As he had done last time, he stomped his feet on the ground to shake off the snow. When he fastened his seatbelt, Mookyeong asked for the address.

“Type in Gwol-eum Hospital. It’s right behind it.”

It was less than a 5-minute drive. Mookyeong’s car started moving slowly, and he immediately got to the point.

“Does he go on away games often?”

“Sometimes. He used to just set up games, but these days work is slow. He acts as a shill in big games to lose money.”

“Then what does he get out of it?”

“He gets a percentage of the pot.”

Koo Bbing was solely driven by money. No matter how close he was to someone, if they became the target of a rigged game, he would use them without hesitation. He wasn’t skilled enough to tamper with the cards himself, but he was good at being a shill to prevent the target from leaving the game. And even though he had his pinky finger cut off because of that, he still hadn’t come to his senses.

“And he hasn’t gone anywhere since then?”

“No. He really likes the people you… you sent. He keeps playing games with them, so I think he won’t be going anywhere for a while and will stay here.”

“Really?”

The fingers in the leather gloves tapped on the steering wheel. It was a casual tone, so the conversation ended quickly. When the car stopped at a traffic light, he turned his head towards Hongju.

“What do you get out of collecting debts?”

“Me? About 5 percent.”

“The math doesn’t add up. The hospital bills would be more.”

He rarely went to the hospital. Unless he was bleeding profusely, losing consciousness, or had broken bones, he had to endure it. If he had gone to the hospital in time, he could have saved his completely damaged left ear. At first, it was just a little muffled, painful, and he had trouble hearing, but it wasn’t this bad. But Hongju had no choice. He had no money or freedom, so he had to keep collecting debts without rest. He felt Mookyeong’s gaze scanning his wounds. Hongju kept his gaze fixed straight ahead and spoke, his injured lips moving.

“I don’t go to the hospital. It heals on its own.”

“Is there even time for it to heal?”

“…It will heal someday.”

Or become completely useless like his left ear. Hongju swallowed his words and looked out the window. He saw ordinary people making phone calls, walking around with coffee, and sitting at bus stops. Could he live like that someday? He knew that having hope in a gambling den was for suckers. But hope remained faintly, like a dying ember.

“Over there.”

When he pointed to the hospital, Mookyeong slowed down a bit. The car entered a narrow alley instead of stopping in front of the hospital.

“You can just drop me off here.”

Why was he being so bothersome when he wasn’t even going to follow him to collect the debt? Hongju straightened up and quickly unbuckled his seatbelt. As they entered an alley, a large detached house came into view. As if he knew the destination, the car stopped in front of it.

“…How did you know it was here?”

“You said earlier it was a detached house behind the hospital. Am I wrong?”

Did he say it was a detached house? Hongju stared at Mookyeong with a guarded look. He turned off the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt. Then he crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly, looking at Hongju.

“Go on. The air in the gambling house is too stuffy, so this is good.”

“…..”

“What are you doing? Go do your job.”

His eye, with only one eyelid, was slightly curved, but strangely, it didn’t look like he was smiling. Hongju couldn’t meet his cold gaze for long and got out of the car. He had been here a few times before, so his steps led him straight to the detached house. Since the man had quit his job to gamble, he would probably be sleeping or getting ready to move around this time.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong. After the doorbell had been rung more than twenty times, the sound of the front door bursting open was heard. A rough voice, laced with curses, could be heard along with heavy footsteps. Hongju took a step back, waiting for the gate to open.

“What fucking bastard is it?”

The gate opened roughly. The man, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt, was huffing and puffing, his face red with anger. When he saw Hongju standing there blankly, sparks flew in his eyes.