Clap - 2
Jaemin always needed money. There aren’t many people in the world who don’t need money, but Jaemin was particularly in need. If he didn’t work right away, he couldn’t eat right away. Still, he had a place to sleep. South Korea was more generous to poor university students than he thought. They pitied the orphaned university students and let them live in old houses with ten people, and even provided tuition fees.
It would have been nice if they had given money for meals too.
Jaemin, sitting in the library’s PC room, sighed deeply. His empty stomach kept growling without any consideration. Today, all he had to eat was a 300 won vending machine drink, which was expected.
He glanced around at the noisy surroundings. His cheeks and back of the head stung, but Jaemin ignored it and held his ground.
When you’re poor, you become shameless. If you’re not shameless, you either die or suffer, one of the two.
Jaemin opened his eyes wide and looked at the screen, which was a part-time job site. He needed a job because he was fired from the meat restaurant where he had been working for three weeks. The reason for being fired wasn’t anything special. He was careless.
Breaking dishes while serving, cleaning tables but breaking dishes while doing so, taking a towel where a mop was needed, and taking a mop where a towel was needed. Bringing beer to a table that asked for soju, and bringing soybean paste stew to the place that ordered cold noodles.
It was the order he had heard just a minute ago. It was so hard to remember.
Unfortunately, Jaemin was not only poor but also stupid. His life was a mess.
That’s why he couldn’t keep a part-time job for long. If he lasted two months, he would pat himself on the back and comfort himself. Thanks to that, he could draw the part-time job site with his eyes closed.
Jaemin scrolled the mouse wheel vigorously. He didn’t care about the job or the industry. It just had to be close by. Because he didn’t have money for round trips. And he had to work a lot. Wednesday, Friday was fine, Monday to Friday was better, and if it was all week, hooray.
He was on leave from school. For two years now. He had to endure as he wouldn’t receive any benefits as a student once he graduated. Living like this made him wonder how he would survive. But what would happen if he didn’t live? He was afraid of dying. It seemed painful.
Jaemin, who was scrolling through various job ads with an indifferent expression, suddenly raised his eyebrows. A job ad that looked quite good caught his eye.
[Choi Dental Clinic/ Hiring a janitor/ 5 days a week/ 3 hours a day/ Monthly salary: 600,000]
Choi Dental Clinic. It sounded familiar. Jaemin searched for Choi Dental Clinic on the portal site. Sure enough, it was a dental clinic on a busy main street he often passed by. It was a twenty-eight-minute walk. Not very close, but still walkable within two hours round trip. So, twenty-eight minutes was manageable.
Trembling, Jaemin took out his phone. The phone, with peeling paint, closer to scrap metal than a machine, could barely make calls and send texts.
“Hello. I am Jaemin Park, a 2nd-year student at Future University. Are you looking for a cleaning part-time job? I can start working today.”
That was the beginning of his unfortunate encounter with the Choi brothers.
The hospital was big, spacious, shiny, and clean. They were looking for a janitor, but it seemed doubtful if cleaning was really needed. Jaemin hesitantly entered the hospital. The unique smell of hospitals, especially dental clinics, pricked his nose. It was a nervous smell for no reason.
The hospital was quiet. They told him to come during lunchtime. The person who was supposed to interview him had gone for lunch. Jaemin looked around the hospital. He couldn’t go into the examination room or the break room, so he wandered around the restroom and water cooler, in front of the notice board with dental-related posters.
When Jaemin reluctantly sat on the sofa used as a waiting seat, the door to the examination room opened, and someone appeared. A tall man in a white gown. His bangs were loosely hanging down, and he was holding a cup of coffee.
“Oh, it’s lunchtime now, sir.”
The man who noticed Jaemin spoke with a sympathetic and apologetic tone, as if feeling sorry for mistaking the time.
He seemed like a kind person. That was Jaemin’s first impression of him.
Jaemin stood up from the sofa. To look a bit more presentable, he clasped his hands neatly under his chin.
“I came for an interview…”
“An interview? What interview?”