My Bloody Valentine - 52

After several trials and errors in society, Han finally settled down at a convenience store.

He had tried working at a logistics center and a barbecue restaurant, but he ended up spending more time in bed recovering for three days after just two days of work, so going out earned him more.

Although the hourly wage was low, he found his way here because he wanted a job with less physical strain.

Besides the appropriate workload, another good thing about working at the convenience store was that the owner allowed employees to take leftover food after it passed its expiration time. Han wanted to work here for as long as possible.

When he returned after tidying up the expired lunch boxes behind the refrigerator, two cans of beer and dried squid were on the counter.

“Please give me five of these Speedyto 2,000 won tickets.”

“Haejun! Just one bag of shrimp chips for me.”

“Hurry up and get them.”

The two customers were regulars who Han met two or three times a week. He wasn’t sure if they came more often than his working hours.

Although they were dressed neatly in suits, the two young men and women in their late twenties looked somewhat immature.

They came to the convenience store around quitting time, drank one can of beer each, and left. Every time, the man always bought five instant lottery tickets.

“Do you happen to have any change?”

When the man, holding the lottery tickets, asked Han, the woman nudged his waist with her elbow and scolded him.

“Hey, just scratch it with your nails.”

“What are you talking about? Lottery tickets are meant to be scratched with money.”

“What superstition is that?”

She took out a hundred-won coin from her pocket and handed it to the man, who smiled and accepted the coin.

“I’ll bring it right over.”

The two customers went to the table inside the convenience store and sat side by side. The woman glanced at the man who started scratching the lottery tickets in earnest.

“Another loss? If it were me, I’d use that money to buy drinks.”

“Why are you like this? It’s a little thrill in my life. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. If I win, I’ll quit my job right away.”

They seemed like college classmates or coworkers. They probably graduated from ordinary households, went to college, and started working.

As Han listened to their conversation while sitting at the counter, a bitter smile formed on his lips.

The convenience store owner used to be a soldier, but he opened this convenience store after being discharged. The owner had a daughter studying abroad in Australia and a younger daughter attending a prestigious university. He had asked Han, looking somewhat pitiful, how old he was this year.

“How old are you, Han?”

“Me? I’m twenty-three.”

“How long are you going to work at the convenience store?”

“Why? Do you want me to quit?”

When Han asked back, the owner shook his head and said something.

You lack determination. Whether it’s night school or online university, if you have the will, you can do it all. But you just don’t have the will.

It was a story about how war and poverty narrow people’s horizons.

“Oh, oh? Oh? I won ten thousand won!”

In fact, the price of the lottery tickets the man bought was ten thousand won, so he was just breaking even, but he was extremely happy.

He came to the counter, handed over the winning lottery ticket along with the change, and quickly took out a hot dog from the refrigerator next to him and placed it on the counter. He collected the small prize money from the sales point.

When Han handed him the remaining change after deducting the price of the hot dog from the ten thousand won prize money, the man accepted it and pushed the hot dog towards Han.

“Here. It’s a gift.”

“Huh? Oh, it’s okay….”

“It’s nothing special. Enjoy it.”

“Thank you.”

Han blushed at the sudden kindness. The woman chuckled softly and nudged the man’s side.

“What’s wrong? You’re being unusually considerate.”

“You choose something too.”

Their visits continued thereafter. Through their conversations that could be heard over his shoulder, Han learned that the man’s name was Haejun and the woman’s name was Hyunjoo.

Addressing each other with their last names, they started calling each other by their first names from the following year. Unlike before, when they used to maintain a distance even while standing at the counter, they now stood arm in arm. They were a good-looking couple.

And as the eldest daughter of the owner, who had been studying abroad in Australia, returned, and the younger daughter graduated from university, unmistakable wedding rings appeared on the hands of the two.

Three years had passed since Han started working at the convenience store. While everyone’s lives went through ups and downs during that time, Han was the only one stuck in the same place.

Then, from one day on, Han often saw the two regular customers arguing. The man, who was holding his wife’s hand tightly, frequently had his phone in his hand.

“Haejun! Stop that! Do you really have to do that even when we’re outside?”

“Oh, just a moment. I want to see if Winfield won. What’s the score?”

“You’re gambling with that too, you know?”

“What’s wrong with betting on sports toto in addition to buying lottery tickets? How much do I even spend on this… It’s just a few ten thousand won. Last time, I used this money to pay for the chicken you ate, remember?”

“Sigh… Let’s stop. Let’s just drop it.”

“Am I drinking or smoking? I need something to relieve stress too. Give me five of those Speedyto 2,000 won tickets.”

Feeling uneasy, Han cautiously tore off the lottery tickets and handed them to the man, stealing glances at him.

“Here you go. Do you need some change?”

“Hehe, thanks.”

The man often borrowed change, and whether it was five thousand or ten thousand won, every time he won, he bought Han a hot dog or a banana milk. He was the kindest among the customers Han had met.

Then one day, the woman customer stopped coming.

The man’s expression darkened, and instead of his usual fresh appearance as a typical office worker, he appeared with a messy face and unkempt hair during the daytime when he should have been at work.

His routine remained the same. Buying five instant lottery tickets.

Some time later, as December approached and the weather became colder, Han received an unusual request as he was about to leave work.

“Han, call the police station on your way home.”

“The police station? Why?”

“There’s a drunk guy sleeping in front of the store. I’m worried he might cause trouble. It’s winter, you know. It’s serious.”

Surprised by the store owner’s words, Han glanced briefly at the clean window and rushed outside.

In front of the convenience store, lying in a drunken state, was a regular customer named Haejun, who bought lottery tickets.

The owner, who followed him out, asked, “Do you know him?”

“Yes. He’s a regular customer.”

“In that case, what’s the point of just leaving him there like that? Let’s wake him up.”

It had been quite a while since Han had seen him. His face was pale, with stubble growing as if he hadn’t shaved for days. In short, he looked like someone who had been living on the streets. And to top it off, he smelled strongly of cheap soju, matching his appearance.

Han gently shook Haejun’s body and tapped his shoulders. Haejun groggily opened his eyes.

“Excuse me, sir. It’s not safe to be outside in this weather. You should go home.”

“…I don’t have a home.”

Han realized that the wedding ring was missing from the man’s hand.

“Oh…”

“I have… nowhere to go. Haha… I was kicked out…”

For a moment, Han looked at Haejun as if he had made up his mind about something, then draped one of his arms over Haejun’s shoulder.

“Get up. Let’s go to my place for now.”

Thinking of repaying the debt for the hot dogs and kimbap that Haejun had bought him, Han took him to his apartment. At least for one night, he planned to let him stay.

As they stepped into Han’s home, Haejun, even in his intoxicated state, chuckled as he looked at the plaque hanging in front of Han’s studio apartment.

“A plaque…? Who hangs a plaque these days? Especially in a studio like this… You’re quite a unique part-timer…”

Han just laughed along with him. To someone who didn’t know the story, it might just seem funny.

Thus, as Haejun set foot in Han’s home, even in his drunken stupor, he poured out his story while devouring the ramen that Han had cooked for him. As Han had suspected, he had gone through a divorce. It was because he had fallen into gambling.

He said he had nowhere to go, promising to pay for his living expenses. He shamelessly stuck to Han’s house. He was an audacious person.

But Han couldn’t just kick out a fellow veteran who had fallen on hard times. Truth be told, as lonely as he was, living alone, he couldn’t readily turn away a stranger, even one he didn’t know.

They lived together for almost two years and became as close as an older brother and a younger sister with a significant age gap.

Having a common interest makes it easy to become close. They shared a common interest in art.

Han drew pictures as a hobby, and Haejun, who had been fired but had worked as an art dealer at a famous art museum, recognized Han’s potential. Perhaps he was just trying to flatter Han to cling to the studio apartment for even one more day longer.

Especially, what Haejun liked was a oil painting he named ‘The Child with Sensibility.’

The painting revealed a solid foundation in basic skills such as composition and color, suggesting that he had learned art before. Although there were some awkward parts in using materials, it made the painting even more refreshing.

But now, Haejun was nothing more than an unemployed person lounging around at home.

Every day, he held his phone and played games matching pairs of marine creatures like blowfish, jellyfish, and octopuses or climbing ladders until his eyes were bloodshot.

It looked very childish to see from the sidelines, but Haejun lit up with enthusiasm for the game as if staking his life on it.

When Han turned twenty-seven, the youngest daughter of the owner, who had failed to find a job, announced that she would work part-time at the convenience store run by her father while preparing for the civil service exam. Even part-time jobs at convenience stores could serve as a parachute.

As a result, Han’s working hours were pushed back to the night. His day and night were reversed, and his body clock was messed up.

To others, it might not seem like a big deal, but Han’s body was sensitive due to his weak health. His immunity plummeted, and he felt the onset of a severe cold. What he thought was a cold turned into an unfamiliar pneumonia with an unknown cause.

It was Haejun who took care of Han and transferred him to the hospital. From admission procedures to everything else, Haejun took care of everything, and Han had to stay in the hospital for over two weeks.

“Hey… Han.”

“Yeah?”

“…It’s nothing.”

“What is it?”

“No, just rest more.”

Haejun’s face didn’t look good at all. For the past few months, he had been showing strange symptoms.

At first, he just seemed to have lost his appetite and couldn’t eat properly. He gained weight on his round face, and dark circles appeared under his eyes. He seemed unable to sleep properly and tossed and turned all night.

Then he suddenly got up and wandered around the narrow studio apartment like a dog needing to pee, sometimes biting his nails until they bled.

Haejun, lying on the caregiver’s bed, looked noticeably gaunt. Thinking that they should talk when he got up and cleared his head, Han closed his drowsy eyes.

The next day, when he woke up, the makeshift bed where Haejun had been lying was empty.

Haejun didn’t show himself until the day of discharge. Even when he returned home, Haejun wasn’t there, and the painting ‘The Child with Sensibility’ disappeared with him.

So, after a month, two months, and half a year passed, Han finally realized that Haejun had left.

And a year later, he encountered traces of Haejun in the worst possible way.

“Your debt amounts to a total of 1.07 billion. The Green Money has been transferred from the credit card company and savings bank, and we’ve taken over your debt from Ta-Senda. Now, it means that we are your creditors.”

“Have you ever lent your phone or ID to someone?”