Boundless Love

8.

Choi Mujin woke up at dawn as always and finished a simple shower. After drying his hair and getting dressed, he headed straight to his study.

In the past, he would go to the company at least twice a week to handle work or stay up all night doing business, but given the current situation, he decided to stay quiet as the Chairman wished for now.

Sitting at the desk in his study, Choi Mujin naturally turned on his tablet. An 8-split CCTV video appeared on the screen, showing the inside of the house. The house was still quiet as Haseo hadn’t arrived for work yet. But as soon as the clock struck 8, there was a sound at the door.

Beep.

The door opened and Haseo peeked his head in first. Even after several days, he didn’t seem to have gotten used to it yet. Poking just his head in to check inside looked like a silly puppy.

“Hello.”

After confirming no one was there, Haseo greeted cheerfully. Only then did he slip his entire body through the front door. He was holding a large plastic bag in his hand. When Haseo first used Choi Mujin’s card, the receipt showed the name of the mart located in the basement of the complex. But at some point, the items purchased there started to decrease.

He thought it was because items were already stocked, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Haseo took out spinach and bean sprouts from the black plastic bag. Although they had some imperfections here and there, the quantity was substantial.

‘It seems he bought them from the market.’

There was a market near Haseo’s neighborhood. And there were people who sold all their vegetables cheaply around closing time. Choi Mujin had lived in such a neighborhood when he was young, so he wasn’t completely unaware of the situation.

‘Funny guy.’

Given a card to use, he instead bought ingredients from the market with his own money. After taking out the vegetables, some fruits rolled out too. They were oranges, all with irregular shapes. These were products that marts wouldn’t stock due to appearance issues. After organizing and putting them in the refrigerator, Haseo rolled up his sleeves and started cooking.

He seemed to know about the CCTV installed at the doorway and in the living room, but apparently didn’t know there was one in the kitchen too. Watching him hum and move around, Choi Mujin’s lips curled up involuntarily. At the same time, a thought crossed his mind.

‘Seo Jaewoo wasn’t like that.’

Unlike Seo Jaewoo, who cooked skillfully, Haseo made many mistakes. He blanched spinach in hot water, forgot about it, and then belatedly screamed as he put his hand in the water before jumping back.

Watching this, Choi Mujin’s body also flinched. It happened so quickly that he didn’t even realize it himself.

While Haseo cooled his scalded hand in cold water, the spinach had already become mushy. He looked disappointed but changed the water and added more spinach. Fortunately, there was quite a lot of spinach. The second attempt seemed to work out well, as he started seasoning it with sesame oil and salt.

It was interesting to watch the number of side dishes increase in this way. The fried eggs, which he had once evaluated as looking like rags, were gradually taking shape. It wasn’t that Haseo’s skills had improved; he had bought a round mold somewhere and poured the eggs into it. So even if they weren’t cooked properly, at least they were round in shape.

By the time all the meals were prepared, the clock showed 9 o’clock. Haseo took a deep breath, looked at the doorway, and after one minute passed, he headed toward the study.

Knock knock.

Soon there was a knock, and Choi Mujin turned off the tablet screen.

“Hello. Meal preparation is complete.”

Then Choi Mujin calmly walked out and sat at the table with Haseo. As always, the rice was edible. Since you just put rice and water in the rice cooker and it does all the work, there was a low chance of messing it up. The side dishes also had some shortcomings, but they weren’t inedible.

“How about sending him to a cooking academy?”

After staying in the house for a day and observing Haseo’s skills, Park Dongsu had suggested this.

To Choi Mujin’s look that seemed to ask what he meant, Park Dongsu mentioned cooking academies. He then subtly suggested that there were also academies that taught bride classes, and that men often took those classes too, so such places wouldn’t be bad.

To this, Choi Mujin chuckled and replied:

“It’s fine. He’ll improve eventually.”

And true to Choi Mujin’s words, Haseo’s skills were gradually improving. Just very slowly. After finishing a meal, as always, Choi Mujin would point out the flaws in the cooking. At first, Haseo would just listen like a guilty person, but these days he had started bringing a pen and notebook to take notes.

Glancing at it, Choi Mujin saw that messy, scrawling handwriting filled the notebook. That aspect was somewhat endearing. After this time ended, Haseo would start washing dishes. Now he knew how to use the dishwasher properly.

Everything seemed to be going peacefully.

But that was an illusion.

* * *

Haseo bit his nails anxiously. The next hospital bill payment date was approaching. Choi Mujin had said he would pay a salary, but it was uncertain whether it would come entirely to Haseo’s hands. Even if it did, the timing wouldn’t match the payment date.

Should I go to the pawnshop and get the rest of the money from selling the watch? He felt guilty but couldn’t think of any other way. So after finishing work, Haseo headed to the pawnshop in Yongsan. The old man closed at 9, but would come out if the bell next to the door was rung.

He was originally sleepless, so Haseo wasn’t worried about that part. The old man had never failed to come out. So arriving at the pawnshop after 10, Haseo rang the bell.

Ding dong.

There was no response to a single ring. So he pressed it again.

Ding dong. Ding dong.

This time he pressed multiple times, but it was still quiet. Anxiety started to build. Haseo continued to ring the bell at intervals, but no voice came out. If he had rung this much, the old man should at least have shouted that it was noisy.

Haseo stamped his feet nervously and then noticed a pipe placed in the narrow alley beside the building.

‘I shouldn’t do this, but…’

The old man might have collapsed and couldn’t hear any sound. Calling 119 or the police wasn’t an option since the old man wasn’t exactly clean either. Haseo inserted the flattened pipe through the metal door and twisted it.

The door didn’t open easily. Fortunately, being in a remote location, there were no passersby; otherwise, someone might have reported him to the police. After struggling for over an hour, Haseo barely managed to twist open the metal door.

Having exerted too much strength, his body was exhausted, and his hands that had been gripping the pipe were scraped red with blood coming to the surface, but he paid no attention.

“Grandfather!”

Crawling into the pitch-black darkness, he called for the old man, but there was no answer.

“Grandfather!”

Haseo’s voice grew louder. He fumbled along the wall and found a protruding switch. When he flipped it, the bulb hanging from the ceiling flickered a few times, and then the inside became bright.

“Huh?”

The inside of the pawnshop was very different from the last time he had visited. The places where items had been placed were all empty, and the drawer cabinet that was visible through the iron grate was gone.

“Grandfather?”

The door on one side of the iron grate, which was always tightly locked, was open. With trembling hands, Haseo opened the door and went inside. At the end of the straight corridor were two rooms. One appeared to be a storage room, and the other seemed to be a living room.

All that remained in both was old dust and a bit of trash. After staring at the place for a long time, Haseo belatedly realized the situation.

“Huh?”

With his scraped hands, he pushed his bangs back and laughed emptily.

“He ran away?”

Looking around, it seemed like the place had been vacated for several days. An indescribable emotion filled his throat, but he couldn’t express it. As always, Haseo suppressed the nauseating feeling.

“Grandfather was always very fearful.”

And he was faster than anyone in grasping information. Then it wouldn’t have taken him long to identify the owner of the watch Haseo had handed over. He must have naturally felt threatened. He must have feared that Choi Mujin might come after him. Haseo wondered if Choi Mujin had orchestrated this, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

If so, all the items wouldn’t have disappeared so cleanly.

“He ran away.”

He took all the money he was supposed to give to Haseo and disappeared. Realizing this, Haseo slumped down on the dirty floor. Should he be happy that the old man hadn’t collapsed? Or should he be sad about being betrayed? His thoughts didn’t continue for long. He stared blankly at the yellow bulb on the ceiling and then ran his hands over his face.

‘It was my fault for trusting him in the first place.’

Didn’t he already know that this is how the world works? Even if you give affection to someone, it doesn’t come back. The old man was just like that.

‘I was a fool.’

It was all because he was stupid—trusting the old man and not foreseeing this even after being caught by Choi Mujin. Haseo gritted his teeth and got up.

Since he couldn’t obtain urgent money now, he had to think of other means. He didn’t want to delay the hospital bills this time. The more the hospital bills were delayed, the more negligent the hospital became towards his grandmother.

‘I can be treated that way, but…’

Not his grandmother. Haseo tried to rack his brain that wouldn’t cooperate. What immediate money-making opportunities were there? Construction day labor, logistics center, daily part-time jobs. No matter what he thought of, the answer didn’t come.

NOTES: 

119 – Emergency services number in Korea (equivalent to 911 in the US)