Swallow Hunting - Chapter 12.1
“Because living is fucking miserable.”
“You ran into those bastards?”
Even though Hae-jun had not said it out loud, Yohan pinpointed it like a fortune teller hitting the mark. This was the frightening thing about the years they had spent together. Yohan knew most of Hae-jun’s history, even if not all of it. The reason he had ended up being hounded by loan sharks, the trigger, and his current situation. He even knew in detail what had happened to him after he tried to run and got caught.
“I’ll rip every single one of those fuckers’ heads off!”
It had been Hae-jun who stopped Yohan when he rampaged around with a kitchen knife. When Yohan decided to do something, he truly did it, and Hae-jun could not push him onto the path of crime for his own sake.
The two of them had put their heads together and tried every scheme they could think of to escape the loan sharks, but all of them ended in failure. If his father would just die, they might be able to apply for limited approval or something like that, but for someone who caused nothing but trouble, his lifeline was infuriatingly long. No good news of his death ever came.
Hae-jun thought his wish was modest. His father’s death, and freedom from debt. Just those two things. Yet those small dreams were cursed with terrible luck.
“What did that fucking bastard do to you this time?”
Yohan’s eyes flashed sharply. Hae-jun shook his head. Being molested was not even worth mentioning. Getting hit on the head was nothing either.
“No.”
“Don’t hide it.”
“What would I hide from you? Even if I did, you’d know anyway.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Yohan puffed himself up, saying his intuition was inborn. After praising him for being amazing, Hae-jun pushed his chair back. Yohan looked regretfully over the table as if he was not quite full yet, then stood up slowly. When he shouted Auntie in his husky voice, it had enough force to put a bellowing tavern brawler to shame.
“I’m paying today.”
“Why?”
“Because our beggar is pitiful.”
Yohan pulled a card out of his wallet. There was no need to cling to pride in useless places. Hae-jun clasped his hands at his navel and bowed politely.
“Thank you for the meal, big brother. I respect you, big brother.”
“Alright.”
They left the restaurant and parted ways in the alley. Yohan worked at a host bar uphill, while Hae-jun’s workplace was further down.
Before heading to work, Hae-jun ducked briefly into a back alley and put a cigarette in his mouth. He was not a frequent smoker, but when he needed a moment to zone out or when his head was a mess, nothing beat a single cigarette.
Just as he took a drag, he heard the sharp clicking of heels against the pavement. He craned his neck out of the alley and looked toward the street, only to see Han Young-hwa walking toward his shop, as if bound by some cursed connection. Startled like he had been burned, he yelped and quickly hid behind the wall.
“Hajin.”
But there was no escaping her sharp eyes. Han Young-hwa stood blocking the alley and looked up at Hae-jun.
“I was just on my way to see you anyway.”
This was bad. He did not want to get entangled any further. Hae-jun lowered his head and scratched his forehead with his thumb. Between his middle and index fingers hung a cigarette that had barely been smoked.
“Noona, I can’t stop you from coming to the shop as a customer, but showing up like this to find me is a bit much.”
“What did you say to Kang-ju?”
“……Lee Kang-ju?”
Arowana. The tips of Hae-jun’s ears flushed faintly.
“Yes. What on earth did you say that made Kang-ju block my number?”
“I did exactly what you told me to. I said we were nothing, and I also told him that you still love big brother deeply.”
Han Young-hwa’s face flushed red, then pale, as she swung her arm. Her sharp hand struck Hae-jun’s cheek, and she screamed as if tearing the air apart.
“Liar! If you’d done it properly, Kang-ju would never treat me like this! What did you say to him?”
Hae-jun’s cheek turned bright red. Scratched by the large ring on her finger, long red lines were drawn across his skin. Clutching his burning cheek, Hae-jun looked down at Han Young-hwa. Trembling with rage, she lifted her arm as if to hit him again. He grabbed her wrist first.
This world was a sewer overflowing with trash, full of sons of bitches who raised their hands even against women. There were human scum who kicked people around the moment things did not go their way, customer or not. But Hae-jun was not one of them. Do not get angry at women, do not raise a hand, do not snap in irritation. These three rules were the laws Hae-jun had set for himself, principles he upheld no matter what.
Even if he was treated unfairly, even if he was struck first.
“Noona, your hand is really vicious. A guy like me lives by his face. What am I supposed to do if you scratch it up like this? If I can’t work, are you going to take responsibility?”
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