Kim Si-hyun, who was watching Hwang Tae-su’s back, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Then he said to Go Hyung-geon,

“Hey, give me a light.”

“Ah geez, did CEO Kim eat something wrong today? Si-hyun, don’t forget, I’m the same Go Hyung-geon who used to light your cigarettes when we were kids.”

“This won’t do. You're getting hit today.”

At Kim Si-hyun’s words, Go Hyung-geon did a ridiculous little tap dance, totally unfitting for his big build, and said,

“Dry dry. Dry dry dry. Chicken breast is dry.”

Even at the lame joke, Kim Si-hyun clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.

“That funny to you?”

“Hehehe. It's so damn funny.”

“Idiot. Always so quick to laugh.”

Snickering, Hyung-geon lit Si-hyun’s cigarette. Then he took one out for himself too.

“He’s a bit late though.”

“Maybe he’s trying to make a point.”

“True. It's one thing to borrow the boss’s precious ride, but messing up the wheel like that...”

“The boss dotes on that car like crazy.”

“Right? He drives it himself but insists on washing it himself too.”

“I hope we didn’t just stir up more trouble for nothing.”

“Look at you talking soft again. How are you going to take over District 13 with that mindset?”

“Is it a problem to be too damn nice?”

Go Hyung-geon held out a fist.

“Eat this instead.”

“Ah, right.”

“What?”

“Did you hear from Jin-soo?”

“Jin-soo? No. Didn’t hear anything. After he and the others got out of the ER, he didn’t contact anyone, right?”

“He messaged me yesterday.”

“Bastard, no loyalty. Just you, huh? What did he say?”

Kim Si-hyun took a deep drag from his cigarette, squinting against the harsh smoke, then pulled out his phone.

He opened the KakaoTalk chat he had with Kim Jin-soo.

[That Bastard Kim Jin-soo][PM][11:21] Hey hey hey

[That Bastard Kim Jin-soo][PM][11:21] Kim Si-hyun

[Me][PM][11:22] Yeah?

[Me][PM][11:22] Long time no see, damn

[That Bastard Kim Jin-soo][PM][11:22] Is that bastard still around?

[Me][PM][11:22] Huh? What bastard?

[That Bastard Kim Jin-soo][PM][11:23] Fuck... is that monster bastard still there?

[Me][PM][11:23] Ah... that monster?

[That Bastard Kim Jin-soo][PM][11:23] HEEELLLOOOO??

[Me][PM][11:24] Yeah yeah he’s still here. But dude, not even showing your face once?

[Me][PM][11:24] Come by sometime, I’ll treat you.

[Me][PM][11:25] Yo

[Me][PM][11:28] You ghosting me?

[Me][PM][11:51] You dead on the toilet?

[Me][PM][11:58] You son of a bitch, are you dead?

“Monster? What monster?”

Si-hyun stubbed out his cigarette and patted his crotch.

“My Dark Flame Dragon that only awakens in the morning.”

“Is there really such thing as a 3cm Dark Flame Dragon in this world?”

“You dumbass, it’s because it’s highly compressed.”

“That compression must’ve frozen to death, idiot. Did you try calling Jin-soo?”

“He didn’t pick up. That’s why I asked if he contacted you.”

“Nope. That bastard and Baek-woon too. Neither of them are reachable.”

“They’re probably living clean now, washed their hands of all this.”

Si-hyun shrugged and glanced at the store.

“He’s really not coming out.”

Then—

KakaoTalk!

Si-hyun’s phone buzzed.

[Boss Bastard][PM][19:21] You guys go ahead first.

[Me][PM][19:21] What do you mean by that, sir?

[Boss Bastard][PM][19:22] This boss wants to offer a heartfelt apology with some killer snacks and drinks. Go on ahead.

[Me][PM][19:22] Got it. See you tomorrow then.

“Was that the boss?”

“Yeah. Told us to go on ahead.”

“Why?”

“He said he’s going to treat himself to a drink as an apology.”

“The boss is a good cook... but still, wouldn’t mind sharing something delicious. Seriously.”

“Sucks, but what can you do? Orders are orders. Let’s go have a drink somewhere else.”

“Sounds good.”

And so the black waves in the night sea receded like the tide going out.

Slick slick slick—!

Seo-jun was slicing gimbap on a cutting board and neatly placing it on a plate. He glanced over.

On the other side of the kitchen, Hwang Tae-su sat at a table, fiddling with his phone with his head lowered.

“It’s ready.”

“Huh?”

“The gimbap.”

“Ah, really, I’m fine though...”

“I’m fine too, so eat it.”

“Thank you.”

Putting away his phone, Hwang Tae-su walked over quickly.

“Looks delicious.”

“Probably won’t taste very good.”

“The jeon I had last time was amazing though.”

“That’s because the ingredients were fresh.”

“Isn’t this fresh too?”

Seo-jun shrugged.

That gave Hwang Tae-su a bad feeling. But only for a moment.

‘No way he poisoned it or anything.’

If he were going to do that, he wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of making gimbap. He’d have just tossed him into subspace.

Hwang Tae-su picked up a piece of gimbap and popped it into his mouth in one go.

That whole “probably won’t taste very good” line… was a total lie.

This was...

‘So damn good!’

As Hwang Tae-su started devouring the gimbap like a madman, Seo-jun chuckled quietly.

“Told you, probably won’t taste good.”

“It’s so damn—ah! I’m sorry. It’s just so good I lost control of my words.”

With arms crossed, Seo-jun looked down at the gimbap-devouring Hwang Tae-su.

Whether it was Park Yeon or Hwang Tae-su… both were eating like this was the best gimbap ever, even though it was made with ingredients that were almost expired.

“By the way, I’ll compensate you once I get the invoice for the wheel.”

“No, really. It’s not a big deal. Wheels get scratched here and there when you drive.”

“Still, I don’t like being in debt.”

“Then… I’ll send it.”

Nodding, Seo-jun suddenly noticed something—Hwang Tae-su was picking out the cucumbers from the gimbap and eating around them.

“You don’t like cucumber?”

“Huh? Oh… yeah.”

“If you’d told me earlier, I wouldn’t have added it.”

“No, it’s fine. I didn’t want to trouble you, boss.”

“Isn’t picking them all out one by one more trouble?”

Looking down at the cucumbers he had pulled out, Hwang Tae-su scratched the back of his head.

“That does make sense, doesn’t it?”

“Is it because of the texture?”

“Sorry?”

“The reason you don’t like cucumbers.”

Seo-jun recalled a few people from his past who also disliked cucumbers.

And most of them had answered it was because of the mushy texture that followed the initial crunch.

“Ah, it’s not that. The texture’s actually good, isn’t it? It’s crunchy.”

“Most people dislike it because of the texture.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

Hwang Tae-su gave a bitter smile as he spoke.

“It’s because of my mother.”

“……”

“My mom sold vegetables at the market.”

“Vegetables?”

“Yes. My dad did work, but their only son kept getting into trouble. With all the settlement money and whatnot… There was no way to manage with just one income.”

Hwang Tae-su gave another bitter smile.

“You know those direct sales markets, right? Agricultural direct markets. She bought in bulk from there and sold vegetables at the local market. It didn’t pay well… not really.”

Seo-jun quietly tidied up the utensils where he stood. Somehow, it felt like all he needed to do was listen.

“Still, she went out every single day without fail. I mean, just when things would start to ease up a little, her son would cause another mess, and another… breaking the bank every time. What else could she do?”

“……”

“One day, my dad asked me to run an errand. I even got paid to do errands back then. Thirty thousand won. I was a damn good son, right?”

With a self-deprecating laugh, Hwang Tae-su continued.

“He asked me to deliver something to Mom. I went to the market and saw some lady pointing a cucumber at my mom, yelling at her.”

“Pointing?”

“Yeah. Asking how she could sell something so mushy for money… asking if she had any shame.”

Hwang Tae-su let out a deep sigh.

“I should’ve stepped in. That’s what a son should do… I should’ve told that woman who the hell she was to talk to my mom like that, that being a customer didn’t mean she could treat her that way. But… somehow, I just felt embarrassed.”

“……”

“As I turned to leave, my eyes met my mom’s. And I quickly turned away and ran. What a pathetic little bastard.”

Realizing what he’d just said, Hwang Tae-su looked flustered.

“Ah… sorry. That insult just now wasn’t directed at you, boss. It was at myself.”

“So you don’t eat cucumbers because of that?”

Hwang Tae-su tilted his head as if he didn’t get what Seo-jun meant.

“Sorry?”

“I mean, you avoid cucumbers out of guilt?”

“No, not really.”

“Hmm?”

“My mom still brings it up to this day and nags me about it.”

“Na… nags?”

“Yeah. Even though she’s an old granny now, she’s still so damn greedy… She calls once a week to say it’s time to send money again.”

“……”

“When I tell her I already sent it last time, she brings up that incident. Says the old saying was wrong… You know that one, about how kids who cause grief when they’re young grow up to be filial? She says, ‘How come you’re still like this, huh?’”

KakaoTalk!

Hwang Tae-su looked down at his phone.

“Tch. The old lady’s asking for money again.”

Before he could even finish speaking, his phone started to vibrate.

“What now…”

—You saw my message, so why didn’t you reply?

“I was just about to…”

—‘Just about to,’ huh? Last time you didn’t even call me back.

“Didn’t I tell you I was busy…”

—Anyway, you need to send me some money.

“I sent some just the other day.”

—What can you do with just 200,000 won?! I’m too embarrassed to even show my face at the senior center. Speaking of which, remember what happened at the market…

“When the customer pointed a cucumber and I made eye contact but ran away?”

—Exactly! Raising a child like you was useless. Every time I think of that day…

“Sigh. How much this time?”

—300,000 won.

“Why?”

—The senior center is collecting for a trip this fall. It’s 150,000 per person.

“Then why 300?”

—You know that old hag who listens to pop songs all the time? I promised to pay for her too. I lost a bet. I thought she’d be terrible at cards since she’s always listening to music, but she turned out to be a damn card shark.

“……Got it. I’ll send it right away.”

—Alright. Thanks.

After hanging up, Hwang Tae-su sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

“Every time I start to forget, she reminds me like that. That’s why I can’t eat cucumbers. Sigh… If I’d just helped her that day, maybe I wouldn’t be shackled like this now.”

“……”

“What’s wrong?”

“……Just doing some thinking.”

With a pure expression, Hwang Tae-su popped another piece of kimbap into his mouth.

“Thinking about what?”

“You’re better off not knowing.”

At that very moment, Seo-jun, for the first time since his return, was feeling murderous intent.

Kim I-seul sat on her bed, shaking her legs nervously like a student awaiting exam results.

“Why isn’t he coming?”

Sitting on the edge of her bed, she fiddled with her phone, then got up and began pacing back and forth.

And right then—

KakaoTalk!

Her face lit up, but it immediately contorted.

[Lee Seok-jun][8:41 PM] What’s Cham I-seul up to?

She replied curtly that she was resting and resumed anxiously waiting for another message.

But no matter how long she waited, the message she truly wanted didn’t come. Eventually, I-seul decided to make the first move.

‘Right, he had a flip phone.’

She instinctively opened KakaoTalk, but then switched to the text message app. She typed, deleted, and typed again.

‘This doesn’t sound right.’

She sat back on the bed, lost in thought.

Bzzzz—

Her phone vibrated just then, and her face lit up once again. She looked at the screen.

[Yeon Oppa]

She was about to tap the answer button in excitement, but paused, waited a moment, and then pressed it.

Then, a familiar voice came through the speaker.

—Hello, can you hear me?