Monday is a day off

Lee Myung-seop suddenly remembered.

‘Right, Monday’s the day off.’

Things had been so hectic, he hadn’t thought of it.

‘Nothing’s going my way today.’

As he turned away with a bitter smile, the shop door opened. It was Lee Seo-jun, who had come out to throw away the trash.

“Hello, Director.”

“Ah, yes. But are you open even though it’s Monday?”

“No. We’re closed today.”

“Ah… I see.”

“Looks like you came for a drink.”

“Huh? Ah… no. Haha.”

“Come on in. We were actually drinking ourselves.”

“But… I’m not sure if I won’t be a bother.”

“Whether it’s food or drink, it tastes better with company, doesn’t it? Please, come in.”

At the repeated invitation, Lee Myung-seop gave in and followed Lee Seo-jun inside.

“I was wondering who you were drinking with—it was Park Yeon. Hello, Park Yeon.”

At the greeting, Park Yeon, whose face was flushed, swayed and bowed clumsily.

“Director Lee! Good evening!”

“Even when drunk, your speech is the same as always.”

“A man must be consistent. No consistency? Then he’s no man.”

“I see.”

“Oh, that’s right! Did you know you were on TV today, Director Lee?”

“Pardon?”

“It wasn’t me who took down the dragon. It was Lee Seo-jun… not me, but him…”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden…?”

“The dragon, the dragon! The ones that showed up in Daejeon and Busan… he took them down in one hit, just one hit!”

When he looked toward Seo-jun, the latter gave a wry smile and shrugged.

“As you can see, he’s had a bit to drink.”

Lee Myung-seop nodded.

The slurred speech, the unsteady steps… the rambling nonsense.

He was clearly quite drunk.

“Park Yeon. Didn’t you say you were going to bed? Time to go lie down.”

“No! I’ll drink more! I can drink more!”

“You said you were going to bed.”

“That was… me from ten minutes ago! Me ten minutes later is different! And I’m not even drunk! This alcohol… I’ll just blow it away! Watch, I’ll blow it away…”

“…”

“Hmm? What’s this? Why isn’t it going away? Go away, alcohol!”

Still in horseback stance and shouting “Hup-hup!” as if channeling energy, Park Yeon suddenly snapped his head to the side.

“It’s your doing, isn’t it. I can drink more! Hurry up and let me drink more!”

“You’ve already had plenty.”

“I can drink more!”

…The moment he said that.

Park Yeon’s eyes unfocused and he collapsed on the spot. Lee Myung-seop caught him instinctively.

“He really did drink a lot, didn’t he.”

“Sorry. He had a rough day today.”

“Must be some kind of day. Seems like it was rough for everyone…”

Seo-jun laid Park Yeon down on the bench sofa.

“What would you like for snacks?”

“You’ve got plenty already.”

“We were eating these…”

“It’s fine. Doenjang stew and rolled omelet… these are enough to down a crate of soju.”

As Lee Myung-seop laughed and picked up a spoon, Seo-jun fetched a bottle of soju from the fridge.

“Soju, right?”

“Yes.”

“Let me pour you a glass.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Pouring sound

“Now let me pour one for you.”

Pouring sound

With no particular toast, the two men filled each other’s glasses and drank straight.

After several rounds of drinks,

Lee Myung-seop picked up a now-cold rolled omelet, chewing it as he spoke.

“Seo-jun, it seems you’ve surrounded yourself with good people.”

“You think so?”

“Your brother, of course, but even Park Yeon… They say if a man has even one true friend in life, he’s succeeded. And you’ve got two.”

“Sometimes, they can be burdens too. Like this.”

Snore!

As Park Yeon snored and scratched his belly, Lee Myung-seop chuckled. Then, fiddling with his empty glass and hesitating, he asked:

“Is it… camaraderie?”

“Camaraderie?”

“Yeon-jun told me. That you and Park Yeon are returnees.”

“Yeon-jun sure told you a lot.”

“It sounded like he was worried. About you and Park Yeon.”

“Worried about us?”

“He said, sometimes returnees can show strange behavior, and if that ever happened, to please understand.”

Even Seo-jun hadn’t known that. He never imagined Yeon-jun would go so far as to explain things like that to regulars and ask for their understanding.

But he didn’t feel bad about it.

That, too, was a form of care.

“I don’t really know what it’s like beyond the channel either, so I hesitate to say anything rash… but I imagine it must’ve been hard.”

“It’s all in the past.”

Seeing Seo-jun drink without much reaction, Lee Myung-seop cautiously asked:

“Were it just the two of you… over there?”

“You mean beyond the channel?”

“Yes.”

“Not necessarily.”

After a brief silence, Lee Myung-seop drank deeply and spoke.

“You must’ve seen many deaths.”

“Yes.”

“Am I… digging up memories you’d rather not recall?”

“Not at all. Like I said, it’s all in the past.”

At the calm response, Lee Myung-seop nodded.

“We’ve seen our share of death here too. How intense it was… is relative, so there’s no point comparing.”

“…”

Seo-jun silently refilled his glass. Lee Myung-seop drained it in one go.

“I too have seen many deaths. I watched my brother and sister-in-law die right in front of me. I saw my nephew get torn apart alive by a monster. I lost many comrades and subordinates. So I thought I had grown used to it. But…”

Lee Myung-seop gave a bitter laugh.

“It was just an illusion. Every time I hear someone has died, my heart sinks. I get short of breath. It feels like a heavy stone is pressing down on my chest.”

“……”

“If I don’t sigh... and for some reason, if I don’t yawn, it feels like those stones pile up layer by layer on my chest.”

“……”

“So now, I don’t yawn because I’m tired, but to put down those stones. And I don’t sigh because something’s difficult, but to relieve the weight of those stones.”

Seo-jun quietly listened to Lee Myung-seop’s story. That wasn’t a pathetic or laughable story at all.

Just as Myung-seop said, yawns aren’t only for when you’re tired.

It’s a physiological response that naturally occurs when a person’s stress reaches its peak.

When you yawn, serotonin and dopamine secretion increases. In the end, the brain makes you yawn for your own sake.

“Do you know what’s even harder than seeing your subordinates die?”

“……”

“Telling their bereaved families that their father, husband, or son... is dead.”

He recalled the breaking news from earlier. The news said that more than ten agents died during the operation.

And Lee Myung-seop must have been the one to notify all those families of their deaths.

“Everyone else is happy that the national crisis was safely overcome, but those people won’t be able to be happy. Especially...”

“……”

“Ms. Lee So-in, who lost her husband on their wedding anniversary, even more so.”

Lee Myung-seop’s words were no longer bitter complaints. They were closer to self-blame, self-punishment.

Lee Myung-seop wiped away the tears pooling on his eyelids.

“I’m sorry. For ruining the mood with such depressing talk.”

A silence settled between the two of them.

It was Seo-jun who broke the silence.

“It seems today is a day where everyone loses something.”

“Excuse me?”

To Myung-seop’s question, Seo-jun only offered a faint smile at the corners of his lips.

On one chilly day in October,

Someone lost a subordinate, someone lost a family member, and someone else lost trust.

-...The joint funeral for these individuals was held at the Central Hospital, and the Blue House expressed condolences, stating that it would push for a thorough government-level investigation into the unprecedented incident to determine the cause.

“Hyung-geon.”

“I’ll turn it off.”

“No, don’t turn it off.”

At the unexpected order, Go Hyung-geon flinched. Then he pondered. Did I do anything to annoy the boss today?

‘I don’t think so?’

No matter how he thought about it, there was nothing. He went to work, attended the morning meeting, bought coffee for the boss, and that was it...

‘Ah?’

Maybe the coffee was the issue. The usual café was closed, so he had to buy it from somewhere else.

“...Please hit me.”

Go Hyung-geon offered himself up, and Hwang Tae-su looked at him like he was ridiculous.

“Hit what?”

“Weren’t you about to hit me?”

“You punk, do I look like a gangster? You think I go around hitting people all day?”

You do though.

Hyung-geon barely swallowed those words.

“Still there?”

Even with the subject omitted, Hyung-geon understood immediately and nodded.

“Yes. Seems like it’s still there, sir.”

“Damn it... What now?”

Hwang Tae-su lit a cigarette and let out a deep sigh.

Looked like he’d be using the stairs again today. All thanks to Monster2 who came to ride the elevator.

For some reason, Monster2 was unusually down and had been riding up and down the elevator for over four hours, claiming he just wanted to use it.

‘That guy who’s always grinning now looks so slumped—it’s weirdly bothering me.’

While grumbling internally, Hwang Tae-su stopped for a moment.

Why am I worrying about that bastard?

I should worry about myself, not that guy. I’ve got my own problems.

“Oh, right. The lunch appointment was canceled, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did he throw a fit?”

“He was actually worried something had happened to you, sir.”

“Lee Ho-jin?”

“Yes.”

“Pfft... He could give politicians lessons in switching allegiances.”

Hwang Tae-su snorted as he put out his cigarette.

With the boss Jang Moon-seok of District 13 and his executives all getting rounded up, Hwang Tae-su’s faction had managed to take over District 13 by sheer luck.

Lee Ho-jin wasn’t exactly a clean district chief. If he wanted any crumbs from the table, he had to crawl a little.

Of course, if he got too bold thinking that would protect him, he’d get smacked down, so they had to handle him delicately.

‘Come to think of it, times have really changed.’

Just a few months ago, Hwang Tae-su had never imagined he’d become such a major player.

Starting with taking over District 12 by chance, he ended up swallowing District 13 as well. It was a complete transformation.

‘Hmm... Now that I think about it, it’s all thanks to the monsters.’

The 47 Faction and Itaewon Faction of District 12, and the Brown Bear Faction of District 13 all made the mistake of messing with Monster1.

Finally, Jang Moon-seok’s Poison Faction made a move at the worst timing and got taken down by Monster2.

Monster2 even told them to “live kindly” and they ended up turning themselves in.

‘I mean... I guess I should be grateful.’

The moment this thought crossed his mind, Hwang Tae-su slapped himself on the cheek.

What an impure, dangerous thought!

After everything they put him through, how could he feel grateful?

He must never feel thankful!

Nothing they gained came for free!