Chapter 764. Sequence 3
He saw light in the distance. He looked down at his feet. On either side of the narrow path was darkness, splas.h.i.+ng about. He felt like he would disappear without a trace if he fell into it. He looked back. The path he took was faintly glowing. There were two options ahead of him. He could either walk towards that intense light, or go back the path he came from.
Just as he was about to take a step towards the light, Maru put down his half-lifted left foot again. This was a dream he constantly had before he got enlisted. He always realized that it was a dream at the same point. He always came to himself in the middle of the narrow path where he could only walk forward or go back.
Light was the symbol of happiness. He would be able to endure anything as long as he could jump into that light.
Maru slowly looked down and looked at the path that led to the light. The intense light made him unable to see the end. He had no way of knowing what was there; whether there was a path, darkness, or nothing at all.
He ran towards the light several times. He tried walking, running, and even crawling. He even tried swimming in the darkness, but it always ended with him waking up from the dream. He had never once reached the light. The light turned from something he wanted to possess to a target he could feel satisfied with just looking.
Maru neither returned nor went forward. He just sat down on the spot and watched the warmly-lit light source in the distance. The darkness splas.h.i.+ng on either side of the path slowly crept up onto it. The darkness quickly spread towards his neck after it touched his body just like a droplet of ink falling on a piece of paper. This darkness possessed neither warmth nor coldness and was a cleaner that erased everything. Life and death held no meaning there. The darkness crept up his chin, covered his lips, and colored his cheeks. When all of his senses disappeared, Maru tensed his eyes and looked at the light. He captured the light with his eyes that were being erased. I am still here.
He took a deep breath like someone who had been underwater for a while. He saw a chest heaving up and down through his vision. He stroked down his face and stood up. His entire body was sticky from sweat.
Maru got off the bed and went to the bathroom. He took a shower and brewed some coffee in the kitchen. He checked his social network on his phone while sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee in hand. There were new posts cheering for his last performance. He emptied the coffee and changed his clothes. He put on a t-s.h.i.+rt and a pair of pants, both of which his fans gave to him as a gift. He got in his car and headed towards Mapo.
“You done yet?” he asked as he opened the door to the convenience store.
Daemyung, who was organizing the triangular rice b.a.l.l.s, shook his head.
“I have to organize all of this.”
Maru took out some milk and fizzy drinks from the box by his foot.
“I have to display them over there, right?”
“I’ll do it.”
“You take care of that.”
He pulled forward the milk which had a shorter expiration date and inserted the new milk at the back. Just as he started cleaning up the other products in a similar fas.h.i.+on, the door to the convenience store opened. Daemyung said ‘welcome’ and returned to the counter. A tired-looking woman asked for a pack of cigarettes. Following that, another customer came in. It was 8 a.m. The convenience store was crowded like a full train. Maru finished organizing stuff before sitting on the chair outside the convenience store. The influx of people disappeared soon like the rain. Daemyung came out of the convenience store with empty boxes in each hand.
“It’s a war every morning.”
“It’s a good thing if the business is going well.”
“The problem is that your wages don’t increase just because the business goes well.”
“The owner still looks out for me quite a lot.”
As soon as he put out the empty cardboard boxes, an elderly lady appeared with a hand wagon. The elderly man who was pus.h.i.+ng a bike on the other side of the road clicked his tongue and turned around. Maru saw a girl yawning as she walked past the elderly lady. The girl looked at the convenience store sign, took a deep breath, and started running. After running about 20 meters, the girl opened the door in a hurry and shouted: Oppa, I’m sorry for being late.
“It’s okay.”
Daemyung’s voice could be heard through the creaking gla.s.s door. Maru looked up at the sky and sighed. Why did his gentle nature not change a bit? Daemyung left after taking off his convenience store jacket, having pa.s.sed over the work to her.
“She’ll be late every time if you don’t say anything to her.”
“I’m sure she must have her reasons. Also, it’s hard waking up every morning.”
The person in question was okay, so there was no need to nag him about it. Instead, Maru stared at the woman standing at the counter. She seemed surprised to see him together with Daemyung. She must inwardly be wondering if they knew each other? A girl who tried to deceive people by pretending right in front of her workplace should also know how to use her head. She would probably not be late starting next time.
“Let’s go, we should go eat.”
He took Daemyung to the nearby gukbap restaurant. Daemyung seemed to have adjusted to the late-night convenience store s.h.i.+ft that he began doing as soon as the college holidays started. He almost looked like he was going to die when Maru met him on the third day after he started work.
“It takes quite a lot of money to live by yourself, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, a lot more than I thought I would. I never knew that shampoo, toothpaste, and toothbrushes are so expensive. Everything, from drinking to eating, needs money.”
“You should’ve stayed at home. Why did you dive into pain nose first?”
“True. I regret leaving the house. Though, I can only live by myself because the president is paying tuition. If not for that, I would have had to stay at home. The tuition is quite a lot after all.”
“Why don’t you ask for living expenses too then?”
“Nah. I have to start earning my own money once I graduate.”
“Or just borrow from me. You would never take it for free though.”
“I’ll leave that as a last resort.”
Daemyung poured the rice into the soup and started scooping it up.
“You look pretty okay now. At first, you couldn’t even eat anything properly after your s.h.i.+ft.”
“Looks like I adapted. I don’t feel that tired now either. Though, I still fall asleep the moment I go back home and get washed.”
Daemyung opened the bag next to him with his spoon still in his mouth. He took out a notebook.
“Here.”
Maru grabbed the notebook. The reason Daemyung took up a night s.h.i.+ft at the convenience store when he usually did day s.h.i.+fts at places like factories and restaurants was this notebook. When he opened the notebook, Daemyung’s gaze headed to it after having been glued to the gukbap all this time.
“You just keep eating.”
Maru held the notebook with one hand and flipped the page. Daemyung was gobbling down the gukbap in a hurry from what he glimpsed over the notebook. He looked like he was nervous and couldn’t find the leisure to eat.
“How is it?” he carefully asked when Maru closed the notebook.
His eyes, red from staying up all night, contained expectation and nervousness.
“It’s good as long as the shoot goes properly.”
Maru returned the note to him. Daemyung made a sound that sounded like a sigh mixed with a groan.
“I pa.s.sed the first test, so that leaves the 2nd.”
“Right, there was a picky one. I wonder if she is at work right now.”
“Probably? I should text her for now. I was so concerned about this during work. Looks like I’ll be able to sleep easy now.”
“Are you going to start if she says she wants to shoot?”
“If you’re okay with the schedule.”
“I just did my last performance, so I have plenty of time. I’ll be busy if I get work though.”
“I’ll try to schedule it as soon as possible.”
“Alright.”
He let Daemyung in his car. During the 10 minute trip to his house, Daemyung dozed off in the pa.s.senger seat.
“Yo, dude, go sleep inside.”
Daemyung got off while staggering and waved goodbye at him. Maru told him to go inside before turning his car around. Today, there was one more place he had to go.
“Can you wrap it for me? It’s for a gift.”
“What kind of gift wrap would you like?”
“I’d like something a two-year-old girl would like.”
He had bought a dollhouse from the toys section at the mall. He put the gift-wrapped toy on the pa.s.senger seat.
“I’m on my way there. You’re at home, right?”
He made a call when he arrived at Suwon station. There was a girl who was wailing and a mother who was consoling her. The doting voice of the father was mixed in as well.
He parked his car in the parking lot of the apartment. He picked up the gift in one hand and got on the elevator. He really hoped that she would like it. He would probably feel hurt if the little lady with a picky sense of aesthetics ended up disliking it.
“I’m here.”
As soon as he pressed the bell, the door opened. Taesik was standing behind the fence that was installed to prevent dogs from getting out.
“I’m not inconveniencing you by coming on a weekend, am I?”
“I thought you were never going to come because you didn’t come no matter how many times we told you. Honey, Maru’s here.”
Taesik shouted inside. The first to show a reaction were two chihuahuas. Maru patted the head of the chihuahua that propped himself up using the fence.
“This is a gift for Sol. I’m not sure if she would like it though.”
“Why did you bring such a thing? You shouldn’t have.”
“Aren’t your hands a little too quick to receive it when you’re saying those words?”
Maru went over the fence and walked into the living room. The floor was covered with soft mattresses for kids, and the wallpaper next to the main door was full of crayon marks. Clearly, a tomboy was living in this house.
“You’re here?”
Miso walked into the living room, holding Sol in her hands. Maru put his hands out the moment he saw her.
“Can I have a hug?”
“You mean me?”
“That sounds terrifying. I mean Sol.”
Miso handed Sol over, telling him to be careful. The child’s eyes had tear marks as though she fell asleep after crying.
“She’s grown a lot in the past half a year.”
“She surprises me a lot too. When I wake up from sleep and see her, I always find myself surprised to see that she grew so much. Anyway, what’s that?” Miso asked as she pointed at the gift.
“A gift for Sol. It’s a dollhouse, and I was told that a two-year-old is fine to play with it. If she was awake, I would have loved to emphasize that it was uncle who bought it for her.”
“She should wake up soon. Then, she’ll probably start throwing a tantrum since she is hungry. Anyway, thanks for the gift. I did tell you that you can come empty-handed, but I was going to chase you out if you really did.”
“I had a hunch that would be the case. How do you feel these days? You said you weren’t feeling good during the last performance.”
“Apparently, it’s stress-induced gastritis. Looks like standing on stage after a long time took a toll on me.”
“Not as much as me though, right? I had to suffer under you. I never thought I would be acting under you after I graduated high school, so imagine what I felt when I met you in Blue Sky. What a life, eh?”
“Hey, would you like to put Sol down for a moment?”
“h.e.l.l no. I will only be safe if I take Sol hostage. Teacher Taesik, I’ll take care of Sol until I leave.”
“That’s outside my jurisdiction unfortunately.”
Taesik looked at Miso through the corner of his eyes. He seemed to be indicating that she was the decision-maker in this household. Miso sat down on the sofa and spoke,
“How about breakfast?”
“I just had one with Daemyung.”
“Has Daemyung lost some weight these days?”
“Nope, he’s the same as ever.”
“I told him to lose some weight, but he just won’t listen. I wonder if he would listen if I go and beat him up a little.”
Miso frowned in dissatisfaction. Maru whispered to Sol in a small voice.
“Sol, you can’t take after your mother, okay? You have to take after the gentle nature of teacher Taesik.”
“I can hear you.”
“I want you to listen. If you haven’t eaten, let’s go out. I’ll treat you.”
Maru felt Sol twitch halfway through his words. Sol then slowly opened her eyes. Maru smiled so that the child wasn’t surprised, however, Sol immediately burst into tears. He tried making all sorts of funny faces, but it was to no avail. Only after getting into her mother’s embrace did she stop crying and look around.
“I’m pretty popular with the girls too.”
“Dear Sol looks at the heart of people.”
“Then I can understand why she’s crying.”
Maru opened the packaging of the toy he brought in front of Sol. She immediately showed a reaction and took out the dollhouse. She soon hid behind her mother as she was quite shy, but when he pretended to play with the dolls, she approached him again.
“You should find a partner quickly and get married. You’re a total sucker for playing with children.”
“I’d love to if I have a partner.”
“How about Yoonjoo from the troupe? I think she was interested in you.”
“Yoonjoo is a little sister.”
“How about Jiwon? It’s been a while since she hasn’t had a boyfriend.”
“She’s a big sister.”
“Forget it, what am I even saying. You’re the guy who rejects everyone who likes you. You know? You’re going to live alone for the rest of your life if you keep acting like that.”
“That doesn’t sound half bad either.”
Maru grabbed Sol’s hand and shook it from side to side.
“Sol, would you like to marry uncle after you grow up?”
As soon as he said those words, he got a loud smash on his back. Along with a low thud, pain spread from his back. Sol, who was watching him in a daze, started giggling.
“Honey, let’s leave for now,” Miso said.