Chapter 6: This Is a Service

‘I was just being questioned about Father!’

He seemed to have enough sense to pick up on the serious mood.

Cheolgu ajusshi let out a fake cough and glanced over at me and Mother.

“Ahem, so, well, the treatment went well, so you don’t have to worry about any aftereffects. They said you can be discharged now. Ahem!”

“Discharged? But I haven’t paid the hospital bill yet.”

“How much could it be anyway? Hey, kiddo. Let’s go home now.”

That meant ajusshi had paid the hospital bill.

Mother quickly opened her bag.

“How much was it?”

“It’s fine.”

“Please, take it. It must have been a lot. I don’t even have health insurance…”

Mother, who raised me as a single mom by selling vegetables at the market, didn’t have health insurance.

Back in these days, medical insurance was only available for a select few.

“Ah, I said it’s fine. All they really did was give you plenty of oxygen, it wasn’t much to begin with.”

Cheolgu ajusshi grinned.

“To be honest, the hospital bill was covered by this little rascal anyway.”

“Huh?”

“There’s something like that.”

Cheolgu ajusshi winked at me with one eye.

The more he talked, the more Mother tilted her head in confusion.

“What do you mean…?”

“Kiddo, this is a service.”

Cheolgu ajusshi took a pair of children’s sneakers from inside his coat and set them down on the floor.

“I had some money left over after paying the bill. And this is a bonus.”

It was a pair of children’s socks.

“They threw these in as a service.”

Whether Mother understood what was happening or not, her whole face was covered in question marks.

Ajusshi grinned as he quietly slipped something into my pants pocket.

I peeked—it was a 500-won bill.

“Just keep that. No matter how much you want to repay me, I’m not the type to take a kid’s pocket money.”

“……”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

He must have been worried I’d get in trouble for spending Mom’s money without permission.

For such a bear of a man, he could be surprisingly thoughtful.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

I hopped off the bed.

The soft landing in my new sneakers felt pretty nice.

I ran after Cheolgu ajusshi, who was striding out ahead.

“Wait for us, ajusshi! Mom, hurry up too!”

“Jeonghyuk!”

Startled, Mother grabbed her bag and coat and hurried after us.

Vroom.

Mother insisted we could just take the bus, but she couldn’t win against Cheolgu ajusshi’s stubbornness.

He said he had to pick up some documents he’d left at home, and kept urging us to get in quickly, so Mother hesitantly got into the jeep.

‘Hmm?’

A bundle of documents rolling around on the jeep’s floor caught my eye.

‘Dazzling golden light.’

‘Why does it shine so brightly?’

It was just a black-covered file tied tightly with twine.

The documents were typed up directly on rough, recycled paper with a typewriter.

In the 21st century, when computers printed everything, this kind of thing was rare.

I picked up the file as if drawn by some force.

‘Gah!’

The moment I touched the file, my vision whirled.

A vivid, film-like scene tinged with wavering blue washed over me.

SPLASH!

Cheolgu ajusshi was tied up tightly in a gloomy basement, being doused with water.

Traces of torture covered his entire body.

[Hey, Park Cheolgu. Tell the truth. Who ordered this?]

A man in a suit clucked his tongue while shaking the file.

It was obvious—he was a Jungjeong Agent.

[Should a Jungjeong Agent serve a person instead of the nation?]

[It’s not… cough, like that.]

[Then why did you go around doing these things?]

[I’m sorry, sunbae. I just…]

[Why are you tailing Ukwang Construction when you’re supposed to be tracking down spies!]

Ukwang Construction?

The Ukwang Group would become one of the top three conglomerates in Korea.

[Park Cheolgu, I asked you, who’s behind this]

[No one.]

Don’t mess around.

SMACK!

Cheolgu ajusshi’s head snapped to the side.

He spat out blood-mixed spit.

[Sunbae, do you know how many people Ukwang Construction hurt when they tried to demolish the shantytown?]

[So? Do you know how many people you’ve troubled because of this?]

SMACK!

[What? You made this mess for those shantytown brats?]

SMACK!

[You bastard, you’ll really die at this rate. Tell me who’s behind you. It’s Taeseong Construction, isn’t it?]

No, it’s not.

[It’s Taeseong Construction, right?]

[It’s not… Ugh!]

SPLASH!

The guy grabbed Cheolgu ajusshi’s hair and shoved his head into a water bucket.

[You fool. I’m telling you, it’s Taeseong Construction.]

Tied up completely, Cheolgu ajusshi struggled with all his might before finally going limp.

‘0+……?’

***

As soon as I let go of the file, the blue-tinted scene vanished from my eyes.

‘What was that just now?’

It was so vivid.

As if I’d really been there.

As if Cheolgu ajusshi was truly being tortured like that.

I could feel every breath, every shiver of cold.

Something I’d never experienced before.

With trembling hands, I tapped the black file cover again.

“……”

Nothing happened.

Nothing appeared. Silence.

‘Did I just hallucinate?’

[No.]

Whoa!

The answer came from somewhere else.

How odd. Looks like you peeked at what I saw.

The Grim Reaper appeared in the passenger seat like smoke and spoke.

This one’s set for the afterlife in a week.

Now I remembered.

Not long after Mother passed, Guro Shantytown was forcibly demolished.

The old landlady also lost her house and was driven onto the street, but by then Cheolgu ajusshi was already gone.

‘Cheolgu ajusshi dies in a week? Tortured to death?’

The Grim Reaper didn’t answer.

He just glanced over at Cheolgu ajusshi.

“Whoa!”

Suddenly, Cheolgu ajusshi shuddered at the wheel, trembling as if spooked.

He’s got sharp instincts.

Like cotton candy melting in water, the Grim Reaper disappeared.

Cheolgu ajusshi kept rubbing his arm, sneaking glances at the passenger seat.

“What the…? That was really creepy just now.”

“Ajusshi, what’s this?”

I picked up the file.

Cheolgu ajusshi glanced in the rearview mirror and his face turned serious.

“Kiddo, that’s important. Put it down. Looking at it without permission could be dangerous.”

“Ajusshi, are you investigating Ukwang Construction?”

To be precise, it was about tracking Ukwang Construction’s slush funds.

SCREECH!

Cheolgu ajusshi suddenly pulled the jeep over to the side and snatched the file from my hands.

“You didn’t see anything. Forget it. Got it?”

‘Was he really doing this with no backing?’

‘Was he brave, or just reckless? At this rate, he really might die.’

Ukwang was a classic chaebol that had grown through collusion with the military dictatorship.

Mother’s expression also turned grave.

“Ukwang Construction—aren’t they the ones who go around threatening each house in the shantytown, saying they’ll tear them down to build apartments?”

Cheolgu ajusshi kept his lips tightly shut, eyes fixed ahead.

With a heavy sigh, he pressed his temples.

But at Mother’s next words, he turned around in shock.

“The other day they came to our house too, saying we’d better move out right away, and that things wouldn’t go so smoothly next time.”

“Those thugs harassed you again? Anyone get hurt?”

I sighed.

‘Looks like the forced demolition will start soon.’

I glanced at the file ajusshi had taken back.

The man who tortured him kept trying to pin the blame on Taeseong Construction, and that bothered me.

“Ajusshi.”

“It’s an adult matter. You don’t need to know.”

Cheolgu ajusshi pressed a button, and 70s trot music started playing.

[I came carrying a dream. Here I am~♬ Sorrow and pain, all step aside~♬]

This was the legendary pop song “Star-Making Song,” released in ’75, that shot Song Daegwon to stardom.

Cheolgu ajusshi began singing along loudly.

“Nothing is impossible. If you work hard~♬ The day the sun shines bright will come back around~♬”

Vroom.

The jeep roared off down the road.

Arms folded, I looked out the window.

The streets of Seoul were nothing like the 2020s.

Instead of rows of tall buildings, only small ones dotted the main avenue.

The number of people and cars was totally different from the future.

‘This is bad. There’s no way we’ll get compensation for our rented room. After checking the bank book, I know we don’t have anywhere to move right away.’

I frowned.

‘What did adult matters even mean?’

‘Should I sell Father’s watch, or contact his family for help… Not sure, but we can’t live on the street in the middle of winter… huh?!’

I just caught a flash of gold, bursting like fireworks, at a kiosk near the bus stop.

“Ajusshi, stop! Stooop! Pull over! Hurry!”

SCREECH!

Cheolgu ajusshi had to slam the brakes again.

“What? What? What’s going on?”

“I’ll get out for a bit! I’ll be right back!”

“Why? What? What’s gotten into you?”

Leaving the adults with question marks over their heads, I leapt out of the jeep and dashed off at full speed.

I had to check that extraordinary golden light I’d seen earlier.

It felt like I absolutely had to.

‘That golden burst I saw just now… Found it!’

A housing lottery ticket being sold at a kiosk near the bus stop!

I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand.

Even on a second look, the lottery ticket was glowing brilliantly gold.

‘Wow, I have to buy that!’

I gulped unconsciously.

I had the 500 won that Cheolgu ajusshi had slipped me as a service earlier.

‘One ticket is 100 won.’

I made up my mind.

“One housing lottery ticket, please! This one!”

The lottery drawing was today.

My heart was already pounding with excitement.