Episode 4
Fate
I made a fuss airing out the single room to get rid of the lingering smell of meat. After ventilating the place, I turned on the boiler for the first time in a while, and I was able to sleep comfortably with the kids in a warm room. I spent the weekend doing the piled-up laundry and dishes, and cleaning the house with the children. Thanks to Sangcheol, a peaceful and happy weekend passed by.
“Have a good day~” “Hehe. You too, Dad~” “Abuu~~~”
After dropping the kids off at daycare, I waited outside for Sangcheol. When the Majin Delivery truck appeared in the distance, I happily waved my hand.
“You’re here?” “Yeah! I’m here. Did you have a good weekend? You seem to have a glow on your face. Kekeke. Now you finally look a bit like the top visual from Hanseong High.” “Haha. Thanks. The kids loved it so much.”
Recalling the faces of the children wearing their new clothes to daycare, I expressed my gratitude.
“You rascal. It wasn’t expensive.” “To me, it was more precious than any luxury brand. The sincerity contained within it—I didn’t envy clothes worth millions of won. Thank you, Sangcheol.” “You educated folks and your words… so embarrassing first thing in the morning. Anyway, there’s a lot of work today too.” “I’ll work even harder.” “You’d better. It’s not easy getting dispatch orders from dawn. I’ll take it easy, so work hard.” “Yes, yes. Boss.”
Sangcheol spoke in a way that wouldn’t make me feel sorry. Most delivery truck drivers were self-employed. So calling him “Boss” wasn’t exactly wrong.
“Let’s go.”
Today too, I rode in Sangcheol’s truck and delivered packages. I hadn’t realized until now, but the items loaded on the truck were beyond imagination.
“Sacks of rice are gentlemen.”
Delivering twenty boxes of six-packs of 2-liter bottled water to the top floor of a villa without an elevator was straining even my increased stamina.
“Right? These days people order drinking water like this too. It used to be rice that was the scariest, but now it’s water. And they don’t just order one or two, always like this.” “Tell me about it.” “By the way, are you okay? When I move one box, you move three or four.” “Why are you like this? I’m Dongbangsak of Hanseong. This much is nothing.” “Keke. Is that so?”
Sangcheol thought I was overworking myself, but ever since the Chinese characters had been engraved on my body, I was changing day by day. My health was second to none, and strength overflowed within me. No matter how tired I got, I would recover after taking a few breaths, so Sangcheol looked at me as if I were a monster.
“Thanks to you, we finished early again today. I guess I could take on more dispatch orders.” “Take as many as possible. The boss has to earn a lot for me to earn a lot too.” “Kekeke. Are you really going to be okay? If you overdo it and ruin your health out of gratitude, I won’t be able to keep you for long. You know?” “I know. I know my own body well.” “My assistant quit recently and I was wondering what to do, but then a lucky charm rolled in. Haha. I’ll buy coffee today. Let’s go get some.” “Coffee?”
Coffee. It used to be a beverage I constantly sipped. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d properly drunk a cup of mixed instant coffee, when I used to drink premium Luwak.
I ordered a latte at the cafe Sangcheol took me to. Though I was dressed shabbily, perhaps because it was a neighborhood cafe, they didn’t look at us strangely.
“If you go to a franchise for no reason, they give you the stink-eye.” “Well… that’s true……”
There was a time in the past when I had looked down on people dressed like I am now. What had made me so arrogant back then? They were things that would disappear like foam in an instant. Reflecting on my past self, I blew on the latte foam and savored the sweet aroma of the beans.
“It’s delicious.” “I found out about this cafe not long ago too. We need this kind of pleasure.” “Oh? Is that so? Or is it because the part-timer is pretty?”
Needless to say, the part-timer at the cafe was quite beautiful. Sangcheol and I were now twenty-eight years old. As an only child, I hadn’t gone to the army and graduated quickly, landing a job at a large corporation, but Sangcheol had served in the military and was like a freshman in society just getting his footing.
“I’ve talked too much about myself. Sangcheol, how have you been? Are you married?” “Where would a high school graduate like me easily get married these days? My parents are making a fuss telling me to go on blind dates, but I went a few times and got cleanly rejected when I said I was a delivery driver. Hahaha.” “What’s wrong with being a delivery driver? You’re a respectable boss.”
It was a job that my past self would definitely have looked down upon. But now it was different. People like Sangcheol, who took pride in their work and lived earnestly, felt like real human beings. Not once did my former colleagues at the large corporation or my classmates from the prestigious university extend a helping hand during my fall. The fall brought me despair, but it also gave me a new perspective.
“They nagged me, asking why I lived like this, doing delivery at twenty-eight. Tsk.” “…….”
From what I remembered, Sangcheol’s family lived an ordinary commoner’s life, neither wealthy nor lacking. Having no interest in studying, Sangcheol graduated early and worked at various factories. Then he enlisted in the military, where a senior told him about part-time delivery work, and after being discharged, he bought a truck with his savings and started the delivery business.
“A guy with wanderlust like me is suited for cargo
trucks or this kind of work.”
At Sangcheol’s dependable smile, I came to wish that he would continue to do well.
“Ah, right. And you need to sign up for the four major insurances and an employment contract, so I’ll bring the paperwork tomorrow.” “Huh?” “Are you planning to work just short-term like this?” “Ah… no. Can I really do that?”
All this time, I had thought Sangcheol was keeping me around as charity to help me out a little. But hearing what he was saying now, it really seemed like he was trying to hire me as a proper employee.
“Of course. If you work as well as you do, I can handle the dawn dispatches by myself. Since work ends early, the afternoons are comfortable.” “Ah… thank you. Really, thank you.”
I had been able to solve my desperately needed job situation thanks to Sangcheol. As we drank coffee and talked about life, it became time to pick the kids up from daycare.
I parted with Sangcheol and brought the kids home.
“Dad~ did something good happen?”
Yul smiled back at me, seeming to like my smiling face, and asked.
“Yeah. Dad got a job.” “Wow~ really? Then can we eat two fried eggs now?” “…….”
Yul’s words made my heart ache; I felt like tears would come out. How hungry must they have been all this time? Even though they had lunch and dinner at daycare, we always went hungry on weekends. We had barely been able to make ends meet with government support funds.
“I’ll make fried eggs and sausages every morning. Okay?” “Wow~~ so exciting~”
Watching Yul’s excitement, my sunken mood began to improve. In the narrow bath
room, I washed the children and put them to bed. Looking at the sleeping children, I gazed at the Chinese characters engraved on my body.
‘Ancestor. Thank you.’
The fact that I had been able to help Sangcheol with his work smoothly was definitely thanks to this. Though it wasn’t lottery numbers or an expensive ancient text, even this alone was like a sturdy lifeline to escape the abyss I was in now.
‘If it’s this good, maybe to the children… no. If this creepy tattoo were engraved on those young ones’ bodies, that would be a problem too…….’
It was certainly a good condition, but if a grotesque tattoo covering the whole body were engraved on my two young sons, it could become a great torment for them.
‘I need to make time to translate the characters engraved on my body.’
I had become curious about what the characters engraved on my body meant. There were many more unknown characters and symbols than the hanja I had learned, so I couldn’t interpret them at all. Since I might need an expert’s help, I didn’t rush.
Afterward, the delivery business with Sangcheol truly went smoothly. These days, we expanded our area and started taking on even more dispatches.
“Oh, my body aches. The dawn dispatches are too hard. Should I hire a separate part-timer for the dawn dispatch shift?”
As deliveries increased, so did the work of dispatching at dawn, and Sangcheol seemed terribly exhausted.
“Dawn, huh……”
I wanted to help with the dawn dispatches with all my heart, but I couldn’t go out at dawn with young children at home, so I could only look at Sangcheol with regret.
A month passed like that, and Sangcheol paid me my salary in cash rather than by bank transfer.
“Just in case, I prepared it in cash. Here.”
Since most of my bank accounts had been seized, the moment my salary went into my account, the banks sucked it away like blood-sucking mosquitoes. I was grateful to Sangcheol for remembering something I had even forgotten.
“Ah. I forgot to mention it. Thanks.” “Get a grip for the kids’ sake!” “You’re right. I must have lost my mind.”
Sangcheol and I went to the cafe we visited every day and ordered coffee.
“One iced Americano and one hot latte, right?” “Yes.”
Sangcheol insisted on iced Americano even in the cold winter. Since I enjoyed hot lattes, the part-timer would take our order on her own now.
After receiving the buzzer, we sat down and chatted about this and that.
“Here are the iced Americano and latte.” “Oh my. We could have come get them.” “It’s fine. There are no other customers anyway.”
The female part-timer spoke with a bright smile.
‘Sangcheol could definitely fall for her.’
From what I had seen so far, she was extremely kind and diligent.
‘Is she a college student?’
Not wanting to become a sleazy person who hit on the part-timer for no reason, I had refrained from private conversa
tion until now, but seeing Sangcheol’s pining eyes, I felt I had to repay his kindness.
“Excuse me……” “Yes?” “What is your name? I’m Dongbangsak, and this friend here is Choi Sangcheol.” “Ah… I’m Park Minjeong.” “That’s a pretty name.” “Hohoho. Thank you.” “Are you a college student?” “Yes. That’s right.” “Ah. Are you working here during vacation?” “No. This is my parents’ store. So I’m helping out during vacation and getting an allowance.” “Ah. I see.”
Honestly, I already knew her name. I had delivered packages to this cafe before, and the name Park Minjeong was written on the boxes. Since Park Minjeong also knew that we did delivery work, we didn’t need to explain what we did.
“It’s tough these days, right?” “Well, yes.” “Majin Delivery is very fast, so I like it.” “Haha. We’ll make sure to deliver even faster.” “Hohoho.”
As I talked with Park Minjeong like this, we gradually learned about each other. She was twenty-four years old and in her final year at a fairly well-known prestigious university, having even studied abroad. The problem was, the more Sangcheol learned about her, the less he could approach her.
“How could someone like me, a high school graduate, with someone like her……” “Hey! Sangcheol! You’re the one who needs confidence. What’s wrong with you?” “No. Sigh……”
Sangcheol looked particularly dejected, which was disheartening. These days, my greatest mission was to connect her and Sangcheol. But this was easier said than done. Sangcheol was trapped in an inferiority complex and couldn’t even say a proper word to her. Though I encouraged and cheered him on, the relationship between Park Minjeong and Sangcheol remained at a standstill.
Time passed, and when she returned for the new semester and was no longer seen at the cafe, Sangcheol’s shoulders slumped for a long while.
“If you’re going to be like this, you should have at least confessed!” “No. It’s fine. A guy like me……” “Sigh……”
Even in that gloomy situation, Sangcheol was someone who certainly got work done. Then one day, I stopped by a used bookstore to deliver a package.
“Delivery.” “Oh. It’s here.”
An elderly grandfather who appeared to be the owner of the used bookstore adjusted his magnifying glasses and hurriedly opened the package right where I could see. I was about to turn and leave when I saw the book taken out of the package and stopped in my tracks.
“Dong… bang… Birok… Zhouyi?” “Huh?”
When I read the words written in Chinese characters, the old man raised his head and looked at me.
“You seem to know some hanja.” “Ah… yes… um, this book is……” “Ah. A friend of mine in Manchuria sent me an ancient book recently, and he asked me to interpret it since it’s in ancient Chinese characters. It’s so heavily aged that it’s not worth much, but I just couldn’t stand not knowing the contents.” “Ex… excuse me, could I take a look at this book too?” “You?”
Fate. I wondered if the Ancestor giving me the Dongbang Birok, or doing delivery work thanks to Sangcheol’s help, hadn’t all been fate leading to this moment.