Chapter 07
Guys Who Deserve to Die I Was Already Dead Back Then
We gathered early today because we had five apartments in an old apartment complex to clean.
There was so much work that even Yong Jung-pil, who worked as a delivery rider, had come in to help.
“Jung-pil, long time no see.”
“Yes, hyung. I was sorry I couldn’t see you last time. I heard you went to deal with a customer complaint.”
“Busy with deliveries?”
“I got into an accident, and now I’m traumatized.”
Here was Jung-pil’s story.
He had been making an unprotected left turn when he lightly collided with an oncoming foreign car. Now he was being told to pay 9.9 million won in damages.
“It was just a little scratch.”
“Doesn’t insurance cover it?”
“I filed an insurance claim, but I don’t think I can ride a motorcycle anymore. The guy in the car turned out to be a gangster. You have no idea how terrifying it was.”
“A gangster?”
“I found out later that he belonged to the Dongtak gang. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me sick.”
“Did he hit you?”
“Three slaps across the face. If I report him for assault, he’ll retaliate, so I have to let it go.”
Ordinary people couldn’t afford to take on gangsters.
“You’ll have to quit delivery work, then.”
“Yes. He said that if we ever crossed paths again, he’d stick a straw into my neck. I never want to think about it again.”
Jung-pil shuddered as he recalled what had happened.
No matter how much the times changed, gangsters survived like cockroaches.
Hyuksu had also been beaten up by gangsters, so naturally, I had no love for them either.
I was building up my strength. For now, I would wait for the right moment.
“Work here instead.”
“The boss said he had plenty of work, too. I’m planning to stay here until I die.”
“Good decision. Let’s get started.”
Song Suk-ja, Yong Jung-pil, and I formed a team and began cleaning.
Song Suk-ja took care of the bathroom and living room, Jung-pil handled the bedrooms, and I was responsible for the windows and balconies.
First, I scrubbed the glass with a long-handled scrubber, then removed the water with a squeegee and finished by wiping it down with a dry cloth. That was how to get the windows sparkling clean.
The trick was knowing exactly when to apply pressure and when to ease off.
Once you mastered that, there was no need to waste your energy.
“Uncle, you’re a master at cleaning windows.”
“They’re clean, aren’t they?”
“I think you’re even better than the boss now. Remember when that bird flew straight into the window and got knocked out? The glass was so clean it looked like there was nothing there.”
“Thank you.”
I slid a microfiber cloth into the window track and pressed down firmly with a scraper as I moved along it.
For the narrow gaps, I finished the job with a cotton swab.
On the balcony, I used a detergent-soaked scrubber to remove the stubborn grime, then washed everything down with water. After that, I wiped it dry with a cloth and used a roller to pick up any remaining debris.
We worked so well together that we finished earlier than expected.
The boss, who had been cleaning the apartment next door, came over in surprise.
“You’re already finished?”
“You’re finished, too, boss. We can handle a job like this.”
Song Suk-ja looked rather pleased with herself.
“The three of you work well together. I think I can start leaving jobs to you now, Maru.”
“I still have a long way to go.”
“Being humble isn’t always a good thing. It can make other people feel inadequate.”
The boss smiled as he looked at me.
“Maru.”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to start handing out flyers.”
“So you’ve decided to expand the business.”
“A company owned by someone I know is having a hard time, so we’ve decided to work together.”
Thinking that the boss was going with an outdated advertising method, I offered some advice.
“Why not advertise online? That’s what everyone does these days. There are plenty of apps, too.”
“If you want to make sure people see the ads, flyers are effective. I need to visit a client in Gangnam, but we’re so busy that I want you to go in my place. You can hand out flyers while you’re there.”
The word Gangnam struck a chord in my mind.
That was where Jung Jung-seong’s company was located.
Could I use this as an excuse to see his face again?
“All right.”
The flyer had four pages.
Each page featured a large photograph and oversized lettering in a traditional calligraphic font.
I figured it was designed that way because many of the building owners were elderly.
Looking at photographs of places cleaned until they looked brand-new, I could see how the flyers might attract attention.
[Half-Price Discount in May!]
That slogan said everything about the boss’s business style.
His marketing strategy placed great importance on word of mouth, and it had kept a steady stream of jobs coming in.
Anyway, how had Jung Jung-seong changed over the years?
I was curious.
I searched the news on the subway.
There were no reports of an assault in Gangnam, so it seemed Jung Jung-seong’s wife hadn’t reported the incident to the police.
I searched for Jungseong International.
[Jungseong International Achieves 200% Growth in Exports]
[Jung Jung-seong, 32-Year-Old CEO: The Secret Behind His Business Success]
[Meet an Aggressive Young Entrepreneur: Jung Jung-seong, CEO of Jungseong International]
After reading the articles, I learned that it was a trading agency exporting goods to Southeast Asia.
Its main products included cosmetics, food, and clothing. Recently, it had expanded into automobiles and electronic components.
With Jung-seong’s father being both a school foundation chairman and a successful businessman, he had a powerful support system behind him.
I checked more articles.
[National Assemblyman Jung Pil-sang: My Son Built His Business Through His Own Efforts]
Jung Jung-seong’s father had become a member of the National Assembly.
I searched for Jung Pil-sang.
[Jung Pil-sang, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Transportation Committee: Mandatory Disclosure of Unsold Housing Would Drive Construction Companies Into a Quagmire]
[Assemblyman Jung Pil-sang Hints at Party Leadership Bid: “I’m Not Thinking About the Presidency Yet”]
[Assemblyman Jung Pil-sang Faces Allegations of Steering Contracts to His In-Law’s Construction Company Through a Government Agency]
Politics gave me a headache.
I turned off my smartphone and gazed out the window, lost in thought.
What was the drug I had found in the car?
Had Jung Jung-seong’s wife refrained from reporting the incident because of the drugs?
And how had Jung Jung-seong reacted when he saw his wife’s face?
“The next station is Daechi Station.”
I had arrived at my destination.
Jung Jung-seong—the man I had sworn never to think about again.
And yet, right now, I wanted to see him more than anything.
After visiting the client, I went to the address printed on Jung Jung-seong’s business card.
A sign was mounted vertically on the building’s exterior wall.
[Jungseong International]
The building had five floors, with a coffee shop on the first floor.
I entered through the door on the left and climbed the stairs.
Through the glass door on the second floor, I could see people working inside.
“Who are you?”
A voice called down from above.
A man coming down from the third floor looked at me.
“Hello. I’m a friend of CEO Jung Jung-seong. I’ve come to see him.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No.”
“The CEO is out right now. Please contact us in advance next time. By the way, what kind of friend are you, exactly? And from when?”
“I’ll get in touch and come back another time.”
I went back down the stairs.
As I was leaving through the entrance, I ran into a man.
His brow was deeply furrowed, and his hooked nose flared as he breathed.
There was no doubt about it. It was Jung Jung-seong.
I instinctively flinched, but sooner or later, I would have to face him anyway.
“Jung-seong!”
His raised eyes fixed on me with a fierce glare.
“Jung-seong, long time no see.”
“Who are you?”
Jung Jung-seong narrowed his eyes and studied me.
It was unreasonable to expect him to recognize me immediately.
Perpetrators didn’t always remember their victims, and my body had bulked up after ten years of military service.
“Wait. Are you the mop?”
The mop had been one of my nicknames.
On Jung Jung-seong’s orders, I had licked the floor with my tongue until it was clean.
“So you remember. It’s been more than ten years.”
“Why the hell are you here?”
“I came to see an old friend. It would be even better if I could get some help with my work.”
I handed him a flyer.
“Our company is really good at cleaning.”
“Get lost!”
Jung Jung-seong threw the flyer onto the floor.
His eyes narrowed into sharp slits, and his expression dripped with contempt.
Memories of my past submission came flooding back, and for a moment, I felt afraid.
But I repeated a mantra to myself.
I’m not the same person I was back then!
I twisted my lips into a smirk and spoke.
“You haven’t changed at all.”
“How the hell did you find this place?”
“I typed your name into a search engine, and there were plenty of articles about you. Congratulations on your recent marriage. How’s your wife?”
In an instant, he grabbed me by the collar and shoved me against the wall.
Jung Jung-seong’s eyes blazed with fury.
“She’s not someone a filthy mouth like yours is allowed to mention!”
“Is that so?”
I tightened my arm, grabbed his wrist, and forced it down.
Feeling the unexpected strength in my grip, Jung Jung-seong stumbled backward.
“You bastard!”
“You’re an adult now. You shouldn’t be acting like this anymore. Jung-seong, I’m not the same Kang Maru you knew back then. Keep this up, and you’re going to fuck yourself over!”
“You son of a bitch! Come with me!”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
I followed him up the stairs.
The CEO’s office was on the fourth floor.
The display cabinet was filled with figurines, and there was a rack displaying golf clubs.
Anyone could tell he was a successful businessman.
Jung Jung-seong glared at me as though he wanted to tear me apart.
He had misjudged the situation.
I was no longer the Kang Maru of the past.
“What do you want? Are you trying to blackmail me by threatening to expose what happened during our school days?”
“You owe me compensation.”
“What kind of compensation? One million won? Two? Three?”
“How pathetic.”
“You’ve been working out, huh? Is that why you’re so confident now? A mop like you should know his place.”
I replied with a languid expression.
“Why don’t you use your fists? Is it because you’re a respectable businessman now and can’t do what you used to?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Keeping your anger bottled up is bad for your health.”
Jung Jung-seong lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
“Are you planning to go to one of those online smear channels? Who do you think would believe you?”
“So you did nothing wrong?”
“I don’t understand why you’re making such a fuss over a harmless prank.”
“When I think back to our school days, I feel so ashamed. I should have resisted at least once, even if you beat me for it. Instead, I just let you do whatever you wanted, like an idiot.”
“Are you recording this?”
“I’m not that kind of coward.”
I placed my smartphone on the table and turned my pockets inside out to prove I wasn’t carrying anything else.
Jung Jung-seong exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke.
“What the hell do you want?”
“I want an apology. That’s my compensation.”
“How am I supposed to remember every little thing that happened more than ten years ago? Besides, I don’t think you were ever in a position to talk to me in the first place.”
Not in a position to talk to me.
That was true.
He had considered me untouchable, someone beneath even the lowest of the low.
“Do you remember the things you ordered me to do? Making me lick the floor with my tongue, telling me to take off my clothes, making me run ten laps around the school field. There were dozens of other things, too.”
Jung Jung-seong furrowed his brow, then pulled ten 50,000-won bills from his wallet.
“Go buy yourself something good to eat and get over it. That kind of prank was normal. We were immature back then.”
“This amount is just one day’s wages for me.”
“You’ve grown up a lot.”
Jung Jung-seong clenched his fist and leaned his face toward mine, whispering.
“I’m Jung Jung-seong. Jung Jung-seong of Sanseong High School. Just hearing my name should make you piss yourself.”
“Now you’re finally telling the truth.”
I took out a cigarette of my own and put it between my lips.
“What the hell?”
Jung Jung-seong looked at me in disbelief.
It was understandable. The guy who used to crawl at his feet, trembling and begging for his life, was now openly challenging him.
“Are you enjoying married life?”
“Hmm.”
“I saw the photos in the news. Your wife is beautiful.”
SMACK!
His palm struck my cheek.
I scratched my eyebrow and wore a bored expression.
“Jung-seong, I’m glad to see you haven’t changed.”
“You fucking bastard!”
“Do you still hang out with your lackeys?”
“Want to see them?”
“I need an apology, after all.”
Jung Jung-seong looked me up and down.
“You’re not right in the head.”
“I’m curious about what everyone’s been doing.”
“If you want to see them, I’ll invite you. We have a regular gathering in two weeks.”
“Will all ten of them be there?”
“One died in an accident, and another lives overseas. That leaves eight. Do you have the guts to meet them?”
“I told you I wanted to see them.”
“You’ll get yourself killed, you idiot!”
“I was already dead back then.”
Jung Jung-seong swallowed hard as he took in my steady voice and the venom in my eyes.
As he had said, he might have thought I was crazy.
“I’ll contact you.”
I stood up after writing down the number of my burner phone.
“I’d appreciate it if you hired us to clean your building, too. See you then, CEO Jung.”
“You really must want to die.”
“I told you, I’m already dead. That makes me immortal now.”
The game had begun.
If they were living comfortable lives, I would make them pay back everything they had taken from me—with intere
