“Soo-hyun. Life is something else. When I was young, my family was incredibly poor. Have you ever lived in a hillside slum in a single room? Five family members sleeping in a room the size of a palm. When my parents went to work, my siblings would cry from hunger, so I’d go down to the lower neighborhood to collect empty bottles and buy bread with them. When I ran into classmates while collecting bottles, I felt so embarrassed. I was only ten years old then. What would a ten-year-old know? Inside I was hungry too, but seeing those guys eating, I found myself lying that I’d already eaten. When my siblings get together on holidays, they talk about those times. They say they miss the old days sometimes. But I hate it. It was too hard. Boss, one more bottle of soju here!”

The manager had been repeating the same slurred words for a while now. While he talked, Soo-hyun filled glasses with alcohol and gulped them down. The shop owner brought soju and also served fish cake soup as a service. Thank you. The manager bowed in thanks, then thud, he hit his head on the table, and Soo-hyun giggled at the sight.

“Pull yourself together, Manager.”

He lifted his head like a zombie and said I’m not drunk yet. I’m fine. His eyes were unfocused, his face bright red, and his shirt all wrinkled. Anyone could see he was drunk, but does insisting you’re not drunk make you sober?

“Hey. In private, call me hyung. Hyung! I’ll specially treat you like a little brother.”

At those words, Soo-hyun snorted.

“Lies. Jin-young and Seok-jun also call you hyung, I heard.”

“They’re them. You are, well, different.”

“How am I different?”

“You’re pitiful. Looking at you just makes me feel sorry and sad for you.”

Come on. Soo-hyun laughed incredulously. Just because he’d said his parents weren’t around when asked where they were, the manager felt sorry for him. It’s not like he was the only person in the world without parents. Until now, people had only exploited that fact, but few had spoken like the manager did.

Soo-hyun thought that if he had a brother, he would want him to be someone like the manager.

[From today, I’ll be your brother, Soo-hyun.]

Suddenly Seo Min-jun came to mind. He had talked big to Chairman Yang, but he didn’t even know where to start. Whether Seo Min-jun would come over to his side was even more uncertain. Sometimes the thought crept in that maybe Seo Min-jun had other circumstances, maybe he was misunderstanding something. Even though there was a 99% chance that wasn’t the case, the fact that a fingernail’s worth of faith still remained made Soo-hyun feel bitter.

“Drink up, and let’s go for round two. Round two.”

“Yeah, let’s go for round two! How about karaoke?”

Just then, the manager’s phone rang.

After checking the caller ID, he said, “Ah, my mom,” and answered the call.

“The boiler? Why isn’t it working? Didn’t you set it to away mode? Just do a video call instead. No, not ‘yeomtong,’ but ‘yeongtong,’ video call.”

Even while drunk, he explained patiently. He had mentioned using his savings in fall to renovate his parents’ house, and it seemed the newly replaced boiler was causing trouble. After explaining several times, his elderly mother still didn’t understand, and he sighed.

“Alright. I’ll be there soon, so wait.”

The manager finished the call and gave Soo-hyun an apologetic look.

“What can we do, Soo-hyun? My mom’s making a fuss because the boiler isn’t working.”

Soo-hyun gestured for him to go quickly.

“Or do you want to come with me? We could have another drink there?”

“No thanks. Going to someone else’s house at this hour would be inconsiderate.”

“I guess so.”

“Hurry up and go. It’s the end of the year, so it’ll be hard to catch a taxi.”

As he took out his wallet to pay, Soo-hyun tried to stop him. While they were bickering, he insisted on paying and smiled.

“Hey. Can’t your hyung at least pay for this?”

With his drunk, reddened face, he gathered his clothes.

“I’m going. Stop drinking and go home.”

“Take care.”

Don’t run away again. Drink moderately. His nagging with a face like a burning sweet potato was funny. Soo-hyun pushed him on the back to go. After the manager disappeared, Soo-hyun returned to his seat and filled the empty glass by himself. As he slurped the fish cake broth as a side dish, someone shouted.

“It’s snowing!”

Indeed, thick snowflakes were falling one by one. The first snow is already here. It’s a bit lonely being alone on a day like this. The guys he could call friends were all working at this hour, so there was no one to call out. Sighing, he reached for his drink, but the bottom was already visible. Soo-hyun raised his hand to call the shop owner.

“Boss, one more bottle of soju!”

It was the first snow. Through the window, thick snowflakes landed and melted away. As traffic began to build up, Ho-beom rolled down the window halfway and took a cigarette from his case, putting it in his mouth. After drinking a lot to please the old-fashioned men, he was starting to feel tipsy.

After loosening his tie, he opened the silver lighter’s lid, making a clear sound. He lit it and inhaled the smoke. His months of quitting smoking had ended due to interference from an unexpected person. While it was more than welcome to smoke again, having land taken away made him not just bitter but furious enough to flip.

[You’re terrible at s*x too, you just know how to thrust. You’re truly the worst among all the guys I’ve slept with.]

Ho-beom unconsciously bit the end of his cigarette with his front teeth. F*ck. Thinking about it again, it was so absurd that he could only laugh in anger. After disappearing for a few days, did he go somewhere to grow some balls? Hoo, the hazy smoke escaped through the window and disappeared. The snowflakes seemed to be getting thicker.

“Should I turn on the radio?”

When Park Tae-jun in the driver’s seat asked, he nodded. Soon, news came on the radio. There was news about a s*x video of a certain actor spreading and causing a stir. The quite successful actor fell into disgrace overnight, and thanks to that, major political issues quickly faded from people’s attention.

Suddenly, he recalled the old man’s words.

[He said he’d record a video. I don’t see anything wrong with that. If that gets out, Seo Min-jun is finished.]

Isn’t that just like him? Always thinking about spreading his legs for this guy or that. Thinking about that person made him angry again. Ho-beom threw his cigarette out the window and rolled it up. As he leaned back and quietly listened to the news, his phone vibrated inside his jacket. When he took it out and looked, Ho-beom’s eyebrow raised slightly. It was Baek Soo-hyun.

He was about to ignore it but pressed the call button, wondering what kind of trick this guy was up to.

“Hello?”

[Mr. Horobeom?]

Thinking he’d misheard, he asked, What? No, that’s not right. It’s saved as Horobeom.

The caller wasn’t Baek Soo-hyun but someone else. Soon, a woman conveyed her message.

[No one’s answering the phone, so please come and take him away. The phone’s owner is very drunk and crying.]

Ho-beom’s face contorted.

[He keeps crying, and other customers don’t like it either. Anyway, come and get him.]

“You’ve got the wrong number. I don’t know this person.”

Click, after hanging up, Park Tae-jun looked at him through the rearview mirror. Ho-beom looked out the window with an annoyed expression. The snow was now falling heavily without restraint. It was a substantial amount for the first snow. He could see someone lying drunk in front of a closed shop. On a day like this, sleeping on the street would be perfect for freezing to death.

“Whether he freezes to death or not.”

Just then, an ambulance passed by on the opposite side, blaring its siren. Watching it, Ho-beom cursed and called Baek Soo-hyun. As expected, the same woman from before answered.

“Where are you?”

After hanging up, Ho-beom instructed Tae-jun to turn the car around. He didn’t know why Soo-hyun was drinking so far from the hotel, but fortunately, it wasn’t too far. The whole way there, anger welled up inside him. The old man had promised that if he didn’t hit Soo-hyun and gently coaxed him to stay, he would get what he wanted. While he trusted the old man’s promise, he couldn’t trust Baek Soo-hyun. Hadn’t he backstabbed him before? And that was on the very day he’d invited him to dinner, claiming it was a birthday present.

“Sir, I think it’s over there.”

After driving for about 30 minutes, a lit pojangmacha (street food tent) appeared by the roadside. As he got out of the car and put on his coat, Tae-jun took out a black umbrella from the trunk and brought it to him.

“Don’t wait, just go.”

“Will you be alright?”

He was on edge due to the recent attack. Understanding his concern, Ho-beom patted Park Tae-jun’s shoulder and walked past him toward the food tent. He could see people gathered inside the plastic tent.

As he lifted the orange curtain and entered, the distinctive smell of the food tent hit him. In the center was a large oil heater, and around it, people were busy drinking in small groups. But Baek Soo-hyun was nowhere to be seen.

“Welcome.”

The kind-looking owner greeted Ho-beom.

“I’m the one who received the call earlier. I was told my acquaintance is here.”

The owner sighed, “Oh my,” and went inside to bring out what looked like Soo-hyun’s jumper.

“He was sobbing, and while I briefly went to the bathroom, he disappeared, leaving his money and jacket behind.”

The owner handed Ho-beom some change and continued.

“He was very drunk. I wonder if he’s fallen asleep somewhere. And it’s snowing too.”

Just then, a customer at the back called for the owner. Yes, yes, I’m coming.

Ho-beom went outside the food tent and opened his umbrella. As he walked, he tried contacting Baek Soo-hyun, but no matter how many times he tried, there was no answer. The freshly accumulated snow crunched under his feet, and due to the sudden heavy snowfall, shops began closing one by one.

[The person you are trying to reach is unavailable. After the tone…]

“This is driving me crazy.”

As he passed by darkened stores one by one, he noticed a group in an alley. Ho-beom was about to walk past but turned back with an uneasy feeling and headed in that direction. Several people were gathered, snickering and whispering.

I think he’s drunk. Hey, check if he has a wallet. Ah f*ck, he’s crying. He’s f*cking handsome. He’s annoying me, should I slightly cut his face with a knife? There was a sound of something being unsheathed, and Ho-beom quickened his pace. Hearing his footsteps, one of the group turned around.

“What the f*ck.”

As he approached, a fairly large guy swaggered toward him.

“Mister, mind your own business and keep walking.”

At the word ‘mister,’ deep creases formed between Ho-beom’s eyebrows. Mister? He instantly grabbed the guy’s hair and pressed him against the wall. When he screamed “Ack!” Ho-beom walked forward while crushing his face. As one cheek scraped against the wall and bl＊＊d flowed, the guys in front turned pale.

Ho-beom threw the guy he was holding backward and beckoned to the others. Come here. They panicked and ran away. When he looked back, the guy with the smashed face had also disappeared. Ho-beom approached the man collapsed in the alley. Sure enough, it was Baek Soo-hyun.

Curled up and sobbing for some reason.

Finding the sight distasteful, he nudged his shoulder with his foot.

“Get up.”

He didn’t move.

“If you don’t get up, I’m leaving.”

He still remained motionless. Ho-beom threw the jumper he was holding onto Soo-hyun’s body and turned around. Whether you freeze to death or not. It’s not my concern. One step, two steps, as he walked away, Soo-hyun’s voice came from behind.

“Mom…”

Ho-beom stopped walking.

“Don’t go… Mom. Take me with you…”

Mom… Mom…

A scene from his memories that he wanted to erase surfaced.

His chest tightened.

Ho-beom sighed and turned back to Soo-hyun.