The Country Life Diary of a Gangster’s Secretary

This chapter is paid for by Nemuru!

The next morning, Hyeseong uncharacteristically slept in late. It seemed yesterday’s events had quite an impact. But fortunately, his fever had completely gone down after sleeping. Relieving himself last night seemed to have worked to some extent. 

When Hyeseong went outside, another appetizing smell was wafting from the kitchen today as well. As he had said, Dohyun seemed to have really gotten into cooking since coming here. Now, whenever he had time, he would watch cooking videos on YouTube.

“Hyeseong-ah, did you sleep well?”

“Yeah.”

“You must have been really tired yesterday. Even sleeping in late, which you never do.”

“I know. You should have eaten first.”

“It’s okay. It’s more delicious to eat together.”

Dohyun smiled brightly and placed the stew in the center of the table. Thanks to Dohyun, Hyeseong was eating three square meals quite well. If he had lived here alone, he probably wouldn’t have been able to eat this heartily.

“Oh, Dohyun-ah. I have to go somewhere for lunch later.”

“Where to?”

“Well… to see that resident I met yesterday.”

Hyeseong spoke while trying to maintain the most nonchalant expression possible.

“He runs a store downtown and told me to come visit sometime. I’m going today.”

However it was, it wasn’t a lie. The fact that Kim Doo-sung ran a loan office in Haewon City and that he had told Hyeseong to come hang out were both true.

“What kind of store does he run?”

“Huh?”

He thought it would pass smoothly like this, but Dohyun threw an unexpectedly sharp question. Despite seeming slow-witted, Dohyun would occasionally blurt out questions that surprised or caught you off guard.

“It’s, well… um, a gym.”

“A gym?”

“Yeah.”

Hyeseong deliberately avoided Dohyun’s gaze. As expected, lies still didn’t come easily. There were common stores like restaurants or cafes, but if he said that, Dohyun would definitely ask to be taken along.

“Okay. Come back safely.”

As expected, Dohyun, who had no interest in working out, nodded without asking further questions. It seemed he had succeeded in making excuses to some extent.

After eating breakfast, he did some light cleaning around the house with Dohyun. After that, he ate a proper lunch and spent some time with Boksil before getting ready to go out. As soon as he texted Doo-sung that he would go today, a reply immediately came back saying okay.

“Oh? It’s raining.”

As he finished preparations in his room and came out, he heard Dohyun’s voice by the living room window.

“It really is.”

Looking outside, raindrops started falling one by one, and soon quite a heavy amount began pouring down.

“Hyeseong-ah, should I drive you there?”

“Huh? No, it’s fine. It’ll be quick if I take the bus anyway.”

Even so, despite his friend’s kind offer to drive since it was raining, Hyeseong firmly refused and went outside. It didn’t seem like there was any rain forecast for today. Hyeseong opened his umbrella and quietly headed towards the bus stop. 

On days when it poured like this, he would suddenly think of that time. The day he was cursed at for removing the names of the guys who didn’t do the group assignment. Coincidentally, it was also his parents’ death anniversary, and it had been raining heavily like this then too. Hyeseong slowly recalled Ihyeok’s face he had seen through the rain. 

If it hadn’t been for that person, that day would have surely been the worst day for him. Ihyeok didn’t ask anything even after seeing Hyeseong crying, and just told him not to try so hard and went with him to see his parents. 

“…I miss you.”

Hyeseong muttered softly while sitting at the bus stop. He knew he shouldn’t say things like this, but maybe once in a while was okay. There was no one around anyway, and the words would quickly disappear, buried in the sound of the rain.

Hyeseong closed his eyes tightly. The feelings he had started nurturing little by little since that day had piled up over the 6 years and grown so much that they eventually swallowed himself up. Hyeseong quietly wished this heart would also be swept away and disappear in the heavily pouring rain, knowing it made no sense but still hoping for it.

* * *

Kim Doo-sung’s office was located in the innermost alley downtown. So much so that he had a hard time finding it. On the second floor of a worn-down building, a sign saying “Myeongpum Capital” caught his eye. Hyeseong didn’t enter the building right away and looked around. Perhaps because it was an alley, the surroundings were quiet despite being downtown. There weren’t many people either, and the nearby commercial area was also rather underdeveloped, giving off an eerie atmosphere.

Just in case something happened, Hyeseong made sure to take a good look at the geography of this building. And without hesitation, he climbed the stairs of the building. There was no elevator, and while going up the stairs, he encountered several rough-looking guys. They all glared at Hyeseong for a moment before hurrying on their way, and they seemed to be employees of Doo-sung’s office.

“Oh, Cheon Hyeseong!”  

When he opened the door and entered, the smell of cigarettes rose sharply. It was enough to make him frown for a moment. As expected of a loan office, it wasn’t very large in size, and there was what appeared to be the boss’s room in the back, a huge table and sofa in the center, and desks for employees handling various documents. And another door next to it.

“Aah!”

That’s when a scream of unknown origin was heard from beyond the door.  

“Hey, tell them to go easy since a guest is here.”

“Yes, Hyung-nim.”

“What are you doing? Have a seat.”

Doo-sung tapped the spot across from him with his hand. Then he yelled at another employee to bring out some coffee.

“This is illegal, right?”

At that, the expressions of the employees inside turned cold. Doo-sung was the same, but he quickly adjusted his expression and burst into laughter.

“You’re really bold, aren’t you? Don’t worry. It’s not illegal.”

There was no fool in this world who would believe those words. Even if the office itself wasn’t illegal, what these bastards were doing here was certainly not legal. Hyeseong glanced at the room from which dull sounds and faint human groans could be heard.

“Anyway. Cheon Hyeseong, did you quit working for Taesung?”

“As you can see.”

Hyeseong only stared at the instant coffee placed in front of him without touching it.

“That’s unexpected. You acted like you would be buried beside Kwon Ihyeok. Or did you get fired? Well, considering how crazy Kwon Ihyeok is, it wouldn’t be strange if he fired a long-time secretary.”

“Don’t speak so carelessly. I left of my own accord.”

Hyeseong’s expression stiffened. If he could, he wanted to sew shut Doo-sung’s mouth that so easily turned Ihyeok into a crazy person who fired people without a care.

“Don’t talk recklessly about someone who isn’t even here, and tell me why you called me to this office.”

“You’re so impatient.”

Doo-sung grumbled loudly and reached out somewhere, snapping his fingers as if calling someone.

“Hey, bring the documents I told you about earlier.”

Hyeseong’s gaze naturally turned in that direction as well. A man with a small frame hurriedly got up from his desk at Doo-sung’s words. The only person who seemed to not fit in with the atmosphere here at all. In this place full of only brawny thugs, the man with a gentle-looking impression stood out a bit.

“Uh… wait, just a moment…”

Perhaps unable to find the documents Doo-sung mentioned, the man began rummaging through his desk in a flustered manner. It was a desperate sight that made any onlooker feel sorry for him.

“Aish, that slow-witted bastard. Hey! Didn’t I tell you to prepare it in advance since a guest was coming!”

At Doo-sung’s reprimand, the man grabbed the documents he found and ran to the table in a hurry.

“I-I’m sorry.”

He was stuttering and his hand holding out the documents was trembling. Hyeseong examined the man with a sharp gaze. Standing close, even someone seeing him for the first time could tell his face was haggard, with dark circles under his eyes.

“Tsk, Manager Lee. I even gave you the title of manager, so let’s do our job properly, okay?”

Doo-sung began hitting the head of the person called Manager Lee hard with the envelope of documents in his hand.

“I’m sorry…”

The man clasped his hands together and bowed repeatedly. It was almost pitiful to Hyeseong as well. But Doo-sung’s violence didn’t stop. He hit the man’s head with the envelope until it was crumpled.  

“Excuse me, I have a schedule so I can’t stay long. Quickly tell me what this is about.”

Unable to watch any longer, Hyeseong intervened. Hmph, at Hyeseong’s words, Doo-sung fake coughed and gestured at Manager Lee as if telling him to get lost.

“I looked into it a bit, and it seems you’ve moved to this village entirely. What would be the reason for moving to the boonies like this? You came here to do that trendy farming or whatever too, right?”

“With that perceptiveness, you would have lived a better life if you had done something else.”

At Hyeseong’s remark, Doo-sung muttered a small curse.

“Anyway, I’ve also had an office here for quite a while. So I’ve seen a lot. Young guys like you, declaring they’ll leave city life behind and move to the countryside. But where in the world is there such an easy thing! Even if you want to farm, you need money. And even if you’re lucky and get a harvest, you don’t make money by selling it.”

Hyeseong was starting to get it. The reason Doo-sung called him to this place.

“So most guys like you end up coming to me, begging to borrow some money. Pleading desperately…”

“I’ll say it again, get to the point concisely.”

“You little… Anyway, so our Myeongpum Capital made a product for young people like that.”

Doo-sung took out a few sheets of paper from the envelope crumpled from hitting Manager Lee and placed them on the table in front of Hyeseong with a thud.

Hyeseong stared at the documents placed before him with an icy expression.

This chapter is paid for by Nemuru!