Chapter 42:

"Ah, yeah, thanks," Eun Mei said awkwardly as she stood in the school hallway, looking at the bracelet at arm's length. "but why dolphins?"

"Well, remember when you said you want to see the ocean before, I was reminded of that when I saw a dolphin. Hopefully, it will remind you as well and focus you on your goals in the future."

The girl stared at him strangely for a long time. "You remembered that?"

Jung nodded enthusiastically at the girl.

"We were like nine at the time."

When the smile remained at the over-eager boy, Eun Mei sighed. This boy always surprises him. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be rid of that person who remembers all his previous actions or if she is going to miss it in the future. At least the boy was harmless, unlike the other pursuers. "I was just talking back then," Eun Mei tried to explain. "It is not as if I was dying to see the ocean or something."

"It is still a worthy goal," Jung said, firmly pushing the bracelet to her. He was so proud of his gift, Eun Mei barely has the heart to tell him it was just a trinket that she could care less about. The damn thing is so gaudy. "There is nothing wrong with thinking about a goal, no matter how trivial it is," he kept saying.

She looked at the bracelet again, then shrugged. "Okay, I get it already... and thanks."

"You're welcome!" Jung hee beamed at her. "Wanna go buy some miso soup in town? My treat!"

"No thanks," She said immediately, the thought of eating another miso soup is enough to make her complexion green. "Me and my friends are planning ... something."

"Oh!... Ah, okay," Jung hee said hesitantly. It was obvious he wanted to say more but he change his mind. "Well, happy birthday again."

The girl smiled and left him. Jung was still happy, but he also couldn't help but feel disappointed as he watched her go. He had an entire day planned out to win her over. But stupid of him to think otherwise. The girl is so popular, of course, she has plans for her birthday. Still, he wanted to tag along anyway, even though her friends wouldn't like it.

Oh well, I'll ask Kwang if he wants to go to town with him and buy the big guy miso soup.

Unfortunately, his best friend is also busy today. Unknown to Jung, Kwang deliberately made plans for this day because he knew his friend will try and tag along with the bitch this special day. To make it more interesting, the cosmic powers of the heavens made today the day the school needed to give their biannual report to the Ministry of Education, and the faculty staff are super busy for today, so the principal adjusted and made today a half-day school for the students who gladly take it. Also, Jung made preparations for today and made sure he didn't have any work to fix or any work in the co-op. But it didn't end the way he wanted.

So Jung ended up going to town all alone. He walked around town before heading to the cake shop. But once there and seeing the slightly higher prices, he felt that the sweets were simply not worth his hard-earned money. Eating with someone would have been different, but spending money for him to indulge, it just didn't feel right. So he left the cake shop as well.

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Jung had called early on that he would be busy today and cleared his schedule with the gym. So he couldn't also go there. He laughed lamely to himself. It was his fault that he is idle this day, and he is not used to not doing anything. So he went to the local playground and did some exercises until he became bored. He went window-shopping in the rows of businesses in the middle of town, but he'd also seen them a hundred times already. His feet just led him automatically until he reached the outskirts of town. Suddenly he was staring at an old warehouse surrounded by a fence. He'd seen the place since he was a kid, but he'd never gone in because he didn't have any reason to. The entrance to the property has a huge wooden arc on top that spelled the words "Hyun Ki's Junkyard."

Intrigued, he peeked inside the open gate, and his jaws dropped open. The place was covered in tons and tons of scrap metal and discarded electronic appliances neatly packed in sections all around the yard and exposed to the glare of the sun.

But to Jung's eyes, it was nothing short of Smaug's very own vault. It was a treasure trove of mysteries, knowledge, and opportunities, all waiting for him to devour. He was drooling as he felt his feet drag him inside the gate to get a better look at the discarded treasures.

How the hell did I not see this before?!

His eyes went everywhere. There's a fridge over there that he is so sure he can just fix. Is that the framework of a sofa? it is barely damaged! Every new item sent a shiver of excitement to Jung's bones, and his mind was going overdrive with the possibilities.

An outsider looking in the junkyard at that time would have seen a cute chibi floating in the air as he zips from one corner to another, inspecting the goods with a drooling mouth and shiny eyes.

"Can I help you, son?" An old man is sitting in an open garage doing something at the table.

"I wanna buy some of your items!" Jung blurted out.

The old man was frowning at an old, beat-up radio. All Jung can hear is static, and the old man is trying to doodle with it. Jung walked towards the man's small office, where he is playing around with his radio while muttering at himself.

"Did you hear me? I said I wanted to buy some-"

"No," the old man said.

Jung blinked in surprise. "But why? Surely you need-"

"Sorry, kid, but I only need sellers at this time," the old man cut him off. He was fiddling with the channel knob on the radio, and no matter how far his twist brought him, all he could hear was static.

"But surely, you also need a few buyers for all of this!"

"Of course, but I already have the best buyer around: the government. Every end of the month, the government buys a sizable bulk of my metal scraps, and- AH!"

Someone was talking on the radio for a full two seconds before the static returned. The old man cursed loudly, but no matter how much he fiddled with it, the radio was now spewing nothing but continuous static.

Annoyed, Jung asked again if he could just go and buy choice parts for twice the market price. There was a small chalkboard on one side of the old man's office, which shows that a kilo of metal parts is about 200 Korean won or roughly about 15-18 cents on the dollar.

Jung has the remaining 45,000 Won in his pocket in anticipation of buying Eun Mei some food. It was the remainder of his year-long savings. Buying Eun Mei dinner did not pan out, but now he found a worthy investment, and he wanted to get his parts.

"I said no, kid," said the old man again, getting irritated. "I don't have the time to check up on you as you choose specific parts in my yard. Spending time guarding you and making sure you don't steal shit from me is a waste of my time, so again, no. I don't want you buying from me because it is too much work."

Jung opened his mouth, but even without his observation skills, he could tell that the stubborn man would not budge on this.

He sighed. Today is not turning out to be his day. His eyes landed on the radio. Without actually knowing why he did it, he snatched the radio from its desk. Jung also grabbed a thin metal used to hold a junction in the falling metal bars guarding the windows of the office, he fashioned a small antenna-like circle and then deftly attached it to the radio without seemingly exerting any effort at all.

The old man almost protested, but seeing what Jung was doing, he immediately shut up. To his surprise, the boy, who isn't even actually looking at what he was doing, attached the small antenna-like device to the radio, and as if a miracle, the voice of his favorite political announcer was back on, actually even clearer than it used to be.

"Okay, I get it," Jung said quietly as he returned the radio, and the boy sadly walked away.

The old man looked at his radio, then to the boy, and then back at his radio.

"Hey, wait a moment, kid," he said. "Do you have a bag?"

"A what?"

"A bag!"

Jung showed his hands to reveal he wasn't hiding any bags. "No, I don't."

"Good." the old man said bluntly. "Okay, here is the deal. I have a damaged refrigerator in the next room. If you can fix that into working condition, then you can get anything you want from the junkyard, provided that you can carry it out with your own hands."

Jung stared at the vast field of metal all around him, and he smirked at the old man. Even if he cannot repair the refrigerator, there are enough parts here to just build one from scratch. "You have a deal, old man."

The old man nodded and shook hands with the interesting boy.

"What's your name?" The old man suddenly asked out of the blue.

"What's yours?" Jung countered. The old man's mouth twitched to one side, but he kept his poker face. I have a feeling that I just hit the jackpot, he thought to himself.

The old man pointed at the name on top of the entrance. "My name is Hyun Ki," he said with amusement.

Jung read the name in the junkyard. So this guy owned the place, Jung thought with interest. "Call me Jung Hee," Jung said.

"Jung hee, eh, well, boy, I think we will get along just fine."