Sang Woo stood beside his stall smoking a cigarette. It was cold out and the little tobacco joint was the only thing managing to keep him from passing out. Winter was always harsh for him, but he didn’t mind. As a street vendor people tip more when they think you’re in danger of keeling over. Thanks to this, freezing his butt off was lucrative.
After his mother passed away a year ago, he took over the family’s TteokBokki stall aiming to expand it to a restaurant. But, because of his mountain of debt, that dream quickly became unrealistic. Now the only way he makes ends meet is through the stall. Which, with the growing amount of restaurants opening, won’t be open for much longer. He took one last huff and quickly put his cigarette out as a group approached.“Ah,” one of them said barely able to hold herself steady “I’ll take 3 orders of tteokBokki. Ultra spicy!”
“Okay!” Sang-Woo clapped, “3 orders of ultra spicy, that’ll be 10,000 won.”
“10,000 won for this crappy tteokbokki?” she argued, “The stall a few blocks over does way better than that! Don’t screw me old man.”
“Then go to the one a few blocks over.” he retorted, “If you can’t pay you’ll have to move out of the way so I can serve other people. Don’t punish other people because you don’t have money.”
The girl looked behind her to see a line forming. She sucked her teeth and gave him the money. She glared at him as he prepared it, jumping at him as she mad her way off with her group. She grumbled about him regretting embarrassing her. Sang-Woo rolled his eyes and continued getting through the line.
“Kids these days really have no sense of responsibility.” an older woman said, “When you want to buy something, you pay the price!”
Sang-Woo laughs handing the old woman her tteokbokki. Her name is Ha Joon and he knows her well as she was his mother’s best friend. When his mother passed she made sure to check on him and show him how to run the stall properly. To him, she could have all the tteokbokki she wanted.
“Auntie,” he said “It’s too cold for you to be out here! I thought you said you’d only work during the day this year. It’s not good for your health.”
“And is it any better for you?” she shot back, “You young people swear you can deal with things better. I may be old but I’m not that bad. I can survive a little cold! I only told you I wouldn’t because I knew you’d be like this.”
“How am I supposed to be?” he groaned, “After mom, all I have is you. I know you hate feeling useless, but can you at least stay in past night? The alcoholics get worse in winter too. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Fine!” she grumbled, “But you’ll be responsible for my loss in profit. I expect to eat all I want from now on.”
Sang-Woo laughed rushing her inside. As the night went on, more and more lavishly intoxicated people started to wonder the streets. For a short while he became very busy, but after 3 in the morning it started to slow down. Only those that were leaving for home were walking around if they weren’t passed out on the sidewalks. When 4 started to roll around, he began to pack up. He knew he’d need a few hours of sleep before returning again tomorrow.
POP!
Sang-Woo heard a low pop and quickly turned to an alley nearby. A man laid flat on his stomach with blood pooling from him. He looked around before spotting a girl lowering her gun from a building a few blocks away. He shouted up at her, shakily pulling out his phone to call the police. However, in the few seconds it took him to type 119 she had disappeared.
“Please send someone!” he said to the operator trying to put pressure on the man’s wound, “He’s bleeding out a lot!”
“Did you see who did shot him?”
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“It’s dark but,” Sang-Woo explained “I saw a girl in one of the hotels a few blocks from here. She was holding a big gun but disappeared when I pulled out my phone. Ah! I think she looked like a foreigner. I can’t remember her features because it’s dark.”
“Alright, I’ve got some officers and an ambulance on their way.”
Sang-Woo continued to put pressure onto the gunshot wound until paramedics arrived. Unfortunately, the man did not survive. They explained to him that the man likely died right after being shot. Shaken and tired, Sang-Woo left hoping they would catch the woman who did it quickly. She couldn’t have gotten far, so he had faith that the police could do it.
“This is the shack you stay in?”
Sang-Woo jumped at the sound of a female voice as he entered his apartment. He lived alone and didn’t have a wife, girlfriend, or anyone else that could be in his apartment. He slowly reached for the light switch, flicking it on to see his intruder. He gasped at the sight. A young woman sat on the palette he would sleep on with a gun pointed at him. His hands rose as he proclaimed “don’t shoot”. She studied him, her long curly hair falling in her face as she tilted her head curiously at him. Her round hazel eyes analyzed every inch of him sending shivers up his spine. She wore an all black outfit that popped against her caramel skin. Sang-Woo was torn between awe at her beauty and terror at the gun pointed at him.
“W-who are you?” he stuttered inching his way towards her, “You’re a foreigner but you must know trespassing is illegal.”
“If I cared about the legality of it I wouldn’t be here.”
“Even so,” he continued “I just reported someone dead. The cops will come looking for me to talk to me later! I told them about you so if you kill me they’ll go even harder.”
“Kim Sang-Woo.” she stated reading from a book she pulled from her pocket, “36 years old. Works as a street food vendor. In a humongous amount of debt! 50,000,000 won. How’d you do that? Your only living relative —your mother—died a year ago. Before that you were known as a raging drug addict. I highly doubt they’ll come to speak to you again. In fact, if you told them the story I think you did then they’ll be coming to arrest you. A random foreigner shoots a man from blocks away and only the saved drug addict saw it. Do you think they’ll believe that?”
“How did you know all that?” he asked, “I never told-”
“You aren’t too hard to find!” she giggled, “I have many ways of getting information on someone. For you, it just took a push of a button. Well, really a text, but still not a lot of energy dispensed.”
“Are you going to kill me,” he said trembling “because I saw what you did?”
“Bingo!” she shouted joyfully, “I hate leaving witnesses. If you hadn’t called the police and minded your business I wouldn’t need to. Alas, here we are.”
“P-please don’t kill me!” he pleaded, “I’ll do anything.”
“What can you do for me?” she laughed, “I don’t know if you’ve caught on by now, but I’m in the business of killing. In this business I have all I could need.”
“I know where to get weapons!” He yelled, “M-my friend is a weapons dealer. If you need any weapons I could get them for you.”
“Nice offer!” she smiled, “Oh but I already work with the best weapons dealer in the world. The contract is pretty exclusive.”
“You know my past so you know I have a degree in accounting.” he offered, “I can be your personal accountant. I graduated top of my class. You should know that!”
“Yet you make tteokbokki at a stall.” she sighed, “You’re really not giving good options here. Plus, you’re in debt. How could I trust you with my finances?”
“I was top of my class!” he begged, “I may be in debt but I’m not bad with other peoples’ money. The debt is because of my mother. Not me!”
“And if I verify that, would it be proven as truth?”
Sang-Woo froze before smiling. He knew that the debt could be verified as something he took out for his mother. She had told him to do it so they could buy a house, but she squandered the money instead. This left him as the only one to pay it back after she died. It was the worst kind of debt: inherited.
“Yes!” he said, “I took it out for my mother. She screwed up the money and I’m trying to pay it back. Please, just call this-”
“I have the number I need to call.”
Sang-Woo sat nervously as she sat on the phone for a few moments. He didn’t know what to make of it as she switched between smiling and glaring at him. Soon, she hung up and jumped to her feet. She grabbed his hand, shaking it.
“You’re lucky I know that loan shark of yours.” she smiled, “Good friend. I’ve done a few favors for him. He said you’re telling the truth. Because of that I’ll spare you.”
“Ah!” he beamed, “Thank you so much. I’ll never-”
“Meet me in Seoul on Monday.” she groaned making her way to the door, “You’ll recieve a package that’ll have more information as far as the exact location. Don’t be late and dress comfortable. Welcome to my inner circle…accountant.”
As she left Sang-Woo let out a deep sigh. His heart seemed to stand still with her in the room. Her glare felt suffocating and her nonchalant attitude gave him chills. If he hadn’t made that offer he feared he’d have ended up just like the guy she killed earlier. But, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had made a terribly wrong decision.