The Unbelievers

Chapter 1

“Eunseong is still in high school, isn’t he? Didn’t you know?”

“Ah, this is maddening. Who hired him?”

“What can we do when his situation is so pitiful? Plus, the kid has a pretty face that customers like. It’s okay, it’s okay. He can’t report it anyway. Just give him about 50,000 won and tell him to go to the hospital. In fact, it’s not even something to go to the hospital for, right? It’s more ridiculous to rush to the hospital after getting hit once.”

“Haa, damn it. If he drank so much, he should have just finished nicely and left. Why hit the kid and make a fuss?”

“Brother, don’t be like that. Give the kid 50,000 won to appease him, and threaten to sue that bastard to the police and squeeze out about 100,000 won. This is clearly assault.”

“Is that okay?”

“Well, what’s the problem? Eunseong lives with his dad, and his dad is a complete waste, so he can’t make this a big deal.”

“What about his mom?”

“I’ve never asked in detail, but she’s either passed away or ran away. Anyway, she’s not around.”

The manager’s sigh and the consoling words of the head waiter, who was like a brother to him, could be clearly heard from just beyond the wall. They were saying that in this line of work, these things happen. By the end of their conversation, they were even giggling, saying it’s not bad to get some extra money from incidents like this.

Eunseong’s eyes, reflected in the mirror, were turning red and moist.

Strictly speaking, Eunseong wasn’t an orphan, but he was a minor and had nowhere else to work. Places that would hire him paid poorly.

He finished washing off the blood on his swollen, reddened cheek and around his mouth.

The cramped employee bathroom was made with thin partition walls, so all conversations outside could be heard. Only the manager and head waiter, who didn’t use this bathroom, were unaware of this fact. The fact that every conversation could be heard as clearly as if it was happening right next to you.

Wiping his wet face with the back of his hand, Eunseong left the bathroom.

The customer who had hit Eunseong and the manager were raising their voices outside the store. The kitchen manager, who spotted him, came running over, making a fuss.

“Are you okay? Let me see your face. Oh my, oh my, your face is all red. He must have hit you hard. Ah, really. Isn’t he crazy?!”

The kitchen manager raised his voice in anger, seeing Eunseong’s cheek swollen as if he had a large candy in his mouth.

“I’m fine. Well, it’s not the first time I’ve been hit.”

Eunseong, who had been hit, casually replied as if it wasn’t a big deal.

As the head waiter had said, all sorts of things happened at the bar. Being asked to have a drink was the least of it. Some people would get angry, claiming they didn’t order the food brought to them, accusing others of trying to cheat them. Some customers would harass women at nearby tables, leading to fights where tables and chairs would be broken.

There were people who vomited in corners, those who ran away without paying, those who kept spitting on the floor while drinking, and those who couldn’t distinguish the bathroom and urinated anywhere.

Getting hit, like today, wasn’t common but it wasn’t unheard of either. However, this was the first time Eunseong had been grabbed by the collar and slapped.

As the kitchen manager turned away, saying he’d make an ice pack for Eunseong’s cheek, the head waiter, who had been backing up the manager in the argument with the customer, came in and approached Eunseong with a frown.

“Are you happy making this a big deal? You should have just pretended to cower a bit and let it go. Why don’t you have any sense?”

“…”

Eunseong swallowed the words rising in his throat. If he spoke up, the head waiter would tell him to quit. If he quit this place, he couldn’t save money. He needed to save up the deposit quickly. He had to save money and get away from his father.

Even if he couldn’t save up the full deposit, he had decided to leave home before summer vacation started no matter what. He didn’t care if he had to find a live-in part-time job, secretly sleep in a classroom at school, or become homeless at a subway station. That’s why he needed money so desperately.

Forcibly swallowing all the words rising in his throat, Eunseong managed to open his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

“The manager is handling it, so stay quiet. Go somewhere out of sight.”

The head waiter pushed Eunseong’s back.

The problem started when Eunseong was assigned to serve a table with what appeared to be a couple. The woman, sipping the drink poured by the man, glanced at Eunseong. Her eyes sparkled with interest.

Eunseong pretended not to notice. He was used to such looks of interest, and in these cases, the male companions usually got very upset, so he pretended not to see even more. Sometimes, when he was unlucky, they would pick fights, so he consistently ignored and pretended not to see such glances. The man, aware of the woman’s gaze on Eunseong, reacted exactly as Eunseong had expected.

The man began to show off vulgarly in front of the woman. When Eunseong brought soju, he would deliberately drop things like chopsticks or spoons on the floor and order, not ask, Eunseong to pick them up. Eunseong tolerated it twice. It was a daily occurrence. He complied with the man’s demands without batting an eye.

But when he was told to crawl under the table to pick up chopsticks that had fallen between their legs, he sighed with annoyance, telling him to stop. It was a sigh that openly scorned the man’s level of poverty that he was trying so hard to hide. The man noticed it too.

The man, whose pride was hurt in front of the woman, suddenly stood up and grabbed Eunseong by the collar.

The woman’s attempt to stop him, saying he was being uncivilized, only fueled the man’s anger. He started unreasonably arguing that how dare a mere part-timer sigh and show annoyance when told to do something. When Eunseong couldn’t hold back and frowned at him contemptuously, the fist flew.

The manager, having finished the argument with the customer, came back into the store looking for Eunseong. His lighter expression suggested that things had been resolved smoothly.

The manager spoke to Eunseong, who was holding a cold wet towel to his cheek.

“I heard the head waiter made an exception because you begged so much.”

“Yes.”

“You obviously know that if we get caught employing you, our store will face administrative action.”

“…I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Use this for some ointment. If you have ice at home, massage it with that. Got it?”

The manager must have squeezed quite a bit of money out of that man, as he handed over two 50,000 won bills. Even as closing time approached, the swelling on Eunseong’s cheek hadn’t subsided and continued to worsen. His mouth must have been cut inside too, as he tasted the metallic tang of blood every time he swallowed.

“…My mouth is cut inside.”

“Is it? Aish, that bastard. If he drank so much, he should have just gone home and slept it off nicely.”

The manager turned his head as if looking back at the customer who was already gone, grumbling.

“I don’t think just ointment will be enough.”

“…”

The manager’s eyes surveyed Eunseong with a look that said, “Look at this guy.” Eunseong wanted to protest that it wasn’t just a cut inside his mouth, that it hurt more than that, but he read the situation appropriately.

The manager, who had been staring at Eunseong, took out a wad of cash from his pocket and handed over two more 50,000 won bills.

“I thought you were just quiet, but you’re quite brazen. Is this enough?”

“Yes.”

Eunseong didn’t hint that he knew the manager was making more profit than him from this. He just accepted the bills and kept his mouth shut.

The time Eunseong usually finished his part-time job was around 3 AM. Eunseong’s family wasn’t poor enough to worry about making ends meet. The problem was that his father became violent whenever he drank.

When he wasn’t drinking, his father couldn’t be called a bad father. But when he drank, his father became like a dog. Eunseong now disliked forgiving his drunk father because of how he was when sober. More precisely, he was sick of the process.

Eunseong would feel guilty for hating his father intensely the night before when his father apologized tearfully, saying he was sorry and would never do it again. Then, after being beaten to the point of broken bones by his drunk father again, Eunseong would curse himself for forgiving his father. And the next day, when his father knelt and begged for forgiveness, Eunseong would feel pity for him again. It was a tiresome repetition of this miserable situation.