A disaster comes without a warning.
Being stupefied, I asked myself a question. Would it feel like this when the sky falls and the ground breaks under my feet?
I was certain that my eyes were unfocused as I held my bankbook. My face might have looked funny for the outsiders, but I could not afford to care about my outer appearance.
"Please, check it again!!"
Eun-Jong who was by my side also requested the same thing to the bank employee multiple times, but every time the bankbook showed zero in its balance column. We were slowly catching up to the reality of our situation.
Eun-Jong was shouting now, so I grabbed his arm and went outside.
"What are you going to do now? Today, you needed that money for the room lease."
That wasn't the only place I needed those money for.. I also needed them to register for the next semester. This was stupid.. I was done by a pickpocket. I barely swallowed my sigh as I held, now empty, my bookbag.
I was discharged this January and stayed in Jeon-Ju* until few weeks ago. I had to come up to Seoul* because the semester will be starting in March.
*Jeon-Ju is one of the states and Seoul is the capital city of the South Korea*
I had to find a room and a part-time, so I stayed with Eun-Jong's small place for a few days few weeks before the semester starts. Today was the day that I decided to sign a contract with a landlord after some research.
However, when I received a phone call from my family that they transferred my money to my bankbook, a pickpocket stole my wallet during the ten minute walk from a cash dispenser that I stopped to check the transfer status to the bank where Eun-Jong met with me just a moment ago.
And.. when I came into the bank to take my money, they were all gone. What is this frustrating situation?!!
"Do..you remember where you got your wallet stolen? F***..Even if we go to the police, they are not going to catch that pickpocket.."
“… Crystal wing”
"What?"
"There was this person whom I bumped into in front of the cash dispenser…It must be that bastard. Crystal wing."
Eun-Jong looked up at me with question in his eyes. Instead of explaining my suspicion right away, I pushed my empty bag up to his face.
"What are you doing?"
Startled, Eun-Jong went back a step, but I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him in.
"This smell. It's a perfume.. I think it's Crystal wing. The pickpocket transferred the smell over to my bag when he came close to steal my wallet.
I gritted my teeth as I spoke with confidence. Eun-Jong, understanding what I wanted him to do, sniffed my bag and looked up, tilting his head.
"I can't really tell. It is the first time I hear about Crystal wing. Also, how do you know all this when you don't like perfumes?"
"I know because I hated this perfume. When I was serving in the military, one of my subordinate's girlfriend always sent her letter sprayed with this perfume. I heard that the perfume was very expansive and rare."
"So…?"
"I am going to catch him myself."
That money was like my blood and tears…
"How?"
It is.. obvious what I am going to do..
"I am going to stakeout."
I stared at the roughly drawn map in my hand as I turned a corner. As soon as I turned, I saw a seven-floor building and on the first floor of that building I found the place I was looking for. The sign said, 'BLUE BIRD' on that first floor.
When I looked down at my watch, the time was few minutes before six o'clock.
The over-all look of the place exuded luxury with its marble like finishing material. I stared up at the big heavy door that was black and had no decoration. Now that I noticed the lack of décor, except for the sign that read 'BLUE BIRD', the building felt desolate.
I was hesitant to go into the building for a few reasons. First, I wasn't very confident about the roughly drawn map in my hand. Second, the building was located near an adult entertainment district. Third, there were not many people around the area since I had to walk away from the populated area and had to pass through numbers of alleyways in some odd corners to get to this location. Lastly, the exact account for receiving the information about this part-time was little questionable.
To learn of a way to get a student loan, I stopped by my school for a counseling. On my way back, I made a detour to the office of my major, hoping for some advice. There, in the office, I met a senior who worked as a teaching assistant.
He explained that, because it was almost time for the semester to start, he often came to the office to help the professor with a preparation for the classes. But the strange thing about him was that he looked jittery when he met my eyes.
My gut told me that something was up, but I ignored it. Instead, I told the teaching assistant about my situation. As soon as I finished, he abruptly told me about this part-time that payed very well.
According to the teaching assistant, I met all of the criteria for the part-time and emphasized that they were searching for someone like me.
Since I lost all my money for the tuition and security deposit for my room, I had to make money, fast. However desperate I was, I still could not get rid of the nagging feeling about the part-time opportunity that was given to me by a teaching assistant whom I barely knew.
But, I came all the way here.. Nominally, they were looking for a kitchen porter who can work from eight PM to five AM, the next day. According to the teaching assistant, the pay was very high, like bulging-your-eye balls high. Bracing myself, I walked toward the suspicious building.
Wow.. His eye balls are going to fall out. I thought to myself as I stood in front of the chief of the kitchen that I might work in. The chief was currently busy rolling his big frog like eyes right and left, studying, almost glaring at, me and three other applicants.
The person who introduced himself as the chief of the kitchen looked like he was in his early forties. Maybe he did not like what he saw, because he had Chinese water character* between his brows. Without a word, the chief checked us out up and down.
*Chinese water character looks like this: 川*
"You and you, go home."
When he finally opened his mouth, the chief pointed his fingers at two people and, without a warning, dismissed them. The two people who were eliminated right away looked shocked.
"What?"
"What do you mean-"
"Quite. People like you guys who don't clean their hands, come in with a messy hair, and don't wear their clothes properly don't deserve to come into my kitchen. Get out!"
The chief glared his big eyes and firmly ordered the two people with his wild face. The two people complained to themselves as they walked out the building.
This is no joke.. It was a big surprise when I walked into the spacious kitchen. In the kitchen, there was the neatly dressed chief, two other cooks, and one more kitchen assistant. It was like I was in a decent restaurant.
But.. I could not wrap my brain around the idea of this building being a restaurant because it really did not look like a restaurant.
Even though I could not see what was inside the building, since I had to enter through the back door, I could tell that from afar there were many private rooms that had bar attached to them, it was more appropriate to call the place a bar that presents nightly entertainment.
For a moment, I contemplated on the true identity of 'BLUE BIRD' when I heard the chief's husky voice.
"Even though there are two of you left, don't think for a second that one of you will definitely be hired. If neither of you can pass the test, none of you will stay."
Test? From this moment, I felt that something was strange. Of course, I thought it was strange from the beginning but now that they mention the test, more questions popped into my head. Even if this was an interview to hire an overnight staff, the pay was too much, And, what about the test?! Are they going to test to see which one of us can stack the dishes the highest or which one of us is better at handling knife?
When I was questioning possibly everything in my head, the chief instructed one of the cooks who was standing at the back of the kitchen.
"Hey, Bae Sam-Lyong*. Bring him into the staff lounge."
*Bae is the last name is Sam-Lyong is the first name. Sam Lyong literally, translated to three dragons. One of the biggest comedian was named Bae Sam-Lyong*
Bae Sam-Lyong!! Three dragons.. It is a good name but, at the same time, I could not help but think of Bae Sam-Lyong who was an important figure in Korean comedy industry. It was inevitable that the other applicant and me could not help but hold back our laughs hearing the name.
The person who was called Sam-Lyong tightened his face and bowed his head to leave. Before he left, I faintly heard him complaining.
"I told him it was Bae Seong-Lyong*."
*Seong-Lyong is Korean name for Jacky Cheung*
With a sound, me and the other applicant stiffened in the middle of our laughs with astonishment.
Even though the chief was not a namer*, he nonchalantly renamed someone and disregarded his precious name.
*There are rules that one may follow as a tradition when naming their baby for good fortune and a family can hire a namer for help*
While we were frozen in place with a shock, the chief flicked his pointing finger number of times indicating the other applicant to follow him.
But what is this, so called test that the chief was talking about? I stared at the door that the two figures disappeared to. But I had to stop and turn my head around, because I felt someone watching me.
"…Is there something wrong?"
I asked the other cook and the kitchen assistant who were left behind with me in the kitchen and were obviously staring with much curious expression.
To my question, the cook who looked like he was in his early thirties and was about one seventy centimeter in height asked me a question in return with his * like face, blushing.
*Byeon Kang Soe is a character from an old Korean film. The character goes through a lot of hardship and dies from a disease. However, he is mostly known for nightly activity and for having a manly figure*
(Byeon Kang Soe is the figure on your right)
"Is it true that .. you know our section chief Kim?"
"What?"
Our section chief Kim? The question was out of no where and without any context.
"How do you know him? Eh~ I'm really curious now."
The kitchen assistant who looked younger and about the same height as the cook spoke with a brightly red face. It was a bit awkward hearing a normal looking guy talking through his nose as he blushed, but I ignored it and asked them a question.
"Uhm.."
Ak! I indicated that I wanted to speak when I became overwhelmed by the two figures' eyes full of expectation and curiosity.
Some of my friends told me that because my voice was slightly on the deeper side, even if I say something pointless I sounded serious. However, I did not think that what I was about to say would satisfy the two figures in front of me.
"Who is the section chief Kim?"
"Eh? You don't know section chief Kim? But the director Joe told us that you guys knew each other."
Director Joe, who is that? I promised myself that I would call the teaching assistant as soon as I am done with this interview when I saw the cook and the kitchen assistant secretly talking to each other as they eyed me from the corner of their eyes.
Looking at the short blushing pair in a small space of their own created by their shoulders and their heads, I could not help but compare the two figures with an image of bunch of high school girls gathered in a stir-fried rice cake shop after school for a gossip.
When I was concluding that the people who are working in the kitchen are little strange, the chief who was strangest of the all burst out from the door that the other applicant disappeared to just a few moments ago.
"You! Follow me."
TN: Some parts were bit confusing for me. I had to go search some of the names in this chapter because I don’t know much about Korean film or entertainment industry. Not enthusiastic about all the references