17. Rest
[Albert's flashback begins]
Work has been completed. Thanks to everyone's hard work, the work could be completed safely. Due to headquarters circumstances, the salary scheduled for payment this month will be paid next month, we ask for your understanding. Follow-up work will proceed at the beginning of next month, and we will notify extension personnel individually. Thank you for your hard work. RFPNC Co., Ltd. -
"Hey! Is work finished?"
When the rusty steel door opened, the orange sunset light brilliantly illuminated Albert, who was organizing materials. Through that dazzling light, the face in shadow with its back to the sunlight was laughing excitedly, showing white teeth. It looked so happy that Albert also unknowingly smiled and nodded.
Late afternoon, in the endlessly long procession of workers leaving work, the hard hats worn in the sunset light shone. Albert felt a bittersweet emotion along with the liberating feeling of leaving this place. They would continue to come here to work tomorrow and leave work like this bathed in sunset light. Mixed emotions stirred, but still he felt good thinking that from tomorrow he could sleep to his heart's content until late morning.
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"Go!"
A 999cc red compact car raced endlessly along the coastal road. Despite its small size, it deftly overtook larger cars, running fearlessly on the road. Inside the car, electronic-style club music pounded hearts. Riding the fast speed and facing the wind being sucked in through the windows, they felt liberated. Seeing the blue sea visible in the distance and the sunlight sparkling and shining above it, their hearts stirred. For that moment at least, they threw away anxieties and worries about the future. Just with the thought of going to the sea and meeting blonde girls in bikinis, they were excited with happiness. It was the season of youth, summer.
At the beach they rushed to with swollen hopes in their chests, there was endlessly spreading blue sea and pebbles—so much they couldn't capture it all in one view.
Pebbles.
"It was pebbles, not a sandy beach... Haa..."
Thick Lips sat down with strength leaving his legs while holding pebbles in his hand. The white sand grains and parasols they had imagined, and the sight of young ladies lying in bikinis with oil applied, was nowhere to be found in this pebble yard. As for women, all there were was old divers walking from afar wearing black clothes with white sponge buckets at their waists.
"Hey! You said it was a hot place!"
Thick Lips shouted at Albert.
"It definitely said so. Here. 'A hot place as a Pramo attraction comparable to Nice in southern France where you can enjoy various fresh seafood such as octopus and lobster.'"
"You idiot. Is that hot place the same as that hot place? Ah!"
Thick Lips scratched his head furiously, Albert kept browsing the blog, and the afro hit the back of his head.
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Going up along the eastern coast, there was a small town called 'Bellum.' They tried hard to somehow enjoy their vacation there. At the central seafood market, the most famous place there, various fish species were cultured in square glass aquariums, catching the eyes of passersby. They decided to gift each other fish species they resembled and chose rockfish, eel, and sea cucumber respectively. In the plaza, a sculpture shaped like a bird's beak, the town's symbol, was erected—said to represent clam meat, a local specialty. Between the paths of the old market, street vendors selling miscellaneous goods or hot dogs lined up, and there was also a mailbox that didn't return, called a 'memory stamp.' Of course, they didn't take photos or write mail. They wandered around looking for meeting places full of young people, and only after wandering for a couple hours did they realize it was just a small town in a remote countryside. They gave up looking for women and returned to their lodgings to start drinking while having sashimi from the fish they bought during the day.
"Back then, girls really liked me a lot."
When drunk, Thick Lips inevitably began bragging. This time it was about when he worked as a DJ at a music club. He said he had a talent for arranging music at a young age and would play the music he arranged for free at a music club, and the response was better than expected, and later he was active as a DJ during the golden time between 11:30 PM and midnight when the most customers came.
"I made a lot of money then. After work, girls lined up wanting to have a drink with me!"
Then he fell for a girl and after courting her for about a month following her around, he finally succeeded in dating her, and he even thought about marriage, but the woman opposed the DJ profession so he eventually quit. He said he wanted to marry that woman so much that he gave up the DJ position that was going well, but at the last moment the woman cut off contact and went dark, so his life just floated into the air.
"Ah. I should have continued on that path then. Damn."
He recalled hazy memories with no way to verify whether they were true or false and poured an entire glass of strong whiskey down his throat. The afro wasn't the type to talk much about himself. Thick Lips also said he met him while doing loading and unloading part-time work. (To be precise, they met while fleeing from loading and unloading part-time work.) He had no connections or saved money, and was a mayfly-like man who spent the money he made that day on cigarettes and alcohol. Of course, in this world where there were no jobs, it was the common life of a young person.
"Do you guys remember Michael who worked at the Fix (clothing brand) store? I recently got a text on his phone and looked, and it was a funeral notice. But do you know whose funeral notice it was? It was Michael's own funeral notice. Wow. I was so dumbfounded when I got the text. Goosebumps all over. Whew."
"Why did he die?"
"He broke up with his girlfriend, got fired from his part-time job, and his depression got severe so he committed suicide. Ah really, even though we saw each other just a few months ago. Ha, really. So futile. Fuck. I'm never going to do something like suicide. I'm going to marry a woman with a fucking nice body, have kids, and live until I smear shit on the walls. Fuck."
"You're such an idiot they won't take you even in the afterlife."
"Is that so? Kekeke"
They clinked their glasses bitterly and drank. Young people, especially men, experienced serious mental changes around age 35, and people called that point
"What are you going to do?"
Thick Lips asked Albert.
"I... well..."
"He originally has no thoughts."
"You don't have any thoughts either, you idiot."
"Right, fuck."
They toasted. For a world where nothing had changed and nothing would change.
[Albert's flashback ends]