A glass of drink (술 한 잔 eng.ver)

That day marked over a year since I had landed a job at a company in Seoul and started my professional life.

"Ugh, it's cold."

I exhaled a white breath as I opened the car door. Winter was approaching, and it was already chilly by late November. Thursday was always tough for office workers, and I got into the car that I had bought on installment a few months ago to head back home. As soon as I sat on the car seat, a shiver ran down my spine.

"Ewww."

I quickly turned on the ignition and the heater. As warm air started blowing out, I felt my body gradually thawing. I left the company's parking lot, cautiously releasing my foot from the brake pedal, feeling like a melted snowman.

「…Snow is falling in some parts of the region today, causing traffic accidents on some roads...」

I listened to the radio to keep myself alert while driving, but suddenly my phone rang.

「Dancing~」

I thought it might be from my company, so I picked it up, but I realized I couldn't answer while driving. I decided to wait until I reached a stoplight.

Ddook.

However, the phone stopped ringing before I could answer it. I checked the caller ID, but there was no information.

"What could it be? A spam call? A voice phishing? A loan company?"

I was relieved that I didn't answer.

「Ring」

A message came in.

「Hey, let's drink when you get a job. Buy me some booze.」

The sender's number was also unknown. I thought it might be from one of my hometown friends.

"Who's this? If you want to have a drink, you should tell me who you are."

I grumbled and immediately called my friend who was likely to do such a thing.

"Did you call me?"

It was my best friend from hometown.

"What call?"
"The one asking me to buy booze. It was a restricted number. Was it you?"
"Nope. I'm on my way to the hospital right now."

He said it wasn't him. It seemed like he really wasn't. I thought maybe it was advertising or voice phishing.

"Really? Then maybe it's an advertisement."
"Or maybe it's voice phishing."
"Could be. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Take it easy."

I was about to end the call, but he said,

"Hey, come down tomorrow night."
"Why? Oh, it's Friday tomorrow. You want to hang out on the weekend? I don't think I can make it. Oh, the light just turned green. I'll call you back later."

I said that and quickly hung up the phone.

"...Talking about alcohol makes me want to drink."

 

 

I thought to myself as I arrived at my studio apartment and had a can of beer and dinner before going to sleep.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

「Dancing~」

"Who the hell is calling at this hour?"

I cursed and looked at my phone screen. There was no number displayed.

"Goddammit..."

I declined the call and didn't answer. I went back to sleep, but then the phone rang again.

「Dancing~」

This time, I picked up the phone, intending to curse at the caller.

"Hey, Ggangmin(It refers to a nickname called between friends,kyungmin)! Are you sleeping?"

I hesitated when I heard the nickname from my school days.

"…Who...?"
"It's me, Hwajoon."
"Oh, Hwajoon! Long time no see!"
"It's been a long time."

I was surprised to hear his name after such a long time, but then I realized that he had been calling me repeatedly.

"Hey, you kept calling me and sent a text asking me to buy alcohol, right?"
"Yeah."
"Why did you call me with a blocked caller ID?"
"My phone is broken."

I sighed and said, shaking my head.

"Ugh... Anyway, why are you calling at this hour?"
"I've been trying to reach you for a while. You didn't answer."
"Oh, I see. Okay, okay."

Then Hwajoon said,

"Hey, buy me some alcohol."
"I'll buy you some if we meet up. I'm in Seoul right now. How can I buy you alcohol? Besides, it's the middle of the night."
"I thought you were going to buy me some when you came to Seoul."
"...Wait, you're in Seoul right now?"
"Yeah."
"Really!?"

I was surprised by his answer.

"What's up in Seoul? Did you get a job?"
"No, I'm on my way to an job interview."
"Oh, I see. So, are you calling me for a drink after the interview?"
"No, I didn't even have the interview yet. I'm not even drinking right now."

I had a rough idea of what this guy's intentions were.

"… So, did you contact me because you have nowhere to sleep? Are you asking me to let you stay overnight?"
"No, I want you to buy me some drinks. You said you'd buy me some if you got a job. I have to rest. I'll have some of the drinks you buy, then leave."
"Hey, come on. I have to work tomorrow. I'll buy you some drinks tomorrow. It's too late now."
"I can't wait until tomorrow. I don't have time. Just buy it now. I'll drink it and then leave. Can I come to your place?"
"Geez, What a persistent fellow."

I said, while getting dressed.

"Fine, then you buy the drinks. I'll send you the address via text. Come over here. I'll give you the money."
"Hey! you're closer to the place! Why don't you buy it?"
"Can't you buy it on your way here? I have to clean up the place first. I'm hanging up now."

I hung up and sent him the address via text.

"Geez, What a persistent bastard. Insisting on drinking it today when we could just eat it tomorrow..."

I grumbled as I got up to clean the house.

「Ding dong」

The doorbell rang.

"Hey, Ggangmin~"

It was Hwajun's voice.

"So soon? Wait, did this guy wait in front of my house and then come over?"

I grumbled as I opened the door.

"You're coming fucking fast"
"It's cold outside."

Hwajun shivered as he came in. I was surprised to see that he didn't have anything in his hands.

"Wait. where's the drinks?"
"You said you'd buy them for me."
"You said you'd give me the money if I bought them."
"Come on, I've never been here before. I don't even know where to buy them."
"What? There's a convenience store right in front of here! If you had bought it on your way here, you would have gone back and forth twice during the time you waited in front of my house."

While I was complaining, Hwajun laid down on my bed.

"I don't know. I just came to mooch off you. Hey, your place is nice. You got a place in Seoul and everything. You've made it, Ggangmin."
"Are you kidding me? What's good about this? It's just a small one-room apartment that I'm renting."

I said as I took out some frozen pork cutlets from the fridge and put them in a frying pan. Hwajun asked from the bed.

"How much is the rent?"
"10 million won in deposit and 450,000 won in monthly rent. There is no maintenance fee."
"Crazy."
"Seoul is like that everywhere. If you want to find a livable house, this is what you get."
"Even if I got a job, I wouldn't be able to live."
"Can't live? You'll be able to live once you start living there. So, make sure you do well on your interview and come back soon."

I said that as I set the table for dinner. Hwajun sat down in front of the table and said,

"Oh, I'm done. I'm going to a better place."
"A better place? Where? Do you want to go abroad?"
"Forget about going abroad. I can't even speak Korean properly."
"Yeah. Your TOEIC score is really bad......"
"Ah, shut up."

Hwajun cut me off at my dis. I chuckled and said as I went to flip the pork cutlets,

"Make sure you do well on your interview. I'm doing all the cooking at this time."
"Don't you buy any alcohol?"
"Oh, Shit, Come on. you're really obsessed with alcohol."

 

I said that as I took out a bottle of Maesudaem from the fridge.

"Since you're not in the mood to go out now, have a drink at least."
"Not that one! You came here because you said you were buying alcohol."
"Ah, you brat....."

I restrained myself from getting angry and prepared a plate to put the pork cutlets on. Then I spoke calmly,

"Listen. It's a midnight, I have to go to work tomorrow, and it's really cold outside. Let's just have this for today. I'll buy some tomorrow. Tomorrow is Friday, right?"

I said that and transferred the pork cutlets to the plate and brought it to the table. But Hwajun stubbornly objected again,

"No, I only need to drink one glass of what you bought. Then I'll go."

'Why does this brat like this, really? Fuckin' stubborn.'

I was getting annoyed. However, I remembered the habit of inviting him to drink together before getting a job and not being able to go to a drinking party. And then I remembered promising to buy him drinks after getting a job several times.

'Well, He's a job applicants and had come to seoul for the interview, and came for me, so......'

I tried to think positively and suppressed my anger again, saying,

"Hey, that soju was bought with my money anyway, right? Drink that first and I'll buy more later. Just drink it for now."
"......Okay."

Hwajun nodded reluctantly. I brought the silverware and asked,

"But what company is the interview for?"
"ㅇㅇ."
"ㅇㅇ? Wow, did you pass the initial screening there? Hey, I really hope you do well! It's a big hit if you get in."
"......Yeah. I don't think it's going to work anyway, but I should have just not left…"
"Hey! Why are you jumping to conclusions already!? Be confident!"

I patted Hwajun on the shoulder, who looked depressed, and said,

"Did I know I would work for this company? Have some confidence."
"…okey."

Seems somewhat bitter, so I changed the subject.

"Hey, isn't it amazing? I never thought we're doing like this. Do you remember Hyun-soo? You know him, right, Hyunsoo?"
"Of course, I know."
"He's pursuing a  Doctor of Engineering program in Japan now. I didn't know he would get in graduate school. He used to fucking hate studying."
"He's back in Korea now."
"Huh? Hyunsoo?"

I was surprised by the unexpected news.
While eating folk cutlets, Hwajoon said,

"Yeah, he came at night."
"When? Today?"
"Now it's already yesterday."
"What? Suddenly?"
"Yeah, we will meet everyone on the weekend."

His words reminded me of my conversation with my best friend earlier.

"Oh, is that because Hyunsoo came down for the weekend?"

I said that and filled my glass with alcohol, saying,

 "I want to see everyone after a long time."

Hwajoon looked at me and said,

"But can you go if you live in another area? It's not easy. I didn't think Hyunsoo could come, and you're even busier than him."
"Well, I'll have to go if I have to."
"You might not be able to if you're busy. Anyway, it's okay to see this time, right?"
"Well, I have to see how things go first... Should I go down?"
"I wanted to see everyone after a long time... Whatever, I can."

Hwajoon started talking about the past.

"We used to gather so often back then, remember? When we were 20 and went to the bar? At that time..."

But after drinking and since it was already dawn, I gradually became sleepy while listening to Hwajoon's story.

"...So that's why we... Hey, are you sleeping?"
"...."
"Hey, Ggangmin! Ggangmin!"
"…Huh?"
"Are you sleeping?"
"Umm, I dozed off."

After checking the time, I found out it was already past 5 in the morning.

"Hey, I'll sleep for just 10 minutes."

I said that and slowly climbed onto the bed.

"Hey! Sleep after buy drinks!"
"Oh, just for 10 minutes."

Then I covered myself with the blanket.

"Hey!"

Thump

Hwajoon shouted loudly, causing my phone, which was on the bed, to fall and hit the floor. Whether he does or not, too lazy to bother, so I flipped the blanket over and lay down, as if I didn't want to listen to anything.

"Sleep After! I told you I'll go if you bought me a drink!"

Hwajoon's voice sounded like it was coming from far away, but in front of me. I'm burying my head in the pillow and say,

"Just 10 more minutes, please...10 more..."
"Hey!"

I tried to say something and tell him to shut up, but I felt something strange. The pillow started to wriggle.

"Buy me a drink!"

Hwajoon's face popped out of the pillow and yelled at me.

"Aargh!"

I was startled and sat up straight.

"...Huh?"

There was no one in the house. And a faint, hazy light was coming in through the window. I saw Hwajoon's glass filled to the brim, my empty glass, and a soju bottle that was slightly less than half full.

"…Did he leave? Well, that guy. He keeps asking me to buy him drinks and gives me weird dreams."

I guessed he'd gone home, andI went back to sleep.



「Beep beep beep-」

It was already the point where the snooze alarm had gone off three times, so I wasn't sure how deeply I had been sleeping.

"Oh, shit! Campany!"

I hurriedly got ready and left for work. Without thinking about anything else, I drove straight to the office.

"Good morning~"

I barely made it to work on time. And I worked frantically until lunchtime, when I finally remembered Hwajoon.

'...I hope he did well on his interview. Is he still in an interview now?'

As I thought about it, I suddenly realized that I didn't know when Hwajoon's interview was.

"...When is the interview?"

I checked the recruitment notice for the company that Hwajoon mentioned online. And I looked up the interview date.

"Huh?"

My eyes widened. The interview was yesterday.

"...Poor guy……. You didn't do well on the interview. Why didn't you be honest with me... Why did pretend not to go……?"

I feel sad. I wished I could comfort him a bit more. I looked up Hwajoon's number to suggest grabbing a drink in the evening if he hadn't left yet. However, he didn't answer the phone even after a while had passed. Only when I heard the message that he couldn't receive calls did I remember what Hwajoon had said.

"Oh, right. He said his phone broke."

Suddenly, I remembered what Hyunsoo had said about everyone getting together after he arrived. I called Hyunsoo.

"Hello. Hyunsoo, I heard that you arrived in Korea last night."
"Yeah, I came in hastily last night."
"Are you all meeting up this time? Should I come down too?"
"Of course, you MUST come!"

Hyunsoo sounded a bit annoyed.

"Okay, okay. Saturday? So, tomorrow?"
"You have to come down today. We're leaving tomorrow morning."
"What? Leaving?"
"Yeah, leaving."

I was taken aback by this strange conversation. "Leaving?" I couldn't even understand what the word meant in this context.

Then, I heard my best friend's voice next to him. I could hear them talking about something with Hyunsoo. Suddenly, the voice changed to my best friend's.

"Hey, Ggangmin."
"Oh, Were you with Hyunsoo?"
"...What? Are you saying this without knowing? Or do you know this and saying?"
"What?"
"Didn't you hear the news?"
"What news? Hyunsoo came to Korea?"

There was a brief silence. Then, I heard my best friend talking to someone else. Then, I heard other people's voices after he changing speaker phone.

Then, my best friend said:

"Who did to tell you that Hyunsoo was coming from? No one has had time to tell you yet because everyone's so busy."
"From Hwajoon."
"What?"
"He came to my house in the middle of the night, saying he was here to drink with us because he had an interview."
"……."

No one said anything. Then, my best friend suddenly spoke with a trembling voice.

"Fuck. Don't be lie. It's bullshit."
"What lie?"
"How could Hwajoon… Stop saying absurd things… It's nonsenser, just you…"
"What nonsense? He insisted on buying me a drink yesterday and left. He came here because I had said I'd buy for him a drink before."

I muttered in complaint.

"He came at dawn to say he was going to get a drink. He kept telling me to buy a drink, and he said he was going to have a drink. After then, he left. He didn't usually do that shit...…. Maybe it's because I failed the interview...…. Well, after all, I couldn't buy it because I fell asleep."

I said it bitterly.

"Anyway, so I was going to buy him a drink today, but he said his phone was broken and his number disappeared…"
"Hey."

My best friend suddenly cut me off. His voice is seriously shakying. Then he took a breath and said in a voice that sank heavily.

"We are now… in Hwajun's funeral."
"…what?"
"He was on my way to a job interview yesterday and his car slipped on the icy road. He died in an accident."

When I heard it, I felt like all the blood in my body froze in an instant. My best friend said over the phone.

"…buy a drink on your way."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This short story is written by me in Korean in the past.

And I got ChatGPT's help in translation.(I made some changes and edit after I asked ChatGPT to translate it.)

 

I tried it as a test using my short story, so if you are an English-speaking person, I would appreciate it if you could leave a comment(about story or translation).

I will gather opinions and refer to what I will do in the future.

 

Thank you for reading it.