Chapter 264 – Colorful (6)
The anger was fleeting. Artie said while stroking my head.
“Okay. Now… Is there anything more to talk about?”
“Yes. Yes.”
“Okay, Lucius. Would you like to sleep comfortably today?”
“Are you comfortable?”
Artie grabbed my hand and pulled me up. I followed her to her bedroom her. Even in the bedroom, the bed was right next to it, so we didn’t take a few steps. It was a huge, soft bed. Why did you fuck up on the sofa yesterday? It would have been awesome if he had spurted it like he was swimming here.
Artie seemed to have realized that she liked the bed better. She picked me up and threw me onto the bed.
“Wow!”
Startled, I screamed and fell onto the bed. A soft touch came over me. Embarrassed, I stood up. What? Is today a reverse rape play? It was a bit scary just like that. If Artie gave me the wrong strength, my hips and shoulders would be like crushed egg crackers without a trace to be found.
“Wait a minute, can you wait?”
Artie said that and started rummaging through the cupboard next to the bed. The hem of her dress her rose as she raised her arm. Her thighs were barely visible through her short skirt of her. Glancing at the tip of her panties her, I ran my hand over her erect prick her.
“Found. Now, lie down here.”
“Artie. Aren’t you having sex today?”
“I don’t want to give Lucius the impression that I only want a body.”
Having said that, I couldn’t even rush to have sex. She had the expression of a child, anxious to show off her invention her at her crafting competition her. I couldn’t resist that look at all. In her hand her was a small crystal ball. What? Are we finally moving on to video game play? A lewd play that you record the sex you had yesterday and watch again today?
“This is a bead that helps you sleep better.”
“A bead that helps you sleep well…”
“What? Don’t you like something?”
“No. I think it’s too good. I also felt sleep deprived.”
I slightly reflected on my own dirtyness of thinking only about sex. She seemed a little puzzled by my reaction. I said, rubbing Artie’s butt.
“Then Artie. How do you write this?”
“Lie down here.”
Artie put her crystal ball between them, then held my hand tightly and giggled. Her smiling face looked so happy that I laughed too. Artie said, infusing her crystal ball with her magic her. The bed was so soft that the crystal ball was half buried in the matrix.
Artie stroked my hair. Then she stroked my cheek and then she tapped the crystal ball. As the faint scent spread, her crystal ball began to glow strangely.
“I wanted to lay down and sleep like this for a day or so. With the one I love, we hold hands tightly like this and go to sleep.”
“It’s good. What effect does this have?”
“It’s a bead that makes you feel nostalgic. It reminds me of my childhood and memories.”
“Once upon a time?”
My eyes were hazy. I dozed off and rubbed my eyes. Artie seemed to be sleepy as well. The sound of the music was muffled. The light emitted from the crystal ball enveloped all directions. I heard Artie’s faint voice of his.
“I always used this to dream about the day I first met you when you were gone. Lucius. Will you dream of me too?”
With her voice her, I fell into a deep, deep sleep.
*****
Beep – beep – beep -.
The sound of the alarm woke me up. 4 a.M. It was time to go deliver the newspaper. I scratched my head and looked back. There, her sister her was lying on the bed, fast asleep. Her face her was dry. Her pale skin showed signs of sickness, and she seemed to be saying, ‘I’m hopeless.’
Without saying a word, I closed the door to the hospital room and left the hospital. The man at the newspaper company who had set up the area for me to do today was warming up at the stove, smoking a cigarette. I loaded the newspaper on my motorcycle and rode through the streets at dawn.
The sun was starting to rise just as I was putting the last newspaper in the mailbox. At that time, I sat down on the steps of the neighborhood at the top of the mountain and looked at the sunrise. In sunny weather as always, the sunlight was shining hopefully over the city.
“Fuck.”
A morning in which the chill of dawn has dissipated. I changed clothes for work at the convenience store. The clothes I took off yesterday were still piled up in the washing machine. I pressed the washer button, crouched in the bathroom, and started taking a shower. In this space where the sink and toilet are overlapping each other, I always had to shower while bowing to the sink.
There was no shampoo. I had to wash my hair roughly with soap. There was water stains everywhere on the mirror. Thinking that this too will have to be cleaned someday, I have never cleaned this scale. They say that lack of time is an excuse, but to me it was reality.
9 o’clock. I entered the convenience store. Convenience store night part-time job greeted me with a blank face. As soon as I finished calculating the money, he gave me a rough idea of the handover, and he infiltrated the passers-by like a ghost. I picked up a rag and wiped the shelves and table. The indifferent text from the manager of the convenience store annoyed me.
[Report to work]
[Yes. I’m at work and I’m currently cleaning. President.]
“Fuck.”
I stuffed my phone into my pocket and mopped again. Around lunchtime, a man who works at a nearby construction site came in looking for a strange cigarette. There was no cigarette with a name I had never heard of before. He cursed at me for not knowing how to find cigarettes.
“Hey, fuck. You don’t even sell cigarettes? Fuck you. Hey. Give me some coffee.”
He tossed me a coin and said so. 1000 won. It was the price of a can of coffee. I silently left the stall and handed over a can of coffee. The construction worker looked at the coffee I offered and nodded.
“Hey, if you’re going to give it to an adult, you have to give it with both hands dude.”
“Sorry.”
I bowed my head and apologized. I wanted to hit it like a heart, but I couldn’t. It was because the manager of the convenience store said he would cut his hair if he fought with a customer one more time. The worker spat on the floor and kicked his tongue out. I had to wash the mop again. There were dirty footprints next to the yellow spittle marks.
“Fuck.”
5pm. The boss came From 5 to 10 the boss always guarded the store. He was very clumsy in trusting others like a man of this era, so he hated both nighttime and daytime jobs. He tapped the calculator with a hard face and glanced at me again. Those eyes. He looked at me with eyes eager to cut his salary.
“What is cleaning?”
I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. The store manager may not even know what he is pointing out. It was clear that he would create problems roughly as I said. The reason he was angry today must have been a problem that was a little higher than cleaning and had some complicated circumstances that I couldn’t figure out.
Perhaps he lost another million won in a card game, or he was scolded by his wife for having a poor bed. I was just a tool to vent the manager’s anger today. He checked his discarded items his one last time. After counting the discarded items one by one, he asked me.
“Didn’t you take the scrap?”
“No.”
“Young. If you’re going to take it, take a picture of it and pay for it. Okay? The man is desperately trying to eat something wasteful.”
He grumbled as if he was muttering to himself, then rolled his eyes again and spoke to me.
“Answer.”
“Yes.”
The convenience store is over. 5:15, later than expected. I took off my uniform and ran straight to the main street. A part-time job serving at a bar that started because it was close to a convenience store. The kitchen was already busy preparing the ingredients. The restaurant owner was outside smoking and watching me come.
“Go quickly, kid.”
“Sorry.”
I hurriedly changed my clothes and stood in front of the guests. I was tired, but I had to endure it. If I only worked until 1 o’clock, today’s work was over.
If working at a bar is an advantage, is it that you don’t have time to think about anything else? People were busy calling my name and beckoning, and I wrote down the menus they gave me, handed them over to the kitchen, and moved to the next table. There were always smiles on the faces of the customers seated at the table. As if ordering food is the happiest thing in the world for them. He drew numbers with his fingers and spoke in a lively voice.
“Hey, why is there so no energy when talking to customers? Hey. Smile. To laugh.”
The president’s hand his pressed the corner of his mouth and lifted it up. I forced a smile. The boss said that he was satisfied with my expression.
“Right. Like that. You’re good.”
The call bell rang. I went to the guests again.
“Yes, what can I help you with?”
“Yes. One of our Cajun salads here. Hey, would you like to try this? Excuse me. Is it tasty?”
“Ah… Yes. Everything in our store is delicious.”
I grinned. I laughed and my body trembled. It seemed that I had become a broken person somehow. Where did it come from? I couldn’t tell.
1 a.M. Time off work.
“Fuck.”
I headed to the hospital. The newspaper delivery location was closer to the hospital than to the house. In the hospital room, my brother was lying with his eyes closed today. There was no improvement in her sickness of her. Words of meaningless life-prolonging treatment have often been heard. That word was very funny to me. It’s a pointless prolonging treatment. Then what have I been living for?
When my sister passed away, my whole life was filled with meaningless things. Pointless anger. A pointless morning newspaper delivery. Meaningless serving, meaningless manager, meaningless smile, meaningless nursing. She didn’t need her nursing care for her. Because she was nothing more than a meaningless existence that only received and ate IVF. I turned on her cell phone and looked at the time.
It’s 1:30 now. Now, when I fall asleep, I can sleep for 2 hours and 30 minutes. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.
“Fuck.”
*****
“Aaaaagh!”
I woke up screaming. Terrible things from the past were running through my head. A cold sweat took over my body. She, who was fast asleep next to her, woke up startled by my screams.
“Lucius? What is it? Huh? Why?”
“Ah…”
This is reality. Just in case, I pinched my cheeks several times. It was a clear reality. I breathed out her and looked at her. She was worried that I might have brought up bad memories because of the crystal ball she gave her.
“It’s okay. It just reminded me of some bad memories.”
The memories were still vivid. I felt dirty. So much
