Chapter 8
With Cha Seung-pyo gone, Jung-han busied himself getting the cafe ready to open.
When the clock hit 11 PM, a jingle sounded.
Jingle-jingle
The bell above the glass door jingled as customers came in.
"Welcome to the Cafe of the Dead!"
"No need to yell. Everyone knows what this place is."
Suk-hee waved him off and gave a dry chuckle.
Embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his neck, and Suk-hee raised an eyebrow, saying...
"The same as yesterday. You know?"
"Yep! One warm vanilla latte, coming right up."
"It's the only thing I drink, so keep 'em coming."
"You got it!"
Suk-hee looked like she was in her late teens, but her name gave it away – she had to be from around a hundred years ago.
Seriously, how much good karma do you need to rack up to come back again after just one day?
'I wonder if she has a ton of those invitation tickets?'
Next time Cha Seung-pyo shows up, I gotta ask him about Suk-hee.
He said he talked to her, so he's gotta know something.
He thought this over while taking orders and pulling shots of espresso.
He'd cranked up the boiler higher than yesterday, so even with the customers' icy breath, he didn't feel cold.
"Hello."
While he was busy with the espresso, a familiar voice came from behind him.
He turned and saw Kim Jin-sung, who was smiling warmly.
"Jin-sung, you're here?"
"Haha… I'm here again."
"What'll it be today? Americano, like yesterday?"
"Yeah, an Americano sounds good."
Kim Jin-sung rubbed his cold hands together and looked around, then cleared his throat a few times and asked,
"Uh...and today...if you're not too busy, could you maybe listen to my story?"
Jung-han looked stunned.
'Here we go.'
A customer who was actually opening up to him.
This was the first time he'd had a chance to really talk to someone while working at the cafe.
He was secretly glad it was Kim Jin-sung.
Jung-han was also curious about Kim Jin-sung's life.
"I'm curious about your story, too, Kim Jin-sung."
"Ah, then… can I sit here?"
"Yeah, have a seat."
Kim Jin-sung sat down in the single seat attached to the counter and silently watched Jung-han working.
The barstool might've been uncomfortable, but he clearly didn't care.
He looked excited, nervous, and embarrassed all at once about telling his story.
Jung-han quickly delivered coffee to the six customers who had entered the cafe and finally handed a warm Americano to Kim Jin-sung.
Kim Jin-sung held the mug with both hands, looking like he didn't know where to start.
Jung-han waited patiently, and finally, Kim Jin-sung started talking.
"I am… a worthless person."
Right from the start, Jung-han knew this wouldn't be easy.
Another soul with low self-esteem.
Jung-han placed the Americano he was going to drink on the counter, met Kim Jin-sung's eye level, and asked,
"Why do you think so?"
"I was over thirty and still broke... I just made my parents suffer...and I couldn't even pay them back before...well, before this."
Kim Jin-sung's voice trailed off, his lips moving slightly.
He must not have talked about his feelings much when he was alive. You could tell by how shy he was.
Kim Jin-sung hesitated, then started talking about his past.
"When I was young… I had many friends and a lively personality. I wasn't as timid as I am now."
"Really? I can't imagine it."
"Haha...yeah. I don't even know when I got like this. At some point, I just got scared to look people in the eye...when I did, I'd start breathing fast and my heart would pound…"
These were typical symptoms of depression.
He also seemed to have social phobia.
And this guy had actually started the conversation. That took guts.
The fact that he'd forced himself to take that first step meant Kim Jin-sung had potential.
Jung-han...wanted to honor that courage.
"Is it uncomfortable for you to look at my face too?"
"Ah, you, Jung-han? A little...it's a bit embarrassing."
Kim Jin-sung glanced up and then lowered his gaze again.
Instead of answering, Jung-han nodded and picked up his mug.
"How about we cheers, take a sip, and then talk?"
"Ah, yes."
He thought it was right to match Kim Jin-sung's pace rather than putting pressure on him.
Kim Jin-sung held his mug with both hands and cheered with Jung-han.
He took a sip, let out a breath, and continued.
"I am… not a guitarist."
"You're not a guitarist, but you play so well?"
"Yes, actually, I'm a singer-songwriter."
Kim Jin-sung smiled shyly and looked down.
"I didn't know you sang, too. Can I check out your stuff online somewhere?"
"There are some… but I'm a bit embarrassed about that…"
Jung-han had already looked him up, but he didn't push it since Kim Jin-sung didn't want to talk about it.
Kim Jin-sung hesitated for a moment, then soon spoke with trembling lips.
"My life… has been a series of scams and betrayals."
"What?"
Kim Jin-sung gave a bitter smile.
"When I was young, everyone liked it when I sang. My family, friends, and girlfriend. So I had a dream of becoming a singer."
"You had a talent for singing."
"I don't know if it was talent...I just loved it. Singing, and seeing people's faces when they listened to my songs."
So this is what it looks like when someone talks about their dream.
Kim Jin-sung's eyes shone purely as he talked about his dream.
But Kim Jin-sung's expression soon turned bitter.
"Then when I turned twenty… I joined an entertainment agency for the first time."
"You got closer to your dream."
"I thought so. Until then."
Kim Jin-sung's hands, holding the mug, began to tremble.
Was it the sad memories?
No.
The look in his eyes was pure rage.
Jung-han asked carefully...
"Can you tell me what happened?"
"The whole contract was a scam. How was a naive twenty-year-old supposed to know any better? How was I supposed to know if there was something wrong with it?"
"…"
"I couldn't even get on stage once while I was there. They didn't give me a chance."
"Why?"
"My face… isn't exactly a likable face, is it?"
To be honest, Kim Jin-sung's face is on the scary side.
With his long hair, you would believe he was a heavy metal musician.
When Jung-han nodded, Kim Jin-sung closed his eyes tightly and seemed to calm his mind.
He must have been bottling up so much anger, to look so empty when he sighed.
Kim Jin-sung took a sip of coffee and spoke in a calmer voice.
"I joined as an aspiring singer, but they kept making me compose songs."
"You must have had a talent for composing?"
"Composing...I love it. I really...love making songs."
Kim Jin-sung's eyes welled up with tears as he talked about what he liked.
How much heartache must a person go through to become like this?
He was talking about something he loved, but you could hear the hate, too. Had he come to hate the thing he loved most?
Jung-han handed him a tissue and looked at him silently.
Kim Jin-sung sniffled once, wiped the tears from his eyes, and then cleared his throat and continued to speak.
"The songs I made… I couldn't sing them."
"So you came to resent the agency that didn't give you a chance."
"Yes. They even gave the songs I made to other singers in the same company."
"What? Can they give them away without Kim Jin-sung's permission?"
"At first, I was just a nobody, so I sucked it up. But it kept happening, so I finally said something. That's when they showed me the contract."
Contract fraud… was this what he meant by that?
As Jung-han made a somber expression, Kim Jin-sung continued to speak, shedding hot tears.
"If only...if only I'd gotten the copyrights...I wouldn't be so damn bitter and angry."
"You didn't even receive the copyrights?"
"I told you, the whole contract was a scam. Since I was signed to them...the contract said everything I created belonged to the company."
"What the f…"
He almost swore out loud.
Jung-han fully understood Kim Jin-sung's feelings, but he had to remain calm.
If Jung-han also got angry, Kim Jin-sung might not be able to control his anger, and his resentment might turn into hatred and turn him into an evil spirit.
Jung-han closed his eyes tightly, calmed his mind with a deep breath, and then asked in a calm voice.
"Couldn't you do anything legally? Sue them for breach of contract, copyright infringement, something?"
"There were also problems with the penalty clause in the contract, and I had to prove that I composed these songs… but there was no way to prove it."
"Why not? They are songs that Kim Jin-sung himself made."
"Because they were songs worked on at the company. They said it couldn't be proven because I didn't have any personal files."
Jung-han clenched his fists and bit his lip.
Otherwise, he felt like he would swear.
So this is what they mean when they say the weak are trapped by the law, and the strong get to bend it to their will.
Jung-han was so angry he could've exploded.
Regardless, Kim Jin-sung continued to speak.
"I was just a kid; I couldn't handle it alone. It was me against a whole company."
"…"
"And if I fought it in court...I'd waste at least 3 or 4 years of my life. I figured it'd be faster to just walk away and start over."
"What's the name of that place?! We should blast them all over the internet...!"
"It's gone."
He said it with a hollow emptiness.
Jung-han froze, and Kim Jin-sung gave a bitter smile.
"There was a singer who became successful with a song I composed, and that singer filed a lawsuit against the company. Regarding wage arrears."
"Then...at least there's that."
"Yeah, right? At first, I thought, 'Karma's a bitch.' But then I heard the CEO just changed the company name and started all over again."
"That son of a bitch."
Rage boiled inside him, but Jung-han didn't show it outwardly.
He rested his chin on his hands and listened to Kim Jin-sung's story seriously.
Kim Jin-sung looked dejectedly at his mug.
How angry and how much heartache must he have endured?
He must have been too angry to sleep every night.
He must have also blamed and resented himself for signing the contract.
That feeling of being angry at yourself.
Jung-han knew better than anyone how painful that was.
He'd felt it himself, paying off his parents' 300 million won debt - all that resentment and the feeling of being wronged.
Kim Jin-sung must have also lamented his foolish youth.
The problem is, after you beat yourself up like that for so long...
'Everything burns down and only ashes remain.'
Human emotions are like wildflowers. When you are happy, flowers bloom and sprouts grow in the field, but a heart filled with anger, resentment, and hatred burns down in a constant firestorm.
If you burn away all your emotions, all that remains at the end is ruins.
Jung-han figured that was depression.
Jung-han saw himself in Kim Jin-sung.
The tear-soaked pillow, the feeling that everything was pointless, the urge to give up - he'd had that same look on his face.
Maybe that's what people meant by 'kindred spirits.'
Jung-han...he'd managed to pull himself out of it, but it looked like Kim Jin-sung hadn't.
When Jung-han didn't say anything, Kim Jin-sung took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
"Still… I couldn't give up. Because I had loving parents, and also a loving girlfriend."
"…"
"I was twenty-five when I left the entertainment agency like that without making any money. From then on, I worked as a singer-songwriter… and my girlfriend supported me."
At the word "twenty-five," Jung-han flinched without realizing it.
