WeTried Translations

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◈ The Hunting Genius of the Japanese Colonial Era

Chapter 44

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Black Monday (2)

Go Tae-chon's face went flustered.

"P-putting it on a tab, sir? Running a credit account at a first meeting..."

"Ah!"

Crash!

It was the sound of the man in the martial arts robe kicking over a wooden bench. A porcelain bowl tumbled to the ground and shattered with a clatter.

"I said put it on the tab, you bastard!"

"S-sir..."

"What!? You damn fool, you think I'll stiff you!? Do I look like I've got no money!? You looking down on me or what!?"

Go Tae-chon flinched—hik—and shrank back like a weasel grabbed by the scruff of the neck, backing away.

"N-no! Looking down on you? It's not that, I just..."

"Then what is it, you bastard! I'm already in a foul mood because I couldn't catch Ginsei, and now even a no-account tavern keeper's going to treat me like dirt!? Huh!? You treating me like dirt!"

The man bellowed in Go Tae-chon's face. Drenched in that fierce roar, Go Tae-chon looked about ready to have the skin peeled clean off his face.

"T-treat you like dirt? Not at all, not at all, nothing of the..."

"Hey."

Slap! Go Tae-chon's left cheek burst into flame.

"N-no, sir! Don't hit me! Sir, you're not supposed to be such a violent sort of... eugh!"

"Hey!"

Slap! Go Tae-chon's right cheek burst into flame.

Go Tae-chon, flat on the ground, lifted his head with a sobbing face.

"Y-yes, yes..."

"Said I'll pay later. Huh? When I've got money, I'll pay! Huh?"

"Th-that..."

"I'll catch a wolf. Huh? Catch something else and bring it back. I'll pay then, the money! Got it? You got it? Hey, why no answer—I said you got it!!"

"Eugh...! A-all right! All right!"

Go Tae-chon kept bobbing his head, eyes brimming with tears. His cheeks ached. Both of them felt like they'd puffed up more than they had any business to...

"Pteh! Bad luck, the whole lot of it."

The man in the robe spat another glob of phlegm into the yard and sauntered off. Go Tae-chon could only watch him go, like a small, helpless animal.

It only made sense.

Go Tae-chon wasn't the son of a Baekdu Mountain hunter, he had no seventy-four years of inner force, and most of all, he couldn't fight.

The problem came right after.

"Oh, this place gives credit?"

The customers who'd been watching the scene started trading glances.

"Then put mine on a tab too."

"Me too! Damn it, I left my wallet up on the mountain. I'll pay later!"

"I'll pay double later!"

"I'll pay triple at the latest of the late! What's it—if I catch a tiger, I will!"

What manner of folk did you expect from low-rank hunters who'd been tearing up the mountain, blind with greed over a 300 won bounty?

They'd only been acting like decent people because they were crushed under Han San's violence, and without that violence, not a single soul here would keep to the principle that you pay for goods received.

"No, sirs—customers, please..."

The ones who at least spoke up to say they'd put it on a tab still had a shred of conscience.

Two of the benches had emptied at some point without anyone noticing. Truly nimble footwork.

But whether they said they'd run a tab or just bolted, the fact was the same: people had filed out one after another without paying a cent.

Just like right after the military police raided the day before, the tavern emptied out in an instant.

All that was left were overturned drinking tables and empty bowls.

The only difference from the day before was that there wasn't a single coin left.

"Ugh... ah, ugh ugh..."

Go Tae-chon hung his head where he lay. Tears streamed down his swollen cheeks.

"My money... my liquor..."

The 40 won he'd borrowed from Pi Sun-dae to buy the tavern.

On top of that, the money sunk into the gukbap ingredients and the liquor sitting there—the ones Han San had originally meant to sell off to him after driving a donkey down to town—plus the donkey rental, plus the money for his wife's cosmetics...

"Damn it all..."

That was the moment, as Go Tae-chon sat there clutching his head.

Thud, thud.

A familiar set of footsteps came near.

"Yo, Go Tae-chon! Business going well, you son of a bitch?"

Go Tae-chon's head shot up.

The owner of the red brick house, Pi Sun-dae, had appeared. Behind him, led by a pockmarked lackey, his band of fists stood bristling like a pack of wild dogs.

"Ah! Hyung... Sun-dae-hyung!"

"Oho? What's got you calling out to me, so glad to see me?"

"Hyung! Hyung, you really—ah, hyung! Why are you only coming now!"

Go Tae-chon scrambled over on all fours, da-da-da, and clung to the leg of Pi Sun-dae's trousers.

"Help me out, eh!? Those—those damn thieves committed the crime of the ages, eating without paying! An unforgivable mortal sin, I tell you!"

"Ah, you son of a bitch, let go! Will you let go!? Ugh, no wonder you ended up married to that Mrs. Go—let go already, you call yourself a man!"

"I'll let go! I'll let go, so—hyung, hyung, lend me some of your boys, eh? A doorman! A boun-cer for our modern bar! Stand a gatekeeper for me, please, eh!?"

These thugs. With a band of man-hunters planted right there, even the trash-souled hunters wouldn't be able to get away without paying.

But Pi Sun-dae only flashed that signature smile that crinkled his whole face, baring those uselessly fine, white teeth.

"Help? Help with what. I just came to collect the interest."

Go Tae-chon's eyes went round.

"Huh? Interest?"

"That's right, you son of a bitch. Hand it over, quick. I'm a busy man."

"No, hyung... it's only been one day... a-and interest, how much would that even..."

"Heh heh—boys! How much interest did we charge?"

At Pi Sun-dae's words, the pockmarked lackey stepped up with a swaggering gait.

"Aye, hyung. Our rate's the dokgodai[1], ain't it, eh? Dokgodai."

The other lackeys piled on, each yapping his bit.

"That's right. Togo[2]. Can't pay—dai. You die."

"Compounded, too."

"Aye. That there's our base rate, hyung."

Togo.

Five tenths in ten days. Fifty percent interest in ten days flat—a murderous loan-sharking rate.

Pi Sun-dae spoke as if the taste in his mouth had soured.

"A whole day's gone by already, so what can you do. Gotta stamp the daily ledger[3]. You borrowed 40 won, so... boys, how much is it? I've got a tender heart—the words don't come out so easy."

"Aye, our hyung, with a soft heart like that... A day's interest on 40 won at dokgodai is 2 won, ain't it."

"It's 2 won, Go Tae-chon. Pay up, quick. Or there's no telling what my boys'll do... ugh, soft-hearted me, I couldn't bear to watch."

At the sound of Pi Sun-dae clicking his tongue—tsk tsk—Go Tae-chon's eyes flipped white.

"2 won!? A day's interest is 2 won!? Such gouging in this world..."

"Gouging, you bastard. Don't you know I already cut you a deal?"

Pi Sun-dae glared.

"You son of a bitch, normally we skim a fat chunk of interest off the top before we even hand it over! I lent you the full 40 won clean because we go back a ways! They do say a black-haired beast knows no gratitude—what am I supposed to do with this one!"

"Hiek!"

At that browbeating bark, Go Tae-chon hung his head again. His mouth stayed gaping open.

Interest alone, 2 won a day!

And compounded, on top of that!

When Han San ran the business, the daily take was 20 won, 30 won, so that much would've been chump change—but the money now in Go Tae-chon's pocket was...

'Zero won...'

Of course, Go Tae-chon was lucky even so. Had he known that Han San had borrowed his 30 won in startup capital at no interest at all, he'd have foamed at the mouth and keeled over.

But whether he knew it or not, no money was going to suddenly sprout in Go Tae-chon's pocket now.

"U-um, hyung... I-I don't have money right now..."

"Don't have it? If you don't, well... what can you do. Gotta put up some goods, then."

Pi Sun-dae glanced toward the food storeroom.

"There's liquor left over there, right? That, and that cauldron, and the bowls... the benches—that'll come to about 2 won's worth. Take it."

"Yes, hyung!"

The lackeys swarmed in.

"N-no! That—if you take that, what'll I do business with, agh!"

Go Tae-chon screamed, but Pi Sun-dae's lackeys showed no mercy. Just like the military police the day before, they piled in, loaded up, and tore loose this and that.

And that wasn't even the end of it.

"Ah! And, Go Tae-chon."

Pi Sun-dae grabbed Go Tae-chon by both shoulders and grinned.

"For the spot fee[4], I'll only take 8 tenths of the sales, hm?"

"Huh!?"

Go Tae-chon doubted his own ears. Eight tenths?

"Y-you only took 2 tenths from Han San!"

"Is your name Han San? Since when did you take a gentleman of the Han line as your stepfather and trade out the name Tae-chon for San?"

"No! Why 8 tenths..."

"Ah, you son of a bitch, is that even a question worth asking?"

The mirth vanished from Pi Sun-dae's face.

"San handled everything on his own, didn't he? All I had to do was take the money. But you? You son of a bitch, you're telling me to bring men in to stand guard, aren't you? You don't think about what those men cost?"

"No, but that's..."

"Ahh, all right, all right. Let's tally it up one by one, then."

Pi Sun-dae put up two fingers.

"First, the spot fee's 2 tenths. No complaints about that, right?"

He jerked his chin at his lackeys and put up three more fingers.

"My boys—do they dig money out of the ground, do they shake it from a tree? Can they get by on just breathing air and soaking up sun? Those delicate boys. Feed 'em, get 'em liquor, look after 'em—that's what it takes, and if you mean to use 'em, isn't it only right you cover the cost? So that's 5 tenths altogether."

He jerked his chin at the goods they'd torn loose and put up the last three fingers.

"To do business, you need goods, don't you. But those goods are now pledged to me as collateral, see? So there's the price of those goods. Eight tenths altogether, you son of a bitch."

"Uh, uh..."

Despair spread across Go Tae-chon's face.

Pi Sun-dae laughed again until his whole face crinkled up.

"Don't want to, then don't. Boys, let's go!"

"N-no! Wait, wait!"

Go Tae-chon grabbed at Pi Sun-dae in a panic.

If Pi Sun-dae left now? Tomorrow the deadbeats came again? And nothing left to sell? Then...

'Five tenths compounded over ten days means 60 won after ten days, 90 won ten days after that, 135 won ten days after that...!'

The Gyeongseong buildings Go Tae-chon had raised up in those sweet daydreams yesterday came crashing down. All that remained was a desolate heap of ash.

"I-I'll pay! I'll pay... I'll pay, so just—just help me out, hyung..."

"There, there. Good thinking."

Pi Sun-dae took Go Tae-chon's puffy, swollen cheek and gave it a long pull.

"With the price of men so high these days, the spot fee might go up a bit—but then again, maybe it won't? That all depends on how you do."

"Huh!?"

"Get your head straight and work hard to make money, got it?"

Pi Sun-dae and the lackeys disappeared.

The empty tavern.

Go Tae-chon still knelt there, propped on all fours. His face was as blank as a raccoon dog that had washed off a wad of cotton candy.

'Debt of 40 won, interest 2 won a day, compounded, and Pi Sun-dae takes 8 tenths of the sales... so with the 2 tenths left I pay interest, pay down the principal, buy ingredients, cover living costs... but that Silver Star wolf's already been caught...?'

No matter how he turned it over in his head, no answer came.

Had the surveyor Hajama looked up at this sight from the underworld, he'd have appraised it thus: 'This is no simple business. It's a slave contract—the kind you can never escape no matter how you flail.'

"Oppa."

Just then, Mrs. Go, who had vanished off somewhere, called out to Go Tae-chon.

"Y-yeah."

Go Tae-chon tried hard to steady his heart. Right, at least he had family. His beloved wife was, after all...

"I'm leaving home."

"...What?"

Go Tae-chon went completely out of his mind now.

Only then did he see the bundle of belongings clutched in his beloved wife's hands.

"N-no, why... all of a sudden..."

"Why, you ask? Oppa, is that really something you should be saying right now?"

Mrs. Go folded her arms and let out a hmph!

"The customers cursed me out earlier. And you didn't say a single word back. Just got yourself slapped around, like some embarrassment. How could you do that?"

"No... that, the situation..."

"Don't care. Anyway, I've decided."

Mrs. Go let out another hmph! and turned away.

"Let's take some time apart for a while. I'll be over at Mal-ja's place in town."

"N-no, dear! Alone... going to town alone, the road's dangerous—no, what about Jin-dong!"

"Sort it out yourself, oppa. He's the kid you brought along. Ahh, my heart..."

Mrs. Go left without so much as a glance back.

Left behind were Go Tae-chon on all fours and—somehow now beside him in the very same posture—Go Jin-dong, sniffling.

"Waaaahhh-!!"

Go Jin-dong burst into tears.

"Mom's gone! Dad, you idiot! Waah!"

Inside the tavern, where nothing rang out but a child's wailing loud enough to lift the roof, Go Tae-chon hung his head and choked back sobs.

"I... I worked so hard..."

Today really was the worst day of his life!

* * *

The wails of the Go father and son carried on—the two of them taking turns for a good long while—until at last they began to die down.

Creak.

Han San opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.

Moonlight poured down soft and gentle.

"Hoo."

Han San drew the night air deep into his lungs. A freshness rose all the way down through his chest.

He'd come home, eaten his greens and rice, wrapped up the divvying of the wild boar, sent off Taeyang and Baechil-hyung, made sure their mouths stayed shut, said what needed saying and left unsaid what didn't, slept like the dead, woken in the middle to take care of business, checked the spent cartridges, and then slept right up until now.

A deep, deep rest—the kind that properly loosened the cord of tension that had been pulled taut the whole time.

Being young helped too, and his whole body felt light enough to float away.

"Hyung! You're up?"

Bada came bounding across the yard like a chick.

Han San grinned, caught his little brother under both arms, and swung him up high.

"There you are. You eat?"

"Yeah! Mom made it! Meat! Wild boar kimchi stew!"

There was a sheen of grease on Bada's face. His chubby, full cheeks were adorable.

In the kitchen, Ham Ssang-sim was getting a late supper ready, and Han Man-seok was off to one side of the yard, working the wild boar hide with his hands.

Han San set his brother down and stretched with a hearty heave.

'How peaceful.'

And a peace shared with family, at that.

Just then Ham Ssang-sim poked her head out with a bright smile.

"San! Done sleeping?"

"Yes, Mother!"

"Hold on! I'm getting your meal ready... oh, by the way, San. There was a sound of wailing coming from over by the tavern today. You happen to have any idea what that's about?"

Han San let out a chuckle.

"Who knows. Business must be going so well they're just overjoyed, I'd guess."

Ham Ssang-sim laughed along.

"Right? Going so well that Mrs. Go supposedly headed off to town all by herself."

"Wow. Means she's off to scoop up the whole town—just, tak! Clean it all out, I bet. Business doing that well, she can't even wait for the sun to rise the next day, eh."

"That's just what I'm saying, boy. Aigo, whatever shall we do. If those folks rake up every last coin, eu heu heu heu..."

"Right? We're going to be so jealous, whatever shall we do, really. Eu ha ha ha..."

Mother and son looked at each other and laughed up a storm.

'This is good.'

For Han San, today was neither the best day of his life nor, of course, the worst.

It was simply a day a touch more reassuring than the one before, and a touch more refreshed.

[1] Dokgodai (독고다이) is loan-shark slang for a reckless, no-exceptions rate; it derives from the Japanese tokkōtai (特攻隊), the "special-attack" suicide units, by way of the colloquial sense of "going it alone, come what may."

[2] Togo (토고) is the loan sharks' term for their base rate of five tenths — fifty percent interest — compounded every ten days, a ruinous usurious standard of the era.

[3] The daily ledger (일수, ilsu) is a short-term loan repaid in fixed daily installments, the lender stamping or marking the account each day; it was a common form of informal high-interest credit in colonial Korea.

[4] The spot fee (자릿세) is a cut levied for the right to occupy and do business in a given location, here demanded by the local strongman who controls the ground.

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