6 million won was a large sum, close to 6,000 dollars.
In North Korea, 1,000 dollars could buy two apartments, and even a luxury apartment in Pyeongyang could be purchased for 4,000 to 5,000 dollars.
He thought that would be enough, but that was a huge miscalculation.
The settlement subsidy Oh Gap-su received ran out in less than a month.
It was because of his lavish spending habits.
He bought high-end suits and fearlessly leased a large car.
Even though it was a used car, the price was steep enough that Jo Cheol-jung had to chip in, and because they lacked credit as defectors, they were only able to lease it after Son Gil-seop came and stood as a guarantor.
Despite the situation, Oh Gap-su instead grumbled that it wasn’t the Mercedes he used to drive.
‘Ugh.’
Oh Gap-su got up, clutching his aching head.
He had gone to a club in Hongdae last night and drank until late, but he had no memory of what happened after that.
Looking outside, the sun was high in the sky.
He considered just going back to sleep, but his stomach was burning, and his mouth felt dry and rough, so he forced himself up.
He opened the refrigerator door, but the inside was completely empty.
The rice cooker’s light was off, and the drawer where he kept his ramen was just as bare.
Left with no choice, he drank tap water.
Craving a cigarette, he rummaged through the pockets of the suit, carelessly tossed them in the corner of the room, but he couldn’t find them, having dropped them somewhere.
When he opened his wallet, a single five-thousand-won bill was all he had.
‘Damn it.’
Throwing on the tracksuit he had received at Hanawon, Oh Gap-su went outside and rang the doorbell of the house next door.
It was Jo Cheol-jung’s house.
The two had been assigned apartments right next to each other.
He pressed the bell over and over, but there was no answer.
“Where did this punk go?”
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Even when he pounded with his fist, there was no sign of anyone inside.
Just then, the door to the other neighboring apartment opened, and an old woman came out.
“Bachelor Cheol-jung went out to work early this morning.”
“Ah, yes.”
It was Choi Bok-sun, an old woman from Hamgyeong-do, whom he had once exchanged greetings with after moving in.
As Oh Gap-su was about to return to his house, Choi Bok-sun spoke.
“A young man shouldn’t live like that.
Stop bothering bachelor Cheol-jung, who’s trying to live diligently.”
“…”
“Isn’t it enough that you come home late, drunk every single day, and bother him?
After he works his fingers to the bone and pays for your designated driver, what does he have left?”
“I’m sorry.”
Even as Oh Gap-su bowed his head, turned around, and walked toward the elevator, Choi Bok-sun’s nagging didn’t stop.