The next day.
Joe Yabuki, Kim Geon-woo, and Hong Woo-jin were already waiting in the bookstore.
Woo-jin wore headphones, bobbing his head to the rhythm.
"Baby, baby, baby, oh~"
He spun around, hands waving in the air, feet stepping in time with the music.
"Like baby, baby, baby, no~"
He pointed at the air as if performing for an imaginary audience, making all sorts of weird sounds with his mouth.
Geon-woo crouched in front of a bookshelf, picking up scattered books one by one and neatly placing them back on the shelves. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, then bent down to pick up an empty cardboard box from the floor, folded it, and set it in the corner. Then he grabbed a broom and started sweeping the dust off the floor.
Joe stood to the side, hands in his pockets, watching him expressionlessly.
Geon-woo looked up and noticed Joe watching him.
"Mr. Yabuki, what did you do before coming here?"
"Boxer."
Geon-woo stopped what he was doing, eyes lighting up. "Professional boxer?"
"Yeah."
"Wow!" Geon-woo set down the broom and walked over. "You must be really good then. How many matches have you fought? How many did you win?"
The corner of Joe's mouth twitched upward slightly, but he quickly suppressed it.
"23 matches, 17 wins, 6 losses."
"17 wins!" Geon-woo's eyes widened. "Were they all knockouts?"
"Yeah."
Geon-woo sucked in a sharp breath. "Did you win any championships?"
"OPBF champion."
Geon-woo's breathing nearly stopped. "OPBF... That's the Asia-Pacific champion..."
Joe looked at his excited expression and couldn't help asking, "You box too?"
"Yeah!" Geon-woo nodded. "Since I was teenager. I never fought professionally, but boxing has always been my dream."
Joe nodded. "Why didn't you continue?"
Geon-woo's smile dimmed a bit. "Something happened at home. I needed to make money."
Joe didn't press further.
Instead he asked, "What happened to the bandage on your face?"
Geon-woo touched the bandage on his face. "You want to see?"
Joe thought for a moment. "If you don't mind."
Geon-woo slowly peeled back the bandage, revealing a long scar running from his forehead all the way to his jaw.
The scar was deep and looked horrific.
But Joe showed no reaction, just asked, "How did it happen?"
Geon-woo sighed. "Smile Capital loan sharks scammed my mom. They trashed my mom's bakery and destroyed everything. When I got back, I fought a dozen of them."
Joe raised an eyebrow. "A dozen?"
"Yeah." Geon-woo gave a bitter smile. "But in the end I lost to one guy."
"One guy?"
"Yeah." Geon-woo nodded. "That guy was built like an ogre. He headbutted me until I had a concussion. Then Smile Capital's boss carved this scar on my face, probably as a warning."
Joe frowned.
'Smile Capital...'
He'd been hearing that name a lot lately.
Although curious, Joe decided to stay away from them.
Geon-woo suddenly asked, "Why did you retire?"
Joe's face darkened.
Geon-woo immediately realized he'd asked the wrong question.
"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked!"
He quickly bowed in apology.
Just then, Woo-jin suddenly screamed.
"Shit, bro!"
Joe and Geon-woo both turned toward him.
"What happened?"
"What?"
Woo-jin pointed at the money on the ground. "Look! It was in here!"
Geon-woo walked over and saw bundles of cash on the ground. "Seriously? That's gotta be millions..."
Joe also walked over but said nothing.
"Wait." Woo-jin pulled more books from the shelves and dropped them on the floor.
More money fell out of the books.
He sucked in a breath. "Whoa! Oh God, there's even more! No way."
It seemed this bookstore was just a front. It was actually a vault. These books were all hollow, used to hide money inside.
After a while, Woo-jin sat down on the sofa. "Holy shit."
Geon-woo started counting the books, calculating how much money could be here.
"17 billion, 18 billion, 19... 21... Uh... 22 billion."
Joe was also shocked by the amount of money here, but he wasn't tempted by it.
After all, even with all this money, he couldn't find a cure, because one didn't exist.
Suddenly, Geon-woo stopped.
He coughed and said, "I think I've met Hyeon-ju before."
Woo-jin asked, surprised. "Huh? You've met?"
Geon-woo nodded. "When I went to see you a few days ago, she was chasing a homeless person, so I stepped in. Then Hyeon-ju tased me."
Woo-jin was surprised again. "You got tased?"
Geon-woo nodded. "Mm-hm."
Joe didn't offer any comments.
He was naturally inclined to speak less, mainly because Parkinsonism slowed down his speech.
Woo-jin asked, "And then what? Did you two fight?"
Geon-woo shook his head. "Nuh-uh. She just cussed me out and left."
Woo-jin nodded. "Oh..."
Then he smiled and put his arm around Geon-woo. "Don't worry, I've got this. I'll handle it. You just... yeah, just keep your head down."
Geon-woo nodded. "Mm."
Then he said, "You made me lose count."
Woo-jin apologized. "My bad."
Joe said from the side, "22."
Geon-woo looked confused. "What?"
Joe said again, "You were at 22 billion."
Geon-woo smiled. "Thanks."
Just then, all three of them heard the keypad beeping.
It was none other than Kim Hyeon-ju.
A beautiful girl with short hair, tomboy style. Her face wore a frown, clearly annoyed by the idea of having bodyguards.
Woo-jin immediately greeted her. "Oh! Hello, Ms. Hyeon-ju. How are you? We were both hand-picked by Mr. Choi, so you can safely go about your work."
Then he put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest in a superman pose.
"#GoOn."
He switched poses, pointing one hand at the sky while placing the other on his waist.
"#SecurityGuard."
He changed poses again, crossing both arms over his chest and tilting his head back slightly.
"#Manager."
Finally he crouched down, making a heart shape with his hands and winking at Hyeon-ju.
"#Brother. Brother."
He emphasized "brother" twice, wanting her to feel safe around them.
Hyeon-ju turned to him. "What was that?"
Woo-jin made the heart gesture again. "Brother. Welcome your two new best friends."
Then he glanced at Joe. "Well, maybe... three?"
Hyeon-ju clicked her tongue, clearly annoyed.
Woo-jin bent down, extended both arms forward to mimic a bulldozer's scoop, and made rumbling noises with his mouth. "Um, uh, say the word, and we'll... anything you need."
Hyeon-ju said flatly, "I don't need anything."
Woo-jin did the bulldozer motion again, this time swaying his body left and right. "Uh yeah, um, but we'll... whenever you decide to call on us to do it."
Hyeon-ju smiled coldly. "Oh no, I won't need anything ever, so leave."
Geon-woo nodded. "Mm."
Woo-jin nodded too. "Mm."
Then he asked, "You don't like us?"
Hyeon-ju clicked her tongue, clearly annoyed. "How would I know when we've just met? I don't need you."
Woo-jin asked, "You haven't seen us work yet, so how would you know?"
Hyeon-ju answered, "I haven't had a problem doing everything completely on my own so far. That's how I know."
Then she added, "I hate people who argue."
Woo-jin said, "I'm not arguing."
Hyeon-ju retorted, "You just did it again. Get out."
Woo-jin exhaled sharply, not knowing what to do.
Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
It was Joe.
Joe stood face to face with Hyeon-ju. "Ms. Hyeon-ju, if you were doing just fine, I don't think Mr. Choi would've hired us. I assume recently your work has been getting complicated. You might not need us today, but no one can say about tomorrow. I implore you to think about this more carefully."
Hyeon-ju snorted. "I have thought this through. I prefer working alone."
Joe bowed slightly. "Maybe that's the case. But I'm guessing you've never worked in a team. Maybe give us a task or two. See how we do. If you don't know what it's like to work in a team, then is it really okay for you to say you prefer working alone?"
Faced with Joe's logical argument, Hyeon-ju lost the ability to retort.
Geon-woo also spoke up from the side. "I really, really need this job. Please just let me work here for a month. If I'm no help, I'll leave. I promise. Just give me a month. Please, I'm begging you."
Finally, Hyeon-ju relented.
"Fine."
She looked at the three of them. "One month. If you're useless, get out immediately."
Geon-woo and Woo-jin bowed simultaneously. "Thank you!"
Joe also nodded.
Hyeon-ju looked at them and sighed.
"Don't get in my way."
With that, she turned and walked into the back room.
Woo-jin breathed a sigh of relief and patted Joe's shoulder. "Mr. Yabuki, we owe you one."
Joe shook his head. "It's nothing."
Geon-woo also walked over. "Yeah, Mr. Yabuki. You're really persuasive."
Joe looked at them, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Let's get to work."