Episode 134
Sihyeon was sipping Americano and pretending to look at her cell phone in a window seat on the second floor of a cafe.
But in reality, I was concentrating all my attention on my ears, keeping them upright, and eavesdropping on what the person next to me was saying.
Next to me, a man and a woman who appeared to be in their late 20s were sitting awkwardly facing each other.
When I heard it, it seemed like we met through an acquaintance.
“Your occupation is a civil servant….”
After some formal greetings, the woman took a sip of the water on the table and opened her mouth with some hesitation.
“Ah, yes. I am a level 9 national civil servant.”
“Where do you work?”
I could feel the man unconsciously scratching the back of his hand and slightly contemplating what to say.
For some reason, Sihyeon felt the same type of smell from the man.
Are you cool?
When Sihyeon muttered that to herself, the man answered again.
“I am a Ministry of Justice official.”
The probability of being a family member has increased significantly.
Among the public officials of the Ministry of Justice, the prosecution or the expulsion, protection, and correction, who have a good external perception, there is no way they would respond like that, so it would probably be either protection or correction.
“Oh, I see. Ministry of Justice.”
The woman who muttered that continued with a polite smile.
“Excuse me, but may I know where you work at the Ministry of Justice?”
“That’s rude. It’s okay. I should have said it clearly from the beginning, but I think I gave you a vague answer. I’m a correctional officer.”
After all, they are family members.
“You’re a corrections officer. Oh, but what about a corrections job…?”
It was a natural reaction.
The general public generally did not know what corrections officers did.
No, most people probably don’t even know that such a series exists.
Some of my classmates even asked me if I was a civil servant who proofread documents.
But people understood the word very well if it was said in another way.
“I’m a prison guard.”
“…yes.”
The woman’s face slightly stiffened for a moment, showing that she was not satisfied with the other person’s job.
Still, I guess I’m glad I didn’t show it outwardly.
‘It’s over, it’s over.’
Sihyeon clicked his tongue.
When will this killer’s perception improve… .
There is something called the law of crime saturation.
Enrico Peri, a sociologist of crime, argued that a certain number of crimes are bound to occur in any society.
Even without explaining the law, everyone knew that prison guards were an essential job that could not exist in any society.
However, it is not an exaggeration to say that awareness is almost at the bottom among civil servants.
‘what… ‘I can’t help it.’
This wasn’t something that could be accomplished by one or two people working hard, and it wasn’t something that could be accomplished in a day or two.
Sihyeon checked the time on her phone.
Now it was time to wake up.
‘I hope you cheer up.’
Sihyeon silently gave words of encouragement to her family and stood up.
◈ ◈ ◈
“Aren’t you coming this year too?”
Woongjae muttered as if he was talking to himself.
After hearing that, Jonghyuk put down the beer glass he was drinking and asked.
“who?”
“Who is it? It’s Chief Lee Si-hyeon.”
Woongjae responded, emphasizing the title of manager to his college classmate.
It was a tone that anyone who heard it could feel that it was a bit sarcastic.
Jonghyuk had an expression that said, “That’s right.”
Originally, Ungjae had the highest rank among his classmates who became civil servants.
I was the only one to pass the level 7 exam.
However, in an incident that occurred a few years ago, I learned through the media that Sihyeon’s rank was level 6.
In addition, he said he had awakened and was working in a special detention center.
After learning that, Ungjae’s judgment of Sihyeon seemed a bit distorted.
Considering Woongjae’s personality, the moment he found out that he was not the best among his classmates, his pride would have suffered several scratches.
“Well, there must be circumstances.”
“Circumstances? Oh, well, since you’re the manager, you’re probably a little different from us. You’re busy. You’re very busy.”
“….”
Jonghyuk smiled bitterly at Woongjae’s words, which clearly revealed his true feelings.
At that time, I heard someone making a fuss and talking happily.
“Huh? It’s not Sihyeon! Hey… It’s been a long time. Nice to meet you, nice to meet you.”
“You have become very enlightened? As expected, successful people are different.”
“I missed you, but why didn’t you come out for a while?”
Woongjae and Jonghyuk’s heads turned that way.
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Sihyeon and her classmates were seen exchanging greetings.
“The vision has arrived.”
Jonghyuk made a happy face.
“I know.”
Woongjae’s expression subtly hardened.
“Sihyeon, come this way.”
Seungmin, who was next to Jonghyuk, stood up and gestured with his hand.
Sihyeon looked this way and approached with a smile.
“Hey, nice to meet you.”
Seungmin greeted me warmly with a hug.
I also hugged Jonghyuk.
Ungjae could not join in and sat awkwardly.
“It’s been a while, Woongjae.”
Sihyeon shook hands first.
“Uh…yeah, it’s been a while.”
Woongjae shook hands with a movement that felt a bit stiff.
“Take a drink.”
“thanks.”
Seungmin filled Sihyeon’s glass with beer.
“But you don’t seem to have aged at all. How do you stay the same?”
“I’m not old. I’m like an old man.”
“Hey, no kidding, you look like you’re in your late 20s.”
“Please, don’t go somewhere and say something like that. You’ll get criticized, you’ll get criticized.”
Sihyeon laughed and responded to Seungmin’s joking words.
“No, no. I’m only half serious. Is it real?”
“Okay, let’s stop, stop.”
Sihyeon seemed to be thirsty and drank the beer in one go.
This time, Jonghyuk asked as he poured alcohol into an empty glass.
“But do you think you’re always very busy? Considering that you haven’t even seen your face in the past.”
“You all know how busy it must be to be a prison guard. But strangely enough, they always asked me to go on a short-term training abroad during a class reunion.”
Sihyeon explained the situation.
“Short-term training abroad?”
Jonghyuk, Seungmin, and Woongjae were all prison guards.
So, I also knew what Sihyeon meant by short-term training abroad.
“Hey, you’re not sending that to just anyone, are you?”
Jonghyuk looked at Sihyeon with curious eyes.
Overseas short-term training was a program implemented by the Corrections Headquarters for reasons such as expanding mutual exchanges due to the internationalization of corrections, studying excellent foreign systems, and boosting the morale of corrections officials.
Of course, this would cost the country money, so there was no way that just anyone would send it.
The purpose was to select correctional officers recommended by each institution.
And for an ordinary prison guard to receive a recommendation, it was a matter of picking stars in the sky.
“Well, that’s true, but….”
Sihyeon scratched his head as if embarrassed.
“Then you continued to go on short-term training abroad?”
Seungmin asked with an expression of disbelief.
“Well, first I went to Kyushu, Japan. Then I went to Brandenburg, Germany. This time I went to Texas, USA, and visited Wynn Prison, Bird Prison, and other places.”
“So you went this year too?”
“This year, in the first half of the year, I was able to attend the alumni gathering like this.”
“Hey… Our Sihyeon is doing well, he’s doing well.”
If it’s just a one-time trip, you can get a recommendation and go there.
However, if it was three years in a row, this was a clear push from above.
“Wow… bastard, while we were running wild in Sadong, we were having a great time in a foreign country. I’m jealous, I’m jealous.”
Jonghyuk was openly jealous and drank a lot of soju.
It may sound like a training session, but it can actually be considered an overseas trip.
You are free to tour freely outside of the program schedule.
Jonghyuk also saw a prison guard who had been to Japan for overseas training proudly posting photos of his trip to Japan on social media.
Moreover, since I was going there on behalf of the Korean Correctional Headquarters, there was no way I would be staying in a shabby place.
Stay in a nice place and have fun.
“….”
Ungjae was just drinking alcohol in silence.
It was clear that he was trying to manage his expression somehow.
The harsh remarks he made to Si-hyeon at a class reunion a few years ago are now stinging him sharply.
– Well, if you are from level 9, you will never be able to go to the office or headquarters, and you will only be promoted to level 6 anyway, so even if you only work in the security department, it will be a bit hard on your body, but it won’t be a big problem.
‘Ugh.’
I put a lot of weight on my shoulders and said that as if to show off, but the guy had already achieved level 6 and was on a roll.
The alcohol tasted bitter.
Very bitter.
“Hey, I bet you went with a girl too. I’m really jealous.”
Jonghyuk continued to look at me with envious eyes.
“Boy, they’re all ladies.”
Sihyeon laughed as if it were absurd.
Then, he suddenly remembered something he had seen earlier and started talking about it.
“I thought of you because you said you were a woman. It seems that prison guards still have a bad perception of women.”
He then explained the scene he saw at the cafe earlier.
“Well, the atmosphere has become cold because of my job. It doesn’t feel like other people’s work, it doesn’t feel like other people’s work.”
Jonghyuk also shook his head and said, as if he had a lot of experience like that.
Seungmin also twisted his lips into a bitter smile.
“This time, I came up to the Seoul Detention Center. There were so many old bachelors. I was really surprised, surprised, thinking, ‘Is this even in the metropolitan area?’ Not long ago, a senior in his 40s who had experienced a lot of pain with women said at a company dinner that he was giving up on marriage, so he introduced a woman. “He tearfully declared that he didn’t have to do it.”
“…Let us never give up.”
Jonghyuk held Seungmin’s hand tightly.
“That’s right.”
Seungmin also exchanged a look of interest and held hands tightly.
Looking at the situation, it seemed that neither Jonghyuk nor Seungmin had a woman yet.
Ungjae glanced around and quickly confirmed that there was no ring on Sihyeon’s left ring finger.
Then, for the first time in a long time, he opened his mouth.
“…Still, prison guards are also civil servants, so does their job matter? In the end, what matters is people.”
“okay?”
Sihyeon looked at Woongjae.
“The prison guards around me are good at meeting women and getting married. Of course, they are all good people. They are people, have humor, have a good personality, or have a lot of money. The point is that blaming their jobs is an excuse.”
“Hey, are you fanning a fire?”
Jonghyuk looked at me with resentful eyes.
“I was just saying what I thought. And I don’t think that’s wrong. In my case too….”
Ungjae slowly began to cry.
“Hmm? Are you married? I don’t think I received a wedding invitation.”
Sihyeon took the bait.
Woongjae unconsciously smiled at his lips.
“Oh, it’s not marriage. I’ve been meeting a woman recently, so I’ve been talking about it.”
“Ah, really? Congratulations. I’m jealous.”
The corners of Ungjae’s mouth went up when the words “envy” came out of Sihyeon’s mouth, whether it was sincere or not.
As expected, even though he is 35 years old, he still doesn’t have a woman.
Well, the character has always been better than that guy.
What’s wrong with getting promoted quickly? Poor guy.
In life, you are the winner.
As each year passes, you will experience that the range of women you can meet becomes very narrow.
In the end, he will meet and marry a boring woman.
In comparison, he will be building a family that everyone will envy with his current lover, who is 7 years younger than him and works for a large company, is talented and pretty.
“Thank you. In some ways, she’s actually too much for me. She’s young, pretty, and has a good job.”
As Woongjae said that, he fiddled with his cell phone and held it out in front of Sihyeon.
“How do you think, does it look good on you?”
It was a photo taken with my lover.
Woongjae was confident.
Her lover had an appearance that anyone would say was pretty.
“You look good on me. You definitely look young. How old are you?”
“Ah, he’s 7 years younger than me.”
“So, twenty-eight? Wow, you have good skills.”
“No, what?”
Even though he said that, it was clear from Woongjae’s face that he was in a good mood.
Then he quietly asked.
“Sihyeon, don’t you have a girlfriend?”
“Oh, I….”
Should I go along with this or not?
I already figured out Woongjae’s intentions a long time ago.
It would be strange not to understand it when it comes out so blatantly.
how will we do it.
I think it would be fun to mix it up with the rhythm.
Sihyeon smiled inwardly and thought about it.
fantasy,
