Debt

The sound of steps were distant, thundering far away, yet getting closer. Haziness was filling his head. He raised up with his eyes seeing fuzzy shadows, light peering through the shades over the window across the room. Who was he? Oh yeah, he was Hyun...Hyun who? He couldn't quite remember.

"Hey! Hyun Yee, Wake up! I got a surprise for you!" A familiar voice would rattle his ears as he wobbled in bed. Hyun Yee was his name and he was inside his apartment alone, like usual. Pulling the covers aside, he would look down at his right arm. Marks lined it, still sore as the fabric of the blanket touched it. Hyun winced and hurried to grab a long sleeve shirt.

"You still asleep? I can come back later if you would like, I'm just wanting to show you something," The same voice called through the thin, slightly chipped door. The light cloth of his shirt draped over his pale arms and chest. Hyun fluffed his dark silky black hair and stepped over to yank the door open.

"Hi, Kyong, how are you?" Hyun muttered while smiling through the gap of his door. "You woke me up."

"I'm alright! Actually, I'm doing great, that's why I came over here! You didn't respond to my messages but I needed to talk before leaving," Kyong held out an item to Hyun wrapped in pink and blue, grinning from ear to ear, "I got you a present to remember me while I'm gone, you know, since I'm so awesome."

"Oh, a present, and you're leaving. What are you leaving for?" Hyun asked disappointedly, glancing at his grin and the gift.

"You don't remember-?" Stepping back and giving a worried look, Kyong would follow up with, "It's going to be my wedding, and it's out of town. You weren't able to make it because you were busy this week."

Hyun would instantly recall all of it, even if parts of it were foggy. Being a little ashamed of his memory absence, his hand would dig itself into the back of his neck a little. "Sorry about that! I guess I didn't sleep well..."

"Still sleeping past 1 p.m. huh?" Kyong would shake his head and prop up on the doorframe giving Hyun a concerned expression, "Listen man, just take the gift and get back to work, I know you're busy. I'll be back soon, so you don't be too lonely, okay?"

Hyun pulled his left arm away from his neck and would be deep in thought, or more like it, guilt. Hyun knew his friend didn't know the truth about him having to get out of debt. He was drowning in debt, and couldn't seem to breathe. Would he even see his friend again? Hyun didn't want to be alone, his mind was a dangerous place. The jobs, the heartache, the debt, the lies; everything was too much.

"Yo, Hyun, I hope you're doing okay. I know things have been rough, just be strong. I swear I'll be back soon," Kyong reached over to pat Hyun on the shoulder, giving him a hopeful smile. Pushing the small wrapped box into his chest, Kyong turned around to leave. The last thing Hyun saw of him before he disappeared was the dark brown hair and tanned skin, his short and broad build taking strides through the corridor and down the stairs.

"Thank you," Hyun muttered under his breath.

The door shut and locked, the blinds were opened to the bright sky, and the small box was layed onto a desk right after pens and sticky notes were cleared off it. The box was obviously wrapped by someone other than Kyong, as it was too finely done. Along the side was written "To: Hyun Yee", in a neat red pen.

"He really didn't have to give me anything, I would've been okay," Hyun whispered to himself while softly smiling and shaking his head. His skinny fingers unraveled the wrapping easily, and he pulled the pinstriped lid off of it that was hidden beneath the covering. Inside of the box was something he didn't expect. It was a silver ring with a small black gem planted in it hung as a necklace, and what appeared as money underneath.

The ring was familiar, like it was from somewhere. He tied it around his neck and flipped through the Yin. It was 15k, maybe a little less. He was shocked at the amount, considering all planning and money Kyong had been doing. Something caught his eye in the box, it was slip of paper. Hyun raised it up and unfolded it, revealing a note.

"As you know, I wanted to have you as my best man at the wedding, but you've been busy. Things have been going pretty poorly for you, and I wish I could be there to help more, so take these things to help. I saved the money up behind you know who's back, so spend it wisely! Plus, that ring must really be nostalgic huh? It's the one that you wore as a kid all the time, somehow my wife found it at the old playground. Anyways, just hang in there for me okay?"- Kyong

Hyun smiled at first, but quickly tightened his grip on the paper and his eyes became wet. A sudden light quiver of his lip sent him into tears. He dropped the paper and clutched his head, the almost dried blood from his neck earlier spreading into his hair. Sobs continued for a few minutes, his knees becoming drenched from the crying. Finally, he pulled himself up to a standing position again, whiping his eyes. Hyun wasn't guaranteed to be alive after this week, maybe even the day.

Cleaning up and pocketing his now not near empty wallet, phone, and pocket knife, he slid some skinny jeans on and a pair of black and lavender running shoes that were a little dirty. He brushed his hair and teeth before exiting the lonely cluttered apartment. The hallway and stairs were the same as usual, every step could be taken based off muscle memory.

His first step on the street was refreshing, at least. The slight breeze easing his tenseness, Hyun stepped past many others as he hurried down to the nearest ramen shop, his piercing grey eyes scanning the surrounding area for anyone resembling a member of the group he owes money. His hand fiddled with the knife in his pocket the whole time he walked.

As he strolled down the sidewalk at a more sparsely filled area, an old woman hunched over was the only person in sight, trying to cross the street. She was very frail and her bag she was holding looked like it might fall out of her grasp at any time. Before he could rethink his decision to help her Hyun dashed over to her just in time as she tripped. He caught her by the back and arm lifting her up to her feet. She would groan a little, but his focus shifted on the bag that got knocked over, releasing it's contents onto the street. An apple tumbled around down the road.

"Sorry, stand here for a second, I gotta get your things gathered!" Hyun made sure she was up before jogging to the rolling fruit and snatching it. He would hold it up to show her and jog back stuffing it in the brown bag and handing it to her, latching arms and practically carrying her across.

"Thank you so much! I almost lost my apple, but you helped me," the old lady would say in a faint and dry voice, smiling a big genuine toothless smile and her wrinkly squinting eyes would show a lot of appreciation.

"It's really no problem, I just don't like seeing people in such a situation," Hyun would smile back and sit her down on the other side of the road, some cars driving by afterwards, "Where do you live? I'll walk you there to make sure you're okay if you want."

"Oh no, I live right here, I just needed to make it over," She would say as she coughed a small laugh.

Two small kids would peer out the window and then open their red painted door, one of them rushing to hug the old woman. She patted them on the head as she walked inside while the kids talked, but their words mixed and made a jumbled mess. "You're a fine young man, I can't thank you enough."

Hyun bowed, "It was really nothing, but you're welcome. Just take care from now on." He would make his way back up the sidewalk, realizing the time he spent helping her instead of making it to work. The outside was still nice, though.

After awhile, the door eased open and Hyun entered the kitchen through the back, a smell of fresh, delicious food filling his nose. He loosened up a little and grabbed an apron before a figure of a woman swooped in front of him, smiling and giving him a playful punch on the chest.

"You miss me? You would have seen me earlier if you didn't get here late again," Ha-Joon would say a little flirtingly, but it didn't seem Hyun would notice.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I overslept again and helped an old lady," He would say while sighing and shrugging. His hand would rest on her shoulder as he smiled at her.

"U-Uh, it's okay-! Don't worry about it, I just get a little lonely in here, you know?" Ha-Joon pushed his hand off and turned her head slightly, getting somewhat red faced. Her blonde hair brushing over Hyun's fingers as he pulled away, "Get to work Hyun, there's a person waiting for their food, Jeez."

"I understand completely, thank you," Hyun said, bowing slightly as he turned to help her continue serving the customer that was just out of view of him on the other side of the wooden counter. He could feel her dark eyes burning into him, so he swiftly took a look around his shoulder. She wasn't looking at him, instead a younger looking businessman was, his eyes even darker than Ha-Joon's. For some reason the way he was staring made Hyun uncomfortable, especially since he didn't even make a sound while moving over.

Ha-Joon was working on something at the other side of the kitchen, making a ruckus. The man was still staring, and as soon as Hyun almost asked him what he wanted, but the man motioned him over. Hyun didn't like his constant smile, but he walked over to him anyways.

"Hm?" Hyun placed his hand in his pocket as he approached.

"Are you Hyun Yee?" The man asked, still smiling.

"Yeah, why are you asking?" Hyun would raise an eyebrow at why this random person would know his name.

"I was wanting to know if you would like to play a game with me," The man would say, "Just a simple game of ddakji."

Clearly confused at why this person would even propose this game to him, Hyun would lower his eyebrows, "I'm working so I don't have time to play a game of ddakji right now, I'm late already."

"Maybe you would like it better if there was a reward?" The man pulled a briefcase up from the other side of the counter, previously hidden, "If you win, I'll give you 100,000 Yin, but if you lose, I get 100,000 Yin."

He unlatched it to reveal the money, and from what Hyun could see, it was 100k Yin like he said. Nobody else was inside the building besides Ha-Joon, Hyun, and this random man. His expression showed his doubt and obvious hesitation, he didn't have that kind of money but perhaps it was worth a shot.

"After all, you like gambling, don't you?" The man asked as if he already knew, holding his case still on the counter, Ha-Joon not seeing from where she was.

"I-," Hyun looked over to Ha-Joon and then back to the guy but taking a second to decide, "Fine, but you better not be lying, and take it outside because I wanna finish this quickly."

He would stop smiling and nod, locking the briefcase up to carry it outside the front door. He watched him exit outside completely before putting his face in his hands and letting out a sigh. He contemplated if he even wanted to go outside, starting to mess with his knife, but while touching his knife he felt his phone. He had forgotten about the phone, hurriedly whipping it out and checking the time, but seeing a notification pop up. It was one he didn't want to see.

Pushing his phone down into his pocket again, he called over to Ha-Joon, "Hey, I'm going out for a smoke break, I will be right back." A cold sweat was visible upon him as he took fast steps to the door.

"What-?! When did you start smo-" Ha-Joon heard the bell of the door as she yelled back, letting a massive sigh out and taking a look around the shop.

The breeze hit Hyun once more as he stepped into sunlight, kind of blinding him momentarily. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the businessman leaning against the outside of the ramen shops wall. The exterior not seeming a place that this well dressed man would be seen. Hyun was very curious on how he knew so much about him, and it was pretty noticeable that he didn't come there for lunch, so plunged his hand down into his pocket.

"Red or blue?" The man questioned as he smirked.