Cheat day

Crocodiles and Birds (1)

10 AM.

With the guidance of social workers, we began delivering food supplies to vulnerable groups.

Each box contained 10 kg of rice, 2 kg of kimchi, 200 g of seaweed, and 5 cans of tuna. Joo Ji-seung and Cha Ji-chan carried two boxes each.

He said his back hurt, but that was a lie.

I wondered if I could also carry two boxes, but just as I was about to challenge myself, I spotted Baek Woo-jin struggling in front of the truck.

“Ugh!”

He lifted the boxes to his knees but quickly put them down again.

He wiped his sweat and tried once more, but it seemed he couldn’t lift them this time either.

“Don’t overdo it; use this.”

I brought down a cart from the truck.

“You can do it!”

“Really?”

“You can!”

As I folded the cart back up to load it into the truck, Baek Woo-jin hurriedly grabbed it.

When I stacked two boxes and tried to lift them, I found them awkward due to their size rather than weight.

Still, I felt a sense of accomplishment since I only had to make one trip instead of two, and the local residents had gathered around.

“Hello.”

No one greeted me, but they all smiled.

It felt awkward.

“Is this your house?”

“Yes.”

Social worker Park Ji-hyo knocked on the door, and a little while later, an elderly woman came out.

“Hello, grandma.”

“Did you eat?”

“Yes, and you?”

“I had something quick.”

While the grandma warmly welcomed Park Ji-hyo, she glanced at me, seeming a bit uncertain.

“Hello, I’m Ban Chan-young.”

I set the box down.

The grandma seemed curious about what was going on, focusing only on the social worker.

“This person is here to give you rice and kimchi, along with seaweed and canned tuna for you and the neighbors.”

When Park Ji-hyo opened the box to show her, the grandma’s expression darkened.

“What’s wrong?”

“…I can’t accept this; I have nothing to give in return.”

“I’m doing this because I enjoy it. It makes me feel really good. Please accept it.”

When I said this with a smile, the grandma quietly went inside.

I realized that my good intentions might be perceived as a burden.

“What should we do?”

“It’s okay. She’s just feeling shy. Grandma? Grandma?”

After calling her a few times, she soon came back out and handed me a black bag.

“Yes?”

“Take it. Take it with you.”

I opened the bag, feeling confused, and found two yogurts inside.

“Wow, I really love that yogurt! How did you know?”

“You’re such a fuss. Just go on.”

The grandma’s lips lifted slightly.

“Thank you! I’ll enjoy it.”

I carried the remaining box outside. I was worried about how far I had to walk, but it turned out to be right next door, so I felt relieved.

“Grandpa, I’m here!”

“Hello!”

When I greeted him alongside Park Ji-hyo, the grandpa smiled widely.

“This person brought you rice and kimchi. Isn’t that nice?”

“Yes, yes.”

The grandpa’s face was lit up with joy, likely happy to see the social worker.

Feeling good alongside him, I noticed a foul smell coming from the room.

Trying not to show any sign of discomfort, Park Ji-hyo asked the grandpa if he had any discomfort and how his legs were doing.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief. Oh, you need to do some dishes.”

He just kept smiling.

“Well then, we’ll be on our way.”

“Already?”

“We need to distribute to other places, too.”

“Yes.”

For the first time, the grandpa looked a bit sad, which made my heart ache.

He was probably living alone and seemed to be lonely.

Once outside, Park Ji-hyo smiled and said, “That smell was pretty strong, right?”

“A little.”

“Doesn’t do the dishes well, just cooks ramen and rice in dirty pots, and doesn’t wash up properly.”

I had no words and could only nod.

“Even when I tell him it’s not good for his health, he says detergent and soap are too precious.”

Park Ji-hyo let out a sigh.

“Once he pays rent, he struggles to make ends meet. There are quite a few people like that.”

“……”

Once again, I went to grab another box.

The incline was quite steep, making it a bit challenging.

“Ugh. Ugh.”

Baek Woo-jin was panting as he lifted a box.

“What about the cart?”

He must not have the strength to answer, as he just pointed toward the cart lying next to the truck.

Upon closer inspection, I saw that the wheels were broken.

Of all times, why did that have to happen?

“Take it easy. Ji-chan and I can handle it.”

“…Ah.”

Baek Woo-jin set the box down and sat down.

“Are you okay?”

“I feel dizzy.”

It seemed he didn’t even have the luxury to consider the gazes of those around him. He just lay down flat and tried to catch his breath.

Since he was resting, I grabbed two boxes and headed to the next house.

This time, it was a place where a grandma and her two grandchildren lived.

When I set the box down, one of the kids rushed in, tearing off the tape, revealing his dirty nails.

“Grandma! There’s tuna too!”

“Hold on.”

“There’s seaweed! We’ll have a feast today!”

Hearing the words about having a feast pierced my heart.

“Thank you.”

As the grandma bowed her head to thank me, I hurriedly bent down to bow in return, fearing I might tear up, and stepped outside.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. Ah, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

As I took a breath and calmed down, Park Ji-hyo comforted me.

“I was a bit worried because I only saw you on TV. I thought maybe you’d only care about how you appeared.”

“Really?”

As I asked back, I remembered an interview I had done before.

“But seeing you get happy over just one yogurt, and how you didn’t show any reaction to the smell, or seeing you hold back tears in front of Grandma Bok, made me realize you’re different.”

That’s only natural.

It’s a basic principle to uphold between people.

“I’m going to become a fan of Nam Sadangpa from today.”

“I’m going to cheer for you too.”

“Really?”

“I’ve come to respect you.”

Watching Park Ji-hyo, who walks thousands of steps a day, listens to hundreds of words, and offers warm touches countless times for the people living here, I felt a lot.

“She’s a bit of an oddball.”

Before knocking on the next house’s door, Park Ji-hyo seemed to worry about something.

It looked like a person with a peculiar personality lived here.

“Grandpa. Grandpa.”

After knocking, the door opened slightly a little while later.

Seeing Park Ji-hyo’s face, the grandpa scolded her.

“Why are you so late!”

“I came here the fastest.”

“Don’t lie! I can hear everything!”

The grandpa turned to look at me.

“What’s going on?”

“Hello, I’m Ban Chan-young.”

“What?”

“This person brought you a gift.”

I held the box out toward him, but the grandpa became angry.

“Are you telling me to lift this heavy thing? I might hurt my back!”

“Why do you have to talk like that?”

“I’ll bring it inside.”

The grandpa finally opened the door fully. After I set it down, he kicked the box lightly with his foot.

“What’s this?”

“It’s rice and kimchi. There’s seaweed and canned tuna too.”

“I told you I wanted ramen, not rice!”

“That’s something the district office provides. This is a personal gift from this person.”

“Hmph.”

The grandpa stared at me, then scoffed and waved his hand dismissively.

“If you’re done, get out.”

“How’s your back doing?”

“Why do you keep asking the same thing? What good does it do to ask? I need to go to the hospital to get better.”

“Okay. I’ll come again.”

“Don’t come!”

Park Ji-hyo sighed and led me outside.

“He has trouble trusting others.”

“There must be a reason for that.”

Not everyone is kindhearted.

Some may be hurt, or have a bad temperament, but still, I think it’s because there are people like social workers that this town can continue to exist.

“Then…”

“Wait a moment.”

I called PD Ahn Sang-kyu.

“Yes, Chan-young?”

“PD, I’d like to ask if I could buy some soap.”

“Soap?”

“Yes. I’d like to get three of the same kind per household. I want to give them out together; is it possible to get it done quickly?”

I requested the same kind of product to avoid any misunderstanding of discrimination if I brought different items.

“Sure. How many people should I prepare for?”

“Thank you. Please come to get the card. Yes. Yes. Thank you.”

After ending the call, Park Ji-hyo stared at me.

“Ah. It was on my mind.”

“Yes.”

Park Ji-hyo smiled brightly.

After visiting a few more houses, I noticed Baek Woo-jin moving around.

He didn’t look so good, and I thought about whether I should stop him when PD Ahn Sang-kyu brought the soap.

It was Dove soap.

If we were to prepare the same product, we would have needed to split into teams and go to several supermarkets, but he had gotten it ready sooner than I expected.

“Thank you. You worked hard.”

“Oh, this is nothing compared to what the boss does. How far do we need to go?”

“I was going around to the end of this alley. I’ll take care of it.”

“Are you sure you don’t need help? That’s a lot.”

“No, I need to tell you something directly.”

I picked up the soap and returned to the house we had just visited.

Entering Bok’s house, I handed the soap to Bok and said, “Bok, uncle is advertising this soap. Can you try it out and let me know if it’s good or not?”

“Okay!”

At first, Bok was puzzled but quickly responded.

His surname is Jeong and his name is Bok, which suits him as he is quite the assertive kid.

“Okay. Thank you. Grandma, I’m leaving now. Stay healthy!”

After saying goodbye, I headed to the house of the grumpy grandfather.

“What now!”

“I’m sorry, I forgot to give you the soap.”

The grandfather stared at the soap and got angry again.

“Are you forgetting something else again?”

“Oh come on. There’s nothing left. Here you go.”

I slipped the soap through the door and hurriedly walked back to the places I had been.

When I told people it was for advertising or that I accidentally left it out, they accepted it without suspicion.

“Is the advertising real?”

Park Ji-hyo asked.

“No?”

“Then why?”

“I thought if I just gave it away, they might think it smells bad or that I’m dirty or something.”

Park Ji-hyo slightly opened her mouth, then gave me a thumbs-up.

“Looks like we’ve visited everywhere we intended to?”

“Yes. You can go back now.”

“Wow. I’m feeling a bit tired now.”

“Well, you’ve been going since this morning. It’s lunchtime now.”

“Oh, right.”

I had said we would eat at 1 PM, and there was just one minute left.

“Let’s eat first.”

Park Ji-hyo nodded.

As we walked slowly back to the truck, I spotted Baek Woo-jin on the opposite side.

Seeing him sprawled out against the wall, he looked completely drained.

“Hey, Baek Woo-jin.”

“……”

“Let’s eat. Get up.”

“Hyung, I feel dizzy.”

I crouched down in surprise to check on him.

“What’s wrong? Why do you feel this way?”

“I don’t know.”

“……Is your heart racing?”

“Yeah.”

He must have low blood sugar.

I wanted to check his blood sugar level, but ever since it stabilized, I hadn’t carried my meter around.

I also hadn’t carried the chocolate I usually kept on me for quite some time.

“What’s going on with you?”

“I have low blood sugar. Does anyone have something sweet? Something sweet! Is there anyone with something sweet!”

I shouted in panic.

“Chan-young, yogurt!”

Park Ji-hyo mentioned the yogurt she had received in the morning, and as I searched my pockets, I found the black bag.

“Can you open this for me? Hey, Baek Woo-jin! Get up!”

When I tried to lift him but he remained dazed, I slapped his cheek, and he groaned.

The guideline for treating low blood sugar stated that feeding someone food while they were in a daze could cause issues, even if it was liquid, so I was relieved we had something.

I received the yogurt from Park Ji-hyo and put it in his mouth.

“Drink it. Finish it all.”

After getting out another remaining yogurt from the bag on the floor, I made sure he finished it before picking him up and sitting him in the passenger seat of the truck, adjusting the seatbelt over him.