Time Mansour - Chapter 113



Only Noblemtl

Episode 113: Clouds Flow Slowly

Church steeple.

The clouds are leaning and resting.

“I’m doing well.”

But I muttered to myself, looking into the empty space.

Without even answering my question, the cloud went on its long journey again.

Thump.

And I, too, pushed open the church door with my body to go my way.

“Wow… when are you going to finish cleaning this?”

The trash that I didn’t clean up greets me.

When I left the Russian supermarket, I left without cleaning up properly.

Although the inside of the store was a mess.

At least.

The first floor was better.

Because the store existed until relatively recently, it was somewhat well-maintained.

As we went up to the second floor chapel, we felt sand on the floor.

Sunlight streamed in through the large chapel windows.

‘This is almost like a beach.’

As I walked along the sandy beach, my eyes scanned the chapel chairs.

Mold sitting huddled together on the wooden pews in the chapel.

How long have you been sitting?

There is a clear butt imprint left on the chair.

widely.

Put the cleaning tools you brought aside.

I put an earphone in one ear.

And then.

“Now, let’s dance.”

He held a long broom in both hands and began to move to the rhythm.

I was cleaning while shaking my whole body like that.

suddenly.

“Oh my, this is a mess.”

I heard the old man’s voice behind me.

“Huh? What are you doing here?

“I was passing by nearby. I came to see what it was like.”

The old man waved his hand as if it was nothing.

And then he looked around and shook his head from side to side.

“Are you going to do this alone?”

“Yes. Well. I have some time to spare. I was going to take it slow.”

After hearing what I said, the old man quickly rolled up his sleeves.

“Oh. No. It’s okay. I can do it.”

When I saw that, I quickly stopped him.

“Okay. I’ll clean it up by myself sometime. Just give it to me. I’m an expert at this kind of thing.”

“It’s really okay. I can do it by myself.”

“Listen to me. I was a demolition expert on the job.”

It was only then that I noticed the toolbox the old man had brought.

You didn’t just stop by, you came here on purpose.

I told him several times that it was okay, but he just ignored it all.

While I was hesitating like that, not knowing what to do.

The man looks closely at the broom in my hand.

“Anyway, if we tear this down, it’ll get dirty again. Why are you sweeping already? Put the broom down. Here, put this on for now.”

Then he holds out his gloves. Thud. The broom falls limply to the floor.

“I’ll split it all up, so put the rest here.”

The man threw the empty sack on the floor and began to dismantle the chapel chairs.

As the old man touched it, the chair collapsed. The chair was shattered into pieces. He crouched down and put the pieces of wood into a bag.

After a long period of simple repetitive work, all the chapel chairs were finally dismantled. A pile of waste bags was piled up in one corner.

and.

It’s really hard.

My legs were wobbly. I paused for a moment and straightened my back.

So I showed that I was having a hard time.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

The man put his equipment on the floor and put his tools in the toolbox.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“What about hard work? I’m used to it because I used to do whatever I did. The rich guy had it harder. It seems like he’s never done any physical work.”

“No. It was something I had to do anyway. Oh! Right. Which bank is it? Please tell me the account number. Thank you for your hard work, but I…”

“Oh, okay. Money’s enough. Let’s order some jajangmyeon.”

“yes?”

“You’re a rich man, so you probably haven’t tried Jajangmyeon at a place like this.”

They say that Jjajangmyeon tastes different when eaten on site. The man took off his gloves and spread out a newspaper. Old entertainment articles covered the sand on the floor.

**

“You grew up in an orphanage?”

The man shook the bowl of jajangmyeon from side to side, then stopped and looked at me with a surprised expression.

“Yes. When I was young. Just a moment.”

“Wow… That’s even more amazing. You’re a self-made millionaire?”

The old man’s reaction is loud. Every time he twists his body, the face of an unknown baseball player from the sports section gets crumpled.

“No. I’m not self-made. And as I’ve said several times, I’m not rich either.”

“Hey. You must be rich, seeing as you live in a building so casually. What is it?”

I took out all my loans from the bank, but the expression “it’s okay” doesn’t seem right.

Well. I knew that making excuses would be useless, so I just reached out and grabbed the bowl of sweet and sour pork.

“Please move that over there. Yes. Yes. I’ll put the tangsuyuk over here.”

After placing the tangsuyuk in the middle, I split the wooden chopsticks.

I sat down on the newspaper and used my chopsticks.

As soon as I eat the noodles.

Before I knew it, the word “delicious” came out of my mouth.

“Look. Isn’t it delicious? I told you it’s different when you eat it like this.”

“Yes. I think it’s because of the atmosphere.”

“If you grew up in an orphanage, you must have had a hard time. I guess you never did field work when you were young. If you did, you couldn’t help but know this taste.”

“Yes. I happened to get a job quickly. I was lucky.”

We had a quick chat while eating Jajangmyeon. Before we knew it, the bowl was empty.

After finishing the meal, I got up from my seat.

“Thank you so much for today. I would have never been able to do it if I had done it alone. Thanks to you, I was able to solve a big problem.”

I said thank you again.

“Hey. This is just basic for me. I think I have a lot of work to do, so I’ll call you again later.”

“It’s really okay. I can pretty much do it on my own now.”

“Don’t be stubborn. Oh! Right. Don’t make excuses about being tired today. Don’t skip your workout. Health is the most important. I started going to the gym after I hurt my back. When I was young. I used to be able to easily weigh 60kg…”

As it was time to go back, the old man started talking more. Did he regain his energy after eating? The old man kept talking without stopping.

So, unable to return home, I could only stand there and nod my head for a long time.

**

Before I knew it.

Life inside the room is slowly leaking out.

For the past few days, I have been commuting to the church building for work.

There was still a lot of work to do though.

I came up to Seoul for a bit today because I had something to do.

Seongtae waiting in front of the cafe.

As soon as I saw Seongtae’s face.

“People? Did you recognize them?”

I got straight to the point. Seongtae looked at me with a dumbfounded expression at my question.

“Who’s chasing me? Why is it so urgent? Go in and talk.”

I heard Seongtae ask if I was in a hurry. I feel strange.

After nodding, I went into the cafe with Seongtae.

As soon as I ordered my coffee and sat down, another question came out of my mouth.

“So is there anyone who would do it? Someone we can trust?”

“Uh. Well… She’s someone I grew up with. She’s someone I can trust, but….”

“however?”

“There is a slightly minor problem, though.”

Seongtae looks at me with a serious expression, his voice trailing off.

**

“Twenty-five?”

“Oh. The author is my cousin.”

I found myself asking a question in response to Seongtae’s unexpected answer.

Seongtae’s girlfriend. That is, the special education teacher’s cousin.

Besides, he said that they grew up together as children. With that level of relationship, there’s no one he can trust more.

however.

“You’re twenty-five? You have over three years of experience?”

Too young.

There were conditions for operating a facility for the disabled. A social worker’s license. And three years of relevant experience. If the conditions were not met, the establishment could not be established at all.

“Oh. He didn’t graduate from college. He got his qualification through the credit bank system and started working right away.”

“ah···”

Three years of experience is literally a legal requirement.

Nursing care workers also have to manage other staff members.

If a friend who is new to society becomes a facility manager, will he be able to control his employees?

“I don’t know much about that area, so I can’t say anything. But even if it’s that difficult… will it be okay?”

“I don’t know that either.”

A question mark hovered over both of our heads.

Twenty-five. Not to be dismissive, but at that point in my career, I was lucky to just leave the company.

I was the same way when I was that age.

“Anyone else? None at all?”

“Huh? You said that system wasn’t normal in the first place? Everyone is reluctant to use it.”

“Well. It’s not run for profit.”

A system that protects all infants, children, adolescents, and adults, and then sends them back to facilities with available space.

Unlike infant and toddler care facilities where children are sent to other places as they grow older.

It was not easy to operate because even users who could be accommodated had to be sent to other facilities.

In terms of academies, this means that even though they haven’t graduated yet, they send students to other academies whenever there’s a spot available.

Even though it was a welfare facility, it was not a common facility as it was operated with a certain degree of profit in mind.

“I haven’t looked into it myself, but there might not be a similar facility in the country. That’s why I wanted someone with a lot of experience to come…”

“Inma. That’s greedy. If you think about it, it’s a startup. Why would someone with a lot of experience go to a startup?”

“That’s not wrong, but startups can also like people with experience.”

“Well then, why don’t you try looking for someone else? Eunji doesn’t know anymore.”

I don’t know if there will be anyone who looks for it separately.

A person you can trust.

In fact, that was a more important condition than ability.

“Are you confident? It won’t be easy.”

“Uh. Maybe? He seemed confident. I don’t know the truth.”

Seongtae shrugs his shoulders and smiles.

“Let’s meet up and talk. How can I know anything if you ask me a hundred times?”

I nodded at Seongtae’s words.

okay.

There are also people who are excellent even without experience.

‘I guess he said he would try running a difficult facility because he was confident.’

Because I have no other choice anyway.

I think we should meet up and talk.

**

The next day.

The old man came to church again. Now I feel so sorry that I can’t say anything.

He said he just did it as a hobby and didn’t want to get paid.

After everything is over, I should give them some of the daily wages. That’s what I thought to myself.

The old man stopped demolishing the floor and turned his head to look at me.

“Oh. Right. Is this the building facilities manager? Is that decided?”

“Yes. I have someone in mind… but since she’s twenty-five, I’m a little worried.”

“Why worry about that? What does age matter? Even rich people aren’t even thirty yet. Look how well they live. Ability matters. Age doesn’t.”

“Hey. That’s an exaggeration. I’m not living well. And I’m thirty-seven this year. I’ll be forty soon.”

“Huh? Really? If you look closely, you look like you’re in your thirties, but you look incredibly young.”

I often heard that I looked young. I was small in stature and had small facial features.

Still, he didn’t look like he was in his twenties. There was a bit of exaggeration in what the old man said.

Well, older people tend to confuse younger people’s ages, so I might look younger than I am.

I thought about it like that and tried to ignore it.

“Is it because rich people only work inside? They really don’t age. I’m jealous. I’m jealous. I get a lot of sunlight outside, so as you can see, I look like this.”

The moment the old man listened.

At that moment.

My head was spinning.

weird.

My head was filled with thoughts that something was wrong.

So I stared into space with blank eyes.

“What’s going on? Why are you doing that?”

The man grabbed my shoulder and shook me.

But the old man’s words did not ring a bell.

I was insensitive to my appearance. I was noticeably duller than other people.

So I wasn’t aware of it at all. I didn’t attach much significance to what happened.

however.

Listening to what the old man said.

‘Why haven’t I aged?’

I got goosebumps all over my body.