In a pawn shop…
“Umm, sorry. We’re not hiring right now,” the manager said.
“But there’s a sign in front of your store. It says hiring.”
In a grocery store…
“All of the spots had been filled up.”
“Then remove the sign.”
In a pet merchandise shop…
“We only accept part-time workers aged 15 to 17 years old.”
“Is the owner a pedophile?”
In a pizza parlor…
“This establishment only hires those with a college degree or up,” the manager, wearing a red polo with a matching red hat, said.
Zeno pursed his lips. “This is a pizza parlor,” he deadpanned.
“The best pizza parlor in town!” the manager said in an exaggerated Italian accent.
“Why do you need a college graduate to make pizza?”
The manager didn’t respond and merely pointed to the door. “Out!”
Zeno went out of the seventh establishment he had tried to apply to for the entire day.
At first, he thought—”how hard is it to find a minimum-wage job?”
Extremely difficult.
“How are people so choosy in this freaking economy?” Zeno exclaimed.
“Preach it!” someone said, capturing Zeno’s attention.
He saw a man with a shoe on his head and gloves on his feet. He pursed his lips. Well, it seemed like the most insane people were actually the most rational.
Zeno shook his head and glanced at his watch, seeing it was already 6 PM. He had been out job-hunting for the entire day. He saw a small tent bar nearby and heard his stomach grumble.
He was so focused on his objective that he had forgotten to eat. He still had the 200,000 KRW given to him by Man-shik PD, so he started walking to the tent bar.
Zeno took a seat at the far end. “One serving of tteokbokki and blood sausage,” he said to the old woman. She smiled at him, the kindest one he had seen all day.
“Young man, you look really tired. You should have eaten at a restaurant instead.”
“This is fine,” Zeno mumbled.
She smiled once more, placing the food in front of him before tending to the other customers.
He ate, wondering where else he could look for a job.
Meanwhile, a group of teenagers arrived at the tent bar, creating a rowdy atmosphere. There were five of them in total, and it seemed like they had come from the university nearby.
“Ah, I’m so tired!” one of the girls exclaimed. “It’s so hard to earn a degree. It’s only our first year, but I already feel like I’ve been there for four years.”
Zeno ignored them and focused on his food.
“Tell me about it,” another said. “Hey, what time is it?”
“6:30, why?”
“Oh, crap! It’s almost time for the pilot episode.”
“That was today? I nearly forgot because of all our requirements.”
Zeno clicked his tongue and covered one ear, trying to tune them out.
“Old lady,” one of the young men said to the seller. “Can you turn on the TV and put it on the TGN channel?”
“This TV is old, like this lady,” the seller said.
“That’s alright!” the first girl exclaimed. “We can’t miss the first episode of ‘Broken Chains of Justice.’ We’ll take anything!”
“Sera, calm down. Your voice is too loud,” one of them said, silently apologizing to the other customers.
Meanwhile, Zeno perked up at the mention of the ‘Broken Chains of Justice.’
“That again?” the old woman asked. “Everybody has been talking about it since I opened the shop. Alright, I’ll put it on.”
The old woman turned on the TV, and just in time, the opening sequence came out.
The song sounded great, capturing the attention of those in the tent.
“This is a masterpiece!” Sera exclaimed.
“The show hasn’t started yet.”
“I don’t care. I already know it’s a masterpiece,” she smiled.
Indeed, people all around the country had already been convinced. The combination of the actor, director, and writer was bound to be great. Sigmoid, a popular microblogging platform, was filled with posts from people anticipating the drama.
– Anybody else left work early to watch the first episode?
– This drama has been teased since last year!
– Man-shik PD’s most recent work was too good. I can’t resist this one.
– What a bunch of losers. Missing work just for an episode?
– Upstairs commenter. That’s easy for you to say because you don’t have a job.
The opening sequence has finally ended, entering the first scene…
Seoul, March 2023
Beom Kang had just been released from prison. There was a look of relief in his eyes as the prison guard gave him a pat on the back.
“Beom Kang, you are a free man. I don’t want you coming back here, alright?”
Beom nodded. “I don’t plan on coming back.”
With that, he walked out of the prison gates, his head held high. Unlike the other prisoners who had been released at the same time as him, his family wasn’t there to greet him. The sad look in his eyes made the audience resonate with him.
– Daniel! I’ll be there to fetch you.
– Come to mommy. I’ll even let you breastfeed.
– Eh? It’s not that great, though. His handsome face makes up for it.
Zeno tilted his head to the side as he watched the scene. Daniel looked too heartbroken for a man who was supposedly a notorious criminal. He shook his head. Well, then again, who was he to scrutinize human emotion? He was an alien.
Just then, the scene shifted to him going out of a store, an ice cream in one hand and a pink teddy bear in the other.
“Wait for me,” Beom said with a small smile and began his journey home.
Just in time, Zeno took the last bite of the blood sausage and stood from his seat, the chair scraping on the ground and making a loud sound. Nearly everyone was already engrossed in the scene, so they turned to Zeno with a glare.
“Quiet down, loner!” the overly enthusiastic fangirl Sera exclaimed.
Zeno raised his hands in surrender before giving the payment to the old lady.
He left the small tent with a sigh. “Time to go home,” he muttered.
And at that moment, his cameo was finally shown.
