I learned how to drive more easily than I had ever learned how to do anything else in my life. It felt like I had a natural intuition for judging distance and speed while in a car. The moment I sat in the driver's seat, my perception seemed to expand to include the width and length of the car. I felt aware of anything close to it, and I felt a natural ability for being able to perfectly center a car between the painted lines on the street and how much distance to put in between other cars and obstacles in the road. I could feel just from the tension in the wheel how many turns or half turns I needed to make to ease the car into the tightest of parking spaces. Even Mr. Do, who was usually pretty reserved with his compliments, called me a perfect driver. Except for one thing…

“You drive too fast, Baek Jaehyun!” He always gripped the handles in the car with a white knuckled grip and squeezed his eyes shut when I touched the gas pedal.

I laughed. “Gets you where you’re going faster, sir.” I didn’t often get to drive, usually only to pick up something for Mr. Do when he was busy or to chauffeur him to a job that couldn’t be transported to our shop. I made sure to relish every moment I had behind the driver's wheel. Maybe I did drive a little fast, but I was always careful of my surroundings and slowed down properly when making turns.

“At my age, there’s no need to rush like that.” He groaned as he pushed himself out of the car. He made a great show of returning safely, complaining to our coworkers about how recklessly I drove. They in turn ribbed me, jokingly accusing me of plotting against the boss.

“That’s just a bad business plan! Who’ll pay me when Do Hoon-nim is gone? You?” We laughed. The camaraderie and rapport I had with my coworkers made the garage feel like a second home, one far better than the one I went back to every night.

Thinking of my problems at home seemed to manifest them instantly.

“Jaehyun-a! Were you just driving a car?” The familiar raspy voice of my father cut through the laughter. It faded in moments.

“Dad..!” I choked out a greeting. The mood was somber now. He had never come to the shop personally, so I had never held back venting my frustrations to my coworkers as we worked. Everyone here was well aware of his bad habits, thanks to his loose lipped son.

“Baek Seung-ssi. What brings you here?” Thankfully, Mr. Do asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“Just visiting my son, that’s all. Don’t mind me now.” I felt embarrassed at his overly casual way of speaking, even to total strangers. The other mechanics moved off after giving my father polite greetings. They scattered around the shop, making busy work.

“Do Hoon-ssi.” The slight wheedling tone in my fathers voice filled me with dread. I’d often heard that tone creeping into his voice when Park Bonghwan came calling for the weekly interest payment. With all the workers moved off, we three stood alone. “You’ve treated my boy well.” He made a mock show of patting me affectionately.

“He works hard, and learns quick. Jaehyun is well on his way to becoming a top tier mechanic.” Normally Mr. Do’s compliments would fill me with pride, but at the moment I was dreading what I knew my father had surely come to ask.

“Good, good,” my father said distractedly. “Do Hoon, I’ll be straight with you. I’ve come to ask you for a favor. You see, my wife and I have been struggling to make ends meet, even with Jaehyun helping. I don’t mean to say you don’t pay him enough…”

Then why say it! Every word that crept out of his mouth revolted me to the core. This man seemed to have no low he couldn’t yet stoop under again. I could feel Mr. Do stiffening next to me, prickling at my father’s implied insult.

“I know you’re a kind and generous man… Do Hoon. The way you took in my son proves it. So I wanted to ask you if you could possibly loan me money.”

Do Hoon trembled with anger. My face was hot, full of the shame that my father seemed to have none of. I looked at the asphalt below us, too shamed to say anything, and unable to leave this scene.

“Baek Seung…..” Mr Do growled. I watched my father’s feet retreat a step back. “Have you no shame? To ask me such a question, in front of your son in the middle of his work?” His voice raised with every word. My father’s feet retreated yet more, but now Mr. Do’s feet pursued them forward. I snapped my gaze up, now concerned that a fight was about to break out. My timing was near perfect; the moment I looked up was the exact moment Mr. Do’s fist connected with my father’s face.

“You worthless, slimy, good for nothing son of bitch!” Mr. Do had a temper and yelling was a common enough sound at the shop, but the sight of him striking anyone wasn’t. A few of my fellow mechanics were looking on in shock. My father fell heavily to the ground. He kicked up pebbles and bits of gravel as he scrambled to his feet. Mr. Do hurled a balled up, grease stained rag at him. It bounced off my father’s chest ineffectually but its message was clear enough. “Get your worthless, stinking hide out of my shop!” hollered Mr. Do.

“And never come back!” He added as my father hastily made his exit. Mr. Do threw himself down into a chair. He produced his kerchief from its pocket and dabbed at his now sweating face. I nearly fell over myself, throwing myself down to my knees and apologizing over and over.

“Jae-ya, get up,” groaned Mr. Do. “I’m the one that should apologize to you, for speaking to your father like that—no! It’s your damned father who needs to apologize the most. Lee Minjae, who was always attentive to everyone’s needs, rushed over with a cup of cooled tea. Mr. Do thanked him and gulped it gratefully. He slammed the empty cup into a nearby rack, rattling the various tools and bits on it. He heaved a big sighs

“Jae, go call your mother. I think it’s probably best if you stay with me tonight.”

I was grateful that he even thought of that.

A few days later, I found out why my father had found the guts to crawl into the shop and shamelessly try to shake down my boss like that. Park Bonghwan himself showed up at the shop. He had walked so it was clear that this didn’t have anything to do with him needing automobile service.

“Do Hoon-ssi.” He greeted my boss. Mr. Do returned the greeting with a respectful head dip. “Can I borrow Baek Jaehyun for a minute?”

Mr. Do nodded his assent and waved me off. It was a particularly busy day. I wiped my hands on a rag and obediently went over to Mr. Park, bowing and greeting him as I did so.

He motioned for me to follow and walked a ways off away from the shop. I followed him a meekly as a shadow. Mr. Park looked back at the shop to see if anyone was trying to eavesdrop.

“You’ve probably noticed by now but your father’s gotten himself into a lot of trouble. More than he usually is,” he added. He hadn’t needed to. My dad was always in trouble so mentioning it again was enough to distinguish that he’d gone and backed himself off another cliff.

“Did he borrow more from you again?”

“Not from me,” Mr Park laughed. “I'm not fool enough to lend him any more. You’ve done well to help him pay off his principal, but even you’ll be working just about the rest of your life to finish those interest payments. No, that dumbass Cho Il-sung did.” He cursed and spat. I didn’t know who Cho Il-sung was so I just moved my foot away from the globule of spittle.

“Well, that idiot got his already. But the big boss — my boss — caught wind of it. He thinks I haven’t been handling this situation well. He’s gone and assigned Han Jungho-ssi to keep tabs on your father now.”

I gulped nervously. In the relative scheme of things, Mr. Park had been a pretty lenient lender. So far he had only beaten my father, and hadn’t threatened to take our organs or whatever else extreme thing gangsters threatened. I was fortunate to not know. He had even helped me get this job.

Park Bonghwuan gave me a critical eye. “I’m telling you because you don’t deserve to get involved in the storm that’s coming. You’re old enough now to cut ties and make a break for it, like your brother did. You should consider it.”

His words stung me. “Shitty as he is, he’s still my father. I won’t abandon my family like my brother did.”

Mr. Park let out a frustrated sigh through his teeth and pulled out a cigarette case from his suit pocket. He stuck one of them into his mouth and lit it. “He always was the smarter of you two.” He waved and walked off.

It was the last time I ever saw Park Bonghwan.