Lee Se-yeon, an employee at an architecture firm, was in a terrible mood today.
She had stayed out late drinking with friends the night before, and as a result, she was late to work. Her supervisor berated her, yelling about how many times she had been late already and saying she might as well quit if this continued.
All this over being an hour late? No wonder he's stuck at middle management at his age.
While everyone else went out for lunch, her steps took her toward the department store.
There's nothing like shopping to lift your spirits. Buying something, anything, might help improve her mood.
As she entered the store, she saw rows of high-end French luxury brand stores like Chanel, Prada, and Louis Vuitton lining the first floor.
She would love nothing more than to walk into one of those stores and boldly buy a handbag, but…
Her credit card limit wouldn't allow it. She had already maxed out her cash advance and revolving credit, owing a total of 8 million won.
Her remaining credit limit was barely 1 million won, so she needed to shop carefully within that budget.
Se-yeon headed to the MPM store, a mid-tier luxury brand she frequented. It was her fifth visit this month alone. Thanks to her regular visits, the staff already treated her like a valued customer.
The thought of being pampered by the store manager and employees lifted her mood a little.
As she approached the entrance to the MPM store, she noticed the floor was a mess—someone had spilled coffee. A janitor was busy mopping it up.
She didn't pay it much attention and tried to walk past, but the mop lightly grazed her shoe.
These were the shoes she had splurged on during a sale just a few days ago. And now, they were dirtied by a mop that had been cleaning the floor.
Se-yeon recoiled in horror and shouted,
"Hey! What are you doing!?"
The janitor bowed her head.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, ma'am."
"Sorry? Do you think that's enough? Do you know what kind of shoes these are!?"
"I'll clean them for you," the janitor offered, taking out a handkerchief and bending down to wipe the shoes.
"Don't you dare touch me with your filthy hands!"
"I'm so sorry," the janitor apologized again.
The commotion drew the attention of a young woman in a suit, who quickly came over. Her nametag read Manager Woo Mi-ran.
"What seems to be the problem, ma'am?"
Se-yeon pouted dramatically.
"Can't you see? This woman ruined my shoes with her mop! What are you going to do about it?"
The janitor clasped her hands together and bowed repeatedly.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am. I truly apologize."
"Is that how someone who's sorry acts? You should be on your knees begging for forgiveness!"
The manager turned to the janitor and said,
"What are you doing? If you've made a mistake, kneel and apologize to the customer."
"Wh-what?"
The middle-aged janitor looked around helplessly. But there was no one here to take her side.
"Do you have any idea how much these shoes cost? Are you going to pay for them?"
She was living paycheck to paycheck. There was no way she could afford to compensate for such expensive shoes. If kneeling and begging would settle this matter quietly, she had no choice but to comply.
The janitor started to kneel.
But at that moment—
Tap.
Someone placed a hand on her shoulder.
The janitor looked up at me with a surprised expression.
"How did you…?"
As I stepped forward, the young woman looked at me irritably and asked,
"And who do you think you are?"
"I'm her son."
"What? What did you say?"
"I said I'm her son."
"..."
She fell silent. She probably never imagined the janitor's son would show up in a situation like this.
When I first entered the department store, I had noticed a young woman yelling near the luxury brand stores, while a janitor bowed her head repeatedly.
At first, I thought it was none of my business and intended to walk away.
But as soon as I heard the janitor's voice, I froze. It was my mother's voice.
I looked over and saw my mother in her janitor's uniform. She briefly avoided my gaze.
I remembered coming to this department store with my parents years ago, probably for my mother's birthday. We had eaten in the basement food court and gone shopping together.
My father had splurged on a handbag for her, and I had chipped in with my allowance. It wasn't a high-end luxury brand, just a mid-range one, but she had been so happy, like a child receiving a gift.
And now she was working here, cleaning floors.
She must have told me she worked in customer service so I wouldn't worry.
"What's going on here?" I asked.
"This woman ruined my shoes with her mop!"
"..."
And she was making such a fuss, demanding she kneel and beg, over something like that?
Rage boiled up inside me. I wanted to punch her, but I couldn't cause a scene in front of my mother.
I gritted my teeth and held back my anger as I asked,
"Where exactly are they ruined?"
"Can't you see it right there?"
"Where?"
Her black shoes looked perfectly fine, without a speck of dirt.
The woman rolled her eyes and said,
"Ugh, I don't care! These shoes are ruined now, so pay for them. Otherwise, I'm going to post about this on the store's bulletin board and report it to the Consumer Protection Agency!"
The manager, standing nearby, bowed her head.
"We'll take care of it, ma'am. Please don't worry."
The expression "the meddling sister-in-law is more annoying than the scolding mother-in-law" perfectly described this situation. Both the one making the demand and the one enabling her were infuriating.
Emboldened by the manager's support, the woman raised her voice again.
"Do you even know how much these cost!?"
"How much?" I asked.
She proudly declared,
"They cost 600,000 won!"
Then one of the store employees muttered under their breath,
"They're on sale for 330,000 won now…"
A 45% discount, huh?
The way she was acting, you'd think they were worth millions.
I took out my wallet.
"Will 600,000 won settle this?"
My mother's eyes widened in shock.
"Jin-hoo, where would you get that kind of money…?"
"It's fine, Mom."
I pulled out twelve 50,000-won bills and held them out to the woman.
"Here you go."
"Hmph! You should have done this earlier."
The woman reached for the money.
But just as her hand was about to touch it, I pulled the bills back.
"Apologize first."
She blinked in surprise.
"What did you say?"
"If you want the money, apologize first."
She glared at me, looking between the 600,000 won in my hand and my face. In the end, money won out over pride.
She gave a half-hearted bow toward my mother.
"S-sorry. I guess I was a bit harsh."
Her apology had no sincerity, but it was better than nothing.
She reached for the money again, but when she tried to pull it, the bills didn't budge—I hadn't loosened my grip.
"What are you doing now?" she snapped.
"Take off your shoes."
"What?"
"I said, take them off. You said they're ruined and demanded compensation. So if I'm paying for them, the shoes are mine. Don't tell me you plan to walk away with both the money and the shoes. This isn't some miracle economy."
"Ugh!"
She looked utterly flabbergasted but couldn't say a word. She probably couldn't come up with a counterargument.
"If you're going to keep wearing them, I'll take back the money."
I started to pull the bills back, and this time, she held on tightly. She seemed to wrestle between her greed for the money and her pride.
Ultimately, the money won again.
"This is ridiculous!"
She kicked off her shoes and took the cash.
I picked up the shoes and threw them straight into a nearby trash bin.
"Trash like this belongs in the garbage."
"..."
The woman said nothing to me but turned to the manager and yelled,
"I'm going to report this department store!"
The manager bowed her head.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am."
Whether she reported it or not was none of my business. The store would handle it.
I turned to my mother.
"Let's go, Mom."
As I led my mother away, the manager called out behind us.
"Where do you think you're going? Do you think you can just show up to work tomorrow after this?"
"..."
What a lunatic.
I had planned to leave quietly, but I couldn't anymore.
I stopped, turned around, and picked up the mop lying on the floor.
The manager flinched and took a step back.
"A-are you going to hit me...?"
I shoved the mop into her hands.
"She won't show up tomorrow, so from now on, clean up yourself."
"W-what did you say? Hey, you!"
Ignoring her protests, I grabbed my mother's hand and walked out of the department store.
Once we were outside, my mother finally snapped out of her daze and gasped.
"Oh no! I need to go back and apologize—"
I stopped her from panicking and said,
"You don't have to do this kind of work anymore."
"But…"
I pulled her into a hug. She felt so light, as if she would break with the slightest pressure. I could feel her bones through her back and shoulders.
How long had she been this thin?
The thought of her cleaning floors all day with a body like this made my throat tighten.
I swallowed the lump rising in my throat and said,
"It's okay, Mom. From now on, I'll take care of everything."
After a moment of hesitation, she gently patted my back with her frail arms.
"When did my little boy grow up so much?"