Two Wheels Due at Four

At two on his bicycle repair shop’s last afternoon, Doyun received two bundles of spokes. He checked the clock. Two rear wheels were due at four. Building and balancing one would take him ninety minutes.

At four, a buyer was collecting his wheel truing stand. Doyun had to surrender the shop tomorrow morning. Most tools were sold or packed. On the bench lay two hubs removed from damaged rims.

One belonged to Junghae’s delivery bike. He needed to leave by four thirty for his evening shift. The other belonged to Yuna’s racing bike. At four thirty, her cycling club’s van was leaving for another city.

Doyun had taken Junghae’s job on Wednesday and Yuna’s on Thursday. Promised the parts by Friday morning, he had told both customers to come at four. Even this morning, he had expected the parcel any minute and called neither.

He mounted one hub, then removed it. Alternating between wheels would save nothing. After threading the spokes, he still needed to adjust their tension individually, fit the tires, and check each wheel.

Yuna had paid the labor charge of three hundred thousand won. She had also introduced him to a new bicycle store. He was meeting its owner on Monday. Junghae’s labor charge was sixty thousand.

He called Junghae first. “Could you use another bike just for tonight?” A pause. “I returned the rental yesterday. You said mine would be ready today.” A bus announcement sounded behind him.

Yuna said she would come straight over. Doyun unwrapped both spoke bundles. They were different lengths, and he kept them separate, but his hand moved between them. It was twelve past two.

He picked up Junghae’s hub. The heavy frame supporting the cargo rack would make refitting that wheel slower too. He set the tire beneath the bench and threaded the first spoke.

Yuna arrived when the wheel was half laced. Seeing her hub still on the bench, she removed her gloves. “You haven’t started mine?” Doyun stopped turning a spoke nipple. “I can’t finish it by four.”

“If you’d told me this morning, I could have tried somewhere else.” She took out her phone without lighting the screen. “I was wrong to promise both,” he said. He swallowed his explanation about the parcel.

Yuna called three nearby shops. One lacked parts; two had full schedules. After the last call, she asked him to box her hub and rim. He wiped his hands and found the packaging.

“Contact that store yourself. I said I’d tell them how today’s work went.” She gave him her bank details. He refunded the full fee. Yuna checked the transfer and lifted her box. Doyun followed to hold open the heavy door.

It was just after three when he returned to the stand. Several loose spokes knocked together. He tightened them individually until their sounds matched. His phone rang. This time he kept working.

Junghae arrived at three fifty. Doyun fitted the wheel, replaced the chain, and checked the brakes. Junghae hung his empty delivery bag from the handlebars. Doyun asked him to remove it: he still needed a test ride.

The buyer’s truck was waiting when he returned from the alley. Junghae paid by card and lowered the saddle. “Where should I bring it next time?” Doyun said he had nowhere arranged yet.

After Junghae left, they loaded the stand. A rectangle free of grease marked its place. The buyer transferred the balance and asked about the workbench. Doyun said someone was collecting it tomorrow.

Yuna had texted. She hadn’t found a wheel to borrow and was dropping out of the trip. He read her message twice, then called the store owner he was supposed to meet next week.

He explained accepting two jobs and failing to finish one. The owner said he would proceed with another applicant. Doyun said he understood. The call ended. He removed Monday’s appointment from his calendar.

He called the movers and asked the cost without the extra worker he had booked. He would have to carry everything downstairs himself. Doyun agreed. There were eight boxes of tools.

He packed only his own tools in the last box. Yuna’s job slip was caught between two wrenches. He noted the refund date and filed it beneath today’s transactions, beside Junghae’s slip.

After sunset, he began carrying boxes down. At each turn he stopped to adjust his grip. On the eighth trip his hands weakened; he sat down and lowered the box step by step.

He pushed it behind the downstairs shutter. Back upstairs, only a chair remained. Sitting on it, he crossed eight boxes off the moving list. Tomorrow morning, he would carry the chair down.