91.
“So what should you do?”
The woman drinking champagne straight from the bottle laughed loudly. Her name was Kim Sujin. She said she was dating Jesse, who lived in the main house. Usually, only Jesse would occasionally stop by to deliver food ingredients, but today she had come along. Sujin was very sociable and handed Haseo champagne as soon as they met.
“Let’s drink and have fun!”
At first, he felt reluctant, but as he got drunk, that feeling gradually faded.
“I heard from Jesse. You have a lot of worries? But Jesse isn’t the type to listen to such things. I guess that’s why he brought me. Tell me.”
Haseo haltingly told his story to Kim Sujin. Since he couldn’t tell everything exactly as it happened, he modified it somewhat. After listening to it all, Kim Sujin’s eyes blazed.
“Wow, that guy’s a real bastard. But Jesse used to be like that too. A complete bastard.”
“…Then why are you dating him?”
“Good question. Why am I dating him? Hmm, come to think of it, at first I thought I could change Jesse. It’s a common trait of people who like bad men.”
Haseo had never particularly thought that way, but he quietly listened to Kim Sujin.
“So I went for it, and you know what!”
Kim Sujin took another sip of champagne.
“People really do change?”
“They changed?”
“Yes, he’s much better now.”
It seemed Haseo had told his story to the wrong person. He had no confidence in changing Choi Mujin. So he obediently drank more champagne.
“No, listen. I was really wild back then. When I saw Jesse flirting with another woman, I even kicked him between his legs. I hit him so hard that an ambulance came. But even when Jesse got angry, he never said he wanted to break up with me.”
“That’s nice.”
“It is. If you’re going to break up anyway, do everything you wanted to do at the end. Curse at him, kick him between the legs. Then see how he reacts.”
The problem wasn’t something that could be resolved as lightly as kicking him between the legs, but as he listened, he couldn’t help but be intrigued.
“If you just run away and live peacefully, your heart might eventually find peace. But is that true peace? I don’t think so.”
Kim Sujin said firmly.
“Hey!”
At that point, Jesse, who had been listening, interrupted.
“It’s not such a simple matter.”
“So what? I see a person half-dead. In that case, it’s better to try anything.”
As she said this, Kim Sujin pointed at Haseo.
“Even a passing zombie would be in better shape than you.”
Haseo rubbed his cheek with his hand. Lately, he hadn’t been eating properly and had been drinking alcohol… He wondered if it showed that much. After that, Kim Sujin emptied a bottle of champagne without any food and left the guest house with Jesse. After seeing the two off as they walked away, Haseo entered the house and was greeted by silence.
There was a small TV in the house, but he had never turned it on since coming here. Outside the window, it was still bright. They said it was the white night period, and that there would be almost no night for a while. Though the sky that didn’t darken was unfamiliar, he didn’t dislike it. Haseo sat at the small table in the kitchen and thought for a long time.
After thinking and thinking, quite some time had passed.
Slowly blinking his eyes, he soon made a decision. Kim Sujin wasn’t wrong. Haseo still carried emotions he couldn’t express, and it was killing him. Even as he tried to deny it by living a peaceful daily life, those feelings remained firmly attached to his heart.
“Should I go back?”
Life would disappear someday anyway, and he wanted to do everything he wanted. Haseo picked up his phone and called Jeong Heejun.
─ Yes, Haseo. What’s up?
As if he happened to be awake, Jeong Heejun answered the call quickly.
“Heejun. I want to go back to Korea.”
Yes, that’s what he had decided.
Hearing Haseo’s words, Jeong Heejun was surprised and tried to persuade him otherwise.
─ Korea is still dangerous. Although Chairman Jang has almost fallen from power, someone who has lost everything can be even more frightening. He’s my father, but he’s unpredictable. And if you come back, you might meet Choi Mujin.
“It’s okay. I’m going to ask him to pick me up.”
─ What? Haseo, are you serious?
He seemed to have trouble understanding what Haseo was saying. Haseo understood Jeong Heejun. He didn’t understand himself, so how could he expect others to fully understand?
─ You sometimes do ridiculous things.
“When have I ever?”
─ You have. Like when you went after the biggest kid in class.
Jeong Heejun sighed and tried to dissuade Haseo.
─ Do you really have to do this?
“I really have to. Heejun. I ran away all the way here, but there’s still a lump stuck tightly in my chest. If that’s not resolved, I won’t feel alive even if I am. So I want to resolve everything this time.”
─ …Will that be so easy?
“Well, at least I’ll try.”
After much persuasion, Haseo overcame Jeong Heejun’s opposition.
─ How can I win against your stubbornness?
Haseo laughed at the voice that sounded like a lament.
After ending the call, Jeong Heejun immediately sent Haseo the flight time for returning to Korea. Having persuaded Jeong Heejun, it was now time to call the next person. Unlike Jeong Heejun, it took Choi Mujin a bit longer to answer the call. As soon as the connection tone ended, Haseo exhaled deeply and quickly blurted out what he had been thinking.
“I’m going back to Korea.”
─ What?
“Come pick me up at the airport.”
─ Haseo?
Then he told him the arrival time of the Korea-bound flight that Jeong Heejun had arranged.
“Make sure to come get me.”
─ I wonder what Haseo is thinking.
“You don’t need to know.”
After answering coldly, he hung up. The hand holding the phone was trembling slightly. Choi Mujin was the person he liked most, but he was equally hateful. The things he had gone through because of him had turned Haseo into a coward.
‘But still.’
He decided not to run away anymore. Haseo got up from the table and packed his belongings. When he arrived, he had almost no luggage, but now as he was preparing to return, he found he had acquired quite a few items—things like jam made from locally picked berries, or t-shirts he had bought here. Though his heart was heavy, everything else had been good.
‘Should I come back after everything is over?’
Though he wasn’t sure if Jesse’s family would still rent him the guest house then.
As soon as morning came, Haseo got a ride in Jesse’s car and headed to the airport.
Choi Mujin stared into space, phone in hand. Domestic affairs were almost resolved. Chairman Jang’s corruption had been exposed, and the company’s directors had all turned their backs on him. Even those who had been on his side quietly withdrew when the situation turned like this.
The real power of Isaac Finance had been transferred to Baek Sira and Choi Mujin. It seemed Baek Sira didn’t want to own the company so much as she wanted to take what Chairman Jang had. Once she got her hands on the company, she left Choi Mujin alone even as he gradually took over from within.
“I’ve never felt so at ease as I do these days.”
That’s what Baek Sira said. And as the situation developed this way, the ongoing business with Toho Construction became ambiguous. But that aspect was somehow resolved too. Baek Sira accepted Jeong Heejun.
“I can’t think of you as a son, but we can make a deal. The terms of the deal are simple. Turn your back on Chairman Jang, your father. Then I’ll continue the support he provided. You won’t be able to become the successor, but I’ll make sure you hold a position in the company.”
Jeong Heejun seemed to hesitate for a moment but accepted Baek Sira’s offer.
“I didn’t have any affection for my father anyway.”
“It seemed that way. That’s why I made the offer.”
In this situation, Toho Construction’s daughter still liked Jeong Heejun. This made the president of Toho Construction, who cherished only his daughter, seem perplexed. Still, only the counterpart had changed; it was an opportunity to join hands with Isaac Finance. Even if that counterpart was Choi Mujin, with whom they had been enemies.
Isn’t that how this field works? Even enemies join hands for profit. As things were being wrapped up that way, Haseo called.
“Coming back to Korea?”
Choi Mujin, who had been murmuring blankly, immediately began preparing to meet Haseo. He couldn’t understand what thoughts led to such words. But regardless of what feelings Haseo harbored, he decided to focus on the fact that he was returning. Though it might be a lie.
Choi Mujin rushed straight to the airport. Although the arrival time was far off, he couldn’t just wait at home. He rented a hotel near the airport to pass the time, then stood early in front of the gate waiting for Haseo. And after a few months, he saw Haseo again.
‘He’s become gaunt.’
He already knew where Haseo had been. He had thought he was recuperating smoothly in a peaceful country, but his appearance was terrible. His body was skinny, causing his cheeks to be sunken. The area under his eyes was dark, and he looked weak. Still, he could recognize him right away.
“Lee Haseo.”
When he called his name, Haseo turned to look at Choi Mujin.
“Ah.”
Haseo nodded and approached Choi Mujin. Given what he had done, Choi Mujin couldn’t imagine how Haseo would react. No, he didn’t even know why he had suddenly come.
As he was thinking this, the approaching Haseo suddenly kicked Choi Mujin’s shin mercilessly.
Whack!
Being a man, he kicked quite hard, making Choi Mujin’s shin sting.
“Haseo?”
Looking at him in surprise, Haseo smiled, pulling up the corners of his mouth.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
