108
What else would you call Daejeong other than Daejeong?
Yoon Donghwan’s face, who had asked back “Mr. Daejeong?”, was becoming increasingly distorted.
While he couldn’t answer anything, a voice was heard from below.
“Ajusshi, don’t bother my hyung.”
Since he was stuck close to Taein looking upward, Eundo’s ears had caught the two men’s conversation completely. Earlier, Jang Ihwan had at least spoken while smiling, but Yoon Donghwan was just openly frowning. From the child’s perspective, it was a natural reaction to say “don’t bother him” without even asking his hyung. Taein looked at Eundo’s round crown and gently grabbed his small shoulder.
“Eundo.”
“Our hyung—”
“Kang Eundo.”
He seemed like he was going to continue speaking, so he called his name first. He had said unnecessary things to Donghwan before, and it seemed like he would do so again this time. He didn’t particularly want the child’s words to be conveyed. The situation was already half-turned around. Taein groped for Eundo’s short arm and grabbed his hand firmly. The thoroughly tense child’s hand was caught in one of his. He had hugged Daejeong just fine, but he didn’t know what complaints he had about Donghwan. The little one seemed to have felt something.
“Our hyung is…!”
“Kang Eundo, come here. We’re leaving.”
When Taein stepped back, Eundo’s arm also stretched out straight. Daejeong, who had been watching the three from far away, was also approaching. Meanwhile, Yoon Donghwan opened his mouth.
“Where are you going? We haven’t finished talking. If you leave like this, will the boss call you?”
Donghwan only said that and lowered his gaze downward. The little kid who had been looking at him with a dissatisfied face since earlier. He had seen him once, the first and last time, at the studio apartment building. He had briefly wondered if he was bringing his younger brother along, and afterward thought he had naturally left the child with family or close relatives. He hadn’t been particularly interested in the kid, so he had just thought that and let it go.
But now he had spent hundreds of millions having the Hammer Gang guys even investigate Kang Taein’s background. It was natural to become increasingly curious about those around him. Of course, it was money cleverly laundered from company funds, so it wasn’t really like he had spent his own money, but there were definitely questionable aspects to his choice. Would he go this far just because he heard an old name? If it’s out of sight, that should be the end of it, so why was he making a fuss about even conducting background investigations? Yoon Donghwan’s head was equally confused. Meanwhile, he kept spouting words as they came, impetuously, so he kept clashing with Kang Taein. Each time, Yoon Donghwan would just think “fuck it, I don’t know, whatever happens happens.” Living by clashing with his body showed in such moments.
Separately from that, the background investigation was proceeding smoothly. When he called yesterday, they said it would take 3-4 more days, and today he was scheduled to receive what they had investigated so far by fax.
It should probably have arrived by now.
Donghwan looked down at Eundo with only his eyes lowered. The small face had eyes, nose, and mouth neatly fitted in. His hyung also had a small face, but this one was really tiny, with a face truly the size of a fist. Since he rarely had opportunities to see such young children, Donghwan looked at him with strange eyes like viewing a baby animal. It was mysteriously different from the distorted expression caused by Taein’s “Mr. Daejeong” remark.
Then Daejeong, who had approached, clapped his hands and called Eundo.
“Eundo.”
Daejeong seemed to have judged that the two adults had things to discuss.
Smiling and calling “Eundo,” Daejeong spread his arms wide.
At that action, Eundo, who had glanced around, ended his staring contest with Donghwan on his own. It seemed easy to be hugged again after being hugged once. Taein quickly withdrew his hand and watched Eundo rush into Daejeong’s arms, laughing as if deflated. Just moments ago, he had only felt bad because of Yoon Donghwan, but seeing Eundo act like that, he had the funny thought that there was no point in raising children. Taein forgot about his confrontation with Yoon Donghwan and just stared at the back of Eundo’s head.
And Yoon Donghwan was also looking at that back of the head.
Seeing both of them looking this way, Daejeong made his own assumptions about the situation. They can’t talk because the child is nearby. Daejeong, who was Donghwan’s close associate, was quick-witted and made situation judgments swiftly. He headed toward the slide while holding Eundo.
The sounds of “Little guy, try the slide, do you know how?” could be heard. Eundo could also be seen saying “I know how” and coming down from his embrace.
It was Donghwan’s voice that broke the brief silence.
“Whenever I say something, it’s ‘let’s stop, that’s enough, quit it.'”
He didn’t know what he was going to say.
“I don’t know if that’s the kind of response a twenty-five-year-old adult should have.”
Taein noticed it was sarcastic words about him and narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t you think about how you came out badly first? Just now too—”
“Hey.”
Yoon Donghwan sharply frowned and cut off Taein’s words.
“‘You’? Why am I your ‘you’?”
“What did you say?”
“Rudely saying ‘you, you’ everywhere. You call someone ‘Mr. Daejeong,’ and someone else you keep calling ‘you’ – where did you learn that?”
“Why shouldn’t I say ‘you’? You also called me ‘you.'”
That’s right. Yoon Donghwan had also frequently referred to Taein as “you” quite often. At the repeated word “you,” Yoon Donghwan distorted his face even more intensely as if his head hurt. Then he even shook his head and spoke as if this wasn’t right.
“That was then. I’m saying I don’t like hearing it now. It sounds rude. Anyway, there’s been give and take between us, but you can’t keep holding out and being stubborn like this. Right?”
“……”
Taein, who slightly grimaced, couldn’t answer that.
“Just when I think we’ve gotten a bit close, you cause trouble, and just when I think we’ve gotten close again, you upset people.”
I wish you wouldn’t do that kind of thing, he could see Yoon Donghwan rubbing around his mouth with his thumb.
“…What did I do? If you just spoke nicely, I wouldn’t be like this either. What did you say earlier? Who threatened me first with the job? Not even knowing what someone’s situation is like—”
“Situation? You don’t tell me even when I ask, do you?”
His emotions had risen for a moment and he had said all sorts of things.
Taein had only said the minimum whenever Donghwan uncomfortably pried into his circumstances. He didn’t like Yoon Donghwan knowing everything in detail. Unless creditors conducted background investigations, it was rare for them to know deep circumstances. There was no need to know either.
“Do you feel like talking now?”
“……”
“Look, you’re not doing it again.”
Because of Yoon Donghwan’s prejudices. He didn’t know how many times he had heard that poor people smelled, were dirty, and reeked. Because of words that kept accumulating, he ended up hiding something in the end. Taein wanted to protect at least the speck of pride that remained. It wasn’t pride, but a final line that distinguished whether he was human or not. When Taein didn’t speak, Donghwan kept opening his mouth alone.
“Is there something I shouldn’t know? Something like that reason?”
“……”
“Fine, don’t answer. I’ll find out anyway.”
Saying incomprehensible things, Yoon Donghwan took out a cigarette. After biting one, he searched his pants pocket. When there was no lighter, he seemed to look for Daejeong, but Daejeong was busy playing with Eundo. He was dodging here and there from Eundo who was chasing him saying “Ajusshi! Ajusshi!” Donghwan scratched his chin with a disappointed face and just held the cigarette in his mouth. Meanwhile, he spoke.
“You probably can’t understand with those ears of yours.”
What was he saying? Taein frowned and tried to interpret the words. If he was going to speak, he should do it properly – with the cigarette in his mouth, he couldn’t hear what he was saying at all. Seeing Taein’s annoyed face, Donghwan removed the cigarette with his hand. Then he laughed as if incredulous.
“Are you getting annoyed? In this situation?”
“…No.”
“Are you the only one annoyed? I’m annoyed too. What kind of discrimination is this?”
He seemed to want to finish what he hadn’t said earlier. About calling someone “Mr. So-and-so” and calling someone else “you.” Yoon Donghwan’s face was turning red as if he was genuinely heated. It wasn’t his intention to discriminate. It was Taein who felt uncomfortable when somewhat harsh words were spoken. Daejeong had a proper name, and he couldn’t call him carelessly like “that bastard” or like Jang Ihwan. So he had awkwardly called him “Mr. Daejeong,” but Yoon Donghwan seemed to view “you” much more negatively than such awkward address. Taein quietly thought to himself and opened his mouth.
“You don’t have a name either… you.”
“What?”
“I’m saying there’s no name to call you. You don’t have a name but you’re telling me to do this and that…”
“You know I’m Donghwan.”
“That’s a name I know, not your name.”
“Do that. You’ve called me that several times anyway.”
When Yoon Donghwan felt more awkward than this, Taein had exchanged informal speech with him. It was forced. Worried he might not lend money, he had somehow managed the difficult informal speech that made his mouth cramp. He remembered calling his name a few times then too. When he had no choice but to say the name, he thought he had said “Donghwan-ah, Donghwanie” about twice.
“Yoon Donghwan, you mean that name, right?”
“Yeah, do that.”
Though Taein had a face that said he could easily do such a thing, he hesitated for a moment. When Yoon Donghwan casually said “do that, try calling me once” like throwing gum, his words seemed to get blocked even more.
He could see Daejeong walking over holding Eundo at the far end.
“……”
At the same time, Donghwan was looking at him persistently with a face that said “let’s see how well you do.”
He had easily said “Mr. Daejeong,” so he didn’t know why his mouth wouldn’t open. Though it wasn’t a particularly strange form of address, it felt embarrassing. Was it because Yoon Donghwan had made calling someone “Mr. So-and-so” seem like something special? He seemed to feel the same way. Taein was moving his lips when he heard “Hyung!” and inevitably avoided Donghwan’s gaze as if he had no choice.
“Yes, I’ll do it from next time.”
“What? Ha… Hey. Now it’s funny, it’s funny.”
In a much more relaxed atmosphere than before, Daejeong put Eundo down and addressed him as “hyung.”
Still, the child was more “hyung” than “ajusshi,” so he immediately ran to Taein.
* * *
While playing with Eundo and having consultations with the teacher, Donghwan and Daejeong had disappeared somewhere. Taein was facing a bleak reality. To earn money, he had to keep wandering outside day and night without rest, but there was nowhere for Eundo to stay during that time. The church was no longer a safe place either. Today, Jang Ihwan and Gari had ended up in that state, but he didn’t know what would happen tomorrow or the day after. Though getting beaten and beating others would be routine for them, they might gather all the Dog Alley thugs for a dogfight just because they had been particularly badly beaten today.
Though the crisis was averted, worries were growing like a mountain as time passed.
“Seeing our Eundo’s hyung all dressed up puts my mind at ease.”
“…Thank you, Pastor.”
“I’m more grateful. It’s rare for someone to take a child away this quickly.”
It was an unavoidable situation. Since Jang Ihwan had learned about the church, he could no longer keep Eundo here. Taein was reluctantly filling out discharge papers and signing them. The content was similar to the papers he had hastily filled out when he left Eundo a few days ago. Only the words admission and discharge were switched around.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
