Chapter 99
He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them. His energy was running wild. Beside him, Ji-hye hunched her shoulders and wrapped her arms around herself. Even Gi-bbeum raised her eyebrows as she looked at Hyun-se. He took a quiet deep breath, but it was useless. He clenched his trembling fingertips. It was difficult to regain composure.
“You should start wrapping things up and come in too. It’s time to settle down for your family’s sake. Assemblyman Kim promised to support you, so before it’s too late…”
“—I see you’ve finished your deal well.”
He put down his coffee cup. The face of the elder man, whose words were cut off mid-sentence, gradually turned red. He was still the same person who easily got angry and quick to burst out.
“I have no intention of wrapping up my work now. I have no desire to enter politics either. Even with a knife to my throat, I won’t do what I don’t want to do. Give it up.”
“You brat, how dare you…!”
“I’m obediently getting married as you ordered. I’ll do one thing. But I can’t do two. Don’t push me any further. Too much is greed in old age.”
“Hey, you! How dare you speak so rudely in front of your father!”
Gi-bbeum jumped up from the sofa, pointing her finger. Ji-hye also tugged at Hyun-se’s clothes, asking why he was behaving this way. Hyun-se only stared straight at the elder man. The elder man grabbed the back of his neck under Hyun-se’s piercing gaze that could kill.
“Stop acting like a pig farmer now.”
“You ungrateful son of a…”
His forehead and scalp turned bright red. The elder man grabbed the armrest of the chair and stood up abruptly, swinging his arm forcefully towards Hyun-se. Though he could have easily dodged it, he took one hit. With a slapping sound, his head turned.
The thick ring scratched across his cheekbone, leaving a long wound. It seemed to have cut deep, as blood trickled down his cheek.
“How dare you in front of…!”
Hyun-se roughly wiped the blood with the back of his hand. For an old man, his hand strength was not ordinary. ‘He’s got a long way to go,’ he muttered inwardly. The corners of his mouth, which had been stiff and unmoving until now, finally turned upward. But there was no trace of a smile in his eyes.
“I’ll be leaving first.”
If he stayed any longer, he might end up strangling the old man, regardless of the years of care he had received. Emotionally, he had more than enough reason to do so. He turned around, almost throwing his farewell. A roar of anger erupted behind him. He pretended not to hear it.
As he was crossing the garden towards the main gate, he heard hurried footsteps behind him. He swatted away the hand that tried to grab his shoulder and turn him around. Despite the harsh collision, the other person paid no mind and raised their voice.
“Hey, are you crazy?”
It was Gi-bbeum. Ji-hye seemed to have taken on the role of calming down the raging elder man. Ignoring her, he walked out the door. If he could, he wanted to cut ties completely with the Woo sisters as well. But Gi-bbeum followed him persistently, blocking him from getting into his car.
“What.”
After staring at him for a while, Gi-bbeum messed up her own hair furiously and took out a cigarette from her pocket. She put one in her mouth and offered one to Hyun-se. Hyun-se reluctantly took it and put it in his mouth.
“Are you out of your mind? You know the old man’s temper. Have you forgotten he throws ashtrays first when someone talks back?”
Unlike when she called out to Hyun-se earlier, her voice had softened. Hyun-se silently inhaled the smoke. Whatever Gi-bbeum was saying wasn’t really registering. He had only accepted the cigarette to quell something inexplicably boiling inside him, not intending to engage in conversation.
“Why couldn’t you just stay quiet and obedient instead of getting beaten up? You’ve got nothing but your face… What’s the reason for suddenly going crazy and throwing a fit? Do you want to get hit with a golf club like in the old days? Do you miss that time?”
Though they were introduced as siblings, the emotion binding them wasn’t familial affection, but rather a sense of solidarity forged through comradeship and violence.
These days, he put on airs due to his age, but back in the day, he would beat them with golf clubs, feet, sometimes fists or whatever was at hand, treating them like meat dough almost every day. Whether it was unsatisfactory grades, not showing face at gatherings, or forgetting to greet someone, the elder man always created reasons he deemed justifiable.
“You’ve always gritted your teeth and said ‘yes, yes’ even when you hated it. What did you eat wrong to act like this now?”
“…”
The cigarette had burned halfway. He couldn’t be bothered to answer. In truth, he was sick of everything surrounding him. He wanted to throw it all away. Even the hollow word ‘family’ was nauseating. To the point where he wouldn’t care if the enraged elder man brought out his hunting rifle and aimed it at his head, muttering about not letting black-haired beasts into the house.
“Let’s be reasonable. It’s not too late, go back right now and apologize to father…”
“I won’t.”
“Hey.”
“Am I wrong? You were sold off like a pig too, weren’t you? Even had to terminate the baby in your womb.”
He nodded slightly towards Gi-bbeum’s flat stomach. It was a top secret known only to a few close confidants.
Gi-bbeum had once attempted to elope. She stole family valuables and ran away in the middle of the night. The paradise didn’t last even a few weeks. She was dragged back by the elder man, locked up in a hospital, and to this day, there was no news of what happened to her partner.
Normally, he would have refrained from reopening old wounds, but that filter was gone now. It felt like someone had completely uprooted it. As expected, Gi-bbeum’s face immediately flushed red and blue.
“Damn it, are you going through puberty or something?”
Gi-bbeum, unable to hold back, shouted loudly. Regardless, Hyun-se took one last drag and deliberately flicked the cigarette butt towards her feet.
Taking advantage of Gi-bbeum stepping back while cursing, he got into the car. He heard her urgently calling out while knocking on the car window, but he pretended not to hear and started the engine.
The figure reflected in the side mirror grew smaller and smaller. He thought seeing her jumping up and down angrily would make him feel better, that getting away from that house would relieve some of the tightness in his chest, but his solar plexus still felt as if someone had tied it tightly with a rope.
His smoking had increased excessively. With his insides feeling so blocked, he turned to either cigarettes or alcohol. He was trying to maintain his sanity by refraining from alcohol. When he drank, his irritation and anger didn’t subside but were fanned instead. He felt like he might throw a punch if anyone so much as touched him.
He crumpled the empty pack in his hand and threw it in the trash. He tilted his head back, then straightened it and scanned his desk. There was a lot to do. If Hae-jung were by his side, he would have pushed off all the annoying tasks, but she kept postponing her return, saying there were still things to handle.
She might be enjoying her vacation at this point. He considered calling her back, now that he truly didn’t care whether Yuwon lived or died, but he didn’t want to hear any resentful words, so he left her be.
…To whom.
The letters wouldn’t register in his eyes. He put down the tablet he was holding and picked up his phone. There were photos that had arrived. They were secretly taken pictures from afar.
Si-yul was living well. Too well, to the point of anger. He had even increased his jobs to two. Was he short on money? Above all, it was very Si-yul-like to lack the flexibility to come to him if he needed anything. It showed a firm resolve to never cross paths again, even by chance, for the rest of his life.
He was living in the same place as before. It was a rat-hole of an inn. He hadn’t gone there himself but had only seen it in photos. Si-yul’s room was at the very end, past a narrow and cluttered corridor.
He couldn’t understand why he was putting himself through such hardship. Just one word, not even a promise to return, but just one word asking for help, and he would pretend to give in and provide all sorts of conveniences. In case Si-yul might reluctantly ask for help, he had prepared a nice officetel near the station.
Was he trying to maintain his pride?
There was a bitter taste in his mouth. He needed nicotine. He left the office, partly to get some fresh air. The convenience store was within walking distance from the building, but his feet, contrary to his intention, headed towards the underground parking lot.
Getting into the car, he looked at the clock and saw it was nearly 2 AM. He leaned his forehead against the steering wheel and sneered with a “Ha.” It was a habit ingrained in his body. He used to always go to pick up Si-yul at this time. Habits are terrifying things. Whether you want to or not, when the time comes, your body moves on its own.
He sat there blankly for a long time. His eyes kept going to the clock. As the minutes ticked by, he grew more anxious. He bit his lip and gripped the steering wheel. He wanted to go. And.
“…Damn it.”
His swearing had increased as much as his smoking. His patience had run out. Making the flimsy excuse that he was just going to buy cigarettes, just going to the familiar convenience store, he started the engine.
Despite having a mountain of work to do and ten thousand reasons not to go, there was also a reason to go. He couldn’t leave the officetel he had prepared sitting empty without an owner. That one reason outweighed all others.
