The pub near Jonggak Station was packed, wall-to-wall with tipsy office workers, just like any other Friday night. How much was the fee again? Can I even afford it…?
He’d never known what it was like to struggle before, and yet now, every time plans came up, he had to check his wallet first. The shift in his circumstances felt foreign—awkward and impossible to adjust to.
With a silent screw it, Park Seon-jun followed the staff member upstairs. A few tables had been pushed together and hastily partitioned off—barely enough to pass for a private space.
“Yo! No way—Park Seon-jun?”
“Dude, it’s been ages. You’re even harder to reach now than when you were in Canada.”
A few familiar faces—old friends he’d kept in touch with through SNS—got up with wide grins, welcoming him back like no time had passed.
“We’ve known you were back for a while, man. You’ve been impossible to find. A whole truckload of people were saying they missed you.”
Pushed into a seat by one of them, Seon-jun feigned casualness, quickly glancing around. Several people were already pretty drunk. Most gave him a quick nod or half-smile before going back to joking around with their own groups. No one stared. No one whispered.
Good. Looks like the rumors about his family’s near-collapse hadn’t reached this crowd yet.
“Had a lot going on lately,” he said vaguely.
“Come on, have a drink. Beer? Soju and beer?”
“Just beer.”
It had been a long time since he felt this relaxed. Sure, the moment he stepped back into the house, his parents would be at each other’s throats again, turning the place into a war zone. But for now, at least, he could breathe.
These days, the three of them—he and his parents—were basically stuck together 24/7. If he had school or a job, he could’ve used that as an excuse to get out. But he had neither. Even going to a café felt like a waste of precious cash.
For someone like Park Seon-jun, who was used to asking his mom for spending money without a second thought, this new reality was beyond humiliating.
Even tonight, he almost didn’t come because he couldn’t cover the group fee. The only reason he left the house was to escape his mother’s screaming when his father’s phone rang out of nowhere.
Apparently, it was a loan assessment call from the bank, but his mom wasn’t having any of it. She didn’t care what excuse he gave. “What now? Off to meet some woman again?” she shrieked, practically frothing at the mouth. Seon-jun had bolted out the door just to get away from it all.
Just a few days ago, their landlord had dropped by unannounced.
“So… you can’t return the deposit, huh? You are moving out, right?” he’d said with a fake smile, poking around every corner of the house like he owned the place. Claimed he needed measurements for a renovation firm.
The already-tense atmosphere in the house had only worsened after that. His parents, who’d barely spoken to each other before, had started full-on clashing from that day forward.
Tch. All this because of one dumbass brother…
Seon-jun downed his beer in big gulps, trying to wash away the frustration bubbling in his chest. He truly believed that everything—this whole disaster—had started because his idiot brother, Park Woo-jun, couldn’t even keep his own damn Guide under control.
He should’ve seen it coming the day he went to the visitation room. But instead of paying attention to Woo-jun, he’d gotten chewed out and driven off by that brat Lee Han-seo. Didn’t even get a good look at his brother’s condition.
“That bastard couldn’t even manage his own Guide properly and turned the whole thing into a circus. Tch… If it were me? I could’ve sweet-talked some sheltered rich kid without even trying.”
He muttered the words with way too much confidence, completely unaware of how ridiculous he sounded.
Gnawing on some cold, rubbery chicken tenders, he finally managed to fill his stomach a little. Then someone who looked like the event organizer stood up to collect money. They said bank transfers were fine, but Seon-jun just pretended to pat his pockets and held out empty hands.
“Crap. Forgot my wallet. Can someone spot me?”
“You can just wire it, seriously.”
“Dude, I just got back. Haven’t even opened a bank account yet.”
“Cut the crap and pay up. We all saw your SNS post bragging about your new job. You’re seriously telling us you have no bank account? Or are you just being cheap?”
“You son of a bitch… what the hell did you just say?”
It could’ve ended there, just some teasing between friends. But being broke and half-drunk, Seon-jun completely lost it.
“You wanna run that back?” He slammed his glass down and raised his voice. Immediately, his friends grabbed his shoulders and arms to calm him down.
“Whoa, whoa, Seon-jun. Come on, don’t do this. It’s been forever.”
“Yeah, and Min-seok, you should apologize too. Don’t you know who his brother is? It’s Park Woo-jun. That Park Woo-jun. His older brother’s not the type to be short on fifty thousand won.”
“Damn right. You all know my brother, right? That dumbass—if he could just step outside the damn center, fifty thousand? Please. He’d roll up here with five hundred and treat the whole place.”
The second Park Woo-jun’s name came up, everyone who’d been ignoring him suddenly flipped. Even the girls who had been sitting apart, not giving the guys the time of day, now leaned in with curious eyes and perked-up ears.
It had been way too long since he’d gotten this kind of fake glory—and damn, did it taste sweet. Straightening his back, Seon-jun started embellishing his words with just the right amount of swagger.
“Yo, Yuseok, you remember, right? That punk Woo-jun? Sure, now he’s strutting around as some hotshot S-Class Esper and Chief of Espers, acting like he owns the world. But back in school? He was a total loser. Bet you ate ramen he made more times than you can count.”
“Hell yeah. Even back then, you could tell—dude had a freakish talent for getting the water just right. I used to brag in the military about it. Told everyone my friend’s brother was Park Woo-jun, made him cook ramen and run out to buy cigarettes for me.”
“Exactly! And now he’s grown a few brain cells and suddenly thinks he’s all that… Tch. Whatever. No point getting worked up. Just pisses me off.”
“What, your brother’s changed or something? C’mon, spill. What’s he like now? I’m dying to know.”
Talk of collecting the dinner fee had completely vanished. Everyone was glued to Park Seon-jun’s lips, waiting for him to speak like a bunch of starving fish circling bait. Their eyes gleamed with curiosity, packed in tight and swarming.
“Well… I mean, I can’t really give this kind of story away for free…”
He tossed it out with exaggerated smugness, and the crowd erupted on cue. “What is this crap appetizer? Get Seon-jun something good!” someone yelled. One guy waved a 50,000-won bill in front of him. “I got your fee, man. Just keep talking.” He even slid in beside him and started pouring drinks.
Drunk on the attention and the booze, Seon-jun didn’t even realize what he was saying anymore. His mouth just kept going, rambling off whatever came to mind. Most of it boiled down to this: how amazing he was, how pathetic Woo-jun used to be, and how incredibly generous he and his family had been to keep such a useless brother around.
Tall, handsome, youngest-ever team leader, and an S-Class nature-affinity Esper with the whole nation’s admiration raining down on him—Park Woo-jun was supposed to be untouchable. But hearing about his cringey past? That was addictive. These people were eating it up.
Even kings get dragged through the mud when they’re not around. And someone like Chief Park Woo-jun might not be royalty, but he was close enough. A perfect target for the masses to punch their frustrations into.
“What about Lee Han-seo? Isn’t he super close with your brother? Everyone says they’re practically inseparable. You’ve met him, right?”
“Oh, fuck that. Inseparable? That’s all bullshit. If they were really so tight, there’s no damn way that bastard would’ve treated our family the way he did.”
“For real…?”
“Yeah. That guy’s got the nastiest superiority complex. I wasn’t even gonna go there, but…”
Apparently, all of his father’s warnings—Let it go. Stop talking about them. Focus on finding us a place to live—had gone in one ear and out the other. And Park Seon-jun? He crossed the line without hesitation.
“Seon-jun, think you could say all that in front of my boyfriend?”
“That’s not hard. Why?”
“Well, thing is… my boyfriend’s a streamer. He’s been looking for fresh content—views have been down lately. But your story? It’s perfect. Already messaged him, and he’s all in.”
“Shit…”
Seon-jun was going to regret tonight with every bone in his body. But right now? He had no clue what was coming.
“We’ll pay you, obviously. I already asked, and he said to bring you no matter what.”
“How much we talking? Actually—screw that. Just give me his number.”
And just like that, he’d not only dug his own grave—he’d nailed the coffin shut and climbed in himself.
