Chapter 126
“Hyung, this is braised short ribs that mom made this morning. Please try it for dinner later. It’s really delicious. It’s probably one of the best braised short ribs I’ve ever had.”
A heavy paper bag was pushed through the small payment window, about two hand-spans wide, that was left open to receive fees. Hyeon-woo smiled awkwardly after confirming the appetizing braised short ribs inside.
“…Always receiving like this. I’m so grateful, I don’t know what to do.”
“It’s okay. Thanks to you, our mom is going through a rejuvenation these days. She even started exercising. She’s been so busy lately managing her health, hiking during the day and jumping rope at night. She says she needs to get a bit stronger to see Jerome more often.”
“……”
“I’ve always been uneasy thinking about mom being alone while I’m away at college living in the dorm. I’m so thankful you’re here, hyung. I should be the one thanking you.”
Hyeon-woo laughed softly as he watched Yejun scratch his head, seemingly embarrassed even after saying this.
“Thank you for saying that. I’m sorry for taking up your precious time every holiday. Go back quickly, your mother must be waiting.”
“It’s not far by bus. Don’t worry about that. I’ll come again next time. I’m going now, hyung.”
“Okay, take care on your way back.”
After Yejun left, Hyeon-woo turned towards the small refrigerator in the corner. As he put the sealed container inside and closed the door, the microwave on top of the refrigerator rattled, shaking back and forth from the rebound.
It looked dangerous, and he had searched for a suitable place to move the microwave several times, but there was no spare space left in the cramped 3-pyeong room filled with household items. The best Hyeon-woo could do in this space was to place the appliances, including the rice cooker, as high as possible to keep them out of Jerome’s reach.
Hyeon-woo sighed as he looked around the room. Colorful toys were scattered around Jerome, who was sleeping soundly. As he bent down to put the toys away one by one into the storage box, he suddenly sensed movement outside.
He rushed to the payment window and quickly drew the curtain. Two black shadows appeared on the curtain just a moment later. He felt stupid for leaving it open after Yejun’s visit earlier.
“Will you be staying overnight or just resting?”
To Hyeon-woo’s question asking whether they wanted a full night’s stay or just a short rest, the answer came, “We’ll stay overnight.”
“That’ll be 50,000 won.”
The shadow moved busily, presumably taking out a wallet. Soon, five 10,000 won bills were passed under the slightly short curtain. After confirming the amount, Hyeon-woo took a key with the room number written on it from the drawer and handed it under the curtain.
“Check-out time is 1 PM tomorrow.”
“Okay. Hey, this place isn’t bad, right?”
The conversation between the two people could be heard as they moved away.
“I couldn’t believe it, but they really do business with the curtain drawn?”
“That’s what I told you. It’s famous for not checking IDs.”
“All sorts of affair couples must gather here.”
“That’s why this place does the best business in this area.”
“Ah, that’s funny. I guess there are quite a lot of people like us? The owner here is smart.”
Ignoring their snickering remarks, Hyeon-woo started organizing Jerome’s toys again.
Next month will mark two years since he returned to Korea with Jerome.
Most of the assets, including his parents’ death insurance money, were used for damage compensation. The traffic accident that day, which ended with no indictment due to all passengers dying, became a big issue as the tragic scene was revealed along with the heartbreaking story of the victims.
The details of an entire family dying instantly on their first outing after their young daughter, who had been battling childhood cancer for a long time, was declared cured, spread like wildfire through the media. This led to intense criticism directed at Hyeon-woo, the surviving family member of the perpetrator.
‘Murderer.’
‘Go home, Yellow monkey.’
After thoroughly cleaning off the graffiti etched in red lacquer on the store window, he defiantly continued normal business operations. Hyeon-woo deliberately acted even more resolutely, feeling that if he became intimidated, it would be like acknowledging his father as a criminal.
Hyeon-woo firmly believed that the accident was not due to his father’s negligence. That day, it was clear that a suspicious person loitering in the parking lot had done something to the car with the toolbox in his hand. How else could it be explained that both the black box and the parking lot CCTV were broken from that day on?
He had to uncover the truth somehow. To raise money for hiring a lawyer, Hyeon-woo put the store up for sale and got the deposit back.
‘Ian, I understand how you feel. But this case is already closed. You know it won’t be easily overturned, right?’
‘If you give up the store like this, what are you going to do from now on? You need to live your own life! Let’s think about this again, okay?’
Marine and Ashley tried to dissuade Hyeon-woo, but it was useless.
The scene was reinvestigated in the presence of a lawyer, but as everyone had predicted, it didn’t change the result. The damage was so severe that it was impossible to determine if there had been a defect in the car body.
The battery explosion fire of the electric car, concentrated with massive energy, couldn’t be extinguished even after injecting tens of thousands of liters of fire-fighting water. In the end, they had to control the road and secure a safe distance, waiting for everything to burn out completely to prevent the fire from spreading. During this time, the bodies of his parents and Jamie disappeared without a trace, turned into black ashes.
Hyeon-woo scattered a handful of ashes he received from the official who had handled the scene near the coast of National Highway 1, where the accident occurred. As he blankly watched the hazy smoke dispersing in the wind, not even tears flowed from Hyeon-woo’s dry eyes. There was no life in his withered eyes, which looked like empty shells.
Meanwhile, the business his father had invested in caused problems again, and eventually, the project failed. All of this happened when there were barely three months left until the conditional termination of the permanent residency for their immigration visa.
Life no longer held any meaning or attachment for him. Like a dead tree with rotten roots, all desire for survival was completely drained from Hyeon-woo, who was rapidly dying. Ironically, by his side was Jerome, radiating the most intense vitality of any being.
He wasn’t the only one who had lost precious people. Jerome had lost everything too. Moreover, wasn’t he the very perpetrator who had made Jerome that way? The person who should have died in that accident that day wasn’t Jamie.
He had sent Jamie in his place to the invitation he was supposed to attend, and so Jamie had died instead of him. The image of Jamie, holding Jerome in her arms and rejoicing as if she had the whole world, kept flickering before his eyes.
On top of the loss of his parents, Hyeon-woo found it painful even to breathe due to his guilt towards Jamie. He frequently felt a choking pain as if someone was gripping his throat. Whenever he was about to be consumed by terrible guilt and self-loathing, Jerome’s cries would reach Hyeon-woo’s ears.
‘Waah! Waah!!’
Hungry, sleepy, wet diaper, uncomfortable lying position. Cold when it’s cold, hot when it’s hot. Jerome constantly spoke to Hyeon-woo in the primal language of survival, asking to be properly cared for.
Hyeon-woo would put the bottle in Jerome’s mouth when he cried, soothe and comfort him when he whined, and hold him in his arms to sleep. Hyeon-woo’s heart was turbulent as he closely watched this small and fragile life fiercely struggling for survival, a life that would soon perish without his touch.
It didn’t give him a moment to surrender to the waves of despair. Jerome’s intense desire for survival grabbed Hyeon-woo by the hair, pulling him out from the depths of despair many times.
Every time Hyeon-woo tried to put Jerome down, his tiny hand would grip Hyeon-woo’s clothes with surprising strength. That movement seemed to say, “Don’t leave me alone.” It felt like a silent cry begging him not to give up. This gesture, which might be nothing more than a newborn’s reflex action, felt to Hyeon-woo like a desperate struggle for life.
He simply couldn’t shake off this warmth holding onto him. With such a tiny body, with such a fragile breath, Jerome was saving him from the gravitational pull of an enormous despair that threatened to swallow even himself like a black hole.
Hyeon-woo stared at Jerome for a long time with wet eyes, the being who gave him the greatest sense of guilt while simultaneously becoming his reason to survive.
Just looking at him was heartbreaking.
He wanted to take responsibility for this young life until the end.
Hyeon-woo’s blood ran cold day by day as nothing was being discussed about Jerome’s treatment despite Jamie’s passing. He reported to relevant agencies and even lodged complaints, but proper enforcement didn’t even take place. It was clear that Jerome’s birth father was pulling strings.
He didn’t want Jerome to follow in Jamie’s footsteps, growing up lonely while being shuffled between orphanages. If Jerome were to disappear without a trace like this, would there be anyone to fight to uncover his whereabouts?
He was afraid that this precious life that had cried, eaten, slept, and shared warm touches in his arms might be treated as if it had never existed in this world. His visa was about to expire soon. There really wasn’t much time left. He had to protect Jerome. He wanted to atone at least in this way.
As he thought this, he felt his survival instinct, which he thought had been depleted, stirring intensely again. It felt as if Jerome’s vitality was being transmitted to him through their joined hands.
Hyeon-woo held Jerome tightly in his arms and repeatedly vowed:
“I’ll live to atone.”
Jerome, I’ll live for you.
Hyeon-woo sought a purpose for life by dedicating his remaining life to Jerome. For Hyeon-woo, who had decided to survive, there was only one option left.
To return to Korea and start over from the beginning.
