“Young Master, it’s been a long time.”
“So why did you come?”
“I don’t know the details.”
“You seem so stupid that you can’t even guess why.”
“I just heard that I would be able to meet some familiar faces.”
I wasn’t offended when people asked me if I was stupid. I didn’t want to continue the conversation with Kang Ha-jun, wondering how he could say something like that after swearing that much. I just wish it would turn off quickly.
“I don’t think that happy face is someone who would give you sympathy… … .”
“I don’t know either. “Goodbye then.”
Eunyul just said hello and turned around. She didn’t want to get caught up in any sentimental feelings about meeting Kang Ha-jun outside. She looked around, filled with the wish to see the old man as soon as possible.
And I found an old man nearby. Rep. Han Cheol-seung also saw Eun-yul and approached her, asking for understanding from those around her. Behind Eunyul, who was waiting for the old man to come closer, Hajun Kang, who had been lost in thought, opened his mouth.
“Couldn’t it be me?”
“What now… … .”
Eunyul, who was trying to ignore Kang Ha-jun because he spoke so calmly, turned around.
“I’m the only person who knows who works at Sooni’s Haejangguk, excluding the person who called you.”
No matter how she thought about it, Eunyul’s lips parted at the calm look in Kang Ha-jun’s calm eyes that seemed to suggest that what he said was correct. How can someone be so shameless? But why does that shameless thing suit you?
“Wrong.”
Someone answered on Eunyul’s behalf. It was Rep. Han Cheol-seung. He corrected Kang Ha-jun’s mistake by ruffling his hair once with a smile that seemed to welcome Eun-yul.
“Why are you two so happy to see each other? So no.”
In response to Rep. Han Cheol-seung’s direct denial, Eun-yul glanced at Kang Ha-jun and saw that one of his eyebrows was raised as if he had been offended.
“Let’s go over there. “There is a happy person waiting for you.”
Assemblyman Han Cheol-seung wrapped his arms around Eun-yul’s shoulders and guided her. The place the congressman took were the men with whom tears and money had been exchanged earlier.
Isn’t it really Kang Ha-jun?
* * *
“Are you postponing your engagement?”
“okay.”
Hyun Jae-ha took off his glasses after checking on the person who came into my office without knocking. From the moment that man appeared, it was difficult to concentrate on work.
From his fiercely raised eyebrows to his high nose bridge and pouty lips, he had a rebellious look on his face, even as he aged. Hyeon Je-ha stood up, thinking that the atmosphere had not changed at all from when he was in high school.
“Namgoonghyuk. “I told you to knock.”
“I did it, but who knows if I didn’t hear it.”
“I didn’t.”
“If you’re going to pick on every single thing like that, just talk about engagement. “Why did you postpone it?”
Hyun Je-ha took down the coffee, put it down in front of Namgoong-hyuk, and sat down to drink his share of coffee.
“Because I don’t like being hung up on.”
“what?”
“I think I’m the only one who is desperate for this marriage.”
“So you postponed it?”
“huh.”
“How long have you lasted so far?” … .”
Namgoonghyuk, excited, lifted his buttocks halfway and sat back down as soon as he caught Hyunjeha’s gaze. No matter how much you threaten others and collect receivables, what’s the point of being a gangster? If Namgoong-hyuk’s father saw that, he might hit the table and laugh.
Namgoonghyeok got irritated by roughly untying his tie.
“Wouldn’t it be cleaner to break up? I can’t understand at all. You and Kang Ha-jun are the same too. Kang Ha-Jun, that guy behaved strangely once, and after that he became very self-indulgent. Crazy bastard. Why did you pay off all the debt… … .”
Namgoonghyeok, who had been spitting out what he thought, quietly closed his mouth when he saw Hyeonjaeha’s gaze. I hoped you didn’t hear me, but when I made eye contact with Hyeon Je-ha, who put down the mug, my first thought was that I was screwed.
“What are you talking about?”
The words came out wrong. I shouldn’t even mention it in front of Hyeon Je-ha… … .
Namgoonghyuk rolled his eyes, which was unusual for him, then sighed and said.
“The guy who used to brag about being that human lover.”
I knew who it was right away without any further explanation. Namgoonghyeok, who read Hyeonjaeha’s expression, nodded her head as if he was right.
“Whenever he told me to take away everything he had, and since I was broke, that bastard Kang Ha-jun didn’t know what he was thinking, so he gave him 500.”
Namgoonghyuk slightly tilted his head.
“My father. Do you take away the assets of those who made hundreds of millions of won through business and then give them 50,000 won? How would you feel to receive 50,000 won, something you normally wouldn’t even pay attention to? It would be humiliating. But the funny thing is that I can’t ignore that 50,000 won. “I killed several people with a method that drove their minds to the abyss, and I thought Kang Ha-jun did the same.”
Hyun Jae-ha looked at the coffee that had already cooled down.
“That bastard must have been so damned. She honestly did have a lot of fun with a few pennies worth of her parents’ lives. “I quit school when I saw him bullying you.”
Namgoonghyuk clenched and unclenched his fists, probably feeling irritated even thinking about it now. I just wanted to watch it run wild and then hit it again, even though I was squeezing it as much as I could when it was trying to break it down.
“Tell me what happens next.”
Up to this point, everything was known to Hyeonjae.
“Oh, right. “You know.”
As I was just trying to explain who he was, I ended up talking a lot.
“Anyway, Kang Ha-jun and I thought that bastard would commit suicide, right? But he came out unharmed from the inn where I thought he had gone in to die.”
Only then did Hyun Je-ha turn his gaze to Namgung-hyuk. This is my first time hearing this story.
“I guess I didn’t want to die even though I had nothing. So I tried to catch it and put it in the cave, but it was blocked.”
The ‘gul’ was a place where one could roll one’s body and pay off the remaining debt. From the flow of the conversation, I understand that the person who blocked it was Kang Ha-jun.
“They said pay the debt and don’t touch it. So I took my hands off it.”
Namgoonghyuk spread his hands wide as if he had said all he wanted to say. Although it seemed as if he was showing his innocence, he could not avoid Hyun Je-ha’s questioning.
“What have you done?”
“Just because I have a needless sense of humor. There are two places he borrowed money from. “Me and my father.”
Namgoonghyuk shrugged his shoulders with his arms crossed on the sofa.
“I only had to collect my own money, so I received it from Kang Ha-jun, but my father’s debt is unknown. It must have rolled like a snowball over the past 5 years and grown enormously, right? But Kang Ha-jun doesn’t know this.”
Namgoonghyuk, who was guessing how long it would be, laughed sarcastically.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Should we call it insurance? Even though he came out alive, I knew what he would do to you again. “So I wasn’t talking and I also forgot.”
Namgoonghyuk stood up.
“Now that I remember, shall we find out where he is?”
Just like when I came in, silence suddenly came because of Namgoonghyeok, who behaved as he wanted. Hyeonjaeha saw my face reflected in the black water in the coffee cup.
〈That bastard Kang Ha-jun behaved strangely once, but after that he became very self-indulgent.〉
Namgoong Hyuk’s words toward Kang Ha-jun kept ringing in my head.
* * *
Eun-yul became obsessed with old man Cheol-seung Han because he was looking at her so openly. As I used the old man as a wall to escape Kang Ha-jun’s gaze, I was able to breathe much easier.
I could just ignore it, but the sky kept coming to mind and I felt uncomfortable.
“It seemed like my son was happy to see me from the moment he came in, and it seemed like we knew each other.”
Eun-yul turned her head to hear what Kang Ha-jun had said earlier about the man wanting to be nominated. When I made eye contact with the man who was trying to give me money, he cleared his throat as if embarrassed.
Since we met again, he held out his hand as if to give me the money I couldn’t give him earlier. So the man looked at his father and came down on him slightly. So, if he had raised his hand, he would have made a motion that would have looked like a hi-fi bra… … . He said to Eunyul with a puzzled look in his eyes.
“what.”
“I’m going to buy food later.”
A man came to look at Eunyul’s face, offering to give her food instead of money. Then, seeing the tears in his eyes, he sighed happily. He said such mean things earlier, so I guess he’s not a bad person by nature. However, there was no reason for Eunyul to look at him.
“I can eat my own food.”
“Who says you can’t find food? I just… … .”
“Just what?”
When Eunyul asked back, the man gaped, trying to find something to say. So, he said he wanted to repay what happened earlier with food, but he didn’t seem to be able to say it easily.
“I want to buy it for you. Why can’t you understand what people are saying?”
“Is it okay that you didn’t understand my feelings?”
“… … sorry.”
As the man lowered his head, Rep. Han Cheol-seung looked at him with interest. A man who wanted to be nominated, who implicitly guessed that his son had done something wrong, intervened.
“Junghoon, go over there and tell the rest of the story.”
“yes. “Let’s go over there.”
Eunyul, whose arm was being held by the man, nodded. Not because I agreed to change seats, but because I found out the man’s name.
Anyway, as I was walking away, I felt eyes on me again. Eunyul swallowed dry saliva as her eyes looked heavier than before. The only way to escape Kang Ha-jun was to get out of here.
“Junghoon, I have to go home now. “The meal is ready.”
Eunyul removed her arm from his grasp and turned around. From the beginning he was not suited for this position. He couldn’t endure it because no one openly ignored him, but that was it.
“Hey, you’re just leaving?”
“Then what do you have to do?”
“no… … Hey, give me your contact information.”
Jeonghoon held out his cell phone. Eunyul turned around after seeing him blatantly ask her to take his number.
“hate.”
What are you going to do when you’re not going to see each other anymore?
Eunyul ignored Jeonghoon’s call and left the garden.
Eunyul’s expression was heavy as she rode the bus back. When he came to Seoul, he had only thought about meeting a familiar face, but it felt like he had taken on an incomparable burden.
In the past, I was nervous that Kang Ha-jun would find out who I was, but now… … .
“What will happen when I look at Haneul?”
The grandmother knew it as soon as she saw it, but she didn’t think Kang Ha-jun would ignore it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t recognize it when you see it, but it’s better to hide it altogether than to count on that possibility.
Eunyul leaned her head against the window frame and closed her eyes.
I had finished thinking about what to do and should just do it, but I couldn’t ease my distraught feelings.
