By Zephyria 
―5 days before the 70th birthday celebration.
Kim Malk-eum entered the restaurant he had reserved. He had arrived about 30 minutes early, so he took out his laptop to do some work. Before 10 minutes had passed, there was a knock, and the sliding door opened, revealing Choi Won-joon.
“I’m sorry. I’m late.”
Watching Choi Won-joon greet him politely, Kim Malk-eum closed his laptop and put it in his bag.
“No, it’s okay. We both came early, so don’t worry about it. Have a seat.”
Choi Won-joon took off his jacket and sat down, and Kim Malk-eum looked at Choi Won-joon’s waist. He had been hospitalized after being stabbed in the abdomen and then discharged, but he looked more normal than he had expected. Just by looking at him, it was hard to believe that he had gone through such an ordeal.
“I ordered the meal in advance. Is that okay?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“How’s the stab wound? It probably hasn’t healed completely yet.”
“I’m fine. I’m just naturally strong.”
“Then, is it okay to drink?”
As Choi Won-joon politely held out his glass, it was filled with a pale yellow liquid. Then, Choi Won-joon poured alcohol into Kim Malk-eum’s glass as well.
“The reason I contacted you is not for any other reason, but because my father’s 70th birthday celebration is in a few days.”
“I know.”
“Lee-eum wouldn’t have told you, so, a background check?”
Choi Won-joon answered with a smile.
“Well, I don’t care if it’s a background check or a foreground check. The problem is that my father called me yesterday and asked me exactly where President Choi’s main family residence is.”
Choi Won-joon’s expression didn’t change, and Kim Malk-eum continued.
“You can guess why he asked, right? My father knew that things weren’t settled between the two of you, and it seems like he’s planning to go there and settle things once and for all.”
“Why my father’s house and not me?”
“It’s obvious. Until yesterday, you were enemies, but today, they’ve decided to become allies in order to separate their children. So, I made a guess. Judging by my father’s personality, there’s a high possibility that he’ll leak it to the press. It would be quite a story if it came out that the two of you are dating.”
“If that happens, the story about Kim Yi-eum’s traits will also come out.”
“That’s right. In fact, Yi-eum was going to tell everyone everything and accept the disciplinary action. But my father stopped him. My father has never abused his power for personal matters during his time as a police officer, but he can’t help it when it comes to his children. But the fact that he’s thinking of leaking this means what? It means he’s absolutely not going to accept President Choi. He’s going to hurt his child to separate them.”
The smile disappeared from Choi Won-joon’s face, and the corners of his lips hardened.
“Even if an article comes out, President Choi won’t care, but it will be different for Yi-eum.”
He knew that well enough. If something like that happened, Kim Yi-eum would run away, given his personality. Then, a bottle of alcohol came into view. The white porcelain-like bottle reminded him of the porcelain he had recently won at auction. Then, the food came out, and Kim Malk-eum smiled and tried to change the atmosphere.
“Eat up. The sashimi is good today.”
“Can I ask you just one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“I’m curious why you’re telling me this.”
Kim Malk-eum emptied half of his glass of alcohol and then smiled.
“To be honest, I don’t think President Choi is a kind and virtuous person. I’ve been a cop for years. When I look at people, I can get a sense of them, if not completely.”
“What’s your sense of me?”
“You’ll get hurt if I tell you.”
Choi Won-joon chuckled, and Kim Malk-eum leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and stared intently at Choi Won-joon.
“I don’t mind that kind of thing. What’s the point of just being kind? If I were just kind, I wouldn’t have made it this far at this age. But Kim Yi-eum is not like that. He’s different from me. He’s kind, full of justice, and…”
“And pretty, too. I know. That’s why I’m going to protect him.”
Malk-eum laughed in disbelief and nodded.
“Okay. I’ll trust you from now on.”
“Are you accepting me?”
Malk-eum emptied his glass and put it down.
“But if you’re going to come into our family, I hope you’ll at least stay within the lines.”
Choi Won-joon slowly raised his right hand to shoulder height. I will live a good life without doing bad things from now on. I swear. Malk-eum laughed in disbelief. He doesn’t even deny that he’s not that kind of person. He’s more shameless than I thought. As Malk-eum poured another glass of alcohol, Won-joon asked after hesitating for a moment.
“By any chance, what does your mother think of me?”
“My mom? Mom… she’s not the type to object if Yi-eum likes you. She’s been curious about President Choi anyway.”
“Then, can I ask you for a favor?”
“A favor?”
“It’s not difficult.”
As Choi Won-joon explained step by step, Kim Malk-eum’s expression changed from moment to moment. Later, she burst into laughter, saying that her father’s face would be a sight to behold. After hearing everything, she readily agreed to help. That day was the day the two of them made a kind of deal.
❖ ❖ ❖
Choi Won-joon looked at the broken porcelain with a gloomy expression and rubbed his face. Yi-eum’s mother was fidgeting in front, wondering what to do, and Yi-eum’s father had a stiff expression.
“I broke it without knowing it was so precious.”
“No, Mother. It’s my fault. I should have told you exactly what it was.”
“I wonder how much this costs…”
“You don’t have to worry about the price. However, I’m worried that the reporters will notice and start contacting us one by one, and that things will get out of hand. I don’t want Father to be in the news either.”
Kim Chun-sam, who had been silent, stepped forward.
“Enough. Tell them to run the article. Did I commit a crime? And I’ll compensate for the price of this porcelain, so tell me how much it is.”
At the cold tone, Choi Won-joon carefully spoke.
“It’s 6.5 billion won.”
Kim Chun-sam’s eyes wavered, and his wife covered her mouth.
“You son of a bitch, are you trying to scam me? How can that kind of porcelain be worth over 6 billion?”
As his wife stopped Kim Chun-sam from getting angry, Won-joon took something out of his pocket.
“It’s an appraisal.”
Kim Chun-sam unfolded the appraisal he received and checked it with fierce eyes. Just then, Choi Won-joon received a phone call. “Excuse me for a moment,” Choi Won-joon said, going nearby to answer the phone. While he was on the phone, Kim Chun-sam, who had seen the appraisal, could not say anything with his mouth open. Meanwhile, Choi Won-joon’s voice was heard next to him.
“What? Who knew? There must have been someone who told them the porcelain was here. Deny it no matter what. Tell them we’ll take legal action if they broadcast it. Okay, I’ll be right there. Yeah.”
After hanging up, Kim Chun-sam’s expression darkened.
“Why? What did the broadcasting station say?”
“It seems they’ve requested an interview. They even know that my mother gave you the porcelain, Father. I don’t know if they were hiding and watching, or if there was an internal whistleblower, but I’ll somehow take care of it.”
Kim Chun-sam moved his lips. He wanted to say that he would pay for it and take responsibility, but he had already heard the number 6.5 billion, so the words didn’t come out easily. In the meantime, Yi-eum’s mother subtly pushed Choi Won-joon’s back, saying that he had come all the way here, so let’s go inside and talk.
“Go inside? Where are you going!”
“Are you going to send him back after he came all the way here? We need to fix the situation and come up with a plan.”
At his wife’s scolding, Kim Chun-sam clenched his teeth and could no longer retort. Choi Won-joon took a flower basket out of the back seat of the car and handed it to Kim Yi-eum’s mother.
“Oh my. What is this?”
Her face bloomed like a flower.
“I heard from Yi-eum that you like flowers.”
“Does our Yi-eum say things like that? Oh, it’s pretty.”
She smelled the fragrance with a satisfied expression and guided him to go inside quickly. Kim Chun-sam trembled and glared at Choi Won-joon before storming into the house first. Soon after, Choi Won-joon came in, and he discovered the bust standing at the entrance and went closer to examine it with admiration.
“Wow, Father, what is this?”
As he tried to touch it with his hand, Kim Chun-sam quickly went and got angry.
“Don’t touch it. Do you know what this is?”
“Is this the famous bust that your children gifted you?”
Kim Chun-sam cleared his throat.
“It’s really wonderful. I can see how much your children respect you. I don’t think I could ever ask my father to do something like this. In fact, I don’t even want to.”
Kim Chun-sam snorted.
“Of course not. How can you compare a gangster like your father to me?”
“That’s right. When I was in school, I was bullied a lot because my father was a gangster. The kids dragged me to the bathroom and beat me up, and some even peed on my gym uniform… So I cried and said I wouldn’t go to school… and my father hit me several times for being a weak man…”
Recalling the past, Choi Won-joon smiled with a sad expression, and Kim Chun-sam frowned. What’s wrong with him? He’s suddenly complaining about his life… Choi Won-joon read Kim Chun-sam’s achievements and pointed to the part where his father’s name was written.
“My father is here too!”
At this point, Kim Chun-sam felt a little awkward.
“Oh, right. Well… your father was a bit of a… big shot back then.”
“How many bad things must he have done to have his name engraved here? If he had lived a good life… I wouldn’t have been bullied, and Father wouldn’t be opposing the relationship between me and Yi-eum like this… I feel like I’ve gone back to being a child. Back to those days when I was a loner and was bullied. It feels like this living room is a classroom. Ha, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to talk about this…”
Choi Won-joon’s eyes turned red, and he pressed his nose with his hand, and Kim Chun-sam was quite embarrassed. What is this bastard doing now? If I tell him to leave, I’ll feel like I’m becoming the most heartless old man in the world. Just as he was struggling inwardly, his wife brought out tea.
“Come and sit down. You look even taller up close. And handsome too.”
“Thank you, Mother.” Choi Won-joon completely changed his expression as if nothing had happened and went to sit down. Then, he smiled kindly at Kim Chun-sam.
“Father, come and have some too.”