By Zephyria 
Jang Ui-geon suddenly grabbed Seo Chi-young’s fingers as Chi-young hurriedly lowered his hand in embarrassment. Then, he beamed.
“I’m joking.”
“Oh, yes.”
“You can do it as much as you want. If it’s you, Chi-young.”
It seemed the part that was a joke wasn’t the ‘sexual harassment,’ but the ‘you can’t.’
As Seo Chi-young just stared at his captured hand with a bewildered expression, Jang Ui-geon seemed to be swept up in that mood, his face becoming slightly bashful, which was unlike him.
“This is troublesome.”
“Pardon?”
“I feel like I might want to do something I shouldn’t be doing right here, right now.”
Jang Ui-geon spoke as if talking to himself. Seo Chi-young blinked at him. Was that perhaps similar to what Seo Chi-young had briefly thought just now? Like, it would be nice to kiss, or it would be nice to be hugged tightly.
After staring at the silent Seo Chi-young for a moment, Jang Ui-geon glanced sideways at the nearly empty plates of the customers sitting at the tables. He then quietly helped Seo Chi-young put his socks and shoes back on before standing up.
“Let’s start getting ready to close up.”
Despite the considerable distance, he couldn’t help but look at the man because the man was standing in the middle of the street, shouting at the top of his lungs into his phone.
“I said I hate it! I said no!!”
Whatever it was he hated so much, the man’s shouting could be heard even from dozens of meters away. And since the man was directly in Seo Chi-young’s path, the shouts only became clearer as he approached. Not only Seo Chi-young, but other passersby were also glancing at the man, yet the man remained unmoved, preoccupied with screaming “no” into the phone.
He was a real piece of work.
As he got close enough to recognize the man’s face, Seo Chi-young unconsciously slowed his pace. He quickly recognized him as someone he had seen before.
He had left a bit early to stop by the bank before heading to the shop. It was the very bank where the man was currently stationed. Seeing someone he usually only saw in the evening or at night in broad daylight felt strange, yet welcoming.
Seeing him from a short distance like this, it occurred to him anew that the man had a sturdy, dependable build and was quite handsome. He didn’t look like the kind of person who would be called a nuisance. He was even wearing a sharply pressed suit; anyone would have mistaken him for some wealthy CEO.
To think such a person lived a life so miserably plagued by family—it truly goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover. He felt a surge of pity again. Moreover, the contents of the phone call, which grew louder as he drew closer, were equally distressing.
“Why do you keep pushing me when I said I hate it! If it’s something Hyung started, Hyung should clean up the mess! Why are you trying to dump it on me! …I don’t have time to waste!! I’m dying of busyness trying to find a new job! No!! …Why are you suddenly bringing up Jong-hyeok’s school entrance gift! I already filled his backpack with notebooks, pencils, erasers, crayons, colored pencils, and paints, so what’s with the gift talk… Ah, no, I said no—Hello? Hello!! Ah, fuck.”
The man hung up the phone irritably.
It seemed that the person he called Hyung was asking for something again. Just as Seo Chi-young was guessing this internally, his eyes locked with the man’s.
Since he was walking in that direction and the distance had closed while the man was on the phone, they were bound to meet, but meeting eyes at this exact timing made Seo Chi-young feel as if he had eavesdropped on the call, causing him to slow his pace even further in fluster. The man pointed at Seo Chi-young with his index finger.
“Oh? It’s the gopchang shop CEO? What are you doing here?”
Being in front of a bank not far from the shop shouldn’t have been strange, but the man’s eyes widened as if he had encountered a remarkably bizarre coincidence. However, seeing the man’s face quickly brighten into a smile, Seo Chi-young felt a bit relieved. He thought the man would be in a terrible mood, but fortunately, it didn’t seem to be that bad.
“I had some business at the bank. What brings you here…?”
“Huh? Ah. I just stopped in to ask about loans while passing by, and I’m on my way out.”
The man gestured with his head toward the bank behind him, casually mentioning that loan conditions vary slightly by branch, and Seo Chi-young nodded, saying, “I see.”
“But it’s not very promising. The loan conditions, I mean…”
However, the man’s face clouded over, as if he hadn’t heard good news. Not knowing what to say, Seo Chi-young’s expression clouded as well, and he merely murmured, “Yes.” There are times in life when one is truly struggling, whether physically or mentally, and perhaps this man was in such a period. He felt genuinely sorry for him.
“By the way, CEO, have you had lunch? I heard that shop over there has delicious sandwiches…”
At that moment, the man, who had been coughing a few times, gestured with his chin toward a small sandwich shop across the street. The man murmured that sandwiches were perfect for eating in a park on a nice day like today, and Seo Chi-young shook his head.
“No, I haven’t eaten yet… would you like to eat together then?”
It was still a bit early for lunch, and he usually ate a simple meal at the shop, but when the man showed a desire to eat together, Seo Chi-young readily turned his steps. He thought it would be helpful if he could at least listen to the man’s story.
The man excitedly headed to the sandwich shop, suggesting they buy sandwiches and eat them in the small park in the residential area next to it. However, upon seeing the prices on the menu, he looked troubled and fumbled through his wallet. Seeing the man look distressed despite the prices being much lower than typical sandwich shops, Seo Chi-young spoke up, “I’ll buy.” At that, the man’s face immediately brightened with relief.
“R-really? Oh, I feel so bad. Thank you. I wanted to buy them, but I only have checks right now…”
“Oh, we accept checks too,” the shop girl said with a smile. The man looked around awkwardly and murmured miserably, “The thing is… I only have a million-won check…” This made him even more pitiful, so Seo Chi-young quickly paid and received the sandwiches. The intermittent coughing made him even more concerned.
“Are you unwell?”
“Huh? No, just, I think it’s a cold. My bronchial tubes are a bit weak, so I catch colds easily. It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Waving his hand and coughing a few more times, the man gripped the sandwich bags tightly and trudged toward the park just behind them. Seo Chi-young cast a brief glance at a pharmacy on the roadside before following him.
“I have one brother I call Hyung, and he’s always starting businesses and never cleaning up the mess. So he’s always asking my father for money, asking me for money, and when I say I can’t do it anymore, he brings up his young children like hostages, saying shouldn’t we feed those rabbit-like kids…”
As soon as they sat on an empty bench in the park, the man let out a sigh that felt like it could sink the ground and, as expected, immediately began pouring out his grievances.
“I contacted my brother who ran away from home to see how he was doing, and he immediately asked if I had money because he needed it for work. My younger sister complains that her husband doesn’t come home on weekends. Oh boy…”
The man stopped mid-bite of his sandwich and lamented while looking at the sky. Then, he suddenly turned his head toward Seo Chi-young.
“Is everything okay with your family, CEO?”
“Yes, my parents are my only family. They live separately in the countryside, and they’re the type who hate asking their children for help…”
“Are you an only child? When I was young, I thought it would be nice to be an only child. Even though my family was in the food business, I always fought with my siblings over snacks. Come to think of it, how old did you say you were? …What, already?!”
Upon hearing Seo Chi-young’s answer, the man’s eyes widened with the same reaction as when he first asked for his age.
“I thought you were much younger, but you’re surprisingly old enough.”
Then, he asked nonchalantly, “But you’re the same age as my younger brother, so can I just speak casually?” Seo Chi-young nodded. If the subtly etiquette-strict Jang Ui-geon had seen this, he would have likely judged the man as a nuisance with a very displeased face. However, Seo Chi-young didn’t mind the man’s informality or his endless venting, so he just smiled.
The man stared intently at Seo Chi-young, sighing deeply while munching on his sandwich.
“I wish I had a steady younger brother like you. My brother was quite smart from a young age, so his arrogance reached the sky. He’s not a bad guy, but he just can’t understand those who have less. Once, I entered a competition and worked hard to solve problems and came in second, and he asked indifferently, ‘Did you just copy the answer key?’ and he wasn’t joking. Even thinking about it now, he was truly obnoxious. Right, huh?”
“Uh… your brother must have been very intelligent…”
“Yeah. He was probably the smartest among the siblings in our house. My parents were very proud of him for being a talented child. Smart, polite, and had many friends. But what’s the point? Once he got to high school, he showed his true colors and turned the whole house upside down.”
“He must have caused some trouble.”
“Yeah, the house was a complete mess. My mother was bedridden and my father collapsed. That guy, honestly—phew, let’s not even talk about it.”
Unconsciously gripping the sandwich tightly, the man licked up a piece of cucumber and onion that had popped out onto his finger and shook his head.
“Not long ago, he dropped a bomb at home saying he got a lover, and he’s completely out of it. I heard he’s doing business somewhere in this neighborhood; the kid is just obsessed.”
It was just as the man had finished his sandwich and Seo Chi-young was quietly handing him half of his own share. Suddenly, the phone rang, and Seo Chi-young asked for the man’s understanding, saying “Just a moment,” and took out his phone. It was Jang Ui-geon. Sometimes, when the shop was quiet, he would call even without any particular reason.
“Yes, Ui-geon.”
Seo Chi-young answered with a smile naturally forming on his face, and he mouthed to the man, who was staring blankly while holding the sandwich, ‘Please eat, I’m full.’ The man blinked at Seo Chi-young and took a bite of the sandwich.
[Are you outside? Did you leave already?]
“Yes, I left a bit early to stop by the bank. Have you finished preparing the shop, Ui-geon?”
[Yes, now we just need customers, but the shop is empty,] Jang Ui-geon laughed. Looking at the clock, which indicated it was still too early for lunch, Seo Chi-young laughed as well.
[So you’re doing business at the bank right now?]
“Huh? Oh, no, I’m just having a quick lunch.”
[Lunch? Outside? Alone?]
Jang Ui-geon, knowing that Seo Chi-young usually ate lunch at the shop, asked curiously. Seo Chi-young glanced at the man who was still munching on the sandwich and stealing glances at him, and whispered, “No.”
“I’m… eating with a customer from the shop.”
[A customer? You had a customer you were close enough with to eat a meal together? Who is it?]
“Uh… someone who comes by occasionally lately.”
Seo Chi-young found himself stuttering, thinking that this was a bit awkward. There were times when Jang Ui-geon’s intuition was alarmingly sharp, for example…
[Surely it’s not that ‘nuisance’ customer, is it?]
Exactly like this.
The mere fact that he was trailing off subtly while eating with someone suspicious was enough for him to jump straight to the correct answer. And that sharp intuition seemed to reach a conclusion as Seo Chi-young flinched and stammered, “Uh, ah, no, it’s not that.”
[Where are you?]
“Uh, no, I’m going back to the shop right now. It’s about time…”
[Chi-young.]
“I’m really going to the shop right now.”
As Seo Chi-young hesitated, fearing that the man would rush over if he mentioned it was a neighborhood park, he faintly heard the sound of an employee calling for Jang Ui-geon over the phone. It seemed something urgent had come up.
Seo Chi-young didn’t miss the opportunity and said, “Um, I’ll hang up now. I was in the middle of a conversation… I’ll be back at the shop soon, so I’ll call you back in a bit.” After a brief silence, Jang Ui-geon, sounding displeased, said, “Fine, call me,” and hung up.
As Seo Chi-young let out a quiet sigh and looked down at his phone, the man, who had been staring at him while munching on the sandwich, tilted his head.
“Who is it? A lover?”
When Seo Chi-young unconsciously nodded while staring at the phone, the man wrinkled the bridge of his nose.
“Wow, you’re really digging deep, aren’t you? Is he paranoid? You shouldn’t date people like that.”
“Pardon? Oh… no. It’s not that, he just worries about me a lot. He’s a good person.”
“Is that so?” the man smacked his lips, looking somewhat dissatisfied. In the meantime, he had finished the sandwich Seo Chi-young gave him, leaving only the wrapper.
“But is your girlfriend’s name Ui-geon? It sounds like a general’s name.”
Seo Chi-young flinched and shrugged his shoulders, but soon laughed it off as if it were nothing, saying, “Haha, really?” Fortunately, the man said nothing more and just sucked the milk through the straw.
Seo Chi-young checked his watch. Indeed, it was time to go. He had left with plenty of time, but after stopping at the bank and heading to the shop, he would arrive just in time.
“Um, I think I should be going now.”
“Hmm? Ah, right, right, you have to open the shop. Go on. I should go look for a job too.”
The man stood up with a grunt and coughed. Hearing that, Seo Chi-young said, “Ah, could you wait a moment?” and quickly ran to the pharmacy he had seen on the way. After buying cold medicine that was said to be effective for sore throats and handing it to the man, time became even tighter, so he barely heard what the man was saying and ran toward the bank.
*
‘Shin Kang-ho and Kim Yu-mi, Romance Exposed?! The Young Lady’s Shocking Confession!’
Flashing subtitles were appearing on a cable program that shared entertainment news.
Seo Chi-young rarely watched the TV, though it was provided for the customers, but he looked at it because a customer sitting there, who was watching the TV, shouted in surprise.
“Oh my, isn’t that kid with the eyes covered Ra Jin? What, so he dated Ra Jin and then broke up? And now he’s with Kim Yu-mi?!”
Following the customer’s gaze, Seo Chi-young blinked as he saw photos of a familiar celebrity and photos where the eyes were covered with a black bar, but not to the extent that one couldn’t recognize who it was.
He thought it sounded like something he’d heard before, and then he remembered. Come to think of it, that (so-called nuisance) customer had mentioned something like that recently. That they were dating but would break up soon, and that someone would be a better match for someone else. He thought those were exactly those names.
“……….”
He was impressed. How did he know? The man had claimed he was good at reading people, and his eye for detail was truly amazing. Seo Chi-young thought admiringly of the customer who had visited today, put it on his tab, and left just a moment ago, as he returned to the prep station.
Yoon Jun-young and Kwon Kang-hee were sitting side by side with Jang Ui-geon. Since the two had mentioned they were busy with work lately and hadn’t visited in a long while, they seemed to have a lot to talk about.
“Chi-young, don’t you have any thoughts about opening a branch?”
As soon as Seo Chi-young sat across from them, Yoon Jun-young abruptly brought up the topic, leaving Seo Chi-young to blink and look around ambiguously, not knowing what conversation had been going on between them.
“Pardon? …No, this place is enough for me.”
A branch for a small gopchang shop in a corner of the neighborhood—thinking that he was being given an overly generous and grateful suggestion, Seo Chi-young smiled.
“If you open a branch and only one person like you goes there as a customer, how are you going to maintain the shop?”
“Why do you think I’d be the only customer? Are you doubting Chi-young’s gopchang right now?”
Yoon Jun-young was someone who could momentarily leave even Jang Ui-geon—the man Seo Chi-young thought he could never beat in a verbal argument—speechless.
“It’s not that… why are you trying to make someone who already works all day even busier? It’s enough that I’m the busy one, so forget it. Don’t take up any more of his time.”
At Jang Ui-geon’s firm dismissal, Yoon Jun-young murmured, “Greedy…” and continued to diligently shovel gopchang into his mouth.
“You’ve been very busy with the shop lately, haven’t you?”
Seo Chi-young gave a pitiful look to Jang Ui-geon, who never seemed to gain weight despite eating voraciously every night. Perhaps the shop was truly busy, as there had been no phone calls during the day lately. Moreover, the time he came to pick up Seo Chi-young every night was getting later and later.
“Yes, I think I should seriously consider expanding. …But as the shop grows, it takes up more of my time in its own way. And the funds are ambiguous.” Jang Ui-geon clicked his tongue, scratching his head vigorously. Kwon Kang-hee raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he brought a glass to his lips.
“Why the funds…”
“They’re tied up in something too precious to dispose of. It’s also a bit difficult to get a loan because my father put a lien on the building.”
“Ah…? Then why not ask Ui-min Hyung? Doesn’t that Hyung have plenty to spare?”
“Ah. That’s true. He’s even more flush now. He sold his company not long ago.”
Muttering nonchalantly that franchises are a business made by selling, Jang Ui-geon picked up a glass of barley tea instead of the drink Kwon Kang-hee offered. It was because he had brought tea.
Seeing the barley tea bottle run dry after he poured a glass, Seo Chi-young quickly took a new bottle out of the refrigerator. Jang Ui-geon curved his eyes in a thankful smile.
“Then at least try talking to him. It would be pocket change to that Hyung. It’s not like you’re someone who wouldn’t pay him back or take care of the interest.”
“Don’t even mention it. Hyung is in a bad mood lately. I heard he’s in a huge brawl because the item he was considering for his next business overlapped with my father’s. They’re both too greedy. So, the eldest brother apparently told Ui-min Hyung to just give in and help him with his work for the time being.”
Jang Ui-geon sighed, saying that Ui-min Hyung had called him to rant for a long time about being betrayed and how his house was a total headache lately, yet his expression didn’t seem all that bad. “Your house is the same as ever,” Kwon Kang-hee laughed. Seeing this, Seo Chi-young realized it was merely an affectionate family squabble and completely set aside his growing worry.
“Since he’s taking a break from work anyway, tell him to make some pocket money by lending you some daily interest.”
“He seemed to want me to take his side, so I refused, telling him not to drag me into that battlefield, and now Hyung is sulking at me too. When I asked to borrow some money for a few months, he said he’d look up bank loan interest rates and give me a rate 1% higher than the most expensive bank.”
“The shrimp’s back breaks in a fight between whales,” Jang Ui-geon shook his head. Looking at him, Seo Chi-young felt a sense of apology. He wondered if Jang Ui-geon wouldn’t have to worry like this if he had the money that Jang Ui-geon had given him—money he was still paying back in small installments every month. If so, it felt more natural for him to find a way to procure that money from somewhere else as originally intended.
“Um, Ui-geon-ssi, about that…”
“No. There’s a guy right in front of us who’s constantly looking for a chance to steal Chi-young-ssi away by providing him with money, so don’t think about useless things.”
However, as soon as Seo Chi-young opened his mouth, the quick-witted man abruptly cut him off. To Seo Chi-young, who was left speechless and open-mouthed from the surprise, Jang Ui-geon gave a small, amused smile.
“I’m just talking. It’s not really a serious predicament, so you don’t have to worry.”
Still, as Seo Chi-young looked at him with an ambiguous expression, Yoon Jun-young, who had been silently eating gopchang beside them, added, “The most useless worry in the world is worrying about Ui-geon’s money.” Not knowing who to address or what to say, Seo Chi-young hesitated for a moment before eventually just nodding.
Then, Kwon Kang-hee, who had been lost in thought for a moment with his glass in hand, muttered as if to himself.
“Come to think of it, I saw someone who looked like Ui-min Hyung on my way here.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. We just passed by, so I only saw the back, but they looked like Ui-min Hyung.”
“Now that you mention it, Hyung was wondering what you guys were up to lately. He said he wanted to see everyone together sometime, and that he’d buy dinner.”
Jang Ui-geon spoke to Kwon Kang-hee and Yoon Jun-young as if he had just remembered. Since they were friends who had spent time together since they were very young, he heard they knew his family, and specifically that Kwon Kang-hee was lightly entangled with them through work. However, for some reason, upon hearing this, Kwon Kang-hee closed his mouth with a subtle expression and glanced sideways at Yoon Jun-young. The movement of Yoon Jun-young’s hand, which had been stuffing gopchang into his mouth, stopped at that moment. The piece of gopchang he was about to eat dropped.
“….I think I’m too busy, so I can’t. You guys eat. Just tell Hyung.”
Yoon Jun-young spoke bluntly while wiping his mouth with a napkin. Rather than blunt, he seemed reluctant or uncomfortable.
“Still, he’ll probably ask to see you when you have time.”
“No, I’ll pass.”
“What’s the big deal. Just see him comfortably. It’s not like I like you anymore.”
“I’ve already been perceived as a ‘pitiful person’ by your second brother! Do you know how closely that Hyung scrutinized me every time he saw me when you were going on about how you liked me? I can’t count how many times I heard him mutter to himself, ‘So this guy likes a fellow like this.’”
Yoon Jun-young shook his head, saying that while he knew the man was a very good person, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. A bitter silence flowed for a moment, as if everyone was already aware of the situation.
Jang Ui-geon clicked his tongue as if the taste in his mouth was bitter, then asked cautiously, sounding apologetic.
“He didn’t say anything to you, did he?”
“No. He’s not that uncouth. It’s just that the gaze was burdensome.”
“Even if it’s not the case now, once a person is perceived a certain way, it doesn’t change easily,” Yoon Jun-young sighed, frowning, and then picked up his chopsticks again. He began eating the gopchang even more aggressively than before.
Seo Chi-young blinked and looked at Yoon Jun-young. It was the first time he had seen Yoon Jun-young, who was fundamentally indifferent to others, be so openly burdened by someone. He looked like a cat with its ears flattened. Without even looking at him, Yoon Jun-young gave Seo Chi-young a piece of advice.
“Chi-young-ssi, you should be careful too. Ui-geon’s Hyung is a bit like that. When he’s checking to see who his brother likes, it’s like searchlights are beaming out of his eyes.”
“…, Ah, yes…”
He thought Yoon Jun-young was exaggerating because he felt so burdened, but unexpectedly, Jang Ui-geon spoke seriously with a troubled face.
“Don’t worry. That’s why I’m blocking him from saying he wants to see Chi-young-ssi. That won’t happen. Really.”
“Yeah, that would be for the best. Back then, that Hyung secretly badmouthed you a ton. Even though he told you to live your life as you pleased, he didn’t seem to like the idea of you actually living with a man. If that Hyung meets Chi-young-ssi…”
Yoon Jun-young gazed at Seo Chi-young for a moment before dropping his gaze back to the gopchang.
“Chi-young-ssi will probably find out that when you were six, you were dancing the butt-dance completely naked in the yard, fell over, and cried your eyes out because you slammed your penis into a toy car.”
“Hey!!”
Jang Ui-geon’s eyes widened and he shouted abruptly. While Kwon Kang-hee smiled softly beside them and muttered, “Right, I heard that happened,” Jang Ui-geon hurriedly turned to Seo Chi-young and insisted with a serious face, “It was when I was four, just four. I barely even remember it!”
The butt-dance… the toy car… a very cute and lovely image came to mind, and he instinctively wanted to laugh, but seeing that serious face, he couldn’t. He felt that if he laughed, Jang Ui-geon would genuinely become disheartened.
As Seo Chi-young nodded with a strangely stiff face, Jang Ui-geon, sensing the mood, let out a groan and rubbed his forehead. Perhaps feeling a bit sorry for him, Kwon Kang-hee subtly changed the subject.
“Come to think of it, the two Hyungs look alike, and you and Ui-yoon look alike, but you don’t really look like the Hyungs.”
“….My father and mother don’t look alike. I take after my maternal side, and my brothers take after the paternal side.”
Jang Ui-geon spoke with a heavy sigh, then suddenly looked at Seo Chi-young.
“Who do you look like, Chi-young-ssi?”
“I… when I was young, I heard a lot that I looked like my father, but as I grew up, people said I started to look like my mother too.”
“Though I’m not sure myself,” Seo Chi-young said, tilting his head, and Jang Ui-geon nodded and said, “I see.”
“Show me a photo next time. I’ll judge for you.”
“Yes. I have albums at home, so I’ll show you later.”
“Then shall we stop by Chi-young-ssi’s house today before we go?”
At Jang Ui-geon’s immediate response—as he was not one to postpone a thought—Seo Chi-young hesitated for a moment before nodding. Since it was the weekend, he thought they would go to Jang Ui-geon’s house, but it seemed they would stop by his place first.
While he muttered “An album” to himself, Jang Ui-geon, who seemed to have cheered up with a smile on his lips, looked at Seo Chi-young and said.
“I think Chi-young-ssi’s parents are good people.”
“Uh…, yes, they are good people. …Your parents too, Ui-geon-ssi.”
“Haha, do you still think that even after I just told you that I’m in a brawl with my son—I mean, my father—over business? They are people with neither blood nor tears.”
Yet, even as he burst into laughter, the fact that Jang Ui-geon’s parents and siblings loved him seeped through every part of his tone. They were likely the same. Looking at Jang Ui-geon, he felt that he must have grown up in a good home. Regardless of the exterior, a harmonious home where they sincerely cared for one another.
So, he thought it was very nice, and that things had turned out well.
*
The man coughed. Seo Chi-young, while stir-frying gopchang, looked at him. He hadn’t been sitting there long, but he had already coughed several times.
“Your cold seems to have gotten worse.”
There was no need to say it. The man’s voice was completely hoarse, and he replied in a voice more cracked than an old man’s, “Yeah, a bit.”
“This is why I hate the change of seasons. I have weak bronchial tubes, so I always suffer from a sore throat during the transition. Especially spring and summer, without fail, without fail.”
“This is all because of the yellow dust, those Chinese people should plant trees in the desert first, why build factories on the northeast coast, what are we supposed to do with those heavy metals,” seeing the man still rambling fluently even with a cracked voice, Seo Chi-young felt a bit relieved. He must be spending miserable days with his work not going well, so it would be so hard if he were sick too.
“Please go home early today, take some medicine, and get some good rest.”
“Hmm? No, it’s just my voice, just my voice. Still, thanks for worrying. Now my family just scolds me, asking if I’m like that again. Not long ago, my younger brother called, and after hearing my voice, he just said, ‘I guess the yellow dust season isn’t over yet.’ And do you know what he asked right after? ‘More importantly, Hyung, do you have any money?'”
“Can you believe that’s my brother,” the man said as if indignant, then coughed again. “I see,” Seo Chi-young responded sympathetically, while adding more ingredients to the gopchang he was stir-frying for another customer. He intended to scoop some of it onto the man’s emptying plate.
“He must have heard from somewhere that I quit my job. He probably thought I had some savings. He suddenly asked if I had money, said he needed some money, and as he was rambling on, I…”
“It must be very hard for you. …Here, please eat some more.”
As Seo Chi-young placed a bit more stir-fried gopchang on the plate, the man gave a strained smile, rinsed his mouth with soju, and picked up his chopsticks.
“The intestines aren’t great today, they’re over-trimmed, the seasoning seems a bit strong,” while listing complaints, the man would still come once or twice a week and leave with a clean gopchang plate. But those complaints had decreased lately. Instead, other stories had increased.
“……My brother, while putting on his work jumper to go to work in the morning, glanced at me and told me to stop acting like a parasite and find a job… I worked my fingers to the bone for fifteen long years without a single day off, and just because I rested for a few days… my younger sister barged in today to leave my nephew with me and nagged me about what I’m going to do to make a living now…”
When Seo Chi-young found a moment to listen to the man’s words, the man, who was naturally talkative, would pour out stories like a fish in water, most of which were complaints about his siblings. Among them, the younger brother was a particularly frequent target.
Seo Chi-young thought it was understandable.
How heartbroken he must have been for a brother to ask for money while he was coughing so hard with a hoarse voice.
“But how did your brother end up leaving home? Did he not get along with the family originally?”
“What are you talking about. He’s the younger brother with a big age gap, so my brother and I treated him so well. Our parents adored that brat. Well… my father was a bit strict, so when we were young, if someone did something wrong, the siblings would gather in a row and get beaten often, but while my brother and I were often beaten separately, that brat and my sister almost never were… Ah, there was one time. He got beaten really badly.”
The man chewed the gopchang and stared at the slate ceiling as if searching his memories.
“That brat announced to the house that there was someone he liked, but it was… really, an unbelievable partner. Someone everyone would surely point fingers at. At that time, my mother fell ill and my father flew into a rage… it was total chaos, absolutely.”
“What kind of person were they…?”
“Hmm──. Someone you could absolutely never marry, a taboo… anyway, someone like that.”
The man frowned deeply and scratched his head. “If he had brought home a divorcee ten years older, I wouldn’t even mention it,” he said, scratching his head and then practically tearing at it, as if a very painful past had come to mind.
Absolutely unable to marry… could it be a married woman or an affair… Seo Chi-young didn’t dare ask openly and just watched the man’s expression before quietly nodding, “I see.”
“So that’s why your brother left home?”
“No, no. What money did he have back then? He didn’t leave home until recently. Even after getting a severe beating from my father, he didn’t come to his senses and kept suffering through a hopeless one-sided love, and then my mother, who couldn’t stand the sight of it, told him to just go live on his own, and he left immediately. Since then, he hardly contacts the house.”
“And when he does contact us sporadically, it’s just to ask me for money,” the man said, pouring more alcohol.
“Your brother… seems to lack affection, so you must have been very hurt. Still, your brother must have suffered a lot emotionally too, so please understand him.”
He was cautious about speaking about someone else’s family. Even to Seo Chi-young, the brother seemed a bit cold. But since it was someone else’s family, he couldn’t just agree and say, ‘Yeah, your brother is really cold,’ and besides, wouldn’t that brother have been heartbroken in his own way over an unattainable love? There is no life in the world that is only easy.
“Emotional suffering… yeah, he did a bit. I’m good at reading people. But just looking at it, he liked someone who would never look back at him no matter how long he liked them. I thought he had some eye for people, but he was completely blinded by love. And sure enough, that person went and found their own partner. He became a leftover duck on the Nakdong River.”
The man smirked mischievously as if it were a very funny situation. Still, perhaps he did feel sorry for his brother, as the smile soon faded and he clicked his tongue bitterly.
“But I wondered why that brat seemed surprisingly fine, and it turns out he got a new lover. These days he’s absolutely beaming with joy and living well.”
….It seems he didn’t click his tongue because he felt sorry for his brother.
The way he cursed him for having no loyalty sounded as if he were genuinely disappointed. The rift between the brothers must be deep. Seo Chi-young hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to say.
“Still… it’s a relief that he met another good person. Your parents must be happy too.”
“Happy? He’s even worse than before!”
The man shouted with a stern face, then coughed violently as if he had caught a sudden breath of air. The sight of tears even leaking out made him look like a truly indignant and sad person. “I knew it, I felt something was off,” the man didn’t stop talking even as he coughed repeatedly and drank water.