By Zephyria 
“Hee, Hee-shin, what is this?”
His mother’s mouth hung open, and she even stammered. Min-hye’s eyes were also wide with surprise.
While opening the condolence box to tally the offerings, they had found an envelope with no name written on it, containing a check for 100 million won. At first, they thought someone was playing a prank. That was until a certain man’s face suddenly flashed through their minds.
“Give it to me. I think it was put in by mistake.”
As he snatched the envelope from his mother’s hand, her gaze wavered. She couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from the envelope. Min-hye, noticing this, comforted their mother.
“Mom. Oppa can’t just accept something like that; it could cause big trouble. You know that, right?”
His mother didn’t answer and lowered her head, and Hee-shin rose from his seat. His mother, who had collapsed in sobbing grief during his brother’s casket ceremony, now looked as if she wanted to cry for a different reason. If only I had that money… just that money… Because it felt as if she were saying that, he hurried out of the room.
Once outside, he called Im Gyeong.
After several rings, a languid voice answered from the other end.
-Hello.
“This is Kang Hee-shin. Did you happen to leave a check in the condolence box?”
-Yes.
“No, why such a large amount…”
-Are you angry? Did I do something wrong?
A low sigh escaped Hee-shin at the lack of malice in the tone.
“Let’s meet when I go back to Seoul. I’ll return the money.”
-Don’t do that, just take it. This isn’t the time to be prideful.
“What did you just say?”
-I heard your father’s hospital bills are quite substantial. Am I wrong?
A surge of emotion caused his voice to snap sharply.
“Did you dig into my background?”
-Digging into a background is done in secret; what I did was an ‘open’ investigation.
“…….”
-I met an acquaintance of yours in front of the funeral hall. A friend of your father’s, perhaps? That person grabbed me and poured their heart out. About how pitiful Kang Hee-shin’s situation is, how miserably he’s lived. Listening to it made me annoyed. I couldn’t stand how pitiful you are. If I’d known sooner, I wouldn’t have teased you with the tie. I’m sorry, though it’s a bit late.
Hee-shin squeezed his eyes shut. He had thought it was strange from the moment Mr. Kim had held him since morning, prying into who the man who visited yesterday dawn was, whether he was a boss at work, how he seemed wealthy, and how they knew each other. A deep sigh escaped his lips.
“I’ll contact you when I get to Seoul….”
-Spend the money. I gave it to you for that purpose.
“Are you pitying me?”
-Why? Am I not allowed to?
He was speechless. Usually, in these cases, people would at least make an excuse and say they weren’t.
-Listen carefully, Mr. Kang Hee-shin. That’s dirty money. You know I’m not a good person.
“…….”
-So don’t feel any pangs of conscience and just use it. You can think of it as generosity bestowed upon a future family member.
Hee-shin answered without hesitation.
“…I refuse.”
Fuck, he’s stubborn. He clearly heard a small curse being spat out.
As he glared at the ground, Im Gyeong added one more thing.
-Do whatever you want, then.
Click. The call ended, and Hee-shin rubbed his face with an exhausted expression. He took a cigarette from his pocket, went to the smoking area, and lit it. He noticed the white envelope in his hand had become crumpled. There was 100 million won in here. An amount that others might not touch easily in their entire lives. He couldn’t understand the spending habits of a man who treated it like buying gum at a convenience store.
On the other hand, he couldn’t deny that his heart wavered. With this money, he could be freed from financial pressure for the time being. However, this might hold him back later. No one could guarantee how long Im Gyeong’s goodwill would last.
Just in case, he inquired at the funeral hall and was told that the funeral expenses had already been settled. He felt hollow. Was it a problem that could be resolved this easily? It felt ridiculous that he had agonized over the funeral costs until dawn. A sense of defeat, relief, and a touch of sorrow washed over him.
Patter, patter— The sound of raindrops plagued his ears. Watching his brother enter the crematorium, his mother wailed, and Min-hye also poured out sorrowful tears. Only Kang Hee-shin remained composed. It was the same when his brother became a handful of ash and was placed in an urn. Now, he no longer existed in this world. The date of his birth and the date of his death were written simultaneously on the urn.
After the funeral, his mother coaxed her son to go see his father’s face at least once.
-I’ll see him when I die.
He spat harsh words at his mother, who had lost her eldest son. He meant it. He didn’t want to see him before he died. He didn’t even want to hold a funeral after he died. He felt that even the time spent greeting mourners and staying up all night for such a human being was a waste.
Could something like this be called a family? Should he have severed ties long ago?
After placing the urn in the columbarium, he dragged his exhausted body back home. He fell asleep on the sofa as if collapsing, and when he opened his eyes, a day had passed. As he lay on his side, the empty soju bottles on the table and the envelope of money Im Gyeong had left caught his eye.
He reached out and took the check out of the envelope. Even looking at it again, it was a staggering amount.
He held the check up to the fluorescent light before sitting up. Leaving the envelope neatly on the table, he went to the bathroom and stripped off all his clothes. He turned on the water to shower, but no hot water came out. He belatedly remembered the notice in the elevator. It stated that hot water would not be available until evening due to hot water pipe maintenance.
Damn, nothing is going right… He muttered to himself as he wet his hair with cold water. Because the weather was still chilly, the water felt even colder. The house he lived in as a child didn’t have proper hot water. They used electricity to heat the water, but it was far from enough for the whole family.
Whenever that happened, his brother always gave up his turn. He would say he preferred cold water over hot. Though young, Kang Hee-shin knew his brother was lying. He knew, but he ignored it. Perhaps that was why his brother’s knuckles were cracked like a turtle’s shell in the dead of winter. His face was the same.
Even in their impoverished circumstances, his brother was always the one to yield to him.
But it seemed that yielding was difficult when it came to dying. Since he had gone first.
The tear ducts that hadn’t worked at the funeral hall or the crematorium finally burst open late.
“Fuck…”
Standing under the stream of water, he cried silently for a long time. He cried until his head throbbed, then barely managed to compose his surging emotions and stepped out. Looking in the mirror, his eyes were bloodshot. Pulling himself together, he took a cleanly ironed shirt from the closet for work.
Afterward, he grabbed his wristwatch and stopped by a luxury second-hand shop on his way to work to have it appraised.
The price had dropped more than expected, but it was sufficient to secure the necessary funds.
By the time he arrived at the Prosecutor’s Office with the cash, it was well past noon. Seeing Kang Hee-shin enter the office, Chief Oh looked restless. She sensed that something had happened in the meantime. She didn’t know if it was something worse than his brother’s death.
“Prosecutor. Was everything resolved well?”
“…Yes.”
When she asked what happened, he irritably swept back his curly hair. Damn it.
“The Chairman Shim case. I heard Prosecutor Jang Seon-woo formed a team and took it over. I just found out myself.”
“…….”
“It’s a mindset of just eating the fruits of the work you’ve already done, Prosecutor.”
Hee-shin, who had been listening silently to Chief Oh, rose from his seat. He left the office and headed to the third floor where the Chief Prosecutor was. As he entered the room, several people, including the Deputy Chief Prosecutor, were sitting there. They exchanged glances and soon stepped outside. One of them tapped Kang Hee-shin on the shoulder.
It felt less like consolation and more like a hint to just accept it.
“You’re here? I heard you went to the provinces for work.”
“What happened?”
“Just sit down first. Your neck’s gonna break, kid. Want some coffee?”
“Wasn’t I the one taking the Chairman Shim case?”
“I intended to. I did. But they told me to give it to Jang Seon-woo.”
“Who did?”
Chief Prosecutor Jo Cheol-woong pointed toward the ceiling. It meant the instruction came from the Chief Prosecutor of the office. It also meant that since Prosecutor Jang Seon-woo was the son of the Prosecutor General, he should stop questioning it. There was more than enough evidence for this case. All one had to do was put the spoon on the already prepared table.
“We are an organization. Not individuals. It’s better for someone with capability to handle it.”
“Are you saying I have none?”
“Once the investigation starts, the pressure will be insane. Can you handle that?”
“…….”
“If you’re unlucky, you’ll have to strip off your robes. It’s not like you haven’t experienced this once or twice.”
“Even if I do, I’ll be the one to strip. I chose this, so I have no regrets.”
“Kang Hee-shin. What’s wrong with you? You’re smart. In my climb to this position, I’ve seen countless prosecutors get ground down because they were greedy. I’m saying this because I care about you.”
“Are you sincere?”
“Do I sound like I’m just saying it?”
Instead of arguing further, he rose from his seat. Chief Jo glanced at his wrist.
“By the way, where’s your watch? You used to wear a nice one.”
The man had a keen eye. I sold it because I had no money. At those words, Chief Jo’s face distorted slightly. It was an expression gauging whether he was rebelling or being sincere.
“You can go now.”
“Yes.”
He bowed politely and stepped out.
His strides as he walked down the hallway gradually quickened.
With his fists clenched tight, a bitter smile spread across his face instead of anger.