#115

The two walked side by side down the alley. The day was still sweltering, and each held a plastic bag and their shoes in their hands.

“Ki-beom.”

As soon as they reached the main road, Tae-heun called out to the Man.

“I told Sister Hyun-sook I was staying here, and she just laughed.”

The the man stared at Tae-heun without answering. His one visible eye seemed particularly sunken.

What was he thinking?

He was curious.

“If I told the villagers I was farming here with Ki-beom, wouldn’t they all be shocked?”

He deliberately raised his voice. He spoke as if he was thrilled to death. He wished the man would be just as excited, but there was no reaction. Far from being happy, he seemed to sigh deeply.

“Ji-hye will definitely be overjoyed, right?”

He even brought up the the child on purpose, but there was no response.

“Hey, is it really okay for you not to leave?”

After a long silence, the man asked with a worried voice. Brother Daeho, he started to say, then stopped.

The the man must have heard something. He didn’t know what Tae-heun had been doing, but he knew he was someone who should leave. No matter how much they whispered sweet nothings about first love and promised each other a future, he couldn’t shake that thought from the corner of his mind.

“I’m racking my fucking brain trying to make it okay.”

Tae-heun said as lightly as possible. He didn’t want to cause the man unnecessary worry. He was still struggling with it himself, and he hadn’t found a plausible solution yet. But he would find it, no matter what.

“…Fucking…”

Suddenly, the man said in a very small voice. It was the first time he had repeated a curse word.

“Why, don’t you like it?”

Tae-heun asked, feeling dejected. Had he been acting too much like a thug? Come to think of it, the man had never cursed.

“No. Just don’t do it in front of Ji-hye.”

“It’s okay in front of Ki-beom?”

“Yes. Fucking okay.”

He even gave a slight smile. He was like a mischievous boy.

The the man had been repeating Tae-heun’s words often lately. Every time he did, he showed an innocence like a the child learning to speak for the first time. Even when he used the vulgar word ‘fucking,’ it felt gentle.

“Ki-beom, you’re a funny Mister.”

Tae-heun stared intently at the Man’s face and added, “Fucking, funny Mister.” The the man smiled, showing his teeth. Ouch, he groaned softly.

They were already in front of the village hall.

What were the Village Chief and the youth association president doing? He was curious for no reason.

“By the way, our Ji-hye hasn’t been going to So-jin’s house lately?”

“So-jin has exams.”

“Finals?”

“Yes.”

“If it’s exam period, doesn’t school end earlier?”

“She must be studying late.”

“Oh. That’s impressive.”

He whistled. The the man gestured for him to stop, saying ‘snake.’

“What snake worries in broad daylight?”

He was a funny Mister, anyway.

“Does So-jin study well?”

“Yes. She does well.”

“What about Ji-hye?”

“So-so.”

“What was she doing instead of learning from So-jin’s older sister?”

“I just want Ji-hye to be healthy.”

“That’s how it is now. Wait until she’s in middle school. You won’t be saying such leisurely things.”

“I really mean it.”

The the man sincerely said that he didn’t care if the the child was at the bottom of the class as long as she was healthy.

“Bottom of the class? Don’t even joke about that. I can’t stand my the child not being good at studying.”

He naturally said ‘my the child.’ He subtly watched the Man’s reaction, but the man didn’t seem to hear the phrase properly. Or maybe he didn’t know what was strange about it, even if he did hear it.

“Why?”

The the man asked innocently as Tae-heun stared intently. He scratched his eyebrow, feeling embarrassed for no reason.

“No, it’s just that I’m a bit smart. And Ki-beom, judging by how you work, you seem to have been quite clever too.”

“I was just average.”

“Is studying the only kind of smart? How important is work smarts?”

He said emphatically.

In his experience, being good at work was more difficult than being good at studying. Lee Seon-jae knew that well from countless experiences.

“Anyway, I’m going to make Ji-hye study. And I’m going to send her to a good university. That’s how you get treated like a person in our country.”

Especially if you have nothing.

He didn’t bother saying this out loud.

Tae-heun believed that. As a the child from a poor family, with a history of working for a loan shark company that others shunned, he could say it with confidence. He was living proof.

The reason he was able to turn VIPs who openly looked down on Lee Seon-jae as a mere punk working for a loan shark company into loyal customers of Il-gwang was because of that prestigious university degree. The moment they learned that Lee Seon-jae had graduated from the best national university in Korea, the VIPs’ eyes changed. When they had treated him like a bug, they started calling him ‘our Chief,’ ‘our junior,’ and treating him like a person.

Of course, no one believed it at first. Who would believe that a kid who was still so young was a graduate of a prestigious university? Usually, if they were from the same school, they would test him to see if it was true by mentioning the names of professors or the library, or even the buildings, and some would even bet in front of Tae-heun. They openly investigated and waited for the results. Seon-jae enjoyed the process. He especially liked the time spent waiting for the results.

The moment it was revealed that Lee Seon-jae was not only from a prestigious university, but also obtained a CPA license during the semester and graduated early with excellent grades, was the climax. Their surprised expressions, their flustered faces, their absurd gestures. It was all fascinating.

Lee Seon-jae was no different before or after meeting them, but with just one diploma, the VIPs’ gazes changed. The treatment became special. He was reborn from a good-looking thug to a talented person with diligence. Some even secretly marked him as a potential son-in-law.

From then on, everything went smoothly. VIPs who had been testing the waters by entrusting him with work just once appeared the following year with relatives and friends.

This was the reason why Uncle had sent his adopted son, who was not even his biological son, to a prestigious university, even making him take expensive private lessons. He had decided to send Lee Seon-jae to a prestigious university from the moment he adopted him, and he praised himself for seeing several moves ahead.

Whether he did or not, Seon-jae was simply happy to be a university student. He didn’t care how others saw him. He originally wanted to go to the mathematics department, but because his scores were high, he had no choice but to enter the business administration department, and even that seemed like luck. He dreamed of the future there, and he harbored vain hopes. It was a three-year daydream.

“What does Ji-hye want to be?”

Tae-heun, who had become depressed after reminiscing about the past, deliberately raised his voice.

“A police officer.”

“A police officer? Oh, she has quite a big dream.”

“That’s why she’s working hard at taekwondo.”

“Is she trying to get in as a special talent?”

“I don’t know. Ji-hye says it helps.”

The the man didn’t seem sure, but he smiled contentedly as if the the child had already become a police officer. He seemed happy just that the the child had a dream.

“If possible, it would be good to get into the police academy, wouldn’t it? That way, she won’t be ignored just because she’s a woman.”

“Tae-heun, you’re secretly ambitious about studying.”

“Not secretly, openly. Just watch. I’m going to make sure Ji-hye gets into the police academy.”

“Ji-hye will hate it…”

“Let her hate it. When she gets into college, she’ll thank me with a bow, you’ll see.”

The the man shook his head as if he couldn’t help it. His face was overflowing with smiles.

“When So-jin’s exams are over, Ji-hye will sleep over, right?”

“Yes. She’s already making a fuss about it.”

“I see.”

He trailed off.

“Hey, Ki-beom, will you go to work right after the funeral tomorrow?”

“No. We’ll all gather and have a meal together. It’s like a feast to celebrate everyone’s hard work.”

“All day?”

“Yes. All day. Those who want to rest can go rest first, and those who have errands can just eat and take care of their errands.”

“Is that so? It’s free.”

“Yes. Well, yeah.”

As Tae-heun almost stopped walking, the man turned back with a puzzled look.

“Then Ki-beom, instead of going to that feast, shall we go on a date?”

The the man asked back, a beat late, “A date?”

“Yeah. A date.”

“…To, where?”

Tae-heun, who had been nervous that the man would say he didn’t want to or say something negative, was thrilled by the Man’s reaction.

“Let’s go to Chungju!”

He shouted with a fuss. The Man, startled, quickly gestured for him to lower his voice.

“That far?”

He didn’t seem keen.

“While we’re there, I’ll take a look at your leg. It would be good to get treatment where you go, if possible.”

“My leg is fine.”

“Fine, my ass. You were limping a lot today. If there’s nothing to treat, at least ask for painkillers.”

“It’s really okay…”

“Anyway, Ki-beom, get your foot treated, and let’s go to Chungju Lake. Let’s get a place to stay overlooking Chungju Lake. A love hotel!”

No sooner had the words ‘love hotel’ left his mouth than the man almost jumped. Was that such a shocking thing? Tae-heun stared at the staggering the man with wide eyes. The Man, who had barely regained his senses, grumbled about why they needed a place to stay when it was just a day trip.

Who said it was a day trip?

Tae-heun continued to speak firmly, despite the Man’s reaction.

“First, we’ll get a place to stay, then we’ll ride a Paddle boat and eat spicy fish stew. At night, we’ll go to a bar with a good atmosphere and have a drink.”

He rattled off his plans.

“We’ll go there that day and come back that day. I have things to do the next day, and Ji-hye’s food too.”

“She’s sleeping over at So-jin’s, right?”

“No, the dog’s food. Anyway, it’s hard to stay overnight.”

The Man, who had been emphasizing the day trip and objecting to Tae-heun’s plans, suddenly spoke quickly with a look on his face as if he had remembered something important.

“Let’s go to the cafe where we listen to music! I want to go there!”

The Man’s voice was unusually excited as he said this.

“A live cafe?”

“Yes. There.”

“No, why there?”

A live cafe. It was a place he wouldn’t want to go even if he was paid. It was partly because has-been singers sang songs that were far from Tae-heun’s taste, but the biggest reason was that the love affairs of middle-aged to elderly adulterous couples were unsightly.

He had unique tastes.

“They say real singers come and sing. I saw it on TV, and it looked good to see them singing with acoustic guitars.”

The the man had probably never been to a live cafe. There was one in town. They had put up flyers on every utility pole to promote an unknown guest singer, but he hadn’t seen them. Anyway, the man was cute for falling for the live cafe after seeing it on TV. He couldn’t not go when he said it like that. If the man liked it, Tae-heun liked it too.

“Okay, then. Let’s go to a live cafe too!”

It would be even better if it was near the lake, he thought, and he would have to ask a taxi driver later.

“Oh, you can request songs there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Ki-beom, think about the song you want to hear. I’ll think of one too. We’ll decide at the cafe. Deal?”

“Yes. Sounds good.”

Both the man and Tae-heun were excited. They walked around the open space in front of the village hall under the scorching sun, almost walking in place. They each had their black jackets hanging on their arms, and they smiled foolishly whenever their eyes met. They even passed the entrance to the hall. They laughed in disbelief, but their pace was still in slow motion.