The voice calling for mom was urgent. Yet he still tried to get away from Jung Kyungwoo. It seemed like the apartment would get noisy if left as is, so Jaeha was just about to intervene to stop Jung Kyungwoo.
“Kid, this mister got something wrong. Go. Go and play.”
“No, why are you stopping me? I should contact the police first.”
“That’s not how it’s done in Korea. I’ve told you several times, it’s inside an apartment.”
While the two were bickering, the child’s expression hardened further. The very fact that two unknown adult men were squabbling with him in the middle would be terribly frightening for a child this age. Since disappearing quickly was the best strategy, he was struggling to forcibly drag Jung Kyungwoo away.
“Hey! What’s going on!”
“Mooooom.”
The startled child burst into tears with a wail as soon as he saw his mom approaching while shouting.
From the looks of it, she seemed to have been chatting with other parents at a rest area under a nearby tree when she saw the situation the child was in and came running. There were also two other parents around. All were mothers.
“This mister… suddenly told me to bring my mom… *sob sob*… I didn’t do anything…”
“Excuse me, who are you and why are you doing this to my child? Are you even a resident of this apartment?”
The mom who held the frightened child in her arms confronted him fiercely. The other moms also glared.
“No, how can you let a child wander around alone at this hour? It’s irresponsible. If this were America, I would have reported it for child neglect!”
“What neglect when I’m watching from less than 10 meters away? And do you think this is America? These days people cry child abuse or neglect over everything, but are you even saying that after having raised a child yourself?”
“Why would I have and raise a child in a shitty country like this? In this backward country where children’s human rights are stuck to the floor!”
“Ah, a black-haired foreigner. Don’t badmouth innocent Korea and go to that great America of yours, will you? Do you even pay taxes in our country?”
The mom didn’t back down at all. Moreover, the other moms each chimed in.
“Anyone can tell you’re unmarried, so who are you to interfere with childcare? You seem drunk, so stop making a scene in the wrong place and leave. Or I’ll report you to the police.”
“I’ve never seen you at residents’ meetings either. What building and unit do you live in? We can check with the management office, right?”
“I should call my child’s father and tell him to come down.”
It was right before an ugly brawl broke out. Jaeha, who wanted to live quietly in the apartment, hastily pulled Jung Kyungwoo back.
“Hey, hey. Stop it.”
He bowed his head to the other side.
“I’m sorry. This friend lived in America for a long time, so he’s not familiar with our culture. I’ll warn him.”
“No, warning or whatever. Our child is already startled, so make him apologize.”
“Why should I apologize?”
Jung Kyungwoo shouted back from behind without backing down.
“Be quiet!”
When Jaeha yelled at the bastard standing behind him, everyone except Jung Kyungwoo flinched in surprise. At the same time, they unlocked their phones as if determined.
Whether it was the management office, husband, or police.
He had to prevent things from unnecessarily escalating. Not because this was a big problem, but because the fact that Jung Kyungwoo was here shouldn’t be recorded in photos. If he was marked as a troublemaker, photos would spread through the apartment community to the internet in an instant.
Only the American-made son of a bitch who knew nothing about how scary the situation was fumed behind him, unaware of his own situation.
Jaeha, who had his wits about him, hurriedly introduced himself.
“I’m the person living in Unit XXXX, Building XX. You can see it over there, right?”
“So what? I’m a resident too. But I’m still going to tell my husband and bring it up at the residents’ meeting.”
“You may do so.”
That’s when it happened. One middle-aged man in a simple uniform approached this way. He was a management office employee. No one had reported anything. Probably a resident from the building who was watching contacted them via intercom.
“I came after receiving a resident complaint. What’s going on?”
As expected. One of the ladies conveyed what had just happened to the management office employee in a very hostile and exaggerated manner. But the employee who made eye contact with Jaeha acknowledged him before even hearing everything.
“Oh my, Prosecutor-nim.”
At the word prosecutor, the expressions of the angry parents changed subtly. As expected, the power of one of the ‘four -sa’ professions among Korean parents was tremendous.
“I didn’t know Prosecutor-nim was here.”
“My friend got drunk. He’s a bastard who grew up in America, so he’s sensitive about child issues. He doesn’t know Korean culture well. I’ll properly admonish him. In any case, we caused trouble.”
After politely finishing his words, Jaeha bowed his head toward the angry child’s mother.
“He didn’t know, so please don’t be too angry and understand. I’ll teach him thoroughly.”
“If you’re a prosecutor, I’m sure you’ll handle it well.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
When Jaeha bowed his head once more, the child’s mother reluctantly nodded.
“Hey, I’m sorry. This mister looks like this but he’s a foreigner, so he must have thought you were alone. He didn’t intend to harm you, so forgive him.”
“Yes.”
The child hiding behind his mom answered half-heartedly.
“I’m truly sorry.”
He bent his waist with a good smile even to people who weren’t the parties involved. The atmosphere was sorted out in an instant.
Jung Kyungwoo still seemed unconvinced and was about to open his mouth, but Jaeha poked the bastard’s solar plexus with his elbow.
As soon as he dragged him back home, Jaeha gulped down the remaining canned beer.
“That’s what I was drinking.”
“Hey! Do you even know you almost got socially buried just now? Putting me aside, if your photo circulates on the internet, do you think people won’t recognize you as Jung Kyungwoo of Taeryoung? Do you want the title of a chaebol who picked a fight with a child and mother while drunk that badly?”
When he shouted without holding back, Jung Kyungwoo, who belatedly grasped the situation, sat on the sofa while muttering, ‘In America, they’d all be guilty.’
“No, in America do you interfere with every child walking alone? Is that why it’s such a paradise for child crimes there?”
“At least they don’t neglect them as much as Korea.”
“How would you know when you grew up surrounded by people?”
“No matter how many people there are, if the parents aren’t paying attention, the child disappears. Even if you were holding hands just now, when you turn around, the child isn’t visible. Parents are the ones who lose their child in just a hotel lobby.”
There was bone in the words tinged with anger.
“Hotel? Myeongbu Hotel?”
“Shut up.”
“Don’t tell me it’s related to going to America?”
“I said shut up!”
He seemed ready to charge right at him, but instead Jung Kyungwoo sat down heavily on the sofa as if tired. While doing so, he loosely pulled down the necktie that was choking his neck.
“Don’t you have proper alcohol?”
“There’s whiskey that’s half left.”
“Bring it out.”
It was a tone like ordering a subordinate. Now even getting angry at such words and behavior was tiring.
Since he’d seen it earlier, he rinsed and wiped the crystal glasses that had been unused for quite a while. Then he headed to the sofa with the whiskey he’d placed high up in the sink cabinet.
Jung Kyungwoo received both glasses held in one hand. Jaeha opened the whiskey cap and filled them generously with the clear-colored contents.
Jung Kyungwoo poured one of them into his mouth in one shot. After pausing for a beat, his Adam’s apple moved with a gulp as the strong liquor went down to his stomach.
“One more glass.”
Jaeha, who was holding the whiskey bottle, filled the glass again as if entranced. Jung Kyungwoo, who quickly swallowed that too, handed the glass in his other hand to Jaeha and instead received the whiskey bottle.
*Pour.*
This time Jung Kyungwoo’s glass was filled more than half. The whiskey decreased in an instant.
“Drink slowly. Who are you trying to make clean up a corpse?”
“I won’t collapse from just this much.”
Jung Kyungwoo, who spoke boldly, drank a mouthful of whiskey again this time.
These days, it was a world overflowing with great drinkers who found tequila or vodka laughable and could easily down Chinese baijiu over 40 proof. Three straight whiskeys was just ‘knows how to drink a bit.’
It was just that Jung Kyungwoo, who kept losing consciousness at every turn, was concerning.
“Are you going to devour it all by yourself?”
Seeming to worry about money rather than his health would be more persuasive. As expected, Jung Kyungwoo smirked at those words as if it were ridiculous, then slowed down.
Since sitting side by side was also ridiculous, Jaeha sat on the floor and leaned his back against the sofa. He placed the whiskey bottle on the side only his hand could reach.
The amber liquid he was drinking after a long time still had an excellent aroma. One of his school friends bought it when coming back from abroad. Even after that, he said he’d buy one more bottle, but having received so many friend requests, when he tried to bring in five bottles at once, he got thoroughly caught at customs and paid a ton of taxes. After that, whether he was put on a blacklist or not, every time he came back from abroad, he became acquainted with greeting customs officials.
Though not to the point of trembling hands and feet, it was whiskey he’d inwardly have one glass of only on good days. Jung Kyungwoo demolished it in one go.
Damn chaebol bastard.
That’s when it happened. Jung Kyungwoo suddenly rummaged through the jacket he’d thrown aside and took out his phone.
“It’s me. I’ll send you the address, so please send what I was drinking and appropriate accompaniments. …Then bring everything.”
After that, he stood up and ostentatiously picked up the whiskey bottle Jaeha had placed on the opposite side and poured it into the glass down to the last drop with a gush.
“What did you do?”
“Wait. A bastard like you who shows off with this cheap whiskey will get to drink something you’ll never have a chance to drink in your lifetime.”
“Ah, is that so.”
Jaeha, who answered disagreeably, had the mindset of waiting to see how amazing what was coming would be.
A little over 30 minutes later, the intercom rang. And within a few minutes, there was a knock sound carefully tapping the front door.
“You can just press the bell.”
Jaeha went out and opened the front door himself. Two people, a man and woman who at a glance appeared to be hotel employees, were holding something in both hands.
“We’ve brought what you ordered.”
“Ah, yes.”
They carefully entered and set the items down around the entrance. Then they disappeared after bowing as if it was too much of an honor to enter all the way inside. They didn’t even request payment.
“Bring them here.”
“Am I your subordinate? Get them yourself.”
While saying that, Jaeha headed to the living room carrying only one of the items placed on the floor. Jung Kyungwoo stared at Jaeha, then lifted his agile butt and brought the remaining items.
“It’s bothersome, so unpack them here.”
Jaeha said while setting the items down on the floor in front of the sofa.
“Not even one side table. How shabby.”
“Koreans sit on the floor, you son of a bitch. Don’t nitpick about everything and follow my rules in my house.”
After tossing out one remark, Jaeha unwrapped the things meticulously packaged in paper boxes and paper bags.
