“Hyung, looking at this, you seem like such a baby.”
“Haha, really? Huh? The kid next to you—isn’t that you?”
Seongheon hyung was standing in front of some statue, and next to it was a child squatting down playing in the dirt. The shabby appearance was so clear even in the black-and-white print that it was unmistakably me.
In the photo, I was digging into the ground with both hands, finding something amusing, while Seongheon hyung had stopped taking pictures to glance at me with a smile.
‘This is what we were like when we were young…’
I don’t often open old albums, so I sometimes forget these memories, but I never expected to see myself in Uncle’s autobiography.
“Are there other photos?”
“Wouldn’t there be more on the next pages?”
Before we knew it, Seongheon hyung and I were sitting on a nearby bench, flipping through the rest of the autobiography.
As if it really was a precious book, Seongheon hyung said this was his first time seeing it too and chuckled at Uncle’s young photos. Then we came across a photo of hyung’s mother.
“Wow… she’s incredibly beautiful.”
“……”
She passed away when he was young, and I briefly forgot that hyung was grieving, only able to exclaim in admiration that she looked like a movie actress. Up until then, Seongheon hyung had responded well to whatever I said with “I see” or “Really?”, but this time he was very quiet.
I could feel hyung’s gaze quietly fixed on the page I had opened, so I couldn’t turn to the next one. I just quietly fiddled with the corner of the book while watching hyung’s reaction. Then Seongheon hyung reached out first and turned to the next page.
“Let’s see what photos are in the back. There might even be some embarrassing photos of Daesu or Gangjin.”
“Yeah. I’ll search with eagle eyes.”
Once again, we turned the pages with bright voices, giggling together. When we had gotten about halfway through the book, there was some kind of envelope tucked in.
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Try opening it.”
I carefully rummaged inside and pulled out what appeared to be paper. At first I thought it was a letter, but when I saw endless numbers written on the paper, goosebumps rose all over me.
‘N-no way…’
“Huh? It’s a check?”
Before I could even realize it myself, Seongheon hyung told me the identity of the paper in my hand. Right, it was a check, but why was it here? And a check for ‘ten million won’ at that!
“T-t-ten million won!!”
As my hands trembled, the check fluttered like the Korean flag. Seongheon hyung also seemed puzzled and stood up from his seat to shout toward Uncle.
“Dad!! Why is there a check in the book?”
“What?”
“A check! Money! Why is there money inside the book?!”
“Oh, a check?”
“Yeah!!”
If we were too far apart we’d just call, but because we ended up having a conversation with Uncle who had gone down to the parking lot, echoes rang out all around us. Of course, everyone stopped what they were doing at the talk of money and pricked up their ears.
It had to be a mistake, right? Who would stick such a large sum of money in an autobiography?
“Yeah! That’s a prize!”
“You’re giving it to me?”
“Yeah, yeah! Take it!!”
“It’s ten million won though?”
“Yeah! I said take it!!”
As soon as Gangjin hyung, who happened to be in the parking lot with him, heard that, he came running up fiercely.
But I was already the owner of this book and the owner of this check. Yet Gangjin hyung came running as if he would snatch not the book but the check from me at any moment, and Daesu hyung was somehow already standing behind me.
“My little brother Daeyoung. Let’s split that check 50-50 with hyung.”
“No.”
Then Seongheon hyung said something like “Hey, are you stealing money from a kid?”, and Daesu hyung started arguing back with “It’s ten million won—I’d steal it even if it had shit on it!”
Meanwhile, Gangjin hyung, who had approached, usually called me Kkakdugi, but now he was politely calling me by my name.
“Daeyoung. That’s from the book I gave you. So let’s split it nicely 70-30. Of course, I get 70 and you get 30.”
“Hey, stop being sneaky.”
Before I could even answer, Seongheon hyung shielded me instead.
If I had faced Daesu hyung and Gangjin hyung alone, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand the pressure and would have handed over the check thinking ‘Should I?’, but now it was different. Seongheon hyung was wrapping his whole body around me and standing up to the hyungs.
“Hey, you guys. This is Daeyoung’s, so don’t touch it.”
“How can you take Daeyoung’s side when you’re our friend? Do you like Daeyoung more than us?”
Gangjin hyung complained about the injustice and tried to reproach him using friendship as leverage, but Seongheon hyung’s answer was firm.
“Of course. I like Daeyoung more.”
“Traitor.”
“Old guard.”
Despite their criticism, Seongheon hyung didn’t bat an eye and kept hiding me behind his back. Thanks to that, I realized once again how broad hyung’s back was, and I also recalled the tiger hidden beneath his clothes.
Seongheon hyung tried to shield me, but because both his arms were caught by Gangjin hyung, he could no longer protect me. Daesu hyung reached out toward me with a sinister smile.
But the hand reaching out wasn’t just Daesu hyung’s.
“S-Sojin noona!”
“Sorry, Daeyoung. Noona’s feeling really wronged.”
While being held from behind by Daesu hyung, I was searched by Sojin noona and eventually had the check taken away. Sojin noona held it up high and spoke firmly.
“There are five people here right now. No, excluding Seongheon. Let’s divide it exactly by N among the four of us. No complaints, right?”
Seongheon hyung didn’t seem very interested and just shrugged his shoulders.
Rather than having it all taken by the hyungs, I chose to divide it as noona said. Even divided among four people, I’d get over two million won. I agreed, thinking it was better to share nicely than to have it all stolen.
“Good. I’ll go to the bank on Monday to exchange this for cash and send it to each of your accounts. Send me your account numbers.”
As soon as those words ended, a *ding* sound was heard. Sojin noona checked her phone and looked at Daesu hyung.
“Mm, Nonghyup?”
“Yes.”
As expected, Daesu hyung was quick with these things, perhaps because he was a master of self-interest. I also hurriedly pressed my account number into my phone and sent it.
I definitely pressed the send button, but strangely it kept showing transmission failure. Was I out of range?
“Daeyoung, you’re the only one who hasn’t sent it, right?”
“Yes. Huh? Why won’t it send?”
“Just say it out loud. Noona will write it down.”
“Mine’s also Nonghyup. 230720 and then—”
Sojin noona noted down what I dictated on her phone. With this, peace had returned to us.
“Kids! Come eat! Come grill the meat!”
While we were noisily treasure hunting, dinner preparations seemed almost done. Mom and the aunties always did the preparations, and cleaning up was me and the hyungs’ job.
I saw the charcoal inside the barbecue turning red and placed the wire grill for the meat on top of it. Following that, when Gangjin hyung put the meat on, it went *sizzle* as the meat cooked deliciously.
While watching that, Dad and Uncle were busy opening bottles and already going *cheers!* Gangjin hyung and Daesu hyung also received drinks between them.
“Daeyoung. You come get a drink too.”
“Huh?”
Dad gestured for me to come, so I approached. The uncles and hyungs all watched me receive the alcohol with both hands and joked that now all I needed to do was get married.
“J-just give me a little.”
“If you’re a man, you should be able to drink this much.”
Saying that, he poured until the paper cup overflowed. In the end, the alcohol spilled over and wetly soaked the back of my hand.
“Oh, what a waste.”
As I shook off my alcohol-soaked hand, Seongheon hyung brought a wet wipe and wrapped my hand. Then he leaned in close enough for his lips to touch my ear and whispered.
“You don’t have to drink all the alcohol adults give you.”
“Ah, okay.”
As Seongheon hyung said, I just barely touched it to my lips and pulled away. But unlike the other hyungs, only Seongheon hyung was holding a cup of soda instead of alcohol.
“Seongheon hyung, you’re not drinking?”
“Yeah. I have to go run an errand for a bit.”
“What?”
“I might need to go buy more alcohol if we run out, and there’s also a personal matter.”
“Ah…”
“Why? Did you want me to drink with you?”
Those words somehow sounded like a reproach: ‘Are you asking because I give you this and that when I’m drunk?’ It wasn’t my intention to ask for that reason, so I felt awkwardly embarrassed for no reason.
‘Come to think of it, why hasn’t Dongwoo contacted me?’
Meanwhile, Seongheon hyung headed over at Uncle’s call. I was sitting alone, so I took out my phone and tried to send Dongwoo a message, but… huh? The signal strength was very poor.
‘Is it because we’re in the mountains?’
But maybe it was just my phone, because Sojin noona, who was a bit further away, was happily talking on the phone with someone while eating meat. I got up from my seat and stretched my arm up as high as possible to try to improve the signal. But it was no use.
Having no choice, I went to Dad to borrow his phone and went to a secluded area. From there, I called Dongwoo.
“Dongwoo.”
—Huh? Who is this?
“It’s me, Daeyoung.”
—Why is the number like this?
“It’s Dad’s. My phone doesn’t have signal.”
—I thought so. I sent you a message earlier but got no reply.
“If there’s anything urgent, call this number. Where did you arrange to meet the buyer today?”
—He says he has a car and will come to XX PC bang. He’ll give cash right there?
“Just in case he runs, ask the PC bang owner for help.”
—Are we kids? There are CCTVs inside the PC bang, what idiot would run?
“Anyway, sell it well and we’ll talk again later.”
Perhaps I had chosen the wrong phone model, as mine had particularly many minor glitches.
I wondered if I should take it to the service center on Monday, feeling annoyed, but thanks to the lucky key and the check, my internal happiness level was piercing the sky. As expected, money can buy happiness!
