# Chapter 54
‘I wonder how long the PC bang will stay in business.’
‘Why?’
‘Apparently someone’s buying the building. Seems they’re planning to completely remodel the entire place. Business hasn’t been great lately, so I’m thinking of closing up and opening a different store instead.’
‘So suddenly? Are you okay, Manager?’
But who would buy this dilapidated building? It would need reconstruction, not just remodeling.
‘This isn’t even downtown, why choose a college area that doesn’t make money?’
Manager Cha said he’d let Yeomin know as soon as a decision was made.
In the past, Yeomin would have trembled with fear at the thought of losing his part-time job, but now he was just a bit surprised, nothing more. After all, he had money in his bank account.
“Hyung, why have you been looking so serious?”
Jiho’s voice finally snapped Yeomin back to reality. He had just gotten home after finishing his shift at the PC bang.
Yeomin said, “I might lose my part-time job.”
“Which one? The tutoring?”
“No, the PC bang.”
It wasn’t like he was worried about making ends meet. He could spend the rest of his vacation just lounging around and fake-dating Jiho.
But Yeomin belatedly felt unsettled. After all, he’d been regularly working there for over a year.
Though there were many times he was annoyed by difficult customers, it had been a pretty sweet job…
‘What will Manager Cha do for a living if the PC bang closes?’
Now that he was financially comfortable, he had the luxury to worry about others.
As expected, Jiho couldn’t really empathize with Yeomin’s feelings.
“Are you disappointed? It was hard for you working multiple part-time jobs. Isn’t this a good thing?”
“Still, I worked there for quite a while. I’m close with the manager too…”
“It’s not like you have shares in the PC bang, but you really seem to like that place, hyung.”
“…”
Occasionally, when he spoke so inconsiderately like this, Jiho reminded Yeomin that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
‘Can’t I feel sorry about it if I don’t have shares? Do you know how many keyboards I’ve polished to a shine there every day?’
Seeing that Yeomin had fallen silent in a bad mood, Jiho offered him a Shine Muscat grape. He pushed it all the way to Yeomin’s lips, who reluctantly opened his mouth.
“Think of it as a good thing, hyung. Next semester, you can focus solely on your studies and on me.”
Jiho looked so pleased that Yeomin couldn’t bring himself to ask.
‘Wait, were we going to continue this job until next semester?’
…Well, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t a difficult job anyway.
Actually, he’d already gotten used to pretending to be Jiho’s lover. If it ended abruptly like the PC bang closing, he might feel a little, just a li-ttle bit sorry.
“My hyung is so sweet. I like that you eat well.”
After putting the Shine Muscat grape in Yeomin’s mouth, Jiho traced his lips.
When his fingertips, which had been behaving as if they might invade his mouth at any moment, pulled away, Yeomin even felt a sense of disappointment.
The spot where Jiho’s finger had touched and then disappeared felt itchy.
* * *
“Doesn’t the teacher have a crush on him?”
Yeomin, who had been struggling with a difficult problem, was suddenly hit right where it hurt.
He was currently tutoring Jiwoong for their postponed lesson. After rescheduling several times because of Seol Jiho, it seemed like Jiwoong was a bit upset.
If he were just sulking, it would have been cute. But was this kid actually hitting his teacher with cold, hard facts?
“Why are you curious about that during our lesson?”
It was already embarrassing enough that he was struggling with the solution, and now his authority as a teacher had completely fallen to the ground.
Jiwoong, being the smart kid he was, pressed on with logical persistence.
“That’s why you can’t let go of Seol Jiho, right?”
“I’m not shallow enough to only care about looks.”
“Then what?”
“I’m a materialist.”
Money is the best. Money can do anything. Can a face feed you? Money feeds you.
Yeomin responded quite shamelessly. What a great thing to say in front of a kid.
Hearing such a confident statement, Jiwoong suddenly brightened up.
“I have a lot of money too.”
This eighteen-year-old was being quite cute. Teenagers really are teenagers.
Yeomin tried hard to suppress his laughter as he played along.
“Really? How much?”
“Hmm. More than you, teacher.”
But, that…
“Isn’t that your parents’ money, not yours?”
“When I inherit it, it becomes mine.”
Did the word ‘inheritance’ just come out of an eighteen-year-old’s mouth? Yeomin found himself envying Jiwoong.
“Seol Jiho doesn’t care about the company anyway, so in about ten years, I’ll probably have more than him.”
What an ambitious teenager. Yeomin smirked. Thinking he was being mocked, Jiwoong flared up.
“What’s so funny?”
“Sometimes, you and Seol Jiho talk similarly.”
“That’s a really offensive thing to say.”
“Why do you two get along so poorly?”
Of course, both Jiho and Jiwoong had personalities that would never mesh well, both being self-absorbed, blunt, and doing things their own way…
Then again. How many siblings in the world actually get along well? Even he and Yeojin were hardly closer than strangers.
Yeomin asked the question and then answered it himself.
But Jiwoong’s answer was more serious than expected.
“Because Seol Jiho took something very precious from me.”
“You won’t tell me what it is even if I ask, right? Let’s continue with the lesson.”
Yeomin coolly brushed it off. This seemed to catch Jiwoong off guard, his brows furrowing. He probably expected Yeomin to be curious and probe further.
“Let’s solve this problem next time. I’ll think about it and come back to you.”
As Yeomin closed the book, Jiwoong couldn’t hold back anymore.
“My father.”
Yeomin’s hand stopped. Father? That was a word that had come from Jiho’s mouth too.
‘When I got off the merry-go-round, my father was gone. Then the staff took me away. The Ian Group attendants. I thought either bad people had taken my father away or that the Ian Group had kicked him out. As I grew up, I realized. That my father had abandoned me there.’
The words Jiho had said were now repeated in Jiwoong’s mouth.
“Seol Jiho took away my father.”
“…”
“Aren’t you curious? About what happened?”
“…Class is over. I’ve checked your homework, so solve these problems by next time.”
Jiwoong gave Yeomin a hollow look as he packed his bag.
Usually, he would get up and see Yeomin off, but now he just sat there rebelliously.
Yeomin, who stood up first, looked down at Jiwoong and spoke. His tone was colder than usual.
“I’m not particularly interested in your brotherly affairs. It would be a lie to say I’m not curious, but on the other hand, I don’t want to know more because of that. I think it would be really exhausting if I knew.”
“Now I see why you get along well with Seol Jiho. You’re both sociopaths.”
That’s a pretty offensive thing to say. Being lumped together with Seol Jiho?
Yeomin was upset but couldn’t genuinely fight with an eighteen-year-old, so he held back.
“I just don’t take interest in things I can’t influence.”
“Great teaching. I’ll stop talking to you too, since you won’t listen anyway.”
“…”
“I’ve clearly warned you. Don’t regret it later.”
With those final words, Jiwoong went into his room first.
It had been a really tiring day. Yeomin, completely drained of energy, mumbled absently.
“To think I’m the shrimp whose back gets broken in a fight between whales…”
It felt like his lifespan was shrinking daily due to the pressure from the Seol brothers.
Yeomin finished tidying up and went downstairs.
Butler Hwang came out alone to see Yeomin off at the entrance. After some hesitation, Yeomin casually asked the butler.
“By the way, does Seol Jiho not come here often?”
“This place is basically a separate residence for Young Master Jiwoong’s studies, so not usually. He barely comes once every half year, and even then reluctantly, leaving right away.”
“Do they never meet, just the two of them?”
“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”
Did I ask too obviously? Seeing Butler Hwang’s wary attitude, Yeomin made up an excuse shamelessly.
“Ah~ It’s just annoying how they keep trying to include me when they want to meet. Haha~ I guess that’s how siblings are. I haven’t seen my sister in years too.”
After rambling on with some lies mixed in, he said, “Well, I should go!” and practically fled from the house.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that.’
Yeomin tried to calm his pounding heart, which was beating as if he’d done something wrong.
A vibration like a heartbeat sounded in his pants pocket.
Wiping away cold sweat, Yeomin answered the phone.
“Oh, I just finished—”
He answered without checking, assuming it would be Seol Jiho, but the voice that came through was unwelcome.
– You seem to be having fun these days?
“…Joo Yeojin?”
Only then did Yeomin check the caller ID. Joo Yeojin. He should have blocked her earlier…
– I called to check on my brother after hearing that you’re living so well.
She previously showed up at his place unexpectedly and took his watch. Now what has she heard that made her call?
It was an ominous sign.
“What nonsense are you talking about, calling me out of the blue? I’m hanging up. I’ll block you, so don’t contact me.”
– W-wait! Aren’t you being too harsh?
Yeomin’s eyebrow twitched.
“Why did you call? And where did you hear about me?”
– Don’t be like that, let’s talk in person?
“No. My heart races when I see your face. It makes me anxious.”
– To think I’m the cause of your angina. How unfortunate, brother?
Yeojin taunted. But she absolutely wouldn’t hang up.
– What’s so good about blood relations? Siblings should get along, have meals together!
“For you, no news is good news. Please log out of my life.”
– What did I ever do so wrong!
Yeomin couldn’t help but scoff.
When he most desperately needed and wanted her, she didn’t care at all. She abandoned her only brother in their hometown and didn’t make a single phone call for years.
What kind of unconscionable person emphasizes sibling loyalty now?
You know what’s really infuriating?
Yeojin probably doesn’t even understand why he’s so upset. She probably thinks it’s because of the watch incident.
Yeomin didn’t want to explain the reason. It felt pathetic.
“Your existence itself is the problem.”
– Oh, enough! You make me lose my appetite too!
“I’m hanging up.”
– …It’s about Seol Jiho, are you really not going to meet? You’re the one who refused.
“What? Seol Jiho?”
– That kid I met at your apartment. He’s Seol Jiho from Ian Group, right? Why didn’t you tell me?
“Sigh…”
How did she know that? Joo Yeojin was relentless. Yeomin felt a throbbing headache.
Yeojin continued with newfound confidence.
– I won’t interfere in your life. So just meet me. I have a million things I want to ask you.
This time, he couldn’t refuse.
“…I’ll decide the place and time.”
Yeomin said briefly and immediately hung up.
He felt far more unsettled than when he heard about the PC bang closing. It was like a stone had been placed on his heart.
Why did the Creator make things like brothers and sisters? They didn’t choose to be family, yet they were bound to each other until death. It was truly exasperating.
Whether it was the wealthy Seol brothers of Ian Group, or the perpetually poor Joo siblings…
“It seems siblings everywhere are desperate to tear each other apart.”
Thinking the Creator was fair in that respect, Yeomin couldn’t help but sneer.
