“Chaehun-ah? Huh? If Yeonghwan gets married properly, everything will be solved.”
Chaehun looked at Kang Suchan who was almost begging and pleading, then swallowed a sigh. His stomach churned at the sight of hyung, who had lost everything after being too greedy, now passing the responsibility onto his younger siblings.
From long ago, when Kang Suchan caused trouble, he would clean it up. There was even a time when Kang Suchan broke a ceramic piece their father cherished and lied that Chaehun did it. Still, back then it ended with Chaehun getting scolded by their father, but this time was too bleak.
“Mom doesn’t know, right?”
“Yeah. She doesn’t know yet.”
“Hah. …Let me think about it a bit. It’s not like you’re being sued right away. After seeing how things turn out, it won’t be too late to decide after that.”
Chaehun left room. It wasn’t something he could decide right away just from hearing Kang Suchan’s words. He also needed to find out in detail how he was entangled in the fraud.
“Thank you. Really. Thanks. I really thought I was going to die, but thanks to you I can breathe.”
Kang Suchan acted as if Chaehun had sworn to go to prison in his place. Chaehun knew Kang Suchan’s tendencies well. He would only hear what he wanted to hear and then insist that was the truth. If Chaehun said he couldn’t go to prison, it was obvious he would get angry and argue, asking if he lied to him, why he made him have expectations.
Chaehun held back the deep sigh that was about to come out.
There was definitely an easy way. But Chaehun put off the option called Seunggeon until the very last. It was still something nobody knew how it would turn out.
Chaehun wanted to believe there was hope somewhere.
* * *
Inside the pot, porridge was boiling with a delicious smell. Chaehun, who was stirring with a wooden spoon so the porridge wouldn’t stick to the pot, unconsciously let out a sigh. Usually when cooking he couldn’t think of other things, but today his head was especially complicated.
The situation was much worse than Chaehun had expected.
Things with President Yoon, whom Kang Suchan had said was no different from a gangster, had become completely tangled up.
President Yoon came to the lighting store, threatened Kang Suchan, and interfered with business. At that time, Kang Yeonghwan, who had gone to meet Kang Suchan, saw that scene and intervened, an argument broke out, and in the heated situation, Kang Suchan pushed President Yoon and knocked him down.
Unluckily, President Yoon, who fell onto a lighting fixture, got his right arm badly cut by broken glass. President Yoon, who had developed a disability where his pinky finger wouldn’t bend properly due to nerve damage, was fuming that he wouldn’t agree to any settlement.
Separate from the fraud and embezzlement case, Kang Suchan had another lawsuit filed against him for assault and battery. Although it was said to be an impulsive crime, Kang Suchan wasn’t a first-time offender. In the past, he had gotten into a dispute with a friend, went to trial for mutual assault without settlement, and received a suspended sentence. Therefore, if he didn’t reach a settlement, an actual prison sentence was inevitable.
In the midst of this, today at noon, President Yoon suddenly contacted him saying he wanted to talk about the assault and battery. Saying they needed to talk quietly, he suggested meeting at the store. Kang Suchan thought he would hear President Yoon’s conditions since settlement was urgent.
But President Yoon didn’t come alone. He appeared with five gangster-like men. They didn’t shout loudly or engage in violence. But the five large-bodied men were threatening by their very presence.
With the gangsters behind him like a folding screen, President Yoon sat in the middle of the store and put forward marriage with Kang Yeonghwan as the settlement condition.
President Yoon was an alpha and was looking for a marriage partner. The claim was that if Kang Suchan and President Yoon became in-laws, they still couldn’t send an in-law to prison, right? Calling it the price of a dominant omega, he said he wouldn’t even get back the 500 million won investment.
Kang Suchan naturally refused, saying it was ridiculous. President Yoon didn’t get angry. He just smiled vilely and made threats.
Saying that since he made his arm like this, if they weren’t in-laws or anything, shouldn’t they be careful on night roads?
However, President Yoon’s settlement condition was absolutely something that couldn’t be accepted. He was twenty-two years older than Kang Yeonghwan. Moreover, his violent tendencies were quite famous even on the lighting store street. Especially rumors circulated that his ex-wife had committed suicide unable to endure the abuse.
They couldn’t send Kang Yeonghwan to such a place. Kang Yeonghwan immediately took refuge at a friend’s house, and Jo Mihye collapsed in bed. Kang Suchan said he was going to meet a police officer he knew and left.
After work, Chaehun stopped by home and heard the whole story from Jo Mihye, then first made porridge. Jo Mihye said she had no appetite, but one needed to eat something to have strength.
He put the well-dissolved porridge in a bowl, placed it on a tray, and headed to the master bedroom. Jo Mihye was lying in bed groaning.
“Mom. I made porridge. Eat at least this.”
“I’m not in the state of mind to eat that. The state of mind. Does it… does it even make sense? Marriage between that kind of bastard and our youngest. Absolutely not. No way. I’d rather tell Suchan to go to prison. I can watch the store.”
“Mom.”
At Chaehun’s call, Jo Mihye sat up abruptly.
“That guy is the problem. 3.5 billion won. My goodness. How can we repay that money? Oh my. I can’t live because I’m so frustrated.”
Jo Mihye pounded her chest. Chaehun couldn’t say anything. Having no solution was the same for Chaehun.
He was about to recommend eating the porridge once more when Jo Mihye’s arrow flew toward Chaehun.
“When Suchan was doing foolish things, you should have at least stopped him. Or you should have told me. Why did this mess happen because he did something that wouldn’t work?”
“I didn’t know either.”
“According to Suchan, you did it together. He said you were the one who introduced that scammer, President Park or whatever.”
“Did what together? Hyung arbitrarily used my name. Why is hyung lying about something like this?”
At the unfair false accusation, Chaehun stated the facts. When Kang Suchan broke the ceramic their father cherished, he got caught without knowing better, but after getting older, he argued what needed to be argued.
“No. Forget it. What’s the use of determining right and wrong in this situation?”
At Jo Mihye’s irritation, Chaehun closed his mouth. Although it wasn’t a situation to determine right and wrong, still, eventually as time passed, it would obviously be remembered as Chaehun’s fault in Jo Mihye’s head.
Thinking he should have a three-way confrontation with Kang Suchan later, Chaehun recommended the porridge again. It was then that Jo Mihye’s phone rang.
It was a call that Kang Suchan had been in a car accident.
* * *
The car was half-destroyed, but fortunately Kang Suchan was safe except for his broken left leg. However, it took a bit of time until the operating room was secured, so he had to wait in the emergency room.
In the meantime, the circumstances of the accident that Kang Suchan explained were simple. Some bastard cut him off and committed a hit-and-run. Kang Suchan’s car, which lost balance, crashed straight into a roadside tree. It was a common accident, if it could be called common.
But no one thought it was an accident. Because it was President Yoon who called 119 in place of the unconscious Kang Suchan. President Yoon, who followed to the hospital, was said to have presented himself as Kang Suchan’s guardian.
“It’s definitely President Yoon’s doing. We need to call the police.”
“First, it would be better to check the dashcam. Everything will be recorded there.”
Not only Jo Mihye but Kang Suchan also burst out in anger that they needed to call the police immediately. Chaehun was also suspicious of him, but questioned whether there would really be evidence.
As they were bickering that evidence needed to be secured, President Yoon suddenly appeared sauntering in. Because of the settlement, Chaehun had also met President Yoon several times. The man in his mid-40s looked rough no matter how you looked at him.
Behind President Yoon, whose arm was bandaged and fixed with a support, followed the four gangsters Jo Mihye had mentioned. The emergency room of the not-large neighborhood hospital was a small plaza where various types of people gathered and all kinds of commotion occurred. Still, the appearance of large-bodied men in black suits was enough to create dissonance.
As President Yoon approached the bed, Jo Mihye became frightened. Kang Suchan spat out curses. It was Chaehun who blocked President Yoon.
“Let’s talk with me. President Yoon.”
“Ah, President Kang’s younger brother. I’m just trying to say hello. While I’m at it. Yeonghwan isn’t here. It would be nice to see his face at a time like this.”
“Right now, my hyung is not in a situation to meet President Yoon.”
“But I’m President Kang’s benefactor? Didn’t you hear that I was the one who called 119? I happened to be passing by and discovered President Kang’s car.”
“Whether it was by chance or not needs to be confirmed.”
When Chaehun spoke firmly, President Yoon laughed as if it was ridiculous.
“President Kang. President Kang’s younger brother has guts. But you know that you never know how a person’s life will turn out, right? Both President Kang and me, if we slip up, we’re gone just like that. A person’s life is the same, so you have to be careful. Right? Huh?”
President Yoon rambled on loudly as if for everyone to hear. Although he said to be careful, his attitude was obviously a nasty threat to anyone watching.
But Chaehun didn’t yield.
“I have nothing more to say.”
“Such a little thing with no fear. Right. There are many watching eyes here. I know that too. But what will happen when we go outside? Huh? Can you handle it?”
Looking around once before making a slimy smile, Chaehun hardened his face watching President Yoon. President Yoon’s glinting eyes shone like a cunning snake. The tendencies of guys like this were all the same. They emphasized that they had the upper hand and endlessly attacked people’s weaknesses.
Chaehun had to acknowledge that he couldn’t break through this situation by ordinary methods.
“If you’ve said everything you wanted to say, go back now.”
“Alright. Alright. There’s plenty of time. President Kang. Don’t worry because the hit-and-run vehicle is captured on the car’s dashcam. We’re going to be in-laws, so I should help. The culprit will be caught soon.”
President Yoon, who turned people’s insides upside down to the end, turned around. As he left the emergency room, the frozen air here and there thawed.
“I’ll go check if he’s really leaving.”
Chaehun chased after President Yoon’s group. Fortunately, they didn’t branch off elsewhere and got into the car parked in the parking lot and disappeared.
On a winter night, Chaehun watched the red taillights recede, then bit his lip. President Yoon’s threat was real. Now he had to throw away his pride.
Swallowing a sigh, Chaehun took out his phone. He fumbled a bit trying to figure out how to unblock a number, but could solve it quickly.
[It’s Chaehun. Is the proposal still valid?]
The short sentence was completed quickly. Chaehun didn’t hesitate. He unblocked and pressed the send button.
After confirming that a “1” appeared next to the speech bubble, Chaehun didn’t wait for a reply and put his phone in his padded jumper pocket. His heart pounded at the fact that he had now committed an irreversible act.
“It’s okay.”
It was a magic spell. It couldn’t be helped. There was no such thing as free in the world, so this was the best option. So it would be okay. Just like the world didn’t end even if he impulsively had sex with his first love whom he met after ten years, nothing would change even if he sold himself to him for money.
No, something would change. Still, it was better than the family becoming unhappy.
“Hah.”
When he let out a long sigh with a heavy heart, white breath spread out. As he put his frozen hands in his pockets in the cold winter wind, his phone vibrated just then.
Chaehun quickly took out his phone. Because of the settings, the pop-up window wasn’t visible. With trembling hands, he unlocked it and checked the message.
Seunggeon’s reply was also short.
[It’s valid.]
