A famous British comedian once said.
‘Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.’
Thinking about it now, his words were completely wrong.
My current life is a tragedy up close and a tragedy from afar. This is a fact anyone would acknowledge.
Would it be better to remember yesterday’s horrific incident, or better not to remember it?
Both were such terrible choices I couldn’t pick either, but in my brain right now, the terrible things that happened yesterday were slowly replaying.
The place where I opened my eyes was that same table where I had faced Cha Taehan yesterday. Perhaps because I sat and slept in the same position for a long time, my whole body was tingling when I woke up, and a pain like my brain was shattering into pieces occurred.
Half-eaten cheese, the cleanly emptied vodka, the overturned glass…
Looking at the mindless dining table, yesterday’s events slowly began to come back to me. I was definitely drunk and my memory was completely cut off, but it was a strange situation where scenes from after getting drunk came to mind sporadically.
“I’m not Hong Gildong or anything…”
“Hyung-nim seems to hate and detest me more than necessary.”
“Every time you shoot lasers from your eyes, my whole body feels like it’s burning.”
The quotable remarks I had spouted from my mouth yesterday came back to me one by one.
‘You crazy bastard… Just go out and die.’
I thought death was the only way. Looking at the messy and quiet living room, it seemed Cha Taehan couldn’t tolerate my rampage last night and left.
‘I’m dead to Cha Taehan now.’
“Right, let’s go die! This is the only way.”
Like someone who’d lost their mind, I muttered to myself and began violently banging my head against the wall in the living room.
It was a scene reminiscent of a high-risk patient’s self-harm scene in a mental hospital.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I banged my head tirelessly. Great pain began to be felt in my head, but I didn’t care. I deserve this.
‘What’s really wrong with me? This damn alcohol is the problem.’
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“Are you hammering nails into the wall from the morning? You look very busy, but shall I help if you’re struggling?”
While I was pounding my head, a cold voice was heard from beside me. It was Cha Taehan.
I see. Cha Taehan hasn’t left my house yet.
‘Ah, today is the day I die.’
Cha Taehan is indeed a man with great courage. To spend a full day in this house even after seeing yesterday’s spectacle. He was looking at me closely as if he’d discovered a good spectacle at the zoo.
“Hyung-nim, no, I’m sorry. Executive Director-nim, my head hurt in the morning so I was stretching.”
I couldn’t think of a way to resolve the situation before me at all, so I spouted nonsense.
“Is it hyung-nim or Executive Director-nim? Since you’re confused, let’s unify the title to one. Quite a unique stretching method.”
“I’m sorry, Executive Director-nim. It was an action I took to come to my senses after drinking too much alcohol yesterday. Even if it may look strange, it’s quite effective. Haha, anyway, Executive Director-nim is still at my house.”
Tears were falling inside, but on the outside, I forced a smile and answered him.
‘Why are you still at my house… Please go back.’
“Hearing that doesn’t make me feel very good. It sounds like you’re telling me to leave the house quickly, am I thinking correctly? After drinking such strong alcohol together last night, are you saying I should go home? Cha Jaehyun, you have a colder side than I thought.”
Cha Taehan answered me as if he was in a bad mood, but I couldn’t agree with the “strong alcohol” part. Cha Taehan’s face was so clean you couldn’t find even the ‘su’ of ‘sukchwi (hangover).’
“Executive Director-nim, what are you saying? I said it because I thought there might be a problem with your schedule since someone as busy as Executive Director-nim is at my house in the morning.”
‘I’d rather you yell.’
Cha Taehan, who was acting brazen with a smiling face, was so scary. It seemed like it would be better if he just roared at me like a lion.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that. I also have a headache, so I should rest for a bit before going.”
Cha Taehan showed no signs of leaving and instead settled down on the living room sofa. Looking carefully, he had even changed clothes. What exactly does he want from me? My whole body itched as if I had to do something.
“Executive Director-nim, I’ll bring you some tea.”
I went to the kitchen, recalled the recipe my mom taught me, quickly prepared honey tea, and brought it to Cha Taehan.
“Executive Director-nim, this is honey tea. Please try it. It’s good for headaches.”
“When did you learn this?”
“…I saw it on the internet.”
Cha Taehan had been looking at me with interest and drank the tea.
“It tastes good. I should get going now.”
Cha Taehan finally said he was leaving.
“Cha Jaehyun, you do more interesting things than I thought. I’ll watch to see how long that ridiculous act of yours lasts.”
The whisper delivered while patting my shoulder. That sound was goosebumps itself, softly piercing through. Before leaving, Cha Taehan delivered an effective warning to me. Those words were a more effective warning than a hundred reprimands, approaching me as tremendous fear.
* * *
Taehan’s childhood was happiness itself, nothing less. Though they were joined through an arranged marriage, his father and mother overflowed with love. And he was the only son who monopolized love beneath them, and the next heir to a leading company that led Korea’s economy.
However, darkness came to Taehan’s life, which he thought would be smooth sailing forever.
His mother’s sudden death.
Death did not distinguish between rich and poor. His beautiful mother who had given him endless love left the world forever due to an unexpected accident that occurred one day.
After his mother’s existence disappeared, the laughter that had been heard every day in Taehan’s house quickly vanished. His father, who had always worn a benevolent smile and built up the company with a dignified posture, also instantly became a wreck.
However, his father was a strong being. After about 6 months, his father overcame the pain and returned to his life. His father’s appearance, working late into the night and busily going on business trips here and there. Only young Taehan knew the fact that sadness still lingered in such a father’s eyes.
“Hello? You’re Taehan? I’ve heard a lot about you, but seeing you in person, you’re even more handsome.”
One day when daily life was gradually recovering, Taehan had an unpleasant experience in the house. A woman who looked exactly like his mother spoke to him.
Seeing the fake who stuck right next to his father and acted like his mother, Taehan couldn’t help but feel shock, displeasure, and disgust. Fortunately, after that day, there was no instance of that terrible woman visiting his house again.
However, after quite a long time passed, an unpleasant being incomparable to that woman entered Taehan’s house.
A young boy who looked exactly like the woman shamelessly visited his house. His father introduced him as Cha Jaehyun, brushing it off as a nephew who came from far away, but Taehan could recognize that he was the child of that unpleasant woman he had seen before.
Every time Taehan encountered Jaehyun, anger welled up. It was because he saw that woman’s appearance in Jaehyun’s face. The child didn’t cause any accidents and lived like he was dead in the house, but whenever he occasionally encountered the child, Taehan’s mood became very uncomfortable, and he often didn’t hesitate to bully that child.
Perhaps his father also noticed his feelings, he sent that child back out of the house. Thus, Taehan was able to live forgetting Jaehyun’s existence for a while.
However, after becoming an adult, he had no choice but to face the guy again. Jaehyun, who couldn’t say a word in front of him as a child, slowly revealed his true colors after growing up. He still pretended to be docile in front of him and his father, but he could hear news fairly often that the guy was causing great disturbances outside.
Taehan couldn’t stand the sight of the guy, who had been nothing but an imitation since childhood, living it up with Daejin behind him. He also couldn’t accept his father’s attitude of turning a blind eye to Jaehyun’s rampage.
As Jaehyun’s eccentricities became severe, Taehan came to think that when Jaehyun was at his house as a child, he should have half-killed him so he couldn’t swagger around like now.
So he attached a person named Han Woojin next to him. And he was looking forward only to the day when he would blow the guy away by thoroughly collecting everything about him.
‘Han Woojin, you were right.’
The guy acting like a normal person, and even Seo Hanryul, who knows how he might have been manipulated.
The attitude of Jaehyun that Taehan faced yesterday and today was strangely ordinary. As Woojin said, he stuck next to Jaehyun all night long and observed his behavior, but there was nothing particularly unusual.
Previously, it was the same that he was docile in front of him, but he couldn’t hide that vulgarity, but now Jaehyun showed an appearance of hiding even that vulgarity cleanly.
‘In his own way, his ability to hide things has improved just because he got a bit older. But no matter how much you struggle.’
Taehan, who had been watching Jaehyun for a long time, dismissed today’s events as nothing special. Although the spectacle Jaehyun showed last night was strange to the point of deserving a beating, it didn’t deal much of a blow to Taehan.
“Driver, let’s go to headquarters.”
“Yes, Executive Director-nim.”
[Woojin-ssi, starting today, please take a picture of my younger brother once a day and send it. As you mentioned before, it’s fine even if there’s nothing particularly unusual.]
‘Let’s see how far you go.’
After sending an email to Woojin, Taehan smiled slyly and headed to his company.
