“You can do that on the way up.”
“Go up where? You want to go to Seoul now? We just got here?”
It didn’t make sense that he was telling him to go back up when they’d only been down here for a few hours. The information they’d learned was too little.
“Let’s set a time and come back later.”
“Then you go first, lawyer-nim. I’ll stay and investigate more.”
He hadn’t even stopped by his grandmother’s house. There was still a mountain of things to find out, and he wanted to leave already? He couldn’t tell if he wanted to do the job or not.
“You’ll only be able to investigate when you’re accompanied by me. Did you read the contract?”
“……”
The boss hadn’t said anything like that. Even if he had, there was a high probability he’d been so blinded by the down payment that he’d forgotten. Eunchan scratched his eyebrow and tried to persuade Inju.
“Lawyer-nim, we just got here and all we’ve barely managed to find out is that the owner of that beggar-like mansion is some foundation corporation, and the land isn’t Kim Noeul’s but Kim Haengbok-ssi’s. And you already knew all of that anyway. No, if this was how it was going to be, why did you take on this job in the first place? Going to the trouble of wasting money?”
“If you get in the car, I’ll answer you.”
“No. Give it to someone else. I can’t do this job.”
It was a job where they split the money anyway. More of it was going into the boss’s pocket, and he didn’t want to take full responsibility for such a fishy job.
“It’s a job that you need to do, Eunchan-ssi. It can’t be anyone else.”
“Why me?”
“Who knows.”
“Is that also some kind of order that came down from above?”
“It could be.”
He wasn’t even joking around, just kept giving strange answers.
“Go up by yourself.”
“You said you were quitting. Let’s take my car and go to Seoul comfortably.”
“……”
Eunchan didn’t want to reveal that this place was his hometown. But it was also annoying to leave the village without a car. Eunchan stood at the crossroads and pondered for a moment.
“I’ll tell you as much as I can.”
“Let’s go.”
No matter how much he agonized alone, he wouldn’t find an answer. He had no choice but to squeeze as much as he could out of Han Inju. Eunchan clicked his tongue and walked ahead first. Inju’s car was parked up front.
It didn’t take more than a few minutes to get out of the village. It was a hometown he’d avoided so much, but if he’d known he’d come down like this, he should have visited his grandmother’s house more often. He shouldn’t have avoided it just because he resented his hyung and didn’t want to think about his grandmother.
“I think you have a call, Eunchan-ssi.”
While he was biting his lip and lost in thought, Inju, who was focused on driving, gave Eunchan a look. Only then did Eunchan hear the buzzing vibration and took out his phone.
“Hello?”
– Eu, Eunchan……
“Miro-ssi? What’s wrong?”
After lowering the call volume as much as possible, Eunchan rolled down the window. Miro’s voice sounded somehow unstable.
– Euung, uh, where are you?
“I’m still working. Why? Did the stalker come?”
There were security guards waiting in front of the hospital, and the VIP floor actually had a structure where you needed to be guided to go up, so he thought it would be safe. Eunchan first tried to calm Miro down.
“Calm down. I’ll come over there. It’ll take some time, but I’ll come soon.”
– I’m not, not scared, but…… I, I miss you,
“Nothing happened, right?”
– …….
The silence that followed was frightening. Eunchan waited for an answer for a moment, but Miro didn’t answer in the end.
“You didn’t hurt yourself again, did you?”
– A little,
“I said I wouldn’t come if you did that.”
He was pretty sure he’d begged him earnestly. Eunchan let out a long sigh and threatened Miro.
– I, ah, didn’t mean to, no, I didn’t,
Quite flustered, Miro stammered more than usual as he protested earnestly. Eunchan waited for Miro to slowly finish his words.
– I was scared……
Like faint smoke, Miro’s true feelings flowed through the receiver. At that moment, his irritation at Han Inju, the shock from the mansion, and his dizziness from the traces of his grandmother and hyung eased for a moment. Eunchan asked in a much softer voice.
“……What are you so scared of.”
– That Eunchan might, might not come.
“I said I’m coming. Just wait a bit. I’ll buy a present and bring it.”
– Yees.
“Eat your meal. I’m going to check when I get there.”
– Mm…….
Once, twice, as Eunchan kept confirming that he would return, he could feel Miro’s tense voice relax. Eunchan advised him to eat and sleep, but didn’t think Miro would readily listen.
“I’m hanging up first.”
– Eunchan first,
“Hurry up. My battery’s dying so it might cut off soon.”
Miro couldn’t easily hang up the call, and Eunchan kept waiting for him. Even though he was conscious of Inju driving next to him, he couldn’t bring himself to hang up first. How scared must he have been to call me? He felt sorry for Miro, who would be sitting all alone in the hospital room.
– I’ll wait……
With Miro’s whisper, the call ended. Eunchan took the phone from his ear and checked the screen. It looked like his side had hung up because Eunchan’s battery had died first.
“How touching.”
As he was rubbing the black screen with his hand, Inju added a comment from the side.
“What about Kim Haengbok-ssi?”
Not wanting to reveal anything about Miro, Eunchan closed the window and immediately prepared to get to the point.
“He’s the landowner.”
“Isn’t the recipient Kim Noeul? You said the original owner gifted it.”
“I guess it hasn’t been processed on paper yet.”
While smoothly turning the steering wheel, Inju answered leisurely.
“Don’t beat around the bush, just tell me. If the land isn’t Kim Noeul-ssi’s, why are you looking for him?”
“Because he said he can’t hand over the land unless it’s Kim Noeul-ssi.”
“Who did?”
“Kim Haengbok-ssi did.”
“What about the mansion? I heard that’s owned by a foundation corporation. Getting just the land won’t solve the problem, will it?”
“If the land is resolved, the mansion will naturally be resolved too.”
Well, Kim Haengbok must be a director of the foundation corporation too, right? Eunchan crossed his arms firmly and stared ahead.
“So Kim Haengbok-ssi is looking for Kim Noeul-ssi.”
“That’s right.”
“And Myeongjin is handling that, and we’re their subcontractor.”
“We’re all working together.”
Inju smiled and answered, using the same expression Eunchan had used.
“Is he a lost child or something?”
“I heard they have a relationship even more touching than that.”
Could there be a possibility that his hyung was involved? Eunchan recalled the mansion and the land. Naturally, he didn’t know anyone named Kim Haengbok, and Kim Noeul was also unfamiliar. The mansion and land kept changing owners anyway, and the time his hyung lived there was just brief……
It seemed he’d need to investigate more. He’d also need the boss and Hyungsik’s help. He had a strong feeling that something was wrong, but he was confused because he couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
“Why hide that…… No, never mind. I just need to find Kim Noeul without any involvement, right?”
Eunchan, who gave up on asking Han Inju any more questions, came to a clean conclusion.
“Yes. You just need to find Kim Noeul-ssi.”
As the car entered the tunnel, Inju’s profile was lit in orange. The cool-impressioned lawyer didn’t open his mouth any further after those words.
Eunchan declined Inju’s insistence on taking him all the way home and got off in front of a nearby department store. Eunchan stopped by the bookstore on the first floor and roughly looked around.
{Brain Exercise Corner Perfect for Killing Time}
The promotional phrase caught his eye. He walked straight over and examined the bookshelf to find various books like spot-the-difference, sudoku, word puzzles, and coloring books. Eunchan picked out one of each kind.
These were books that Eunchan and Hyungsik used to solve when they had nothing to do. Since he’d be sitting still in the hospital anyway, he thought Miro would be less bored if he had these to do. To round things out, he also picked and added some novels. Since Eunchan himself wasn’t close with books, he just threw in a few that were in the rankings.
After paying and going outside, he saw a toy store located across from the bookstore. It was cute, decorated in a quaint and pink style. The displayed dolls were especially adorable.
{Create a friend for your child with a lovely comfort doll!}
A friend…… Eunchan walked into the toy store as if entranced. It seemed to also run a prop shop, with many toys and character stationery displayed filling the interior. Eunchan approached the dolls and picked up the one that had caught his eye. It was a rabbit doll with charming long ears.
Eunchan stroked the belly of the 30cm white rabbit and also pulled its arms and legs, and was captivated by its soft texture. Its black bean-like eyes and nose, and smiling mouth seemed to somewhat resemble Miro. Holding one, Eunchan headed straight to the register without hesitation.
“That’s 52,000 won.”
“What?”
“Pardon? That’s 52,000 won, customer.”
Could one doll be this expensive? Surprised, Eunchan paused his hand that had been taking out his wallet. Should I not buy it? It’s also strange to give a doll as a gift to a thirty-year-old man. Eunchan looked at the rabbit’s eyes and pondered. But that was only for a moment—Eunchan took out his card and held it out.
The rabbit doll was too cute and suited Miro well. It would be good to have next to him when sleeping. If he didn’t like it, Eunchan could keep it. The rabbit’s belly was plump, so it looked like it would be fine to use as a pillow.
“Would you like it gift-wrapped?”
“No, I—no, yes. Please do.”
Eunchan, who had declined, soon remembered the promise he’d made to Miro in Inju’s car to buy him a present. He’d planned to give him books, but a doll was more suitable as a gift. Shortly after, the doll came out wrapped in pretty pink cloud wrapping paper.
“Have a nice day.”
“Thank you.”
Being careful so the long ribbon wouldn’t come undone, Eunchan greeted them and left the store. He needed to catch a taxi. With his luggage bag on his shoulder, the bookstore shopping bag in his right hand, and the wrapped gift bundle in his left hand, Eunchan started running with quick steps.
