It was the morning after he had excitedly held Miro’s hand and toured his company that Eunchan checked the text message Hyungsik had sent. As if he was busy today too, Miro had left a cute note and rabbit doll by Eunchan’s pillow and gone to work, just like yesterday. Eunchan, who had gotten up after stroking Miro’s empty spot, rose from bed with a long yawn.
Only after sitting at the dining table and eating the breakfast Miro had prepared, taking a simple shower, and looking at the garden visible through the window did Eunchan pick up his phone. While he was with Miro, he had no time to check his phone as they played together, and during his alone time, he was enjoying his leisure, so he rarely touched it at an addictive level like before. Moreover, since he was taking a break from work, there was little need for urgent contact, so he didn’t keep it close by.
As usual, Eunchan picked up his phone without any thought to check the fine dust levels, but soon checked Hyungsik’s text and stopped walking, standing blankly in front of the window for a moment.
You found Kim Haengbok? What does this mean?
Even after rubbing his eyes and checking again, the name didn’t change. He was the original owner of the land and the source of everything. Just yesterday, he had decided to forget everything and not touch it, but now that he received contact saying they had found him, his changed heart churned.
There was no reason to find him. Han Inju had already cut off contact, and his relationship with Miro now was better than ever. Even now, waiting for him at Miro’s house, he was happy and fully satisfied.
Nevertheless, Eunchan couldn’t avoid the suspicion spreading widely beneath his feet. It seemed like Jang Miro, Jang Heewoo, and Han Inju were all connected within a circle called Myeongjin, and perhaps he himself was in the middle of it too, which frightened him.
[Hyung, I’ll go to the office now. Tell me about Kim Haengbok]
After sending a text to Hyungsik, Eunchan picked up his outerwear. Let’s not dig too deeply. Just enough to dispel the suspicions I have now, just enough to ease my mind.
Just before leaving the entrance, he briefly pondered whether to leave a text for Miro, but Eunchan didn’t leave any contact. Just like Miro’s frequent words, he would really only go out for a very short while. Leaving behind the garden they had lovingly cultivated together, Eunchan left Miro’s house. The weather was clear without a single cloud.
Perhaps because he had just been to Miro’s company yesterday, the office couldn’t be more shabby. He pushed aside the pile of boxes still blocking the entrance and slowly climbed the stairs. As if he had been waiting after receiving the text, the office door was wide open.
“Hyungsik-ah.”
Closing the open door, Eunchan called Hyungsik’s name. The boss’s figure was not visible—perhaps he had already left for Southeast Asia.
“Hyung!”
At Eunchan’s call, Hyungsik rushed out from the boss’s office and greeted him warmly. Even though they had met and eaten just recently, he acted like someone who hadn’t met in a long time. Eunchan patted his younger brother who came into his arms once, then found and sat in his familiar spot.
Miro’s chair was soft as if it would suck you in, but his own chair had all the cushion deflated and was just hard. This shouldn’t happen, but Miro’s things and his own kept getting compared. Good things and shabby things. A well-drawn line is clear enough to be recognized from afar.
“Where’s the boss?”
“He’ll come later. Hyung, did you eat?”
Hyungsik smiled brightly, saying that since there’s no work these days, the boss is practically on vacation. Perhaps very bored from guarding the office alone, Hyungsik whined, saying instead of this, hyung should come to the office and play together too.
Once he started resting, working became too bothersome. Moreover, since he was in a nice house with someone even serving him, the aftermath was strong. Eunchan let Hyungsik’s words flow through one ear and signaled with his eyes at the documents in his hand.
“What’s that?”
“Ah, a contract. I took on a job.”
“By yourself?”
Eunchan, who had never heard what kind of work it was, was surprised and straightened his back, lifting it from the chair.
“It’s simple. What was it, a hired caregiver took money and ran off, so they asked us to find it.”
“A man?”
Private caregivers hired by families would handle daily tasks on behalf of elderly people with limited mobility. Bank errands were included among them. There were occasional cases of embezzling by gathering together pocket money received from children and some assets.
“Yes. Was he Chinese, or Filipino?”
“That seems dangerous.”
If he was a foreigner, the danger level was higher. What if there’s a knife incident? How could the boss entrust such work to a child? Eunchan frowned and reached out his hand to Hyungsik, asking for the contract.
“They just asked for help finding him. They did report it to the police, but they wanted to try doing something more.”
While handing over the documents, Hyungsik added an explanation that it wasn’t such a big deal.
“Still, you should have at least contacted me. How can you do this alone?”
Eunchan didn’t like at all that they made a child work alone and the boss didn’t even come to the office. When he opened the document envelope to check how much the boss had taken as a down payment, he saw a familiar name as the client. It was Kim Haengbok.
“……You said you found Kim Haengbok after seeing this?”
It wasn’t a common name, but there were still quite a few people with the same name. Eunchan looked back at Hyungsik with a hollow laugh.
“It is right, but listen to more of my story.”
“What is it?”
The heart that had been pounding until leaving the house calmed down peacefully. It was nothing much—both a sense of emptiness and a bit of relief came simultaneously.
“I was also surprised when I first saw the name, so as soon as I saw it I went ‘Oh!’ So, that person said,”
With Eunchan, who had let go of the tension and was sprawled out in front of him, Hyungsik recalled his meeting with the client while tracing his memory.
‘Oh!’
‘Why are you doing that?’
‘No, the name is exactly the same as the person we’re looking for. I’m sorry.’
I shouldn’t do this in front of a client, but as soon as Hyungsik saw the name Eunchan was looking for, an exclamation burst out of him. Since he just had to chat roughly and break the awkwardness until the boss came anyway, Hyungsik used this as a topic to start a conversation with the man.
‘That person’s name must be Kim Haengbok too.’
‘Yes. He’s an important person, but it’s hard to find him.’
Hyungsik joked that it seemed impossible to find someone with just a name. At those words, the man smiled slightly, then soon lowered his head as if thinking about something.
‘Mm……. Have you tried looking at facilities or something?’
‘Facilities?’
‘He could be from an orphanage or, well, something like that.’
‘Is that so? I hadn’t thought of that.’
‘I heard somewhere that in the past, some orphanage gave all the incoming children the same name. Funny, right?’
Although it wasn’t a particularly funny story, the man said it with a laugh. Hyungsik just smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to respond. Only then did the man apologize for saying something unnecessary, but the stiff atmosphere didn’t easily loosen, and eventually the two remained silent until the boss came in.
Eunchan, who had been listening intently to Hyungsik’s words, soon realized it was the man’s own story. The characteristic of people who pretend it’s someone else’s business while talking was always like that.
“Isn’t that his own story? Is that man an orphan?”
Normally he would have spoken carefully, but since his father had also passed away and he himself was no different from an orphan, Eunchan said it comfortably without filtering.
“I don’t know. It seems like it might be. The person who was scammed said it’s his father-in-law, and he came because he wanted to try doing more since his wife was so heartbroken.”
“Age?”
“Late 30s? Could be early 40s. And hyung, do you know what’s even more chilling?”
“What?”
Instead of answering, Hyungsik turned on Eunchan’s computer and accessed someone’s blog. Looking at the profile, it was a man in his 40s living in Busan. The name was…….
“Kim Haengbok?”
‘I thought it would be easy to find since the name is unique, but I don’t know. There’s only a man in his 40s running a blog, should I give you the address?’
It was the blog of the other Kim Haengbok that Hyungsik had mentioned before. Hyungsik found one post among many and brought it up on the screen.
“This person mainly writes diaries on his blog. But this person was also from an orphanage.”
Eunchan slowly looked into the man’s diary. A diary written several years ago was recording old events.
『……The trial is over. Is this what they mean by bittersweet? The fact that it ended was welcome and good, yet also felt empty. I also felt sorry for my childhood that wasn’t properly compensated. I tried to shake it off with a drink with friends, but when I came home, it had somehow attached itself to my body again. It will probably take time to shake off the rest. Anyway, little Haengbok worked hard. It must not have been easy to take charge. Commendable. Other friends urged me to change my name as soon as possible, saying the trial ended well so I should get rid of the orphanage tag-like name, but I somehow became attached to this name that went through thick and thin together. My child also liked my name. At age 40, changing my name seemed unnecessary, so I just gave up.』
The keywords Haengbok, name, and orphanage were all in the diary. Eunchan looked up at Hyungsik who found this. When did he gather clues like this? It was an unexpected harvest.
“You’re amazing.”
“Not at all.”
At Eunchan’s admiration, Hyungsik laughed “hehe” and brushed the side of his forehead.
