The Sebae Exchange (2)
I looked between the three of them, refusing to back down. Each wore a completely different expression. Dad looked flustered. Maru wore her usual gentle smile, while Moddeok seemed completely at a loss. They needed me. I couldn’t stop now. I fixed my gaze on Dad. One glance at his face told me everything. Right. Once I calmed down, it made sense. The house was huge. Handing over something that expensive as a gift just wouldn’t work. I hadn’t even received it myself yet. I should get mine first. Yeah. It wouldn’t be fair to give it to someone else before me. I understood Dad’s feelings perfectly.
“I understand how you feel, Dad. Seon-a just realized something. I haven’t even gotten the apartment yet… so I can’t give it to anyone else. In that case, just give me the money instead.”
“Haha…”
“How much are you going to give me? I’m really looking forward to it. Show me how generous you can be. You’ll do that, right? Dad, you’ll show me, won’t you? My shoulders are already bouncing with excitement!”
“Haha… sweetheart… first, calm down.”
“Look at me. I’m seriously excited. How much are you giving me? It has to be more than fifty thousand won, right?”
“I only prepared ten thousand won, though. What do I do?”
I froze in shock. Ten thousand won? That couldn’t be right. I felt genuinely hurt. Even back in high school, he used to give me two or three hundred thousand won at a time. Now he was suddenly offering only ten thousand? That wasn’t okay. I was so disappointed I couldn’t even speak. Really… this wasn’t right.
“Uh… uh… uh…”
“Sweetie, could you move your face away first?”
“No… uh…”
“You’re spitting on me…”
“Uh… ah… no…”
“It was just a joke. Of course it’s not ten thousand won.”
“Really? Really? Really? Really?”
“Yes, really… so could you move your face away now?”
Oh, right. Dad couldn’t see the TV. I quickly pulled back. He finally let out a long sigh. Had it really been that suffocating? Honestly, I wasn’t sure. Anyway, I stepped down and moved next to Maru.
“How much are you giving me?”
“Do I have to give money for sebae?”
“Uh… no… wait…”
“I’m joking. Goodness.”
Without realizing it, I had climbed back onto the sofa. If Dad hadn’t said it was a joke, I probably would’ve covered my face again. Thank goodness.
“How much are you giving me? Just tell me straight. I’ll be waiting. I’m going to do my absolute best with the sebae.”
I really would give it everything I had. I was going to be so sincere.
“When are we doing the sebae?”
“Want to do it now? Should we? Get it over with quickly?”
“Oh!! Sounds good!”
“Go bring your mom.”
“Got it!!”
After performing the sebae and receiving some New Year’s blessings, I finally got my sebaetdon. With a happy heart, I opened the white envelope. Huh… wait. What was this? Was this a prank?
“Mom… this is a joke, right?”
“What is?”
“Why is there only a thousand-won punch in here?”
The envelope Mom gave me contained only five thousand-won bills… I checked Dad’s envelope too. Seven thousand-won bills. No… what was going on? The amounts were completely off. This didn’t make any sense. Had they confused it with church offerings? Huh? Neither of them even went to church. What was happening?
“No… why is it like this?”
I quietly sidled up next to the easiest target—Pyeong. After all, I was the boss, so it felt the most comfortable. I stared intently at the white envelope. Pyeong was truly something else. Wasn’t she curious about how much was inside? Why wasn’t she even pretending to open it? Who does that? Frustrated, I slipped my hand under her arm.
“Eek!!”
“Pyeong, how much did you get?”
“Huh? Me? Do I have to tell you?”
“Of course? Open it.”
I spoke firmly. Pyeong glanced around nervously before showing me the amount inside the envelope.
“No way… five fifty-thousand-won bills…? Mom? What about me? Mom, what about me? Can I see Dad’s too? Uh… this one has five too… I only got the punch…?”
I nearly got dizzy. Pyeong was an employee, so maybe that made sense. Next, I moved over to Moddeok. She looked at her envelope and seemed genuinely surprised. The moment our eyes met, she spoke.
“Can I… really take this?”
“How much did you get? Show me too… wait… what is this?”
She had received the exact same amount as Pyeong. Me… what about me? Surely not… I checked Maru’s and Raming’s too. No. No. This was too unfair. Why was I the only one getting less?
“Dad… Mom… why do I have so little? You gave the others chairman-level support… why did you only give me the thousand-won punch?”
Mom answered calmly.
“Someone has to receive less so someone else can receive more. We just divided up the money we were going to give you this year.”
“Uh… then you should’ve given me more.”
“You said to give a lot to the guests.”
Dad joined the conversation. That wasn’t what I meant at all. I was completely dumbfounded.
“No… you still should’ve given me some… wait a second. So if four people got five bills each… and another four… that’s two million won? You were going to give me two million won? Really? Just give it to me now.”
“Of course not. Go do your sebae and collect it properly.”
Mom laughed and headed into the kitchen. I was left reeling from the shock. Right…!! That’s why people need to be smart. I grabbed Maru and Moddeok.
“Maru. Moddeok.”
“What is it?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Both of you, sit down here. I’m going to do sebae. Give me my sebaetdon.”
They both laughed.
“Ah~ sebae. If you do sebae, you get sebaetdon.”
“How much are you giving me? Maru, you work at a huge company so you must be making tons of money. Can I expect a lot? I’m really counting on it. It’s a cash transaction, so no taxes either. You know that, right? Completely tax-free.”
“Hahaha. Do you need a receipt?”
“Uh… then it wouldn’t be tax-free anymore…”
“I’m joking. We just need to receive it, right?”
“Ah…!!”
Honestly, I wanted to make Pyeong and Raming sit down and do sebae too, but my pride wouldn’t allow it. Sebae was something the younger person did for the older person. I didn’t know how old Pyeong was, but I was still her superior, and Raming was the same age as me, so it felt awkward. Regretfully, I’d have to settle for just these two.
“Yes…!! I’ll only do it for you two. Everyone, please sit down. Oh, right—Raming, Pyeong…!! Come here. You need to receive money too.”
The moment Maru and Moddeok sat on the sofa, I called over my friend and subordinate. This was the perfect time to make money. Maru and Moddeok were top-tier VTubers—they had plenty of cash. No need to worry about them. It would be ridiculous for an ordinary person to worry about rich people’s finances. I had to take what I could get while I could. I brought Raming and Pyeong along and did sebae together.
“Happy New Year!!”
After bowing and counting to three, I slowly stood up and looked at Maru.
“Thank you. Seon-a, Raming, and Pyeong—happy New Year to all of you as well. May everything you do this year go well… yes.”
“Yes…!!”
Next was Moddeok.
“Ah… yes. Happy New Year.”
“Yes!!”
I hurried over to them, heart pounding. How much would they give me? I was so excited I could barely stand it. Maru worked at a major corporation. Moddeok was at a mid-sized company. I had high expectations.
“…”
When I received the money, I was deeply disappointed. Was this really all the power a major corporation and a mid-sized company could muster? Really… I only got three fifty-thousand-won bills from them. I had expected at least a hundred. I felt genuinely let down. At this rate, my return on investment was terrible.
“Hey, what’s with that disappointed face… pfft-hahaha.”
Moddeok laughed as she looked at me. She saw my expression and still didn’t give me another bill? That was just too much. If she noticed I looked disappointed, she could’ve at least added one more. A mid-sized company owner acting this stingy… unbelievable. Tightwad.
“It takes courage to give money too. Is there anyone who hasn’t done sebae for Seon-a yet? You won’t know until you try.”
“Me? I’m going to give a lot.”
“Really? I’ll do it then. You mean it?”
“Uh… doing it with a friend feels wrong… friends shouldn’t do that…”
“What’s wrong with it? I’ll do it.”
“Uh… no…”
If I didn’t receive much, giving would put me in the red. This wasn’t a good idea.
“Then Raming and Pyeong can do sebae for you instead.”
“Uh… that’s not right either. That’s cheating.”
“It’s fine. Seon-a, sit down here.”
Moddeok suddenly pushed me down onto the sofa. Oh no. This was getting complicated. I was already in the red from not receiving enough. But Raming and Pyeong, completely oblivious to my feelings, performed sebae for me. This had really gotten out of hand.
“Happy New Year.”
“Uh… thank you. Yes…”
I was in serious trouble now. As the two of them approached, my breath caught in my throat.
“Should Dad lend you some money?”
“No… I have money.”
“Weren’t you going to give a lot?”
“Uh… I am going to give a lot…”
Dad, who had been watching TV, suddenly made things even more awkward. Not only had he given me the thousand-won punch, now he was spreading false information. My hands trembled. Sebaetdon was money you only got once a year. I was supposed to be the one receiving it… but now I was in the position of giving. I couldn’t shake the feeling that real money was flying away. But I had already agreed… yeah. I had promised. I gathered my courage.
“I’ll be brave. Yeah, I’ll be brave. Here.”
I turned and placed the money into the white envelopes. Cheers erupted from both sides. This actually felt pretty good. Anyway, I handed the envelopes to them.
“Here.”
“Whoa… huh? Wait… no, a thousand won is too little. My sebae is only worth a thousand won? Don’t joke around.”
“It’s not a joke. This is my sincere feeling. I worked up the courage.”
Raming scolded me, but it didn’t matter. I had been brave. The courage to be disliked. I gave Raming one thousand won and Pyeong two thousand won. And just like that, our long New Year’s Day finally came to an end. I had thought Mom and Dad’s sebaetdon was a joke, but it had been sincere. Even after New Year’s ended, I didn’t receive any extra money from my parents. Instead, Maru bought me thirty thousand won worth of clothes, and Moddeok gifted me fifteen thousand won worth of delivery food coupons. When I got home after New Year’s, I finally remembered.
“Ah…!! Right. I never asked Maru.”
There had been so much to do during the holidays that I never got the chance to ask about doing a Minecraft collab. I should ask now!!