Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: There's a Sucker Here
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"Don't try to have it all. The kid's pitiful enough as it is."
"What do I even have? I'm starving to death here."
There was still a long way to go, and even the beef had flown away. As I quietly pictured beef brisket under the red light, Yoo Hajin draped an arm over my shoulder.
"What were you planning to do with ten thousand won?"
"Buy beef. For stew."
"I'll buy it for you."
Huh?
I looked at Yoo Hajin. A pretty handsome face came into view at once.
Now I got it.
'Zenith needs this guy.'
Why hadn't it worked out? Was it his skills?
I glanced at Kang Minje, who was still holding the camera.
'You know it too, so that fox must know it even better.'
I followed the arm gripping my shoulder with my eyes. I whispered to Yoo Hajin.
"If you buy it for me, I'll gratefully accept."
Yoo Hajin laughed good-naturedly and shouted.
"Dance battle over!"
Everyone moved their chairs back to their places like they'd been waiting for it.
"Practice ends today, you're coming out with me, right?"
I nodded. Yoo Hajin grinned and released my shoulder. Then he approached Kang Minje, who was holding the camera.
'Surprisingly, Kang Minje doesn't seem out of place in the debut lineup.'
Was that because of Yoo Hajin?
I still couldn't figure out why this guy hadn't made it in. I shook my head and loosened up my muscles again. Practice was about to start.
***
As soon as practice ended, Yoo Hajin shouted.
"Ambition Boy!"
"It's Cha Dowon."
"Yeah, yeah. Ambition Boy."
I had to break the choreographer's sternum for coming up with that nickname first. Damn it. I sighed and followed him.
"Hyung will buy you beef. But why stew meat? What are you gonna do with it?"
"You buy stew meat, you make stew."
"What kind of stew?"
I pondered the stew options.
"Cabbage stew? Cabbage is cheap this time of year."
Yoo Hajin's eyes went wide.
"You're one impressive guy!"
What? For making stew?
"Let's go, let's go."
Yoo Hajin dragged me along. I followed obediently for a bit, then grabbed his jacket.
"Not that way."
"Isn't this the way to the mart?"
"There's a butcher in that alley over there. Cheaper and better."
Yoo Hajin's pupils shook again.
"You're really one impressive guy!"
What?
"Knowing mart prices like that—you're scary!"
Scary? Come on.
"Got to eat to live. If no one's looking out for me, I have to do it myself."
I looked down at my body. Definitely over 170 cm, but how much? Anyway, I still had at least 10 cm left to grow.
Yoo Hajin stared at me intently and said.
"No one's looking out for you either?"
Not quite.
I thought of the respected and beloved Cha Sora.
"Someone does, but she's busy right now. Right now, I have to look out for noona more."
Come to think of it, that worried me. She shouldn't overdo the studying.
"Hey, you..."
Yoo Hajin pretended to wipe away tears and said.
"I thought you were selfish, impossible to talk to, greedy, and just made enemies everywhere, but you're actually pretty nice."
Thanks for the honest assessment.
"But."
I scanned Yoo Hajin up and down. He looked neat and well-raised everywhere you looked.
"Hyung, you alone?"
"Huh?"
"You said 'you too' earlier. No one's looking out for you."
Yoo Hajin's eyes trembled. Bingo.
'Unexpected.'
He looked like a second son from a solid middle-upper-class family.
"Ah, our family puts hyung first, so I get pushed aside a lot."
I see.
"Plus, I'm a bit lacking. I ran off to become a singer and I'm still just a trainee."
This was getting boring. And I wasn't curious anymore.
"At least in the debut lineup, I get paid a bit..."
"Hold up."
I grabbed Yoo Hajin's arm.
"You get extra money?"
"Yeah? Debut lineup gets paid."
Wow.
"You're like a walking blood bank, hyung."
I shook my head. There were always types like this.
"Sucker. Total sucker. There's a sucker right here."
"Uh, Dowon?"
"Quit it right now. You're anemic yourself—why are you donating blood? Tell your awesome hyung to earn his own money. How old even is Hajin hyung?"
"Huh? Twenty?"
"You're taking money earned by a twenty-year-old? Wow, insane. Cancel that auto-transfer from your account right now. They've got a huge straw stuck in you, sucking up your hard-earned blood like crazy."
I slapped Yoo Hajin's shoulder hard.
"Wake up! You're a sucker right now!"
Yoo Hajin scratched his head, embarrassed.
"Ah, well..."
"Keep letting them suck, and you know what you'll have left?"
I recalled my past before regression.
'No money, exhausted...'
Life didn't get better. Couldn't do anything.
"Just a pathetic shell of a body. Hyung, no money and pathetic, no one will look at you. You'll just be trash."
"But it's family."
You frustrating guy.
"That's why it's even worse with family. Simple, hyung. Put yourself in their shoes. If you go broke, will family feed you?"
Usually, yeah—but not your family.
Yoo Hajin's eyes shook again.
'He's getting it.'
Then, Yoo Hajin suddenly gripped my arm tight.
"But hyung's business is struggling..."
What now?
"No one else to help him."
"Hold up."
Why's business suddenly coming up?
"Hyung, did you cosign?"
"Not yet, but they're bringing papers tomorrow..."
My head spun. I pressed my forehead and let out a deep sigh.
'So that's it.'
Why Yoo Hajin didn't make Zenith.
I took a deep breath. Calming my excitement, hot breath came out.
"So, hyung, you're getting sucked dry monthly by family, and now you're cosigning?"
Making a twenty-year-old cosign? What kind of family is that?
"Not just a sucker. The craziest sucker in the neighborhood."
"Uh..."
"Cosign? Then you can't be an idol."
Even Friends Entertainment wouldn't use a credit delinquent.
"But if I don't, hyung's business..."
"If hyung's business succeeds, do you get even crumbs?"
A sigh escaped me.
"No, right? They'd grovel when borrowing. Never given anything back? Still thinking it's fine, so, sure, cosign."
I punched his shoulder with my fist.
"Wake up, you idiot! Wanna throw it all away? Your dreams, hopes, future. Everything!"
Yoo Hajin gripped my arm tight.
"But it's family."
"Real family wouldn't make a twenty-year-old cosign. They'd handle it themselves."
Silence hung in the air. After the anger, emptiness followed.
'Damn, how'd I end up saying this.'
Even the Bible warns against cosigning.
'What a cursed family.'
Yoo Hajin said nothing. Would that guy snap out of it? I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
"Let's go in."
"What about the beef?"
Beef's the problem now?
"Don't wanna mooch off a sucker."
Sighs kept coming. What the hell was this guy?
'Never thought I'd meet someone like this.'
Too nice or just stupid.
"Last warning."
I punched his shoulder hard enough to hurt.
"Hyung signs those papers tomorrow, it's all over."
"But..."
"Don't if you don't wanna die."
I walked past him. The night air was cool, but it didn't cool my heated head.
'Such a sticky guy.'
What if he actually signs?
A sigh escaped. I pulled out my smartphone from my pocket.
Glancing back, Yoo Hajin stood blankly, staring the other way.
'We need that guy?'
Even as a sucker, better than Kang Minje.
'Damn.'
[Cheat Mode 1/3]
[Yoo Hajin: Severe hand tremors for one day tomorrow]
That should stop him from signing.
[Changed.]
[Side effect: Choking for 30 seconds, vision loss.]
[Cheat Mode 2/3]
Thirty seconds felt eternally short. Standing still, my vision soon returned. I breathed in and out.
'What crazy stuff I'm doing.'
I turned back toward the dorm. The anger had somewhat subsided, but my chest felt tight.
'They'll cut off your nose after you wake up, they say.'
What family makes a twenty-year-old cosign.
"Dirty. So dirty."
I kicked a stone hard and sighed. What a shitty world.
***
Yoo Hajin was a deficient child.
That's what his parents had positioned him as.
There were so many reasons he was deficient. Bad at studies. Always listening to music. Dancing with friends.
So many reasons that Yoo Hajin believed he was deficient.
His hyung was the perfect counterpart.
Hyung had good grades. Class president, good school.
Great hyung and deficient little brother.
Yoo Hajin thought this would never change.
But the moment he passed the audition following a friend, something suddenly shifted.
The gaze always looking down changed. A month later, after hyung broke up with his long-term girlfriend, he confessed.
Yoo Hajin looked in the mirror and finally realized.
He was taller than hyung.
And much more handsome.
Home still called him deficient. The more they did, the more Yoo Hajin clung to the practice room. Strangely, it felt more comfortable than home.
Stuck in the practice room so much, he made the debut lineup. Started earning money, and suddenly parents' attitudes changed.
'Hyung needs tuition.'
'Hyung needs living expenses for studying.'
'Little brother chipping in is natural.'
'You're deficient.'
He knew this wasn't normal, but couldn't do anything.
Time passed like that.
And finally, those words came.
'Hyung's business is struggling. Can you help? Bringing papers the day after tomorrow.'
Not asking for money. 'Papers.'
Yoo Hajin clenched and unclenched his hand. Looking at the window, it was already ten in the morning. Felt like he'd done something, but couldn't remember.
Yoo Hajin clenched and released his hand again.
The trembling wouldn't stop.
"Got to go out."
Parents were coming. Where? Oh, the cafe right out front.
He trudged listlessly to the door. Feeling his body shake nonstop, he opened his eyes to see parents holding out papers.
'Hmm.'
Couldn't hold the pen. Hand shaking. He quietly looked at the papers again. Five billion caught his eye.
'Hyung will pay it all back.'
'Little brother should help hyung.'
'You're deficient.'
Yoo Hajin exhaled softly.
Suddenly, yesterday's words came to mind.
-Wake up! Wanna throw it all away? Your dreams, hopes, future. Everything!
He chuckled.
"Hajin?"
Yoo Hajin threw the pen down. Cocky brat. Four years younger, too.
"No. Are you crazy?"
Hands still trembled. Parents just shoved the pen at him, didn't even ask why shaking.
"Why get help from a deficient kid."
Yoo Hajin stood up. Strangely, hands shook but legs were fine.
"Hyung handle it yourself. If it's a winning business, no need for cosign."
Parents yelled behind him. Tremendous noise, but barely heard. Just laughter bubbled up.
'Weird guy.'
Mentioning the cosign yesterday was pure impulse. No one but Kang Minje knew.
'Why'd I even say it.'
Maybe the guy seemed oddly mature.
'Come to think, Minje tried to stop me too.'
Still, I said parents come first.
Dad grabbed his passing shoulder and yelled.
'Something's off.'
Parents screaming in front, but words didn't register. Thinking back, maybe it'd been like this for a while.
Yoo Hajin laughed.
"Feels refreshing."
They probably couldn't hear him anyway.
Yoo Hajin shook off the hand lightly and walked forward. Like a nagging tooth pulled, pure relief.