You'll Have to Spend a Little More

"I'm at Sonus headquarters. Right now."

The instant the name Sonus left his mouth, he felt as if he had been stripped bare and flung into the Arctic. He could already see his grandfather's reaction. And sure enough—

"You... don't you know your own granddad?"

A voice steeped in venom came down the line. Bring down Sonus. That was the vow Park Yonghak had spent a lifetime chasing, and there was no way Park Yugeon could pretend not to know it. Even so, he forced the tremor out of his throat and spoke.

"...That's exactly why I came."

"What?"

"Then what kind of damn fool stunt is that!"

"...!"

"Sales are pourin' in like that! And buyin' the thing is a fool's move? Is that what you're tellin' me!"

His shoulders jerked inward at the shout, but only for a moment. A slow thrill began to crawl up his spine. The joy of being acknowledged by his grandfather at last, wholly and without reserve, tingled through every inch of him.

The feeling did not last.

It's not over yet.

Park Yugeon smoothed his expression in a hurry.

"Ah, Grandfather, I'll call you again in a little while."

"......?"

"The director who went upstairs to report seems to have come back—"

"I said fifty billion, didn't I. I hand over that money, and we're done, ain't we?"

"I'm sorry, Grandfather. We set this meeting two weeks ago and flew all the way here, so I think I at least have to hear their terms."

"What did you just say to me!"

"I'll call you right back."

Park Yugeon clenched his teeth and hung up.

"Haa... haaa."

He had done it. He had actually done it. In rehearsal, the thought alone had terrified him.

"......"

Now that it was done, what he felt was closer to a clean, bright thrill. He could tell himself that all he liked. His palms were still soaked. If only the whole thing could end right here.

If it were Jihun... what would he have done?

Park Yugeon pressed the shaking down and let himself sink into the question. If Jihun had been standing in this room, he would have fought tooth and nail for a single won more. Even if the man on the other end of the line was their grandfather.

The thought that followed came at once. That's only possible because it's Jihun. Haven't I already held the line well enough? He was just about to award himself that small private victory when a scene from the past cut, of all moments, across his mind.

If I truly want what's best for my brother?

Then I have to carry my own share, completely.

Not hide behind the pretty word "yielding" and shove every burden onto him.

Find what I'm good at, and take that field as mine, down to the last responsibility.

Looking at them now, the resolutions seemed reckless to the point of folly. And yet the chance to keep that reckless promise was opening right in front of him. Would he call fifty billion a great enough sum and stop? Or would he fight to the end, the way Jihun would?

Park Yugeon's decision did not take long. He lifted the receiver with a steady hand.

"Grandfather. I'm sorry for hanging up on you like that."

"How'd it turn out?"

"I'm going to turn them down."

A short silence.

"Grandfather."

"......?"

His eyes were calm. The words were not.

At that same hour, I was sitting at the desk in my room. I tried to read, and not a single line would go in.

"......"

It had to be my brother. He would be suffering through it alone, and I couldn't put him out of my mind. Could he really manage by himself? No. He had to. Only by proving ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he could finish it without me would he be able to take the throne as wholly his.

What worried me most was the moment in front of Grandfather when the words Sonus headquarters actually left his mouth. Would the roar that came flying after knock the sense clean out of him? I shook my head almost at once. A tiger does not give birth to a kitten.

He'll do fine.

I looked at the clock on the wall. By now, the whole thing ought to be more or less settled. However frightening Grandfather was, I had told my brother what to do: if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the old man beat the price down below fifty billion won, sell it to Sonus and be done.

He'll catch hell for it, of course.

It was only the IP changing hands, and only on the condition that Sonus took over future card development. It wasn't as if we would be tied to them forever.

He'll be angry today. Give it a few months, and he'll understand.

The best ending, of course, was still Hyeon-gang acquiring the IP itself. Either way, we were going to blow past the sales figure Grandfather had set, and not by a little.

"The throne is yours now, hyung. Grandfather."

That was enough for one day. I shut the book that refused to hold my eyes, and the cover came down with a flat snap.

An hour later, Park Yonghak spoke into the receiver.

"You there."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Yes, Chairman."

"Yugeon's got that company of his. Haul sixty billion won over there and hand it to him."

"Sir? Sixty billion?"

"Why? That your money? I gotta file a report with you now?"

"Ah—no, Chairman. Of course not."

By the time the Chief Secretary, startled, managed the reply, Park Yonghak had already set the receiver down.

He had seen Jihun's face at dinner with his own eyes. Which meant Yugeon had flown to Japan alone.

"...Ha!"

Of course the younger brat had coached him. Obvious. Yugeon had grown a fair amount, but he had never been a boy with nerve to match his brother's. Even so.

I'm sorry. But I think you're going to have to spend a little more.

Hearing it, he had not been able to keep from being shocked. The resolve packed into that short sentence had come through with perfect clarity. If the boy had tried some clumsy little haggle instead? That rascal Yugeon would've hung up and stamped a real deal with Sonus. The venom of it had reached him whole.

"......"

Turn it over as he might, the fact still astonished him. And yet, strangely, the gladder he grew at Yugeon's rise, the deeper his regret for the youngest became. A younger brother who had taken an older one, once all soft hands and quiet manners, and remade him entirely. And he was supposed to let that younger one walk away? Because a promise was a promise?

Does that make a lick of sense.

But what was he to do. Against Jihun's little strategy of lifting his brother onto the height and then slipping out of the picture himself—

Bang. Bang.

—his own grandfather had stepped in and pressed a sixty-billion-won seal of approval.

The moment his thoughts reached that far, a possibility rose without warning.

Don't tell me all of this...

Had it been planned for this very scene? Accepting that outrageous target of a hundred billion won in sales. Quietly nodding at a royalty of no more than five percent. Had both of those been nothing but stepping stones laid toward this moment?

He knew it made no sense.

But if it were Jihun...

If it were that wickedly clever grandson of his, then maybe...

The more one thought chased the next, the tighter one side of his chest became. Was this what it felt like, to have a phoenix settle on your shoulder and then be made to send it flying again? He drew a long breath through his teeth. What else was there. For the time being, all he could do was watch.

Night had come down dark. Park Yonghak lifted the receiver with a heavy hand.

"Have a car waiting at the airport."

"If this is on account of the eldest young master, then..."

"......?"

"The second young master has already gone to meet him himself."

That boy. Honestly. When it came to being fast, there was no keeping up with him. Park Yonghak let out a dry little laugh before he could stop himself.

"When did you even find the time to prepare all this?"

At my question, Jo Sudeok's shoulders climbed as high as they would go. Then, with a look that demanded an audience, he unfurled the banner.

"No, but how did you even know what it sold for..."

"This was not printed in advance."

"Then how?"

"I heard what you told me and made it by hand... heheh."

Huh. Looking again, the numbers really were handwritten. Precision worthy of a fine-arts professor. I was grateful. Still.

"Isn't this a waste of talent?"

"A waste? Hardly. This is the day our president's dream comes true. If I followed my heart, I would love to present him with a car, but..."

"Then why didn't you just do as you pleased?"

"A car is... he doesn't have a license..."

"He'd only be owning it. What's the problem?"

"Even so, offering a vehicle to someone who has only just become an eighth grader... that is rather..."

Heh. All that solemnity over a joke.

I was about to thank him when a voice carried over from the gate.

"Jihun!"

Oh. It was my brother. He came hurrying toward us, and then—

"Pfft!"

—his face went crimson with embarrassment, the banner having found him.

"Professor, what is this?"

"You are returning from a great undertaking, and I am ashamed this is all I could prepare."

"No, no. If you'd done any more, I would have died of embarrassment."

My brother dipped his head in thanks. Then he turned to me.

"Jihun. It's over, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'm actually allowed to smile now?"

Through all of it, my brother had done something enormous. At sixteen, it was fair to say he had done everything a boy that age could do. And yet not for a single moment had he been able to be purely glad. A hundred billion won in sales. The bar Grandfather had set had caught in him like a thorn.

Today, at last, he had cleared that bar by a long way. Maybe that was why. The joy he had kept shoved to the back came down on him all at once, and the dam gave way in a breath.

"We did it!"

He was clumsy with what he felt. Even so—

"I said we did it!"

—in this one moment he was pouring all of that joy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out at once. A feeling that large ought to have shaken a tear loose, but my brother only kept breaking into that thin heh-heh-heh laugh. I was glad of it. Today was not the end. Far from the end: my brother's road was only just beginning.

And me?

As of today, I was retired. Retired.

We got into the car not long after. All the way home I listened, and gladly, to my brother's tale of war.

"Every time the words stuck, I thought about it. What would Jihun do at a time like this? And then I played you. It might have been close to possession."

"So what happened with Sonus?"

"Hm? Oh... you mean how I shook them off?"

I nodded.

"I just named a price that made no sense. But the thing is..."

"......?"

"They started thinking it over. Out of nowhere. Threw me completely."

"Really?"

"I'd already finished with Grandfather, and then they were seriously considering it. Surprised me, I'll tell you that."

"How much did you ask for?"

"Seventy billion."

An absurd number. Still. Well done.

"But hey, hyung. What if they'd actually said yes?"

"Then I'd have had to work my head again. What would Jihun have done..."

If it had been me? The moment Sonus wavered over seventy billion, I would have thrown a killing bid at Hyeon-gang and Sonus both.

And maybe walked out with a signature from one side or the other.

I let out a short breath of a laugh. A daydream with nothing in it worth eating.

So what.

I'd retired today.

I smiled at him, and for a long while after that I went on listening to the story of what my brother had done.