A Full-Blown Windfall - 2
Have I really developed the ability to foresee the future?
If only I could predict that Bang Seonghyun was going to win a gold medal at the National Sports Festival before it even happened.
I rubbed my eyes and looked at Bang Seonghyun again. In the brief moment that had passed, the golden glow that had shimmered around his face like a halo was gone. It had vanished in the blink of an eye — so fast that I wondered if I'd simply imagined the whole thing.
"When is the National Sports Festival?"
"In the fall. The sunbae who won taekwondo gold at the Olympics agreed to run a four-day, three-night intensive training camp for me."
"What about school?"
"They said the time will count as class attendance. I guess since I was selected to represent Gangwon Province, they're trying to make things easier for me however they can."
Bang Seonghyun said it with a grin, as if it were nothing. But to my eyes, he seemed to be carrying an enormous weight on his shoulders.
He was in his third year of high school — win a medal at the National Sports Festival, and he could get into university as a sports recruit. There would be scholarship money too. And beyond that, the Olympics might even be within reach.
Back in my banking days, I'd had a client who was trying to send her son to university through soccer. It was an open secret among sports families that it cost about as much as a brand-new Audi to get a kid into a prestigious school as a soccer recruit.
"I hear the athletes from Seoul and the capital region sweep everything at the National Sports Festival — is taekwondo any different?"
"It's the same. There are even high schools that specialize in taekwondo."
"Seoul Physical Education High? Or Yongin University's affiliated school?"
"You know your stuff."
"I had a client who was really into that world, that's all."
I'd heard the stories — graduates of Seoul Physical Education High going on to elite universities, becoming professional athletes and coaches.
Bang Seonghyun had long since fallen off the taekwondo elite track. Did that mean his prospects were bleak?
Not at all.
"The heroes we talk about are always born out of exceptional circumstances."
General Yi Sun-sin had originally been stationed in the northern frontier of Hamgyong Province, holding the line against Jurchen invasions. What would have become of Joseon if he'd stayed up north his whole career?
There would have been no Battle of Myeongnyang, that's what.
The fact that Yi Sun-sin — who passed the military examination and was first posted to Hamgyong Province — ended up as the naval commander of Jeolla's left fleet was itself a fluke of history.
But I said it to tell Bang Seonghyun not to feel pressured.
"Our Seonghyun can become Gangwon Province's hero, or he can end up with nothing at all. I've lived long enough to tell you — being a farmer isn't such a bad life either."
"A farmer?"
"Yep. Hahaha. What? Do I look miserable to you?"
"No! You look amazing!"
Bang Seonghyun's eyes shone as he looked at me. I patted him on the shoulder.
"So don't clench your teeth over this like it's do-or-die. All you'll get is a sore jaw."
"Hahaha. Okay."
"Right. Do whatever you want to do."
"Right now, my dream is winning a gold medal."
"Okay! I'll be rooting for you."
I thrust both fists into the air, and Bang Seonghyun's burden seemed to lift as he broke into a bright smile.
"Hop in. Hauling luggage this heavy all the way to school isn't exercise, it's manual labor."
"Yes, sir."
I loaded Bang Seonghyun's bags into the back seat. He climbed obediently into the passenger seat and buckled up.
"Actually, I'm not headed to school. A bus is coming to pick us up in front of the Nonghyup branch in the township center."
"Perfect. That's exactly where I'm headed."
On the drive to the Nonghyup, Bang Seonghyun started talking about school.
"I'm doing really well at school."
"Yeah?"
"You never said anything, but I could tell you kept worrying about me."
"Of course I worried. I watched those delinquents pick on you your first day after transferring. But you didn't have a single bruise on your face, and when I asked the master of your dojang about it, he said you're the kind of kid who can't afford to get hit."
I'd traded phone calls with the taekwondo master a few times.
"Seonghyun won't hit the kids. If he did, they could die."
That was the level Bang Seonghyun was at.
On top of that, he'd sworn that he would never again be the reason Han Mija shed tears. I believed that no matter what happened, he would never get tangled up in a brawl.
"You asked the master about me? Because you were worried?"
"Yeah. Your mother and father are both such gentle souls, I figured if anyone ever gave you trouble, I'd have to be the one to step in."
"Oh, come on. How old do you think I am? And I would never put you in a position where you had to wade into a kid's fight."
Bang Seonghyun was acting so grown-up that I burst out laughing.
Come to think of it, I thought I knew everything back in my third year of high school too.
What a clever kid.
Bang Seonghyun went on about how well he got along with the new friends he'd made. Listening to him, my own high school days came drifting back to me.
"I know exactly that feeling."
"You do?"
"Of course!"
Thanks to Bang Seonghyun, I found myself laughing and chatting away, memories I'd completely buried resurfacing one after another.
This is actually really fun.
After spending so long laughing and talking at the top of our lungs, the Nonghyup building in the township center came into view before I knew it.
"We're almost there. Thanks to you, I've had a proper belly laugh for the first time in ages."
"I had fun too."
"Don't be a stranger — come hang out at my place often. You can turn on the computer in the study and play games when I'm not home, you know?"
"Okay. After the National Sports Festival ends, I'll come every day."
"Good."
I pulled into the Nonghyup parking lot and took out my wallet.
A provincial representative training in a camp, with an Olympic gold medalist brought in as coach — surely they'd be fed. But he'd still need pocket money.
I pulled out several 50,000-won bills from my cash.
"Buy drinks and pass them around to the kids training with you and your coach. Got it?"
Bang Seonghyun hesitated for a moment, then took the money with both hands.
"I'll make sure to buy the coach a drink, and I'll get hamburgers for the kids I train with."
"That's right."
I turned to smile at Bang Seonghyun, then suddenly froze and thrust my arm out.
"Seonghyun, hold on a second. If that man sees you with me, it won't be good."
I pressed his head down firmly and looked out the window.
Son Gu-chul of Ugok Marsh Snail Hangover Soup was stomping out of the Nonghyup, muttering furiously.
Son Gu-chul. Of course.
You could call him a rice-paddy gangster. He ran a construction business in Ugok 3-ri and dragged his lackeys around with him everywhere.
And after the auction, he'd lost to me decisively — once and for all. He must have plenty of resentment built up over that.
I could handle Son Gu-chul a hundred times over, but Bang Seonghyun couldn't. If that bastard decided to harass a kid focused on training for a National Sports Festival medal just because the kid was friendly with me, it would become a real headache.
Thankfully, it didn't look like Son Gu-chul had seen me.
"Damn it, what do you mean you can't give me another loan? You're telling me all the interest I've paid you over the years counts for nothing? Agh, this is insane!"
Had Cho Eunsun cut him loose right after his losing bid at the Ugok 5-ri auction? One look told the whole story — he'd come for a loan and been turned away.
"This is exactly why people end up using loan sharks — the Nonghyup won't lend them a won! Argh, seriously! It's not like I can just seize my father's land behind his back."
Son Gu-chul kicked at the pebbles in his path, spat on the ground, and stalked toward his own car parked across the lot.
"Hey! Open the car door, you little punk! Were you sleeping in there with the doors locked?"
At Son Gu-chul's roar, the backrest of the passenger seat slowly rose upright.
"Useless, every one of them. So much for the eldest son. Open the door already!"
The door must have opened, because Son Gu-chul climbed into the driver's seat and swung his fist. He seemed to be taking out his frustration over the rejected loan on the kid in the passenger seat.
A moment later — vroom. Son Gu-chul roared out of the parking lot.
For just an instant, I caught a glimpse of the boy's face in the passenger seat.
Son Seok-ha!
There was no mistaking him — Son Seok-ha, the ringleader of the delinquents who had bullied Bang Seonghyun.
"Uncle, what's wrong?"
Bang Seonghyun lifted his head as I released my grip on the back of his neck.
"Someone I'm not on good terms with was passing by... Seonghyun, isn't the owner of Ugok Marsh Snail Hangover Soup's grandson named Son Seok-ha? That's the name of the kid who bullied you, right?"
"Yes, that's him. But the owner of the hangover soup place is his grandfather, actually. I heard Son Seok-ha is the eldest grandson of that family."
So Son Gu-chul's construction business wasn't making money, and he'd sunk his claws into his own father's business instead.
"Is Son Seok-ha still giving you trouble these days?"
"He did at first, but he can't touch me now."
Bang Seonghyun raised his index finger and poked my arm.
"Uncle, I am Gangwon Province's representative, you know?"
"Ah! Hahaha. So you are. My apologies for failing to recognize Bang Seonghyun, Gangwon Province's representative at the National Sports Festival."
"Even my homeroom teacher is looking out for me so I can focus on the competition."
"What a relief."
Still, that Son Gu-chul had no idea his own incompetence was why his business was failing — he'd go looking for the reason in me. Sooner or later, I figured he'd try something ugly.
I should give him a very sharp taste of consequences before that happens.
Not that I intended to use physical force in the real world.
With the sorcery I'd learned from Abe, I could torment Son Gu-chul as much as I pleased without ever exchanging a single word with him.
"There's the bus!"
Bang Seonghyun pointed at the front windshield. A bus bearing the sign "Gangwon Provincial Sports Council" was pulling into the parking lot.
I got out, carried Bang Seonghyun's bags over myself, and loaded them into the luggage compartment.
"Do well out there. If anything comes up that you can't tell your mom or dad directly, call me."
"I will. Thank you, Uncle. If I win the gold medal at the National Sports Festival, you'll be the first person I put the medal around."
"Me?"
Lee Hoyoung was the one sponsoring him — and his parents were right there?
As I blinked in bewilderment, Bang Seonghyun drew a deep breath and said,
"Because you let me start over. And a good start is half the battle."
"...Right."
I'd told him to do whatever he wanted, whether it was sports or anything else. And it seemed those words of mine were what had let him pick up the training he'd once given up.
"So today, I'm starting fresh too!"
As soon as the bus carrying Bang Seonghyun pulled away, I headed straight for the county office.
The renovation of the abandoned house was completely finished. I'd submitted the food-business permit documents needed to open my coffee workshop, along with the paperwork for opening a private access road behind Grandpa Hosik's house.
And then there was more.
Rental business and lodging registration to lease out the empty houses. I'd even filed the documents for the construction permits in Ugok 5-ri.
I feel like I'm going to throw up.
Mountains of licensing and permit paperwork, additional business registrations on top of that — trying to do it all myself without hiring a legal clerk or an accountant had my head spinning. I only managed because I'd been a banker. Back when I handled loan portfolios, I'd spent plenty of overtime nights poring over documents too.
I had finally finished every last application and was walking out of the county office when—
Beep beep!
An official county car stopped right in front of me. Governor Na Jeong-hwan must have spotted me on his way home from work and ordered his aide to pull over.
"Yoonho, if you were coming to the county office, you should have told me. I've been worried sick about that loan shark business as it is. I did get the report that nothing happened, of course."
"Well... actually, something might have happened."
That is, if I hadn't seen Son Gu-chul in the Nonghyup parking lot.
Cho Eunsun has definitely abandoned Son Gu-chul.
Which meant she'd probably try to put someone new in his place. Or she might skip the auction entirely and come after me with direct pressure instead.
I had to be ready for it.