This Wasn’t How It Was Supposed to Be
When I went out to meet them at the entrance, I found my uncle and aunt standing there, gazing at the pool villa and letting out one exclamation after another.
“Uncle.”
“D-Doyun...”
“It’s been a while. Aunt, it’s been a long time for you too.”
“It has, hasn’t it? It’s so rare for us to make the trip up to Seoul that it’s hard to see your face. Still...”
He clearly couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer.
“What on earth is going on here...? This is the right place for the family gathering, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. The rest of the family got here early and are waiting inside.”
“And what about the car you sent for us? Could it be... did you win the lottery or something?”
“Didn’t you say it yourself, Uncle? That if I moved to Seoul, I’d definitely make it. I guess I just made it in a pretty big way.”
“...Really? How big are we talking? No, wait, what am I saying? I should congratulate you first. Congratulations. You’ve grown up well, my nephew.”
“Thank you.”
I could thank him with an easy smile.
He was exactly the uncle I remembered, and that somehow made me feel good too.
“The kids are coming separately?”
“I figured it’d get hectic if they came too early, so I told them to come later.”
“Is that so? It’s not like there’d be anything for them to do.”
“Oh, that’s only because you don’t know, Doyun. There’s so much that needs doing. Your mother must have had such a hard time all this while...”
He didn’t know the full story yet, so I could understand why he’d think that way.
So he came early to help with the work?
Probably. He hadn’t brought the younger cousins with him, either.
Smiling, I led them inside.
There were several people already there.
Not guests, but the people who were helping with this gathering.
From the cooking to even simple cleaning tasks.
“What in the world is all this...”
“It felt wrong to make everyone work hard for what’s supposed to be a happy get-together. I had some room to spare, so I hired people to help out.”
“...You paid for all this yourself?”
“Yes.”
“...No, that won’t do. It’s one thing if anybody else pays for it, but not you, Doyun. There are elders in this family.”
“Please don’t worry. I really did make it big.”
But my uncle’s expression still didn’t soften.
He might have been thinking about the elders’ pride, but more than anything, what worried him most was probably my money.
It showed plain as day on his face.
“This isn’t right, even if you won the lottery, Doyun. That money doesn’t last forever. Of course, I’ll keep rooting for you, but... money comes and goes.”
“I’ve done better than winning the lottery.”
“...Even if you became a billionaire.”
“More than that.”
“A, a hundred-billion-won billionaire...? E-even then... no, no, that’s not it. How should I put this... Hah... Even if you were worth hundreds of billions, ten thousand won is still ten thousand won...”
“More.”
“Huh...?”
“So you really don’t need to worry.”
He fell into silence for quite a while, trying to take in what I was saying.
He probably thought that being worth trillions was simply too unrealistic.
Of course.
I was one step above even that—worth more than a trillion won.
If I told him, he still probably wouldn’t believe me.
“...Are you messing with me? No, that can’t be right.”
“You really think that makes sense? Just the cost of this place alone looks like it must’ve been several million won...”
“No, it’s just so hard to believe. From your point of view, then what exactly happened? Even if you succeeded, there’s a limit to how much...”
“That may be true, but...”
He scratched his head.
At the sheer impossibility of it all.
Probably, with time, he’d gradually come to accept it.
Just like the rest of the family.
***
Ideoksu, after refusing the taxi I’d offered and driving his own car instead, frowned at the distance.
“Why make me drive myself when they said they’d send a taxi? Wouldn’t it have been easier to just ride?”
“Who knows what kind of boasting he’d do later? If he says he’ll just take it out of the family fund and starts making a big show of it, then we’re the only ones who lose. If we want to say anything later, we have to push back from the start.”
“Sigh, surely he wouldn’t do that.”
“You really think he wouldn’t?”
The way they thought about things was twisted. Twisted beyond reason.
“Because of you, the kids are always trying so hard to get along with their cousins and relatives.”
“They’re busy studying. There’s no need for them to come to some family gathering like this.”
“If everyone else comes and only our kids stay home, people will say we’re making a fuss over nothing.”
“Our kids need to get into good universities.”
“How are they doing with school?”
“Pretty well. They’re in the top five in their class, so if they keep working hard, they might even make it into a good university in Seoul.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Even when he was in a bad mood, hearing about the kids made him feel better again.
If they were doing poorly and skipped the gathering, then sure, that would be rude.
But if they were genuinely studying hard and couldn’t make it, then that was just diligence.
Everyone would understand that just fine.
It wasn’t like they were out goofing off.
They arrived at the address his younger brother had sent.
But then—
“...What kind of place is this?”
“...It better not be something they rented with family dues.”
“No way... if it is, I’m going to have a word with them.”
“Honestly, if they went and rented a place like this...”
Just looking at the shabby so-called pension made them both uneasy.
At a glance, it was the kind of place that clearly cost a lot.
Way beyond what his brother’s family could comfortably afford.
Places like this were the kind where even one room could burn through money like water...
And look at how many people were around the area.
It was absolutely not the sort of place you brought your parents to.
With stiff faces, they went straight inside.
“...There don’t seem to be many people here.”
“He didn’t give us the wrong place, did he?”
“No way. I checked several times.”
“Sigh, look at those cars. Just how upscale is this place that the cars are...”
“...If they ask us to chip in too, just say we don’t have any money. We’re already scraping together every penny we can to send the kids to college.”
“As if we need to say it.”
More than anything else, they couldn’t help reacting sensitively when it came to money.
Even if it was his own brother, if he was going to put financial pressure on them without discussion, then as the older brother he’d need to give him a good talking-to.
They went deeper inside.
Sure enough, there still weren’t many people to be seen.
The only unusual thing was that there seemed to be quite a lot of staff.
As they walked, they finally spotted the pool area.
There were his brother’s family, and their parents too.
“...At least Mom and Dad look happy.”
“Yeah.”
Unlike their own worries, the two of them looked bright as could be.
They must like it here.
It did seem expensive beyond reason, but if their family alone had the place to themselves, it would make sense that they were happy.
He went over to his younger brother.
“Gwangseop, what in the world is going on? I looked around and didn’t see any other guests...”
“Yes, Hyung. This time, we rented the entire place so our family could use it alone.”
“...R-Really? That must have cost a fortune. You didn’t secretly use our family fund, did you? I trust you’d at least have that much manners.”
“Of course not, Hyung. We paid for it ourselves, so please enjoy yourselves comfortably.”
“I see... What, did you win the lottery or something?”
“Not at all.”
He was just about to press for more details, unable to hold back his curiosity any longer, when our nephew cut into the conversation.
“It’s been a while, Uncle.”
“Yeah... you should at least wait until the adults are done talking.”
“I was happy to see you after so long. And I thought I could explain.”
“You, Doyun?”
“Yes. I rented this entire place.”
“...How?”
“I moved up to Seoul, got lucky, and made some money.”
“...You’re not lying, are you?”
“Come on, why would I lie about something like this?”
“...Can I ask what kind of work you do? The world’s so dangerous these days. You could end up mixed up in something ugly.”
“You’re still worrying like that, I see. I remember you were extremely concerned when I first moved to Seoul. Don’t worry. I succeeded through legal means.”
“...Then tell me more. How much are you actually making?”
“I’ll tell you the details later.”
“...”
He was speechless.
And honestly, when did that nephew of theirs get so self-assured?
Then came the exasperation, because the brat had the nerve to cut off the adults mid-conversation and wander off on his own.
“Gwangseop, I think you ought to teach Doyun some manners.”
“What century do you think this is? Are the kids coming this time?”
“...It looks like they won’t be able to make it because they’re studying.”
“Sigh, Hyung. It’s a family gathering—how important can studying really be? Are they getting into Seoul National University or something?”
“...They should be able to get into a university in Seoul.”
“Our Doyun came all the way down here, leaving the people from Seoul National University behind, to attend a family gathering... Hm. Looks like he still needs some manners...”
“...What exactly are you saying to me?”
“Oh, heavens, would I ever do that?”
What the hell...?
What was this weirdly irritating conversation?
“You...”
I was just about to say something.
But my younger brother had already arrived as well and was walking over here.
Good timing. If he’d heard what had just happened, he’d definitely be on my side.
He’d always been especially loyal to his older brother, if I remembered right.
But this time, they were clearly the ones in the wrong.
“You’re here, Hyung?”
“Yeah. More importantly, you little punk, how dare you talk to your brother like that...”
“Sigh, Hyung, why bring that up on such a nice day? Third older brother got here early and went to all this trouble, and the least you could do is thank him for it...”
“...”
Something was off.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be...