Severing My Old Self Today
In the end, the owner never apologized.
At this rate, it felt like we could keep going forever, so we decided to leave it there for now and stepped outside the shop, putting off the rest for another day.
“Sorry, oppa. This is all because of me...”
“No, it’s fine. I just stepped in because I couldn’t stand the sight of him. Still, I’m worried about you. I can quit and it wouldn’t matter, but you were planning to keep working here, weren’t you?”
“I’m going to quit. He called me a rag, too, so it’d be weirder if I stayed. I was already thinking of starting to prepare for college admission soon, anyway.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
Come to think of it, keeping a part-time job after being called a rag would’ve been unhinged beyond belief.
That left only my brother.
“What about you?”
“You saw it yourself. Working under that bastard would just make me a slave. He was even trying to make Jihyun the assistant manager because he thought she was pretty. Do you really think I could leave my future in the hands of a guy like that?”
“Well, when you put it like that...”
“Seriously, I’m so damn relieved. The way that bastard was acting, I figured he’d do something stupid sooner or later, so I pulled out my phone and started recording.”
My brother held up a V-sign, proudly congratulating himself for his own actions.
This time, I honestly felt like praising him.
I wasn’t exactly well-versed in the law, but I knew there was a huge difference between having video evidence and not having any at all.
And in any case, the reason he’d stepped in wasn’t just because he wanted to screw the guy over. He’d probably also done it to help me.
My brother wasn’t the kind of man who stood up for justice.
He was simply a good brother to me.
Hm...
Lately, I’d been thinking I needed a proper calling card.
Something not too excessive, not too trivial either.
That way, at least I’d have an excuse when helping out my family.
A calling card that was too flashy would only invite suspicion—and worry.
“Executive Secretary, do you happen to know any businesses I could found? I need a decent calling card.”
“May I ask what exactly the chairman wants?”
“Hm... something successful enough to give off that impression. And recognizable, too.”
“The most common choices would be premium restaurants—Korean beef, omakase, that sort of thing. And then...”
Nothing there particularly appealed to me.
Then, suddenly—
“Another option would be to co-found a business with a famous chef. That’s possible, provided you’re not aiming for separate profits.”
“Oh? Explain that a bit more.”
“The chairman would provide all labor costs and startup capital, including the famous chef’s share of expenses, and in exchange, the chef would accept the bare minimum stake to open a fine-dining restaurant.”
“So the famous chef just gets a base salary and incentives?”
“That’s correct. Though it wouldn’t be much. Since fine dining uses premium ingredients and delivers the highest level of service, the operating profit remains slim once all the costs are accounted for, even if revenue is high.”
In other words, I’d be paying money to borrow a famous chef’s name.
That’s not bad.
It was exactly what I wanted.
“Is there anything I need to worry about?”
“If you choose a joint venture, the famous chef would handle the rest. The chairman would only need to provide the investment capital...”
“Good. Let’s do that.”
“I’ll arrange a meeting.”
“Thanks.”
The business was settled.
“Brother, want to take on the auditor role?”
“Huh?”
“Since expensive ingredients are involved, if the chef wanted to, he could easily skim off a huge chunk of the costs.”
“That does happen, actually.”
“See? That’s why you’d be the auditor.”
“...Do you really think I can do it?”
“Of course. You can just do it until you’ve saved enough for yourself.”
“...Brother.”
It was a simple thank-you, really.
He was giving up his own safety to stand on my side.
“I’ll contact a chef aiming for Michelin stars. They’re usually the ones looking for investment.”
“Please handle it well, Executive Secretary. I’m counting on you.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
“Wow... oppa, you’re really cool.”
I’d just procured myself a calling card.
Just something to show my family.
***
Back at the shop, Owner Kim Geunseok was left behind.
“That bastard—who the hell does he think he is, acting all high and mighty...”
Earlier, he’d been too flustered by the situation to think straight.
Now that he’d recovered his senses, there were all kinds of things that didn’t add up.
“What? The top law firm in Korea? What a fucking joke.”
He finally realized how exaggerated the middle-aged man’s threats had been.
All Lee Doyun had actually done was curse at him and give his cheek a light slap.
And it wasn’t even one-sided—he’d cursed right back. So if anything, didn’t that mean he’d been the one who touched the cheek first?
Which meant the only thing that might matter was the slap.
“Hah.”
As expected, it was absurd beyond belief.
What kind of punishment could come from a slap, anyway?
Even if the top law firm in Korea showed up, or the best law firm in the world for that matter, it would still end at a reasonable level.
At worst, it’d just be a fine. Or maybe a deferred prosecution.
The only thing he was slightly bothered by was what he’d said to Jihyun...
But that could be handled separately, with a bit of coaxing. If he gave her about two million won, she’d shut her mouth on her own.
“What a crazy bastard. Where the hell does he get off bluffing like that?”
How much would it even cost to use the top law firm in Korea? At the very least, several tens of millions of won would go up in smoke.
And for what—just to secure a misdemeanor fine?
It didn’t make sense. Not at all.
That wasn’t something even most rich people would do. You’d have to be a chaebol for that.
Or have money rotting out of your ears.
“There’s no way, not with a part-timer.”
Right—it was impossible. He definitely wasn’t a chaebol. And it wasn’t like money was rotting out of his ears, either. If it were, he wouldn’t have been working part-time in the first place.
In other words...
“I don’t know how you two met,”
but maybe he’d asked a friend he’d gotten close to after moving to Seoul for help.
By some chance, that friend happened to be fairly well-off.
And now he was using that connection to bully him—without any intention of actually involving the law firm.
He went to visit a relative.
“Brother, I need your help just this once.”
“Haa... what is it now?”
He explained the situation.
“That happened?”
“Yes. Please, just help me one last time. These kids these days have no manners at all. They screw up on their own and then turn around and make other people’s lives miserable.”
“Sigh... do you have the number?”
“Yes, brother.”
He handed over the number he’d received earlier, and his brother made the call.
Bastards.
Just wait until you get a taste of your own medicine.
It seemed the other party had answered. His brother introduced himself and started speaking with them.
The more he talked, the stiffer his brother’s expression became. The content of the conversation was getting stranger, too.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize who I was dealing with. I’m stepping out of this matter.”
“Br, brother!”
He hung up.
For some reason, anger had settled into his expression.
“You idiot! You’ve got to know who you can and can’t fuck with!”
“...Huh?”
“Even if he’s old news now, he used to be the head of strategic planning at the Hwunhwa Group! There’s no way a man like that would be under some ordinary nobody!”
“...Br, brother. I don’t understand.”
“Listen carefully. You might not know who you’ve gone after. So start understanding now. He may have lost the power struggle and stepped down from his post, but once upon a time he was a man whose name carried weight across all of Korea. He was one of the people who helped raise the Hwunhwa Group to where it is today.”
“Th, then why would someone like that—”
“Shit... that’s exactly what I want to know. I’m done with this. For the record, that man could drag your entire life straight into the gutter if he wanted to.”
He couldn’t make sense of it.
But he was afraid.
He’d never seen his brother react like this before.
“Br, brother. Please, just this once. If it’s not you, I really don’t have anyone else to rely on.”
“There’s only one way you’re getting out of this. Beg for forgiveness. Or take the punishment.”
“...”
“I wouldn’t recommend the punishment side of things. He’ll probably keep tormenting you until he’s satisfied.”
“...”
Fuck...
How the hell had things turned out like this?
The sky had gone dark in front of his eyes.
***
The eventful day was finally drawing to a close.
We’d come to a bar to have a sort of farewell drink.
“I was seriously shocked earlier. Honestly... if I’d really done that sort of thing before, I guess I wouldn’t know, but I’ve never even dated a guy before.”
“Really? Jihyun was a pure rookie? Then how about your first boyfriend being oppa?”
“No thanks.”
“...Ah, so being next to Doyun made the comparison too obvious.”
“Even if he wasn’t here.”
“...Lies.”
We were joking around and making light of things when—
“Oh? I got a call.”
The owner called my brother.
He answered.
He put it on speaker.
“Uh... Jaehun. Could you maybe put in a good word for me with Doyun?”
“Huh?”
“I-I mean... I want to apologize.”
“...”
He wore a confused expression.
I took the phone instead.
“It’s me.”
“...Oh, Doyun. You were with them.”
“What do you want now? Weren’t you saying we should take this all the way?”
“I’m sorry. I was really out of my mind. What do I need to do?”
I thought about it.
Honestly, if his life got ruined, it wouldn’t bring me any joy.
What I wanted was to pay him back in the most direct, satisfying way possible.
The words that had nearly slipped out earlier, when the law had come up and I’d swallowed my disappointment, came back to me now.
“First, speak politely. You’re not a part-timer anymore. The conditions for accepting your apology are simple. The insults—fine, let’s say both sides traded them. But the slap? You’re taking that.”
“...Fine. Give me one good hit. That should make things square, right?”
“Where did the polite speech go this time?”
“I’m sorry. It’s just a habit...”
I muted the speaker for a moment and asked Jihyun, “Do you mind if he comes here?”
“I’d like to see it, actually. Him getting hit.”
“Alright. The apology is for me alone, so don’t worry—this doesn’t involve you.”
“Thanks for considering me.”
I called him back.
“Get your ass over here right now.”
“...Right now?”
“Things that happen today should be settled today. Otherwise, interest starts piling up.”
“Send me the address. I’ll be there now.”
Wasn’t true revenge supposed to be forgiveness?
Well, maybe that didn’t suit me.
Just the thought of returning everything I’d suffered, exactly as it had been given to me, made me feel so thrilled I could practically lose my mind.
Today, I felt like I could finally sever my old self.