Misunderstandings Can Be Corrected
Lee Gwangseop had been about to cancel the couples’ gathering.
His son had come down earlier than he expected.
When Doyun came home, he wanted to see as much of him as he possibly could.
Once he went back up to Seoul, who knew when he’d come down again?
The whole point of going up there in the first place was to succeed. It wasn’t like his parents could just order him back down whenever they felt like seeing him.
He had at least warned them that he might not be able to make it.
Everyone had understood.
It was a gathering of people around the same age, and they all had children Doyun’s age.
How could they not understand a parent’s heart?
What they didn’t understand was not the people at the gathering, but that damned son of his.
“What time did he even go to sleep last night..”
Even though it was already close to dinner, there was no sign of him getting up.
Anyone looking at him would think he’d fainted.
His younger daughter informed him, “Looks like he didn’t sleep until dawn? I went to the bathroom around five in the morning, and he was still awake then.”
“Even so, he’s late.. But he probably got tired coming all the way down from Seoul.”
“Why don’t you just go to the gathering? It’s been planned for ages.”
“Right. Haeun, if Doyun wakes up, ask him to make ramyeon or something.”
“.. Okay.”
If he’d stayed awake until sunrise, that was understandable enough.
Besides, coming all the way down from Seoul to Gwangju must have exhausted him.
In the end, since his son still wasn’t waking up, they decided to go ahead and attend the couples’ gathering.
There wasn’t any real problem with that.
Everyone lived in the neighborhood, so it wasn’t far.
When they arrived, the place erupted into noise and chatter almost instantly.
Everyone must have had plenty to say. Their children were at the age where they were about to step out into society.
At their age, what else did they have to talk about anyway? Mostly their kids, of course.
“I think my Seonghyeon will probably land a job at a major company once he graduates.”
“Oh my, really? That’s amazing.”
“He worked so hard just to get into college. He deserves to be rewarded somehow.”
“Still, getting into a Seoul university isn’t easy.”
“My kid got a job and even gave me pocket money. Honestly, it was almost too much to accept.”
“Tell me about it. Thanks to that, I’ve got enough breathing room to think about moving.”
“Oh my, I’m so jealous.”
While everyone was sharing their stories, the conversation naturally drifted to Doyun as well.
After all, when he’d tried to cancel the gathering earlier, Doyun had come up in the conversation.
“Right, didn’t you say Doyun came down to Gwangju too? How’s Seoul treating him?”
“It can’t be easy. It hasn’t even been a full year yet. Well, what can you do? All I can do is cheer him on.”
“True.. Life in Seoul isn’t exactly easy. If it really doesn’t work out, have him come back down. I’ll teach him a trade.”
“That means a lot, just hearing it. But maybe later. Right now, just cheering him on is hard enough.”
“I’m only saying it because I’m sorry for him. Doyun’s diligent if nothing else. If someone pointed him in the right direction, he’d probably do fine.”
Thankfully, the subject moved on to something else after a while.
Then, all of a sudden, he realized he’d left his wife’s phone at home.
His wife wasn’t just someone who stayed inside all day doing housework; she needed her phone, too.
So he called his daughter. It seemed Doyun had finally gotten up.
He told her to have Doyun bring it over.
Doyun had been to the shop plenty of times before, so there was nothing to worry about.
A little while later, Doyun arrived with the phone.
“Well now, look who it is. Doyun, huh? Come sit down. You’re all grown up now, so let your uncle have some of the soju you pour.”
“.. Yes, sir.”
He naturally took a seat.
***
Just as I’d expected.
The moment I handed over the phone, they told me to sit down.
Then they shoved a bottle of liquor toward me without missing a beat.
As if I couldn’t do even that.
These were people who had given me pocket money all the time when I was little.
Of course they’d be happy to see me all grown up.
I’d poured drinks more times than I could count while working part-time, so there was no reason to feel bad about it.
“Doyun’s doing well in Seoul, is he?”
“That’s right?”
“It can’t be easy. You’re still working part-time, right?”
“Yes, I’ve got to work hard.”
I’d quit my part-time job a while ago, but I still hadn’t told my parents yet, so there was no need to be honest here.
“How is it? Seoul isn’t easy, is it?”
“Hmm.. I like it, actually?”
“Haha. You little brat. You’ve got a man’s pride, don’t you? It’s okay, kid. You left your hometown and went off on your own to some strange city—of course it’s hard.”
“..”
“If it gets too rough, come back down. Your uncle will teach you a trade. At least then you’ll be able to make a living.”
I appreciated the sentiment, but I didn’t really need it.
Even if this entire investment blew up in my face, so what?
Just the building I was about to buy this time would be enough. In Yeouido or Gangnam—didn’t matter.
Wherever I bought, I’d be pulling in hundreds of millions of won in monthly profit after tax.
The time when I had to worry about just scraping together a living had ended a long time ago.
Like I said, I was rich.
“I’m really fine. Things are going better than I expected. At this rate, I might end up being able to repay my parents sooner than planned.”
“You talk so sweetly. But sometimes that kind of talk can weigh on your shoulders, too. The world isn’t easy. You’re still young, so you probably don’t know that yet.. There’s a reason other people cling so hard to college.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The best way to repay your parents isn’t by making money far away—it’s by living close by. The farther apart bodies get, the farther hearts drift too. Even if they’re family.”
Well, that depended on whether you had enough money or not.
As for me, my heart hadn’t drifted just because my body was far away.
In fact, it made me miss them even more.
If I’d been seeing them every day, I probably wouldn’t even be thinking so hard about repaying them like this.
Sometimes you only understand how precious something is once you’re separated from it.
Still, I just listened because he was an elder.
What I couldn’t shake, though, was the sense of relief.
If I’d heard this before I got rich, I probably would’ve felt intimidated.
I might even have seriously considered coming back down from Seoul.
But now I could brush it off calmly.
“That’s right, punk. Listen to your elders. Doyun, aren’t you old enough to start acting like a grown man? Do you have money set aside or what?”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve been listening from the side, and there’s not a single thing he said that’s wrong. You can work part-time anywhere, Seoul or Gwangju, same difference.”
“..”
“What’s sad these days is that kids’ standards have gotten too high. They don’t know reality. I’m only saying this as someone with more life experience, so listen carefully.”
That was a little hard to like.
The uncle I didn’t especially care for cut in.
Back then, I’d just let it slide. At the very least, he was pretty well-off, so I’d figured he had to be right.
But now? I wasn’t so sure. If anything, the uncle who’d been giving me advice earlier looked better by comparison.
He at least showed respect as an elder.
Before I could say anything about my worsening mood, my parents stepped in first.
“Hey now, he says the boy’s doing well, and you still can’t keep your mouth shut? Listen here! Lee Taesan! Don’t you think you’re speaking a little too freely?”
“That’s right! Our son is working his butt off in Seoul!”
“No, no. I meant no harm, brother.. I was only saying it because I care about my nephew.”
“Then just cheer him on and leave it at that! Why do you have so much to say? You sound just like those young people these days. People say modern adults don’t know when to keep their mouths shut and just walk away!”
“.. Brother, think about it. We’re all at the age where we should be preparing for retirement. Honestly, what part of what I said is wrong? He’s not going to Seoul to learn a trade; he said he’s working part-time. If that’s the case, Gwangju with its cheaper living costs is the better place!”
The troublemaking uncle, now hot under the collar himself, fired back.
We’d all had drinks by then.
Even without that, those two had been butting heads for years.
Still, they’d always patched things up over drinks afterward, and that was how the relationship had managed to last this long.
“Why are you all acting like this? It’s a happy occasion. Taesan, you should apologize too. Whatever you think, it’s still overstepping.”
“Ha.. I’m seriously going to lose my mind. Hey, let me ask you one thing. Doyun. What exactly do you want to become?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You said you wanted to succeed. What kind of success are you talking about?”
“I want to become rich.”
“See? This is exactly what I mean. If you’re talking about seeing something through to the end, then sure, maybe Seoul makes sense! But you said you want to become rich! At the very least, if you want to make serious money, shouldn’t you be saving as much as possible? How is just working part-time in Seoul supposed to do that? I’m saying this because I’ve seen plenty of young men like him, and I can’t help feeling sorry for them!”
“It’s not even been a year yet! What exactly do you expect him to do in that time?”
“At least think of a plan! If you claim you’re going to become rich, that is. So, Doyun—do you have a plan?”
All eyes turned to me.
For the first time, I was grateful to that troublesome uncle.
I’d wanted to say something too, but I’d been holding back.
It was an adults’ conversation.
But if they were going to hand me an opening like this, then there was no reason to keep dodging it.
“Actually, I was planning to quit my part-time job soon anyway.”
“What? Are you talking back to me because of what I just said?”
“No, that was what I’d already been planning.”
“Well then, quit!”
“I’m going to try investing. I studied a lot while working part-time. I also learned I have something of a talent for it.”
I was about ready to talk a little about my results.
Even if they still saw me as a kid, if I told them I’d made not just hundreds of thousands but hundreds of millions of won, they’d have to acknowledge it.
The problem was that before I even got to that part, the backlash was stronger than I’d expected.
“Hey! You little brat, and you’re already trying to play with money!”
“.. Pardon?”
“.. Doyun. Dad didn’t know this, but are you thinking about investing?”
“..”
“See! Brother, I told you I was right! These days, once a son grows distant from his family, he starts getting greedy!”
“..”
This was getting ridiculous..
“You punk! Do you know how much your parents have been rooting for you to live well in Seoul? And what are you doing? Investing? How much do you think that’s going to make you? A few hundred thousand won? Sure, that sounds big at first!”
It was in the trillions.
“You’ll bring the whole household down with you!”
He’d gotten even bolder now.
This time, he had my parents behind him.
At some point, he’d switched sides and become the troublemaker’s ally.
I wasn’t stupid enough to apologize here.
“I’m saying this because I’m confident about it.”
The eyes staring at me went wide.
Were they shocked?
No.
They were angry.
They probably thought I was full of confidence over a measly few hundred thousand won.
All I had to do was correct the misunderstanding.