Something Big Was Coming Soon
In Gwangju, Lee Doyun’s family was on edge.
Today was the day his youngest sister was coming home.
So no one had made dinner plans. They were all just waiting for Lee Haeun to arrive at the family house.
“Do you think what she said on the video call was really true..?”
“She was so busy having fun that it was hard to even get a call through.”
“Ahem.. maybe she exaggerated a little. I know our son made it big, but that was a bit much.”
“Exactly. What do you mean a bag costs as much as five cars? She was exaggerating way too much..”
The reason they were waiting was simple.
What they’d heard over the video call was so unbelievable they felt they had to see it with their own eyes.
All three of them were thinking the same thing.
They knew full well that Doyun had become successful.
Just the fact that he could live in a huge house they’d never have been able to afford in their entire lives, furnished with top-of-the-line furniture, already proved that their son had made it big.
They knew that.
But there was still a line, wasn’t there?
What had she said again?
“Heh.. if it had just been Haeun saying that, I’d have brushed it off as nonsense, but.. Doyun said it too.. what was it he said? Something about buying me a Bentley..? Heh.”
“Right? And then he tells me some kind of M? M something bag—says it costs as much as five cars. I mean, come on.”
“Still, I can’t just dismiss it out of hand.. Mom, you saw the bag too.”
“I did. But it’s hard to believe a bag could cost not just a few million won, but tens of millions. I looked it up online and it did seem similar.. but it’s just so unbelievable that I’ll have to see it in person to know for sure.”
They all felt the same way.
The only reason they hadn’t written it off as a complete lie was that she had actually shown them a luxury bag over the video call, and the interior of the house she’d shown them in Seoul..
It looked like a place worth at least several billion won.
After all, it was a house overlooking the Han River in Seoul.
That alone was impressive enough to make their jaws drop.
While they were waiting, Haeun called. She said she was almost there.
They all rose carefully from their seats, each carrying a different kind of anticipation.
Even if there had been exaggeration, it clearly hadn’t been pure fiction.
She had shown them the bag.
A moment later, a car appeared in front of them. A supercar that was almost impossible to see in Gwangju.
“..”
“..”
“..”
Even if you knew nothing about cars, you’d at least know a Ferrari when you saw one.
It looked like it was about to leap up into the sky.
But even if it was rare in Gwangju, it wasn’t the kind of car you’d never see at all.
And yet they all went silent, pinched their cheeks, and rubbed their eyes because—
“Dad! Mom! Sis!”
the Ferrari’s roof was open, and there was Haeun, smiling brightly and waving from inside.
The silence didn’t break until Haeun got out of the car.
It was still hard to believe.
“This car is..”
“Doyun gave it to me. He told me to drive it.”
“How can you just take something like that when your little brother gives it to you? It’s not something cheap, you know..”
“Mom.”
“What is it, you little brat.”
“Doyun has several cars like this sleeping in his underground parking garage. Even if I switch cars seven times in a week, I still couldn’t drive all of them.”
“.. Th-that much?”
“Yeah. He said he’d send a new car to Dad, but he can’t give away the ones already in the parking garage.”
“.. Ahem. I’d be fine with a used car.”
The shock still wasn’t over.
Haeun stepped out of the car with a confident smile and opened the trunk.
“Whew, the trunk was smaller than I expected, so it was a pain. The rest is being delivered separately.”
The trunk was packed full of luxury goods, crammed in like wares at a street market.
Every single one of them was an expensive designer item that would turn heads at any gathering.
“This is..”
“That’s a Birkin bag. From what I found out, if you carry this, that whole party is basically over. Only the real ones will recognize it. If someone flashes a Chanel bag at Mom, all you have to do is smile without saying a word.”
“..”
“This one cost about twenty million won, okay? Don’t freak out. I looked up how much it could be resold for, and it’s almost fifty million won.”
“Does that even make any sense?”
“Don’t try to understand it. It’s a world we don’t know.”
“.. Is it really?”
“I’m telling you it is.”
So no one would feel left out, there were bags, clothes, shoes, accessories.. all kinds of things, neatly and generously divided among them.
All of them wore smiles happier than they’d ever had in their lives.
It was the first time something like this had ever happened.
***
After my sister went back down to Gwangju, my family called me over video chat.
They all looked guilty, but they couldn’t hide how happy they were.
Once again, I felt it all over again.
Pretty soon, I really needed to go down to Gwangju and treat my family properly.
I figured I could have my parents and my eldest sister’s car shipped down together.
Seriously, when had I ever seen them grin that innocently?
After the call ended, I went back to my daily routine.
Working out while looking for the next place to invest.
Meeting up here and there with the women connected to me.
If there was one new happiness added to my everyday life, it was that my aunt, who had been handling the housework since I moved in and receiving a living allowance for it, had finally set down some of the burden in her heart and recovered a little of her breathing room.
Thanks to that, we’d gotten a lot closer too.
After all, that extra breathing room had come from me.
How close had we gotten?
“Are you heading out?”
“Yeah, I’m going for a run by the Han River for a bit. If you need anything, just let me know anytime, okay? I’m only going out for a quick run.”
“I’ve been sitting in a chair all day, so I’m a little stiff too. Can I come with you?”
“Of course. Sitting in one place all day is bad for you. Money is great and all, but you’ve got to take care of your health too. It’d be boring going out alone anyway, so let’s go together.”
“I’ll get ready right away.”
By then, it wasn’t just seeing each other at home anymore. We could go out together too.
It wasn’t my first time running along the Han River with her.
Lately, after getting into running again, my aunt had recovered her health, and with it, the kind of looks that made it instantly understandable why Seolhyun and Sihyun could have faces on the level of celebrities.
I changed into my running clothes quickly and left the house with her.
I was happy. Unlike the other women, there was a little genuine innocence in it too.
Of course, I wasn’t so innocent that I didn’t know where this feeling really ended: I was looking at my aunt as a woman.
“Hehe.. looks like you’ve been working out a lot lately. You’re running better than I expected.”
“Hah.. and you, Doyun, look like you’ve got plenty of energy too.”
“I’ve been working out like crazy at the gym lately. If you’re up for it, you should come too, Aunt. They teach Pilates there as well.”
“The gym..?”
“Yeah. It’s one I run, so the trainers there will take good care of you.”
“.. I keep only getting help from you. I hear it’s not cheap at all to learn from trainers.”
“It’s fine. If someone like you starts working out, it’ll motivate everybody else too. They’d want to become like you.”
“Oh, come on..”
I meant it sincerely.
Even without working out, she looked at least ten years younger than her actual age.
And her figure had been gifted by heaven to begin with.
If she added exercise on top of that..
Wouldn’t other people work out harder just wanting to look like her?
What did it matter?
I just wanted my aunt to be able to exercise comfortably.
After running for a long while, we sat on a bench for a bit and caught our breath.
“Hah.. I never even imagined I’d be able to run like this so leisurely.. I really am grateful, Doyun.”
“I’m the one who should be grateful. If I’d come up to Seoul alone and you hadn’t helped me..”
“What did I even do?”
We were exchanging gratitude and laughing together when—
“Oh my.. Seoha?”
I heard someone calling my aunt’s name from nearby, and she flinched when she turned to face the person calling her.
“It is you, right? Seoha, right?”
“.. I-it’s been a while.”
“Exactly! It’s been how long? You still look just as beautiful as ever. And this person next to you..”
“Well..”
I could see my aunt hesitating. It wasn’t easy to explain.
“Hello. I’m Lee Doyun, Sihyun’s boyfriend. We happened to run into her mother and were jogging together.”
“Oh my, really? Sihyun’s found herself a good boyfriend. You were such a little kid back then..”
She must have been reminiscing.
“Oh, right. I heard the news. How awful.. you must really be going through a hard time.”
“.. No, it’s okay.”
“No, it isn’t. Who would’ve thought the great Seoha would have to endure something like this? Your ex-husband really is terrible. He acted like he’d take responsibility for everything, and then with the married life thing—what was wrong that—”
“Mijin..”
“Oh no, I’m sorry. What am I saying? I’m so happy to see you after all this time that I’m saying all sorts of things I shouldn’t.”
“It’s okay.”
“Since we ran into each other so unexpectedly, a bunch of us old college friends are getting together soon. I wanted to give you the wedding invitation then too. You’ll come, right?”
“..”
“I’ll let you know the place, so make sure you come. It’s a promise. You have to! I’ll call you! If you don’t have a car, I’ll pick you up, so make sure you’re there.”
“.. Okay.”
My aunt answered with an expression that clearly wasn’t satisfied.
Then the woman quickly left, as if afraid she might be refused.
“Who was..”
“Just an old friend.”
“Were you close?”
“Hmm.. were we? I thought we were.”
“..”
She gave a bitter smile.
“Are you going to go?”
“Doesn’t it sound stupid? Normally I should just refuse..”
“Still, maybe it’d be nice to see your old friends after so long.”
“I guess so.. but.. ha. I don’t know if Doyun will understand, but it doesn’t feel like she meant well..”
“I’ll take care of it for you.”
“Huh?”
Her expression was full of question marks.
I didn’t think I was wrong about that friend’s intentions.
Anyone could see she was looking down on my aunt.
All I had to do was remind her what it meant to be above someone.
Now I’m pissed off too.
***
After we got back, I showered and sat back down at my desk.
“What should I do..”
While I was mulling it over and scrolling through the internet, I got a message.
The stocks I’d bought were starting to look very interesting.
All of the southern swing states.
Not just one—all of them.
“Something big was coming soon.”
Looks like the already well-stocked ammunition was about to get a whole lot heavier.