Chapter 89: Let's Go for a Ride in Dad's Car
Chapter 89: Let's Go for a Ride in Dad's Car
< Let's Go for a Ride in Dad's Car >
The fairy tales I read as a child mostly ended with the prince and princess living happily ever after.
In reality, people fought over money, over kids, over work or family.
*With Han Chae-won, everything but the kids was a reason to fight.*
Something had truly surprised me while I was in the United States.
The female employees who joined Earth Resource.
They were in the prime of their twenties, graduates from prestigious universities, yet a surprising number of them had already been married and divorced.
Some of the employees in their thirties had been married two or three times.
*Divorce is so common, so easy.*
Meeting, breaking up.
You date someone, get to know them.
How happy must people be who get married and never feel lonely again?
I'd never even witnessed a happy marriage through my parents.
Maybe that's why I was left with nothing but fear when it came to marriage.
“What are you thinking about?”
Jo Soo-ah's question snapped me out of my daze.
Honesty might be the best policy, but I couldn't exactly tell her I was thinking about how scary marriage was.
“Just wondering what life is all about.”
The dark Han River.
It was past eleven, and the families who had been out for the evening were heading home. A cool breeze blew.
Suddenly, it felt strange and wonderful that Jo Soo-ah was right here beside me.
“But I'm curious about something. Can I ask you one thing?”
“When you set the mood like that, it makes me nervous.”
“Does it?”
Should I not ask?
But I really want to know.
“What are you curious about?”
I always thought she'd taken a liking to me, ever since she joined as a new employee.
At first, I just thought she had a great attitude for someone new to the workforce, looking up to me as her senior who was teaching her the ropes. But at some point...
*Does she like me?*
The thought would cross my mind, but then...
*No, that can't be it.*
Even if she did, wouldn't she be happier with a better man than me?
I didn't have the confidence to make a woman as beautiful and kind as Jo Soo-ah suffer in a semi-basement apartment.
I'd felt a twinge of regret when her training ended and she started doing sales calls on her own.
But after marrying Han Chae-won, I thought any connection with Jo Soo-ah was long gone.
The memory of her crying when I showed her my semi-basement room after the divorce was still vivid.
“Soo-ah, what's your wish?”
“Huh?”
“A wish. Isn't there something you desperately want to achieve?”
I'm not a genie in a lamp, but... I could probably grant a good number of wishes that money could buy in this world.
Though asking to own the Isung Group would be a bit much.
“My wish is a really strange one.”
Jo Soo-ah said with a slight smile.
“I originally dreamed of being a prosecutor.”
“A prosecutor, at the prosecutor's office?”
“Yes. I wanted to catch all the bad guys.”
I pictured Jo Soo-ah arresting villains or appearing in court for a trial.
If the prosecutor was pretty, I imagine the interrogation wouldn't be quite as painful for the criminals.
Han Chae-won put me through hell, but in the early days of our marriage, she was so beautiful that it was at least bearable.
Honestly, just looking at her beautiful face could calm my anger to some extent.
“You're smart, Soo-ah. Was it too difficult to become a prosecutor?”
“Um. To be honest, I was preparing for law school.”
“But?”
“Back then... my grandmother was losing her sight. She had surgery, and afterward, she could see clearly again.”
I tilted my head.
I felt like I had just heard something profound.
“Don't tell me you applied to Arcor with your grades and qualifications because of that surgery.”
“Yes. That's right. This is the first time I'm telling anyone.”
“...”
Jo Soo-ah's colleagues at Arcor had never understood why she joined the company.
There were plenty of pharmaceutical companies, and with her resume, she could have easily gotten a job paying one-and-a-half times more.
Most of us, myself included, were probably just working there because our grades were good enough and we passed the interview.
To be so moved by the surgery that restored her grandmother's sight that she came to Arcor.
Maybe that was the true purpose of a pharmaceutical company.
Giving rebates, catering to doctors.
They do a lot of dirty work, but you also get to see medical technology advance and watch patients get treated up close.
The pride you feel when you see cases that were once difficult to treat get cured.
I think I felt a huge sense of accomplishment back when I first started selling LASIK machines and saw patients coming out of the operating room.
“You're a good person, Soo-ah.”
“No, I'm not. I'm just busy trying to meet my sales targets.”
“But you're always number one in sales. You still are, right?”
“Well, yes, but...”
And then, another question popped into my head.
A question about Jo Soo-ah that had lingered since my breakup with Han Chae-won.
“Soo-ah, when was the last time you broke up with a guy?”
“Huh?”
“I can't imagine any man wanting to let you go.”
Jo Soo-ah gazed at me.
We were sitting together on the steps, so our faces weren't far apart.
The river breeze and the lights.
Her face looked even more captivating.
“I've never broken up with anyone.”
“Huh?”
“I've never dated anyone.”
She said she'd liked me ever since she got her first job after her innocent school days.
And I had made her wait all this long time.
*This...*
The lights, the wind.
Even the lack of people.
Everything was setting the mood.
*I might get rejected.*
I slowly moved my face closer to hers, ready to pull back at any sign of her turning away or refusing, to make it less awkward.
Jo Soo-ah quietly closed her eyes.
* * *
I realized something after my late-night date with Jo Soo-ah by the Han River.
*Life feels more positive, and I feel full of energy.*
When I was with Han Chae-won, I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, never knowing when she would lash out.
Because of her constant outbursts, I was suspicious and anxious even when she smiled.
*Is this why guys are so eager to date?*
Thinking back, my father was always popular with women.
He'd even bring home married women he met at gambling dens for days at a time.
“Shin, call her 'Mom.' Hahaha.”
Looking back now, my father was quite unhinged in many ways.
In any case, it was nice when he brought women home because I could get some pocket money.
My miserable childhood, where I'd sell out the mother I'd never even seen for a thousand or two thousand won.
“You must be Shin? I'm Miss Won Seon-ah, your teacher.”
My kindergarten teacher was very pretty.
She was in her mid-twenties, not very tall, but quite beautiful.
Back then, a crowd of fathers would gather to pick up their kids when kindergarten let out.
The fathers would hold their children's hands and chat with the teacher, their faces beaming.
“Look at her, smiling at all the men like that.”
“What a fox.”
“She's practically oozing charm.”
It was only later that I understood why my friends' mothers were bad-mouthing her behind her back.
Being with Jo Soo-ah made me realize just how important dating a beautiful woman was in life.
It was a realization that came too late for someone who'd lived as a born-alone loser through middle school, high school, and even college.
I'd spent my whole life avoiding women, right alongside my best friend, Oh Myeong-woo.
“Jong-yeop.”
“Yes, sir.”
“When was your first relationship?”
“Well, it's a bit ambiguous how you define a 'first relationship.' I had a girl I liked even back in preschool.”
“Alright then, you don't have to answer if it's too personal, but how old were you when you had your first kiss?”
“Second grade? Why would you call that personal?”
“...”
In second grade, my first memory wasn't of a kiss, but of instant ramen.
How springy and stimulating the noodles were the first time I tried them.
I felt a sense of ecstasy from that salty, spicy flavor.
*I can't bring myself to ask when he first slept with a woman.*
High school would be considered early.
But for Lee Jong-yeop, it might have even been middle school.
*Is dating really that great?*
The thought prompted me to send a text message.
- Kim Shin: Team Leader. How's married life? You're happy, right?
This wasn't a question for an employee I'd brought over to Biolife. It was for a boss, a senior in life.
Someone with Team Leader An Myeong-guk's social skills, life philosophy, and experience seemed like they would definitely be living a happy married life.
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: Marriage is great.
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: Can't do anything risky, have to give up all my time-consuming hobbies. Can't spend a lot of money.
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: I'm not picky about food anymore, I eat everything. Life has become damn stable.
- Kim Shin: Is that a good thing?
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: I still don't know what to make of married life.
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: When you raise kids, you learn about life by washing dishes for two hours until they're squeaky clean.
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: Today, I once again realize there was a reason monks live in the mountains and don't get married. That's the only way even a monk can reach enlightenment.
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: A happy marriage is like the lottery.
- Kim Shin: Because your heart flutters every time you see your wife?
- Team Leader An Myeong-guk: Because you never win. It's a losing ticket 99% of the time.
I'd only sent a casual text, but it felt like he had a lot bottled up.
* * *
After texting with Kim Shin, An Myeong-guk drove his Bentley toward home.
“Ahem.”
They say a man's status in society is defined by his business card and the car he drives.
In just one day, everything had changed for the best.
- Managing Director Kim Hee-jung: Did you get home alright yesterday? ^^ The Senior Managing Director and I have a lot to discuss regarding our business collaboration with Biolife.
- Managing Director Kim Hee-jung: The Vice Chairman also instructed our company to do our utmost to assist Biolife. Just let me know, and I'll come see you anytime.
Managing Director Kim Hee-jung, Head of the Global Sales Center at Isung Biologics.
The reason she, a well-maintained woman in her late forties, was speaking so sweetly was obvious.
*They don't take such a subservient tone with small and medium-sized enterprises.*
It was because Biolife was a powerhouse that even the Isung Group couldn't ignore.
An Myeong-guk felt it was time for him to change as a professional.
An Myeong-guk of Arcor was lenient with his subordinates, focused on achieving decent results, and avoided getting on his superiors' bad side.
That was just right.
But what about An Myeong-guk of Biolife?
This was an important position; he had to manage the delivery system for a vaccine that could save hundreds of thousands of lives.
Building a delivery system in Korea wasn't difficult, thanks to the skilled workforce and well-established infrastructure.
But to fulfill his business role adequately, he needed confidence.
*My life up to now wasn't wrong. And my life from now on won't be wrong either.*
I will do my best at Biolife and do whatever Kim Shin needs, whenever he needs it.
They say a man will lay down his life for someone who recognizes his worth.
And for a salary of 500 million won plus incentives, it was a debt he had to repay for a long, long time.
*I have to change.*
He parked the Bentley and made his way up to his apartment.
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!
He punched in the code for the front door.
The moment he opened the door, his wife's nagging poured out.
“Where have you been! You didn't answer your phone all weekend, and now you stay out all night? Are you in your right mind?”
His wife's face was flushed red as she confronted him.
His children stood behind her, their eyes filled with anxiety.
Right. He had never been able to send them to all the cram schools they wanted.
He was part of the sandwich generation, busy paying off the apartment mortgage and also having to provide an allowance for his parents.
He could see his wife's shabby loungewear, which she had worn for years, pilled all over.
They were living together out of loyalty now, but...
“Ji-kyung.”
“What! What excuse are you going to make now! Let's hear it!”
He spoke curtly to his shouting wife.
“My salary is 500 million won.”
“Huh?”
“You know Biolife? I got a job there. Incentives are separate, so you can basically think of it as over a billion won.”
“...”
His wife's wide eyes trembled in shock.
He spoke to his dazed children.
“Kids. Let's go for a drive around the neighborhood. Dad's car is a Bentley.”