The Price of Forgiveness
Kang-soo finished speaking...
Ji Hye-in didn't respond at all.
"Would you like me to write a receipt?"
"What receipt...
That thing can't even be submitted to the tax office."
Kang-soo replied with a smile.
"If you want additional information... just pay the extra cost."
Kang-soo shook his head again and replied.
"No... I don't need additional information.
The kind of person who would dig up high-end info even if it costs a lot isn't the type...
Basic information is enough."
Kang-soo was in the middle of talking to Kim Pil-hoon, the private investigator he often used.
Their relationship was always calculated accurately, but they maintained a precise relationship without crossing any fixed lines.
They had known each other for about seven or eight years, but they had never once had a meal or drunk together... it was a thoroughly business-like relationship.
It was because they didn't completely trust each other.
They only entrusted work when necessary and received payment.
It wasn't that Kang-soo always gave Kim Pil-hoon work because he was a PI.
Kim Pil-hoon also sometimes paid Kang-soo a certain amount and received legal advice when he needed discreet legal counsel.
There were lawyers and legal advisors, but what Kim Pil-hoon needed was practical knowledge from the ground.
Although he dropped out of law school, Kim Pil-hoon judged that Kang-soo's rich experience in practical legal knowledge was useful, so he often used Kang-soo when necessary.
On the other hand, the reasons Kang-soo entrusted work to Kim Pil-hoon...
There were only three reasons.
Two of them were that Kim Pil-hoon was very tight-lipped and his identity was reliable.
Kang-soo had actually completed a perfect background check on Kim Pil-hoon.
Of course, secretly.
He introduced himself as ex-NIS, but Kang-soo knew he had been a dispatched worker at NIS during military service and was exaggerating it.
Kim Pil-hoon was not ex-NIS but a sergeant who worked at KIMS and was forcibly discharged.
Kim Pil-hoon had never once told this story himself.
He was just always cheating by saying he was ex-NIS.
Kang-soo knew everything but pretended not to and continued to give him work.
And of the three reasons...
The last one was...
That the consulting fee was much cheaper compared to other PIs.
Because it was much cheaper than other agencies... Kang-soo entrusted work to Kim Pil-hoon.
After saying goodbye to Kim Pil-hoon, Kang-soo opened the document envelope.
He was 49 years old in Korean age...
He already knew that he had two children with his divorced ex-wife.
He had graduated from the Korean literature department of a fairly good private university and had experience teaching at a private high school (not public).
He had five years of experience as a Korean teacher.
From this, it could be inferred that he had failed the teacher exam or hadn't even tried to take it.
He could roughly guess that he hadn't studied properly during university.
He also had a prize-winning career.
He was a poet who had won a prize in the New Year Literary Contest of a local newspaper (not a central daily).
He was a man who had published two poetry collections and one essay collection.
"Writers are untrustworthy...
They live with lies in their mouths..."
Kang-soo read Yeom Seong-bong's profile and slowly shook his head while speaking.
But in the profile, after his 30s... he had been doing business non-stop.
It showed that he had done advertising planning for over ten years and gone bankrupt twice.
Currently unemployed, with financial sector debt of 350 million won.
That was all.
In short, he was a guy who was nothing special for his age.
There was no point in poking around or anything.
Poking around would only show dirty things.
Adultery lawsuits would be meaningless.
There was no satisfaction in making Seong-bong feel ashamed and suffer.
Looking at it quietly... he was a trash life where business failed, marriage failed, he couldn't make money, and he had a lot of debt.
Perhaps... this man named Yeom Seong-bong...
His very existence right now...
might be hell.
Kang-soo was thinking that maybe leaving him alone was the best revenge.
"Honey... it's me..."
"Yeah... why?"
"Pil-jun said the test is over and he's playing games all night at his friend's house today..."
"Which friend?"
"Kyung-sik from the back building..."
Kang-soo knew Kyung-sik well, who lived in the back building of the same apartment complex.
It was because Kyung-sik, his son's friend, often stayed over at Kang-soo's house.
Since they lived in the front and back buildings of the same apartment, it was a reliable friend whose parents didn't worry much when their kids stayed over at each other's houses.
"Yeah...
That's why you called?"
"No...
I set out dinner for tonight...
Come home and have a drink.
Since Pil-jun isn't here..."
"Yeah... then..."
Kang-soo hung up the phone with a somewhat grumpy voice.
But... there was also a slight anticipation.
The reason he had investigated Seong-bong wasn't to punish that guy.
Since his wife Hye-in's heart had already inclined towards forgiveness...
It seemed like Seong-bong, who had nothing left to lose... to prevent any dirty situation where he might harm Hye-in in some way...
To cut off that thread...
He had conducted a basic investigation on the man named Yeom Seong-bong.
"I'm really sorry...
I won't ever make that mistake again..."
Ji Hye-in was pouring soju into her husband's glass at the dinner table while speaking.
Ji Hye-in had prepared only the side dishes that her husband Kang-soo usually liked.
She had gone to the market, bought pig's head, boiled it, and sliced it nicely, and prepared kimchi jjigae with wakame.
It was the side dish that Kang-soo usually liked.
And she had bought whale jerky, boiled it with wakame, and made oden soup.
After downing one shot of soju, Kang-soo scooped up some oden soup with a spoon...
and dipped a piece of pig's head in the shrimp paste and put it in his mouth, chewing.
Kang-soo liked the chewy texture of that chewing.
Kang-soo had no special hobbies except exercise.
He thought of hapkido, which he had practiced as a student, as his lifelong exercise and practiced the basic movements of hapkido with bare-hand calisthenics whenever he had time.
It was the secret to lifelong health.
If there was any other hobby besides exercise...
It was drinking.
Kang-soo was someone who enjoyed drinking very much.
Actually... when he was young, he rarely did solo drinking...
but after turning 40 and retiring from the military...
he belatedly realized that drinking alone was enjoyable.
"You should have one too...
You don't have the right to drink but..."
Kang-soo was speaking with a half-joking, half-serious expression.
"I don't like soju...
Let's have soju-makkolli..."
"Whoa... Hye-in has grown up a lot.
She enjoys soju-makkolli too..."
Kang-soo replied with a laugh.
So, Kang-soo was thinking that there was beer on the table.
Because the side dishes were hot and good...
the alcohol was naturally going down.
Kang-soo had emptied a bottle of soju in no time.
"Looking at how you're picking up the mood...
Are you planning to vent some stuff today?"
"Not really... but I wanted to talk about that story."
Hye-in, who had already downed three soju-makkolli, was speaking with her face flushed red.
Originally... Kang-soo had thought she was a heavy drinker and didn't enjoy alcohol much...
but he felt that she had gotten quite used to drinking without him noticing.
"Honey...
Talking is something that can be forced...
But do you really need to do that?
If you listen to my story, you might keep imagining things.
That wouldn't be good for our married life."
Kang-soo couldn't help but smile at the truly ridiculous expression.
"Shut up...
Cheating humans always start with lies as their basic gear.
Cheating itself is lying to family and spouse."
"Hye-in-ah...
This is an awkward question but...
How many times did you sleep with that Seong-bong guy?
If it's two years... it was quite a lot, right?"