Dreams Come True
“Back then, Seongsu-dong was nothing like it is now. It was full of old factories and small warehouses.”
As if he were reaching out and catching a fragment of memory as it drifted past, Im Gwan-hun’s gaze lingered for a moment in the past.
“At the time, I used the 200 million won I’d planned to give to Driver Song to buy land there. It wasn’t much of a hotspot back then—just an unremarkable location no one paid attention to. But then Seoul’s urban renewal policy expanded, and the old buildings were all torn down. Cafés, studios, little workshop spaces started popping up there. Before long, it surged into the very center of a major commercial district. And the estimated market value of this lot now…”
He lowered his voice.
“If you add in the building I put on it, it’s easily worth at least 4 billion won. It brings in about 15 million a month, too.”
“Huh—”
Song Bong-gu let out an involuntary gasp and clapped a hand over his mouth in a panic.
His eyes blinking wildly, Song Bong-gu’s hands began to shake.
“M-Mister Chairman! That’s far too much. How could I possibly accept this…”
Im Gwan-hun shook his head calmly.
“It’s not too much at all. Driver Song, you saved my life. Because of you, I’ve been able to live happily with my family all this time, and I’ve been able to build my company to this level. If I’d died back then, what would any of this have mattered?”
“.......”
Song Bong-gu opened his mouth as if to protest, then closed it again under that implacable gaze.
“And as I said, the reason I bought this land in the first place was to repay my debt to you. So please, I hope you won’t refuse me this time.”
“Even so, how could I possibly accept something like this…”
Forty million won would be enough to knock anyone senseless, and here they were talking about four billion.
His mind blank, Song Bong-gu couldn’t get himself together at all.
Seeing how well he knew the man’s selfless, stubborn heart, Im Gwan-hun shifted his gaze slightly to the side.
“You need to think about Tan now, too.”
At the mention of his son, Song Bong-gu’s body twitched.
“In a capitalist society, money is power. In a harsh world, having assets means having the power to protect the people you love. I think you must have learned something from this incident as well, Driver Song.”
Song Bong-gu had no rebuttal to make.
What would have happened if the chairman and madam hadn’t stepped in?
The victim would have been twisted into the perpetrator, and his son—precious enough to be worth his life—would have been left with a wound that could never be erased.
And the fact that he hadn’t been able to protect his son would have hurled him into the abyss of despair as well.
Song Bong-gu’s face went even paler.
Just imagining it was enough to make his blood run cold.
As if understanding his thoughts, a faint smile touched Im Gwan-hun’s mouth.
“This is for Driver Song and Tan, yes, but it’s for me as well.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“If Tan is secure, then you’ll be able to focus entirely on your work, won’t you?”
“Ah! So because of me, the chairman would end up suffering…”
“Hahaha, that’s not what I mean. I’m just saying everyone gets something good out of this, so accept it without burden.”
Na Hye-ran, who had been listening quietly, stepped in as well.
“That’s right. Driver Song, you’ve more than earned it. When I heard about the accident that day, I was so shocked… I still see that car, burned down to nothing, in my dreams. You risked your life in that hell to save my husband. Honestly, I think even this isn’t enough.”
“M-Madam…”
By then, even Song Bong-gu couldn’t help wavering.
Staring at the document envelope with trembling pupils, he shut his eyes tight.
“Thank you. Truly, thank you. I… I’ll work even harder and serve you well.”
“Haha, just keep doing what you’re doing. The only person I can trust at the wheel is Driver Song.”
Only then did relief settle over Im Gwan-hun’s face, as if he had finally achieved what he set out to do.
“Oh, and don’t worry about taxes like gift tax or registration fees. I’ll have a tax accountant handle everything cleanly.”
Looking at a loss for what to do, Song Bong-gu thought for a moment, then looked up at Im Gwan-hun.
“I… Chairman. This is shameless of me, but may I ask one favor?”
“Yes. Anything. Say it without worrying.”
“Th-that… everything you mentioned… could you put it under my son’s name instead of mine?”
“Under Tan’s name?”
Without a trace of hesitation, Song Bong-gu nodded.
“I’m already satisfied with the life I have now. So if possible, I’d be grateful if you’d put it in my son’s name instead. He has such a bright future ahead of him.”
A faint look of concern passed through Im Gwan-hun’s eyes.
No matter how close a family was, money had a way of ruining relationships.
And besides, Tan was still a minor who didn’t yet know much about the world.
“Tan, what do you think?”
Testing him, Im Gwan-hun looked at Song Tan—and inwardly swallowed his surprise.
Even if he was still a minor, he was a high school student. There was no way he wouldn’t understand what it meant to become a building owner.
And yet.
He’s far too calm.
Song Tan’s eyes were utterly tranquil, with no excitement and no joy in them at all.
Only a faint trace of emotion remained—the fact that his father thought of him so deeply.
After thinking for a moment, Song Tan opened his mouth in a flat voice.
“No matter how I look at it, I still don’t think it makes sense for me to just take something like that.”
“Tan! What are you saying now—”
“But at the same time, it would be against decency to reject Father’s sincerity outright, so… I think joint ownership would be better.”
“Joint ownership?”
“Like you said, Chairman, that’s basically the price of Father’s life. He drove every day, came home late every night, and went to sleep without a word… All of that piled up, and it became this kind of fortune, didn’t it? If I just accept it thoughtlessly, then it would become nothing more than simple ‘luck.’ More than that, I’d like it to feel like the fruit of Father’s diligence and kindness.”
“Oh…”
A low note of admiration slipped from Im Gwan-hun’s lips.
Come to think of it, it was the most reasonable arrangement.
It would be tax-efficient, too, and in any case, the property would naturally pass down to him eventually.
“What do you think?”
At Im Gwan-hun’s question, Song Bong-gu stiffly nodded.
“If Tan wants it… then anything is fine by me.”
Before long, Song Bong-gu’s eyes had grown damp.
It seemed he was moved by the fact that his son thought so deeply of him.
“Haha, good. Then let’s settle this matter that way.”
With a smile that suggested he had finished something light and satisfying, Im Gwan-hun looked at Song Tan.
“Tan really did grow up well. For someone your age, you’ve got a surprisingly solid head on your shoulders. Even after going through something this hard…”
“You should be proud. Under a father who’s had nothing easy to give him…”
At the praise of his son, the father’s mouth began slipping out of his control.
But Im Gwan-hun’s praise wasn’t empty flattery.
The weight in Tan’s gaze, and that strangely detached air about him, made him seem like someone who had been through heaven and hell alike.
It was a little hard to understand how a kid like this could have endured school violence for so long.
Well, whatever the details of that story were, only Tan himself would know them.
“May I ask what your plans are from here?”
At Im Gwan-hun’s question, Song Tan answered without hesitation.
“First, I’m planning to build up my physical strength. In this body, I don’t think I can accomplish anything otherwise.”
That was the most urgent problem at hand.
With such a frail body, there was nothing he could do.
First he would build stamina and strength, and then, if it was possible, he would try to gather internal energy as well.
“A wise decision. After all, physical strength is the vessel. If the vessel is too small, anything good will overflow from it.”
Im Gwan-hun nodded, clearly pleased.
“After that, I’m planning to take the high school equivalency exam first.”
“That’s wise too. Even if you don’t need a college degree these days, a high school diploma is still necessary everywhere you go. Even our company doesn’t hire people without a middle school diploma, let alone one who never finished high school.”
Suddenly, Na Hye-ran clapped her hands beside them.
“Oh, perfect! Then why don’t you study with Seorin at our house? She’s been whining lately that it’s boring to study alone, and I’ve been wondering what to do about it.”
Na Hye-ran’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Song Tan.
“It’d be better than studying by yourself, wouldn’t it, Tan? Right? It’s not like you two are strangers.”
Im Seo-rin was the youngest of the three daughters in that house.
As Na Hye-ran said, when they were very little, she and Song Tan used to play together often.
Of course, once puberty hit and reality set in, she had started avoiding him on her own.
“Seorin doesn’t go to school?”
At Song Tan’s question, Na Hye-ran let out a long sigh.
“Don’t even ask. She quit school just to do that idol thing or whatever and has been holed up in the agency practice room ever since.”
Thinking of Im Seo-rin as a child, Song Tan nodded to himself before he could stop it.
She really had been the type to show off a special knack from an early age, dancing along to singers on TV with bright, shameless enthusiasm.
“I don’t know if I’ll be much help, but… if Seorin’s okay with it, I’ll do it.”
He figured that if he’d been given a whole building for nothing, he could at least manage that much.
“Hohoho, Seorin will definitely love it! She’s still asking about how you’re doing now and then.”
Na Hye-ran laughed brightly, pleased.
Amid the warm atmosphere, Im Gwan-hun tossed out a final remark.
“Be good to your father.”
He gave Song Tan’s shoulder a light pat.
“There are plenty of people in this world who know how to talk, but rare are the ones who quietly do their duty to the very end. That’s something I learned after meeting a great many people.”
Glancing at Song Bong-gu for a moment, Im Gwan-hun gave a low laugh.
“Your father has never broken a promise to me—not once. Whether it rained or he wasn’t feeling well, he never once put down his car keys. And even now, he’s still working tirelessly to overcome the disadvantages of his body. People like that are rare. I can promise you that.”
Meeting those penetrating eyes, Song Tan nodded.
“I’ve never stopped respecting my father for even a single moment.”
“Ta, Tan…”
At hearing his son’s sincerity for the first time, Song Bong-gu’s voice trembled despite himself.
“I’ll live honestly and diligently, just like Father, and I’ll become a son you can be proud of.”
Song Tan declared it with force, as if making an oath.
“I will, no matter what.”
***
On an unusually quiet night, the streetlamps in the alley lit the way at even intervals.
Song Bong-gu walked with slower steps than usual.
His back was bent, so his shadow stretched long behind him, and Song Tan walked beside it, laying his own shadow alongside his father’s.
“It’s a bit chilly tonight.”
“It is.”
Silence returned, but there was a comfortable feeling between them that didn’t need to be filled with words.
After a little while, Song Bong-gu spoke again.
“No matter what choices you make from here on out, your father will always be on your side.”
Song Tan turned his head and looked at him.
Perhaps embarrassed, Song Bong-gu kept his eyes straight ahead.
“Even if you make the wrong choice… even if everyone in the world points fingers at you… I’ll stand by your side. Whatever happens.”
Song Bong-gu stopped walking and looked up at his son.
“If you have even one person who truly believes in you, you can keep going to the end.”
Song Tan answered with a smile much like his father’s and slowly nodded.
There was no need to check it; the sincerity in those words had already reached him.
Then a man in a police uniform passed by from the opposite side.
The buttons on the uniform caught the streetlight and flashed brilliantly.
Song Bong-gu, who had stopped to stare blankly after him, let out a bitter smile.
“There was a time when becoming a police officer and wearing a fine uniform like that was my dream…”
It was the first Song Tan had heard of his father’s dream, and it caught his interest.
“Why a police officer?”
“Well… when I was young, everything just seemed cool. Catching bad guys and all that. I used to think I wanted to become a police officer and do my part to make the world even a little better. I was innocent back then.”
With his bent back, the father stared wordlessly at the police officer’s retreating figure.
His son watched him closely.
“I was like that too. The ending was miserable, though.”
“Huh? What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Only belatedly coming to his senses, Song Bong-gu shook his head and started walking again.
“Ahem, I just meant I once had that sort of thought when I was still immature. Come on, let’s go. I’m hungry.”
Embarrassed, Song Bong-gu moved ahead first.
After taking a few steps after his father’s back, Song Tan suddenly stopped.
Then he turned and silently watched the police officer grow smaller in the distance.
***
One year later.
A tiny article appears tucked away in a corner of a local newspaper that almost no one reads.
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