Chapter 79
“Hey! Yoon Sang-hyuk! You know who I am, right?”
“Yeah. I know exactly who you are.”
“I’m Kim Chul-jung. Kim Chul-jung from Daemoon High!”
“Yeah, I got it, so keep your voice down. Ah, excuse me.”
Stumbling, Kim Chul-jung bumped shoulders with a passerby. When the other man scowled, Yoon Sang-hyuk apologized for him instead.
“Excuse? What’re you apologizing for?”
“You ran into someone.”
“Huh? Right! Sorry!”
Yoon Sang-hyuk caught him before he could bow too far and topple over.
“Why do you keep drinking so much when you can’t even hold your liquor?”
The two of them had split seven bottles of soju. For Yoon Sang-hyuk, it hardly mattered how much he drank; no matter how much alcohol he put away, he didn’t get drunk.
“Sang-hyuk.”
“I’m listening. Talk.”
“I’m really fine.”
Kim Chul-jung, who had been shouting at the top of his lungs a moment ago, now spoke in a low mutter.
“Did I say you weren’t? Yeah. You look fine. Happy, even.”
“Heh, that’s right. I’m really happy. My wife nags me to bring home more money and all that... and we can’t even buy our princess nice clothes or nice toys... but I’m happy.”
The shoulder Yoon Sang-hyuk had lent him grew warm.
Kim Chul-jung, who had always seemed so tough, was crying. He wasn’t putting on a show for Yoon Sang-hyuk or trying to get something from him. The longer they stayed together, the clearer the old memories became.
Kim Chul-jung was the kind of friend who never asked for anything, even when Yoon Sang-hyuk had once been reduced to begging just to get by. He was stubborn to a fault; if you tried to give him something, he would only back away the same distance you’d tried to close.
And now, seeing him cry like this, it really was because...
“You’re happy, aren’t you?”
“Heh-heh, yeah. I’m happy.”
“Then where’s your house?”
He’d heard that they had moved, but not where to.
“My house? Let’s go. Over here! Taxi! To the Han River!”
“Haa.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk let out a long sigh and flagged down a passing taxi. He settled Kim Chul-jung into the back seat, then got in beside him.
“Where to?”
“Just a second.”
He reached into Kim Chul-jung’s back pocket and took out his wallet. Pulling out the resident registration card inside, he held it up to the driver.
“Please take us here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kim Chul-jung had gone limp, mumbling some strange tune that might have been a song or a rap. As Yoon Sang-hyuk tucked the ID back into the wallet, a bitter expression crossed his face.
It was a very worn wallet. He had bought it for Kim Chul-jung’s birthday years ago.
“I lost the one you gave me, though.”
Kim Chul-jung had given Yoon Sang-hyuk a wallet too. But before he was dragged to that other world, he’d gotten drunk and lost it. Come to think of it, he had never told Kim Chul-jung that.
“Sorry.”
He had no idea how many times he’d said “Sorry” to Kim Chul-jung today. He slipped the wallet back into Kim Chul-jung’s pocket.
About thirty minutes later, the taxi came to a stop at their destination. Looking around, he saw low-rise villas packed tightly together. Remembering the building name and unit he’d seen on the registration card, he supported Kim Chul-jung and walked him inside.
When they reached his front door, Yoon Sang-hyuk raised a hand to the doorbell, then hesitated. But only for a moment. He pressed it.
Ding-dong.
After a short pause, movement stirred inside.
“Who is it?”
“Is this Kim Chul-jung’s place?”
“It is, but who’s asking?”
“I-I’m his brother-in-law. It’s Sang-hyuk.”
Click.
The door opened, and there was Yoon Mi-sun’s face, a face that had lived only in his memory for a very long time.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah. It really has, hyung.”
Yoon Mi-sun had just finished greeting Yoon Sang-hyuk when she saw Kim Chul-jung, slumped and being held up by him, and shouted at once.
“That bastard came home drunk again. I can’t live like this, honestly.”
“Sister-in-law, it’s past one in the morning.”
“Ah—sorry.”
“May I come in?”
“Ah... yes, come in.”
After a brief hesitation, Yoon Mi-sun stepped aside and made room. He took off his shoes in the cramped shoe cabinet area and went inside. The room beyond was too small to call a proper living room, and there was a single door on the opposite side.
“Is that the bedroom?”
“Yes, but... Hyo-yeon’s asleep in there.”
“Then where should we lay him down?”
Yoon Mi-sun looked around, sighed, and opened the door.
“This man snores like crazy whenever he drinks.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk gave an awkward smile and helped Kim Chul-jung into the room. The lights were off, so it was dark, but the darkness did nothing to hinder his sight.
Near the window was a single bed, and on it slept a small child. She was hugging a little white rabbit doll tightly, and she looked unbearably precious.
It was Kim Chul-jung’s daughter, Kim Hyo-yeon. He hadn’t seen her since she was two, maybe younger, and she had grown so much.
He laid Kim Chul-jung down on the blanket spread beneath the bed, and Yoon Mi-sun removed his clothes and socks.
When he came back out of the room, he looked around the house. In the narrow living room, a small table had been unfolded, and it was piled high with what looked like side work. He could see the kitchen adjoining the living room and a door farther in that seemed to lead to the bathroom.
“It’s pretty small, isn’t it?”
Yoon Mi-sun spoke awkwardly, as if embarrassed.
“No. It’s nice.”
“I should at least make you a cup of coffee, but there isn’t even a decent place to sit.”
“I can sit here.”
He nudged a stack of boxes aside with his foot and sat down. Yoon Mi-sun put water on to boil in the coffee pot, then came over and sat in front of him.
“I heard the news. Have you been well?”
“Yes, I’ve been fine. How have you been, sister-in-law? Chul-jung told me, but he’s always been full of bluster.”
“He is pretty full of bluster.”
An awkward silence settled between them.
Yoon Sang-hyuk pointed to the crooked little drawings on the wall.
“Did Hyo-yeon draw those?”
“Yes. She loves drawing.”
“Wow. She’s really good. You should make her a painter someday. Haha.”
“Not with our circumstances. Art school would cost...”
Yoon Mi-sun trailed off, then gave an awkward laugh.
“It’s fine. So what? There’s nothing embarrassing about it. Sister-in-law, I don’t know whether you heard this story, but something like this happened before.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk drew up an old memory and let the story unfold.
“You know my parents died when I was fifteen, right?”
“Yes.”
“At the funeral, only Chul-jung came among my friends. To be honest, I couldn’t even cry back then because it didn’t feel real that my parents were gone. But Chul-jung stood in front of their photo and bawled his eyes out. Funny, right? My friend cried harder than the son did.”
He smiled faintly at the memory.
“And then he said this to me.”
Since I haven’t been through it myself, I don’t really know how much it hurts. That makes me even more sorry. I’m sorry I can’t hurt with you.
He was fifteen. A second-year middle schooler had no business saying something like that.
“When he said that, I just started crying. Ah. So my parents really were gone. They really weren’t by my side anymore. Chul-jung and I ended up clinging to each other and crying for a long time.”
“My husband has always had a soft heart.”
“He really does.”
“Back then, whenever someone around us pointed at you and called you a child without parents, Chul-jung got even angrier than I did. We fought about it a lot because of that.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk looked around the house again.
“There’s nothing embarrassing about it. Just like Chul-jung stayed by my side when I was hurting... I can stay by his side when he’s hurting. I know I’m saying this too late, but I’m sorry I called so late and came so late.”
“No, hyung. Please don’t say that.”
Yoon Mi-sun’s eyes turned red. She turned her head away and stood up.
“Look at me. The water’s boiling. How much should I put in, hyung?”
“About right.”
“Yes. Just a moment.”
Yoon Mi-sun made the coffee and handed it to Yoon Sang-hyuk. After taking a sip, he broke into a bright smile. It was several times tastier than coffee from some expensive café.
“Sister-in-law.”
“Yes.”
“I’d like to hear how you’ve been managing. Can you tell me?”
Yoon Mi-sun nodded.
“You know what it was like before, right? I ended up pregnant out of nowhere, and we registered the marriage without even having a wedding, but honestly, I was at a total loss. As you know, your parents and mine weren’t exactly well-off. We started in a one-room rental with no help from either family. We barely got by on the money he earned working construction. It would’ve been better if I’d gone to work too, but after Hyo-yeon was born, everything got chaotic. It wasn’t easy raising a child on the money from one person alone. Construction work isn’t guaranteed every day, either.”
Her story had begun, and as he listened, his chest ached dully.
“Last year, my father-in-law got badly hurt on the job. He needed surgery, but you know how things are on that side of the family. So we took out the deposit from the house we were living in, used it for his operation, and moved here. My parents offered to help with money, but I know how hard it is for Mom and Dad too, so how could I take it? We just lived by cutting back wherever we could.”
“That must have been hard.”
“No. Even without much, I’m happier than anyone else. I fight with my husband every day, but I still love him a lot. And then there’s our precious princess.”
She said it just like Kim Chul-jung had. It really did make him wonder whether the two of them were a married pair.
After finishing the rest of his coffee, Yoon Sang-hyuk spoke carefully.
“I’d like to help you a little.”
“He’ll hate that. You know what kind of man he is.”
“I do. That’s the problem. But it’ll be fine. If we fight, I’ll win.”
“Pfft! What kind of thing is that to say?”
“Haha, I’m joking. This is me paying back what Chul-jung gave me when we were younger. When it was just me and my little brother left, his parents looked after us a lot. Since the topic’s come up, I should go visit them and pay my respects sometime soon.”
“They’d be happy.”
The people who used to dote on him more than on their own child whenever he came by were Kim Chul-jung’s parents.
“It’s me paying that debt back. Don’t worry about Chul-jung. I’ll take care of everything.”
“Still...”
“Don’t think about anything else. Just think about Hyo-yeon. You need to raise her in a better environment, right? I’m Hyo-yeon’s uncle. I used to pay for her formula and buy her gifts and all that.”
“I remember.”
“Then let your uncle give Hyo-yeon a present. So do what I say, all right?”
“...Yes.”
Tears spilled from Yoon Mi-sun’s eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because I’m so grateful.”
“Haha, I haven’t even done anything yet. If you’re already thanking me, what am I supposed to do?”
“It’s just... I’m thankful for everything.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk smiled as he spoke.
“Sister-in-law. Tomorrow...”