The Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains (His Retirement Fund)
Bang!
The gates of the government office slammed shut.
Shuffle. Shuffle.
Jin Cheong-un and Jeong So-so walked out side by side and stared blankly into empty air, as if bound by some silent pact.
“……”
“……”
Was this what the face of someone who'd lost his country looked like?
The two of them had grabbed the clerk by his sleeve and pressed him half to death, but in the end, no help was to be had.
“How would I know what to do? That's your problem to sort out. Tsk tsk! This is why you young folk ought to look before you leap.”
“See, fraud is like this. The person who gets swindled is always a fool—AAAGH! Who the hell are you to grab my collar?! L-let go! HEY! SOOOMEBODY!”
Crunch!
Jin Cheong-un ground his teeth hard enough to shatter them.
…Geonmul-wang.
Murderous intent flickered in his eyes.
Just you try to get caught. I'll grind your bones into powder and drink you.
Never in his life had he felt rage this violent. So that was why people spoke of "mortal enemies one would chase to the ends of the earth."
Jin Cheong-un swore to the heavens that he would make the man pay what was owed.
But still.
And what was he supposed to do right now?
Maybe I could send word to the Alliance.
Retired or not, he had ties with the Alliance Leader, and the man wouldn't turn him away…
“You said you were retiring, and already you're in some kind of trouble, hm? Geonmul-wang? Never heard of the master. What? He's just a con man? You lost your retirement fund? Hahaha! Don't you worry. I'll help you. Of course I'll help! Absolutely! Aaaabsolutely!”
…He'd rather drown face-first in a dinner dish. Accepting the Martial Alliance's help was absolutely out of the question.
Whew. Fine. I'll just write it off as an expensive lesson about the world.
Jin Cheong-un let out a long sigh.
He'd heard of people losing their entire life savings to a single scam. Compared to that, he was getting off easy, wasn't he? He might not know about the land, but the manor really was his, and he still had a bit of the money he'd saved to run the academy…
“……”
Damn it. What was he doing, feeling relieved?
Dew gathered in Jin Cheong-un's eyes.
That was when it happened.
“Um… are you all right?”
Jeong So-so asked, glancing at him warily.
“…I'm fine. Forgive me. Lost my manners right in front of a lady.”
“Cheer up. I know exactly how you feel.”
“…?”
“Everyone's like that at first. But time really does take care of it.”
“Look here. I appreciate the comfort, but do you have any idea what kind of money that was?”
It was money steeped in his own blood and sweat, wrung out of him under the tyranny of a certain superior calling himself the Martial Alliance Leader.
And that was no figure of speech. Literally. Blood. And sweat.
“I know. But it's still about the same, in the end.”
“About the same?”
“At first you refuse to accept reality and deny everything. Then after a while the fury shoots straight up to the roots of your hair. Then a little longer passes, and you finally give up and compromise. You know—’I'll just call it an expensive lesson about the world’… and so on.”
Inwardly, Jin Cheong-un recoiled in shock.
What is this girl, a fortune-teller?
“You shed a few bitter tears in your sleep, toss and turn a few nights… and in the end, it all turns out fine.”
Jeong So-so smiled the smile of an enlightened old monk.
“So let it go. However you live, life finds a way.”
Jin Cheong-un, who'd been nodding along absently, suddenly asked with a dissatisfied face.
“And how exactly would a young miss like you know all that?”
“Don't ask. I didn't want to know either.”
“……”
Jeong So-so gazed off at some distant mountain.
Silence flowed between them.
Jin Cheong-un drew one long, deep breath.
Right. Misbuttoning the first button is no reason to misbutton the rest.
Geonmul-wang was a lost cause, but there was still the academy to open, disciples to find… a mountain of work ahead of him.
Right. No one lives their life looking backward. You live it looking ahead.
A smile touching his lips, Jin Cheong-un spoke.
“Thank you for the advice. It helped more than you know.”
“Think nothing of it.”
“Shaming myself in front of a girl your age. Must feel like lightning out of a clear sky to you too.”
“It's fine.”
Jeong So-so gave that enlightened little smile again.
“Me? I'm already drowning in a mountain of debt. One more boulder on the pile isn't going to change anything.”
“……”
“Really, I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about, sir—you lost so much more money. Cheer up.”
Hah.
She was still so young. How could anyone be this mature?
Alliance Leader. You ought to take notes from this girl.
He was entertaining visions of Yeo Woon-bak erupting in fury when Jeong So-so asked:
“By the way… do you have somewhere to stay?”
“Somewhere to stay?”
“I never had any intention of letting you in, but given the circumstances, you're welcome to stay at our place for a while.”
“…Huh?”
“There are plenty of empty rooms in the manor, so you shouldn't have any trouble—”
“Hold on.”
Jin Cheong-un's brow furrowed.
“What exactly are you saying right now?”
“No need to refuse. It's fate, after all. I'll give you a few days to find a place.”
“No, that's not it.”
“What?”
“Why have you been talking this whole time as if I'm the one who has to leave?”
The air went still.
From that very moment, the warm atmosphere turned into a sheet of thin ice.
“Well… because I'm the one who owns the land?”
“I own the house.”
“A house that sits on my land. My house, technically.”
“Not your house. My house.”
The light in both their eyes changed.
Like starving beasts, the two of them began to growl, each refusing to let the prey slip away.
“That house belonged to the Jeong family to begin with.”
“The current owner is me. It was sold to cover your debts.”
“Not the land. That was fraud.”
“…!”
“Since when does the owner of land get thrown off his own land? Besides, my family has lived there our whole lives. Our whole lives! Our entire lives, I say!”
“By that logic, does the owner of a house getting thrown out of his own house make sense?”
“…Um, excuse me. Why have your sentences been getting shorter and shorter?”
“Mine? When?”
“Right now!”
“Come now, calm down. Why are you flying into a rage like this? You're disturbing everyone around us.”
“Wh-when did I ever raise my voice?!”
“You're doing it right now. This is exactly when you need to settle things calmly, through conversation. What kind of person shouts like—”
“Ah—stop sneaking into casual speech with me!”
That was when it happened.
Bang!
The office door flew open and a guard bellowed:
“You people have some nerve! Do you even know where you are, carrying on like this after being thrown out? Now clear off!”
Jin Cheong-un and Jeong So-so's heads snapped around.
“Keep it down! We're in the middle of something important!”
“We'll handle it ourselves, so stay out of it. Pah—maybe I should just set this place on fire.”
The guard faltered under the sheer force of their momentum for a moment. Then the man, frozen like stone, gave a small bow of his head.
“My apologies. Please, carry on with your conversation.”
The guard backed away, shuffling, and quietly closed the door. His superior, waiting inside the gate, narrowed his eyes.
“I told you to throw them out. Why'd you just come back in?”
“They're lunatics, sir.”
“Hm?”
“They seem to have lost their minds entirely, sir. Best not to meddle with them.”
At that, the superior blinked a few times, then nodded.
“Mm, right. Best not to get tangled up with madmen.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Young folks these days. Tsk tsk.”
A short while later, at the Jeong family manor at the far end of the northern street in Yinghua Village.
Seated before the dinner table, Jeong So-ryong glanced left and right.
“……”
“……”
Jin Cheong-un and Jeong So-so sat facing each other.
Wanting to make sure her brother got his dinner, Jeong So-so had ended the argument first and come home. Jin Cheong-un had naturally followed along, since it was a house he'd bought…
“You certainly invited yourself in without a shred of hesitation.”
And so the two of them ended up seated across the table from one another.
“I didn't invite myself. This one asked me to come.”
Jin Cheong-un pointed at Jeong So-ryong without a hint of shame.
“That's right, sis. A guest came to visit—how could we eat separately? You're always saying things like that are bad manners.”
“So-ryong, listen carefully. Just because someone's inside the house doesn't make them a guest.”
Jin Cheong-un nodded in agreement.
“Well said. I'm the owner of the house. How could I be the guest?”
“Let me say this again: the owner of the land is me.”
“Who said anything about the land? I said the house.”
“…!”
Struck clean by the counterblow, Jeong So-so's eyes blazed.
Jeong So-ryong let out a sigh.
“Sis, let's stop here. However you look at it, raising your voice at the dinner table in front of a guest doesn't seem like good manners.”
The bickering cut off abruptly.
Jin Cheong-un blinked.
Is that something a child that age should be saying?
Jeong So-so, apparently used to it, heaved a deep sigh. Then she spoke in a sulky voice:
“…Fine. Eat before it gets cold. There isn't much, but if you want more, say so anytime.”
In the end, Jeong So-so was the one to take a step back. Guest or not(?), the person had come all the way to her home, and serving no food at all felt like going too far.
“Ahem. Right. I'd figured I'd be skipping dinner, but this is a kindness. Much obliged.”
“…Don't mention it.”
“Oh, but—”
“Is there something you need?”
Jin Cheong-un swept his gaze across the table and asked:
“No meat dishes?”
“…No, there aren't.”
“Ah… I just can't feel full without meat, you see.”
Jeong So-so blinked, then fidgeted with her ear.
What? Did I hear that wrong?
“But since you went to the trouble of preparing it, complaining would be shameless of me. I'm the sort who eats well even when the side dishes are sparse. I'll eat heartily.”
Doesn't that sound pretty shameless to you?
Aren't you doing a LOT of complaining?
She gaped, mouth opening and closing, her soul briefly leaving her body.
How can a person be that thick-skinned?!
Entirely indifferent to her silent outrage, Jin Cheong-un gave the table a leisurely once-over.
“Hmmmm.”
Greens blanched in water. Greens stir-fried in oil. Greens dressed in seasoning…
Why, this is vegetarian fare perfect enough to make the monks of Shaolin weep with envy.
He idly picked up a bit of stir-fried vegetables and put it in his mouth.
“…!”
His eyes flew wide open.
Did I just eat meat?
No, he hadn't.
Vegetables can taste like THIS?
It was delicious.
They said hunger was the best sauce, but even setting that aside, this was excellent. The seasoning was masterful, and the doneness of these vegetables in particular—!
Clack-clack-clack-clack!
Jin Cheong-un's chopsticks began to move at a ferocious pace.
“Well? Is it to your taste?”
“It's genuinely delicious. How does anything taste this good!”
A hint of pride crept into Jeong So-so's expression.
“I learned it firsthand at the finest tavern in Yinghua Village. My cooking gets glowing reviews from customers, you know.”
“I believe it. Better than the head chefs at any respectable tavern.”
“Have you tried the braised tofu yet?”
“Good heavens—tofu can taste like this?!”
“Shall I get you more rice?”
“Oh, thank you kindly.”
“Eat up, eat plenty!”
Jeong So-so, beaming as she heaped his bowl into a mountain of rice, suddenly froze mid-motion.
Is this right?
A strange awkwardness had crept over her, and the rice wouldn't come out of the ladle.
It wasn't until the meal was nearly finished that Jeong So-so spoke again.
“If you're done eating, I'd like to have a serious conversation now.”
“Good. Let's.”
With the food cleared away, the two faced each other across the table, their expressions colder than the winter wind.
“What do you plan to do now?”
“I was just about to discuss that. I've given it some thought.”
Jin Cheong-un tapped the table lightly.
“How about you sell me this land?”
Jeong So-so chewed her lower lip. Then, lowering her gaze slightly, she answered:
“…I can't sell it.”
“Why not?”
“Because this is the precious home I've lived in my whole life, that's why.”
“Then buy the deed back from me, if you like.”
“I-I don't have that kind of money right now…”
Jin Cheong-un let out a short sigh.
“Let's lay our cards on the table. Word is you're carrying some debt. If you sell the land now, a whole raft of problems gets solved at once. As far as I'm concerned, I'm being generous here.”
“……”
“If there's some other way out of this, by all means, tell me.”
Jeong So-so kept her mouth shut, staring blankly at the floor for a long moment before speaking.
“…I'm sorry. I know it's shameless of me. But we can't leave this house.”
“Hmmm.”
Jin Cheong-un crossed his arms and sighed.
Then—
“Then why not just live together?”
Jeong So-so whirled on her brother.
“So-ryong. What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Why? We have plenty of spare rooms. The annex isn't even being used…”
“Have a strange man move in and what do you suppose the whole village will say? And you don't just take in men who go around armed like that.”
“The armed man you're talking about is sitting right here…”
“N-no, that's not what I meant… I'm sorry.”
Jeong So-ryong said, in his clear, deliberate voice:
“Then what do we do? You said this mister bought our deed.”
“……”
“What does the village have to do with anything? And this mister is all right. He's nothing like those Black Tiger Gang fellows… cough! Cough!”
In that instant, Jeong So-ryong clapped a hand over his mouth and broke into violent coughing.
When he drew his hand away, red flecks of blood clung to his sleeve.
Jeong So-so shrieked, bolting upright.
“So-ryong! D-don't tell me you didn't take your medicine today?”
“No, it's just… the medicine's expensive. I was going to take it after dinner… cough!”
“S-stay still! I'll brew your medicine right now!”
“I'm fine. I told you, I'm fi—urk!”
In an instant, Jeong So-ryong, who had reached out to steady his sister, crumpled straight off his chair.
“So-ryong! So-ryong!”
Jeong So-so caught him in her arms—and went pale with horror.
His body's burning up like a furnace! He'd been doing so well lately—why is it flaring up again…!
Then Jin Cheong-un spoke, his voice perfectly calm.
“Step aside for a moment.”
Without waiting for an answer, he seized the boy's wrist. For a boy his age, the wrist was thin—far too thin.
In that instant, Jin Cheong-un's eyes went wide.
Severed meridians?