TMWCL Ch 1 part 2

Seungwoo and Yeoreum became acquainted when they were in the same class during their third year of high school. They quickly became close friends because they found themselves in the same classes and went to the same university. Even Yeoreum, who had difficulty getting along with her peers, was able to easily converse with him because of his easygoing personality.

“Wow, you got into all the universities except Korea University. Why are you going to Gawoon University when you have such good grades? You can go to a top-ranking university in Seoul. If I were you, I would have gone to Goyun University instead of Gawoon.”

“Because the majors in Goyun aren’t that great.”

“What’s wrong with phil-thought?”

Phil-thought was an abbreviation for the Department of Thought and Philosophy. It was a newly established department at Goyun that had changed its name in order to differentiate itself from the other universities’ philosophy departments, but in the end, it was a philosophy department. Philosophy was an interesting subject, but it was not advantageous in finding a job.

“It’s hard to get a job. Gawoon even offers scholarships. People just bank on safely getting a job based on the school’s name and brand.”

“What department are you looking at for Gawoon University?”

“…Early…”

“What?”

“Early childhood education…”

Yeoreum spoke in a creeping voice. When Seungwoo heard it, he looked bewildered for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“Wow, the Department of Early Childhood Education at Gawoon University? That’s surprising. You’re such an independent individual, so I never imagined you’d go into welfare or early childhood education. Honestly, since you’re so good at studying, I thought you’d go to medical school.”

“If you look at it along those lines, isn’t medical school similar? I also didn’t expect to do as well as I did on the CSAT. If I failed all of my early admissions exams, I probably would have gone to Korea University as a regular applicant.”

“You didn’t apply to Korea University?”

“No.”

“But you said you applied for the Phil-thought department at Goyun University. Other than the fact that all the schools are in the metropolitan area, you applied to a variety of different departments that have nothing in common.”

Lee Seungwoo laughed for a long time. Yeoreum wondered what he found so funny about her exam admission results.

Yeoreum also agreed with Seungwoo. Because her peers didn’t have anything they particularly wanted to do nor did they have anything they needed to accomplish, they just applied wherever they thought they’d get in.

“I’m just going to go wherever it’s easiest to get a job.”

Actually, other than the famous Goyun University, Yeoreum only applied to schools that offered scholarships and had high employment rates this past summer. She excluded Korea University because getting in with her grades and scores was a hit-or-miss. Her original goal was to go to a mid-to-upper-ranking university in Seoul. With her grades, she’d be able to enter with a scholarship.

“But why are you enlisting for your military service so early?”

“Why? Are you sad to see me go? Should I stay a little longer?”

“No, it’s just a bit strange because the other kids are planning on going after they finish a year of college.”

“My friends and I made plans to enlist together, that’s all. And I also didn’t want to come back and go to school without you.”

“Jeez.”

“I felt nervous at the thought of going back to school and not knowing anyone.”

“Then you can just get closer with your classmates and…”

“Ah, whatever. Oh, and my mom already sent me this week’s side dishes today. There’s also some rice here, and the rice cooler is over here. You know how to make rice, right?”

“I do.”

“If you leave the empty containers here, I’ll come by on the last day and take them back. Eat well. How do you expect to survive in this harsh world when you’re so skinny?”

“Okay, thank you. I’m in no position to refuse, so I’ll gladly accept your offer.”

All the appliances in her studio apartment were broken, and the only food she had was ramen noodles. Yeoreum was impressed by Seungwoo’s tact and consideration. As expected, a popular guy is different no matter how you look at him.

Seungwoo glanced at Yeoreum and coughed awkwardly.

“Ah, and you know… My sunbae said that he was going to set up a group blind date between our departments in the second semester.”

“Yeah?”

“Anyways, since it’s an engineering school, the guys there only wear checkered shirts or gray hoodies. They’re ugly and don’t have good personalities, so don’t go.”

“What’s wrong with gray hoodies? And how would you know when you’ve only been there for a semester?”

“Either way, men can just tell. I’m the best and everyone else is worse off than me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Got it?”

“I don’t even have the time to go to anything like that. But what a shame. If you had gone out, you would have been popular.”

“H-Huh? No. I’m not that popular.”

Ever since high school, Lee Seungwoo was consistently popular, even after entering college. Since she had eyes, she knew that Seungwoo’s warm appearance was rare among his peers. To be specific, he had a good personality, good looks, both of his parents were respectable teachers, and his older brother got a job at a large company. She wasn’t particularly curious about him, but she couldn’t help but know all this personal information because the girls sitting around her talked about him through high school. She was a little jealous whenever she listened in. At first glance, he seemed ordinary, but that was the hardest part.

“Anyways, when you have time, let’s meet up often before I have to report for duty.”

“But you have a lot of friends.”

“You’re the only friend I can confide in at this dreary university.”

“Soojin told me that you were famous for having a lot of friends…”

Suddenly, a phone rang. It was Lee Seungwoo’s. He checked the name on the screen and hurried towards the stairs.

“Ah, my hyung is calling. I’ll be off!”

“Okay, thanks. Take care.”

Yeoreum saw him off and entered the unfamiliar room. He said that he had packed everything yesterday, but it also seemed that he had cleaned up before leaving. The floor was so clean that it sparkled.

“It looks clean, but I wonder if there’s mold in here too. Why does it smell like a basement?”

Yeoreum unpacked as she looked around. The apartment was certainly clean and homey.

“…Ah.”

She let out a low sigh when she found the wet clothes she had brought. The smell was coming from here. The first thing she had to do was wash and do the laundry.

“Should I buy some clothes? Maybe I can just wear what I bought today.”

The dreaded meeting was tomorrow. She wanted to look as if she was doing well, but since she wasn’t good at dressing up, she felt that maybe she should just dress simply before heading out. She began to hang the finished laundry on the clothes hanger on the other side of the room. Her eyes turned to the cloudy sky. The weather forecast said that the rain would stop for a bit tonight and not start again until the morning.

Her phone rang. The name on the screen belonged to Soojin, a classmate from the same department. Yeoreum picked up the phone.

[Yeoreum! I heard you moved into the building next to my house. Did you meet him? I remember you saying it was happening in a few days last time we spoke.]

“No, we’re meeting tomorrow.”

[Your clothes are ruined, aren’t they?]

“Yeah.”

[That’s for the best. Just borrow my clothes! While we’re at it, let me do your makeup for you. If you want to look good in front of your father, you should put on some nice makeup, wear a pretty dress, and go out looking strong! Your clothes were nice, but they were mostly dark. Or they were gray t-shirts and hoodies.]

“What’s wrong with that?”

[What do you mean?! There’s a lot wrong with it. You’re twenty years old, but you’re wearing clothes like that. Stop talking nonsense and come to my house tomorrow. Let this unnie see what suits you best and pick out an outfit for you.]

“Yeah, but your birthday is after mine, isn’t it? What kind of unnie are you…?”

Ding-dong–.

The sound of the doorbell rang on the other end of the call.

[Hyun-gyu must be here. We have a date today. I’m hanging up!]

Soojin’s boyfriend, Kim Hyun-gyu, was Seungwoo’s middle school classmate. When Seungwoo had come to see Yeoreum, Hyun-gyu fell in love with Soojin, who had been by Yeoreum’s side, and they started dating.

“Okay.”

Yeoreum hung up the phone and checked the time. It would soon be time for her part-time job. She took out the only decent gray t-shirt from her bag. It was something she had bought on her way here. Today, both Lee Seungwoo and Cha Soobin had both looked down on gray t-shirts. Where else can you find clothes that are this comfortable, dirt-resistant, and pretty? She thought this as she put her arms through the gray t-shirt with an indifferent expression.

* * *

Sungha Construction was a fairly well-established company that had built its headquarters on prime land in Seoul. Looking down on the company for being created by gangsters for money laundering purposes ten years ago was now a thing of the past. This company, which was founded with solid capital and manpower, had now shed some of its image as a criminal organization created by gangsters through various advertisements featuring famous actors and well-managed operations that spanned many years.

But the fundamentals were the same. The company was still run by gangsters. The main business did not change just because ordinary office workers had now joined the company, built a few buildings, and had some good deals.

“Jeez, I thought it was strange that Kiju-hyung-nim hadn’t been coming here for a while. I didn’t know that the part-timer at the restaurant was his daughter. The world is really small.”

Taehyuk placed a yellow file down in front of Haegun. It held information about Han Yeoreum and had a photo of her parents. If she had resembled her father, Kiju, Haegun would have recognized her before he had heard her name. But she seemed to take after her mother.

“Han Yeoreum. She is twenty years old, and she is a student of the Department of Early Childhood Education at Gawoon University. The date of the meeting is tomorrow.”

“Seeing as how he didn’t recognize her when he was a customer at the restaurant, it seems that it has been a long time since he’d last seen her.”

“Yes, sir. I’m told he hasn’t seen her since she was a newborn. Kiju-hyung-nim never had a picture either.”

“Why not? He seemed to miss her terribly.”

“He wanted to see her, but he didn’t want to show himself to her. Eight years ago, Kiju-hyung-nim joined us because he wanted to see his child’s face with pride. I’m told his daughter hated the fact that her father was a gangster.”

“The child didn’t take after her father and grew up well.”

“Yes, sir.”

Haegun’s gaze turned to the photo that was clipped to the file. The photo was quite old and had blood stains wiped off of it, unlike when he had first seen it. The guy had received a recent photo of her, so why had he been carrying around a photo of her when she was a child?

“And I’m told Hyung-nim’s wife passed away in an accident a year ago.”

“An accident?”

“Do you remember the villa that Chudong Construction was building on the outskirts of Sangwon-dong?”

“It collapsed in the middle of construction and people got hurt.”

“I’m told she was involved in that accident. She was immediately taken to the hospital, but she died a few days later.”

To the public, the accident was thought to have been caused by poor construction practices that had cut corners to complete the construction quickly, but in actuality, it was done intentionally during a power struggle. When Sungha became Sungha Construction, its power and reach grew exponentially, and it became a famous company. From then on, various other groups tried to expand their influence by propping themselves up as construction companies. At the time, Sungha had already reached the top, and even without their interference, many of the new gangster companies disappeared during various power struggles or barely managed to make a living. Chudong was one of these companies.

Yeoreum was already leery of gangsters and hated them, but now she had even lost both of her parents to gangster infighting. The only difference was that her mother had become involved as an outsider, and her father had been an insider.

“If Yeoreum finds out, I’m sure she’ll hate me.”

“But it wasn’t our fault anyway.”

“What does she know? All gangster bastards are the same.”

In the old photo, a prim child was smiling brightly with her eyes cutely closed. The photo of Han Yeoreum attached diagonally below it was of her in her school uniform. It seemed to be an ID photo for her college entrance exams, and her expression was stiff, but she still looked young. That wasn’t surprising since this was probably taken in her third year of high school.

“We won’t be seeing much of each other anyway. We’re only going to have a brief meeting, so I guess I’ll just match her energy.”

“Are you really going to personally go out to see her?”

“What, then should I meet her indirectly?”

“I thought you were going to use a stand-in.”

“If you want to go instead, I won’t stop you.”

“As you know, I have no talent for acting, sir.”

Haegun chuckled, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

“I guess so. I bet the kid will start crying if you tell her you’re her dad.”

“Why? What’s so bad about me?”

Taehyuk made an aggrieved face, but Haegun didn’t bother to answer. Of course, neither Haegun nor Taehyuk had anything in common with Yeoreum, but at the very least, Haegun was tall and handsome, so he would leave a much more positive first impression. But to think that Haegun would act as a father… Taehyuk’s imagination wasn’t very good, so he had a difficult time imagining it.

“I think Kiju-hyung-nim would like this.”

“Is that so?”

His remark seemed insincere, but Haegun’s personality had played a large part in his smooth rise to the position of executive director of Sungha Construction. He took care of his own people. He was merciless to those who did not perform well, but he definitely rewarded those who did well, whether they were dead or alive. Just like when Taehyuk had brought up wanting to eat frozen pork belly, he went to the restaurant with him even though he didn’t pick up his chopsticks once while he was there.

“Then I will prepare for it!”

Taehyuk bowed deeply before leaving the office.

Haegun, who had been gazing at the brightly smiling photo of the young Yeoreum, promptly closed the file.

* * *

Yeoreum managed to hold Soojin back from going out shopping once they found out that Yeoreum’s shoe size did not match hers. Yeoreum checked herself in the mirror one more time. Next to her, Soojin nodded with satisfaction.

“I knew this would happen. Grab all those dull, colorless t-shirts and throw them out.”

“Why are you saying that again?”

“‘Why am I saying that again’? If you were my boyfriend, I would have given you a warning by now. Look in the mirror. Are your eyes attached to the back of your head?”

“It looks good. Thanks.”

“As long as you know. Well, I guess it’s fine. This dress looks good in sneakers anyways.”

Yeoreum was about a size smaller than Soojin. Because of this, most of the dresses Soojin had chosen for her didn’t fit, which was actually a stroke of luck for Yeoreum. Most of Soojin’s summer clothes had a low neckline, short skirts, showed a lot of leg, or were sleeveless. Those kinds of clothes had to fit perfectly in order to look good. If Yeoreum wore them, they would look awkward, as if she had stolen her older sister’s clothes.

By chance, there was just one dress that fit Yeoreum. It was Soojin’s sister’s dress that she had brought with her by mistake. It was a pure white, short-sleeved dress with a ‘V’ neckline that barely showed her chest, and the skirt was long enough to cover her knees. It had the most basic design among all the clothes at Soojin’s place.

“I’ll be careful not to get it dirty.”

“If it was mine, I’d have told you to be careful, but this one’s fine. My sister doesn’t even know it’s gone. Since it’s something she doesn’t wear, don’t worry about it. It’s almost time. Hurry up and go. Do well.”

“Okay. I’ll be back soon.”

Soojin saw Yeoreum off. Yeoreum headed to the cafe, the appointed meeting place, with a nervous heart. She carried a 5,000 won crossbody bag she had bought from an online shopping website. The small cafe, which only had three tables, was a quiet place that was a bit far away from her school. She had deliberately chosen a place that was remote, fearing that she might run into someone from school. She had planned to just say what she had to say and leave right away. She deliberately arrived right on time, but there was already a familiar face sitting by the window.

“…Huh? It’s that person.”

It was unmistakable. The man was dressed similarly to that day. The only difference was that his sleeves were folded a little neater, and only one button on his shirt was undone. An untouched iced Americano was placed in front of him.

Maybe it wasn’t surprising to see him at the barbecue restaurant, but this wasn’t the kind of neighborhood where gangsters would hang around. She began to wonder why their paths had crossed here.

Her eyes met his. His gaze was particularly clear and alert.

“Hello.”

Yeoreum acknowledged him before realizing what she was doing. Since their eyes met, she greeted him, but it wasn’t like they knew each other.

The corners of the man’s mouth slightly curled. Yeoreum sighed in her heart. Although he was a gangster, his face was especially handsome when he smiled.

“We agreed to meet today, didn’t we?”

“Pardon?”

“Go place your order and sit down. I already paid.”

“Why did you pay, Ahjussi?”

“Didn’t you come here to meet Han Kiju?”

“That’s correct.”

Yeoreum approached him, forgetting to order.

“Do you know that person? Who are you, Ahjussi?”

“Me? I’m your dad.”

“You’re my dad?”

Yeoreum’s mother hated her biological father. She was an ordinary high school girl from a family who was a bit poor, but her life completely changed when she met her biological father, Kiju, on a summer trip to the sea with her friends. After Yeoreum had settled into her mother’s womb, her mother and Kiju were kicked out of their schools and homes and had to prepare to live independently at a young age. The young couple had a difficult time getting through each day, and they fought often. Kiju soon left home, saying he would earn money for their little family. And at some point, he started regularly depositing money into their bank account without fail.

One day, when Yeoreum’s mother took Yeoreum to a street market a little farther away from home, they came to discover that Kiju was going around and working with gangsters. From then on, Yeoreum’s mother stopped accepting the money that Kiju earned. She said that she couldn’t raise her child with the money he earned from making others suffer.

As Yeoreum grew up, her mother pretended that her father did not exist and didn’t even show her a picture of him. But as time passed and Yeoreum grew old enough to get her own ID card, she gave Yeoreum his number.

“You’re old enough to know right from wrong now. So feel free to contact him if you want. After all, he’s still your dad.”

Yeoreum also knew that Kiju was alive. But in her heart, he was no different from a dead person. Was sending money enough? People don’t grow up with money alone. In the end, hadn’t Kiju abandoned her and her mother and was relieving his guilt with a few pennies?

Still, she often wondered what her biological father looked like. She would look in the mirror and point out the parts of herself that didn’t look like her mother and think, ‘Oh, my nose looks like my father’s. My ears are also like my father’s.’ She had guessed what her father would look like by putting together the fragments of memories her mother occasionally mentioned and the parts she thought resembled him. So no matter how different he was from her expectations, she could tell that this man was not her father.

Even though his appearance made it difficult to guess his age, he seemed to be someone in his late thirties.

“You don’t look like me at all.”

“I guess you can’t be fooled.”

The man was calm for someone who had tried and failed to deceive her. It was questionable whether he actually tried to deceive her in the first place. He opened his mouth again.

“…—’s friend.”

“And where did my dad go?”

“He’s such a talented person, so I sent him on a short business trip far away.”

“I knew this would happen. Are you some kind of replacement actor or something, Ahjussi? As expected of a gangster. There’s no way that guy would have shown up.”

“But I’m telling the truth.”

“Tell my dad this: ‘I don’t need your money.’ That’s what I came out here to say.”

Yeoreum took out a white envelope containing cash from her bag and placed it in front of Haegun. Then she turned around to leave without ordering a drink, but a voice rang out from behind her.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

The moment she began to turn around to refuse his offer, her surroundings seemed to change, and she smelled men’s aftershave. The man was standing right behind her. Even though the man had been smoking a cigarette just a while ago, now that he was close, she only smelled the aftershave on him.

“And take this.”

He handed her the white envelope.

“Please tell him what I said.”

“Give it to him directly. Otherwise, I’ll take this and buy myself a car.”

Yeoreum immediately snatched the envelope from his hand. It was money she didn’t want to receive, but she had no intention of letting a stranger buy a car with it.

“Did you see how much was in it, Ahjussi?”

“I didn’t.”

“Then you should know you can’t buy a car with this amount.”

“Because I know it’s from Han Kiju, I guess I expected him to send you a foolish amount.”

“……”

His confident reply was filled with faith in her biological father, whom she had never met. Coincidentally, she was able to get a better idea of what her biological father was like from someone else’s words than from exchanging messages with him herself.

“Am I wrong?”

“…You’re right.”

“I thought you only had a pretty face, but it seems that you can answer well too.”

The man laughed again.

Suddenly, Yeoreum felt embarrassed for dressing up and going to Soojin’s house to look good in front of her father, whom she’d never meet again. It was even more embarrassing to hear Haegun say that she was pretty because her appearance was too flashy.

“Not really…”

“You’re not pretty?”

Haegun caught onto what she was saying right away. For a gangster, he was quite observant. No, maybe he was very observant because he was a gangster.

“Yes.”

“Normally, it’s proper to gracefully accept the compliments given by your dad’s friend.”

“……”

“Just accept it.”

When Yeoreum stared at him, he gave her a questioning look, as if asking her what the problem was.

“What are you doing?”

“Thank… you.”

“Alright. You said you’re going home, right?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

Even though his offer to take her home had been a question, Haegun went ahead even though Yeoreum didn’t give him an answer. He opened the cafe door and went outside. Yeoreum followed him with a bewildered expression. The man’s car was parked right next to the cafe. It was an expensive foreign car with a well-known emblem. In order to get a new car of the same calibre, Yeoreum would need several more envelopes of money. She had followed him out so naturally that she hadn’t noticed, but when she stood in front of the expensive and unfamiliar car, she suddenly felt anxious.

“I can just walk home. It’s not that far from here.”

“It looks like it’s going to rain soon. The weather is hot, too.”

“Even if you’re my dad’s friend, I still feel a bit awkward getting into a stranger’s car.”

Even if her biological father had come out today, it would have felt awkward to ride in his car. Therefore, it felt even more awkward to ride in Haegun’s car. Haegun leaned against the car and looked at Yeoreum. After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth.

“I’ll give you money for a taxi. Do you come to this cafe often?”

“Yes. I like it here because it’s quiet.”

“I put a million won in your name, so you can study at this cafe comfortably.”

Yeoreum was surprised.

“Why did you spend that much money, Ahjussi?”

“It’s normal for a dad’s friend to bring a gift for the kid.”

He was using the excuse of being her dad’s friend again. She wouldn’t even accept the money she had received from her biological father, Kiju, so there was no way she’d want to accept money from Haegun.

“I don’t need it.”

“It sounds like the cafe owner will be over the moon thanks to Yeoreum. He’s making a million won without doing anything.”

“……”

“I won’t request a refund, so if you want to throw the money away, do whatever you want.”

Haegun took out his wallet and handed her a business card along with a few ten-thousand won bills.”

“If anything comes up, contact me. Your dad’s busy with work overseas, so he won’t be able to contact you for a while.”

“I don’t need it.”

“My arm hurts. If you keep playing hard-to-get, I’m going to tell your dad.”

“……”

“Should I tell him?”

One of the man’s brows rose.

Apart from returning the money, Yeoreum had wanted to avoid getting involved with her biological father. After all, this money was no more than a few pennies to the man in front of her, who didn’t even treat a million won like it was real money.

“Such a weird person.”

Yeoreum snatched the business card and cash from his hands and muttered to herself.

“Yeah, Yeoreum. It was nice meeting you too. See you later.”

The man smiled and got into the driver’s seat.

The tint of the windows were so dark that she couldn’t see what he was doing inside the car. But the car didn’t move for a while. It seemed like he was trying to confirm that she was really going to take a taxi. Unable to endure the unspoken pressure, Yeoreum installed a taxi app on her phone for the first time and called a taxi.

His car didn’t start until Yeoreum got into the taxi that had arrived in front of the cafe.