LM 99

Woo Hyunse closed his eyes tightly and reopened them. His energy was running wild. Beside him, Woo Jihye hunched her shoulders and wrapped her arms around herself. Even Woo Gibbeum raised her eyebrows as she looked at Woo Hyunse. He took a quiet deep breath, but it was useless. Woo Hyunse clenched his trembling fingertips. He found it was difficult for him to regain composure at this moment.

“You should start wrapping things up and come in too. It’s time you settled down, if only for your family’s sake. Assemblyman Kim has promised to support you, so before it’s too late…”

“—It seems you’ve concluded your deal successfully.”

Woo Hyunse put down the coffee cup. The face of the old man, whose words were cut off mid-sentence, gradually turned bright red. He was still the same person who easily became angry and quick to lose his temper.

“I have absolutely no intention of wrapping up my work. Nor do I have any desire to enter politics. Even with a knife to my throat, I won’t do what I don’t want to do. Please give up.”

“You brat, how dare you…!”

“I’m obediently getting married as you ordered. I’ll do one thing. But I can’t do two. Don’t bother pushing me any further. Too much is just greed in your old age.”

“Hey, you! How dare you speak to your father like that!”

Woo Gibbeum jumped up from the sofa, pointing her finger at him. Woo Jihye also tugged at Woo Hyunse’s clothes, asking why he was behaving in this manner. Woo Hyunse just stared straight at the old man. The old man clutched the back of his neck under Woo Hyunse’s piercing gaze that could kill upon contact.

“Stop playing the pig farmer now.”

“You little bastard…!”

His forehead and scalp turned as red as a tomato. The old man gripped the armrest of his chair, stood up abruptly, and swung his arm hard at Woo Hyunse. Though he could have easily dodged it, he took one hit. With a smack, his head turned to the side.

The thick ring scraped across his cheekbone, leaving a long cut. It must have been deep because blood trickled down his cheek right afterward.

“How dare you, in front of me…!”

Woo Hyunse roughly wiped the blood with the back of his hand. For an old man, his hand strength was no joke. ‘He’s got a long way to go,’ he muttered inwardly. The corners of his mouth, which had been stiff and unmoving until now, finally turned upward. But there was no hint of laughter in his eyes.

“I’ll be leaving first.”

If he stayed here any longer, he might grab the old man by the throat, regardless of any lingering feelings of gratitude for raising him. Emotionally, he’d already done more than enough. He turned around, throwing out a perfunctory farewell over his shoulder. A roar of anger erupted behind him. He pretended not to hear any of it.

As he was crossing the garden toward the main gate, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from behind. He swatted away the hand that tried to grab his shoulder and turn him around. Despite the sharp collision, the other person paid no mind and raised their voice.

“Hey, are you crazy?”

It was Woo Gibbeum. It seemed Woo Jihye had taken on the role of calming down the raging old man. Ignoring her, he went out the door. If he could, he wanted to cut ties completely with the Woo sisters as well. But Woo Gibbeum followed him persistently, blocking him from getting into the car.

“What?”

After staring at him for a while, Woo Gibbeum messed up her own hair frustratedly and took out a cigarette. She put one in her mouth and offered one to Woo Hyunse. He reluctantly took it and put it between his lips.

“Are you insane? You know that old man’s temper. Did you forget he throws ashtrays first when someone talks back?”

Unlike when she called out to Woo Hyunse earlier, her voice had softened. Woo Hyunse silently inhaled the smoke. Whatever Woo Gibbeum was saying wasn’t really registering. He had only accepted the cigarette to suppress something inexplicably boiling inside him, not because he wanted to have a chat.

“Why couldn’t you just stay quiet instead of acting up and getting hit? You’re an idiot with nothing but your face going for you…What’s the reason for suddenly going crazy and making a scene just now? Do you want to get beaten with a golf club like in the old days? Do you miss those times?”

Though they were introduced as siblings, the emotion binding them wasn’t sibling love, but rather a sense of camaraderie and solidarity forged through violence.

“Fuck, are you some hormonal teenager?”

Unable to hold back any longer, Woo Gibbeum shouted angrily. Regardless, Woo Hyunse deliberately flicked his cigarette butt toward the other woman’s feet after taking one last drag.

Taking advantage of Woo Gibbeum’s distraction, he got into the car. He heard the urgent voice calling out to him while knocking on the window, but he pretended not to hear and started the engine.

The figure reflected in the side mirror grew smaller and smaller. He thought seeing them jumping up and down in anger would make him feel better, thought getting away from that house would ease the tightness in his chest even just a little, but his solar plexus still felt as if someone had tied it up tightly with a rope.

His smoking had increased excessively. With his insides feeling so constricted, all he reached for was either cigarettes or alcohol. He was at least trying to keep his wits about him and resist getting drunk. When he drank, his irritation and anger didn’t subside in the slightest but were fanned instead. He was on the verge of throwing a punch at anyone who might provoke him.

He crumpled the empty cigarette pack in his hand and threw it in the trash. He tilted his head back, then forward, and scanned his desk. There was a lot to do. If Park Hae-jeong were around, he would have postponed all the annoying tasks, but he kept delaying his return, saying there were still things to take care of.

He might be enjoying his vacation at this point. He thought about calling Kwon Siyul back since he truly didn’t care whether Kwon Yuwon lived or died, but he refrained because he didn’t want to hear any resentful words.

…From whom.

The letters weren’t registering in his eyes. He put down the tablet he was holding and picked up his phone. There were photos that had arrived. They were photos taken secretly from afar.

Kwon Siyul was living well. So well that it was infuriating to Woo Hyunse. He had even increased his jobs to two. Was he short on money? It was just like Kwon Siyul to not come to him if he needed anything. It even showed his firm determination to never cross paths again, even by chance, for the rest of his life.

He was living in the same place as before. It was a flophouse that looked like a rat hole. He hadn’t gone there himself, only seen it in photographs. Kwon Siyul’s room was the last one at the end of a narrow, cluttered hallway.

He couldn’t understand why he was putting himself through such hardship. Just one word, and he didn’t even have to say he was coming back, but just one word asking for help, and he would pretend to give in and provide all sorts of conveniences. In case Kwon Siyul might swallow his pride and ask for help, he had even prepared a decent officetel near the station.

Was the other man trying to maintain his pride or something?

There was a bitter taste in his mouth right then. He needed nicotine. He left the office, partly to get some fresh air. The convenience store was within walking distance from the building, but his feet headed toward the underground parking lot, contrary to his intention.

Getting into the car, he checked the time and saw it was close to 2 a.m. He leaned his forehead against the steering wheel and let out a scornful laugh. It was a habit ingrained in his body. He used to always go to pick up Kwon Siyul at this time. Habits were terrifying things. Whether you want to or not, when the time comes, your body moves on its own accord.

He sat there blankly for a long time. His eyes kept going to the clock. As the minute hand climbed higher, he grew more and more anxious. He bit his lip and gripped the steering wheel. He wanted to go. And then…

“…Fuck.”

His swearing had increased as much as his smoking. His patience had run out. Making the flimsy excuse that he was just going to the familiar convenience store to buy cigarettes, he started the engine.

Despite having a mountain of work to do and ten thousand reasons not to go, there was also a reason why he had to go. He couldn’t leave the officetel he had carefully prepared sitting empty without an occupant. That one reason outweighed all others in his mind.