UR Chapter 34

Chapter 34

“You know my dad’s personality, right? He said he’s going to kill me. Says it doesn’t matter if I’m his precious second son—no amount of begging will get me off the hook.”

“…”

I-bom pictured Soo-hyun’s father, President Kang. He’d seen him grab scatterbrained Soo-hyun by the collar more than once.

“He’s raging that if I don’t put the money back, he won’t let me off. So I called I-jun to get the money back, but that bastard won’t answer.”

“Are you sure his phone’s not just off? Did you check the PC room? The billiard hall?”

“Hey, you think I don’t know where to find him?”

Soo-hyun snapped, as if unwilling to listen to nonsense.

“So now I’m in trouble too. My dad’s furious, telling me to hand over the money—what am I supposed to do? The quickest thing is to contact your grandmother.”

He shrugged, as if to say he’d gotten dragged into this unfairly.

I-bom should have thought harder back when I-jun had said, “Can’t you just take it from the convenience store till?” He should have been suspicious at how casually it was suggested. Pressing his fingers against his temples, I-bom sighed. His head throbbed.

From Soo-hyun’s point of view, telling his grandmother might seem like the best option. But for I-bom, it wasn’t.

To their grandmother, the eldest grandson, I-jun, was everything. She was already hospitalized, and the shock of learning that her grandson had scammed a friend, gone into hiding, and even taken a leave from school could be devastating.

“Hyung,”

I-bom grabbed the hem of Soo-hyun’s shirt.

“…Can we not tell my grandmother? You know she’s sick—she’d take it really hard.”

“Then what? If I don’t pay my dad back, he’ll kill me.”

“I-I’ll give you the money.”

I-bom blurted it out, desperate to keep his grandmother out of this mess.

“I don’t have much, but for now… how much do you need?”

His voice was earnest. It was all for his grandmother, who always protected his brother. His brother would come back eventually, and since Soo-hyun was a close friend, he didn’t see any other issue. As long as their grandmother didn’t find out, it would be fine.

“Ten million won.”

“…What?”

I-bom’s jaw dropped. He wondered if he’d misheard, because the amount was absurdly large.

“Five million of mine, and another five I stole from my dad.”

As I-bom stood there repeating “What?” like a broken toy, Soo-hyun gave an awkward smile.

“See? Your grandmother should probably know. Still, if I just cover the five million I took from my dad, it’ll put out the biggest fire for now… Anyway, I’m heading out.”

He pried I-bom’s hand off his shirt and started to turn away.

“Hyung, wait!”

“Hm?”

“I’ll pay it back. I-I can do it.”

“You?”

“I don’t want my grandmother to know. I… I’ll pay it back right away.”

Soo-hyun gave him a doubtful look, his eyes sweeping up and down.

He knew all too well about the family’s money troubles—what with I-jun’s constant troublemaking and their grandmother’s medical bills—so his face said plainly, How could you possibly pull that off?

“Yes. But… could you give me more time?”

“More time? My dad might kill me if I wait.”

Ugh.

Soo-hyun made a slicing gesture across his neck.

“I’ll do anything you ask in return.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

Clutching Soo-hyun’s shirt again, I-bom looked at him with desperate eyes.

Whether it was that desperate expression or something already brewing in his mind, Soo-hyun touched his lips thoughtfully, rolled his eyes as if weighing an idea, then nodded.

“Alright, fine.”

There was something almost ominous in his smile.

“In that case, there’s something I need you to do for me.”

* * *

“Uh, well…”

I-bom glanced around cautiously as he spoke.

What Soo-hyun had said earlier—”something you have to do for me”—still lingered in his mind, but he didn’t bring it up.

“My brother… he’s in debt all over the place and went into hiding.”

“…What?”

Somi’s fingers froze on the banking app she had been casually fiddling with.

She frowned and turned her head to look at him.

“Did you go to the police?”

I-bom shook his head, looking troubled. The heaviness in his chest made it hard to explain in detail.

There wasn’t even a small police substation near Aji Village, let alone a main station.

To reach one, you had to travel far into the neighboring district.

And the police hated taking reports from Aji Village residents.

To them, the villagers were poor troublemakers—why bother going out of their way to respond?

I-bom had tried filing reports before, but none of the police ever took incidents from Aji Village seriously.

It wasn’t just him—most villagers had experienced it.

So when it came to his brother’s debt and disappearance, the thought of reporting it never even crossed his mind.

“I did go once…”

“And?”

“They just… laughed.”

“What?”

Somi’s face flushed red—not with embarrassment, but anger—at his calm reply.

“Why would they laugh?”

“They said there are too many incidents in Aji Village to take on any more cases.”

“Did you tell them the whole situation?”

“I did.”

“And they still didn’t take it? Are they insane? If someone’s in debt and hiding, they should file it as fraud or a missing person’s report! What kind of police are they? And you just let it go?”

Alarmed, I-bom grabbed her arm, worried she might storm into the nearest police station to complain.

“God, those bastards.”

“Hey—no need to get angry, Somi. You’ll just upset yourself.”

To be honest, I-bom was used to it.

Everyone always said “Aji Village is the problem” or “half-beastmen are troublemakers,” so he’d just accepted it as the way things were.

“Should I report it to the police complaints board? Those guys are awful.”

I-bom slowly shook his head.

He appreciated her concern, but he doubted one complaint could change something that had been the norm for so long.

He also worried she’d just be disappointed and discouraged if nothing came of it.

“Thanks for caring.”

Somi quietly rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

With practiced fingers, she tapped the pack and slid one between her lips.

“Want one?”

“No.”

He raised a hand to refuse, and she nodded, lighting her own.

“Fwoo…”

White smoke curled upward into the dim alley.

Their shadows stretched long along the concrete walls, swaying faintly.

Somi smoked two more in silence before flicking away the last ashes.

“Come with me.”

She brushed off her hands and gestured for I-bom to follow.

Rubbing his red, tired eyes, he trailed after her into Happy Bunny’s kitchen.

Without hesitation, Somi pulled out a glass from a stack and filled it to the brim with ice.

The clinking cubes made a clear, crisp sound.

“Sit.”

She motioned with her chin.

Like he was under a spell, I-bom crouched onto a small chair by the sink.

“Now… where was it?”

She glanced around before opening a frosted glass cabinet, revealing bottles of rum and cocktail syrups.

“Somi?”

Thud.

The heavy bottles landed on the counter in front of him, and I-bom stared, uncertain.

“…What are you doing?”

Without answering, Somi poured syrup into a silver shaker and began shaking it skillfully.

He had thought she only did serving work like him, but the deft way she moved made his eyes widen more and more.

“Have a nice cold drink.”

In front of him sat a colorful, fruit-scented cocktail in shades of red and yellow.

Stretching her neck, Somi waved for him to take it.

“Just hearing your story pisses me off—can’t imagine how much worse it is for you. Drink up.”

“T-thanks.”

“Oh, right. Here, use this too.”

She set down a pretty spiral-shaped straw in front of him.

“It’s not a good habit to drink whenever you’re angry, but on a day like today, it’s fine.”

I-bom sipped the cocktail through the straw.