VDN Ch 37
by STAR“Were you really planning to study abroad?”
Nam-woon looked at Seo-oh with a flustered expression and then half-heartedly replied,
“Uh… y-yeah.”
There’d been a time when Seok Nam-woon wouldn’t shut up about going overseas. It made sense: a bottom-of-the-class student like him had almost zero chance of getting into a good Korean university.
But Chairman Seok never invested in lost causes. Sending his son abroad would just burn through cash, pick up trouble, and drag down the business. That’s how Nam-woon’s plan was shot down.
The young Seo-oh had actually been disappointed. If Nam-woon had left the country, life for him and his father would have been far easier.
He studied Nam-woon’s face, dimly lit by the laptop screen. Nam-woon frowned, as if to say, “Why are you staring?” He was handsome, but not what you’d call cute. Seo-oh’s eyes have been strange these days. He seemed cute to him.
If Seok Nam-woon had gone overseas… we wouldn’t be sitting under the same roof right now, he thought. With that odd feeling, he asked softly,
“Do you still want to? Study abroad, I mean.”
“Well, it’s not like I can.”
“But if you could, would you go?”
“I said I can’t.”
“I mean, hypothetically.”
“Even hypothetically, no.”
The back-and-forth went on. Like a repeating machine, Nam-woon kept repeating “can’t” until, pressed by Seo-oh’s questions, he finally said:
“If I had the money, and my English was good… sure, I guess. It’d be fun overseas.”
Seo-oh’s mood sank. Nam-woon asked,
“Don’t you want to study abroad?”
Of course, he had wanted to go. But living abroad was a dream in itself, and…now there was one more person he cared about.
“I’d go if you went.”
“If I go, will you go?”
Nam-woon chuckled. he added,
“You just hate losing to your Hyung, huh? Think about it seriously sometime. Maybe there’s a program.”
“……”
When Seo-oh didn’t answer, Nam-woon soon said, “Ah,” and made a vague face. It seemed he was considering Seo-oh’s current situation.
“How would you feel, Hyung, if I left to study abroad?”
“What do you mean?”
“…Just. How would you feel?”
After a moment of thought, Nam-woon spoke in a light tone.
“I’d probably… feel good?”
Seo-oh bit his lip at Nam-woon’s words.
Is he happy to see me gone? is that it? With me out of the way, he could win Chairman Seok’s full favor The thorn in his eye he hated so much will finally be gone? Unaware, Nam-woon grinned and added,
“You’re smart, so you’d do great if you went to study abroad. Studying abroad is good. Anyway, let’s go to sleep now. You have to go to school early tomorrow.”
Nam-woon got up from beside Seo-oh and slipped into the blanket. A little later, Seo-oh also turned off the desk lamp and lay down next to Se-han. When it was just him and Se-han, there had been plenty of space, but with Nam-woon back, the blanket was crowded again. He was pleased with that.
Turning over, Seo-oh looked at Se-han once and then scanned Nam-woon’s profile with his eyes. I wish he would feel anxious if I wasn’t here. Seo-oh closed his eyes, thinking about his conversation with Nam-woon.
***
The next day, after sleeping soundly for the first time in a while, Nam-woon withdrew about seven hundred thousand won in cash on his way to the office. It was for Seo-oh. These days, the rent in expensive parts of Seoul is about sixty or seventy, and some are even a hundred. And he’d been eating at Seo-oh’s place, too. He’d slip him more later.
He stuffed the cash into an envelope, reached the office, and was at his desk when Yong-deuk handed him a ledger.
“What’s this?”
“I wanted approval first, but last time the young master said use the card and show receipts later…”
Nam-woon flipped through the pages quickly. 24-hour Grandma’s Sundae Shop, Bone Flavorful Gamjatang, SX Convenience Store, SX Convenience Store, SX Convenience Store—more than 50% were convenience stores.
“Why so many convenience stores?”
“Ah, it’s for the kids’ snacks… I mean the office snacks.”
“Is that so?”
As Nam-woon closed the ledger, he sharply scanned the cigarette pack on the table in front of the sofa where Deok-chil and Jang-mi were sitting. Nam-woon silently handed the ledger back to Yong-deuk, who looked puzzled.
“What’s wrong?”
“Where’s the money?”
“What money?”
“I paid for all of this myself. Young master said he’d pay me back later.”
No way. Nam-woon snatched the ledger back from Yong-deuk and urgently checked the total amount. 602,500 won. Crap. I’ve lost all my money. Nam-woon took money out of the envelope with trembling hands.
“From now on, our office is a no-smoking zone.”
“What?”
“What?!”
Deok-chil and Jang-mi turned toward him as if the sky had fallen, but Nam-woon was adamant. He declared a strict no-smoking policy, lectured for ten straight minutes about the dangers of cigarettes, stuffed the now-thin envelope back into his pocket, and strode out.
He hurried home early, concerned that Seo-oh might be waiting, only to find him nowhere in sight. Meanwhile, Se-han, who had once again skipped Taekwondo without his brother knowing, pleaded with Nam-woon to buy him ice cream.
When they reached Namnam Supermarket, Se-han lingered near an old-fashioned claw machine, studying it closely. Then, out of nowhere, he let out an excited shout.
“Oh, Oh!”
“What is it?”
Nam-woon also stuck close to the claw machine. Se-han pointed his finger at a stuffed animal inside.
“There!”
It was a doll that looked like the stuffed dog attached to Se-han’s bag, but it was a different color. Se-han’s was white and the one in the machine was yellow.
“That’s Bulk-kong!”
Se-han’s eyes sparkled as he stood in front of the claw machine, he didn’t think of moving his eyes away from the doll. Nam-woon took out a white envelope from his pocket.
“Shall we give it a try?”
“Just a little more!”
“Ah!”
Se-han cried out. It was already the eleventh attempt, and 5,500 won vanished in just a few minutes. Se-han let go of the joystick and looked up at Nam-woon.
“Let’s stop, Hyung.”
“No.”
Nam-woon couldn’t just walk away after seeing Se-han’s face. He took another bill out of the envelope. He was glad that he had cash today.
“Let me try again.”
“N-No, you’ll—!”
He failed again. Nam-woon rummaged through his pockets. When did he spend all the money? He naturally grabbed the envelope again, but Se-han grabbed his sleeve.
“Hyung, I think we should stop now…”
“Kwon Se-han. You shouldn’t give up that easily.”
“But we already spent a lot of money.”
“Just a few more tries and we’ll get it, I can feel it.”
Nam-woon, whose eyes were bloodshot red and bulging like those of a gambling addict, fiddled with a coin in his hand. Click. His hands had become skilled after at least thirty attempts and he moved quickly.
After a few minutes, the lifeless claw finally grabbed the toy with a pop. Se-han, standing beside him, raised his voice in excitement. Nam-woon’s mouth was dry, and he licked his lips. However, the toy didn’t fall into the exit but got stuck on a small barrier that separated the exit from the rest of the toys.
“Oh, what do we do now?”
After several attempts, it seemed they had finally succeeded. Se-han, checking the position of the toy, began to cry. Nam-woon looked at the child with a determined expression.
“Se-han, go see what Grandpa Nam-nam is doing.”
With innocent eyes, Se-han looked up at Nam-woon and then ran to the supermarket to peer through the clear window. Returning quickly, Se-han said,
“Grandpa Nam-nam is sleeping.”
Indeed, a drama was playing on the small TV, and Grandpa Nam-nam, propped up by his arm, hadn’t moved for several minutes. Nam-woon crouched down and grabbed both ends of the claw machine. Se-han’s eyes widened at this strange posture.
“What are you doing, Hyung?”
Ignoring Se-han’s anxious look, Nam-woon put all his strength into his arms and shook the machine like crazy. Bang, clank, clatter, thud! The loud noise seemed to shake the ground. It felt like any moment now, Grandpa Nam-nam would wake up with fire in his eyes and run out of the store. Startled, Se-han cried out,
“Hyung, stop it!”
Bang, clank, thud, thud, thud!
“Stop it now!”
As Se-han grabbed Nam-woon’s forearm, there was a soft pop, and the toy fell into the exit.
“….!”
Nam-woon and Se-han locked eyes. They did it! Se-han, with a bright smile, ran to the claw machine exit, reached in, and pulled out the toy.
“What the hell are you doing!”
Nam-woon and Se-han turned pale. Grandpa Nam-nam, with a terrifying face, walked over and shouted,
“Are you crazy? Why are you shaking this? I thought it was breaking down but it’s because you always shake it like this that it keeps breaking!”
“This is the first time I’ve done it.”
Nam-woon replied calmly. Grandpa Nam-nam raised his voice.
“What are you talking back for?!”
“I’m sorry…”
Se-han whimpered.
The more mature Se-han was the first to apologize to Grandpa Nam-nam, his eyes brimming with tears. Grandpa Nam-nam, however, pointed accusingly and yelled,
“Why are you apologizing? What did you do wrong? It’s him, he’s the problem!”
Grandpa Nam-nam glared at Nam-woon before marching over and smacking him on the back.
“Are you eating your age through your butt, huh?! Aren’t you ashamed, letting a young kid watch you act like this?!”
Nam-woon yelped in pain. “Ah! Ah! That hurts!” Se-han, teary-eyed, rushed to stop his grandfather. “I’m sorry, Grandpa…” Breathing heavily, Grandpa Nam-nam issued the words they feared most.
“If I see you shaking this one more time, I’ll tell Kwon Seo-oh everything!”
“Who will you tell?”
The three of them turned their gazes toward one man. It was Kwon Seo-oh.