VDN Ch 68

Nam-woon opened the rice cooker to measure the amount, then unfolded a small dining table set against one wall. Meanwhile, Seo-oh was tapping on his phone, searching for something.

– Hello, the pillars of the household who work hard for their families, our parents! Today, we’re going to make pickled lettuce, which is perfect when there’s no other side dish available!

A cooking YouTube channel played to start the morning. With a serious expression, Seo-oh poured soy sauce into a spoon. He hesitated several times while pouring the soy sauce, then tasted a small piece of lettuce. His complexion darkened momentarily, but he sprinkled sesame seeds over the lettuce with an expressionless face.

While Seo-oh struggled with the pickled lettuce, Nam-woon placed bowls of rice and kimchi on the table.

“Hey, eat.”

Kim Haeng-won slowly moved his butt towards the dining table. As Nam-woon sat opposite him, Se-han, who had been fidgeting, naturally took his place on Nam-woon’s lap. Nam-woon gently pinched the child’s chubby cheeks without hurting him and informed Kim Haeng-won.

“We’re going to leave right after eating this.”

Haeng-won picked up his spoon and then put it down again before asking Nam-woon,

“Did you visit Grandpa often when I wasn’t around?”

“Not often.”

“Grandpa really hates you.”

“I know.”

He glanced at Nam-woon for a moment and then started to gobble down his rice. Soon, one-third of his rice bowl was empty. Kim Haeng-won, mumbling with his mouth full, looked at Seo-oh standing by the sink and asked,

“Did you suddenly become nice because of your boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?”

Nam-woon frowned as if to say, What are you talking about?” and Haeng-won whispered,

“Aren’t you dating that guy?”

Then Se-han, sitting on Nam-woon’s lap, raised his head while his cheek was held in Nam-woon’s hand and asked,

“Dating Hyung?”

While Nam-woon was still not answering the question, Seo-oh, who had approached the table, put down the pickled lettuce. Seo-oh, who must have heard Haeng-won’s words and didn’t say anything, looked at Nam-woon and asked,

“Are you going to eat the lettuce salad too?”

“Of course. It looks delicious. Right, Se-han-ah?”

“Yes! It looks like it’s going to be delicious!”

Nam-woon moved his butt to the side and tapped the seat next to him.

“Seo-oh, come here. Let’s eat together.”

“Ah, it’s already cramped.”

Kim Haeng-won grumbled as he moved to the side. Seo-oh quickly took the seat next to Nam-woon. However, due to the tight space, Seo-oh had to sit a little behind. Seo-oh picked up a piece of the lettuce and gently placed it on Nam-woon’s rice bowl.

“Try it. I added a bit more soy sauce at the end.”

“I’ll enjoy it.”

Nam-woon scooped up a large spoonful of the lettuce with rice and filled his mouth. Chew chew. Seo-oh couldn’t take his eyes off Nam-woon’s moving lips. After a while, Nam-woon nodded and said,

“Mmm, it’s good. It’s delicious.” 

“Let me have a bite too!”

At Se-han’s request, Nam-woon wrapped some rice in lettuce with chopsticks and put it in his mouth. Se-han eagerly licked his lips at first, then suddenly stopped mid-bite. Seo-oh looked at him and asked,

“Se-han, why… does it taste weird?”

“Ah, no? It’s not that, it actually tastes really good, Hyung.”

The words at the end were strange. But Nam-woon, not noticing, praised Seo-oh, saying, “Really? It’s your first time, and you did well.” At that, Seo-oh’s gaze towards Nam-woon noticeably softened.

Haeng-won quickly moved his hand, glancing at Nam-woon and Seo-oh without drawing attention. No matter how he looked at them, they had a couple’s vibe. Haeng-won watched them, stuffing lettuce into his mouth, and suddenly gasped,

What the hell is this?

The kid’s awkward expression was understandable. It tasted like shit.

He understood the kid’s awkward expression. It tasted terrible.

***

[Haengwon Restaurant]

Nam-woon, Seo-oh, and Haeng-won stood in front of the restaurant. Kim Haeng-won said several times he was scared to see his grandfather and kept saying he would go tomorrow, but they finally managed to force him here.

Seo-oh, standing next to him, gently poked Haeng-won’s back. Then, Haeng-won slowly moved forward and opened the restaurant door.

“Who’s there…?”

Upon seeing Haeng-won’s face, the grandpa’s eyes widened, and he quickly went inside. When grandpa returned alone, he was holding a long, thick green onion in his hand.

“You rascal! How dare you come in here!”

The grandfather struck Haeng-won with the green onion until it broke and then even slapped him. Despite Haeng-won crying out in pain and trying to dodge, the grandfather didn’t care. After beating his grandson for a while, the grandfather began to gasp roughly, holding his heart. Nam-woon quickly approached and supported the staggering grandfather.

“Oh dear, oh dear.”

The grandfather, repeatedly groaning and lamenting, grabbed Haeng-won’s forearm and reddened his eyes. Then, as if his anger had somewhat subsided, he began to ask a series of worried questions. Had you not thought of your grandfather at all during that time? Why hadn’t you called even once and only now come back? Your face looks so gaunt. Did you eat three meals a day? Haeng-won’s eyes slowly filled with tears at the endless questions from his grandfather.

“Grandpa, I’m sorry.”

Haeng-won murmured with a trembling voice while shedding tears. Grandpa hugged his grandson tightly with his wrinkled hands. From a step away, Nan-woon quietly watched them hugging and crying, then said to Seo-oh, “Let’s go.”

That’s when it happened. Grandpa, with a moist face, approached Nan-woon and grabbed his hand tightly.

Mr. Seok, really… How can I ever repay you for this…”

“…….”

“You must have had a hard time looking for my grandson, didn’t you?”

“No, not really. I just happened to come across him by chance. And also…”

Nam-woon hesitated for a moment before awkwardly rolling his eyes and adding,

“And also, in a way, it’s because of me.”

Kim Haeng-won probably took on the task of withdrawing money because of Seok Nam-woon. He must have thought he couldn’t handle the growing debt and thus got involved in such a task. It was the same with his attempt to run away with the withdrawn money. However, grandpa shook his head.

“I didn’t say it before, but Haeng-won, that rascal, has run away from home many times. I’ve been worried that something bad would happen to him, really worried. This time, because he took so long to come back… I really thought he might be locked up in jail somewhere…”

Grandpa’s voice trailed off as tears streamed down his face.

“Maybe I’m getting old, but I thought people never change. In fact, in the past, whenever I saw Mr. Seok, I would think, when will that bastard die? Who will finally run him over with a car, I would have thoughts like that… But recently, looking at Mr. Seok, I’ve started to have doubts. I’ve been wondering if I’ve been wrong all this time, if even hopeless human trash can change like that and become new people.

He wiped his face and continued,

“I’m grateful for all the help Mr. Seok has helped me with at the restaurant and today.

“…….”

“Mr. Seok is a really good person.”

At those words, Nam-woon’s expression hardened. The rough, bark-like hands patted Nam-woon’s hand several times. Feeling the warmth, Nam-woon stood still for a moment. Then, without a word, he bowed his head and left the store.

Seo-oh, who had followed him out and opened the restaurant door, tilted his head to check Nam-woon’s face. Then he asked abruptly,

“Hyung, are you crying?”

To which Nam-woon feigned, “Hmph,” squeezing his eyes shut and pretending to force out tears. He even sniffled. Seo-oh gently wiped Nam-woon’s eyes with his thumb and said,

“Don’t cry.”

Seo-oh spoke in a gentle voice, causing Nam-woon to stop and look up.

“You’ll look even uglier if you do.”

Seo-oh playfully whispered and then strode ahead. Nam-woon, smiling, walked up beside her and struck up a conversation.

“Shall we make ramen for dinner tonight? Se-han wanted to eat that chicken ramen.”

“That’s spicy chicken flavor. It’s too hot for Se-han.”

“It’s fine if we add cheese and an egg.”

As they walked slowly, exchanging light conversation, their shoulders were close together.

***

The next day, while doing the dishes, Nam-woon perked up his ears to the bustling voices. In the restaurant hall, Seo-oh and the grandfather were having a hushed conversation.

“What grade was it?”

“So, when I saw him in his senior year of high school, he got around a 9 on a mock exam.”

“In all subjects?”

The grandfather nodded.

“It’s going to be tough, isn’t it?”

“It will take some time, but it’s possible to improve. If it’s 9, there’s no lower to go.” Hearing that answer, which seemed to hold hope, the grandfather asked in a brighter voice,

“Do you think it’s possible to do it alone?”

“He can’t do it alone.”

Seo-oh, placing a tray on the table, said indifferently,

“Tell him to come to our house on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I have some problem books from when I tutored before. We can start teaching from the basics.”

***

“Did you memorize all the words?”

“…Roughly.”

Seo-oh, softening his expression, pushed a notebook towards him and told him to check. After a while, Kim Haeng-won began to write down the English words that Seo-oh was calling out. He continued to scribble with his eraser, which showed that it wasn’t going smoothly.

Se-han, who had been staring at them, opened the yellow backpack in the corner and took out a math workbook. He then sat right next to Seo-oh, opened the book, and held a pencil. After scribbling for a moment, Se-han looked up and scanned the room.

Hmmm, since Hyung is busy. Se-han’s gaze turned to Nam-woon sprawled on the floor. While everyone else was studying, he was lying down, propping his head with one arm, chuckling as he watched a game video. Se-han approached on his knees, placed the math book in front of Nam-woon, and said,

“Wooni Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t understand this.”

Nam-woon’s expression stiffened slightly. He sat up with a serious look and looked at the book, asking, “Where?” He began to read the sentence Se-han was pointing to slowly.

“Junie played at the playground for 1/6 of an hour in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon.”

Nam-woon thought hard and gave an answer, but it was wrong. He said gruffly,

“Why do they even represent time as a fraction in the first place?”

“That’s what I said!”

Se-han strongly agreed. Hearing Nam-woon’s angry voice, Kim Haeng-won stopped writing down words and snickered, asking mockingly,

“Did you graduate from college, boss?”

“I didn’t.”

To Nam-woon’s confident answer, Haeng-won laughed, saying, “I knew it. You can’t even get an elementary school problem right. You’re so ignorant,” before burying his nose back in his notebook.

Look at that now?

“Hey, do you think you have to graduate from college to succeed? There are so many successful people like me who didn’t go to school. And haven’t you heard that happiness isn’t about grades?”

“So, did the boss succeed because of that? Why are you talking like you’re some successful person?”

Haeng-won grumbled discontentedly. Nam-woon retorted, “Are you saying it’s acceptable that you got all 9s? Even I didn’t get that bad in high school.” Haeng-won retorted” Then show me your report card. I want to see it with my own eyes.” As the two continued to bicker, Se-han, who was nearby, defended Nam-woon.

“Wooni Hyung doesn’t have to be successful or go to college! He has to play with me!”

Then he clenched his fist and added,

“And I’m not going to college either, just like Wooni Hyung!”

“What? Why aren’t you going to college, Se-han?”

Surprised, Seo-oh asked.

“Hmm, why not? Can’t I not go? Wooni Hyung didn’t go. It seems fun to live that way.

Se-han threw the question back at his brother as if asking what the problem was. Nam-woon burst into laughter at his words. In fact, there had been many difficulties in his past life and now. But hearing Se-han’s last comment made all those experiences feel insignificant.

Nam-woon hugged Se-han and rolled around on the floor.

“Gyaaa!”

“You should go to college if you can, Se-han.”

“Why?”

“So we can have a college entrance celebration party for Se-han.”

“A celebration party?”

Surprised, Se-han sat up to meet Nam-woon’s eyes and asked,

“Will you throw me a celebration party if I go to college?”

“Of course. Just get admitted anywhere. Let’s order lots of delicious food and have a party with your Hyungs.”

Then Nam-woon looked at Seo-oh and grinned.

“We can wait as long as it takes until then, right, Seo-oh?”