Chapter 42 (2/2)

She stomped in closer to Seol Ji-Hu and angrily pushed him. He wasn't planning to resist her to begin with, so he backpedalled several times before landing hard on his b.u.t.t.

Not even bothering to see if he was hurt or not, she snorted derisively and picked up her handbag.

”What a f*cking laughable man you are. What's the matter? Did you win some money in that casino or something? Why would a d*mn thief like you think about his little sister out of the blue?” (Jin-Heui)

Her expression remained mocking as she took a look inside, and then…

She saw the bundle of notes amounting to ₩5 million as well as the car keys, and she c.o.c.ked up an eyebrow. She blinked a couple of times, and then, lifted her head.

”Big brother?” (Jin-Heui)

She wasn't speaking to Seol Ji-Hu.

Before anyone had noticed it, Seol Woo-Seok was entering the room. With an envelop in his hand.

He was worried that Seol Ji-Hu might cause a problem and quickly came here, but upon encountering a situation that could be described as the total opposite to what he was worried about, all he could do was to alternate his gaze between his siblings.

”….What is this?” (Seol Woo-Seok)

His voice sounded hard, firm. He threw the envelope on the floor, causing the bills inside to spill out. Seol Jin-Heui's eyes opened up wider.

”What, what the h.e.l.l?! How much is this?” (Jin-Heui)

She began counting, then her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

”50 mil…” (Jin-Heui)

And then, she looked back into the handbag.

”55 million?!” (Jin-Heui)

There was the car keys, too. And the notebook, as well.

”Hi-ya~. You really hit jackpot, didn't you?” (Jin-Heui)

”Jin-Heui-ah. Return everything back to him.” (Seol Woo-Seok)

When Seol Woo-Seok spoke in a cold tone, Seol Jin-Heui shot a glare at him.

”Why? Are you mad?” (Jin-Heui)

”It's obvious. He got this money through gambling.” (Seol Woo-Seok)

”It's still money, isn't it? No! I won't give it back!” (Jin-Heui)

Seol Woo-Seok reached out to s.n.a.t.c.h the cash away from her grasp, but she yanked away the handbag and the envelope with money in it, before shoving them both underneath her clothes to hug them tightly.

”Seol Jin-Heui!!” (Seol Woo-Seok)

”What?!” (Jin-Heui)

”You really want that dirty money?” (Seol Woo-Seok)

”Dirty or not, this money rightly belongs to this family! It belongs to us in the first place, don't you get that? Don't you know how much dad and mom are struggling nowadays?” (Jin-Heui)

When the two Seol siblings' emotions began running high, Seol Ji-Hu hurriedly intervened and separated them apart. He didn't come here to watch them fight. He at least needed to resolve this misunderstanding before doing anything else.

”Hyung, Jin-Heui-ah, You guys got it wrong. I didn't get that money through gambling.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seol Jin-Heui stopped arguing with her oldest brother, and spun her head to face him.

”F*ck off.” (Jin-Heui)

She snorted as if the whole notion genuinely made her laugh.

”If you were planning to lie, then make it more convincing, okay? Ah, maybe you stole this? Did you rob a bank or something?” (Jin-Heui)

”I'm telling you the truth.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seol Ji-Hu pleaded with a frustrated expression on his face.

”I stopped gambling. I've already asked the casino to ban me from entering the place. And the money's from a commission… No, it's from the work I did.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”You stopped gambling?” (Jin-Heui)

”A lifetime ban from entering the casino?” (Seol Woo-Seok)

Seol Woo-Seok and Seol Jin-Heui asked at the same time.

”I stopped gambling about a month ago. And today, I came here straight after asking Seok-ark Land to permanently ban me from stepping foot in that place. Please believe me.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seol Ji-Hu explained as clearly as he could. However, it wasn't the issue of them not understanding him, but rather, everything to do with trust.

”So, what you're saying is, you stopped gambling, you voluntarily asked to be permanently banned, and this money is legit, is that right?” (Seol Woo-Seok)

As if he found the idea just too unbelievable, Seol Woo-Seok asked again.

”Stop f*cking wasting my time, okay? You think I'll fall for your lies again?” (Jin-Heui)

Seol Jin-Heui retorted derisively.

”Oh, so, when we begged you to get the entry ban, you didn't even pretend to listen. And when we tried to do it for you instead, didn't you throw an almighty tantrum? You expect us to believe you now?” (Jin-Heui)

”Jin-Heui-ah….” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Hah? How dare you make that face in front of me?! What? You thought that, just because you brought home some money, I'd start fawning all over you or something? You thought I'd start calling you oppa again? Stop dreaming, you b*stard. This is this, and that is that. This money is something that belongs to this family to begin with!” (Jin-Heui)

Seol Woo-Seok cut his little sister off there.

”….I'll confirm it.” (Woo-Seok)

His glare was full of suspicion as he switched on his smartphone. Three, four ringings later, Seol Woo-Seok opened his mouth.

”Is this the Seol-ark Land? Yes, yes. I'd like to ask for a person to be banned from entering your…. Ah, I'm his older brother. His name is Seol Ji-Hu…. Come again?” (Woo-Seok)

Seol Woo-Seok's voice became progressively louder.

”He asked to be permanently banned? Today? He himself did?” (Woo-Seok)

Seol Jin-Heui quietly listened from the side and became dazed herself.

”In, in that case, is it possible to find out when was the last time he entered your…. Yes, the last time…. It was the sixteenth of March?!” (Woo-Seok)

A short while later, Seol Woo-Seok hung up. Seol Jin-Heui's att.i.tude had softened a tad, but she still continued to glare at Seol Ji-Hu.

Seol Woo-Seok spoke up as if he was still unconvinced.

”….I still can't believe this.” (Woo-Seok)

”Hyung. Really, I….” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”No, wait. Fine. Let's say you were telling the truth. Then, just where did you get this money from?” (Woo-Seok)

”Uh? That, that's from….” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”I heard that Seon-Hwah gave you 2 million a month ago.” (Woo-Seok)

He knew about that? Seol Ji-Hu could only open and close his mouth, unable to say anything.

”I also heard that you returned everything later that night, too…. You had not a single coin to your name, so how can you earn this much money in a month without resorting to gambling? Not only that, you brought a notebook and the car keys, too.” (Woo-Seok)

They were rather sharp and pointed questions. Even Seol Jin-Heui found it strange after hearing them.

”Wait, isn't that the top gaming notebook? That's incredibly expensive, too….” (Jin-Heui)

She began taking a closer look at the thrown notebook, and sure enough, her suspicion grew even stronger.

Seol Ji-Hu realised his mistake, then. Should he chalk this one to his desires getting the better of him? He remembered his little sister loved to play games, so he sh.e.l.led out over ₩3 million to buy the best gaming notebook found in the shop. How could he have ever guessed that the d*mn thing would end up being a potential source of trouble?

‘What should I do now?' (Seol Ji-Hu)

In the end, he had no choice but to bluff his way out of this one. If he hesitated and wasted time here, they would start suspecting him with something else completely unrelated.

”That's why I'm here today, to talk to you about what's going on.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

He carefully squeezed out each and every single word. If he just said whatever that came to his mind, they would latch onto the holes in his story pretty quickly. So, Seol Ji-Hu cautiously chose what he wanted to say.

”I was introduced to a job through a person I know. It pays quite well.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Just what kind of work pays this much?” (Jin-Heui)

”Oh, that. I got lucky, that's all. Something big happened and I received a large bonus.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”….Horse racing? Or sports betting?” (Woo-Seok)

”Hyung, no.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”If not, then lottery?” (Woo-Seok)

Seol Ji-Hu rubbed his face. He got to confirm one more time what his family thought about him. But, how could he blame them? He deserved it, after all.

”This money has nothing to do with gambling.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”You. Can you repeat everything you said in front of mom and dad?” (Woo-Seok)

Doing that was a part of Seol Ji-Hu's original plan, but it had changed now. His hyung or his little sister might not be able to spot the fault in the story, but he could foresee his father asking many uncomfortable questions already.

”I'd like to do that, but I must be on my way.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”He'll be home, soon.” (Woo-Seok)

”It's only because I'm really busy, you know? I was working outside the office today, that's why I'm here. So, please, speak to dad about me. Please?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”What do you want me to say to him?” (Woo-Seok)

”Very soon, I'll be going out of town for a while. The duration could be as much as one, maybe over two months. You won't be able to contact me during that time, but don't worry about me.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

He managed to explain, albeit just barely. Both hyung and his little sister still seemed confused, but there was no helping it. Seol Ji-Hu couldn't tell them anything concrete even if he wanted to.

”I gotta go. I'm running behind schedule. I'll come by next time to properly greet mom and dad.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seol Ji-Hu forced out a smile and bade his goodbyes. He opened the door, climbed down the flight of stairs, and opened the front door.

But, until he closed the door….

Never mind trying to stop him, he couldn't even hear them call out his name. Of course, he used the excuse of being busy, but still….

”………”

For some reason, he felt like all his vigour was leaving his body.

[You thought that just because you brought home some money, I'd start fawning all over you or something?]

His sister's words, spoken to him when his mind was in too much of chaos to hear her, finally landed their lethal blow.

As if they knew that he deserved the pain, the blow landed real hard and deep.

‘I wanted to…. apologise properly….' (Seol Ji-Hu)

He was too busy coming up with excuses that he couldn't even get to say sorry once.

His first step didn't work out as he wanted to, but he still had one more person to apologise to.

Seol's head remained lowered as he trudged towards the nearest subway station.

His shoulders drooped powerlessly, too.

< 42.=”” spilled=”” milk=”” (1)=””> Fin.