Chapter 95 (2/2)

“You.”

But that only lasted a moment. His face quickly distorted, and he immediately shut his mouth.

“…Kuhum!”

He gave the youth a sharp glare before stomping up the stairs silently. After that, he didn't look at the youth, much less talk to him. He purposely ignored the basket in front of the door and pressed the doorlock pa.s.sword.

“Son?”

As the youth was about to turn into a fish out of water, a nostalgic voice flowed into his ears. His mother was looking up at him with an entranced look.

“M-Mom.”

“Aigo, aigo, my little son….”

She staggered up the stairs and was about to grab his hand when his father threw the door open and shouted.

“What are you doing!? Come inside!”

Startled, the mother's complexion distorted.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean what am I doing? Why don't you ask that b.a.s.t.a.r.d!?”

When the youth's father came outside and began approaching him with his fist clenched, his mother quickly stepped between the two of them.

“Calm down. He came to visit us.”

“Visit us? So what!?”

“Dear, can't you tell Jihu's been walking on eggsh.e.l.ls since a while ago? How can you just ignore him…. Don't you feel bad?”

Ha! A loud snort followed.

“You're the problem. How many times have you been tricked until now? You still don't get it? This b.a.s.t.a.r.d isn't a human being. He's just a piece of trash. He's worse than a beast.”

The atmosphere quickly changed for the worse. Perhaps because loud voices were flying back and forth, Yoo Seunghae hid behind her older sister, and Seol Jinhee watched the spectacle with a satisfied look on her face.

Everyone had different reactions, but one thing Seol Jihu could be sure of was that they were looking at him with eyes that seemed to say, 'Why did you come?'

This is why I didn't want to come.

Facing the looks of scorn and being battered by coa.r.s.e condemnation, Seol Jihu closed his eyes tight. His father and mother were still arguing.

“He said he quit gambling and is working hard now.”

“And you believe that? Ah~ The casino ban? Seorak Land isn't the only casino in Korea. It's obvious what he's up to. Do I need to spell it out for you?”

“Stop it, would you!? He already paid back what he owed. He even came to see us with a gift knowing it was our anniversary. We should at least hear him out.”

“Paid back what he owed? You want to talk about money? Fine.”

Thud! The door shot open. Loud stomps rang out, and something smacked Seol Jihu's face.

“Eup!”

Seol Jihu opened his eyes, only to see an envelope falling down with a wad of cash inside.

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

His father yelled with his finger pointed at him.

“You think the past's all gone and done now that you returned the money? You want to go back to acting like a son?”

“F-Father.”

“Shut it! Don't call me father. I don't remember having a b.a.s.t.a.r.d like you as my son!”

His thunderous roar made his wife flinch. Seol Jihu opened his mouth as calmly as he could.

“Father, I'm sorry, I….”

“I told you to shut it!”

He yelled as if he didn't want to hear a thing. His anger didn't seem to reside after all that yelling as his breathing continued to get rough.

“You. I told you before, didn't I? That you should never do anything ever again to make you apologize or give an excuse.”

His growling way of talking made Seol Jihu shut his mouth.

“Y-You shameless son of a b.i.t.c.h. You think money was the problem? You think everything's over after throwing us an envelope of money without even a simple explanation!? Huh!?”

“Father….”

“I told you to shut up. I dare you to open your mouth again. I'll rip it to shreds.”

“Dear!”

“Now screw off! I don't want to see you again!”

Eii! After a loud grunt, Seol Jihu's father turned around and stomped into the house. His mother chased after him to plead with him. Soon, loud arguing rang out once more, and Seol Jihu bit his lips from rising guilt.

They must have been having fun. I shouldn't have come.

A heavy silence descended. Seol Wooseok, who was standing still a distance away, scratched the back of his head. Looking at his younger brother standing there like a stone statue, he opened his mouth.

“…You came from work?”

“…Huh? Oh, um, yeah.”

Seol Jihu nodded with a dazed look. He might be mistaken, but Seol Wooseok's voice seemed to have gotten a tad gentler.

“You should have come a bit earlier. We went to the place you like.”

“Bong Pyeongyang?”

“Yep. You love their naengmyeon.”

“Ah… well, if I came earlier, you guys probably wouldn't have eaten anything.”

“I guess.”

Seol Wooseok chuckled bitterly.

Seol Jihu swallowed hard. How long had it been since he last held a conversation with his older brother? He didn't know what to make of it.

Seol Wooseok glanced at the basket in front of the door and opened his mouth.

“Are you busy today too? You're not planning on going back after just dropping this off, are you?”

“…No, I've been waiting for you guys to come back.”

“Then come in.”

Seol Wooseok held up the black plastic bag in his hand.

“Come eat some dessert. It's ice cream.”

Seol Jihu blinked repeatedly. For a moment, he doubted his own ears.

“I… I can?”

“You came to talk to them, right?”

“G.o.d, spare me the bulls.h.i.+t.”

At that moment, a sharp voice cut in between them.

“Where do you think you're going?”

Seol Jinhee walked closer with a sneering smirk on her face.

“Jinhee.”

“Stay out of this, Oppa. Hey, can't you take a f.u.c.king hint?”

She raised her hand and poked Seol Jihu's chest with her finger. In truth, it was closer to a stab as he flinched in pain.

“You saw what happened last time and you still came? Don't you get it? 'I know how they'll treat me, so I shouldn't come here again. That's the least I can do for the people who were once my family'. Didn't something like this pop into your head? Huh?”

Poke, poke! Because of Seol Jinhee's repeated stabbing pokes, Seol Jihu stepped backwards without even noticing it.

“If you paid back your debts, please disappear from our lives. You saw how you ruined the atmosphere, right? We're happy and healthy without you, so why do you come and cause this mess?”

Seol Jihu couldn't deny it. He could still hear his parents arguing inside the house.

“You. Get. It. Now? Stop trying to crawl back in and f.u.c.k off. And don't ever appear in front of us again. Okay? You get me?”

“Euk!”

Poke! Seol Jinhee suddenly stabbed his solar plexus, causing him to bend down and groan.

“Seol Jinhee.”

Seol Wooseok stepped in, unable to watch this any further. However, Seol Jihu raised his hand and stopped him.

“I-It's fine.”

He rubbed his solar plexus and forced out a smile.

“I'll go back for today.”

“Not just for today, but forever. Please.”

Leaving behind Seol Jinhee who hara.s.sed him until the end, Seol Jihu staggered towards the staircase. He felt like his brother and sister would start fighting if he stayed any longer, so he figured it would be better for everyone if he just left now.

But just as he was about to walk down the stairs, his eyes met Yoo Seonhwa's. She seemed to be at a loss for what to do, but she was clearly looking at him with mixed feelings of pity and sympathy.

Unable to endure the sense of humiliation that dawned on him, Seol Jihu quickened his pace. It was then.

“Hey!”

He turned around hearing Seol Jinhee's voice.

“Take this.”

Whoosh- The basket came flying towards him.

Clang! After hitting the corner of the concrete stair, the wine bottle shattered with a loud bang. The liquid dripping out from the broken bottle wet the letter Seol Jihu wrote, and the petals of the flowers danced in the air before scattering everywhere.

“Seol Jinhee!”

“What!?”

“You're going too far!”

“You're the one to talk, Oppa…!”

The brother and sister finally began fighting. Seol Jihu blankly stared at the liquid spreading out on the concrete before squatting down.

He picked up the flower petals and the pieces of broken gla.s.s. He then heard the sound of someone's footsteps rus.h.i.+ng down the stairs. This person squatted down across from him.

“Don't pick up the broken gla.s.s. It's dangerous.”

Ssk, ssk- She spoke as she swept the broken gla.s.s together with her hand. This young woman with long, flowing hair was Yoo Seonhwa.

“…Seonhwa.”

“Wait here. I'll go bring a vacuum cleaner.”

“Seonhwa.”

Yoo Seonhwa's hand paused. The piece of broken gla.s.s in Seol Jihu's tightened fist dug into his palm. Blood dripped down to the ground. A crimson liquid began to spread out, and Yoo Seonhwa jumped in surprise seeing the youth's trembling hand.

“Go back. I'll clean it up.”

Seol Jihu murmured quietly.

“Y-You're bleeding.”

“It's fine. You can go back.”

“But….”

“Please, go back. Please.”

Seol Jihu's calm voice only made Yoo Seonhwa look at him with sorrowful eyes.

He clenched his teeth. Soon, after picking all the flower petals and pieces of broken gla.s.s up from the ground, Seol Jihu staggered off like a drunk.

During that entire time, his head remained tilted down.

Time pa.s.sed and darkness descended on the streets after dusk. Under a streetlight illuminating a street, Kim Hannah stood leaning against her car and looking up at the night sky. It wasn't until footsteps neared her that she lowered her gaze. Seeing a youth walking closer with a basket in hand, she smiled brightly.

She waited until he got closer before finally opening her mouth.

“If you keep staring at the ground like that, you're going to run into something.”

The youth came to a stop. Kim Hannah could hear him inhale a small breath.

“…You were waiting?”

Surprisingly, his voice seemed fine.

“I came just in case you ran off elsewhere. Well, judging by that basket, it looks like you really went.”

“You don't have to keep tabs on me. What are you, a stalker?”

“Stalker? I prefer the word, protector.”

Kim Hannah said with a languid smile.

“How was it?”

“I'm sure you can tell.”

“I can. But do you regret going?”

Seol Jihu didn't immediately reply. Kim Hannah patiently waited for him. After about five minutes of silence, he finally opened his mouth.

“You know how I… I lived like a piece of trash?”

“In the past.”

“I made a lot of wrongs, too many to be forgiven with just one or two apologies. I deserved everything I got today.”

“Well, you and I both know that.”

He sighed.

“Yeah.”

Then…

“I know I deserved it….”

His voice began to tremble.

“I know I'm the one who's at fault.”

His shoulders shook.

“I know… all that….”

After listening to him for a while, Kim Hannah took her back off her car and slowly walked forward. She bent forward and looked up at the youth whose face was lowered.

Tk, tk. Seeing the drops of tear flow down his already-wet cheeks, she smiled.

“It's fine.”

Kim Hannah hugged the silently crying Seol Jihu and patted his back.

“You did well, Jihu.”