Chapter 4

When he went outside, he saw a man who looked like some rough street thug, swinging a steel pipe he had apparently picked up somewhere and smashing the wall of the house.

“You bastard! This isn’t even my house! Someone else owns it! If you break that, what money are you going to use to pay for it, you idiot?!”

“Old woman, listen. I’m thinking of getting my act together and starting a proper business this time. You know how it is. You need some initial capital to start a business.”

“You good-for-nothing son of a bitch! I gave birth to you, and all you ever do is whine about money! The money you took last time like this hasn’t even been a year! Where did all of it go? We don’t even have enough money to feed Jin-su, so I’m barely managing to feed him instant noodles every day. You think I’ve got money to fill your belly?!”

“Ha… Has this old hag swallowed a train whistle at her age?”

The man looked past the grandmother at Kim Si-min, who had followed her outside.

“Who the hell are you?”

“You bastard! This young man brought my handcart all the way here for me! Don’t even think about hurting him. Now get the hell out!”

“Old woman! If you bring a child into this world, you have to take responsibility for him. You have no sense of responsibility. It’s not like I chose to be born into this world. You brought me into it, so shouldn’t you take responsibility for me?”

Crash!

The steel pipe swung right in front of the grandmother.

Startled, she fell backward, while the pipe smashed a flowerpot sitting in the narrow alley behind the house.

“Oh, God… Buddha… What am I supposed to do about my sins? Oh, dear…”

The grandmother collapsed onto the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Seeing her like that seemed to make the man even angrier. He raised the steel pipe and charged forward.

Whoosh.

Kim Si-min dodged the incoming pipe, closed the distance, hooked his arm under the man’s armpit, and threw him to the ground in one smooth motion.

Thud!

The man landed hard on the asphalt and could do nothing but gasp for breath.

“What?! Jeong-sik! Mom! What is this?! And who the hell is that bastard?! Why is our Jeong-sik lying on the ground like that?!”

A woman around the same age as the thug suddenly came running out from somewhere and started shouting.

“You bitch! You crazy woman! You and that bastard get the hell out of here! Your mother is going to die soon! She’s going to die! Not a single penny is going to you, even if you beat me to death, so get lost!”

Apparently, she was the grandmother’s daughter.

She didn’t seem any better than her brother.

“We’re going to sue that bastard! I got a good look at your face! We’ll definitely sue you!”

After the crazy woman shouted that, she helped the man off the ground and disappeared.

The grandmother sank down where she stood.

“I’m the sinner. I’m the sinner for raising my children like that.”

She pounded her chest with her fists as tears streamed down her face.

“Grandma, let’s go inside first.”

Kim Si-min helped the fallen grandmother to her feet and led her back inside.

“After I had three children, that husband of mine who used to beat me every day ran away. I had to make a living somehow. I slept only two or three hours a day, gluing eyes onto dolls, working at factories, working at restaurants, working as a maid in other people’s homes… Was there ever any time for me to stay at home? That’s why I ended up raising my children into what they are now.”

She shed tears.

Kim Si-min remained silent at the sight of the grandmother crying.

After sobbing on the floor for a long time, the grandmother suddenly jumped to her feet.

Then she went somewhere and returned with a bankbook.

“Young man, please take this.”

“What is this, Grandma?”

“Money for my Jin-su’s education.”

“Why are you showing this to me?”

“Young man, I’m going to die soon. The doctor told me I have cancer. He said I don’t have much time left. So please, take this and give it to my Jin-su.”

So that’s why.

Now Kim Si-min understood, at least somewhat, why the grandmother had been so worried.

The grandmother, who had handed over her bankbook without knowing anything about the complications involved, really was from another era.

She seemed to think that simply handing someone her bankbook meant entrusting them with her money.

“You’re giving your bankbook to someone you met for the first time today. How can you trust me? And the money in your bank account will be passed on to your heirs according to the order of inheritance after you die.”

The grandmother’s face hardened.

“Not a single penny can go to those damn bastards!”

She shouted furiously.

After what he had witnessed earlier, there was no way the grandmother’s money should end up in the hands of those good-for-nothings.

But that wasn’t how the world—or the law—worked.

If a minor had a legal representative, that legal representative could exercise legal capacity on the minor’s behalf.

In the end, when the grandmother died, even if money remained under Jin-su’s name, it would not be easy for him to actually access it.

“If that money ends up in those bastards’ hands, what will happen to our Jin-su’s education…?”

The grandmother begged through her tears, but it wasn’t an easy problem to solve.

“For now, Grandma, let me look into it. Please keep the bankbook with you.”

“Just hold onto it for me. If that bastard comes back, he’ll make a fuss trying to get the bankbook first.”

Unable to turn away from the grandmother’s desperate expression, Kim Si-min accepted the bankbook from her.

Then he saved his number on the grandmother’s old cell phone.

“If you press and hold number one, it’ll call me.”

After firmly holding the grandmother’s hand as she nodded repeatedly, Kim Si-min left her house.

After leaving the grandmother’s house and returning home, Si-min spent the entire day thinking about one thing.

What if the insurance policyholder were Jin-su?

If the grandmother died, her legal representative would become one of those people, and they could potentially cancel Jin-su’s insurance.

However, it would be difficult to discover the existence of the money when filing the inheritance report.

Since the money would no longer be an asset under the grandmother’s name, there would be no way for them to know about it.

But judging from how aggressive those thugs had been earlier, they were the kind of people who would do anything if they found out.

First, he needed a safety measure.

If he closed the bank account in the grandmother’s name beforehand, it would also be difficult to track down the transaction history.

After staying up all night thinking about it, Kim Si-min went to see the grandmother early the next morning and explained his plan.

“Young man, you were a bank employee?! Oh my! Such a kind person working at a bank, too. You’re really something. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our Jin-su grew up to become someone like you? I’ll do exactly as you said. That’s what we’ll do.”

Trusting Si-min’s advice, the grandmother obtained the necessary documents from various places and then went to the branch where Si-min worked.

“Oh, Manager, weren’t you on vacation today?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“Then what are you doing at the branch if you’re on vacation?”

Kim Si-min slowly explained the grandmother’s circumstances.

The VIP team leader nodded.

The grandmother looked awkward in the bank’s VIP room, glancing around nervously.

“Grandma, please sit here. Our team leader will make sure the money you gave us can be used by Jin-su.”

And so, the long-term insurance policies for Jin-su were all completed.

As the grandmother left the VIP room, her eyes grew moist.

“Thank you, young man. Thank you so much.”

“First, focus on getting treatment, Grandma. You have to live long enough to see the grandson you’re so worried about find a job and get married, don’t you?”

“Yes… yes, I do. Thank you, young man. I’ll make sure to take my medicine, too.”

Kim Si-min’s own eyes unexpectedly grew moist.

He escorted the grandmother outside the branch, then turned around.

A few days had passed since the insurance had been taken out in Jin-su’s name.

Then an unfamiliar number appeared on Kim Si-min’s phone.

“Hello. Am I speaking with Kim Si-min? This is Na Jae-ho from the Criminal Affairs Division of Seoul Northern Police Sta—”

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Annoyed by what he assumed was a voice-phishing call first thing in the morning, Kim Si-min quickly pressed the power button to shut off his phone.

Not long after he ended the call, his Galaxy rang again.

“Mr. Kim Si-min. This is Seoul Northern Police—”

“I know this is a voice-phishing scam, you bastard.”

These days, voice-phishing scammers were pretty persistent.

Usually, once you hung up, they wouldn’t call back.

Ring… ring… ring…

His phone rang again.

“Mr. Kim Si-min… This isn’t voice phishing… This really is Seoul Northern Police Station. A report has been filed regarding an assault involving you.”

The call he’d hung up on because he thought it was a scam actually seemed to be from the police station.

“Let me explain again. We’re contacting you because a report regarding an assault has been filed.”

“Who reported me?”

“Do you… know a woman named Kim Sun-bok?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Her children, Cha Jin-san and Cha Ji-suk, filed the report. You’ll need to come in to the station. They’re claiming that you threw Cha Jin-san to the ground and seriously injured him. They’re also claiming that you entered the grandmother’s home without permission.”

“Ha… That’s what they told you?”

“Yes.”

Kim Si-min was dumbfounded by those people.

The absurdity of being accused of something for the first time in his life left his mind blank for a moment before he finally snapped back to reality.

“All right. I understand. When should I come?”

“Within about three days should be fine. Please come to the police station sometime within that period.”

“Okay. I’ll do that.”

After ending the call, he suddenly felt anger boiling inside him.

What those people had done to the grandmother had already infuriated him, but now these good-for-nothings had gone this far.

What should I do?

As far as he remembered, the neighborhood was so run-down that he hadn’t seen any CCTV cameras.

The only witnesses were the grandmother and the woman who was presumably Cha Jin-san’s accomplice—his sister.

Kim Si-min thought for a long time.

Then the face of the man he’d encountered in the elevator at the Lighthouse office came to mind.

[(주)등대 고문 변호사 황수호]
[Lighthouse Co., Ltd. — Senior Legal Adviser Hwang Su-ho]

After thinking for a while, he called the number on the business card.

Beep… beep… beep…

“You’ve reached Lighthouse. This is Senior Legal Adviser Hwang Su-ho speaking.”

The voice coming through the phone sounded rough.

“Hello. I’m the new employee you met in the elevator a while ago.”

“Oh. The new guy that old man Park Won-jung hired?”

“Yes. I was so flustered at the time that I didn’t even introduce myself. My name is Kim Si-min.”

“Oh, right. I’m glad you called, but what can I do for you?”

“Well…”

Kim Si-min briefly explained everything that had happened.

“So you’ve gotten tangled up with some thugs, huh? All right. As your senior, there’s no way I can refuse to help. Where did you say your place was?”

Kim Si-min gave Hwang Su-ho his home address.

About three hours later, the doorbell rang.

“Oh, rookie. You live in a nice place.”

What’s so nice about it?

It was a two-room officetel rented on a jeonse deposit.

If he’s a lawyer, he must make much more money than me and live somewhere much nicer.

Of course, Hwang Su-ho didn’t exactly look like a lawyer.

“Anyway, rookie, let’s go over that story you told me in more detail.”

With his short beard, messy hair, and tired-looking eyes, Hwang Su-ho didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

But Kim Si-min had nowhere else to turn, so he began explaining everything that had happened in detail to the somewhat unreliable-looking man.

“Good grief. Those guys sound like thugs straight out of a movie. Don’t worry. Your senior here is an expert at this sort of thing.”

He ran a hand through his messy hair and smiled.

Then he pulled a cigarette from his suit pocket and put it between his lips.

“This is my home, so no smoking indoors.”

“Ah. Right.”