Chapter 9
“Oh dear, we’re out of tofu. What’s gotten into us today? Byeol, go to the neighborhood market and ask the lady for some tofu. Just tell her to give you the kind your mom always buys.”
Having just seen off a customer who had finished paying, Byeol slipped a vest over her apron.
She pulled a ten-thousand-won bill from the cash box, waved it in the air, and grabbed the scooter keys.
“Should I ask for ten thousand won’s worth?”
“No, just ask for five blocks. That lady gets her tofu from Gangneung, and she says there’s an incredible shop there. Ever since we switched to that tofu, everyone keeps saying our spicy fish stew tastes even better.”
“Really? Hm… I couldn’t tell. Got it. Five blocks, right?”
“Yep. Hurry, hurry. Before the reservation guests arrive.”
Byeol dashed down the stairs toward the scooter parked outside.
It was almost seven in the evening. Since the days were still short, dusk was steadily swallowing the sky.
Just a few more days, and she’d finally be able to wear lighter clothes.
This winter had been unusually short, with barely any snow and only dry weather.
That was why she longed so desperately for spring.
She preferred the fishy yet gentle sea breeze over the wind that cut through her skin.
Just as she started the scooter and placed her helmet on her head, she noticed a woman trudging toward her from the distance.
The woman’s shoulders drooped, and she staggered whenever the wind blew, almost like someone drunk.
She carried a black plastic bag in one hand. Her oversized jacket hung loosely over her small frame, and her expression was blank.
There wasn’t anything particularly memorable about her appearance.
Yet one thing caught Byeol’s attention.
Something was dripping steadily from the black bag.
Byeol stared at the woman, unable to look away.
Feeling her gaze, the woman gave a small nod of greeting, sniffled once, and walked past.
Drip.
Another drop fell.
Whatever was inside the bag, it left a trail of water behind as she walked.
“Excuse me… something’s leaking.”
There she went again, sticking her nose where it didn’t belong.
The woman stopped and looked down at the dripping bag.
Then she smiled awkwardly and showed Byeol what was inside.
“It’s just ice. I guess it’s started melting. I’d better hurry home.”
“Oh… I see.”
Byeol watched her walk away.
Was she really drunk?
The ice she’d seen was the large spherical kind used in bars—about the size of an adult’s fist, popular with people who wanted to dilute strong liquor slowly.
I really have a problem with meddling.
She’d worried over nothing.
Feeling slightly embarrassed—and not wanting to be late and get another lecture from her mother, Yeong-ran—Byeol hurried toward the neighborhood market.
Beyond the crescent-shaped coastal road stood the resort where Woo-hyun was staying.
It shone brilliantly, absorbing every bit of light from the dark surroundings.
For a brief moment, she imagined the man’s face floating above the building like a full moon.
That sly grin.
The face of the man who had threatened to sue her for damages.
“I butt into someone else’s business, and now I’m seeing things too.”
Shaking her head, Byeol turned the handlebars sharply.
Ever since she’d met that man again, she hadn’t gone a single hour without thinking about Seo Woo-hyun.
That’s a sickness too.
“Five blocks? You already bought quite a bit this morning. Business at your family’s place must really be booming these days.”
Byeol accepted the tofu from the shopkeeper.
It came in two black plastic bags.
They were exactly like the ones the woman she’d seen earlier had been carrying.
“They say business got better after switching tofu. Hope you sell lots too!”
Popping the complimentary lollipop the shopkeeper had given her into her mouth, Byeol patted the head of the white dog wagging its tail by the entrance before climbing onto her scooter.
As she started the engine, the shopkeeper—who had just refilled the dog’s food bowl—brushed dust off a display box and called out.
“By the way, don’t go wandering around alone late at night. Someone’s been killing dogs around here lately. Whoever it is must be completely insane. What kind of lunatic beats dogs to death? That bastard deserves a beating himself.”
“Killing… dogs?”
“That’s right. Only the small ones, too. They leave the big dogs alone—guess even they’re scared of those. My old man keeps a close eye on this one day and night.”
Byeol looked at the white dog with pity.
Completely unaware of the danger, it happily buried its nose in the food bowl, wagging its tail.
“Aren’t there any security cameras? Couldn’t the police investigate?”
“We reported it. But do you think they seriously investigate a dead dog? And this town barely has any CCTV. There are a few public safety cameras, but they say the culprit never showed up on them. Anyway, hurry back! Didn’t you say you needed the tofu for dinner service?”
“Oh! Right!”
Byeol quickly sped away from the market.
Returning to the restaurant with the tofu, she ran upstairs to the second floor and escaped her mother’s nagging by grabbing a serving tray.
He who does not work shall not eat.
Or, looking at it another way:
If you work, you deserve to eat properly.
As Byeol diligently wiped down the tables, her mother clicked her tongue as she passed.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Go eat already.”
“Just let me finish this.”
“Why were you gone so long?”
“I got caught chatting with the shop lady.”
After cleaning the table the customers had vacated, Byeol filled a bowl with braised mackerel and kimchi and sat quietly in a corner of the restaurant.
Without a smartphone and with no interest in watching television, her only hobby these days was doing absolutely nothing.
But she couldn’t live off her parents forever.
Before her savings ran out, she needed to find another job that suited her.
The problem was…
Did such a job even exist?
Writing was the only thing she’d ever devoted herself to.
No other profession came to mind.
While absentmindedly picking at her meal, her old cellphone buzzed with a text message.
I’m in Samcheok. Come over. Let’s grab a beer.
Johannes Brahms’ Cello Sonata didn’t really suit a resort lounge filled mostly with families.
The place tried hard to create an upscale atmosphere, but it felt like it was trying a little too hard to impress someone.
Woo-hyun sat by the window overlooking the dark sea, leisurely sipping a lightly brewed cup of coffee.
A shameless smile played on his lips as he thought about the woman who had probably stopped by the Parapara Hotel by now.
She’d fed the cats at dawn.
She’d surely come back later.
Then she’d find the “love letter” he’d left behind.
And she’d probably clutch the back of her neck in frustration.
The thought made him smile.
Since when had imagining an angry woman become so entertaining?
Gently nodding his head in time with the music, Woo-hyun closed his eyes.
Manager Oh hurried over.
“Director, the executive office has been trying to reach you. They said they couldn’t get through.”
Seeing the sweat pouring down the man’s face, it was obvious he’d been running all over the resort looking for him.
Feeling a little sorry for him, Woo-hyun asked if he was alright before taking out his phone.
As expected, it had been on silent all day.
Five missed calls from his grandfather filled the screen.
Woo-hyun sighed, then smiled faintly as he stood.
“I’ll return the call. Get some rest today. You all worked hard drinking on my behalf.”
“I’m fine, sir. It was just… drinks with dinner. We’ll head back to Seoul after lunch tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
Leaving the lounge, Woo-hyun headed toward his room.
His brow twitched as he let out a long sigh before opening the door and pressing the call button.
The phone rang.
Exactly three seconds later—
“You ungrateful bastard.”
That was fast.
“I thought you weren’t calling because you didn’t want to hear this bastard’s voice.”
Taking off his jacket, Woo-hyun stretched out on the sofa and picked up the remote.
He casually turned on the television and flipped through the channels.
After checking the time, he stopped on the one he wanted and raised the volume.
“Turn that racket down!”
“I couldn’t hear you very well. Why did you call? I was inspecting the site and meeting people. Didn’t notice the phone.”
“Forget the inspection! Stop what you’re doing immediately! I told you not to touch that place. Why won’t you listen?”
“I still don’t see any convincing reason not to touch it. If anything, this is exactly the opportunity we shouldn’t miss.”
The opening sequence of the weekend drama he’d been following appeared on screen.
His eyes lit up.
Last week’s episode had ended with the mother-in-law collapsing after discovering the inheritance left to her former daughter-in-law following her divorce from the son.
Then the heroine had been attacked by her sister-in-law—
Only for the sister-in-law’s current boyfriend to witness everything.
And that was exactly where the episode had ended.
What an infuriating cliffhanger.
Yet, just like countless others, he couldn’t stop watching these ridiculous melodramas.
Wait… wasn’t that boyfriend the sister-in-law’s ex too?
“Touching that place is like killing your mother a second time! Why can’t you understand that? You’re too old to be rebelling! Do you know why I put you in that position?”
“It wasn’t you who put me there. It was the shareholders. If I’d failed the Parallel Resort acquisition, you wouldn’t have given me the chance in the first place. And Mother is still very much alive. People only die once. Why are you insisting on killing her twice?”
“Seo Woo-hyun!”
At his grandfather’s roar, Woo-hyun held the phone slightly away from his ear.
The commercials before the drama were unusually long.
Most of them advertised companies owned by the Muyoung Group.
Cosmetics.
Electronics.
Liquor.
Household goods.
Food.
The Muyoung name was everywhere.
“When you get back to Seoul, you’d better be prepared! Without my permission, you won’t move a single shovel of dirt on that land!”
“Yes, understood. By the way, should I bring back some dried seafood? Filefish? Squid?”
The advertisements finally ended, and the drama resumed.
Woo-hyun settled more comfortably into the sofa and turned the volume up one more notch.
“…Bring fresh rockfish and Atka mackerel instead. I’ll grill them.”
“I’ll bring striped beakfish too. We can grill that as well.”
Smiling faintly, Woo-hyun ended the call and dimmed the lights in the room.
When the room darkened, he could see the silhouette of the abandoned building in the distance through the floor-to-ceiling window.
Ignoring the drama behind him—where the heroine was still having her hair pulled by her sister-in-law—he walked to the window.
He imagined the lights that would soon shine from that abandoned building.
It had been his father’s dream.
Not long ago, his father had proudly gathered investors, refusing to accept financial help from his wife’s family.
But luck had never been on his side.
To make matters worse, Seo Gil-su had been branded a fraud and driven out of society.
Back then, Woo-hyun himself had severed every connection between his father’s small construction company and the Muyoung Group.
He’d only wanted to prevent his incompetent father from becoming a burden to the conglomerate.
If the world learned that the lifelong underappreciated man was Chairman Bang Jeong-sik’s son-in-law, it would only hurt him even more.
His father would rather die than ask his in-laws for help.
Believing he was protecting his father’s pride, Woo-hyun had even held a press conference and steered the media narrative himself.
He’d thought everything had turned out perfectly.
“Woo-hyun… you didn’t do anything wrong. If incompetence is a crime… then yes, it’s a crime. My inferiority complex—that’s all it is.”
He cracked open a can of iced coffee from the refrigerator.
Even though he’d missed the scene he’d been waiting for, the drama wasn’t particularly surprising anymore.
Sometimes the things we think matter most turn out not to matter at all.
Just like life.
“…But why hasn’t she contacted me yet? Or… has she just not seen it?”
It was nine o’clock at night.
Checking the time, Woo-hyun frowned as his gaze shifted between the television and the jacket hanging nearby.
He’d already missed the most important scene anyway.
Looks like I’ll have to pay 1,650 won—including VAT—to watch the rerun…
He sighed in annoyance as he reached for his jacket.
