CRC 08

Chapter 8

“I decided not to sell the brewery.”

When Yeon-eum said this with confidence, Seok-jung looked happy, as if he had been waiting to hear that.

“Do you have some kind of plan?”

“Look over there.”

In the aging room, Geum-ho (her grandfather) was checking the fermentation.

“When Grandpa is working, he looks perfectly fine. How can I tell him we’re selling the brewery? He still needs this place. And so do I.”

“I know. But what can we do if we don’t have the money?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility.”

“Can you really do it?”

She couldn’t just give up like this. If she had decided to protect Jeongju Brewery, then she just needed to solve the problems one by one.

The first thing was to get the brewery running normally again.

“Uncle, are there any workers who quit that might come back?”

Seok-jung widened his eyes and pretended to be annoyed.

“I’m only here because I’m basically volunteering. Who would come back to a place that can’t even pay salaries properly?”

He was actually owed the most unpaid wages. Even though he said he couldn’t take responsibility for the brewery, he had stayed behind and protected it alone.

Maybe he loved Jeongju even more than she did.

Knowing that, she couldn’t give up—not for him.

“I’ll find a way to get the money.”

“How? Orders have dropped a lot. If this continues, we’ll keep losing money.”

“I’ll figure something out. Just contact the other workers first.”

She planned to break her savings to pay the overdue wages first. But there were still huge debts.

The bank loan could be paid slowly. The urgent problem was the private loan sharks. She needed 100 million won right away.

As she faced this reality, someone she had tried to forget kept coming to mind.

“Mom, why don’t I have a dad?”

“….”

For a long time, her mother had stayed silent.

When Yeon-eum was in high school, her mother finally told her the truth.

“That man is your father.”

On TV, the election results were being announced. The winner’s face filled the screen before disappearing.

“Who?”

Her mother, Hae-joo, had met Ji Ho-beom during a university club activity.

He was a law student. She supported him for years while he kept failing the bar exam.

But what she got in return was news that he finally passed—along with a breakup. At that time, she was already pregnant.

“I thought he was just a poor law student. I didn’t know he came from such a powerful family.”

Later, she found out that Ho-beom came from a family of legal professionals—and that he already had another woman he was supposed to marry.

Hae-joo gave birth alone and returned to her hometown, Cheonghyang Village.

For a while, she lived well without thinking about him. But when he became a member of the National Assembly, she couldn’t avoid hearing about him.

After learning the truth, Yeon-eum searched his name online.

Big eyes with double eyelids, a tall nose, a bright smile. He looked a lot like her.

But he already had another family.

He had married a former actress and had a daughter.

Yeon-eum was disappointed.

She thought she should be satisfied just knowing what he looked like. But once she knew who he was, she wanted to meet him.

After taking the college entrance exam, she thought about it all winter.

A few days after the New Year, she secretly left home early in the morning and took the first bus to Seoul.

She went to meet her biological father.

“Is this the National Assembly?”

All the cars entering and leaving had dark tinted windows. She couldn’t tell who was inside.

Maybe he wasn’t even there.

Then she searched his name again and found his local office number.

“Yes, this is Assemblyman Ji Ho-beom’s office.”

“….”

“Hello? Who is this?”

Maybe he wasn’t in the office. She hesitated, then gathered her courage.

“I’m… Assemblyman Ji Ho-beom’s daughter. Is he there?”

They might think it was a prank call.

“His daughter? Ah… one moment.”

She almost hung up in embarrassment when suddenly another voice came on the line.

“Se-hee? What’s wrong? Why are you calling the office? Where’s your phone?”

It was a warm, gentle voice.

“…Dad?”

She whispered without realizing.

“Hello? Se-hee?”

“Are you… Assemblyman Ji Ho-beom?”

She quickly corrected herself.

“Who is this?”

His voice instantly changed. He realized she wasn’t his daughter.

“You know Jung Hae-joo, right? I’m her daughter, Jung Yeon-eum.”

She said it with a trembling voice.

There was silence.

“You must be surprised. I’m sorry. I just… wanted to see your face once….”

Before she could finish, his cold voice cut in.

“I don’t know such a person. I’m hanging up.”

“Wait! Please don’t hang up. I’m in Seoul right now. I went to the Assembly building—”

She heard a door slam on his side.

“I’ve never had a daughter like you. I don’t know anything about this. Don’t ever contact me again. And don’t even think about appearing in front of me!”

Click.

“Hello? Hello?”

The call was already over.

Her small hope collapsed.

She hadn’t expected him to welcome her. But maybe at least he would say sorry.

At first, thinking she was his daughter, his voice had been kind.

But once he knew who she was, it turned cold.

She had gathered all her courage to call.

All she got in return was denial.

Holding the disconnected phone, she fought back tears.

When she returned home late at night, the brewery was quiet after work.

“I shouldn’t have gone. I should have just kept living without knowing. Why did I expect anything?”

She hugged a bottle of liquor she had secretly taken and sat in the storage room corner, drinking straight from it while crying.

After she had drunk about half the bottle, her mother found her—with snacks.

“If your first drink is filled with sadness, you’ll always taste sadness. So don’t drink while crying. Drink while smiling. This alcohol is so delicious!”

Her mother didn’t ask where she had gone.

Instead, she praised Grandpa’s brewing skills and even bragged about her own cooking, making Yeon-eum laugh.

And for the first time, she told Yeon-eum about her dream—to become a master brewer like Grandpa.

That was the day the pain in Yeon-eum’s heart, caused by her father, turned into a hard stone.

But thanks to her mother, she changed her mind.

“I only need Grandpa and Mom.”

After that, she tried to forget him.

Of course, sometimes she still felt a deep longing for a “father.” But she told herself that feeling had nothing to do with Ji Ho-beom.

Maybe it was her pride.

But now, Jeongju Brewery was facing its biggest crisis.

And when she needed help the most, the only person she could think of was the man who could have been her family.

Her small pride didn’t matter more than the brewery.

* * *

The sound of running water filled the bathroom.

Although spring was coming, the air was still cold in the mornings and evenings. After finishing his workout, Hwi-do cooled his heated body with cold water.

His muscles were firm and tense.

As he listened to the falling water, he suddenly remembered the yard of Jeongju Brewery’s guest house, filled with the smell of grass.

If he closed his eyes, he could still feel that peaceful atmosphere.

For Hwi-do, who lived a busy and dry life filled with work, the memory of that night kept appearing unexpectedly.

Naturally, her face came to mind.

Her long hair blowing in the wind. Her bright, clear smile.

But that smile quickly changed into the stiff expression she had when she last saw him, and he snapped out of his brief daydream.

Knock knock.

He put on a robe and came out of the bathroom.

“Come in.”

It was Mrs. Gu, who managed the household.

“Sorry to bother you. I wanted to ask—are these your clothes? I haven’t seen them before.”