Chapter 08
“Don’t I have no use for a car?”
Youngbaek pulled Jisu’s Americano over as if it were his own and gulped it down, looking at Jisu with an expression that asked why she was giving this to him.
“Oppa, is it only you who has no use for a car? You don’t even have a license.”
Youngbaek had been without a license ever since it was revoked for drunk driving in his twenties.
She was grateful for the used car he’d given her as a congratulatory gift for getting a job, but more than half the times she’d used that car had been spent playing chauffeur for Youngbaek and his mother. Jisu had truly done all she could for the mother and son who called on her whenever they needed a car.
Feeling that Jisu’s energy was unusual as she coldly and sharply picked at his sore spots, Youngbaek belatedly checked her mood. He straightened his lazily sprawled posture and sat up properly, starting to cater to Jisu’s feelings.
“Our Jisu, surely you’re not…… are you doing this right now because I went to see your mom and just came back up? Why is your sulking lasting so long this time?”
“……Sulking?”
“No, I mean, come on! It was really hot back then. You know better than anyone how badly I can’t stand the heat. Want me to go again now? It’s cooled down now. But why isn’t my drink coming out?”
“Haah. I’m really exhausted, oppa.”
It had already been nearly two weeks since she’d gone to Gyechon-ri.
Except for the time she’d spent with Jaegyeom, she hadn’t avoided a single one of the calls that Youngbaek relentlessly made. Every time he called, she answered and seriously told him she wanted to break up. Even when he came to her house, she told him there was nothing more to say so don’t come looking for her like this, and even said she’d call the police if he kept it up, but he ignored it all…… and now that Jisu had contacted him first and sat him down, the only thing he had to say was that.
“Oppa. I’ll say it clearly today. Listen well. I properly told you I wanted to break up, but you keep thinking of this as just a small quarrel. Let’s make it certain.”
“Why are you being so scary. Huh? We still have the years we’ve been together…….”
Those damn years. She felt like she was going to get neurosis now. Jisu’s brow furrowed sharply.
“Take the car key. If it had been completely given to me, I would have scrapped it, but since the title isn’t in my name, I couldn’t. You can’t drive, oppa, so I took the car and parked it at your mother’s shop parking lot.”
“Jisu.”
“Oppa. Our six years…… as you and your mother said, I was a student, I was poor, I was too ignorant of things…… I understand well that there were things you sacrificed and endured. But I also did my part—going to your house every holiday to do housework, helping with business at your family’s mart, and even playing chauffeur faithfully. I think I’ve done enough. Let’s stop.”
It was the first time Jisu had perfectly spat out the words of breakup. Even though she was saying it sitting face to face and looking into his eyes, the fact that there was no emotional wavering somehow felt bitter. She coldly shook off Youngbaek’s attempt to hold on to her and walked straight out of the cafe.
Since it was the first time she’d declared a breakup this seriously, Youngbaek was quite shocked as well. He urgently made a call.
“Mom! What do I do? Lim Jisu says she wants to break up! This time it seems real! She looked terrifyingly angry at me. Ah, shit. Annoying. See, I told you I hate her!”
Jisu, who had lost all interest in what Youngbaek was doing alone in the cafe, headed home without even looking back. She wanted to celebrate. Eat something delicious, and watch a movie by herself. She should throw away everything that reminded her of Kim Youngbaek. It seemed like it would be a busy weekend.
“For my friend Lim Jisu’s splendid single life!”
Jisu’s plan to spend the weekend doing this and that alone became useless thanks to Eunmi, who showed up with a load of alcohol. It was hard to even count how many cans of beer they’d clinked with the same toast.
Eunmi, who had gotten tipsy before long, raised her voice while chewing on dried snacks.
“Hey. Every time I came to the entrance of this studio building, some junk car was always parked there blocking the lot, so how much did it piss me off every time I came? But now that it’s gone, I feel refreshed.”
“Puhaha. Ah, so funny.”
“……What is.”
“There is. That kind of thing.”
Yoon Jaegyeom had also gone on and on about that junk car. With alcohol in her, her mood felt a bit lighter. Thoughts of Yoon Jaegyeom kept coming, so Jisu kept bursting into laughter.
To the giggling Jisu, Eunmi lowered her voice as if making a grand proposal.
“Hey. You should go on blind dates. I can set you up with about twenty. With men that loser can’t even compare to.”
“No.”
“Ah…… right. I guess you need the pain of heartbreak to immediately forget through another relationship. You feel refreshed and relieved now, so you don’t need that.”
Eunmi, who knew the whole grueling six-year relationship history, shuddered.
Now Jisu had also pulled herself out of the spell by her own strength. Since she no longer tried to see Kim Youngbaek favorably, everything became clear. Jisu carefully brought out her true feelings.
“Eunmi, I really don’t have to shrink back just because I dated for six years, right?”
“Of course not.”
Youngbaek hated women who drank, so Jisu had never even gotten drunk.
“I’m going to do whatever I want now. The first thing I’ll do is finish all this alcohol today and get drunk.”
“Good. This unnie will join you. Tomorrow’s Sunday anyway, so let’s drink and die. You don’t even have work, so who cares! Once again, congratulations to our Lim Jisu!”
The toasts continued and they drank for quite a while longer. They even went to the convenience store in front of the house to buy more alcohol.
“Now, I think we’re super drunk…… Hey, Lim Jisu! Isn’t there anything else you want to try?”
Eunmi asked with pronunciation that sounded broken. Jisu, feeling as if she were floating on a cloud, thought about what else she wanted to do.
Eunmi, who had been waiting for an answer, dozed off and slowly lay down to the side, so Jisu brought a blanket and covered her. Looking at the clock, it was 2:12 a.m. Since today was the first time in her life she’d been this drunk, Jisu didn’t know. That when a drunken early morning meets a phone call, regret always follows.
Her hazy mind bewitched Jisu like an evil spirit. She picked up her phone and unlocked it.
Jaegyeom’s contact had already been deleted, but when she unblocked him on the messenger, Yoon Jaegyeom appeared again in her chat list. She wanted to talk to him. It was impossible to tell whether this was drunk Jisu’s true heart or whether the true feelings she’d locked away before getting drunk had burst out.
[Yoon Jae]
[Jaeg]
[Jaegyeom-aaah]
[I threw away the junk car??]
[Good job lol]
[Thank you, it’s all thanks to you]
[Hey]
‘Father! How can you do this!’
Jaegyeom was so tired of this situation that repeated every year.
Yoon Seongsik, the half-brother who was always dying to tear him apart whenever he saw him. The father who was the main culprit behind this shitty gathering. It was a combination where it was hard for even a single laugh to come out when they gathered in one place.
But on his birthday, his father always called both sons like this and went to a hotel sauna. It was his father’s eccentric theory that the men of the family should sit face to face in their primordial state and have time for frank conversation.
Every time the attendants and Daeyun Hotel employees bowed their heads and gave lip service saying, “You look harmonious,” and “Both sons are impressive and dependable,” his father looked proud. To Jaegyeom, it was an incomprehensible bad taste.
Even without that, inside the suffocating sauna, Seongsik kept screaming.
‘That bastard doesn’t even know the letter G in management. How can you give him a position at Motors!’
‘…….’
‘Father. Our Daeyun Motors is already late in starting, so even if we hire only the best talent, it’s not enough……. Do you think he studied properly in America? It’s obvious even without looking that he lived low-class hanging around low-quality kids.’
Father flipped the hourglass without a word and closed his eyes again.
Jaegyeom simply watched the situation quietly like a spectator. He did not reveal the resentment piling up layer by layer inside him.
Who asked for that position? I never wanted it even once. If the atmosphere heated up even a little more, he thought he should say, “I don’t want any position in Daeyun Group, so I’ll just live on my own as I do now,” and leave this place.
