Chapter 102
102. Think About Surviving
2023.08.10.
Tae-joon finished his IV drip and was discharged immediately.
After sleeping like the dead for a night and replenishing his nutrients, he no longer felt dizzy.
Regardless of his physical condition, one thought dominated his mind.
The fact that time was passing without him knowing any news of Han So-eun.
Because she's a beautiful and kind person, she's bound to shine wherever she is. She's the type of person who becomes stronger after overcoming hardships, so people who recognize her true worth will flock to her.
Among them, there will be good men. I hate to admit it.
You're a good person, so you'll meet a good man. A normal man from a good family, not twisted by bad relationships. You'd be drawn to a man like that. And if you fall in love, you'll give him all of yourself, as much as you love him.
You shouldn't do that. Don't waste your heart. All the other guys are fake, and only I'm real.
I want to insist on that, but it might not be true.
Somewhere in the world, there might be someone better than me, and you could definitely meet someone like that.
I couldn't bear it. The thought that someone else, not me, could stand by her side. I couldn't even bear to imagine it. A fierce jealousy bubbled up for a man I didn't even know existed.
As I was going through the documents piled up on my desk, I heard a knock and the door to my office opened. It was Chief Jang Eun-pyo.
"Director, how have you been?"
Tae-joon's gaze went blank at Eun-pyo's voice. It was only after a long time that he remembered his promise with Eun-pyo.
"Ah, we were supposed to do that, weren't we."
His toneless voice settled on the office floor.
We were going to prepare a presentation to reveal Kim Sang-deok's and Iaks's secret relationship at the next board meeting. Han So-eun, Jang Eun-pyo, and I.
The date was approaching, but after Han So-eun went missing, I hadn't been able to pay attention to it.
"Should we just not do it?"
What's the point of all this? What movie am I going to watch by digging into it?
Tae-joon asked himself and answered himself.
"Let's not do it. It doesn't seem like the right time. I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay."
Eun-pyo also seemed to have no intention of continuing this work, as he quickly agreed. As Eun-pyo was about to turn around in the quiet silence, he stopped again and confessed something from the past.
"Actually, before Han So-eun left, she asked me a favor."
My body reacted again to the name Han So-eun. Tae-joon lifted his gaze from the cold documents and looked at Eun-pyo.
I resented the fact that the woman who didn't leave me with a single request had left requests only for Jang Eun-pyo, and for my aunt 20 years ago.
"She asked me to take good care of the presentation preparations, Director. I told Han So-eun that I knew everything about the two of you... I'm sorry for not keeping the secret."
"......"
"Han So-eun said something at that time. She bragged that everyone in the world should know how wonderful you are, Director. She also said that no one is as loved as she is."
She's a bad woman. A very, very bad woman.
"Han So-eun still likes you a lot, Director."
Why did she hide the fact that she liked me, the fact that she was so loved, from me and tell it to another guy? Why?
The membrane of Tae-joon's eyes swelled up transparently.
It's your fault. It's all your fault.
I have to punish you severely when I find you.
So, I have to go find you right now.
\*
The coding skills I diligently learned before succeeding in getting a job also helped me a lot in life.
That the result can change as much as possible due to one line of command entered in the middle. That the result may not come out at all. That if you write code like crazy, you will eventually get stuck someday. That it is best to calculate and proceed slowly so that there are no conflicts.
So-eun calculated the future in her head as if she were writing code. How to completely escape from K Group. What paths are open, and what paths will eventually be blocked. I had to check all the possibilities and move meticulously.
Actually, I was going to go to the Philippines.
The mail found at Tae-joon's house contained instructions on how to receive my father's Relics. But in the end, I couldn't go. It was obvious that I would be tracked if I took another plane. So-eun chose to travel as far away from New York as possible by means of transportation other than airplanes.
18 hours by train from New York Pennsylvania Station to Chicago, and 52 hours from Chicago Union Station to Emeryville Station in California. Excluding the three days I got off at a safe station in the middle to unpack and rest for a while, the train travel time alone was a long journey of 70 hours.
It was my first time on a plane, my first time setting foot on foreign land, and I felt like I was fading away as I was mixed in with people from all kinds of countries speaking all kinds of languages.
If intense things pile up and pile up inside me, I can erase my last memories of Korea. So-eun watched the people getting on and off the train without rest and gradually gained hope and energy.
Choi Hyun-ji was waiting at Emeryville Station.
"Oh my, oh my."
Hyun-ji found So-eun, who was looking shabby from traveling by train, and raised one lip crookedly, sneering as much as possible. Despite Hyun-ji's reaction, So-eun was just happy to find someone she knew and smiled like an idiot.
"What are you trusting in to be so reckless?"
Hyun-ji glared fiercely and snatched So-eun's bag away.
"I knew from the beginning that Han So-eun wasn't afraid, but I'm surprised once again. Have you eaten?"
"No."
"Without eating. Did you get any sleep?"
"......"
"Ugh, you're frustrating. Let's go quickly."
Hyun-ji pulled So-eun's suitcase and strode ahead. So-eun followed behind her like a baby duck.
Hyun-ji put the suitcase in the trunk of the car and offered So-eun the passenger seat. After So-eun got in, the car started right away.
Choi Hyun-ji in the United States was completely different from in Korea. Her appearance was still stylish, but the way she roughly drove a rattling passenger car that was 10 years old was far from that of a princess from a wealthy family. So-eun thought that this was Choi Hyun-ji's real appearance.
As soon as we got out of the complex near the station, Hyun-ji asked.
"But why did you come to me?"
"I told you, I don't know anyone."
So-eun told the truth. For some reason, I felt like I could trust Choi Hyun-ji.
"There are three adults who have said good things to me, but I can't meet two of them anymore."
When I thought of Kim Tae-joon and Manager Song Mun-gyeong, my stomach churned again, but So-eun continued to answer brightly with a face that had washed away all the moisture.
"The other one was Hyun-ji."
"I'm the same age as you."
"But you seemed like an adult to me. Someone who can separate emotions and actions."
"That doesn't sound like a compliment?"
"Anyway, you said you wanted me to be happy. You also said that good people like you would protect me. You told me to think about surviving even if I was stuck in a gutter."
So-eun, who arrived at Chicago Station, called the phone number that Hyun-ji had given her a long time ago. That was the biggest bet in So-eun's journey. If Hyun-ji contacted Tae-joon, everything could have been ruined. Nevertheless, I contacted Hyun-ji because I believed in those words at that time.
Still, think about surviving. Because that's much more valuable. You just have to not give up on yourself.
If you're lucky in life, you may meet someone who is more adult than an adult like this.
"Chairman Kim Jae-pil said that if I enter the country on a tourist visa, he will later convert it to a small investment immigration visa. But if I do that, I'll continue to be indebted to him. I want to get completely out of there, but I can't. But I thought you could do that alone. So, I came to ask for your help."
Hyun-ji had the talent to infer the context by combining conversations. The short phone call in Chicago a few days ago and the current conversation were all, but Hyun-ji could guess So-eun's situation to some extent. Hyun-ji, who understood how hard it was for her to come here and how terrible her determination was, quickly became choked up. However, she did not reveal her inner feelings to So-eun.
"I haven't contacted Director Kim Tae-joon since I came here. But we haven't lost contact."
"But you won't say anything, will you?"
"......"
"I believe you won't tell anyone."
"Why? Am I indebted to you?"
"No. You're a person with a living conscience."
"The only thing that's alive is Choi Hyun-ji's body."
"Anyway, I believe you. I do."
"Damn belt of faith."
The reckless faith of a woman named Han So-eun is always lovely. Hyun-ji had to swallow a little tear because she was thinking of a friend who had passed away a long time ago.
"Tell me what happened. That way, I can believe you and help you."
Hyun-ji, who had suppressed her tears, requested.
So-eun hesitated for a moment and then slowly told her about the events that had happened. Her father's mistake 20 years ago and herself, who grew up not knowing about it, and her reunion with Kim Tae-joon, and Kim Jae-pil's anger at learning all of this.
Hyun-ji, who had listened to the long story silently, let out a rough sigh and cursed.
"That's a crazy old man. Guilt by association for something that happened 20 years ago."
Hyun-ji snorted when So-eun was startled by Hyun-ji's rough words.
"Why? Can't I do this either? Do you still have feelings for Kim Tae-joon?"
"......"
"Repeat after me. Kim Jae-pil, you damn old man."
Since she was holding the steering wheel, I had to do what she told me to do, but it was my first time cursing like that, so So-eun hesitated.
"Kim Jae-pil... you old man."
"You crazy old man."
"You old man who will die from illness. You old man who will die alone."
"...Even so, isn't that a bit too much? How can you curse someone to die..."
"No, what can't we do just between us? Hurry up and repeat after me. Kim Jae-pil, you old man who will die from illness."
So-eun, who was dissatisfied with Hyun-ji's insistence on cursing, revealed her rebellious spirit.
"You said that you didn't want me to be stained by the dirt of the world. You said you wanted me to protect my goodness until the end."
"Puhaha!"
Hyun-ji, who had been teaching So-eun how to curse, burst out laughing at So-eun's reply.
"You're using my words really well. I did say that. I did."
"But why are you making me curse?"
"So, there's also a sense of pleasure when my water is stained on someone as clean as a blank canvas. People are all two-sided."
Hyun-ji, who had been laughing cheerfully for a long time, continued to speak softly.
"That's what my dad is like. He's successful in business and has made a lot of money, but he doesn't know how to use it. Dad says he's waiting for the day when I become more famous, when my business grows so much that people will immediately recognize my name, and then he'll donate a lot. When that day comes, even Dad's secret donations will become a good story."
"......"
"It's easy to do good things when it's not difficult. Your name will also be known. But it's never easy to think of someone more difficult when you're having a hard time. That's the real thing."
Hyun-ji stopped talking several times, saying that she didn't know the way she was going now. Every new road that came out every time I turned a corner seemed like another world. So-eun thought Hyun-ji, who wasn't nervous despite this, looked cool.
"I hate people who don't recognize that value. So, I don't want you to suffer because of such a family."
"......"
"I can introduce you to someone better. Now that you've believed me, keep believing me like that."
Someone better.
Someone better than Kim Tae-joon.
Could there be such a person in the world?
I don't believe Hyun-ji's words, but Hyun-ji's assurance was a great comfort. I felt like I could get through today with that strength. Isn't it these todays that come together and move towards the distant future?
