As soon as she saw my face, Cheon Ji-young burst into tears. I thought it would be best for her to gather her emotions before meeting Grandfather, so I took Cheon Ji-young outside the house.
"Older brother, I am sorry..."
I hesitated at the tears she poured out the moment our eyes met. Seeing Ji-young looking so gaunt, likely from severe emotional distress, made me wonder how I should even begin to speak.
"I am sorry... I am sorry."
Seeing her repeatedly apologize while crying made the faint discomfort left in my heart disappear. When I placed my hand on Ji-young's head, I could feel her trembling through my hand. I looked straight into Ji-young's eyes as she raised her head, her tears still not stopping.
"It happened before you were even born. It would be a lie to say it was not uncomfortable meeting you again. But I know that it is not your fault. Do not be sorry. Cry to your heart's content now and then forget it. And I hope you treat me the same way you did when you first met me."
Before I could even finish speaking, Cheon Ji-young began to wail loudly. What fault could this young child possibly have? I swallowed the bitter smile trying to form on my lips.
"The one having a harder time than me right now is Grandfather. Come visit and see him often. You do not need to walk on eggshells around me."
It took a long time for Cheon Ji-young to calm down. Having stopped crying, Cheon Ji-young kept avoiding my eyes.
"Your eyes are all swollen. You look like a panda. A panda."
Even though I threw out a joke, there was not much of a response. It seems she needs a bit of time. To be fair, she is 17, a first-year in high school.
An age where puberty hasn't even ended yet. If I had been in Ji-young's position, would I have had the courage to come find someone and apologize like this?
"That is no fun. Wipe your tears and let us go in. Grandfather is waiting."
I took Cheon Ji-young and went inside the house. Grandfather, seeing Cheon Ji-young's face, stood up from his seat.
"Grandfather."
Cheon Ji-young started to tear up again. Worrying that Grandfather might mind my presence, I left Ji-young behind and went up to my room on the second floor. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I asked Section Chief Ma, who had followed me in.
"What is Cheon Su-man doing? You are keeping an eye on him, right?"
"I received a report that he is just stuck at home. There are no changes yet."
"He is not the type to just sit still, so if you see even the slightest movement, tell me right away."
"Understood."
I looked toward the door. What could they be talking about? I believe Ji-young is not at fault, but her father is a different story.
"You are managing Cheon Su-han properly, right?"
"I heard Boss Park is making sure of it."
I had no intention of forgiving Cheon Su-han just for Cheon Ji-young's sake. I do not know what she is talking about with Grandfather, but I plan to thoroughly destroy Cheon Su-han's mind. Even if he was just Cheon Su-man's puppet, it is a fact that he turned a blind eye to my parents' deaths.
"Set up a dinner appointment with Park Dong-soo. A place where we can have a quiet conversation over a drink."
A short while later, Section Chief Ma, who had gone out, knocked on the door, saying Grandfather was calling for me. When I entered the study, Grandfather had a relieved expression, as if he had talked things out with Cheon Ji-young. His eyes were slightly red, suggesting he had cried.
Ji-young's eyes were even more swollen than before. Even if she ate ramen before sleeping, it wouldn't be that bad.
"Mu-hyeok, thank you."
Grandfather's words dug heavily into my heart.
"There is nothing to be thankful for. She is my younger sister, too."
Grandfather's changed appearance and all the things Cheon Ji-young had done for me came together to reach this decision. Of course, Cheon Ji-won and Cheon Ji-soo were not within that fence.
That evening.
For the first time in a while, Grandfather seemed to have found his smile. Warmth circulated within the once silent house. After dinner was over, I left the house to meet Park Dong-soo.
It was quite late when I entered a shabby street stall in Yeongdeungpo. There were no other customers at all, and only Park Dong-soo and Lee Sang-geun were waiting for me.
"How did you manage to find a place like this?"
I asked as I entered. Park Dong-soo stood up from his seat.
"Hey! Little brother."
Park Dong-soo raised his hand and greeted me gladly, and Lee Sang-geun, in contrast, bowed 90 degrees at the waist. Their unchanging behavior made me laugh.
"It has been a while."
Section Chief Ma did not sit down and stood behind me.
"It took a long time for us to have a proper drink together. Right, Brother Dong-soo?"
Perhaps liking the word 'Brother', Park Dong-soo's lips twitched. He was a truly easy person to read.
"The takeover of Yeongdeungpo is finished, right?"
"Of course. There wasn't even a big fight. After a bit of threatening, they crawled right under us on their own. I even wondered if it was allowed to be this easy."
I gave a small nod.
"Getting rid of Jo Hyeon-gu and swallowing Geukseong Construction must have been a big deal. Thugs are the fastest to figure out when someone has a powerful person backing them. Do not even look south of the river yet, and just focus on absorbing the small factions in the west first. And do not get tangled up with the Chinese guys over in the Garibong neighborhood yet."
"Got it."
"Director Lee, are things going well with the company work for you too?"
"I am starting to get confused whether I am a lawyer or an office worker. Hahaha."
Just because a thug was the owner of the company did not mean all the employees could be thugs. Since they were disguising themselves as a legal company, they needed Lee Sang-geun, who held the title of a lawyer, even more.
"Keep recruiting people you can trust. Do not worry about salaries or bonuses, and recruit aggressively."
"Understood. But I think we should slowly start securing construction contracts now."
"I will talk with Daehyun Construction and contact you separately. Endure it just a bit more. And you do not need to overwork yourselves trying to produce results."
"Yes. We cannot just rely solely on Daehyun, so the employees are trying to win contracts here and there."
Since the previous administration had massively announced new city developments and redevelopment zones, the current government was relatively lukewarm about developing new cities.
"There won't be any big new city development plans for now. Come to think of it, wasn't the Bongcheon neighborhood near Yeongdeungpo undergoing redevelopment?"
Lee Sang-geun answered my words.
"I actually had something I wanted to tell you because of that. Currently, another organization has their hands on that area. I was wondering what it would be like if we stepped in. Would that be alright?"
When I looked at Park Dong-soo, he shrugged his shoulders.
"He asked me, so I told him we should decide after talking with you, little brother. I personally want to do it."
"Then give it a try. Can you take it from them?"
"Little brother! I am Park Dong-soo. Do you not trust me?"
At Park Dong-soo's confident words, I lifted the soju bottle and poured him a glass.
"Let us have a drink."
I liked that they were trying to do something on their own without me having to tell them separately. After exchanging a few glasses, the conversation shifted to Cheon Su-han.
"How are things going at the prison?"
"He is completely isolated. Besides our boys, we contacted others and mobilized them, promising a reward. He is probably living a life worse than death right now. I told the guy in the same room to make sure he absolutely cannot commit suicide."
At Park Dong-soo's words, a cold smile settled on my lips.
"Yes. Make sure he absolutely does not die or get hurt. No, make it so he cannot even take his own life as he pleases. Do it in a way that thoroughly destroys his mind."
"You scary guy. I haven't made any mistakes against you, have I? If I have, tell me anytime."
"Not yet."
Park Dong-soo shook his head from side to side, making an appalled expression.
"There are no problems on the Busan side, right?"
"Yeah. Su-hyeong is in charge and doing well. We talk on the phone every day, and that punk will take care of it nicely. The only reason he is under me is because I took him in. He is the kind of guy who could take over his own territory anytime if he wanted to."
"Still, do not trust him too much, and keep checking on him."
"Got it."
Busan was an important region. Because the Japanese yakuza forces would start from Busan and make their way up to Seoul, if I could keep Busan within my sphere of influence for now, my planned endeavors would become much smoother.
"Then are we done talking about work? It ruins the taste of the alcohol. Stop it and take a glass."
"Haha, alright."
Talking about things that happened in Busan in the past, the drinking session continued for quite a long time. When I returned home late at night, Cheon Ji-young was waiting for me in the dark living room with only a table lamp turned on.
"You did not sleep?"
"I was waiting for you, older brother."
"We could have talked tomorrow. You did not even know when I would come back, yet you stayed up waiting."
"Did you drink?"
It seemed obvious since I drank enough to be slightly tipsy. A small chuckle escaped me.
"A little. Do I smell?"
"No, your face just looks exactly like it."
"Let's sit down. What about Grandfather?"
As we sat facing each other, Cheon Ji-young bowed her head.
"He went in to sleep earlier."
"You waited because you had something to say, right?"
"Yeah."
"Tell me. If you say you are sorry again, I will get mad."
At that, Cheon Ji-young flinched slightly. I spoke on behalf of Cheon Ji-young, who was just keeping her head down in silence.
"It is fine. You have done enough if you have done that much. But do not ask me to forgive your dad. I do not want to end up hating you too."
"Okay..."
"...Do you not have anything you want to do? You are a high schooler now."
I threw out the question randomly to change the subject, but a memory surfaced as soon as I brought it up. Cheon Ji-young had told me in the past that she wanted to do music. In the past, it was a dream she could not achieve due to Grandfather's and Cheon Su-han's opposition.
"Not yet... I just vaguely think I want to do something related to music. Is it already too late?"
"Is that so? But isn't that a field where you need talent to succeed? Did you ever have that kind of talent?"
"No way! I have been told I sing well a lot, you know?"
Perhaps realizing her slip of the tongue, Cheon Ji-young hurriedly closed her mouth. When I slightly poked at her pride, her old self came right back out. As expected, Cheon Ji-young suited having strong self-esteem and a positive attitude towards everything.
"Really? Then you should give it a try. What is the problem? If you want to do it, do it."
"But..."
"Because of Grandfather? Even so, you have to do what you want to do. At least just try it. If you spend your time worrying about Grandfather opposing it, you won't be able to do anything."
Cheon Ji-young did not answer and kept fiddling with the ends of her long hair as if deep in thought.
"I will take your side later. Let us worry about that when the time comes. You are still a student. You can do whatever you want to try."
"You are only twenty-one yourself... Yet you talk like someone who has lived a very long time. It is funny."
I did not answer her words and replied with a smile instead. That day, I had many conversations with Cheon Ji-young until dawn. I intentionally avoided talking about our parents, but even including my previous life, it was the first time we had talked alone for so long.
The next day, Cheon Ji-young had breakfast and returned home early. Perhaps because of Ji-young, the worry that had clouded Grandfather's face seemed to have smoothed out a bit. While I was sitting in the living room talking with Grandfather, a breaking news report came on the TV.
It was breaking news that Kim Il-sung had died. It was sudden news that flew in while preparations for the inter-Korean summit were underway. Time passed, and the end of a particularly hot summer approached.
September, the day of the announcement for the second round exam passers. I went to Myeong-soo's house, and we waited for the announcement together. As the notification of passing was heard over the phone, Myeong-soo stood up from his seat, raised both his hands high, and shouted.
"Fuck! I passed! I did it! I, Lee Myeong-soo, did it!"
And then he grabbed and hugged me.
"Mu-hyeok! My friend Mu-hyeok! You really never know how life will turn out. I did not know that a guy like me, who only ever acted like a troublemaker, would become a prosecutor. It is all thanks to you. Thank you."
The remaining three people also called to say they had all passed. A call also came from the university. They said it was the first time that four sophomores from the law department had simultaneously passed the second round.
All I did was create a study group and bring a small change to them, yet their cohort at the training institute got moved up. I could not even predict what kind of butterfly effect this small change would return as later.
< You've done enough if you've done that much. > End