A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 11



Only Krnovel

The Chairman Who Doesn’t Regret Episode 11 – The First (8)

The closing ceremony where every minute felt like a second.

The kids in my class must have felt the same way as me, because the homeroom teacher snickered after hearing our thoughts.

“You guys, do you really want to go that much?”

“yes-”

The homeroom teacher nodded as the children answered in unison.

“You little brats, you must have gotten some love spanking from your teachers today, so apply some medicine before you go to bed, okay?”

“yes-”

“The answers are good. Don’t count to the billiard hall or the theater, just go straight home. Got it?”

“yes-”

“dissolution.”

“Wow-”

As the homeroom teacher declared the end of the school day, the children began to leave the classroom like the tide. I also had to leave the classroom quickly and go somewhere, so I hurried home.

“Class President! Where are you going?”

Hwang Dong-soo caught me like that.

“why?”

“Why wouldn’t someone say Tanaka… Oh, that’s right, I decided not to say Tanaka.”

The guy’s words made me burst out laughing. I guess playing soccer together once had quite an effect.

I feel like I have a greater sense of intimacy.

“Should I go eat jajangmyeon and tangsuyuk with the kids?”

“ah.”

Since you won the soccer bet, you probably want to receive your reward today.

“hmm.”

I thought about it briefly.

Going to a Chinese restaurant with my peers for the first time might not be a bad experience, but I was more drawn to the reunion with my mother, which might be the last time.

It’s a multiple choice question, but isn’t the answer already decided?

“It’s a shame, but let’s eat together next time.”

“Huh? You’re not going?”

“It’s a bit like that today.”

“What? The main character can’t be left out.”

At the moment when I was about to answer Hwang Dong-soo’s words.

“Jeonggang! You’re not going?”

Kim Gyu-il appeared out of nowhere and asked the same question.

“Oh, I have somewhere to go.”

“Aren’t you just going to go home and study anyway? If that’s the case, why don’t you just eat dinner and go?”

Kim Gyu-il tilts his head.

In the meantime, Kim Seong-hak suddenly put his arm around my shoulder.

“Are you going to the Hyesung restaurant next to our Hyesung Girls’ High School today? Are you still not going?”

It’s Hyesung Girls’ High School.

Originally, I would have been excited to hear such words, but I am not that attracted to them. I am glad that I don’t hear people say that I am old and senile.

“Yes, somewhere else.”

“Do you have anywhere to go besides home?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the question from Jo Sang-geun, who suddenly appeared with such a large body.

How many times must I repeat home, school, home, school before I get asked this question?

“Oh, Mom’s restaurant.”

“iced coffee···”

Kim Gyu-il smacks his lips as if he feels regretful. Kim Seong-hak and Cho Sang-geun appear behind him. The other Sanggye-dong children also seem to feel regretful.

“You guys enjoy your meal together.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

“I know.”

Jo Sang-geun thought briefly and then nodded.

“Then I’ll eat two bowls instead of the whole thing.”

I was wondering what you were worried about, and it was that.

“Okay.”

Jo Sang-geun nodded his head, very satisfied with my answer.

“Jeonggang, you… were a good kid, weren’t you?”

Hwang Dong-soo and Kim Seong-hak shake their heads.

“Anyway, all I can think about is eating.”

“Who said no?”

Kim Kyu-il asks with a worried face.

“Hey, are you sure you’re okay? Jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk?”

The children nodded their heads vigorously. Given the economic status of the Sanggye-dong children, it would be difficult to dream of eating jajangmyeon (noodles with black bean sauce) or tangsuyuk (pork belly pork), so it was not an incomprehensible reaction.

“Oh, it’s okay.”

“Is something wrong?”

The little guy takes care of all the worries.

Was this guy Kim Gyu-il originally the guy who worried about me like this?

It feels a little awkward because I don’t think I’ve ever received any worries from anyone except my family.

“It’s really okay, I’ve eaten a lot.”

The children’s eyes widen.

Among them, Hwang Dong-soo asks with the most surprised expression.

“Have you eaten a lot of tangsuyuk?”

“Oh, well. Really?”

I’ve only eaten sweet and sour pork, but I’ve also tried all kinds of Chinese food.

What I was worried about was not the simple food, but the meal with the children who might have become my friends. In the end, I had no choice but to postpone it because my memories with my mother were more precious to me than those with my children.

“If you say it like that, then I can’t help it.”

As we walked and talked, the Sanggye-dong kids and I found ourselves walking down the hill from school.

“Then are we really going?”

“okay.”

“Anyway, it’s dry.”

Kim Gyu-il immediately smiled and waved his hand.

“See you tomorrow, class president!”

Hwang Dong-su shows his form, shows the back of his hand, and walks forward.

Other children also waved their hands.

‘See you tomorrow.’

Yeah, I wish I could do that too.

“Okay, see you tomorrow. If I can.”

Kim Seong-hak shook his head as he passed by my greeting.

“Anyway, I said it was strange.”

It’s strange that he greeted me as if he couldn’t see me.

Actually, I’m still grateful that I haven’t woken up from this dream yet, because making memories with my children is too greedy.

Still looking at it.

Because humans are a bundle of greed and desire.

I stared blankly at the backs of those guys who might be the last ones, and then I started to quicken my pace.

Unlike the closing ceremony where one second felt like one hour, I went that way for a happy time where one hour felt like one second.

On the way to my mother’s restaurant.

Caw- caw-

The sound of crows croaking also sounds pleasant.

How should I greet people?

I came back from school.

I’m back safely.

Mom, I’m home.

I walked for a while, thinking about the many, many greetings in the world.

Kkutangtang.

Buzz buzz buzz buzz.

Near the Sanggye-dong community center, where all kinds of heavy equipment are noisily engaged in construction.

Seoul is changing so rapidly that a new subway station called Nowon Station is scheduled to be built at the site of the construction.

The dust storm and loud noises didn’t make me frown. There was a restaurant run by my mother right next to my nose when I fell down at school. It was a place I didn’t visit often, but I wish I had visited more often.

That place where people covered in dirt and dust come out, opening and closing shabby sliding doors. A signboard hanging in cursive script on a single-story cement building with no particular design.

Kang’s restaurant.

That’s where my mother first opened her own restaurant.

It is no exaggeration to say that I graduated from high school and college thanks to that restaurant.

The sight of that lovely sign makes me laugh.

‘Come to think of it, the restaurant’s name is also my name.’

I have an older sister named Hye-rin and a younger sister named Hye-ri, but my mother insisted on using the letters Kang for my name.

In a time when neon signs were unfamiliar, those letters wouldn’t glow at night. It might be a good thing they didn’t, since they weren’t even supposed to glow.

I approached the door, trying to sort out my complicated thoughts again.

“Oh my, now I can let go of one worry.”

I swallowed hard at the sound of my mother’s voice and grabbed the doorknob. Through the slightly open gap in the door, I saw my mother sitting on a chair, patting her waist.

“Oh my.”

I can understand why you have a sore back, since you worked nonstop until past four in the afternoon. But for some reason, Mrs. Hwang’s words from the tailor shop linger in my head this morning.

‘I heard that my injured back still hurts these days.’

It was bittersweet because it seemed like so much was contained in that little groan.

Bitterness blew away, and with a little force I opened the sliding door with a creak.

“Welcome, mother! Son-”

“I came back from school!”

When I greeted her loudly, my mother was startled and immediately raised the corners of her lips.

“Why do you always come to Mom’s restaurant?”

“I just wanted to see you.”

My mother, with a bright face, quickly came over to me as if to say that I had never complained of back pain, and snatched my bag from me.

“I miss you, this guy is really weird since the morning.”

Although he spoke bluntly, his expression was not like that. His tone was slightly raised, as if he had met someone he was truly happy to see.

“It’s warm here, come here.”

He taps the chair he was sitting on. That seat is probably the warmest. And since his mother was sitting there, the chair is probably warmed up as well.

I sat down in the front seat. My mother smiled and sat down in her original seat.

“Son, are you really amazing today?”

“Have you been very busy?”

Mother nods happily.

“Do you know the place where they’re doing construction on the train station in front of here?”

It wasn’t a train, it was a subway station construction, but I didn’t bother to pick it up.

“It seems like it’s really busy there these days. There’s a constant stream of workers. There’s the Olympics or something, right?”

“Yeah, the Olympics.”

“What else was there called, the ASEAN Games?”

“Ah- Asian Games.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s why they said there was a fuss about hurrying up the construction because guests from abroad were coming.”

“I guess so.”

“So the workers take turns eating lunch while continuing to work, so the restaurants around here are complaining that they don’t have time to rest these days.”

I didn’t know.

I never dreamed that my mother was such a talkative person.

“There are people from the Sanggye-dong community center here during lunch time, right?”

“huh.”

“Why do the nobles who work in government there like this mother’s kimchi so much?”

“Mom, your kimchi is delicious.”

“so?”

“then-”

“Haha, is that why? Mom’s kimchi stew is so delicious that you order food that costs 2,000 won?”

“Will my mom become rich soon?”

“Hohoho, oh my – then I guess I won’t have any more wishes.”

The story of my mother, whom I had never cared about or thought about since I was born.

My mother’s daily trivial stories were so interesting that I didn’t even realize how much time had passed and just nodded my head in laughter.

Maybe it’s because my expression is good, but my mother’s face never stops smiling. Since my mother is good, my expression also gets better.

That virtuous cycle continued for a long time.

match!

My mother claps loudly and hurriedly gets up from her seat.

“Oh my! Look at my mind, my son should be studying, but I’m acting like a mother and acting like a fool-”

“Haha, it’s okay, Mom.”

“No, my mom got excited and got mad because my son came out to the restaurant after a long time.”

“It’s okay, Mom. It’s almost vacation time, so I need to take a break from studying too.”

My mother looks at me with startle.

“You’re taking a break from studying?”

My mother’s expression didn’t look very good, perhaps because she was worried that I suddenly stopped studying.

“No, just today.”

“so?”

“Yeah, you need to take a break from studying sometimes. Your head needs to rest to function better.”

“Okay, well, our son is doing well on his own… Mom will prepare dinner quickly.”

It’s not even 5 o’clock yet.

I grabbed my mother’s shoulder as she headed to the kitchen and made her sit down.

“I’m not hungry yet.”

“Really? But you should hurry up and go in. Mom is also preparing dinner now.”

“Okay, just a moment.”

I gently rubbed my mother’s shoulders.

“Oh my, why is he like this today.”

Although she pretended not to like it, my mother soon closed her eyes at my touch and raised the corners of her mouth.

This is my first time getting a massage, but judging by my mother’s expression, I think she might not be that bad of a person.

Our mother’s shoulders were so thin. The shoulders of a strong woman who raised three children without a husband are infinitely strong.

Unlike most women’s shoulders, which are supposed to be soft.

Emotions are welling up again.

Did you feel my trembling?

Knock knock.

Before I knew it, my mother’s right hand came up to my shoulder and began patting and stroking the back of my left hand.

Every time my mother’s hand moved, the scent of her warm hands and fluffy hair wafted out.

The smell of garlic, kimchi, and red pepper powder.

That smell that I hated so much is now so fragrant.

Mom’s smell.

Yeah, this is my mom’s smell.

Hesitant.

Lips that don’t fall off easily.

The first words a newborn says to his mother.

Yeah, the first time is hard, the second time is easy. I forced myself to gather my courage and opened my lips.

“Thank you, Mother.”

My mother turns around and smiles as she speaks.

“Oh my, I am more thankful – I have a son who is so filial.”