A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 112



Only Krnovel

The Chairman Who Has No Regrets Episode 112 – Faith, Hope, Love and Despair (6)

Sunday afternoon.

The inside of my mother’s restaurant, which should have been crowded with families, was quiet.

“Ugh-”

I felt my mother’s sigh piercing through my insides. I felt a sense of guilt for no reason.

Looking at the prepared food, fortunately, my mother seemed to have realized that there were not many people coming, so the portions were small. The amount of food, which had been decreasing little by little, was now only enough for about 50 people.

“Take a rest today.”

As soon as I said that, my little sister’s hand suddenly touched my back.

“Who is it that is causing this?”

“Ugh.”

The older sister pokes the younger sister in the ribs.

“Ah- why!”

“Be quiet.”

“This…”

The younger sister closes her mouth at the older sister’s small warning. It seems that even though she is dissatisfied, she cannot easily spit it out.

“If you close the store without any special reason, the store will go bankrupt at that moment.”

“You need to have days off too, Mom.”

“We’ve been here for two years now and never closed except on holidays or memorial days. So why are you closing the store because business hasn’t been going well for a few days? What about the regulars?”

I couldn’t say anything to my mother, who spoke as if she was angry.

“The river is the people who gave me clothes, shoes, and three meals a day. Mom is waiting for those people. Who knows when they’ll come looking for me because they’re hungry? There might be people who’ve been away and haven’t come back in a long time.”

“Okay, Mom. I won’t say anything else.”

My mother nodded, then added a word as if she was sorry.

“But I’m going to rest tomorrow because it’s Hye-ri’s graduation ceremony.”

“Okay, Mom. That will do.”

“My shoulder, which had been hurting for the past few days, has gotten a lot better. Isn’t that a good thing? Hahaha.”

Instead, he washes away the guilt that remained inside me with laughter.

I lift the corners of my mouth with a smile, and then I hear the door creak open and a familiar face comes in.

“Welcome… Hey! I thought you were a guest.”

Director Baek, who entered the store, smiled awkwardly at the words spoken by his older sister with her lips pursed.

“Haha, you are welcome, Hye-ri.”

“You didn’t come to see the river?”

Director Baek shakes his head.

If I didn’t have a purpose, why would he come here? I searched my mind for a moment, but nothing came to mind.

“I came to see my mother today.”

When he said that with a bright smile, his mother said,

“Sons! Daughters! We now have a TV too-”

I can’t help but laugh at her cute aegyo, as if she was hoping for a compliment.

“Oh my! Really? You bought that expensive TV?”

The older sister was as surprised as the younger sister, and opened her eyes wide as she waited for her mother’s answer.

“It’s not new, it’s used.”

Director Baek interjected into his mother’s words.

“It’s almost brand new. Mom, the broadcasting station brought me one in particularly good condition.”

The younger sister jumped up from her seat and, with a more welcoming look than the guest, passed Director Baek and looked around outside the door.

“Where, where! Huh? Where is the television!”

“Oh my god, I’m going crazy!”

Even as my mother scolded her younger sister, she herself got up and leaned out the door.

Squeak.

Soon, Director Baek’s car stops, and the assistant director gets out of the driver’s seat and opens the trunk, revealing a square idiot box with towels and rags rolled up here and there.

“Let’s listen together- Director.”

At the assistant director’s words, Director Baek readily moves and brings the TV into the store. Then he busily manipulates the wires here and there.

The assistant director shouts loudly as he climbs the ladder and adjusts the antenna near the sign.

“Did you get caught?”

“Not yet- move slowly!”

Director Baek gives the signal and the assistant director fine-tunes the antenna.

Still, the broadcasting station staff must have caught on quickly, as advertisements start to play on the Gold Star Color TV screen.

[ Is there a separate supplement for children? Minimax- ]

“Come out! Come out!”

Bang bang.

The younger sister likes it so much that she doesn’t know what to do with her hands and feet. The older sister also smiles bashfully, as if it’s not bad.

“Ahem!”

The mother put her hand on her waist and looked at her daughters as if asking if they did a good job.

The older sisters are acting cute, linking arms on either side of their mother.

“Mom, you’re the best!”

“Now we can watch the broadcast too, Mom. I was wondering if Kang would be on it.”

Mother nods her head.

“Right? I was also curious about what kind of show my son was on and why so many people were curious about it, so I mustered up the courage to buy it! The director said he was giving it to me cheaply.”

Our treasure trove will be ready soon.

We have already prepared the home appliances to go into the simple single-family home that was my mother’s wish, and with this, one more TV has been added to the store.

Perhaps the biggest reason my mother bought the TV was, as she herself said, to watch documentaries. She must have felt frustrated and was very curious about how her son, who was being pointed at and cursed at, would appear.

So the date is exactly Sunday now.

It seems like you received it at the time of the second episode of the documentary, The Other Side of Hodori Village.

“Director- When and what time will our son be on the show?”

“Yes, Mother, there’s still some time left. We’ll be on station 11.”

“Then please turn it over there.”

“Here, just turn it like this. Would you like to try it yourself, Mom?”

My mother nodded and tried to control the TV. My sisters also wanted to try it out and changed the channels.

[Chewable Children’s Comprehensive Nutritional Supplement! Mini-Max! Grow-Size-Mini-Max!]

“Mom, mom, that supplement is so good – look, look, that little kid is beating that big kid in a wrestling match.”

“Oh my – it’s a children’s nutritional supplement! What are you talking about?”

“Hey, what did I say I wanted to eat-”

[ Hehe – Jaws! Jaws has appeared – Red strawberry syrup! Jaws bar! ]

“Come to think of it, Mom, it’s been a while since I’ve had a hard copy. Should I buy one?”

“What hard work in the middle of winter! Done!”

“Hey, why do you say that everything is okay as long as I say something!”

“Shoot! Let’s watch TV.”

[ Taste- young- young- ramen! Young! ]

“Oh my, ramen costs 100 won? Oh my, that’s expensive.”

“Mom, our food prices are cheap. Can you raise them a little?”

“Is that okay? And ramen is like a snack, a meal is something else!”

The three mothers and daughters were chatting while watching various advertisements. I approached Director Baek, who was watching the scene with just as much delight as I was, and spoke.

“Is this really used?”

Director Baek nodded, but from what I could see, it was a new TV. It had just been unwrapped and brought in.

He said he wanted to do that.

It wasn’t a bad thing, so I nodded and laughed it off.

“Did the editing go well?”

In response to the series of questions, Director Baek nods his head sharply, his eyes sparkling with a sense of mission.

“Of course, I really- Ah! Why did I do this, and how much did I curse while editing it… Phew- You really shouldn’t forget about the students in Jeon Gang. Okay?”

As he nodded his head while grinning, the assistant director who was nodding his head next to him said.

“Hyung, no. Director, shouldn’t we wash our dirty mouths with the food from this restaurant?”

His mother, who was watching TV, was startled by his words while rubbing her stomach and turned around.

“Oh my, come to your senses. I’ll come out right away.”

Director Baek dissuades his mother.

“No, Mom, we’re going to get it on a plate anyway, so we’ll just serve it to you.”

“Oh, really? You can eat as much as you want.”

“Yes, Mother, I will do so.”

I, who had no interest in TV commercials, personally served my mother’s kimchi stew on their plates.

“Hey, it’s so cool. It’s so cool.”

The assistant director is smiling broadly.

“I guess you like playing drums now?”

“If I keep eating this and stop eating it, I start thinking about it and stuff. Is it like a drug?”

Even though he used to get nauseous whenever he saw someone like Du-ru-chi-gi, there was such a witty person by Director Baek’s side. For Director Baek, who is completely incompetent at socializing, a subordinate with such a sense of humor would be a perfect match.

“Were the ratings good last week?”

Director Baek nodded while taking a spoonful of Cheonggukjang.

“It was number one in its time slot.”

“I hope you enjoyed it.”

Pick laughs and swallows the fermented soybean paste stew.

“It’s good for full-time students, too. It was probably the first time for our broadcasting station to have a running guarantee. There are many people who don’t even know the term.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ll feel better by the end of this month.”

He nodded.

Home appliances are a huge plus.

Because money is a good thing.

The current TV is a bit small, which is a shame, but I can’t help but be satisfied with the current level of technology.

Just like that for a little while.

“Hey! Mom, I said I’ll do it!”

As soon as the little sister started talking, everyone started to focus on the TV. This was because the second episode of the documentary, The Other Side of Hodori Village, was about to begin.

[ Sob, sob, they took my land and my house away from me… I don’t even know where my mother is buried or if she’s been cremated. That means they stole my mother! ]

“Oh my, oh my! Oh, oh my!”

The mother bit her lower lip so hard that it looked like she was going to swear at any moment. The youngest son of the illegitimate grandmother was acting so disgustingly.

I guess that’s what the mother would think, but it was the kind of acting that would make anyone who saw him for the first time on this show sympathize with him.

No wonder public opinion is so heated, it’s taking up a huge space in the newspapers every day.

Yes, let it burn brighter so that when the fire goes out, it will feel colder.

“Hyo-ryong’s grandmother is coming out too.”

“That person was a close friend of your grandmother.”

“Ah- I see.”

“They are people who have lived in Sanggye-dong for a long time, since long ago.”

“okay-”

[ Don’t be ridiculous! They’re also my children… Oh my, only our illegitimate children are pitiful. They take all the land they have and all the property they have and don’t even show their faces during the holidays. What kind of children are they! Seriously! ]

Hyoryeong’s mother and older sisters chime in with, “That’s right!” to her passionate grandmother’s interview.

“Oh my- bang! I have to stop the investigation.”

To the point where my mother swore in a dialect without even realizing it, Hyoryong’s grandmother’s interview felt so real that it was as if I was seeing it.

[ Those bastards… They didn’t even show their faces at their mother’s funeral – Those bastards! Didn’t our illegitimate son’s will say that he would leave the remaining assets to the person who held the funeral? ]

The screen changes.

Letters that have been torn or crumpled appear. The contents of the letters are clearly captured on camera, and they are letters sent by the children of the illegitimate grandmother.

And the content of the letter was nothing but a plea for help and resentment towards the parents. It was a bitter letter without even a single expression of missing them.

“Oh, dog…”

“Sob sob.”

“What should I do, Grandma…”

Tears flow from the eyes of the three mothers and daughters.

“Hoo-”

Director Baek and assistant director, who already knew the content, also put down their spoons a long time ago and could only sigh, clutching their chests in frustration and anger.

And the screen switches to a film shot of me and my grandmother drinking doraji tea before her house was decorated.

And then the photo flips over again, and we see a picture of my grandmother and I drinking doraji tea with my husband’s painting in the background in what looks like a remodeled grandmother’s house.

The grandmother in the photo has lost a lot of weight and has become more aged, but her expression looks happier and brighter than anyone else’s.

“That was your expression.”

Words that came out without me knowing.

My best friend.

My friend.

You had that kind of face when you were with me. My face next to you also looks very happy.

I didn’t know what happiness was, but I wonder if what I felt in that picture was happiness.

Suddenly, I started to look around the walls of the restaurant. When I looked at it, I realized that there wasn’t a single photo of my family.

My friend must have wanted to tell me something more before he left.

I looked back at the screen, determined to take a picture.

[ Look at that dick… ]

A voice actor reads a crooked and misspelled letter.

That was the last letter he left for me.

And then the screen switches again, filling the entire screen with the view of Hodori Village from Bukam Mountain.

[ Who is qualified to live in this land, in this village? We ask ourselves today. We must remember the last wish of the illegitimate grandmother. ]

The screen changes again.

Me sitting there indifferently.

I slowly opened my mouth.

[ I just want to protect this place. So that no one can damage it. It was the wish of someone precious. Now, it has become my wish. ]

My mother looks at me with tearful eyes. Then she raises the corners of her lips and nods.

All week long.

The lump of anger and finger pointing that had been growing on me was washed away with just one nod from my mother.

Okay, this will do.

The compensation is sufficient.

There are still many rewards left, but more than those, I am satisfied with those eyes and nods that show my mother’s love.

“Sob sob, what should I do-”

Before we know it, the three mothers and daughters are embracing each other and filling the restaurant with tears. This really is a well-made documentary.

I also got a tingle in my nose, I think it’s definitely a well-made documentary.

When I show my thumb to Director Baek, he smiles happily and sheds tears.

The assistant director speaks in a voice that is almost choked up with tears.

“Ugh, ugh… It’s going to be a mess, starting tomorrow.”