A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 140



Only Krnovel

Episode 140 – Change – (2)

Light footsteps reach Taesu’s house.

Thump, thump, thump.

Taesu opens the door at the sound of a knock and frowns when he sees me.

“why.”

“Let’s eat.”

The guy shakes his head.

I shook the ramen bag to the beat of the guy’s head.

“Tsk.”

I went into the guy’s house, threw him some ramen, and laid down on the living room floor as if it were my own home. His eyebrows twitched.

“Really, you.”

“hungry.”

“Ugh.”

Taesu pouring water into the ramen and adding soup with a gesture that seems to suggest that we stop talking. My favorite ramen is Sil-ramen, but unfortunately, the ramen I’m eating now is Setyang Ramen.

While I was thinking about when the instant noodles would come out, a pot of ramen with a nice smell was steaming out from inside the silver pot. Next to it, bright red kimchi was giving off a sour smell, stimulating my salivary glands.

Hot.

I was the first to pick up the silver pot lid that was on the silver plate.

“no way-”

While Taesu lets out a regretful sound, my chopsticks quickly pick up the ramen and place it on top of the upside-down lid.

Swish, swish.

The lid makes a pleasant clinking sound as you turn the chopsticks to cool the noodles.

“Hoo- hoo- hoo- slurp.”

He stuffs the noodles into his mouth until his mouth is about to burst, then roughly picks up some of the kimchi that has become very sour and stuffs it deep between the noodles and chews.

Drumroll, drumroll, gulp.

“Kya-”

Taesu chuckles and plays with his chopsticks, then repeats the same process as me.

Just like that for a little while.

“Slurp.”

“Hurururup.”

“Hururururup.”

“Hurururururup.”

They suck up the cotton wool as if they are competing with each other.

“rice?”

“there is?”

“uh.”

“Okay.”

Taesu gets up from his seat, gets some pressed rice from somewhere, and pours it into the pot.

Swish, swish.

We press down on the hardened rice with a spoon, allowing each grain of rice to be soaked with ramen soup, and then, without saying who will go first, we put our spoons into the pot.

Knock, knock.

Soon, the floor was revealed and I moved my hand to push the prize towards Taesu.

“Put it away.”

“Is he crazy?”

Taesu frowned sharply.

I fell flat on my back.

Taesu shook his head and slowly disappeared with the prize, then returned when the sound of the water lapping died down.

“Why did you come again?”

“I ask quickly.”

“You didn’t come here to eat ramen, did you?”

He nodded and straightened his back.

“I’m talking about your mother’s store.”

“uh.”

“That looks like it’s going to get bigger.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Originally, I was planning to remodel the pink house.”

“uh.”

“A slave went in there?”

Taesu shook his head as if he was tired.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“Anyway, I think we should do it at Grandma’s house.”

Taesu, who had been indifferent, looked at me with surprised eyes.

“Wasn’t it true that no one was allowed to touch your grandmother’s house?”

Like some kind of rule.

The people of Hodori Village did not covet the house that I treasured. At some point, Grandma’s house became a forbidden area, and no one dared approach it.

“No, we should use that too. It’s the biggest house in the center of town.”

“That’s amazing.”

The guy keeps tilting his head.

“what.”

“No, I think something has changed.”

I shrugged and said.

“I don’t know if your mother will like it.”

Taesu’s eyes sparkle with joy. It seems like he feels good just thinking about his mother.

“You’ll like it, you liked the pink house last time.”

“Is that so?”

“I think it would be nice to just have a store.”

“Then that’s good.”

Let’s leave it up to Tae-su’s mother’s sense to decide how to decorate the house of the illegitimate child’s grandmother into a stationery and toy store. I don’t have the confidence to take care of such details. Tae-su’s mother, who works in the field, would have the deepest understanding of trends.

The interior of the newly opened store would also be something that could be done with the help of architect Kim Up-joong. As Tae-soo said, if his mother said it was okay, the work would proceed at a rapid pace.

Rattling.

As the front door opened, the air pressure shook for a moment and the window shook slightly. Taesu and I turned our heads toward the front door at the same time.

“mom-”

“Are you here, ma’am?”

“Oh my- there was a river too-”

“Yes, Mother.”

“So, have you eaten?”

Taesu’s mother, who had a tired face when she first opened the front door, brightened up when she greeted us. Then she asked if I had eaten and worried about me because of my poor finances.

“Yes, I even ate rice with the ramen.”

“You ate a lot-”

He seemed very satisfied, as if he had decided that he had eaten enough. He seemed to be in a very good mood, so I got to the point without hesitation.

“I’m thinking of changing the location of the store.”

“hmm?”

I felt a shadow fall over the woman’s face, perhaps a little surprised or disappointed.

“I think it would be a good idea to do business at the house of your grandmother.”

“Oh my, isn’t it much bigger?”

“Yes, but that’s the only place left.”

“I’m fine… I’m sorry…”

“Hey- Anyway, you said you’d give 10 percent of the profits to the village’s operating expenses.”

“When I think about the moon···”

“I’m fine.”

He looks at me for a moment and then snickers.

“Yes, this lady works hard and earns more than the monthly salary.”

Yes, that kind of determination is enough.

She will definitely work hard.

She was a woman who screamed at the top of her lungs in the exam room, saying that she would somehow sell a pen in the cold winter. If you say that a woman like that doesn’t work hard, then who on earth works hard?

If only she could earn as much as she worked hard.

Taesu will also become a little freer from financial matters. Then his range of choices will expand.

I wanted to solve the fundamental problem of Taesu not choosing soccer. I was convinced that if the fundamental problem was not solved, it would definitely become a stumbling block in his life.

“Yes, I will go now.”

The lady made a good choice.

I hoped that Taesu would make a choice that would allow his talents to flourish, rather than making a foolish choice that would only add to his poverty.

“Tae-su, your friend is going.”

“Ah- uh-uh.”

He bowed his head to his mother and walked towards the front door, with Taesu following behind him. To Taesu, for whom his mother’s words were the truth, this was a natural occurrence.

Crunch.

The front door closed without any noise.

In front of him, Taesu placed a hand on my shoulder.

It makes me chuckle that now I don’t feel uncomfortable when someone puts a hand on my shoulder.

“Hey, Jeon Gang.”

“why.”

The guy hesitates for a moment.

I thought I knew what he was going to say. He was a guy who rarely said thank you, but he was preparing to say thank you right now.

Oh, oh, oh.

I felt goosebumps all over my body.

I don’t think I’ve ever had many opportunities to hear someone say thank you. That’s probably because I’ve never done anything to be thankful to anyone in the first place.

I’ve heard that phrase a few times in my life, and now I think I know when to say it.

“Hey, okay.”

The words “okay” just came out of my mouth like that.

“What the heck, kid.”

A guy who talks too strongly for no reason.

“Anyway, I’m going to use you for the rest of my life.”

“What are you using?”

The guy tilts his head.

“There is something like that-”

As he said that and turned around, I could hear the guy’s voice, thin as the sound of an ant crawling.

“thanks.”

Pick, it makes me laugh.

As expected, you hesitated to say that.

I pretend not to hear and just keep walking, but I feel someone hesitating behind me.

“hey!”

A guy who screams loudly.

Hoo.

Dude, are you going to say that again in a loud voice? You’ve changed a lot from being a guy who’s always trying to say thank you.

“thanks-”

I turned around to check his face at his shout, but I just smiled and raised my hand. I felt awkward and strange enough.

The guy who couldn’t accept other people’s favors as favors has improved a lot. I, who used to feel awkward about doing favors for others, may have gotten used to it. So I guess he accepts my favors as they are.

favor.

okay.

Before I knew it, I was trying to do a favor for the guys from Sanggye-dong.

A different choice, a different life than last time.

If I surf different waves, maybe I’ll get to the path I want someday.

It may not be easy to live a life without regrets, but I think I might be doing well right now.

Sigh.

The corners of my mouth keep going up without me realizing it. It feels like it’s telling me that I’m not wrong and that I’m on the right track, so I feel better.

Majestic.

If people saw the way I walk now, wouldn’t they feel that way?

I don’t know how it was until now, but at least today, I felt like I could be confident.

The road I walk to my mother’s restaurant, where I am headed now, was always exciting, happy, and enjoyable, but in fact, I was not confident.

No, to be exact, it wasn’t honest.

today.

At least for today.

Can I be confident?

No, I want to be confident.

“Hoo-”

Rather, as my thoughts become more complicated, my steps become slower.

barely.

What did you do?

Let’s discuss the party.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that people who have given their entire lives to me are busy working at restaurants without even having time to open their eyes.

“Tsk.”

As I lift my drooping head without realizing it and begin to walk, I see the village of Hodori, which has changed a lot.

Who could possibly say that Hodori Village is spoiling the beauty of such a beautiful and lovely village?

Every single wall, every single road.

There is no place that my sincerity has not reached.

And I did all that.

As if to repay that.

Everyone passing through the town had a happy smile on their face.

The kind that makes you feel comfortable just by looking at it.

“I guess we need to change that too.”

On the way to my mother’s shop, passing through Hodori Village.

You can see land, buildings, and roads that have not yet been properly developed.

Here it is like that, there it is like that.

While I was thinking about the details that needed to be changed one by one while overlapping the blueprints that architect Kim Up-joong had created, I found myself in front of Kang’s restaurant.

The darkness that came when the sun had completely set.

In contrast, the guest who disappeared.

Exactly, a good time to enter the store.

Knock knock.

“mom-”

“Oh my, is your son here?”

My mother, who must have been busy today, greeted me with her face covered in sweat and wearing rubber gloves.

“Yeah- how was business today?”

“Then- you were super busy today too-”

“Oh my, you must have had a hard time.”

“hey!”

The rough call of my little sister who came out of the kitchen.

“What’s so great about this? I sat there laughing! Get to work quickly!”

“huh?”

“Why are you suddenly pretending not to understand? I’m going to kill you.”

My mother frowns and points at my sister with her gloved finger.

“You should talk to your little brother anyway! Okay? How can you not open your mouth?”

“That’s not even a joke, it’s just a laughing matter!”

Was I laughing?

I didn’t notice it at all.

“It’s so nice to see you smiling! Anyway, that’s just, ugh-”

It’s nice to see you smiling.

“mom.”

“Huh? Why, son.”

“Should I go around smiling all the time?”

My mother says with a bashful smile.

“It’s good to walk around smiling – good fortune will come.”

“Is that so?”

The little sister licks her lips.

“Why is that little boy laughing like that? He has to have some weight to him.”

“That’s a mess whether you laugh or not. Kang-ah, don’t listen to your older sister. You won’t get anything out of it.”

“Why does Mom always praise me? That’s why I’m rude!”

“You have no more habits! You!”

The little sister, with her lips pursed, screamed.

“Get to work quickly!”

“Oh my gosh – who do you look like!”

“She’s her mother’s daughter, but who else does she resemble?!”

Swish.

“evil!”

Eventually, the younger sister gave her back to the palm of her older sister who came out of the kitchen.

“Sister!”

“It’s good to see Kang-i, who rarely smiles, smile! Okay, let’s finish quickly. I’m tired.”

My older sister and mother went into the kitchen, and I rolled up my sleeves and asked my younger sister, who was still glaring at me from her seat.

“What should I do first?”

“Did you get to eat anything good while you were here?”

“Am I that bad? Pick it up and eat it.”

“But why do you keep doing weird things these days?”

“what-”

“Why do you keep changing?”

“Changed?”

“okay!”

“Have I changed?”

My little sister tilts her head at my question.

“This guy is really…”

He frowns for a moment, then begins to open his eyes wide.

“Mom! We’re in trouble!”

My mother and older sister, who were working in the kitchen, looked at my younger sister in surprise.

“What! What the heck!”

“What is it! What is happening!”

The voices of my surprised mother and older sister.

“The river is in trouble!”

“What! Why our son!”

“Where is the river hurting?”

“He’s changed!”

“what?”

“huh?”

Hey hey.

Little sister.

That went too far.

“When a person changes, he dies!”

Choke, choke.

My mother roughly took off her rubber gloves.

“Okay – you die today and I die today.”

“Mom, mom!”

“Let go! Put that damn cube down!”

The older sister stops Mom.

“Whoa.”

My little sister smiles brightly and hides behind me.

I’m the only one who laughed.

Laughter bloomed in our house again.

It looks like there will be nothing but laughter all day today.

If it’s a smile like this.

Of course, it’s right to change.

I think I’m doing pretty well.