A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 150



Only Krnovel

Episode 150 – Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter (6)

It had been a long time since I had climbed a hill at this hour. It had only been a few months, but it felt different to climb it in the afternoon, when the sun was not up every day.

“Why are you going to my house?”

“no?”

Kim Gyu-il looks at me as if he finds it ridiculous. Dong-su laughs and says.

“Cap must have thought of everything.”

Kim Gyu-il licked his lips a few times and then nodded.

A guy who always has a smile on his face, and sometimes seems to be careless, but knows how to take care of those around him before anyone else.

I felt like I was taking care of Taesu a little less because I was taking care of him more. That’s understandable, because he always greets everyone with a smile. He doesn’t look unhappy, he doesn’t have any worries, and he just looks happy.

however.

As someone who knows the boy’s situation a little, I wonder if the boy doesn’t have difficulties living in a single-parent household, since he matured early and doesn’t show any signs of weakness.

Old memories from decades ago suddenly pass by.

Ding ding.

I used to drag a magnet on the floor for a long time, hanging from the end of an old, worn-out rope that looked like it would tear at any moment. All sorts of odds and ends would end up stuck to it.

“What is this? Is this also scrap metal?”

This iron, that iron.

I used to laugh so hard that the corners of my mouth split when I found a large lump of unknown metal while picking and picking.

“Wow – I can eat shit today!”

Sometimes those scrap metals are used for candy, and sometimes for money. Even if you go around the neighborhood all day, you can only get a few dozen won for a stick of candy.

Still, I liked it.

The day I got a stick of taffy bigger than an adult’s index finger, I used to break it into small pieces with great joy.

“This is mom’s, this is my older sister’s, um… the smallest one is my younger sister’s! It’s small because it’s my younger sister’s! Hehe.”

The hotel room where I returned after getting dirty here and there was always quiet. At that time, I couldn’t even go to elementary school, so I was always alone.

Still, I really enjoyed those times.

“oh my.”

If you hand your mother, who always comes home from work holding her waist, a piece of taffy covered in dust in her pocket.

“Oh my- my son is eating-”

“Heh.”

“Oh my- so sweet- so sweet-”

“Hehehe, does your back not hurt anymore?”

“Then- my back got better after eating the candy that Kang-i gave me-”

“Hehehe.”

There was absolutely no way that could happen, but at that time, I believed my mother’s words without question.

“Hey! Why is mine the smallest?”

“Since you are a little sister, you are a little beggar!”

“Hey! This is-”

“Oh my, did you share some candy with your sisters?”

“huh!”

“Our son did well-”

“Hehehe.”

“Yes, even if we don’t have much, we share even a single bean. Do you understand, son?”

“Yeah! Even back then, my little sister was the smallest!”

“Mr. Lee! You’re working!”

“Hohoho.”

Just one small piece of candy would bring laughter to the house.

Knock knock knock!

-Let’s be quiet!

When we moved from one hotel room to another, we would whisper quietly to keep an eye on the mood of the next room, but at that time, our house was definitely filled with laughter.

Clearly, when I was young, I was a guy who thought about my family.

When I entered the small society called school.

From then on, little by little, I was cut down by the world.

‘Hey, you don’t have a dad? I do-‘

‘Ugh, this is why there are those who don’t have fathers.’

‘Tsk tsk tsk, if you keep doing that, you’ll end up buying it, you’ll end up buying it.’

Society was never kind to poor single-parent families. At that time, I thought of myself as an animal.

Poor, poor, miserable.

Just some beast.

‘Hey, I’ll buy you something. Eat it and go.’

‘Eat it when it’s bought for you, you won’t regret it.’

‘Hey, where’s your money? I’ll pay.’

But what made it harder for me was.

It was not malice but good intentions that tore at my heart and left a wound that would not heal.

Someone’s sympathy, someone’s goodwill.

I was a dumbass who couldn’t take things like that at face value.

Old and sick.

Could it be that dementia came at a young age because those mental illnesses had festered? Could it be that it was a wound that would never heal, that it is still so vivid?

‘Are you still studying?’

‘Studying isn’t everything in life.’

‘Oh my- what a great judge you’re going to be, you’re going to be-‘

I hated the life of a half-assed idiot.

So I looked and looked again, solved and solved again. It seemed like there were no answers in my life, and it seemed like finding the right answer would be far away, but the test had answers, and if I got it wrong, I could find the right answer on the next test.

That was good.

‘Hey, it’s first place again.’

‘Wow, it’s so poisonous.’

‘That kid is the top student in our class? Why me!’

‘Is that him?’

When the gaze that had always been dismissive and contemptuous, but equally negative, changed to jealousy, I thought I had finally proven that I was not an animal.

‘Son… This month is hard for me too.’

‘Then what? Are you going to live like this for the rest of your life? Are you going to live like this, just like your mother? Should I just go to a hotel room with my kids?’

‘If a new book won’t do… how about a used book?’

‘How many times have I told you that you can’t study because the old books have the answers written on them! Is this all just for me to eat well and live well? Studying is hard for me too! But I have to do it! How long are you going to be so poor!’

The most precious.

The strongest yet the weakest.

I became a beast that caused more wounds to her heart than others and caused her to rot and fester.

I thought I wasn’t a beast.

At that time, I ran to study as hotly as the blazing summer sun, but what burned with that heat was not passion, but my mother and older sisters.

It was mind and body.

Burn white and turn to ash.

Burn and burn for me.

Knock knock.

The guy in the same class taps me on the shoulder.

“Cap, what is it? All of a sudden.”

“Uh, well, I was just thinking about something.”

“What are you thinking so seriously about? You don’t even answer when I call you.”

“Was that so?”

The sly fellow points to the repair shop with a nod.

While I was lost in my thoughts for a moment, I realized that I had already climbed the hill. I am not out of breath, so I have gained a lot of stamina. If I continue like this, I will be able to take care of myself, at least for cancer.

If you lose your health, you lose everything.

So, I need to quickly take care of the restaurant business before the winter of health comes to my mother.

“What are you doing?”

At my words, Kim Gyu-il shook his head and opened the sliding door.

“mom-”

“Huh? Your son is here?”

“Uh- I’m back.”

“Yeah, yeah, did you eat your lunch well?”

“Yeah, it was delicious today too-”

“Is that so- Huh? Oh my- the pride of our Sanggye-dong?”

“Hello, ma’am-”

“Oh my- Oh my- What’s going on here?”

Mrs. Hwang Ok-kyung looking at Gyu-il.

As Gyu-il shrugs his shoulders, her gaze falls on me.

“I have something to tell you, ma’am.”

“To me?”

“yes.”

“Oh dear, our Sanggye-dong’s pride is not lingering in this lady’s hands-”

Her spicy jokes make me laugh.

“Wouldn’t it be the same even if I die?”

“Hahaha, you are so beautiful I’m lost for words.”

“Hahaha, hahaha, I’m going to kill you all in my lifetime, kid.”

Kim Gyu-il shakes his head and stops his mother from dancing in time with him.

“Mom, stop it – stop talking nonsense.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Huh? It’s true.”

“Okay, come in.”

Is it because it’s comfortable?

A lovely dialect bursts out of Gyu-il’s mouth.

And then Hwang Dong-soo comes in.

“Hello, ma’am!”

“Oh my- the shithead is here-”

“yep!”

“Hey, hey. Come here.”

Mrs. Hwang Ok-kyung leads the way, guiding us inside.

As I followed her inside, the sewing machine in the tailor shop was silent, as if there wasn’t much work to do. Of course, it wasn’t automatic, but manual, so it wouldn’t move unless I stomped my feet, but I didn’t see much fabric spread around it.

‘also.’

I kind of expected it.

Nowadays, there are ready-made products on the market that are very good and cheap.

There came a time when it was not at all strange for neighborhood repair shops like this to close one by one. No wonder even large textile companies are closing or moving their factories. It all means that they have lost their former profitability to the point where they can no longer afford labor costs.

“Oh my, hey – Auntie will be back from the supermarket soon, so stay here for a moment.”

Before I even step forward.

Dong-su is the first to jump up from his seat and try to stop the woman.

“No! Just barley tea is fine! Anyway, I just followed our captain for a bit.”

“Huh? Cap? What’s that?”

Gyu-il said with a small smile.

“That, that, head. That’s it.”

“Nikang’s head?”

“Not me, but the river.”

“Oh my, is our Kang-i from Sanggye-dong the head?”

I can’t help but laugh out loud at the word “head.” Do these guys really think of me as the head of Sanggye-dong?

“Haha, well I’m not sure.”

“If you don’t know your head, what are you doing?”

“Ma, even if you don’t know the head, don’t you think the warm-hearted ones will decide on their own?”

“Mommy, our Kang-i speaks in dialect, and, it is the glory of Gangsangdo. It is the glory.”

So, after breaking the ice with Dong-su’s words, I took a sip of the lukewarm barley tea the woman had given me and said.

“madam.”

“Oh, why?”

She gives me very friendly looks. I must be quite trusted in the neighborhood, but perhaps she trusts her son more than me. She must be giving me such friendly looks because he is her son’s friend.

“How’s business these days?”

“Mommy, Nikang, are you worried about me right now?”

“My older sister quit her job too.”

“Well, isn’t that- isn’t the company acting a bit strange? That guy?”

“Yes, it was a strange company. But the reason my sister quit wasn’t necessarily because of the CEO.”

“okay?”

The lady is concentrating on what I’m saying.

“Isn’t the South Korean textile market a bit disappointing these days?”

“Are you okay? Somehow, there are so few people these days. Most of the people who come here only come during the admission period for nuclear power plants… It’s been hard to see anyone these past few weeks.”

Gyu-il reaches out and taps the edge of Mrs. Hwang Ok-kyung’s knee.

“Mom! Don’t worry, we won’t starve to death.”

“Hey, Ma, you followed the governor and delivered newspapers, but now you’ve earned money too?”

I stretched my arms out to make a fist, but it was hard to get through my thick winter clothes.

“Hey, can’t you see my arm? Huh?”

“Hi, go study, son.”

The two of them seem very affectionate as they joke around. When I get back today, I think I’ll show off my knowledge to my mother.

“Grande Kang, why do you ask that?”

“Oh, it’s nothing else. Our restaurant is so busy these days, ma’am.”

“Rumors of a successful horse business are spreading throughout the country. It’s chaos.”

“Haha, yes. That’s why I wanted to ask you a favor.”

“Nikang to me?”

“yes.”

“What favor?”

I looked at her with a smiling face and said.

“Would you mind helping me out at my store?”

“Day?”

“Yes, the store is so busy that we need to hire someone, but you know my mother.”

“Sister Insuk… Why, don’t you use people?”

“I think it’s because you think there’s no one you get along with, and money is also a factor.”

“Hey, you’re a cheapskate all over the country. What good will it do if you make money?”

“That’s why.”

Mrs. Hwang Ok-kyung ponders something for a moment. In the meantime, Kim Gyu-il asks me with a pouty face.

“Hey, isn’t restaurant work hard?”

That’s true, so I nodded silently.

Kim Gyu-il is upset because he thinks his mother is going to work at a difficult restaurant. He is openly showing his displeasure to me.

Bam!

Mrs. Hwang Ok-kyung’s hand mercilessly hits Gyu-il’s back.

“What are you doing, Mom? Who is looking at their friend like that?”

“No- isn’t Maga asking Mom to do something difficult right now?”

“Ma, then will I starve?”

“I’m working.”

I said with a snicker.

“Then I think it would be better if the two of you came out.”

“Huh? Me and Gyuil?”

“Yes, I want to use more people.”

“Oh my, Insuk, are you having a hard time these days?”

“Yes, I suffer from it every night.”

“Haigo- Thank you, health is more important than money.”

“That’s why.”

“Tsk tsk.”

Gyu-il, that guy, still has a pouty face as if he doesn’t like something.

Dude, maybe this is why you’re still young. Yeah, you’re only 18 and in your second year of high school.

It’s hard not to notice the cold wind of poverty blowing in. I noticed it as soon as I entered the store. The guy who takes care of his friends outside doesn’t seem to be looking after his family inside.

Well, I guess that’s not what I’m saying.

“Hey, did you talk to In-sook?”

“no.”

“why?”

“If it’s you and Gyu-il, I think my mother will welcome it with open arms, but I guess it’s a bit too much for people I don’t know.”

“okay?”

“yes.”

The lady nods her head.

“Oh, let’s do it.”

“Yes, then shall we go together?”

“now?”

“yes.”

“Oh my, he’s a man- a man. But-”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Let’s go without Earla.”

I smiled and nodded.

“Yes, you may do that.”

Gyu-il quickly reaches out his hand to stop his mother from getting up.

“Where! I can do it too!”

“Oh, okay. Just study like you always do-”

“Studying and working! Can’t you tell even after seeing the river? Your child is good at both?”

“You’re Kang-i? Huh? If you follow the stork, your leg will be torn.”

“I’ll do it even if it tears my hair.”

It seems like they’re announcing the birth of slave number 2 somewhere. I’m also all for it if a strong man helps out at the restaurant.

As the guy said, studying and working are both a matter of will. And there are also moderately good methods.

“There is a way, ma’am.”

“Huh? How?”

“I’ll do it! Cap! Dog! I’ll do it! I’ll do it no matter what!”

Gyu-il quickly turns his head and looks at Dong-su.

“Hey! You don’t even study in the first place. You should study too!”

“Uh, yeah?”

It looks like No. 2 and No. 3 will be born at the same time.