Rust - Chapter 2



Only Krnovel

Rust [RUST]-2

Maru had to leave the country in a hurry, so he called home for the first time in a while. It was his first call in almost a month.

[So? You’re going to Japan?]

“That’s what I said.”

[So how long is it? Huh? How long?]

“I’m not sure. They say it’s short-term, less than a year, but I think it’ll be shorter than I thought.”

He had a good sense of humor. He said that he would not only send me to Japan for work, but also take care of my current studio apartment. He wouldn’t have done that unless it was really something.

[What are you talking about? If it’s a company job, there has to be a set period of time. Didn’t your mom say that? She told you to quit several times because that job and the company were a bit strange.]

“mom!”

[Egg. Why is he calling his mom so loudly? It’s deafening.]

What if I don’t earn money now? What about Naru, a student? What about my father, who has failed in business after business, and is battling cancer? Even if I send home 70-80% of my earnings, my family is struggling. And yet, I’m telling him to quit his job.

[No, Maruya, you know that too, how long are you going to keep doing this with blood on your hands? You have to graduate from college to get a decent job······.]

“…….”

Maru half-listened to what Mrs. Omiye was saying. It was already complicated, but listening to his mother’s story made him feel suffocated.

[Do you know President Naojin who lived in the house behind us? Ohjin Pharmaceutical. President Naojin. Joohyun grew up well. We met at the recent meeting.]

“Who are you meeting? President Naojin?”

[Yeah. She came out with her daughter. Naru also followed the president’s daughter, Joohyun, like an older sister. She said she wanted to go with me, so I took her.]

“A meeting? A party? Mom! Why are you taking Naru there? What are you really thinking? Huh?”

[Oh my. Oh my. Did you just yell? You were doing that earlier, and now you’re learning something from your mom······.]

“No, I told you. I told you several times that Mr. Nasa is strange. I told you several times that the people in his family are strange.”

[What do you know about the president? And the old unpleasant incident was judged as a snake, so what’s the problem?]

“The snake isn’t the problem. Why are you getting involved with a middle school girl, a high school girl, and someone with such a rumor? Why on earth are you doing that?”

[You really. What do you know? I told you they were all gold diggers. The CEO was helping out talented kids because he felt bad for them not being able to use their talents, but they were trying to extort money from the CEO······.]

At that moment, my younger sister Naru came to mind. My younger sister was a high school student preparing to enter college for the arts. Thinking about preparing for a contest and taking lessons from a professor and all that, it cost a lot of money.

Considering the family circumstances, it would have been right for him to quit, but he was the only one who had prepared for that from kindergarten through elementary school, middle school, and high school.

Although he didn’t receive a great award, his skills were good enough to win an encouragement award, a bronze medal, or even a third place award. His mother always lamented that if he had received lessons from a better teacher, he would have easily won a higher medal.

Now that Naru was a student, there were only a few contests left. Her mother, Mrs. Oh Mi-ye, must have wanted to find a good professor for Naru by any means necessary. That’s why she attended the party.

No, but that’s still true.

When he realized that the party he had gone to with the CEO was a party he had no idea about, Maru became angry.

“Mom! Are you crazy? Whether or not the Nasajang incident is true, why did you take Naru to the Nasajang? Did the Nasajang sponsor Naru?”

[What? Are you crazy? Did you just tell your mom that you were crazy? Did you just tell your mom that you were crazy?]

“What did that person regret that he sponsored Naru? If he was truly interested in art and such, why didn’t he sponsor her through the school or a third party, and instead asked to meet in person?”

[If you want to support, why don’t you meet in person? Why don’t you just do it? When you buy something, you look at it carefully, but you’re supporting a future artist. Of course you have to see it. And you and CEO Na don’t know each other at all? We were next door neighbors.]

Maru felt as if his insides were being suddenly blocked.

“No, that’s what I’m saying. He used to live next door, so what else do you see? What else do you see? If you really wanted to support me, you would have kept quiet. A gathering? A party? What kind of gathering? What kind of party is it that you’re taking your daughter to? Do you think that’s normal now?”

It was Maru who spat out his words in anger. There was a moment of silence. Only the sound of Saeksaek’s breathing could be heard on the other end of the phone.

[You. To your mom right now. You.]

Soon, Mrs. Oh Mi-ye’s voice changed to a sobbing voice and she hung up the phone. Maru called to finish his story.

[The phone is turned off······.]

“Hey- Mr. Ao-”

I have to leave for Japan tomorrow, but things have become complicated for many reasons.

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The meat sizzled on the charcoal fire. As it began to smell delicious, Ki-soon, who was slightly drunk, opened his mouth.

“Hey. But isn’t that really weird?”

“what?”

“What the heck? What kind of bastards are those that import Korean beef? What did those bastards say? Is it Yagyu beef? Agyu beef?”

Ki-sun was talking nonsense, perhaps because he was drunk.

“Anyway. They put name tags on the cows and raise them. When you say imported beef, is it grain-fed in Australia? Or organic cows? Miss. If they weren’t raised that specially, wouldn’t they just import them?”

A half-drunk Maru gave a slight slap.

“What are you talking about, Japanese kids are just like us. We wear name tags and all that. These days, Australia is like that too, and any country that raises cattle is like that. And if it wasn’t for catching fish, why would you send me there?”

At the words, “the same,” Ki-sun emptied her glass of soju and frowned.

“We are the same as them in some way.”

“Hey, whatever’s trendy in Japan is trendy in Korea, right? That’s it.”

“What are you talking about? These days, what’s popular in Korea is popular in Japan. And what’s new, not popular? You’re going to Japan.”

“What’s strange? The company sent it to me.”

“What kind of country is Japan? It’s so easy to get a work visa?”

“Ah- It’s urgent, so what if we just use cheap Korean workers?”

Ki-soon frowned.

“No, it’s strange. Are labor costs cheap? These days, the wage gap between Korea and Japan is huge. It may vary depending on the industry, but there are probably many places where we get paid more.”

“What’s so strange about it? As you said, there’s a Korean food craze or something these days, so I guess they’re saying they’re going to use Korean beef if they’re going to use it anyway. The price is cheaper than Japanese beef, and the quality is pretty good. And since we’re on the subject, do you know how expensive Japanese beef is? I heard they go for 100 million won per cow.”

“This. One hundred million?”

“okay.”

“For one cow?”

“Ah, that’s right. I heard that they sometimes sell it at auction for 14 to 15 million yen.”

“Hey, sir – are you going to eat beef because it’s expensive?”

“They’re all the same. That’s how people live. Commoners like us eat imported beef, while those with money eat those with labels. The expensive beef that the rich eat is crazy expensive. That’s why they import Korean beef too.”

Ki-sun’s mouth watered at Maru’s answer.

“That could be true. And radiation too.”

“right?”

Maru answered with a smile and emptied his shot glass after shot. He then lightly sprinkled salt on the sirloin that had been lightly grilled over charcoal and shook it.

“Hey. Kisun. I don’t know because I haven’t eaten expensive Japanese beef, but damn. Korean beef is expensive and delicious too. Don’t you think so? Don’t you?”

“Would you be foolish?”

Maru emptied his glass of soju with a “Kyaa” sound and spoke in a round and round voice.

“If this guy meets a hot girl in Japan, he’ll contact you, so come over right away.”

“Oh my. Girls are secretly sensitive to smells. Especially the smell of blood. Here, too, they heard about your work and the girls didn’t like it very much. Do you think Japanese girls would be any different?”

“You little brat. Don’t be so annoying. You’re swearing at me before I even start? Are you swearing at me?”

“Okay- sorry. If you meet a hot Japanese goddess, call me. I’ll skip my attendance and go. Okay?”

The soju glasses clinked lightly, followed by another loud thud.

“But you should at least call your mom before you go. Don’t you?”

“Ah- I don’t know what the hell. My phone is off. Oh really. My little sister is chewing me out too. I’m sending her random texts and piling them up.”

Maru shook his head from side to side. Ki-sun took a sip of soju and two pieces of meat.

“Is that guy named Nasajang really that problematic?”

“I don’t know. He’s the boss who used to live in the house behind us. I’m really. Oh.”

“Ah- The manager of the house next door? Isn’t that guy’s reputation a bit strange?”

“That’s what I’m saying… I’m going crazy.”

When Maru was a high school student, he saw Nasajang in a car with a young woman. No matter how he looked at it, the other woman looked like a young woman who looked like a high school student. Whether it was because of that memory or because of the snake incident that shook up the neighborhood, Maru had bad thoughts about Nasajang.

“Hey- Don’t overdo it. Just a little. Didn’t you say that your younger sister also liked playing with the president’s daughter, and that she followed her around like a real sister? If your daughter thinks of you as a younger sister, what would the president do if he had feelings for you? Since the kid living in the house across the street is in trouble, he’d probably try to help you out.”

“Miss- So was I being too sensitive?”

“Yeah. That’s how I see it. To be honest, why would the CEO feel sorry about that? There are plenty of men and women who would take off their clothes for money. Even if it’s through a voice recording, apologize to your mom and stuff.”

“Ha- Okay. Got it. Got it.”

“Hey, but I heard that a lot of kids have gone crazy because of Japanese radiation. Aren’t you worried about radiation? It’s an industrial accident, isn’t it?”

“Hey- You were like that just now, and now you’re cursing me out loud? Are you swearing?”

The night deepened like that.

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“Hey, why are your eyes so swollen?”

“I don’t know. Where would you go if you were sick? You should wait patiently for your illness to get better. What if you get hurt again while wandering around?”

Ha Hyun-seok was worried and said something because he thought his wife was crying, but he was at a loss due to his wife Oh Mi-ye’s counterattack. Hyun-seok tried to change the subject and brought up a different story.

“By the way, Hamaru, this guy. He only sent me a text saying he was going to Japan, but did you talk to Maru on the phone?”

Mrs. Oh’s voice rose sharply and her anger flared at Hyunseok’s question.

“It’s your fault that he became so spoiled.”

Hyun-seok swallowed a sigh as he watched his wife suddenly get angry and start talking about her son’s habits without any reason.

“What’s going on? How could Maru be so rude?”

“I don’t know. I thought he’d become more mature after serving in the military, but then his mom started yelling at him on the phone, saying he wasn’t capable.”

“You yelled at him? Maru at you?”

“Are you crazy? I yelled at you. Seriously, you’re already like this before you’re even married. What are you going to do after you get married? I raised you wrong. I raised you wrong. If you say I’m not capable or that I can’t make money, what are you going to do?”

Hyun-seok felt his insides tighten at the sound of Mrs. Oh’s voice, her voice rising an octave at the sound of money.

It’s a matter of the account.