If I Don’t Earn 1 Trillion Won, My Regression Ends - Chapter 50

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 50

 

Samcheok City, Gangwon Province.

 

Jeong Hyeon-gyo’s maternal family home was a Japanese-owned house located in the old town residential area of Samcheok.

 

Samcheok was a place where Japanese exploitation was active.

 

So quite a few houses where Japanese executives and merchants lived near the port or in the city center remained, which the U.S. military and Korean government collected right after liberation and distributed to local residents.

 

Jeong Hyeon-gyo’s maternal grandfather was a renowned large-scale ship owner in the region, and his maternal grandmother was a respected scholar whose influence in Samcheok was so great that everyone knew her when you mentioned ‘Principal Teacher.’

 

Therefore, the 2-story wooden house in the best condition was practically given to them as a gift.

 

Thanks to the couple’s good maintenance over 50 years, the house only showed slight signs of age while remaining serene and elegant.

 

It could have felt alienating or intimidating, but the Korean lifestyle touches visible throughout softened the atmosphere.

 

“I’m sorry for the trouble. Coming all this way to pick up the child. Suk-yeong is also a busy working person, but what on earth was Yeon-ju thinking…”

 

“Please speak comfortably, Mother. We’re very close. If it were someone else, Yeon-ju wouldn’t have done this either.”

 

“I know my daughter’s personality well. I raised her preciously as an only child, and now she’s gradually losing her sense of propriety.”

 

“Oh no~ That’s not true. It’s really okay! We give and take with each other. Ah! That’s right, I should thank you too, Mother. We’re receiving a lot of help from your nephew as well.”

 

“Nephew?”

 

“Bae Seo-nyeok is your nephew, right? Since he’s Yeon-ju’s cousin.”

 

“You know our Seo-nyeok?”

 

“Of course~ My daughter calls Seo-nyeok uncle! Since my daughter appeared on broadcasts, there were various incidents, and Seo-nyeok helped us tremendously.”

 

“Really? That third nephew doesn’t have that kind of personality. Let me see. Come here, child. Let grandmother take a look at you.”

 

At the curious elderly woman’s gesture, Seosing-a approached.

 

Seosing-a smiled appropriately shy but not too distant.

 

Though her frame was delicate, her cheeks had just the right amount of flesh, and her fox-like eyes became very charming when she smiled.

 

Elderly people like this kind of child the most.

 

The elderly woman, who immediately took a liking to the child, seated her close beside herself.

 

“What did you say your name was?”

 

“Sing-a. Seo Sing-a.”

 

“The Sing-a from author Park Wan-seo’s novel?”

 

“Yes. Dad said he took it from there.”

 

The wrinkles around the elderly woman’s eyes deepened with laughter filled with admiration. As a female intellectual who lived through the same era, there was no one who didn’t admire author Park Wan-seo.

 

“You must be close with Hyeon-gyo. To come all this way following your mother.”

 

Seeing the pretty child who was like a granddaughter naturally led to thoughts of her grandson.

 

“I heard the story. That scar on Hyeon-gyo’s neck happened while trying to save you, right?”

 

“Ah, that… I’m sorry…”

 

“What are you talking about? Even though he’s young, he’s a boy. If he’s a man, he should naturally act that way. Grandmother isn’t blaming you, but I wonder if our Sing-a has heard such a story.”

 

“What story?”

 

“A hero saves a beauty, and she pledges herself in return .”

 

The elderly woman smiled mischievously.

 

“It’s a story that when a hero saves a beauty, the beauty promises her lifetime to repay that kindness. What do you think, Sing-a?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Seosing-a was flustered, and Bang Suk-yeong burst into laughter.

 

The playful joke made the atmosphere even more friendly, but the elderly woman wasn’t entirely joking.

 

For a child with many wounds like Hyeon-gyo, wouldn’t such a charming and blessed child suit him well?

 

The mother is a clothing seller and the father is a car salesman, so their family background doesn’t match at all, but times have changed.

 

‘This kind of modest family would be fine too.’

 

After all, Hyeon-gyo wasn’t as confident a prospect as Hyeon-hye either.

 

Since it would be difficult to arrange a prestigious marriage for him, this trouble-free option really didn’t look bad.

 

The elderly woman, who had been calculating inwardly, smiled even more affectionately and gently pushed Seosing-a’s back.

 

“Hyeon-gyo is on the second floor. He won’t come down at all, so Sing-a, why don’t you go see him.”

 

“…Grandmother, I’ll also go together-”

 

“Hyeon-hye, you stay. Let’s talk a bit more with grandmother.”

 

Like mother, like daughter, they say. The maternal grandmother wasn’t as gentle a person as she appeared.

 

If her brother hadn’t been in such a desperate situation, he wouldn’t have come all this way to this distant place.

 

Jeong Hyeon-hye sat back down weakly.

 

Watching Seosing-a’s figure disappear up the stairs, this house with deep traces of Japanese rule felt even more suffocating.

 

♧

 

December 21, 1999.

 

I woke up early because the sleeping place was unfamiliar.

 

It was also unusually cold because it was a Japanese-style house. As expected, Korean ondol heating is the best…

 

‘They seem to have a lot of money, so why do they live in a place like this?’

 

How nice would a warm apartment with a boiler be?

 

If they like old things, they could build and live in a hanok, but what’s with a house from the Japanese colonial period?

 

When I heard it was Samcheok, Gangwon Province, I thought of a friendly and simple fishing village by the East Sea.

 

I even imagined Jeong Hyeon-gyo sitting forlornly under clotheslines drying squid.

 

But what’s this?

 

Suddenly a 2-story Japanese-style tile-roofed house?

 

As soon as I saw the stone lantern that clearly looked like a cultural asset and the neat garden, all kinds of thoughts came to mind.

 

Did shabby me really need to come all this way here?

 

Even when rich kids run away, they’re still inside a movie set… How is this different from a chaebol heir crying while hitting a Ferrari steering wheel and throwing a Birkin bag…?

 

Moreover.

 

‘Isn’t this a pro-Japanese collaborator’s house?’

 

For reference, my maternal family is a family of independence activists. It wasn’t for nothing that my youngest uncle used to boast about the ancestors of the Bang family!

 

From the military general who fought under Admiral Yi Sun-sin during the Japanese invasions of Korea, to ancestors registered in the National Patriots and Veterans Affairs records – you could find them lined up if you looked.

 

We’re quite a family with roots, you see.

 

The elderly woman came forward to explain the house’s origins and the misunderstanding was cleared up, but I couldn’t help feeling strangely uncomfortable.

 

“Mom. I’m going to visit Hyeon-gyo.”

 

“Mmm…”

 

Unlike her fussy daughter, Mom slept soundly. I smiled and shook my head, carefully leaving the room.

 

The guest room was located on the second floor.

 

The exposed framework ceiling was unfamiliar.

 

Perhaps because of the characteristically dark colors of Japanese style and the machine-stamped arrangement, it looked quite desolate. It felt very different from rough Korean rafters.

 

Jeong Hyeon-hye stayed on the first floor with the elderly couple.

 

It seemed the second floor was exclusively for guests.

 

But I heard that Jeong Hyeon-gyo had been staying only on the second floor the whole time.

 

“…Brother? Hyeon-gyo. Are you sleeping? It’s me. Sing-a.”

 

Knock knock.

 

I knocked carefully. I put my ear to the door, but there was no sign of movement from inside.

 

Still no response.

 

It was exactly the same as yesterday.

 

“I’m really going to get angry~. I came all this way and you won’t even show your face? Jeong Hyeon-gyo, are you being this cold to me?”

 

I couldn’t meet Jeong Hyeon-gyo yesterday.

 

They say when someone who’s usually quiet explodes, it’s scary…

 

He got so upset that he threw everything away and ran off to Gangwon Province, so I didn’t think he’d come back easily.

 

But I never thought he wouldn’t even open the door for someone who came to visit. As befitting a future prosecutor general, he’s quite ruthless.

 

“I couldn’t sleep well because I was worried you might have left your room and I might miss you. You know I kept coming every hour until midnight yesterday, right?”

 

Knock knock.

 

“Jeong Hyeon-gyo~ Brother~ Are you dead?”

 

Knock knock.

 

“I know you’re not dead! They said there’s a bathroom and everything in the room. Do I not know Jeong Hyeon-gyo? You’re so particular about cleanliness, I bet even though you ran away and are depressed, you haven’t missed taking a hot shower every single day. Sigh… What’s so great about a house that’s 50 years old? You’re really such a young master, what am I going to do with you. Even when you fight with your wife and run away later, you’ll probably go to a 5-star hotel. It’s obvious.”

 

Knock knock.

 

“You’ve been staying in your room all the time since coming here~. Aren’t you bored? I came all this way with such difficulty, aren’t you grateful? I asked around and they say there’s this famous place called Hwanseongul Cave here. Let’s go before it snows. Okay?”

 

Knock knock.

 

“Hyeon-gyo oppa~ Our Kyo~ Just show me your face. I want to see our handsome oppa~ I won’t ask to go back. Didn’t you miss me? Sing-a missed oppa so much…”

 

I swallowed a sigh.

 

In the end, the door never opened.

 

December 22nd, 1999.

 

Knock knock…

 

After knocking habitually, I leaned against the closed door and looked toward the window.

 

Before I knew it, the evening glow was fading.

 

The sunset was falling over the high tide filled with water.

 

The salty sea breeze, red shadows spreading between the sliding doors.

 

Like the quiet winter sea, the house was also immersed in silence.

 

The elderly couple was kind and affectionate, but they never once came upstairs.

 

The employee brought meal trays to the door at every mealtime, but never asked why he wasn’t eating.

 

Jeong Hyeon-hye was downstairs playing piano.

 

Mother often went to talk on the phone with Father, but when I asked if Eun Yeon-ju and her spouse had any messages to relay, she would only sigh deeply.

 

Everyone except us mother and daughter acted as if a person named Jeong Hyeon-gyo didn’t exist.

 

They were so indifferent and heartless.

 

“Still, you have to eat.”

 

I looked down at the untouched meal tray in front of the door and suddenly spoke.

 

I was unbearably irritated.

 

“People who protest with their own bodies are the most pathetic in the world. For whose benefit? Everyone except you eats well, sleeps well, and lives well. This is why they say good people are fools.”

 

You can’t think of getting back at them, and all you can do is hole up in your room, swallow your anger, and pick at your own wounds.

 

“If you’re going to cry, eat to gain strength, and if you’re going to think, sleep to let your brain rest. What changes by just breathing like a corpse? Where else is there someone who protests as nicely as you? I take back calling you smart.”

 

I moved closer to the door and whispered.

 

“Jeong Hyeon-gyo. You’re really pathetic.”

 

And with a creak, as the door opened, my wrist was grabbed and I was pulled inside.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————