Knowing Brother-Chapter 72

Seol-woo, who had made a decision, sent a message to Director Yoon.

[When you get back, I have something to tell you. I think you might be worried during your business trip, so I’ll keep it brief. I’d like to meet you and talk when you get back. For now, I won’t contact you for two days.] 11:10 AM

Director Yoon Ji-hwan: [Mr. Seol-woo, let’s talk on the phone]

Director Yoon Ji-hwan: [I won’t say anything. I’ll just listen to your voice] 11:17 AM

An international call came right away. Seol-woo, who had been worrying, raised both hands out of a sense of responsibility. As the call began, he could hear the commotion of the street and the hustle and bustle of English conversation.

- Oh, I came out of the restaurant for a moment. I’m going to have a long dinner with the officials.

“Yes, you don’t have to push yourself.”

- Push yourself. It’s nice to hear your voice. I called because I thought something was going on.

“Um.... There’s something going on. I wanted to meet you and talk about it....”

Yoon Sang-moo, who had been silent for a while, kept his promise not to say anything.

- As expected, what I was worried about happened. Okay. I’ll tell you everything when I get back on Saturday.

“.......”

- Is there something else going on?

My heart should melt at his worried voice, but his sense of responsibility only grew. This kind of relationship is clearly not normal. Choi Seol-woo thought about this carefully before ending their relationship. In the few times they met, Choi Seol-woo always felt a sense of responsibility towards him. In front of Yoon Ji-hwan, Seol-woo was in a position where she had to ‘work hard’ and not make ‘mistakes.’

Of course, this was entirely a matter of Choi Seol-woo’s mind. I don’t want to think that Yoon Ji-hwan pressured Seol-woo knowingly or unknowingly. Anyone who wasn’t a ‘fool’ would have been on guard to that extent.

I imagined Yoon Ji-hwan, wearing a coat over his suit, talking on the phone on a dark New York street. You can clearly imagine the maturity of someone who is not intimidated in any situation, knows how to lead when necessary, and can maintain composure even when Seol-woo makes a sudden announcement. He is someone who has never hurt Seol-woo or made a slip of the tongue like Won Dae-young.

When I think back on why it is so hard to open up to someone like that, there was always an unbridgeable gap between them.

I didn’t know that asking him to help me forget Won Dae-young would end up with sex. It would have been a natural speed for this person, and it would probably have been a suitable sex appeal for most ordinary people. However, Choi Seol-woo just slipped away from there like water on glass.

Yoon Ji-hwan was far away from Seol-woo. He looked like a glass statue with an aura of affection and elegance.

“Yes, nothing is wrong. Don’t worry, and finish your business trip well.”

In front of him, Choi Seol-woo could only say textbook-like, smooth words. This wasn’t anyone’s problem. The gap between the sharp and the not-so-sharpened people has widened.

Don't accept: [Body]

Don't accept: [How is it] 11:19 AM

A message came from someone I could pour out everything to and swear at without any problem. It was the name I had changed and saved when I finished the declaration of breaking up.

My heart was pounding. I calmed my rapid breathing and tapped the keypad.

[Daeyoung, I can't contact you right now. I'll contact you in a few days.] 11:35 AM

* * *

The company said that Won Daeyoung had a mild anemia disease, as he had taken care of it yesterday. My colleague was noticeably quiet, as if he had heard something from the team leader. Judging from the fact that he even offered a formal apology, he must have been severely scolded. It was fortunate that there was a manager in the organization who was in his right mind.

The team leader touched Seolwoo's shoulder and told him to leave work early. He had planned to visit the hospital early on his regular medical appointment, so he cleaned up and left.

The malfunction has already happened. There is no way to know how the people who occupy a seat in a tall building will evaluate Choi Seol-woo. All Seol-woo could do was try to prove that he was still needed in this world, that he was still capable.

Looking at Seoul from inside the taxi, it was like a city floating in the sky above the black river. The high-rise buildings with ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) the sun slowly setting seemed so high that my eyes got hot for a moment.

I haven’t heard from Won Dae-young since a while ago. Why did he decide to listen to me after pressuring Choi Seol-woo with all sorts of words?

When Yoon Ji-hwan returns in two days, I will tell him everything that happened over the past few days and sort out our relationship. Until then, I don’t plan on meeting Won Dae-young either. He is a guy who makes my heart flutter just by meeting him, so it was right not to meet him.

There are more than a few questions. When Seol-woo started dating Director Yoon, why did he act like this when he was a swindler? Won Dae-young, who had never considered Choi Seol-woo a sexual object since middle school, could never believe what he said. The most convincing evidence was ‘misunderstanding’. Wasn’t it hard for him to accept the process of Choi Seol-woo, who was always there as a medal routine and a childhood friend, leaving? Wasn’t that why he was mistaken?

The taxi arrived at the hospital. When he was young, he always came with Mrs. Choi for regular checkups, but now he handles things on his own unless something serious happens.

After waiting for a long time, he talked to the doctor in charge about what happened yesterday. He said he would do an EEG test, which he hadn’t done in a while, so he lay down on the examination table. He applied cream to his forehead and various parts of his head and had electrodes attached to him while the test was conducted for an hour.

The doctor in charge’s expression when he saw the results was not good. Seol-woo was curious about one thing.

“I won’t be able to get a license, right?”

“Right...? It’s too early.”

“A few months ago... you said you were going to gradually stop taking the medication....”

“At the time, the prognosis wasn’t bad. It was meant to be a wait-and-see since you had a hard time passing, but as expected... the impact of work life is huge. Do you remember when you had a hard time regulating your cycle in your third year of high school? It’s similar to that time now. Your brain waves while you sleep are like that... Other environmental factors are the same, so it must be stress and physical fatigue, and it’s really bad. Where are you now, did you get a job at an accounting firm?”

Her long-held expectations were shattered. Her head and heart were both empty. This wasn’t the answer Choi Seol-woo wanted at her next regular checkup. What Seol-woo had been waiting for was that she could lead a normal social life through regular exercise and medication. As desperate as her expectations were, she was overcome by an unimaginable sense of despair.

To make matters worse, the doctor in charge added this opinion.

“That company’s workload doesn’t seem to be something you can handle. If you keep going like this, you’ll collapse more often.”

“.......”

“It would be better to look for another company rather than one where the working hours are too long. This is not a recommendation, but if you look at your life in the long term, it is. In particular, the fear of collapsing in front of people increases your tension, and if it becomes a vicious cycle and increases in frequency, it will have a negative effect on your mental health.”

You should quit the company you are working for.

I was explaining this at length.

I gritted my teeth and endured my teens and twenties with the sole purpose of earning a lot of money to compensate for my messy body. My only hope was shattered. It was hard to endure the despair of not being able to do what I wanted with the most important thing in life. I felt like I was going crazy like that day when I destroyed my rented room.

“...Teacher, that means I can’t work like other people. It means I have to pay hundreds of thousands of won a month for medicine and brainwave tests while receiving a pitiful salary for the rest of my life. I try to rationalize that I am happy with my pitiful balance.”

“What good will it do to think so negatively? Isn’t that right, Seol-woo?”

“.......”

The emotions that surged up like blood rushed back to her head came out as sharp words. The doctor drew a line in front of Seol-woo’s pain with a moderately businesslike sense of pity. That was all Choi Seol-woo could express on the spot.

The autumn rain was falling steadily. The umbrella that she had left at the bar yesterday was still there. She walked absentmindedly without even thinking about buying an umbrella at the convenience store.

She took the subway on her way home. She wanted to get home a little later.

If she went home like this, she would have to tell Mrs. Choi about the results of her medical checkup.

She might have to give up the future she had dreamed of and wanted,

She would have to take expensive pills twice a day for the rest of her life, no matter what company she worked for.

She didn’t know when she would be able to cure Mrs. Choi’s chronic rheumatoid arthritis.

He might have to pay off a debt that was more daunting than the high-rise buildings that filled the city for the rest of his life.

When he was wandering around the entrance of the villa because he couldn’t get into the house, Inyoung was wandering around in one corner of his vision. At that moment, Choi Seol-woo anticipated a possibility.

It was truly an unconscious expectation. Now that he wanted to somehow pour out the lump of anger that was pent up inside him, now that this rain-soaked world felt harsh, what were the odds that someone would appear right next to him?

The odds that the most self-indulgent man Choi Seol-woo knew would run down the villa alley and grab his arm... .

“Look, hyung. Did you cry?”

Seol-woo didn’t answer that.

Won Dae-young lightly hugged Choi Seol-woo with one arm. They stood in front of the villa for a long time. It wasn’t awkward even after a minute... a minute and a half... two minutes... three minutes passed without saying a word. This guy was the only person he could have a conversation with without saying a word.

“What did you hear that made you feel like this?”

Do you know that he went to the hospital? That’s why he waited in front of the house? However, there’s no way for Won Dae-young to know where Seol-woo stopped by. He used the card the production company gave him when he went to the hospital, but it has nothing to do with this situation. It’s probably just a guess. When Choi Seol-woo came walking in, looking broken and invisible to anyone, that must be the only reason.

“At the hospital. They told me to take medicine for the rest of my life. They told me not to go to work.”

“......Let’s go in and talk. I’ll find a place where I can lie down and rest.”

“Okay, what’s going to happen if I lie down with you?”

“You don’t want to go home right now.”

“...I’m going to sit down at the Citizen’s Sports Park and then go.”

“It’s raining?”

“Anyway, I’m not going to lie down with you. Why did you come?”

Won Dae-young let out a small laugh when Choi Seol-woo got through her plan even though she was drenched in rain. He wiped his eyes for a few seconds and took out a five hundred won coin from his pants pocket.

He took it out.

“Do you want to go?”

“.......”

“I’ll call you today.”

I couldn’t bear to go home, I was so full of resentment, I felt like I could explode at any moment, and I didn’t want to go to a place where other people were swarming around. At this moment, Won Dae-young held out a 500 won coin.

The hem of Won Dae-young’s wide pants were soaking wet. How long had he been waiting for Choi Seol-woo in the alley?