Real Man

The messenger group was lively for a moment, but it soon quieted down.

The food was being emptied, but there was no sign of the protagonist.

The noisy voices of Kang Jun-ki and Lee Han-joon also subsided.

Taking advantage of the awkward atmosphere, one of them voiced his complaint.

“Is Won-seok not coming at all?”

“He’s always like that. He borrows money and does whatever he wants.”

The guy next to him suddenly brought up the money issue.

That was the trigger.

Everyone seemed to have some grudges, and their grievances started to pop up.

“He borrowed 200,000 won from me too. Did he borrow from you?”

“What is Won-seok thinking? He should pay back the money he borrowed.”

“Isn’t he trying to dump this bill on us too?”

Then, an absurd suspicion came out.

Without any accurate information, they were easily swayed by the slightest provocation.

Yoo-hyun knew it wasn’t true, but he deliberately didn’t intervene.

-Yoo-hyun, don’t tell them I’m going to pay them back. I want to surprise them. I also want to apologize for the resentment in person.

It was because of Park Won-seok’s request.

It was his responsibility to handle the awkward situation as he wanted.

‘By the way, what’s going on with him?’

Yoo-hyun tilted his head and picked up his phone.

Clack.

The sound of the door opening made everyone turn their heads in the same direction.

There stood a short-haired girl with a small stature, not Park Won-seok.

“Huh? Who is she?”

“She doesn’t look like she’s from our school.”

“…”

In the midst of the puzzled atmosphere, only Yoo-hyun was speechless.

She was Park Won-seok’s younger sister who had visited Yoo-hyun’s company in the past.

He remembered her clearly as soon as he saw her big eyes.

Tap tap.

As she walked in, Lee Han-joon spoke up.

“This is a reunion of San-nae Middle School.”

“Yes. I know.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Won-seok’s sister, Park Won-young. Nice to meet you.”

Park Won-young bowed her head to Won-seok’s friends.

She didn’t seem awkward in front of strangers, and she didn’t lose her smile.

She exchanged eye contact with Yoo-hyun and smiled with her eyes.

As if she knew Yoo-hyun well.

While he was puzzled, she opened her mouth.

“Actually, my brother really wanted to come today, but I told him not to because I have to get tested.”

“What kind of test?”

She explained the details to Kang Jun-ki, who was curious.

She was very confident, even though she might have felt intimidated by the unfamiliar people.

“It’s a test before the surgery. It was originally scheduled for another day, but the surgery date was moved up, so the test date changed too. I hope you understand.”

“Surgery?”

“It’s a liver cancer surgery, but it will be fine. The hospital said so too.”

The atmosphere was shaken by the successive appearance of shocking words.

“Wow.”

“Liver cancer?”

Whisper whisper.

Ignoring the surprised friends, Park Won-young continued.

“My brother will tell you the details when he gets better. Oh, and I paid for this place, and for the second round, I paid for the pub in front of here. It’s my brother’s wish, so I hope you all accept it.”

“…”

It wasn’t a situation to say anything.

Park Won-young rummaged through her prepared bag and took out an envelope.

Then she handed it to Lee Han-joon, who was sitting in front of her.

Swoosh.

“You’re Han-joon, right? My brother said he was very grateful for lending him money.”

“No, this is…”

Lee Han-joon blinked his eyes at the unexpected appearance of the envelope.

“Please check it and let me know if there’s anything wrong. Thank you very much.”

She bowed to him again, who was flustered.

Nod.

She seemed sincere from the way she kept bowing her head.

Park Won-young went to the other friends and handed them envelopes.

“Jun-ki, thank you for helping my brother. And…”

She knew the faces and names of all the friends, for some reason.

Yoo-hyun recalled the memory of when Park Won-young visited him in the past.

She had returned the money like this then.

She thanked him even as she delivered the news of her brother’s death.

She looked very sad then, but now she had a bright smile on her face.

She passed by some friends and stood in front of Yoo-hyun.

“I have so much to thank you for, especially.”

“What do you have to thank me for?”

“No. I really do. I’ll pay you back for anything I lack.”

Swoosh.

Yoo-hyun took the envelope she handed him.

Inside was the 500,000 won he had lent her, intact.

There was also a letter from Park Won-seok.

-Yoo-hyun, thank you for being so warm to me, who appeared out of nowhere. And thank you for lending me money, which must have been hard. When we were kids, playing with you…

He had filled a sheet of paper with his handwriting.

It was impressive how much time he had spent on it.

“Damn it.”

Yoo-hyun couldn’t take his eyes off the letter, and neither could Kim Hyun-soo.

He silently took in Park Won-seok’s sincerity.

The other friends who had resented Park Won-seok until a moment ago also shut their mouths.

They seemed to have lost their words.

Park Won-young, who had handed out all the envelopes, bowed her head to the friends again.

“Thank you very much, everyone.”

“…”

The awkward atmosphere continued, but she didn’t hesitate.

She approached Yoo-hyun again and asked softly.

“Yoo-hyun oppa, do you have a minute?”

“Sure.”

Having no reason to refuse, Yoo-hyun asked his friends for permission and followed Park Won-young.

Kim Hyun-soo quietly watched Yoo-hyun’s back.

Yoo-hyun and Park Won-young sat face to face at a coffee shop on the first floor of the same building.

While Park Won-seok was very tall, Park Won-young was on the shorter side.

Their facial features were also different, so they didn’t look much like siblings.

But when they smiled, their thick dimples were exactly the same, like fish cakes.

Park Won-young, who had been looking at Yoo-hyun, spoke cautiously.

“I wanted to tell you about the surgery fee that Yoo-hyun oppa helped me with, but I couldn’t.”

“That’s okay. There’s no need to bring it up. I also asked Won-seok not to tell anyone.”

Park Won-young sighed in relief at Yoo-hyun’s answer.

“That’s good.”

“What is?”

“Well, I heard it, but I was worried that Yoo-hyun oppa might have different feelings. You helped us so much. I thought you might be disappointed if we didn’t tell anyone.”

That seemed to be why she asked to see him separately.

She showed her consideration and concern in her lengthy explanation.

Yoo-hyun chuckled and reached out his hand.

“Don’t worry about that.”

“You’re the benefactor who helped my brother and paid for his surgery. How can I not worry? I’m so sorry that I can’t pay you back right away.”

“It’s okay. I have plenty of money, so you can pay me back very late.”

“Thank you so much. I really won’t forget this favor.”

Park Won-young bowed again.

He was grateful, but he couldn’t keep receiving her gratitude, so Yoo-hyun changed the subject.

He had something he wanted to hear from her.

“How is Won-seok doing?”

“He’s doing well. His face looks better since he’s resting, even if it’s forced.”

“That’s good.”

“I have to take care of him from now on. I couldn’t do that before.”

Park Won-young smiled brightly.

She came to the gathering of her brother’s friends and handed out envelopes to pay them back. She was not an ordinary person.

Yoo-hyun told her what Park Won-seok had said.

“Won-seok talked a lot about you. He said you’re an amazing sister.”

“What are you talking about? My brother is the amazing one. Do you know what he was like when he was young?”

“What was he like?”

“He was working hard to send me to college since he was young. He woke up every dawn…”

Park Won-young’s eyes sparkled as she told him stories from their childhood.

In those hard times, her brother was a sturdy umbrella for her.

Because Park Won-seok took on the role of a parent, she was able to grow up happily like other kids.

She said she enjoyed everything she could thanks to him.

As he listened to her, he felt how grateful she was to her brother.

Yoo-hyun nodded his head with a smile on his face.

“You’re amazing. You must have had a hard time too.”

“I didn’t have a hard time at all. All I had to do was study. My brother did all the hard work. He even paid for my books. It’s because he took on all the burden by himself.”

“Won-seok is very responsible.”

Park Won-seok was so responsible that he reminded him of Jeong Da-hye, and he tried to overcome everything by himself.

Park Won-young nodded as if he knew it well.

“Yes. That’s why I didn’t know. I always thought you would do well. I always took it for granted.”

“I see.”

“I knew you were struggling, but I encouraged you to do better and cheer up. I didn’t even know that it was making you more miserable.”

“Won-seok must have appreciated your support.”

“No. What good is a verbal consolation? I should have been by your side when you were tired and lonely.”

Park Won-young’s regret matched Yoo-hyun’s self-reproach.

Yoo-hyun couldn’t look into her eyes and muttered.

“That’s right. I should have been by your side.”

“Yes. That’s why I regret it more. I should have just gone to see you. I couldn’t even do that simple thing. Maybe I said I cared for you, but I was actually indifferent.”

“…”

Her words pierced Yoo-hyun’s heart.

Maybe Yoo-hyun was also indifferent to Jeong Da-hye?

It was undeniable.

Yoo-hyun ignored the countless signs she sent him, and postponed the time with various excuses.

He thought it would be okay, and he took it easy.

He regretted and decided only after he knew for sure that it wasn’t.

But even that decision was not for her, but for Yoo-hyun’s own comfort.

She didn’t need a simple financial support, did she?

Yoo-hyun was lost in thought, and Park Won-young leaned on him.

“I’ll never do that again. I’ve had enough of a regretful life.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to be by your side. I’m going to find a job near where you are.”

“What about your studies?”

“Looking back, graduate school was not what I wanted, but just an obsession. So I’m going to quit.”

Yoo-hyun didn’t know what she studied for, but he knew she worked hard while doing part-time jobs.

Even if it was an obsession, it wouldn’t be easy to stop in the middle.

“Aren’t you sorry?”

“I am. But I realized that it wasn’t really important in my life.”

“Then what?”

“What was really important was living happily with the people I love.”

Thump.

With her words, Yoo-hyun felt like he was hit in the back of his head with a hammer.

Yoo-hyun repeated what she said.

It contained the direction of life that Yoo-hyun had missed.

“That’s right… That’s not what’s really important…”

Yoo-hyun lived his life again to correct his wrong life and be happy.

But he was spending most of his time in a small fence called a company.

He was obsessed with doing more even though he had already corrected a lot.

In the meantime, he missed what was really important.

While Yoo-hyun was in a daze, Park Won-young checked the time.

She apologized with a surprised look.

“Look at this. I was just going to tell you about the hospital bill, but I ended up talking too much about myself.”

“No. It was a really good time.”

“A good time? I was just complaining.”

“It was more valuable than any words I’ve heard. Thank you.”

Yoo-hyun bowed deeply to her.

His sincerity was full of it.

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