[Web Transfer]

SH Bank Deposit: 200,000,000
October/19th 11:24 AM
79302-XX-XXXXX
Lee Seo-jun
Balance 216,744,200

Yeon-jun, who checked the message casually, was startled. So much so that he dropped the crate of soju he was holding.

Out of nowhere, 200 million won had been deposited.

The depositor was Lee Seo-jun.

His older brother had sent 200 million won without a word of explanation.

Yeon-jun hurriedly called Seo-jun. But all he got was the meaningless ringing of the call.

‘Why would he send this to me…….’

Yeon-jun had hoped his brother would use all the prize money for himself.

Because he had been through so much.

Because he had sacrificed so much.

But he had transferred 200 million won—one-fifth of the prize money.

This wasn’t right. He had always been on the receiving end from his brother. He couldn’t accept more again this time.

As he was thinking this, the door chime rang and Seo-jun came in.

“Hyung!”

“You’re here early?”

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“Phone? Oh, I left it at home.”

“More importantly, what is this?”

Yeon-jun showed him the message.

“Looks like it went through fine.”

“That’s not the issue. Why did you deposit this into my account?”

“Yeon-jun.”

“Hyung. I’ve only ever received from you. So now it’s your turn to receive. But why would you deposit such a huge amount—200 million won—into my account?”

“Yeon-jun.”

“You must have things you want to buy too. So why…….”

“Yeon-jun. Calm down and just listen to me for a second.”

“…….”

“There’s something I promised myself while living in the world beyond.”

“……A promise?”

“If I ever return to Earth, I’ll take care of my family first. Do you know why?”

“…….”

“In the end, the only ones I thought about were family. And I want you and Seo-woo to be happy. Especially you—I want you to live like a human being. And……”

“…….”

“Did you ever reply to Ra-hee that day?”

Yeon-jun stayed silent.

Ra-hee had said she’d contact him once she got home.

And she actually did contact him. But Yeon-jun couldn’t bring himself to reply.

Of course, Yeon-jun had feelings for Ra-hee too. But he wasn’t confident he could treat her right.

He was a widower with a child and had nothing to his name.

Besides, relationships between men and women were unpredictable.

Let’s say things worked out.

They got along well and stayed together for a few years.

But what if they broke up?

He could at least walk away with memories.

But Ra-hee?

Sure, people say nowadays that you don’t have to get married, but by then many of her friends would probably be tying the knot.

Ra-hee would be at the age considered suitable for marriage.

If they broke up at that point, it would be an unforgivable thing to do to her.

Of course, this was a worry that was way ahead of itself. No—completely premature.

But the upheaval had changed even the once-optimistic Yeon-jun’s personality. Since then, he always considered the worst-case scenario.

Now was no different.

Just then—

“They say the more you think, the harder it becomes to act.”

“Huh?”

“If you think too deeply, you can’t do the things you want to. So they say you should just do it without hesitation. That’s what I did too.”

“You did?”

Seo-jun handed him a thick stack of papers fastened with a stapler. Yeon-jun took the documents, bewildered.

Owner: Lee Yeon-jun
Property Address: District 12, Gui-Taewon-ro 42

The address was familiar.

Gui-Taewon-ro 42.

“Our house……?”

“That’s right.”

Yeon-jun, in a daze, looked over the papers again.

“This is a title deed…… right?”

“That’s right too.”

“But why is it under my name?”

“They said I couldn’t put it under my name since I’m a returnee.”

“That’s ridiculous…….”

“Didn’t I just say? Don’t hesitate, just go for it. That’s what I did. So don’t give me a hard time.”

“…….”

They say nothing is as fickle as the human heart—conflicting emotions swept over him.

Joy from buying a house for the first time in his life.

Guilt that his brother had yielded to him again.

Discomfort at not knowing what to say.

Yeon-jun’s eyes grew red. Before he knew it, tears welled up and trickled down his cheeks.

“Are you crying?”

“I’m sorry, hyung. You’ve struggled because of me since forever…… You always gave up everything for me, and now again…… I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, hyung.”

“No need to be sorry. I bought one for myself too anyway.”

A few days later.

Thud thud!

Seo-jun lightly tapped the hood of the car parked in front of the store.

“A car……?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I also bought one thing I wanted.”

“So this was it?”

“Yeah.”

Only then did Yeon-jun smile. A bit of the guilt lingering in his heart seemed to fade away.

“It’s badass, huh?”

“This must’ve been super expensive……”

Prices of everything had gone up.

Cars were no exception. Depending on the brand, German mid-size cars started from at least 600–700 million won.

Though the car Seo-jun bought was domestic, it was one of the flagship sedans of its brand, loaded with various features.

The main one being that in case of an emergency call, awakeners from the company would be dispatched immediately via GPS.

Next was the Aether Disruption Prevention System.

Even if a rogue awakener made a sudden attack, unless it was an exceptionally strong one, the car and its occupants would remain unharmed thanks to this system.

With such cutting-edge features, it wasn’t something to scoff at just because it was domestically made.

“It was expensive.”

“How much?”

“420 million.”

“F-Four hundred twenty million?”

“Yeah. But that’s just the sticker price. I got it for a flat 400 million with a promotion.”

“Didn’t you say your house cost 600 million?”

“Yeah.”

“You sent me 200 million too. That leaves just a little over 200 million of the prize money. How did you afford it?”

Seo-jun smiled with an innocent look.

“There’s all sorts of financial products these days.”

“Finance... products. You're talking about installment plans, right?”

“Yeah. The interest rate was really low, too.”

At this point, Yeon-jun started to get worried.

His brother was a returnee. He hadn’t fully adapted to the world that had changed over the past ten years.

And someone who hadn’t fully readjusted to society was getting into financial contracts?

There was no way not to be concerned.

Yeon-jun asked, trying hard to hide his unease.

“What was the interest rate?”

“They said if I used their affiliate capital company, they’d give me a special low interest rate, and the dealer would cover the interest for the first year, so I signed the contract with that financial product.”

“No, but what exactly was that so-called low interest rate?”

“Twelve percent.”

“......”

Seo-jun gave a broad grin again.

“What do you think, pretty good deal, right? Plus, the dealer threw in tinting and a black box and a bunch of other services.”

“......Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

To the innocent response, Yeon-jun couldn’t bring himself to say the rest.

That he’d been taken for a fool, that 12 percent wasn’t low interest—not even 8 percent would qualify, and the only one smiling right now was the dealer who got a fat installment fee from the capital company.

But Seo-jun was genuinely happy. Yeon-jun couldn’t bring himself to burst that bubble.

“No, you did well.”

“Right?”

“Ah, but how are you planning to repay it?”

“……”

“Hyung?”

“……”

“C’mon… Hyung?”

“Yeon-jun, don’t get mad and just listen.”

“…Speak.”

“I didn’t really think that part through.”

“……”

“It doesn’t seem quite as good as President Hwang’s car.”

That was Park Yeon’s assessment after checking out the various features of the newly bought car.

“Well, that one’s imported, after all.”

“Imported? President Hwang’s car must be pretty high-end, then. Ah, and nice acting, by the way.”

Seo-jun chuckled.

“I’ll give you that—your acting skills are impressive. You could be an actor. Though, probably not a lead—villain suits you better.”

With that, Park Yeon casually slipped into the driver’s seat.

He turned the wheel this way and that, sneaking a glance at Seo-jun.

“But Demon King.”

“What?”

“Did you say Yeon-jun could drive this too?”

“Well, he has a license, so technically yes. Though it’s probably a drawer license.”

“Then if I got a license too, I could drive it?”

“You? No way.”

“Why not?”

Seo-jun shrugged.

“Because I’m the kind of villain who doesn’t let others touch the wheel.”

The bus stopped and Lee Ra-hee stepped off.

“Hello, little Seo-woo… huh?”

“Hello, teacher!”

Lee Ra-hee, who had been about to greet Seo-woo without thinking, froze. That was because Yeon-jun was standing behind the bowing Seo-woo.

In recent days, Seo-woo had been brought to school by either Seo-jun or Park Yeon.

Lee Ra-hee had the sense that Yeon-jun was deliberately avoiding her. He hadn’t replied to her message from that day either.

Feeling awkward, Yeon-jun scratched his head and greeted her first.

“Hello, teacher.”

“Ah… yes. Hello.”

“Lately, my brother or Mr. Park Yeon has been dropping Seo-woo off, so I hope you weren’t surprised to see me.”

“No, not at all.”

The conversation between them cut off.

Yeon-jun scratched the back of his neck and spoke.

“About last time…”

“Ah, if it’s about that, it’s fine. Actually, I was the one who should apologize. I’m sorry.”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Yes?”

“I was thinking I should reply to your message now.”

“……?”

Lee Ra-hee blinked like a goldfish.

And Yeon-jun smiled brightly and said,

“Did you get home safely that night?”

“Looking at those two gives me poetic inspiration…”

“Keep your thoughts to yourself.”

Ignoring Seo-jun’s remark, Park Yeon recited with a sentimental gaze,

“There’s a proverb in this country that even straw sandals have their pair. Straw sandals have a match, and now Yeon-jun has a match—then where is mine? Ah, my match…”

“Hasn’t been born yet.”

“Don’t ruin it!”

“Park Yeon.”

“What!”

“Ever heard of a 'fact assault'?”

“What’s that supposed to be?”

“It means hitting someone with the truth. I just gave you a solid fact assault. Your match isn’t around here. That’s what they call—”

Seo-jun paused, trying to come up with a good phrase to tease Park Yeon with.

But Park Yeon wasn’t to be outdone. He replied a beat faster.

“That’s what they call a mistaken guess. I’ve already found my match.”

“That soon?”

“What do you mean ‘that soon’! She’s the one who first made me feel what love is… no, she’s a goddess.”

Seo-jun was curious.

Just how many “first loves” Park Yeon had so far. And how many more “first loves” were still to come.

As he was thinking that, Park Yeon narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“I feel like you were just now mocking my love in your mind.”

“No way.”

“In that case, let me ask you one thing.”

“I hope it’s an easy question.”

“It’s a hard one. So if you don’t want to answer, that’s fine.”

“Let’s hear it anyway.”

Hesitating, Park Yeon turned his gaze toward an unnamed mountain in the distance and asked with difficulty,

“Is the world like this now because of their greed?”

Seo-jun hesitated to answer. Park Yeon was slowly letting go of his faith in them.

He didn’t show it… in fact, on the outside, he seemed more cheerful and lively than before, but inside, he was quietly setting that belief down.

But even if he was letting it go, this was someone who had worshipped them all his life.

That’s why it was hard to say it.

Like the saying goes: the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. The deeper the faith, the more painful the betrayal.

Maybe sensing Seo-jun’s hesitation, Park Yeon spoke quietly.

“I want you to tell me the truth.”

Seo-jun looked into Park Yeon’s eyes and saw sincerity. He didn’t want to insult that sincerity.

“Yeah. This is the result of their greed.”

Park Yeon didn’t say anything for a while after hearing the answer. He just let out a deep sigh.

In that sigh lingered the last traces of regret he had for them.

“Somehow… that’s a relief.”