CBR 38

“‘Don’t go running around like crazy and end up getting sick.’”

From Dojun, who offered words that were hard to tell whether they were a nag or a plea, an oddly familiar feeling lingered—as if he were someone who had known Jaewon for a very long time. His face, soaked in the day’s final light, looked both weary and lonely. He stared silently at the standing Jaewon for a short while, then withdrew his gaze and started up the bike. With a loud engine roar, the frame, sleek as a stealth vehicle, receded into the distance in an instant.

“…?”

One side of his chest felt a sharp sting. Jaewon frowned and felt his chest. He looked down at his palm, but there was nothing there. In the end, he couldn’t turn his feet away until Dojun was completely out of sight.

∞ ∞ ∞

A Saturday morning when the spring breeze gently fluttered the tip of his nose. For an hour already, Jaewon had been sitting on the playground seesaw like leftover cold rice.

Lately, he had been feeling the difficulties of life immensely. Although placed in an unfortunate environment, he was someone who had lived achieving most things according to his will thanks to his extraordinary quick wit, shamelessness that knew no embarrassment, and a stubborn grit that pushed through until even the impossible worked out—making this feeling unfamiliar to him.

Both his mind and body seemed solidly broken, but because he didn’t know the cause, the solution was also lost in a fog.

Money is like a person; the more you cherish it, the closer it comes. Conversely, the more lightly you view it and treat it carelessly, the further away money moves.

Recalling a maxim he had heard once, Jaewon sank into deep sorrow. They said the more you cherish it, the closer it comes, so why was his 2 billion won only moving further away?

He reflected deeply on whether he had ever treated Yi Hwang, Yi I, King Sejong the Great, or Shin Saimdang carelessly in the past. But no matter how much he thought about it, the only time he hadn’t found money intimidating was back when he was nursing his grandmother.

‘It’s definitely a curse.’

That day when he was slapped by King Sejong the Great’s royal countenance and turned red in the face, he had been cursed. From then on, whenever he saw Kim Dojun, his back would suddenly heat up out of nowhere, his throat would burn, and his insides would churn. At first, he thought it was anger, but the emotion boiling inside his body was far more complex than that. Was that all? His mental state was significantly worse. Jaewon’s prized ability to think, make judgments, synthesize, and reason logically all suffered a total shutdown, turning him into a fool—as if a villain had infiltrated and released the latest malicious virus.

To make matters worse, that bastard’s shadow followed him even when he was alone.

‘Get in safely.’

The now-familiar voice hovered near his ears. Jaewon shook his head vigorously to dispel the illusion, but it was to no avail. The face tinted in twilight merely rose like a picture before his eyes.

“Ah, jeez…. I’m going crazy, seriously.”

Jaewon agonized while cradling the back of his head. His overloaded brain felt burning hot. As if it wasn’t enough that nothing was going right, the guy was harassing him even when not by his side. Clutching his head and groaning, he decided to expel the guy from his mind by thinking realistic thoughts.

Even at this very moment, time was ticking away. That fact made Jaewon beyond anxious. They say time flies when you’re having fun, so if the world turned into a paradise like the Peach Blossom Land when he returned to reality, he wouldn’t be able to escape looking like a beggar.

Considering the inflation rate, even 1 billion won is merely enough for retirement funds. Compared to Jaewon’s goals, the money left behind in reality was an absurdly insufficient amount.

Of course, if he had taken the index fund approach, the more time passed, the more advantageous the game would be, but Jaewon, who lacked seed money, didn’t even have a proper portfolio. Thus, diversified investment was something he couldn’t even dream of—especially since his plan was to pay off student loans as soon as he got money. He had no virtual currency stashed away for fun like Meatcoin, and as for the tiny bit of stock he had bought, whether it would become Microsoft or Freddie Mac was a story nobody knew. Judging by how large-scale economic crises occurred roughly at 20-year intervals…

“Mister! How long are you going to sit here?”

A shrill voice smashed his train of thought to pieces. With that, his thoughts, which had been linking endlessly one after another, were abruptly cut short. Raising his head, a boy with a fierce impression and the crew following him were glaring at Jaewon.

“Naturally, until I feel like getting up.”

“All the kids are waiting because of you, Mister.”

“Who’s a Mister? Have you ever seen a Mister with skin as firm as this?”

At his sharp response, the boys hesitated, but Jaewon, as always, did not stop at a reasonable boundary. As he slapped his own cheeks pat-pat to display his skin elasticity, the children wore horrified expressions. The leader boy rolled his eyes, busily searching for what to say, then raised his voice.

“Either way, you’re older than us!”

“Still younger than your dad!”

“Old man! Geezer in the back room!”

“Rainbow bounce-back to you, kiddo.”

It was an unlucky day for a child who must have been encountering this kind of adult for the first time. When his protest didn’t work in the slightest, the boy got thoroughly worked up and shouted,

“Ah, why is an adult riding a seesaw for an hour!”

“That’s my choice. Is this seesaw yours? If you have ownership rights, bring them out. I’ll step aside right away.”

“Then what about you, Mister! Did you buy this seesaw, Mister?”

“Don’t you know adverse possession? If I’ve been sitting here for an hour, it’s mine.”

As he argued unreasonably, the boy’s face turned bright red.

“Darn it…. I’m gonna tell my mom.”

“Go tell her, go tell her, you Japanese imperialist.”

“You Lee Wan-yong-like bastard.”

The boy spoke harshly. Jaewon flinched in surprise at that fierce momentum. It was a peculiar insult to hear from a boy who resembled Mao Zedong. Yet on the other hand, it was admirable that domestic history education was being conducted properly.

Bzzzzzt—.

Just then, his phone alarm rang. It was time to go give a private lesson. Today, he wasn’t in the mood to work at all, but for a worker, even if tears flow downward, the shovel must scoop upward. Jaewon immediately got up from his seat and slung the bag he had set down beside the seesaw over his shoulder.

“Where are you going?”

“Did you grow attached in that short time? Feeling sad to see me go?”

“W-Who said they were sad? You’re running away because you’re scared!”

“Hyung is busy right now, so I’ll play a round of seesaw with you next time.”

“Don’t need it!”

“See you later, Mao Zedong.”

Bidding farewell to the boy, he left the playground and headed toward the bus stop. Luckily, he was able to catch a bus right away that went straight to his destination in one go. However, as always, life was not smooth sailing.

‘Why do rich people build houses on top of hills?’

Climbing the endless uphill road, Jaewon swallowed all kinds of curses. The road was smoothly paved, but that was strictly for the convenience of car wheels, not an incline considering pedestrians. Vowing that he would request a pickup service next time, he walked beneath a wall that resembled a fortress.

Passing through an alley where an unreal quiet had settled, a magnificent mansion appeared. Walking diligently toward his destination, there was something out in front of the main gate. Jaewon narrowed his eyes and cranced his neck. He thought it was a 100-liter trash bag, but looking up close, it was a person.

He surely must have heard footsteps, yet the human curled up in front of the gate didn’t budge at all. A uniquely long neck like a deer and long, stretched-out limbs caught his eye. Light-colored hair was scattered over exposed white skin. Jaewon looked down expressionlessly at the person at his feet, then pressed the doorbell.

“You came?”

The moment the buzzer rang, the curled-up human raised his head. At the same time, a radiance flashed brightly, and Jaewon frowned his brow because it was so dazzling.

“What’s this. Why are you out here?”

“Because I wanted to see you quickly.”

When Jaewon paused at the unexpected answer, Haeyul smiled softly. Was he saying he was out waiting outside the door because he looked forward to the tutoring time? For Jaewon, who had been doing fugitive hunts under the guise of private tutoring for years, it was a fresh experience.

“You have a great passion for learning. That’s a good sign.”

Jaewon answered dryly and gestured toward the door with his chin. Haeyul stared at him with a smiling face before guiding him inside.

“Didn’t you miss me, hyung?”

“Teacher.”

“You’ve gotten cuter while I didn’t see you.”

The beautiful bastard still used a way of speaking that ignored authority and hierarchy, but Jaewon didn’t bother to correct him. His motivation was halved due to successive investment failures. So he decided to close market for today and rest his brain.

“Why didn’t you answer the phone?”

“I originally don’t take calls outside of work hours.”

“Then if I extend the work hours to 24 hours, will you answer?”