Chapter 5

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Wind Chime Rings
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“Has the old man lost his mind? If he was going to kick his son out, he should've sent me somewhere decent. Some backwater place I've never even heard of, with no hotels, no bars…”

Muttering to himself, Taeseo poked his head between the driver and passenger seats again, as if he'd reached a conclusion.

“Hey, am I being sent on a retreat or something? Because I've been drinking so much lately, maybe he wants me to rest and recover quietly—”

“No.”

Hyunwoo's reply was uncharacteristically firm. If Taeseo were to treat his time in Seongwu-eup as a vacation and live indulgently, and word of it reached Chairman Kwon Seongtae, all hell would break loose.

“Then what is it?”

“In my opinion, I don't believe it's a retreat…”

“Ugh, this is so frustrating. Can you just give me a straight answer? Where am I going, where am I staying, and what am I supposed to be doing? Don't I have a right to know that much?”

Pressed by Taeseo, Hyunwoo debated dozens of times whether to tell him the truth. Finally, as if having made up his mind, he spoke.

“Your accommodations will likely be the temporary prefabricated lodgings next to the construction site, used by the site supervisors.”

Taeseo blinked a couple of times, unable to tell if he was hearing things. His light-colored irises disappeared behind his eyelids, then reappeared.

Just then, a container trailer driving in the third lane of the highway came into his view.

“That… 'temporary prefabricated lodging' you mentioned. You don't mean something like one of those containers with a window cut out and an air conditioner slapped on, do you?”

Hyunwoo's gaze also shifted to the container trailer in the third lane. The temporary lodging where Taeseo would be staying would probably look no different from that container.

“From what I can tell, that seems to be exactly what it is.”

“Wow. Wow. Wow. Fucking hell, he's lost it. He's completely lost it. The old man has gone senile for real. For real. Wow. Wow.”

It was maddening.

“So you're telling me to work, eat, and sleep indefinitely in a container with a bunch of guys reeking of sweat?”

“Yes. That is what I was told.”

“Goddammit, you've got to be kidding me.”

Kwon Taeseo, the golden child of Namgyeong, had never known a day of hardship in his life. He had never failed to get what he wanted, never failed to achieve what he desired.

A single complaint from Kwon Taeseo was enough to win over the matriarch of Namgyeong, and a single complaint could even sway the formidable chairman of Namgyeong to bend his will.

“Hey. Later, if you get a call from the Senior Managing Director's office, tell my brother to put in a good word with Father, that I'm reflecting on my actions. Got it?”

This whole farce was undoubtedly instigated by his brother, who worked himself to the bone, and his parents must have reluctantly agreed.

“…”

“You're not going to answer?”

“Yes, I understand.”

After hearing his secretary's reply, Taeseo leaned his head back against the seat, trying to maintain a calm expression.

* * *

A green sign for Seongwu-eup passed overhead, and the car turned onto a dirt road, kicking up clouds of dust.

Weeds, grown to an adult's waist height, brushed against the side of the car along the unpaved road leading to the construction site. With a scratching sound, the gleaming black car was instantly transformed into a dusty mutt.

After driving for some time, they stopped at the prefabricated lodging next to a road construction site carved out of a mountain.

The surrounding area was all exposed, red earth where the mountain had been cut away. Behind the lodging, a thick layer of white dust settled on the overgrown weeds. The air was thick with the smell of dirt.

“We've arrived. This is the construction site for the Seongwu-eup golf course access road.”

“…”

“You will be staying here for three months to manage the project.”

The driver, having parked the car, took the luggage from the trunk and placed it in one of the container units, which were clustered together like a honeycomb.

A suitcase with a distinct monogram pattern sat forlornly at the entrance of the gray prefabricated building. Taeseo, staring at it as if in a daze, grabbed Hyunwoo's collar and whispered.

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

“Tell the driver to hit me with the car.”

“What?”

Taeseo looked at Hyunwoo, whose eyes were wide with confusion, and said clearly, without blinking.

“Drive the car, and, hit, me.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Just a light tap is all it'll take. I'll fall on my own.”

“Why… would you do that…?”

“Fuck, I need to get hospitalized! How can anyone live in a shithole like this!”

Having lived his entire life showered with his parents' love, Taeseo saw the world as an easy place where nothing was beyond his will.

He didn't even covet what his brother had. With what he already possessed, his money would never run out, not even in the moment he died and rotted away.

He was someone who had lived without a shred of greed, and yet, just because he drank a little too much, they were going to shove him in a place like this and blackmail him?

Taeseo pushed past his secretary and pulled out his suitcase, which had been placed inside the container building.

He had only poked his head inside the container lodging, but a wave of heat that the air conditioner couldn't dispel washed over his forehead.

The small room was one thing, but to make matters worse, it looked like someone was already using it, with their belongings unpacked. The sight was utterly bewildering.

“Who do they take me for, a beggar? In a place like this…”

Grabbing the suitcase, Taeseo snatched the car keys from the driver and opened the trunk.

He threw his suitcase into the trunk, slammed it shut, and held out his hand to his secretary.

“I'm pissed off. Get me something to drink.”

“Would you like some water?”

“Coffee. Don't you have, like, an iced americano?”

In truth, he didn't need an iced americano so much as a stimulant. He needed to clear his head and find a way out of this situation.

“We don't have anything like an iced americano, but if you go to the site office over there, they might have some instant coffee—”

“Instant coffee? Ha, for fuck's sake. Are you trying to piss me off?”

Taeseo shoved his secretary's shoulder and got into the car. The flustered secretary and driver rushed to the vehicle, but Taeseo locked the doors.

Bang, bang, bang. The two men pounded on the window. Taeseo ignored them, his eyes scanning the area around the construction site through the windshield.

Beyond the dusty construction site, a convenience store sign caught his eye. In this neighborhood undergoing development, the only trace of modern civilization was a franchise convenience store.

He started the engine and stepped on the accelerator, kicking up a cloud of white dust from under the wheels.

-Manager Kwon! Manager Kwon!

Taeseo shot a cynical smirk at the men pounding on his window, trying to stop him, then drove straight for the convenience store.

* * *

After driving just over a kilometer, Taeseo stopped the car in front of the convenience store and looked back the way he had come.

In the distance, his secretary and driver were scrambling toward him under the scorching sun.

Taeseo gave them the middle finger before turning away.

It was a convenience store on a newly paved road in a countryside that lacked any distinct character, surrounded by nothing but rice paddies.

The entire first floor of a two-story building was used as the convenience store. In front, under a parasol, a group of local loafers were huddled together, smoking.

As they exhaled clouds of smoke, their eyes widened at the sight of the car Taeseo had arrived in.

“Whoa, shit, look at that car.”

The car Taeseo was driving was a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a high-end sedan worth over 600 million won. It was a company car he'd wheedled out of his father, refusing to go to work unless he had a car with style. It was practically his pride and joy.

“That thing's gotta be worth a few hundred grand, right?”

“I heard the bird on that car hides if you touch it.”

“It doesn't hide, you moron. It's for theft prevention. I heard a ton of people try to rip that bird off.”

Envious gazes were familiar to Taeseo. He straightened his shoulders and flicked the lapels of his suit jacket. The suit, worth a cool 15 million won, shimmered under the summer sun.

“But who's that asshole?”

Just as he was taking a triumphant step forward, their absurd words reached his ears.

“They're building a golf course over there. He must be an employee.”

“Can't you tell by looking? He's the driver.”

A driver? Fucking hell! He couldn't help but curse at their misunderstanding, but figuring it wasn't worth getting mixed up with a bunch of local loafers, he shot them a glare and entered the convenience store.

The wind chime on the convenience store door swayed.

Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, tinkle. The tickling sound coincided with a rush of cool air, a stark contrast to the midsummer heat outside, brushing against his cheek.

“Welcome.”

Taeseo's gaze shifted to the counter, where the voice had come from.

A woman in a uniform with the convenience store's logo printed on it was looking at him. When Taeseo saw her face, his eyes widened.

The woman didn't belong in this faded countryside, where everything seemed to have lost its luster. Her makeup-free skin was exceptionally fair, and her pure black irises were so clear they seemed transparent.

This town, Seongwu-eup or whatever it was called, where a resort with an 18-hole golf course was being built, looked as if it had been hacked to pieces with a knife. Everywhere he looked, the mountains and roads were all cut up.

He never imagined he would see a woman this captivating in such an ugly town.

The image of the woman smiling, revealing her white teeth, was so out of place that it was seared into his mind. He could swear that of all the women he had ever seen, she was the one who best fit his ideal type.

“Um, sir?”

The woman met his gaze and blinked a couple of times.

Snapping out of it, Taeseo went to the counter and took out his wallet. He pulled out a card and presented it to the woman.

“Coffee.”

“Excuse me?”

He knew that convenience stores operated on a system where you picked out an item and then paid for it, but unfortunately, Taeseo had never bought coffee from a place like this before.

“An iced americano.”

The words 'Iced Americano' were written on the glass door of the convenience store, so in his world, it was perfectly logical to demand one at the counter.

From the woman's perspective, however, it seemed that was not the case.