Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Chapter 42 A Return Gift (2)

"How much does a car like this cost?"

"Stop touching it. You're going to scratch it."

The foreman ignored Worker Choi's scolding and continued running his hands over various parts of the luxury sedan Yongman had arrived in.

"So you're saying those coins you bought hit the jackpot, and that's how you ended up like this?"

"Yeah."

'Is this too much of a stretch? Maybe I should've just said I won the lottery.'

Yongman had answered according to Jinseong's advice, but he still felt uneasy and kept watching the two men's reactions.

However, his worries proved unfounded.

"This bastard's crazy! You remember Mr. Kang from the electrical crew, right? That idiot lost his perfectly good job trading cryptocurrency and ended up doing construction labor!"

"And it wasn't just Kang. That fellow who was supervising the studio apartment project last year lost a fortune on cryptocurrency too."

The two men knew plenty of people who had made considerable sums from the sudden rise of cryptocurrencies. Of course, among those who came to construction sites for manual labor, how many didn't have stories of their own?

"Just because you got lucky doesn't mean you can throw your money around like this! You'll end up ruined too! Spend it carefully. By the way, I guess you won't be working anymore. You just going to live off your money now?"

"Even if you've got money, you shouldn't stop working these days. You should at least do something occasionally."

"Why do you keep telling him to haul materials when it wears his body out? He should open a barbecue restaurant or something and have people call him Boss. Don't you think?"

"I'm going back to my hometown."

"Hometown? Where's your hometown?"

"Mongolia."

"Mongoliaaaa?"

The second part of the story had also been suggested by Jinseong.

But this time, no matter how he thought about it, the explanation was too far-fetched. What part of him looked Mongolian?

'Damn it, I let that bastard talk me into it. Even I thought Mongolia was ridiculous!'

"No, it's just my nationality that's..."

"See, Boss? I told you I was right! I said he wasn't Korean! Didn't I tell you his dark complexion, his strength, and his whole appearance were exactly like people from that region?"

"Oh, I could tell he was Mongolian just by looking at his face."

"Yes, yes. As expected, there's nothing our Boss doesn't know."

"Damn it, I'm Korean by blood!"

The joy of their reunion was short-lived. Yongman, a divine beast native to this land, burst out shouting after having his ancestry determined entirely by his appearance.

"Good grief, my ears!"

"So you stopped by to say goodbye before going to Mongolia?"

"That's part of it. There's also a favor I want to ask."

"A favor?"

"There's someone I owe a lot to. He needs to build a house, and I want to introduce him to people he can trust."

"Well, I'll be damned! Our Yongman, who wouldn't even borrow a ten-won coin from anyone, owes somebody a favor? Who is it?"

"Someone. A meddlesome bastard who thinks the world of himself."

Yongman smiled as he thought of Jinseong.

The things that had happened at Jinseong's little coffeehouse had already become precious memories to him.

"Well, you can work that out with the Boss. But don't even think about going home tonight. You disappeared and worried us sick, so we're definitely drinking tonight. Got it?"

"I can't drink."

"Bullshit! Why, you little...!"

Naturally, the joyful reunion of these rough men continued into a hearty drinking session.

___________

The kimchi-making went smoothly.

After all, it was simply a matter of repeating the straightforward process of coating salt-brined cabbages with seasoning, although the ingredients and proportions for the seasoning were a little complicated.

Of course, that was easier said than done. In reality, it was practically hard labor.

If the elders at the market hadn't measured everything out precisely, down to a bunch of green onions and a single pear, it probably would have turned into an endless struggle.

"Honestly, Korean mothers are incredible. They've been doing all this every year."

"But it's fun!"

"That's right. The cabbages are turning all red!"

"Fun, my foot. Every bone in my body aches. Good grief."

"Thank you for helping."

"Enough, you brat. You've practically forced me to help and now you're thanking me."

The two divine beasts' participation in this kimchi-making session had been more or less compulsory.

After all, we were making kimchi with cabbages brought from the Celestial Realm.

Since no one knew what might happen during the preparation process(?), they had no choice but to observe, which naturally led to them providing some excellent labor.

"Tsk. You could have simply refused, but you insisted on bringing all of it back."

"You only say that because you didn't see Mr. Yongman's expression at the time, Elder."

"Heh heh. It seems life in the Celestial Realm was particularly unbearable for that fellow."

"I'm glad I didn't go!"

"You've never even been there, so what are you so glad about?"

"I saw it in the pictures. It's a place without pork cutlet."

"There's no pork cutlet in the Celestial Realm? Then what do the heavenly gods eat?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure. Rice and soybean paste stew? Maybe something like that?"

To be honest, I didn't even know whether they ate meals. Goddess Mago was the only god I'd spoken to in the Celestial Realm.

-Hissssss.

Just then, the sound of steam escaping came from the kitchen.

Using the neatly stacked kimchi containers for support, I struggled to straighten my body after spending so long squatting.

"Time to eat."

"Are we finally eating?!"

"It should be almost ready."

"Ooooooh!"

"Is boiled pork really that delicious?"

"It's similar to pig's trotters."

"Since Jinseong made it, it'll be much more delicious than pig's trotters!"

"I'm telling you, it's not quite that good."

One dish that simply cannot be left out when making kimchi for the winter is boiled pork.

Making kimchi without boiling some pork to go with it is practically a sin. Especially in households that rarely make their own kimchi.

Besides, it was just as simple to prepare as the kimchi.

Soybean paste, coffee, green onions, onions, and so on. Just add a reasonable amount of whatever ingredients seem like they'd taste good together and boil everything.

It was a dish that even someone with almost no cooking skills could make reasonably edible.

"I'm worried there might not be enough."

"I made plenty."

Since the four of us ate together so often, estimating the right portions had become a skill I'd naturally acquired.

Soon, the large pieces of pork belly were roughly sliced and piled high on plates, completing a generous meal.

"Ooooooh!"

"That looks delicious."

"But there isn't enough."

"You're being greedy again."

"I'm not being greedy. If there's that much kimchi, there should be thiiiiis much meat too!"

"I'm giving most of that kimchi away tomorrow."

"What a waste! Who are you giving it to?"

"Who else? Director Baek, the shamans, and people at work. They've all helped us a lot."

"Heh heh. Those people are about to eat kimchi they couldn't obtain even with a thousand pieces of gold."

He was right.

Wasn't this the kind of kimchi that truly deserved the nickname "golden kimchi," a term people jokingly used when cabbage prices soared?

After all, the effects of vegetables filled with divine power had already been thoroughly demonstrated by the leafy vegetables we ate as wraps.

And so the kimchi was divided into containers, each bearing the name of its intended recipient and carrying a small wish that they would enjoy eating it.

___________

The following day, the Daechun Group family's mansion was considerably more chaotic than usual.

An unexpected visitor had suddenly arrived, carrying both hands full of rough-looking kimchi containers that seemed completely out of place in a chaebol household.

"You said that's kimchi?"

"Yes."

"Hoho."

Chairman Joo Manho let out a hearty laugh of disbelief.

He hadn't sent those gifts expecting anything in return.

No, they hadn't even been gifts in the first place. He had specifically written that they were tutoring fees.

When he belatedly heard that the young man had accepted only one item from the many presents his son had brought, he had even worried that his own gifts might be returned as well.

But the return gift he'd brought was nothing more than kimchi?

And the person standing beside the kimchi, acting as the delivery boy, was none other than his son, the sole heir to Daechun Group.

The brat, who had hardly visited home since growing up, had suddenly appeared carrying containers of kimchi.

'Does this fellow have no sense of propriety? Or does he have more than anyone?'

Having received gifts worth tens of millions of won, proper manners would dictate that he visit the Chairman's office personally and bow his head in gratitude.

But Chairman Joo Manho's expectations had missed the mark completely.

No matter how closely he examined the plain kimchi containers, all he found was a brief note.

『Thank you for the other day. It isn't much of a return gift, but this is kimchi I made myself.』

'I really can't figure this fellow out.'

"Oh, goodness. Our son hasn't been home in ages, so why are you keeping him standing at the entrance? Hurry up and let him in."

"When did I ever say he couldn't come in?"

Only after his mother, who had been silently waiting behind them until her patience ran out, scolded his father was Joo Dohyeok finally able to enter the house.

"You must be hungry. We have kimchi, so shall I make some boiled pork? Everyone, we'll need to prepare a meal."

"Madam, we'll handle it, so please spend some time talking with your son."

The household staff tried to usher the mistress of the Daechun Group family back out of the kitchen. She had asked her son what he wanted to eat, but in her haste, she'd entered the kitchen without even waiting for his answer.

"Still, my son's home. I should prepare something for him."

"If you do this every time, we'll feel guilty accepting our salaries. We'll have everything ready in no time, so please go back out. Go on."

"Just let me finish this."

After considerable back-and-forth, the dining table was eventually filled with an assortment of dishes she had prepared herself.

"Here, hurry and eat. Look at you, working so hard outside that your face has become half its former size. Oh, it breaks my heart."

"Ahem. Is work going well?"

"Yes, well..."

-Clink. Clink.

Their awkward conversation ended after a brief exchange about how things had been going.

For some time afterward, they ate in silence, interrupted only occasionally by the sound of utensils touching dishes.

"Is that really all a father and son have to say to each other? The boy hasn't been home for three months. You're so cold to each other."

"He's twenty-eight and working at the company. What more is there to talk about?"

"Have you made any friends at work?"

In his mother's eyes, no matter how grown her son had become, he was still a child left unattended near the water's edge.

"Yeah. The senior who sits next to me."

At a question more suited to a child attending kindergarten, Joo Dohyeok hesitated for a moment before answering quietly.

"Really? My son has already made a friend at work?"

"Ha! A friend, my foot. He's an expensive private tutor. Didn't I tell you he's the same fellow who sent this kimchi?"

"Oh, really? How did a young man working at a company manage to make such delicious kimchi? You should try some too, dear."

"He's good at cooking. He runs a coffeehouse as a side business after work."

"He sounds like such a hardworking young man. Oh, by the way, are you eating breakfast properly?"

That was the moment she took control of the conversation.

Was he feeling unwell anywhere? Was he skipping meals?

Questions came pouring out one after another, born from curiosity about the son who had left home, barely giving him time to take a spoonful of food between answers.

He might have found his mother's fussing annoying, but strangely enough, instead of giving the short answers he'd offered his father, Joo Dohyeok readily elaborated and kept the conversation going.

It wasn't long before the two of them had completely emptied their bowls of rice.

"If you've finished eating, let's get up."

"Yes."

Having completed his errand, Joo Dohyeok hurriedly gathered his things and headed toward the entrance, afraid his father might say something unpleasant if he lingered.

"I'll come again."

But his mother gave no reply to her indifferent son's farewell.

Instead of receiving a response from the hand that had been stroking the back of the imposing Joo Dohyeok moments earlier while lamenting how thin he'd become, his farewell was received by the memorial portrait hanging on the living room wall.

(You must take care of yourself. Don't get sick, all right? My beloved son.)

His mother received her indifferent son's farewell with a warm smile and offered him one final piece of advice.

As Dohyeok stepped outside, the hand that had been patting his back turned transparent. Soon, her figure faded and disappeared like mist.

-Drip.

"Huh? What? Did something get in my eye?"

After getting into his car, Dohyeok roughly rubbed away the tears flowing down his cheeks without realizing it, then gripped the steering wheel again.

That night, no one in the mansion realized that the mistress of Daechun Group had passed away the previous year.

The small wish Jinseong had made, hoping that they would enjoy the kimchi, had come true.

In the form of a meal shared with a precious family member they would never see again.