Younger Man at Work (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
The two of them, returning from the market, sat facing each other and carefully sorted through everything that had happened so far in chronological order. Eun Seo even pulled out an old lease agreement from the drawer.
“My mom left home when I was in my first year of high school.”
“So that’s 16 years ago. Your memory goes up until 15 years ago—when you were eighteen.”
“Yes. Since when have you been living in this house, Nuna?”
“Also 15 years ago. My parents got divorced, so my younger sibling and I followed our mom here. The three of us—Mom, my sibling, and me—lived in this house for about six months before I lost my sibling.”
Coincidentally, the initial lease date written on the contract was just a few days after the last day Seung Joo could remember.
In other words, Eun Seo had moved in right after Seung Joo had left the house.
“So that means I moved into my father’s house back then—15 years ago.”
He had ended up moving in with his father just one year after living alone in this house following his mother’s departure.
Now he understood why the house had been immediately rented out after he left. Most likely, his father had rushed to bring in new tenants to prevent Seung Joo from ever returning.
In any case, Seung Joo’s memory had stopped precisely at that moment—right before he moved into his father’s house.
“Why exactly then?”
Seung Joo murmured as if he didn’t know, but Eun Seo felt she had an inkling.
He might not know anything about his current thirty-three-year-old self, but Eun Seo knew both versions well. Their personalities were drastically different.
If she thought about herself as an example, she didn’t feel much had changed between her second year of high school and now. Sure, she’d matured with age, but her fundamental personality was essentially the same.
Yet eighteen-year-old Kwon Seung Joo and thirty-three-year-old Kwon Seung Joo were completely different—no, they seemed like entirely separate people.
“What on earth happened during those 15 years?”
The Seung Joo before her now was cheerful, mature, and kind—even though he’d already endured his parents’ separation and his mother’s disappearance.
But the thirty-three-year-old Director Kwon Seung Joo was a cold, work-obsessed man with no compassion whatsoever.
There must have been a clear reason for such a drastic personality shift. To Eun Seo, it seemed directly tied to his life with his father.
Perhaps something deeply traumatic had happened at his father’s house—enough to completely flip his personality 180 degrees.
“Could that be why his memory reverted to the time just before he started living with his father…?”
Still, there was no need to voice mere speculation. Eun Seo swallowed her words and stood up.
“I’m getting hungry. I’ll go make dinner—you rest a bit.”
But Seung Joo quickly got up and followed her.
“I’ll help.”
“No, you were so sick last night—you should rest.”
“I’m all better now.”
No matter how many times she insisted he didn’t need to help and told him to go back inside, Seung Joo stubbornly followed her all the way to the kitchen.
“How long did you live with just your mom?”
“For about two years.”
Seung Joo answered while skillfully washing rice. It was hard to believe with his own eyes—the kind of guy who looked like his fridge would hold nothing but bottled water—yet there he was, calmly checking the water level with his wrist.
“One day, Dad suddenly asked for a divorce. Mom refused outright—she said she’d never agree. She never told me directly, but I think Dad had another woman.”
While Eun Seo prepared soup, Seung Joo started cooking rice.
“You said earlier at the market that you felt bad because I’ve probably only ever worn department store clothes.”
Seung Joo gave a bitter smile.
“Not after Mom and I moved out. Dad stopped sending us living expenses.”
Eun Seo’s mouth fell open silently. So Seon Ah had been right when she cursed the chairman.
“What? He cut off your living expenses—even though you were still a kid, not to mention your mom?”
“He was pressuring Mom to divorce quickly so he could go to that other woman.”
“…”
“I remember thinking back then: just what kind of ajumma could make Dad fall so deeply that he’d throw away both Mom and me like old rags?”
Eun Seo recalled the stepmother she’d seen at the hospital. She wasn’t sure of the woman’s exact age, but compared to the chairman—who was nearly sixty—she was strikingly young and beautiful.
“When I was at the hospital, an ajumma came and claimed she was my mom. I think it was probably her.”
Eun Seo nearly sliced her finger while chopping radish, so startled that she dropped the knife. Unsure what to do, she hesitated briefly before deciding to just tell the truth.
“Yes, that’s her. She’s remarried now—she’s the chairman’s wife.”
“I figured as much.”
Seung Joo nodded calmly—an admirable composure hard to believe from an eighteen-year-old. It pained Eun Seo to imagine how much hardship he must have endured to become so mature at such a young age.
Since the topic had already come up, she steeled herself and finally said what she’d been unable to voice until now.
“Listen… actually… she also gave birth to your younger brother.”
Seung Joo, clearly startled by this, stopped mid-motion while setting a spoon on the table.
“How old is he?”
“Three years younger than you, so he must be around thirty.”
After a long silence, Seung Joo finally murmured,
“…Mom must have been so pitiful.”
Eun Seo understood what he meant. The fact that his half-brother was so close in age to him meant his mother had been deceived for a very long time.
Thoughtful, mature—and sharp—Seung Joo was truly intelligent.
“I heard he’s doing well at the company, too. So that’s why Dad wanted to drive me out—to make room for his other child.”
Eun Seo had no idea how to comfort him. Helplessly, she kept chopping radish into smaller and smaller pieces.
“Thank you for helping me, Nuna.”
Seung Joo spoke with quiet resolve.
“I don’t really care about being a successor or anything, but I won’t let that ajumma’s son take it from me.”
*
Just as dinner was nearly ready, the doorbell rang suddenly.
“Who is it?”
Thinking it might be a delivery, she called out loudly—and a voice answered from outside the gate.
“Eun Seo! It’s me!”
It was Seon Ah’s voice. Eun Seo froze in shock. What? Why’s she coming over all of a sudden?
She wondered if Seon Ah had taken a day off today saying she was sick and had come over worried—but then Seon Ah spoke again.
“I bought pork belly! Open the door quick!”
Eun Seo’s heart sank belatedly. Right! Seon Ah had said she’d bring pork belly over for the weekend!
She’d been so overwhelmed by Seung Joo she’d completely forgotten.
Eun Seo panicked. There was no way she could let Seon Ah meet Seung Joo—yet it was already too late to pretend she wasn’t home.
There was only one option.
“Hide! If she finds you, both our lives are over!”
“Who is it?”
Meanwhile, Seon Ah kept urging her impatiently.
“Ugh, why are you taking so long? This is insanely heavy!”
“No time to explain—hide, now!”
She shoved the bewildered Seung Joo toward his room and shouted,
“Ah, just a sec! I’m coming!”
She rushed to open the gate, and there stood Seon Ah, holding plastic bags in both hands, glaring at her.
“This is killing me. What took you so long to open the door?”
“Sorry, I was busy with something.”
Please hurry up and hide! Eun Seo stood blocking the entrance, sweating inwardly, and asked,
“But Seon Ah, didn’t you say you’d come on the weekend? Today’s Friday.”
“I came early so I can eat pork belly with you tonight and help you pack your moving boxes all weekend.”
Seon Ah lifted the heavy-looking bags dramatically.
“I bought pork belly and soju too! Let’s eat ourselves to death tonight—feeling kind of down.”
“Why? Something bad happen?”
“I haven’t seen our Seung Joo for a whole week!”
Eun Seo shuddered. If Seon Ah found out she was living with that Seung Joo…!
“Isn’t grilling meat a hassle? Let’s just go to a restaurant instead, Seon Ah.”
“What are you talking about? I bought three pounds of pork belly to last us through tomorrow! Ugh, it’s heavy—let’s go inside already.”
Ignoring her completely, Seon Ah strode right through the gate.
“The breeze is nice and cool—perfect weather for grilling meat.”
She headed straight into the kitchen as if it were her own home and quickly pulled out a portable gas stove and grill—after all, she’d bought them herself.
Thankfully, Seung Joo seemed well-hidden; not even a strand of hair was visible. As long as he stayed in his room, he probably wouldn’t be discovered—guests wouldn’t randomly enter a room the owner didn’t use.
Praying he’d hidden somewhere truly undetectable, Eun Seo set the table with Seon Ah.
They arranged plates, seasonings, garlic, and lettuce on the umbrella table set up on the jangdokdae, then placed a rice table beside it and set up the gas stove.
As they worked, darkness slowly fell. When Eun Seo turned on the yard lights, Seon Ah let out an admiring sigh.
“Wow, the vibe is perfect.”
Soon, the delicious aroma of grilling meat filled the yard.
‘I’ll just eat quickly and make up an excuse to send her home.’
Thinking that, Eun Seo grilled the meat diligently.
“Alright, shall we try a piece?”
As Seon Ah picked up a lettuce leaf and placed meat on it, she suddenly murmured,
“Oh right, there’s no gochujang. I don’t eat ssamjang.”
She stood up and lifted the lid of a large jar tucked in the corner of the jangdokdae.
“What’s this—gochujang?”
When clearing out the old jars from the jangdokdae, Eun Seo had left only the largest one behind. She’d planned to sell it later since jars of that size were quite valuable—but kept delaying and had left it there until now.
Eun Seo, still grilling, replied,
“That’s just for decoration. The real gochujang’s in the bottom cabinet in the kitchen.”
But for some reason, Seon Ah didn’t answer.
“Seon Ah?”
Eun Seo looked up—and saw Seon Ah standing motionless, holding the jar lid.
“What’s wrong?”
The next moment, Seon Ah whispered in a trembling voice,
“Director…?”
Eun Seo dropped the meat tongs she was holding.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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