Real Man

Chapter 58

Mother was still complaining, dragging her younger sister into it.

“That Jae-hee kid is just like her father. She’ll come home drunk again today.”

“Isn’t she coming tomorrow?”

“What do you mean? She left in the afternoon to meet her friends and hasn’t contacted me yet. Sigh.”

“She’ll be fine.”

Yoo-hyun said, and mother shook her head.

Yoo-hyun looked at his mother quietly.

He remembered a different face from his young mother’s.

He saw a glimpse of his mother’s face that had aged and lost its vitality.

His mother asked him when she saw his face.

“Why? Do you have something on your face?”

“I’m just happy.”

“Ho ho, you’re so sweet. Yeah, I live for my son.”

Mother brightened up.

She became more confident and expressive than before.

He couldn’t see the drooping shoulders that had lingered like an afterimage.

Was this also a butterfly effect brought by Yoo-hyun’s change?

Or did he just not care enough about his mother back then?

One thing was certain: his mother no longer looked like she was stuck in the past.

Yoo-hyun held his mother’s hand and said.

“Don’t just live, but live happily for a long time.”

“Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll see you get married and have grandchildren.”

“Of course. I’ll try harder.”

“Really? You’ll bring a girl when you have one?”

“Sure.”

Mother smiled brightly at Yoo-hyun’s answer.

That night.

Yoo-hyun gestured to his younger sister who came home after hanging out with her friends.

Her cheeks were flushed, but she seemed to walk fine.

“You came home early.”

“What do you care? Why? Did you miss me?”

“…”

Yoo-hyun handed her a gift box without a word.

“Wow, is this my gift?”

“Yeah. Open it.”

“What is it, what is it?”

Han Jae-hee tore the wrapping paper excitedly.

A rectangular box that wasn’t very thick soon revealed itself.

Han Jae-hee’s eyes widened when she saw the picture and brand on the box.

“This, this is a Hakom tablet. Wow. And it’s a large inch?”

“The pen performance is also top-notch.”

“This is really expensive… Is it second-hand? Or a knock-off?”

She must have been drunk.

She tore the wrapping paper herself and said that.

“Don’t talk nonsense. If you don’t like it, give it to me.”

“Take it if you can.”

“Really? Can I return it?”

Swish.

Han Jae-hee pulled the tablet close to her body as if she couldn’t let go of it.

Then she turned on the tablet with sparkling eyes.

“But why are you giving me this?”

“It’s a first paycheck gift.”

“Are you crazy? You’re really weird.”

“What do you mean?”

She kept looking at the tablet screen with her eyes wide open and muttered with her mouth.

“You’re really crazy. How can you buy this? You barely make any money.”

“I make enough to buy you one. Don’t worry. I’ll buy you another one if you need it.”

He was serious.

It was a bit hard to buy with his salary, but not impossible.

Money is money if you make more of it.

No, he was confident that he could make a lot of money if he wanted to.

But.

He didn’t want to.

Money was not important to Yoo-hyun at all right now.

He wanted to make up for what he couldn’t do for his sister more than that.

But his sister poured cold water on him.

“Did you drink?”

“What do you mean? You’re the one who drank.”

“Are you really saying this in your right mind?”

“…”

Yoo-hyun gave a hollow laugh.

Han Jae-hee didn’t stop there.

“How can someone change so much?”

“Just stop talking nonsense and try it out.”

He thought they had gotten closer after talking last time, but there was still a distance between them.

He could tell by the way she didn’t trust him even after giving her a gift.

“It’s nice though…”

Han Jae-hee picked up the pen and started drawing on the tablet.

She was silent for a while.

Yoo-hyun looked at his sister with a faint smile.

He felt proud and sorry at the same time.

He remembered the past when he had cut off contact with his family.

When he was immersed in success, cutting off ties with his family, Yoo-hyun tried to persuade a foreign buyer by looking at her SNS account.

The reason was simple.

He could get some information about the person by looking at their SNS account.

It wasn’t as good as observing them directly, but it definitely gave him an advantage in negotiations.

It was one of Yoo-hyun’s secrets to success.

That’s how he looked at other people’s lives and stumbled upon his sister’s SNS account.

He saw that his sister, who had given up on art, posted her sketches every day.

They were mostly cute icons and emoticons, and people’s reactions were not bad.

But his sister, who had faced the harshness of the world and lost her emotions, was rather hesitant.

She felt resentment rather than gratitude for the kindness of others.

-It would have been nice if I could have met this a little sooner.

His sister posted a message of regret along with a picture of a tablet with a pen.

He was snapped out of his reverie by his sister’s voice.

“Brother, what are you doing?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Let’s have a drink.”

Han Jae-hee put the tablet aside and walked out, then came back with a bottle of whiskey.

She also brought glasses, ice, and a plate of fruit.

But the liquor she brought was very familiar.

“Is that the one that was on the chair in the living room?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“Hey, that’s dad’s gift.”

“It’s okay. Dad can’t drink anyway.”

Clack.

Han Jae-hee opened the bottle without hesitation.

Glug glug glug.

The liquor was poured before he could say anything.

The situation was over.

Maybe it was for the best.

That’s how Yoo-hyun sat on the floor in his room for the first time with his sister and drank whiskey.

Han Jae-hee gulped it down in one shot.

“Kuhuk, refreshing.”

“How can you do a one-shot?”

“Drinking is all about one-shot. You don’t know the basics.”

“…”

He wondered why his mother said she had a drinking problem.

“Brother, have an apple. Ah.”

“What are you doing? Gross.”

“Aing.”

“Stop it.”

Look at her drunk speech?

“Kahaha. Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.”

Why is she laughing like that?

He saw a lot of new sides of his sister in a short time.

Sides that he didn’t know, and didn’t know for 20 years.

That’s how much they had distanced themselves.

“Hey, Han Yoo-hyun. Why are you suddenly being nice to me?”

What the heck?

Now she even talks to him casually.

“What?”

“Why are you confusing me like this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You told me not to live like this. You said what kind of art is this. Huh? Huh? But why are you doing this now?”

Han Jae-hee poured out her resentment with a flushed face.

At that moment, a very old memory flashed through Yoo-hyun’s mind.

-Art is talent. What are you going to do with that mediocre skill? Go to college and then what? Just waste the family money?

It was about three years ago by now?

He had snapped at his sister who suddenly changed her career path and wanted to do art.

To Yoo-hyun, his sister was doing a hopeless challenge.

She got into college with hard work, but it wasn’t a very good one.

Her college life was also not very satisfying.

There was no way she could see a job opportunity in that situation.

By Yoo-hyun’s standards, his sister was already a failed life.

Why did he judge his sister so harshly?

Looking back, it was a ridiculous moment.

He shook his head and opened his mouth.

“I didn’t know back then. But it’s different now. You have talent.”

“How do you know? How do you know I have talent?”

“I saw you draw. I also saw the portfolio you submitted for the assignment.”

“That’s… I don’t have good grades. I have no talent.”

“No. You did well. I have some eye for it.”

It wasn’t just a compliment.

He didn’t major in art, but he had seen countless products with designs in the forefront of the electronics industry for 20 years.

His sister definitely had talent.

She just didn’t know the right direction.

“No. I have low grades, and I never won any awards…”

No, she did well.

Why does she keep saying she didn’t?

“You should be more confident. You can do it.”

“No. I won’t be able to graduate like this, and I won’t be able to get a job…”

Why is she so depressed all of a sudden?

She was so fierce just a moment ago, but now she’s gone.

This was also his sister’s side.

He had to cheer her up now.

“You can do it. I believe in you.”

“What do you know?”

“I know. Even if you don’t know, I know. I’ll teach you if you don’t know.”

Han Jae-hee’s shoulders trembled slightly at Yoo-hyun’s firm answer.

Was it hard for her all this time?

Did she want some comfort?

“How… can I do it?”

Maybe so.

She must have wanted to hear more, not because she was drunk.

She opened her ears first, even though she had a strong pride.

Yoo-hyun straightened his posture and looked at his sister face to face.

“You like drawing cute things, right? Try designing icons for phones.”

“Icons?”

“Yeah. Not because of the trend, but according to Hansung Future Research Institute data, icon designers are popular in the US.”

“…Keep going.”

Han Jae-hee showed interest and Yoo-hyun spoke more passionately.

“And you know emoticons, right? They’re also about making characters express emotions. You can make a lot of money with these characters later.”

“…”

Han Jae-hee’s eyes shook at the word big money.

She looked tempted.

He had to strike the final blow here.

“It’s true. You’re good at both of them. Try them out. Don’t worry about graduating or anything.”

“How can I not worry?”

“I’ll take responsibility for it, so just do what you like.”

She wouldn’t believe him.

But it was true.

When smartphones became widely available in the world, and SNS became popular, designers who were good at these two things made a lot of money.

It was icing on the cake if he could secure the market first.

Han Jae-hee had all those talents.

Yoo-hyun hoped his sister would realize that fact.

And he thought there was enough room for it.

“What responsibility? Kahaha. Gulp. Gulp.”

She laughed while holding her stomach until then.

Yoo-hyun looked at his sister with an incredulous expression.

“Forget it. Do whatever you want.”

“Kahaha, are you mad? Huh?”

“No. Hey, don’t touch me. You smell.”

“I’m just too grateful. Kahaha. It’s the first time I’m glad you’re my brother.”

Could it be the first time?

But he felt proud to hear that.

He must have been playing the role of a brother for this taste.

‘I wish she would keep smiling like this.’

She looked good when she laughed freely, even if she was drunk.

He wished that smile would last forever.

Yoo-hyun said with a serious expression to Han Jae-hee.

“If you’re grateful, just promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“You have to remember this even when you’re sober.”

“Kahaha, okay. What is it?”

He looked at his sister’s face and put some strength in his voice.

“When you really have someone to date, you have to introduce him to me.”

“What? Why?”

“So I can play the role of a brother.”

“Kukuku, kahaha. Gulp. Gulp.”

“…”

He took back what he said about liking her smile.

This was too much, wasn’t it?

Yoo-hyun looked at Han Jae-hee rolling on the floor with thin eyes and closed his eyes.

He felt like his stomach was going to explode if he kept looking at her.