Chapter 66

Editor: Lio Soup

Pr: Re & TT

In the end, I came to Alice’s Labyrinth, but I wasn’t in a very pleasant mood as I went down. To be honest, I didn’t want to come, and I didn’t think my presence would make the boss feel as good as he’d hoped. Even so, it was because of the manager’s earnest voice that I came.

And because he got slapped by the mad dog on my behalf. Mostly I wanted to repay the debt. However, when I descended the familiar Alice’s staircase, my annoyance was interrupted by the angry voice that could be heard all the way across the hallway.

“… It’s you! You’re the one who told me to do it! Son of a bitch, you’ve been waiting all this time for an opportunity to set me up? Huh?!”

Clang, clatter-!

It was followed by the sound of heavy objects falling, as if furniture had been broken. The sound echoing through the hallway was coming from the boss’s office at the end. And in the middle of the hallway stood the manager with a stony expression. Perhaps he was deliberately keeping the other staff out, there were eyes peeking out at the bend of the other end of the hallway. I was about to climb back up the stairs thinking I shouldn’t have entered, but I heard a name I recognized amidst the angry rant.

“Tell me, you punk! Do you think I didn’t know that you’ve been plotting against Jay since a long time ago?! Why else would Jay suddenly change his mind and come looking for father?! Why else would he suddenly want to take over our assets!”

Shatter!

The sound of something breaking was heard, followed by a series of thuds, bangs, clatter. I moved towards the doorway where the voice was getting louder and louder. As I stopped next to the manager, I heard another contemptuous voice from inside the door.

“You bastard, where did you even crawl out from. Do you think father would even take a glance at you just because you were messing around with our family like this? Not in a million years, you bastard.”

This time I didn’t hear anything breaking. Instead, a more ominous silence fell, and the man’s voice was heard again.

“Stay away from Jay while I’m still speaking nicely. and…”

It was muffled after that, but it was clear that the boss didn’t respond to his words. . Moments later, the door burst open and a tall man in his early 60s walked out. His face flushed with anger, but his fine clothes and commanding gait showed that he was no ordinary man. He strode past me and the manager with rough steps, as if we didn’t exist. The manager quickly chased after him as if to escort him, but he didn’t forget to whisper to me.

“Please wait for a moment.”

So the manager went outside to guide the man who treated him like air. I looked at the door that was left open to a palm’s width and moved closer. I was sorry I didn’t listen to the manager’s words, but I heard rustling in the room and pushed the door a little further. Inside the chaos with everything turned upside down, the boss was bending over and tidying things up one by one. At the sound of the door, he raised his head to see me and feigned cordiality.

“Oh, is Baekwon here?”

Just his usual voice. If he had been sitting there depressed or had a dust allergy, I would have just turned around. But seeing as he was fine, I had no choice but to respond.

“If I help you, will you pay me part-time?”

I said this, but I was already straightening the overturned sofa.

“Part-time? Hmm, how much do you want?”

“Anything’s fine as long as it’s not two hundred won.”

The boss twitched his lips and nodded his head.

“Okay, then three hundred…”

“I hate three hundred won more.”

I cut in, and he glared.

“What’s wrong with a beautiful three hundred won?”

But I couldn’t be annoyed with him for three hundred won. He was talking as usual, but he seemed to be out of sorts.

“If you give me three hundred won, I feel like I have to work half as hard, so give me fifty won.”

I pushed aside the broken china with my foot and pushed the overturned table back into place. The boss smiled again and sat down on the sofa opposite. He even motioned for me to sit down. I must have done fifty won worth just by setting up the sofa and the table. Even though the place was an absolute mess right now, there was something amiss. The numerous wreaths and flower baskets..There wasn’t a trace of even the dried up flowers. The boss noticed my gaze and lightly explained.

“I threw away the flowers yesterday because they were unusable.”

Come to think of it, according to the manager, there were uninvited guests yesterday too. Was it a different uninvited guest than today?

“Who?”

The boss returned a blank stare at my question. I pointed to the closed door and asked again.

“Who was the one who left earlier?”

I didn’t have the right to ask, but strangely, my intuition made me do it. In case he wanted to talk about it, despite pretending like it’s nothing. The boss would just not answer me if he disliked my prying, and get mad at me. The admonition to myself, that I was not like myself, floated around in my head, but I pushed it away. Because my predictions were right.

“Jay’s biological father.”

The boss gave an explanation, staring at the door with emotionless eyes.

“The father who abandoned Jay.”

Automatically, I recalled the man who had just passed by in my mind. And I rummaged through my memory to find similarities with the madman. Once I heard the boss’s words, it seemed that they shared similarities in their appearance.. But that was all. His aura was different from the madman, he did not feel like a family member. Rather, the boss, who did not look very similar to him, felt more like a family to the madman.

“So he’s your brother.”

It was a natural conclusion since he said he was the uncle of the madman, but he shook his head with a cough.

“Not really. He doesn’t see me as a brother, and I don’t see him as a brother either.”

Can people decide they’re not family just like that? You can’t ignore it if you share the same blood. My suspicions were soon dispelled by the boss’s words.

“It’s not even clear that we share the same blood.”

Then the boss added easily.

“I am an illegitimate child.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” he nodded broadly.

“I don’t know my father. When I was young, my mother passed away and she told me, “This is your father.” I went to visit, but They kicked me out, accusing me of being a scammer out to get money. They were so dirty and vicious so I didn’t even get a paternity test.”

Then he laughed and muttered to himself.

“Well, I did need money because of debts left by my mother who was running a liquor store.”

“Then, is Jay also an illegitimate child like you?”

This question was the first time he became angry with a stormy expression.

“Jay is not. Jay is nothing like me!”

It’s really fascinating. He was not even recognized as a younger brother by his older brother, yet he cherished his older brother’s child like this. And a child the older brother abandoned at that. When he realized he’d gotten himself worked up, he let out a low sigh and spaced out his questions.

“Did you see the person who left earlier?”

I nodded, and he grinned at me in amusement.

“Oh, well, I can say it then. It’ll all be known in a couple weeks anyway.”

“What will be known?”

“That, that person is Jay’s biological father.”

As I thought about ‘that person’, I could see why the boss said it was fine to say it. I didn’t know that person, so it seemed to mean that it would be the same even if I listened to the boss’s story anyway. So it seems that the identity of that person is important. When the boss made the decision to speak, he leaned back on the sofa and opened his mouth as if talking about the old days.

“That man is officially married to Jay’s mother. I heard that the marriage was arranged by the father. She gave birth to Jay, but the marriage was not a happy one. Still, Jay’s mother tried to save the marriage, but they had been living apart since before they were married. She had already given birth to Jay’s older brother and sister. Then she brazenly registered the two children in the family register and took them home. Isn’t it obvious up to this point? Well, this much is common in that society.”

What society is it that it’s common? I swallowed the question and listened to the boss’s words.

“But as if that person didn’t have enough children, he wanted to take a mistress into the house. Just at that time, Jay’s mother had no intention of continuing her marriage as her own father passed away. That person got the divorce he wanted so much and married his mistress with the permission of her father who had arranged this marriage. Well, Jay’s mother had no regrets anymore, so she agreed easily. It’s a happy ending. Except for Jay.”

“Why?”

“He didn’t let go of Jay. There was no way that greedy old… that person’s father was going to give up a male child. Even though Jay’s mother said that she would not take a penny of alimony to take Jay, and that she would not take back the property she brought with her when she married, the old man wouldn’t allow it. Jay was 8 years old when his mother left him and promised to pick him up in a year. Instead, she told him he should never use one thing in the meantime. What do you think it is?”

He asked, but nothing came to mind, so I shook my head. He seemed amused that I didn’t know the answer, so he smiled and answered.

“His head.”

The boss tapped his own head with his finger.

“She said he shouldn’t use his head. To be honest, I don’t understand the mother who gave such an instruction to her 8-year-old child, nor the son who fulfilled it well. But Jay really seems to have shut his mouth as well as his head for a year. He eventually went to the hospital and was diagnosed with aphasia and autism symptoms due to the shock of his mother’s disappearance. When Jay’s mother came a year later, the old man gave him away easily. Even showing the kindness of digging him out from the family register, saying that their family doesn’t need anyone who is lacking.”

Satisfied with this fact, the boss let his shoulders tremble and laughed.

“Haha, isn’t it creepy? That an 8-year-old kid fooled everyone, even the doctor.”

He laughed a little more and then relaxed and finished.

“So Jay went to America and became Yoon.”

Along with his voice, the words madman had said came to mind.

― He was originally supposed to be Han, but wasn’t, and I was Han and then changed to Yoon.

That’s what it meant. Looking at the calm face of the boss, I asked one last question.

“How did you know Jay?”

According to him, there was no point of contact. He looked up into the air for a moment after being asked, and smiled softly.

“When I first went to that house and got beaten up and kicked out, only one person acknowledged me. Saying that she could see that I was the old man’s son. That was Jay’s mother. She said she would help me. Really… I didn’t understand then. The people I thought were family looked at me like a bug, but why did this person, a stranger, help me? I refused because I thought it was pity, but she only scolded me for thinking that.”

He looked at me and said seriously.

“I was very scared.”

“…”

“Surprised? Well, it must be surprising that cute Jay’s mother was such a scary person. I was very surprised when I first saw it.”

‘No, I’m surprised because of you.’ I look at the boss seriously who confessed that he was scared, but he continues talking casually.

“With her help, I was able to pay off my debt and open a small bar. So half of this store is Jay’s.”

Shareholder. So that’s why the madman said he had a share in this place.

“Even though I received help, I couldn’t show it and treated her curtly, but she brought her young son and…”

The boss pretended to clear his throat, averted his eyes for a moment, then continued his speech.

“She introduced me as his uncle and let me meet him a few times. After Jay went to America, I kept in touch only with Jay’s mother. I only saw Jay briefly when he came to Korea 5 years ago, but when he came back a few months ago, we met again. But maybe it’s because he hasn’t seen me for so long…”

His words faded. He muttered as he turned his head to the side with a melancholy expression.

“He doesn’t call me uncle.”

To be honest, I didn’t think I would want to call him uncle if I was the madman. The boss’s familial affection was too burdensome. I changed the subject to change his depressed mood.

“The family register has been sorted out, so why did that biological father show up?”

“Ah, whew, the old man covets Jay. He’s always been talented. When he heard that Jay was active in the US, he was nervous, and in the end, as soon as he came back to Korea, he tried to invite him. That’s why the man and his children who worked so hard under the old man are on edge. No matter how hard they try, they’re not as good as Jay.”

‘Try’, This word reminded me of the madman’s sarcastic words that ‘ there’s an idiot more incompetent than me who thinks he can win’.

“Then why is he making a fuss with you?”

“Well, that’s…”

He smiled and replied with delight

“He went to Jay and made a fuss, but he didn’t budge, so he must have come to me. Because Jay and I are close, he is envious and jealous. Whew, they can’t even talk to each other, but I and Jay have already made 43 phone calls and sent 70 text messages over the months! Hahaha— and we drank together twice!”

Contrary to the manager’s worries, the boss’s mood was relieved on his own. Still, I knew that the messy room and the verbal abuse from Jay’s father wouldn’t go away easily. And I knew a cure that would heal his wounds once and for all.

“When I asked Jay who you were,”

He raised his eyes in question.

“He said you were his uncle.”

Unfortunately for the manager who wanted the boss to smile, the opposite situation was created. The half-stunned boss’s eyes quickly turned red.

Important T/N: Hihi~ This is kinda an impulsive idea but I decided to make a discord server for my projects since like… I’m bored lol >.< It's just a place to chat with other readers, share fanart, share book mtls etc. It'd also be a place for private releases if I ever get dmca warned in the future (a very real threat unfortunately). Additionally, I wanted to share the audio drama of Payback which I obtained recently! Feel free to join if you'd like~

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