Chapter 201: The New Beginning |
As the door swung open, Woo Sung-Chan rushed in screaming.
However, standing behind the door wasn't Lee Si-Yoon but me who was waiting for him with a dining chair in one hand.
Thud.
Woo Sung-Chan stopped in his tracks, blocked by the chair leg, and said, "Argh! You, you are...?"
With his movements restricted by the chair leg, Woo Sung-Chan was surprised when he saw my face.
At that moment, I swung the chair with all my might.
Bang!
Struck in the solar plexus and neck by the chair leg, Woo Sung-Chan dropped the knife he was holding.
Clang.
"Ugh," Woo Sung-Chan groaned as he stumbled outside the front door after being pushed by the chair.
Then I immediately dropped the chair and rushed over to pin Woo Sung-Chan down. Simultaneously, I twisted Woo Sung-Chan's arm and shouted at Kim Chan-Sung inside the house, "Mr. Kim! Please call the police right now."
"Y-yes! Okay!" Kim Chan-Sung responded with haste.
While recording the situation with his phone, Kim Chan-Sung promptly dialed 112.
'It's all over now,' I thought to myself.
It was game over having recorded Woo Sung-Chan wielding a knife as he entered the house.
Woo Sung-Chan screamed and struggled. "Shit! Let me go! Aaaah!"
I wanted to hit him a few more times, but I held back my anger to avoid exceeding the limits of self-defense.
"Aaah! You're so done if my dad finds out about this..." Woo Sung-Chan continued to yell.
"You came at me with a knife and all you can do is call for your dad? Don’t worry. Your father will be following you soon," I rebuked him.
Woo Sung-Chan seemed surprised by my words. "What... what do you mean by that?"
Soon, Choi So-Hye would be posting an article about the poor quality ingredients used at Woo Sun-Jae, the Korean restaurant run by Woo Sung-Chan's parents.
"You'll see," I muttered.
At that moment, Lee Si-Yoon, who had been hiding in fear, slowly emerged from behind the door.
Lee Si-Yoon, wearing a stretched blue tracksuit, shouted at Woo Sung-Chan who was pinned beneath me, "You fucking bastard!"
Lee Si-Yoon seemed too innocent to curse, but to my surprise, long-suppressed anger burst forth from his mouth.
I had come today to help Lee Si-Yoon take down Woo Sung-Chan, and also to introduce him to a scholarship foundation.
Having prepared alone for the GED after quitting high school due to trauma from Woo Sung-Chan's bullying, Lee Si-Yoon had the grades to easily get into Seoul National University. He had dreamed of attending a college of education as he thought bullying could have been avoided if it weren't for teachers' indifference.
But at this moment, Lee Si-Yoon was choosing a completely different path.
"I'll definitely become a prosecutor and lock up trash like you, Woo Sung-Chan," Lee Si-Yoon said with hardened resolve.
As Lee Si-Yoon affirmed his resolve, Woo Sung-Chan laughed mockingly beneath me. "Prosecutor? Bullshit. You can't even afford tuition! Tell me, do you have enough money to afford law school tuition? I bet not!"
But I answered Woo Sung-Chan's angry words on behalf of Lee Si-Yoon. "Si-Yoon just received a scholarship."
"What?"
Thanks to the scholarship foundation introduced by Kim Chan-Sung, Lee Si-Yoon and other victims of Woo Sung-Chan could continue their studies.
"Woo Sung-Chan, what will you do now? It doesn't seem too hard for Si-Yoon to become a prosecutor looking at his grades," I continued.
Woo Sung-Chan's perplexed eyes began to quiver with panic. He had always despised Lee Si-Yoon because he found it irritating that someone so poor could be so smart. Woo Sung-Chan knew better than anyone the extent of Lee Si-Yoon's academic abilities.
With a determined will, Lee Si-Yoon looked at me and said, "Yoon-Ho hyung, thank you for coming today. I'll never forget this debt."
The future prosecutor was thanking me, acknowledging he owed me a great debt.
I smiled and replied, "Don't mention it. More importantly, contact me whenever you need help."
"I will, Yoon-Ho hyung."
The police arrived not too long after, and Woo Sung-Chan was arrested on the spot for attempted murder as he had come in with a knife.
Just like that, the long night was finally coming to an end.
***
Actor Division 3 was turned upside down when the news spread that Woo Sung-Chan had sought out his victim with a knife.
However, I decided not to inform the media about this incident. Given the outrageous nature of Woo Sung-Chan's actions, it could severely damage the company as a whole.
Kim Chan-Sung handled everything on my behalf, and Woo Sung-Chan disappeared as if he had never existed.
Naturally, Haru was set to play a leading role in Master of Mukbang.
I was allowed some time off after wrapping up the incident because I needed to move before the shoot for In the Name of God began.
I left the second-hand items in my studio apartment as they were, and only packed some clothes and a blanket before heading over to Yoo-Jin's house.
When I arrived at Yoo-Jin's house at 5 p.m., two security staff from ADD Caps were on guard.
"Welcome, Mr. Jung," the guards greeted me.
I nodded and smiled. "Thank you for your hard work."
I gave a brief greeting and parked the car in the attached garage.
But only then did I notice that the garage door had changed. What was once a manual shutter was now an automatic one, and the entrance, previously 2.5 meters high, had been raised to 3.5 meters.
Thanks to this, the Merciless Bends Springer 2 for Yoo-Jin could also be parked inside the house.
'Could it be that Mrs. Jung In-Ji is secretly rich?' I wondered.
I hadn't thought deeply about it before since the house's exterior looked humble, but a three-story detached house on 330 square meters of land must be quite valuable.
But whether or not she was wealthy was not the point. More importantly, Jung In-Ji cared deeply for Yoo-Jin and me. I felt a twinge in my nose thinking that Jung In-Ji considered Yoo-Jin and I like a family.
"Let's get out, Haru."
"Okay, hyung."
As we got out of the car, Yoo-Jin, Miso, and Jung In-Ji, fully dressed and ready, were waiting for us.
"What are you doing, Miso?" I asked.
Miso, wearing gloves, said excitedly, "Uncle Yoon-Ho! We'll help you move!"
I replied, "There's no need. I threw out the heavy stuff and there’s not much left. I can just do it with Haru."
But Yoo-Jin shook her head and rolled up her sleeves. "Speak no more, tenant."
Jung In-Ji also smiled warmly. "Team Lead Jung. It'll be done quickly if we help. Come, let’s move quickly and have some jjajangmyeon."
"That won't be enough. I'll order sweet and sour pork, Kung Pao shrimp, and spicy stir-fried glass noodles as well!" I responded with a smile.
Jung In-Ji chuckled. "Ha ha. Alright then."
"Thank you so much for your help," I expressed my gratitude.
"Come on, let’s go up." Jung In-Ji replied with a grin.
We all carried a box each and started moving things to the third floor. When we reached the rooftop room, a neatly arranged yard came into my view. The walls of the rooftop room were perfectly repaired and the roof had been newly installed.
"You didn’t have to go through all this trouble..." I said.
"Nonsense. It's hot in summer and cold in winter without a roof," Jung In-Ji said.
"Thank you."
"Thank me for what? You're paying rent anyway."
"Oh, come on. I know you're only charging half the market rate."
"Ha ha. Let’s go inside. I’ve also ordered a platform [2] for the front and it will be delivered soon."
I entered the room after showing my gratitude. But the interior didn’t feel like a rooftop room at all. The clean three-room setup was brighter than a new building from the linoleum to the wallpaper, though I hadn’t expected wallpaper with flower patterns.
"Uh, this wallpaper is..." my voice trailed off.
Yoo-Jin quickly replied, "Oppa, Miso chose the wallpaper."
"Yep! I picked it out," Miso said excitedly.
Hearing Miso's words, any thoughts of changing the wallpaper vanished.
"W-wow. It's pretty. Exactly the shade I was looking for... yeah," I said with a sheepish smile.
Yoo-Jin and Miso burst out laughing.
Their laughter meant different things, though.
***
After we had finished setting up the house, we waited for the food from the Chinese restaurant Hwangryong.
Beep-beep.
"Oh? I think it's here."
Thanks to the intercom system connected to the front door on the third floor, I could see who was at the entrance. But instead of the delivery person from the Chinese restaurant, it was the talent agents from Team Jung.
-Yoon-Ho! Say something here! They won't let us in without your permission!
The security guards were giving them a stern look because I had instructed that not even the company employees should enter the home uninvited. Once I assured the guards over the intercom it was okay to let them in, the talent agents from Team Jung could finally enter the house.
Lee Yung-Jin came up carrying a pack of toilet paper rolls.
"Wow, this place is nice," he commented.
Lee Yung-Jin spoke casually with me as it was after work hours.
"Why did you come without calling? I’m planning to have a housewarming party on a separate day," I replied.
"Hey, do you think we have time for that? There's a hundred percent chance it will be canceled even if we schedule it. Besides, we have to eat and leave right away. We've got some work to do after," Lee Yung-Jin insisted.
"Alright. Take a seat."
All members of Team Jung had come except for Lee Dae-Ho who was currently busy managing on-site events for Lee Tae-Poong.
At that moment, Do Ran-Hee exclaimed, "Mr. Jung. I don't need jjajangmyeon. Just sweet and sour pork and yang jang pi noodles[1] will do."
'Ran-Hee, oh Ran-Hee. Where did you sell your conscience?' I remarked inwardly.
"I’ve ordered sweet and sour pork and other dishes already. I’ll add yang jang pi when they arrive," I replied.
Jung In-Ji spread a mat in the third-floor yard and we all sat around waiting for the food.
Shortly after, the food arrived in two rounds.
Sweet and sour pork, Kung Pao shrimp, spicy stir-fried glass noodles, yang jang pi, jjamppong, and jjajangmyeon quickly filled the mat.
That’s when Do Ran-Hee started singing and peeled the plastic wrap off the bowl of sweet and sour sauce.
"Sweet and sour pork~! Sweet and sour pork~ Gotta pour the sauce over sweet and sour pork!" Do Ran-Hee sang.
Just as she was about to pour the sauce on the dish, Lee Yung-Jin quickly grabbed her hand and said, "Stop right there. Who said you could pour the sauce? Pouring? Are you out of your mind?"
Do Ran-Hee glared at Lee Yung-Jin coldly and said, "Seriously? Do you prefer dipping the sauce? Wow, Yung-Jin oppa. You really don’t know what's good!"
Lee Yung-Jin had an incredulous look on his face. "I can't believe this, I just can’t. Is this why murders happen?"
"Oh dear. That’s a bit much to say~."
"What did you just say? Try me!"
"Are you really going to force me to chop off that hand?"
The two spat dialects at each other as they squabbled.
With one serving of sweet and sour pork and the half-unwrapped sauce, the battle of pouring versus dipping the sauce began.
At that moment, lines were drawn between the dipping and pouring factions.
Jung Sang-Bong, Do Ran-Hee, Eun Ji-Yoo, and Lee Mi-Ri were for pouring, while Lee Yung-Jin, Yang So-Ri, and Cha Sang-Jin were for dipping.
Do Ran-Hee stared intently at Haru who was seated beside me. "Haru, are you for dipping or pouring?"
"I’m for dipping," Haru answered.
Lee Yung-Jin cheerfully clenched his fist at Haru's words. "See? Haru has some sense. It's 4 to 4."
As Jung In-Ji and Yoo-Jin took sides in the dipping versus pouring debate as well, it ended up being 5 against 5.
We all silently agreed not to categorize Miso since she was young, and then it was my turn.
As the eyes of both the pouring and dipping factions turned to me, I declared firmly as the team lead, "We'll just order another one!"
***
After seeing off the employees following the housewarming, Do Ran-Hee and Lee Yung-Jin, whose schedules had been canceled, stayed until past 10 p.m.
But they were still grumbling about the earlier debate.
"Wow, seriously. Ran-Hee, who would date someone like you? Who would eat at the same table with a pourer?" Lee Yung-Jin asked.
"Oh? Look at this guy talking. If there were a line for the guys who liked me, it'd wrap around Yeouido Park and still leave about a hundred," Do Ran-Hee retorted.
Lee Yung-Jin grimaced annoyedly and retorted sarcastically at Do Ran-Hee's words. "Yes, yep. So you've only met Judases who betrayed Jesus."
'He's going to get hit if he keeps this up,' I thought silently.
Sure enough, Do Ran-Hee put Lee Yung-Jin in a headlock and yelled, "Eeek! You are so dead!"
"Agh! Let go! Let go! You crazy witch…!" Lee Yung-Jin grimaced.
'But they seem like a good match in my eyes for some reason,' I silently observed.
Lately, watching the two of them bicker had become quite entertaining.
"Quiet down and go home, everyone! I need to sleep early for tomorrow's schedule," I yelled.
Lee Yung-Jin and Do Ran-Hee pleaded to stay a little longer but were soon whisked away by Jung Sang-Bong.
After saying goodbye to all the talent agents, a sudden quiet enveloped the space.
"Phew. Tomorrow's the day," I muttered to myself.
The long-awaited crank-in for In the Name of God was tomorrow.
Yoo-Jin was set to play dual roles as Cheongmyung and Manshin Wol-Ah, which made me a bit nervous. But I was also hopeful that this would firmly establish the name Jung Yoo-Jin in the minds of the audience.
"You've got this, Jung Yoo-Jin," I mumbled to myself as I was about to head upstairs to sleep.
At that moment, Yoo-Jin who had left Miso with Jung In-Ji came out to the yard.
I looked at her and asked, "Why are you out here? You need to sleep early for the crank-in tomorrow."
Yoo-Jin hesitated before she told me she had something to say. "Oppa. Can we talk for a moment?"
"Huh? What about?"
At that moment, Yoo-Jin blurted out something completely unexpected with her face flushed red.
"Oppa….what do you think about me?"
1. Chinese inspired dish with vegetables and seafood mixed with spicy mustard sauce ☜
2. A very low wooden platform to sit on ☜
Ristretto's Thoughts
I genuinely frowned and got upset when I read the part about Do Ran-Hee pouring the sauce. Besides, is Yoo-Jin drunk or something? We all know that she has a crush on Yoon-Ho but this is so sudden 😯
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