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Chapter 357

Chapter 357 . A Hero in Paradise, but on Earth (2)





FLASH!

Light scattered everywhere .

A tall, young man suddenly appeared in the middle of an empty room .

“… . ”

Seol Jihu looked around his room feebly .

This was already his fourth time .

It was only natural that he wasn’t particularly moved .

After standing absent-mindedly for a while, Seol Jihu finally began to wander around the room .

When he slid open the window, sunlight poured down on him and the cries of cicadas filled the air .

Out on the street, people were dressed in short sleeves and shorts .

The year had changed and summer had come without him knowing .

Only then did his brain really register the passage of time .

Seol Jihu gazed out the window then lowered his head with a deep sigh .

He proceeded to skim through a random book, then turned on his laptop and clicked through a few websites .

Finally, when he finished exploring all the other options, he sat against the wall and turned on the TV .

—Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Aqua lipstick~

Watching a lipstick commercial featuring four celebrities, he smoked cigarettes, one after the other .

The two eyes staring at the TV screen were totally blank, as was his head .

It wasn’t until his ashtray was full of cigarette butts that Seol Jihu realized his hand was inside his pocket .

His fingers were fidgeting with the tiny piece of paper he had received when he left Paradise .

His lips twisted in a self-derogatory smile .

“Fuck, I’m bored… . ”

This was why he didn’t want to return .

He had so many things to do in Paradise .

If there was no work, he could always train .

But he didn’t have anything to do on Earth .

Or rather, to be precise, he didn’t know what to do .

‘…Should I go back?’

Seol Jihu bit his lips .

A look of distress flashed across his face .

It wasn’t like he was running away . He was just paying a short visit to Paradise .

All members of Valhalla would’ve left Paradise by now .

And, it didn’t really matter if he got caught .

He figured he’d just tell them that he forgot something in Paradise and stopped by to get it .

Spending a day or two in Paradise would surely calm him down . It seemed like a good idea .

‘I mean, Noona could be back . Also, I have to feed Little Chick holy power… . ”

The corner of Seol Jihu’s mouth curled up .

Just thinking of Paradise made him feel better .

That’s right . A short visit wouldn’t hurt .

He concluded and grabbed the small piece of paper in his pocket .

It was then .

Ding-dong!

The notification sound startled Seol Jihu .

He quickly pulled out his hand like a child caught making a mistake .

His cell phone, which he had connected to a charger earlier, was blinking .

“Damn it . Who is it?”

Seol Jihu frowned and reached for his phone .

The timing was too good . Someone — probably Kim Hannah — must have predicted that he’d do something like this and sent a threatening text message .

However, contrary to his expectations, the sender wasn’t Kim Hannah .

More importantly, his phone was bursting with lots of unread text messages . There were at least a dozen .

“What the…?”

Seol Jihu quickly skimmed through the texts .

Most of them were from the same person, who was neither his family nor his friend .

[Oppa . What’s up?]

It was Yun Seora, the youngest daughter of Sinyoung .

[Are you busy?]

[Oppa, are you asleep?]

[Is this Jihu Oppa’s phone number?]

[You said you’d treat me to dinner… . ]

[I thought you’d be back by now… . Are you still over there?]





[I hate you . ]

[No, I don’t hate you . I miss you . ]

[:‑P Ehehehe . I’m so drunk♡ I hate youuuu . ]

[I heard the news . Congratulations on your victory . Ah, the most recent text was from my sister . Just ignore it . ]

…And so on .

Two-thirds of the texts were from Yun Seora, even though he never replied .

She was like a stalker .

“Scary… . ”

Yun Seora’s tenacity terrified Seol Jihu, but he quickly shook off his fear and began reading through the messages .

He saw several long texts from his mother and several from his brother .

[Working?]

[Text me when you get off work . I got a call from the district office today about your military training . Apparently the Reserve Forces is preparing to suspend your ID . You know busy work is no excuse for skipping training . ][1]

[Why is it so hard to get in touch with you? Mother misses you a lot . ]

[Just how busy are you…? Give me a call . I know you’re working to pay off your debts, but it won’t be worth it if you collapse from overwork . ]

The most recent text was also from his brother .

[Tomorrow’s Mother’s birthday . Did you get her text? Come home . Don’t worry too much . At least give her a call if you can’t make it . ]

Suddenly Seol Jihu came to his senses .

It was like a bucket of cold water had just been poured over his head .

‘What was I… just about to do?’

One of the things he regretted most was that he never listened to his family .

If he hadn’t gone when his family told him not to go . If he hadn’t done this or that when his family told him not to do so . Then, his life would never have been that bad .

Just now, he almost made the same mistake as then .

If Jang Maldong had known that Seol Jihu had returned to Paradise less than an hour after returning to Earth, he would’ve been so disappointed .

When that thought came to his mind, he didn’t want to rip the paper anymore .

“Haaaa . ”

Heaving a sigh, Seol Jihu brought his finger to the call button .

Then he stopped .

‘Wait a second . ’

Again, he almost acted without thinking .

His brother thought he worked for Sinyoung, but he actually worked in Paradise .

Until now he had never really cared about this .

He just assumed that Kim Hannah had taken care of everything . But he knew he shouldn’t be so lenient anymore .

Seol Jihu immediately searched every nook and cranny of the room for the data he’d received long ago .

He also checked all the entries in his passbook and calculated dates .

‘Okay . I can tell him I’ve paid off all my debts, and that I have money now… . ’

Finally, he pressed the call button .

He didn’t have to wait long . He heard a familiar voice almost immediately .

—You .

The voice sounded a little angry .

—Why did it take you so long to…

Seol Jihu deliberately spoke in a cheerful tone .

“Hey, Hyung! It’s me . ”
 

*


That evening, a family gathered at the table for dinner .

“Oh, right . ”

The air in the dining room was quiet and serene like it often was in temples . Seol Jinhee was the only one speaking .

“I want to talk about Jihu . ”

It was then that Seol Wooseok dropped a bomb without a warning .

“I’m so pissed off . I’m a senior now, but the professor is still…?”

Seol Jinhee’s voice thinned before she let out a sharp shriek .

The sound of silverware scraping against the plates stopped .

The father froze with his spoon halfway to his mouth, and the mother opened her eyes wide .

“Damn it . Why did you have to bring him up? I just lost my appetite . ”

Seol Jinhee slammed her chopsticks down on the table .

“Tell me why!”

“Lower your voice . Our parents are here . ”

“D-Did you get in touch with him? How is he? He’s not sick or anything, is he?”

Noticing the tense atmosphere, their mother asked in a hurry .





“Yes, I talked to him on the phone during lunch today . He sounded well . ”

“Why didn’t he call sooner? I was so worried… . ”

“I told you before that Jihu cleared his credit line, right?”

“Yeah, you said that’s where he got the money from before… . ”

“When I met him at a cafe a while ago, he said he wouldn’t contact us until he paid off his debts . Maybe that’s why he didn’t call . You know Jihu is quite diligent about things like that . ”

“That’s right . He’s always been stubborn . ”

“Well, he told me he’s cleared his debts now . ”

“Really? Ah, but I wish he’d called at least once… . ”

Her voice sounded a little disappointed, but her face told a different story .

She heaved a sigh of relief, her hands smoothing down her chest .

“And . ”

Seol Wooseok slowly put down his chopsticks and clasped his hands .

On the surface, he appeared calm, but on the inside, he was looking for the courage to say what he was going to say next .

“He’s going to come home tomorrow, to celebrate Mother’s birthday . ”

Seol Jinhee’s eyes widened with astonishment .

“W-What? Who’s coming where?”

“He was very careful about it . He said he’d just call, but I insisted that he come . ”

“Are you out of your mind? Did working day and night finally make you take the wrong pill?”

“Keep your voice down . ”

“Why should I? This is my house!”

“It’s our parents’ house, not yours . And tomorrow is Mother’s birthday, not yours . ”

“What… . ”

Seol Jinhee clenched her teeth and turned her head .

“Dad!”

She yelled at the middle-aged man who was silently pouring water into his cup .

“Dad! Are you just going to keep silent? Say something!”

The father gulped down the water and slammed the cup down on the table .

He then let out a deep sigh and turned his nonchalant gaze to Seol Wooseok .

His emotionless eyes made Seol Wooseok nervous .

“Did you take a look at the data I sent you? Jihu’s paychecks, credit line score, and others . ”

“I ripped them up and threw them away . ”

“Why?”

“He even borrowed his friend’s passbook to deceive us . Do you expect me to trust that scoundrel again?”

“Of course, I remember that incident . ”

Seol Wooseok nodded .

“But that’s not the case this time . I’m sure of it . ”

“How do you know?”

“When Jihu brought us his friend’s passbook, Mother and Jinhee believed him right away . I was the one who insisted on keeping him in check . Do you remember that?”

His father did, so he let out a sound of affirmation .

“When I met him at the cafe, I made sure to double-check everything . The numbers worked out . He would have to be extremely thorough to deceive me with those numbers, and I don’t think Jihu would go that far . ”

His father snorted .

“Truth or not, it doesn’t matter! I can’t trust him ever again . I won’t . I don’t understand how he was able to pay off his debts so quickly . ”

“You know Sinyoung is famous for its workplace wellness and high salary . He also works overtime every day and goes on a business trip at every chance he gets . ”

“Business trip? Don’t kid with me . He probably made all that money from gambling . ”

“Jihu applied for an entry ban to Seorak Land in March last year . I called them yesterday . They said he hasn’t come back since . ”

“God, you can be so naive sometimes . Are there casinos only in Korea? Don’t they have them overseas, too? Ah, maybe he went on an overseas business trip as an excuse to visit a casino . Yeah, that sounds about right . Everything makes sense now . ”

Seol Jinhee remarked sarcastically, her voice confident because her father had sided with her .

“You’re wrong . ”

Seol Wooseok adjusted his glasses .

“Jihu’s never left the country . ”

“How do you know?”

“I got a call from the Hongeun-dong Reserve Army a while back . They said Jihu didn’t come in for training . Because they couldn’t get in touch with him, they’ve been handling his case as notice non-deliverable . At first, I thought he was on a business trip abroad, but they said no . Military training is automatically postponed when you’re abroad, but the Military Manpower Administration’s immigration records show that he has no history of leaving the country . ”

Seol Wooseok continued .

“Which means he went on a domestic business trip . And Seorak Land is the only casino that citizens can access in our country . He really did quit gambling . ”

His argument was perfectly logical, and Seol Jinhee hesitated .

The truth was that Seol Jinhee knew how meticulous Seol Wooseok was .

The fact that her brother was so sure meant that he had sufficient grounds to believe what he said .

Still, her past experience advised her not to trust her brother . Seol Jihu had betrayed them far too many times .

Her mind understood, but her heart simply wasn’t convinced .

“Don’t you think you’re being too lenient? Casinos are hardly the only places to gamble . What about horse racing? Illegal sports betting? Illegal casinos?”





“I don’t know . Even at the height of his addiction, he would only play Blackjack or the slot machine at Seorak Land . Never anything else . ”

“But you can’t be 100% sure, can you? And— what was it again? Sinyoung? That’s weird, too . Why would Sinyoung Pharmaceuticals want someone like him?”

“It’s true that he joined the company . There’s no room for doubt . You know Jihu’s resume has always been quite impressive . And I even called Sinyoung to check . ”

“You called them?”

“Did you really think I’d just take his words for granted? I asked them and they immediately confirmed his position as a sales team employee . The team leader, Yun Seora, said a lot of good things about Jihu . ”

‘No way . ’

Seol Jinhee gave a snort .

“What’s her name again? Yun Seora? Well, maybe I should give her a call myself . Obviously she’s one of his friends or acquaintances . ”

“That’s impossible . Sinyoung’s security is airtight . And I did look into it more closely . I was surprised when I found out that Yun Seora is the youngest lady of Sinyoung Pharmaceuticals . ”

“…W-What?”

Seol Jinhee blinked in surprise .

“She’s a direct family member of Yun Seojin, the Chairman of Sinyoung Pharmaceuticals . Well, I suppose that’s how she was able to become a team leader at such a young age . ”

Seol Wooseok continued .

“But that’s not the end of it . When I met Jihu at the cafe next to the Sinyoung building, one of Sinyoung’s directors stopped by to say hello . ”

“Director?”

“I recognized her . It was Yun Seohui, the eldest daughter of the Yun family . ”

Seol Jinhee quickly grabbed her cell phone and searched for the name .

She frowned .

“This makes no sense… . Didn’t he say he was just an employee? Oppa, are you lying to us, too?”

“I’m not lying . I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t seen her with my own eyes . He must be getting a lot of attention at work . ”

Seol Wooseok raised his voice .

“My point is that I don’t think Jihu could’ve asked those people to lie for him . ”

It did sound far-fetched that an ordinary person like Seol Jihu would make a personal request like that to the daughters of Sinyoung .

Seol Jinhee closed her mouth .

On the contrary, her mother was all smiles .

Her eyes were slightly wet from tears of joy .

“I believed in Jihu . I knew he could do it if he put his mind to it . ”

She nodded and sniffled .

“…Father . ”

Seol Wooseok cleared his throat and turned his eyes to his father .

The man was silent .

He was looking down at the table with expressionless eyes .

“…Let me ask you something . ”

Suddenly, their father’s voice broke the uncomfortable silence .

“Why are you doing this?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s not only me or your mother or Jinhee who’s been betrayed by that bastard . He also abused your trust and even hit you . So why are you so eager to help him?”

“He’s right . Do you know what my friends call you? A pushover and a wuss!”

Despite Seol Jinhee’s insults, Seol Wooseok remained calm and even .

He lowered his gaze and replied in a low voice .

“That still makes me angry when I think about it, but… I used to hit Jihu a lot, too . ”

“Hit him? You?”

“Yes, when we were little . At one point, it got so bad that I almost strangled him . But Jihu’s not the type to snitch, so you wouldn’t know . ”

Seol Wooseok gave a bitter smile .

His father listened to his son's confession with a dumbfounded look on his face .

“And frankly… I’m not the only one who did Jihu wrong . You guys are accomplices, too . ”

“Us? When did we treat him wrong?”

“When Uncle and Aunty passed away and we took Seonhwa and Seunghae under our wings . ”

His father’s face hardened .

“I understand your feelings now . It couldn’t have been an easy decision for you to take responsibility for the children of your friends who passed away in an accident . But at that time, Jinhee and I were young . We were too immature to understand your decision . ”

It was just like he said .

Their intentions were noble, but the reality wasn’t kind to them .

The Seol family wasn’t poor at the time, but they weren’t rich either .

Accepting two children into their home put a considerable financial burden on the family .

Seeing their parents work overtime, struggling to make ends meet, Seol Wooseok and Seol Jinhee couldn’t bring themselves to look at the Yoo sisters in a favorable light .

And there definitely was a time when they hated the sisters for taking their mother’s attention away from them .

“Jihu and I fought because of Seonhwa and Seunghae . ”

Seol Jihu was the one who stopped them whenever they tried to act out on impulse .

“It’s all thanks to Jihu that Jinhee, Seonhwa, Seunghae and I were able to grow together without things going wrong . Father, you know that . ”

His father bit his lips .

Of course, he knew .

It was Seol Jihu who opened the hearts of the sisters who refused to communicate with the world after their parent’s death .

Seol Jihu was the one who acted as a mediator between Seol Wooseok, Seol Jinhee, and the Yoo sisters, making sure they all got along .

He did what his parents couldn’t do, and did what was essential to bringing the family together .

Through all that, the little boy never once complained .

“See you later, boss . ” His son used to say that phrase whenever he left for work . And when he came home at night, the boy would smile playfully and ask, “Did you make a lot of money today, Daddy?”

His son’s smile was what comforted him when the weight of reality crashed down on him both at home and at work . He was proud of his son, though he never really said it out loud .

“Wooseok’s right . Jihu may be a funny man, but he’s always been quite mature since he was a kid . Whenever Wooseok and Jinhee fought over the seat next to me, Jihu would sit alone, saying he was fine . ”

Their mother commented .

“Once I fell asleep while looking after Seonhwa and Seunghye, and Jihu crawled in next to me . But I was half asleep and so tired that I pushed him away . I can't imagine how much it’s hurt him . He was just a little boy… but he massaged my hands and shoulders without a word of complaint . Just thinking about that time, I… . ”

She wiped her eyes, wet from tears of reminiscence .

Their father screamed with a grimace .

“Why do you keep bringing up the past?”

“Fine! You don’t have to see him if you don’t want to, but I will . Just be quiet and stay in your room, okay? Don’t disturb us like the last time . ”

“What?”

The father raised his voice .

“I know! I know how he was as a little kid . But why do you keep talking about the past? The bastard took advantage of my trust not once, not twice, but at least a dozen times! What more could he want? How long are you going to live in the past? The past is the past . Both you and Wooseok need to drink a glass of cold water and come to your senses!”

“I understand how you feel, Father . You’re right, Jihu made a big mistake . He left a huge scar on our family that probably will never be erased . ”

“How can you talk to me this way knowing that?”

“You know how I am . ”

Seol Wooseok replied .

“I know how you feel . I know . That’s why I’ve been waiting so long to tell you this . I spent a lot of time thinking and finally, I’m convinced . I hope you’ll give him one last chance . ”

“Again? How many last chances does he need?”

His father glared at him, but Seol Wooseok was persistent .

“Father . ”

He continued in a calm voice .

“He wasn’t like that from the beginning . ”

“You… . ”

“You’re right . Jihu is no longer the person he used to be when he was little . He’s changed . But that means he can change again . ”

“…Ha!”

“I’m not asking you to forgive him right away . But can you deny that Jihu is trying? Please, at least listen to what he has to say—”

Their father shot up from his chair .

He turned and headed for his room, refusing to hear what his son had to say .

“Darling!” The mother shouted, but he slammed the door on her .

“…See, I knew this would happen . ”

Seol Jinhee remarked sarcastically and got up from her chair too .

“Fine . Do what you want, I’ll do what I want . Try me if you want, but be prepared for the worst birthday ever . ”

“Hey . ”

“I’ll never forgive that bastard! I just won’t!”

“Jinhee!”

Mother called but Seol Jinhee stomped up the stairs .

Seol Wooseok ran his fingers through his hair .

He never thought it was going to be easy . Still, their reaction was far worse than he’d expected .

But in a way, it was only natural .

He understood their side of the story .

Whenever he recalled the recent past, even his blood would start to boil with anger .

Seol Wooseok heaved a quiet sigh .

For what it’s worth, he did everything he could .

Now it was up to him… .
 

*


After he hung up the phone, Seol Jihu left his apartment .

Tomorrow was his mother’s birthday, and also the day he’d meet his family for the first time in a long time . He didn’t want to meet them empty-handed .

His hands quickly became full with all the gifts he had carefully chosen for his family, as well as for Yoo Seonhwa and Yoo Seunghae .

Of course, these gifts came at reasonable prices and weren’t worth tens of millions of won, like the ones he used to buy .

At last, the long-awaited day dawned .

That evening .

“…”

A young man in a neat suit, carrying six shopping bags in his hands stood in front of the Seol residence .

1 . In Korea, soldiers (civilians) who complete their mandatory military service are automatically put into the Republic of Korea Reserve Forces and must first serve 4 years in the Mobilization Reserve and then 4 years as a Homeland Reservist .  



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