1.
How could he even think about marriage when he didn't even love her? Jeon Jungkook was a savage who desperately sought to destroy his own life. On the day he met A, a classmate he'd only known a few days before, under the pretense of securing a good position with a fund manager known only to insiders, he ended up diverting his plans from swindling 30 million won to his cousin, whom he'd met by chance. It wasn't just a coincidence. Single, in his mid-30s. He owned a small commercial building attached to a large complex on Garosu-gil in Dogok-dong. Her father was in the golf business. Jungkook pretended to be in agony, straightening the collar of his pristine black suit he'd gotten from a secondhand transaction. He didn't even realize she was rambling about how "someone else is just making a few bucks like this, what a crappy life..." Classmate A sat before him, her face filled with anticipation. And in that fleeting moment, he found himself in the glass window next to the café.
Truly pathetic, unsightly...
handsome.
Jungkook senses a spark of insight at that moment. As he approaches his thirties, he's come to the realization that this won't last. He needs to settle down, and fortunately, he's still capable of easily seducing a woman. Back in his prime, he'd even bankrupted two married women simultaneously, and that was only a few years ago, so he wasn't afraid to try. For him, it was a choice: remain a swindler, hunted from side to side, or marry a rich woman and live off her every last drop of her savings. What more could he possibly worry about? The corners of his thin lips curled up as he steeled himself. On the way back, instead of the emergency cash, Jungkook held a contact list of even greater value. From then on, he'd made quick, unhesitating decisions.
Man's Business
Man's Business
2.
"Every relationship doesn't last more than two months. All the men I see are talking about money and houses... I'm not just saying this, I really thought marriage was out of the question."
"Oh, your personality is really a bitch." He thought, silently folding the corners of his eyes at Eun-ju.
"How did we meet at such a perfect time, Jungkook? It's really like a dream."
"It's because we were meant to meet, sis."
After living like this for a full year, even when he says something he doesn't mean, it doesn't feel so icky. Maybe it's just Jungkook's nature to lie so much. Kim Eun-ju, the cousin of my classmate A, who I wasn't close with, was as haughty as his bloodline, and even if they did get the chance to meet, her arrogance made it difficult for most men to even talk to her. So Jungkook bought her a bouquet of flowers every day she patrolled the building for inspections. Perhaps because of the constant barrage of sincerity and looks, Kim Eun-ju, who had been impenetrable at first, opened her heart to Jungkook in just two weeks. "You're the first person like me. You're truly my last." That's how a woman, blinded by love and married life, feels. Jeon Jungkook, smiling innocently beside him. Does he feel any pangs of conscience? I don't really feel any. Morality and all that has become irrelevant to him now. It's not like this is a completely romantic era, and it's starting to feel like it's more appropriate to blame the fool for his simple-mindedness. In short, just a month into their relationship, Jeon Jungkook was already vividly imagining himself swindling nearly half of that family's fortune.
"hi."
"Yes, nice to meet you..."
"You're Eun-ju's boyfriend?"
"Oh, yeah."
He interrupts. And on that day, which seemed to pass by as smoothly as any other, Jungkook somehow had a feeling that the person before him was a worthy opponent. His slightly slanted eyes, with their lower eyelashes as long as their upper ones, gazed down at me as I bowed in greeting.
"You're a lot younger than I thought."
It was the day my lover took me to his parents' house for the first time.
Man's Business
3.
Jeon Jungkook. Currently unemployed (he lied to Eunju about working at a relatively freelance outsourcing company). His major is business administration. He's currently studying for the CPA exam. Having been preparing for it for over five years, he's also a pureblood unemployed person, so it's hard to say anything. It's just an excuse he made up to avoid being seen as inferior. It's safe to say he'd already messed up preparing. Furthermore, all he'd learned in college was shallow current affairs jargon, how to seduce women his age, the build-up to investment scams, and other things that would steadily contribute to making a meager tuition. So, if someone persistently started nitpicking on that point, Jungkook had no choice but to shut up and quietly take the prying. All the flashy banter and wit he'd prepared for that dinner were tragically discarded because of none other than Eunju Kim's older brother.
"I also graduated from a business school. What company are you working for now?"
"Oh, I'm preparing to become an accountant while working as an outsourced worker..."
"CPA? Since when."
"Well, I started studying before graduation..."
"Weren't you twenty-nine years old?"
"Yeah... about that..."
"Hey, what's wrong with you? You're making me sick while I'm eating."
Haha... Jungkook let out an embarrassed laugh. The occasional sentences weren't particularly long, but each one was like a sharp, cool-edged knife. Even a conman can't pull off a con. Jeon Jungkook rolled his eyes as he stirred his cold soup with a gothic-rimmed spoon. The man, who had remained silent despite his younger brother's dissuasion, soon locked his gaze on Jungkook. He suddenly felt terrified, seeing himself reflected in the pitch-black screen. Yeah, exactly that kind of person. Not in front of someone who would mercilessly throw a one-two punch and slam you to the ground if you showed any weakness. Never. He'd never been caught for anything he'd done, but if he ever did, he'd thought it wouldn't be much different from how things were now. Jungkook, I'm on the phone. He stared blankly at Eunju's back as she walked away with a round, radiant smile. Even if it were just the two of them, the atmosphere would be the same, but it would be a waste of Jeon Jungkook's years of eloquence to remain frozen like a rock. By the way, what was your name? Was it Kim Tae-young or Kim Tae-hyung?
"I've heard a lot about you from Eun-ju. I heard you work at 00 Electronics."
"Yeah, that's right."
"I know someone who interned there, but I heard it's not a place where you need just any qualifications. I heard it's hard for even the elite overseas to get in... Anyway, you're truly amazing."
"It's just a calculation, what's the point?"
Even though my first impression was a mess, I couldn't just say the wrong name, so I just casually called him "hyung." Before he could even consider whether the eye smile, once reserved for women, was appropriate right now, the flattery DNA deeply etched into Jeon Jungkook's brain cells burst out. The other person put down the water glass he'd been absentmindedly fiddling with just a moment ago and looked at me with a slightly more relaxed demeanor.
"Isn't it normal to have to cater to Eun-ju?"
"Uh... yes?"
"No, it's just that. He's such a picky kid."
A faint, fleeting smile. For a moment, Jeon Jungkook felt as if he had completely forgotten the very existence of this grand play he had orchestrated.
"Jungkook, do you want to go for a drive towards the Han River now? Dad said he has an empty car."
Nice timing. My beloved older sister dangled the car key from her finger, as if bragging about her victory. Jjachi, who narrowed his eyes to roughly guess the car model, was flattened by Jeongguk's remaining rationality. The aura of the person before him was too strong. Ahem, hmm. He coughed awkwardly twice. "I'm fine. Aren't you tired, older sister?" Jeongguk asked out of politeness. He glanced back and saw that, thankfully, he had finished his meal without a word and was about to leave. "If you marry Eunju, you'll be able to separate, right? It's uncomfortable, what the heck, I can't even eat at the table." He rubbed the back of his neck, which was tense with tension, and pretended not to be Jeongguk. He lingered at the table for a few seconds before glancing at his straight hands as they left. A V-brand watch with a market price of 6,000 won. And that top he hadn't seen in detail because he was busy talking? A 1.7 million won S-brand. I thought it might not be so bad to just give up on things like pride and just sit there and do nothing... but that thought lasted only a moment.
4.
Future father-in-law. Goosebumps run down my arms, and even though I can't say it out loud, it's easier to call him Kim Eun-joo's father. It's not like he's hiding his true colors, but his displeasure was evident at first glance. But his daughter's stubbornness prevented him from opposing him, and he even tolerated Jeong-gook's frequent trips to his parents' house. Jeong-gook sat in Eun-joo's expensive car, his face pressed against the steering wheel and yawned. "Didn't you sleep well last night?" Eun-joo asked, sitting next to him. "No. I was just thinking about what to buy for my sister's house." Like a staunch son-in-law, his answer was a blatant lie. "Jeong-gook, you should've told me. Is that why you didn't contact me?" Jeong-gook smiled faintly and stared at the traffic lights outside the window. His lips, now pale from biting hard, quickly regained their color. Actually, I wore the watch your father gave me and slept out at a bar. My classmates, the kids who used to brag about getting their paychecks on time, were all speechless when I showed them that. You should have seen it. The bitter truth that was lingering on the tip of my tongue disappeared with a change of signal.
"Oh, you were at home, oppa?"
Jeongguk, who thought they were alone in the house, slowly took off his shoes and raised his head.
"Hey Eun-ju. Hello, Jung-guk."
"Hello, brother, nice to see you again."
Why do we keep running into each other every time we come here? I heard you have a separate home. Jeongguk's mouth quickly cleared the awkwardness and formed a gentle curve.
“Do you hate it because you see it often?”
"Hey, what are you talking about? It's nice to see your face often so I don't forget you."
"I guess I'll have to be there every day. Then."
He held a mug in one hand, and after making a joke that didn't seem like a joke, he calmly took a sip. "Oh, that's good. Then do you two want to go check out the places where we can have a barbecue today?" Eun-ju said, taking off her coat. Even if you're close, it's still a bit of a fight. Why did he have to make such a simple matter so complicated when it could have been resolved by blowing on the bread, stamping the marriage certificate, slowly eating away at the woman's assets, and then splitting up? Even Jeon Jung-kook himself was wondering why, but after the neatly-dressed back of the head sitting on the sofa gave a firm "Okay," this dangerous companionship was no longer a choice but a certainty.
5.
This was the third time he'd changed his mind. He shouldn't be close to Kim Eun-joo's older brother anymore. There was a time when he was seduced by the luxury goods he wore. But there's such a thing as intuition, right? Jungkook's radar, which had been constantly on the lookout for his younger sister's every move, spoke. He had a strong feeling. It wasn't simply because this Kim Tae-hyung had sent him to buy a bunch of meat, but he was carefully selecting snacks with a single piece in each hand. Of course, that alone was strange enough, but his animalistic intuition, trained in dealing with people, warned him that this person would one day become a huge obstacle in his life. He lived in a separate house next door, but he hung around Kim Eun-joo's neighborhood every day. And this was someone she'd said "never even showed his face often." It was as if he didn't just dislike his sister's boyfriend, but also placed him under extreme suspicion. When he began to worry that even his marriage might be in trouble, Jungkook inevitably remembered that he'd quit the mediocre company he'd been working at just a couple of months ago. "No way... I even took out a small loan. If this keeps up, my marriage's going to fall through!"
"..."
"cold?"
"Yes? No."
"Your hands are shaking a little."
"Brother, have you chosen all the snacks?"
Taehyung nodded briefly after a moment of hesitation. He could already see three or four bags in the cart.
"Now I just need to grab the meat and lettuce and go. You don't need anything else, do you?"
"huh."
"Ahaha, Eun-ju too. What kind of barbecue are you having in this weather?"
Jungkook flicked the weather app with his thumb. 15mm of precipitation for summer. It was going to rain all day, at least until the sun set.
"There's an indoor barbecue area a little further from my house."
"Oh? Where do you usually go?"
"Not often, but it's my father's place too. We go there often."
"Ah... that's good."
"Good."
Finally, he ran out of things to say. Speaking from the perspective of an old man, he certainly didn't mean it in a bad way. Jeon Jungkook was absentmindedly pushing his cart, calculating the actual sale price of a nearby barbecue area-sized piece of land, and just as he was starting to worry that his mouth might start to water, the person next to him whispered to himself, "Do you like Eunju?" Had he come to his senses even just a little, Jungkook would have furrowed his brows, expressing his astonishment at the thought of his prospective son-in-law testing his affection for his bride-to-be right before their meeting. However, perhaps due to a lack of professionalism, or perhaps due to his inherently needy nature, where he couldn't even sense the slightest whiff of money, Jeon Jungkook stared blankly at Taehyung for quite a while after the question was asked. The silence didn't last long.
"I guess you don't like it?"
"That's not it! That's not it, is it? Of course I like you, sis. Of course. I'm just embarrassed to say it out loud..."
"Because you're embarrassed?"
"Yes... Oh, the checkout line is empty. Let's go there, hyung."
Then, with one hand on the cart, with the other, he gently touched the back of the man who seemed unmovable. As expected, the soft, luxurious fabric clung to the surface of his palm. "Let's go, let's go." He took a step or two, reluctantly dragging himself along, but soon, without any effort, he strode ahead a few steps.
"Yeah. How can I get married if I don't even like her?"
"Yes."
"I was such a fool."
"I understand how you care for Eun-ju."
"That's what I'm saying."
"Yes, brother."
Jungkook answered while stacking piles of lettuce on the checkout rail, which had just been removed.
"You have a criminal record?"
Taehyung places a well-wrapped piece of pork belly next to him. His tone is impassive, without a hint of relief. And it delivers a more chilling effect than any horror movie in Jeon Jungkook's life.