Chapter 15

Chapter 6. Living in the Same House (1)

There was about a month left until I moved to Seoul.

Until then, I decided to organize the things in my house one by one.

“I should probably just sell the refrigerator and washing machine.”

I had considered taking the TV with me, but Jinhye said she would buy me a much bigger and better wall-mounted one, so there was no reason to take it.

“I can just sell most of the appliances as used items.”

I figured I would only take my laptop.

“And also…… Ah, right.”

I decided to keep the things my daughters had left at home separately.

I didn’t want to accidentally throw away their belongings along with the trash.

Just as I was thinking about what to do with the rest of the things, my second daughter called me.

“Hello.”

—Dad, it’s me. Did you eat?

“Yeah. I just ate and was getting ready for the move.”

—Already?

“I should do it in advance. I’m going to be completely busy on moving day anyway. I don’t want to rush around and end up forgetting something.”

—Dad, you’re still so hardworking.

Being hardworking had become a habit for me.

Maybe because of that, whenever I sat around doing nothing, I actually felt restless.

“I’ve also put aside the things you left here. I’ll take them with me on moving day, so check them when you can.”

—Okay. Ah, and Dad. Do you watch movies often?

At the sudden mention of movies, I shook my head.

“No. Not very often. Why?”

—A movie starring a senior I know is coming out this time. They’re giving me some invitations to the premiere in Seoul. If you need them, I was thinking of getting a few for you.

“A premiere? You mean the one where the actors and director come out before the movie is released, greet the audience, and then everyone watches the movie?”

—Yes. That’s right.

It was an opportunity to meet the actors and director in person.

Any movie fan would naturally be interested in something like that.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t someone who had a hobby of watching movies.

So I didn’t really want them that badly.

—Or do you have any friends who like watching movies? If you know someone who watches movies often, ask them. I can get tickets for them.

“Hmm. Should I?”

I did have one friend whose hobby was going to the movies with his wife.

We were planning to have a reunion with our old classmates soon, so I could ask him then.

—That way, Dad can brag about his daughter a lot.

So that was her real goal.

She could boost her father’s pride.

And Seonhye could also build her image as a filial daughter in her own way.

It was beneficial for both of us.

Seonhye had always been good at this kind of social skill.

How should I put it?

Sometimes she put me in difficult situations, but whenever I saw things like this, I couldn’t bring myself to dislike her.

It was my last day working as an apartment security guard.

I hadn’t even worked there for half a year, but during that short time, I had already become quite close with the older man I worked with and several residents.

Perhaps they had heard that it was my last day, because several residents came to the security office to see me from early in the morning.

In the afternoon, the young female resident who had helped me move my belongings last time came looking for me.

“Sir. I heard you’re quitting your job and moving to Seoul.”

“Yes. I’m going to live together with my daughters.”

“You made the right choice. I was worried about you because you were living alone.”

As she said that, she handed me something.

“This is coffee beans. You said you liked coffee, right? There’s a café I often visit, and their coffee is really good. I bought it from there.”

The brand looked familiar.

Very familiar.

The name was written on the outside of the package.

[Ifrit]

‘This is my eldest daughter’s company.’

My daughter also knew very well that I liked coffee, so she had already sent me plenty of different kinds.

There were already piles of it at home.

I never expected to receive another one as a gift.

But I couldn’t exactly refuse just because I already had plenty at home.

I should accept it, if only to appreciate the thought she had put into it.

“I’ll enjoy it. Thank you.”

“I hope that even after you go to Seoul, you’ll always have nothing but happy days.”

After the apartment resident left—

As if he had been waiting for her to leave, my older coworker appeared.

“You got quite a pile of gifts in the security office today.”

“Looks like I’m not lacking in good people around me.”

“It’s not really about luck with people. It’s because you’ve always treated people well, and now it’s coming back to you.”

Maybe he was right.

I had often been told that I was very warm-hearted toward people.

It had been the same when I worked as a firefighter.

Because of this warm personality of mine, I had also come to know Jinhye, Seonhye, and Mihye.

I didn’t think that was such a bad thing.

“Once you move to Seoul, you’ll be able to relax and spend your time traveling or enjoying hobbies.”

“No. I don’t think I’ll just live like that.”

“Then?”

“I still want to do some kind of small job after I move to Seoul.”

My daughters had told me that I didn’t need to work anymore and should just live comfortably.

But I didn’t like that.

If I stayed home all day, I would probably get sick.

Even if it was only something small, I much preferred working outside and getting some fresh air.

I guess it was just the way I was.

“Anyway, you’re really hardworking. If I were in your situation, I’d happily go fishing every day.”

My older coworker was always complaining that he couldn’t even go fishing properly because he had to worry about his wife and children.

From his point of view, my situation probably looked like heaven.

“When you get off work today, let’s go have some soju with the manager. I’ll pay.”

It would be the last time he bought me a drink.

“Then today, I guess I have to drink until my nose bends.”

I was always happy to accept an offer like this.

After getting up in the morning and washing my face, I prepared breakfast.

I picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

Just then, there was a news report about my second daughter.

—We are here at singer SL’s nationwide tour concert in Busan. After today, SL will officially bring her long nationwide tour to an end.

Perhaps because it was the final concert.

Even though there was still plenty of time before the concert started, a long line had already formed.

My daughter had become someone who was loved by so many people.

I was slowly beginning to realize what that really meant.

I hadn’t even turned on the TV much in the past.

But after learning that my second daughter had started appearing on TV often, turning it on in the morning had become a habit.

‘I think she said she was going to take a break for a while after the nationwide tour.’

When I asked her what she planned to do while resting, my second daughter had answered:

Go on a trip with Dad to see the ocean.

‘A family trip after such a long time.’

When I was working hard as a firefighter, I never knew when I would receive an emergency call, so it was almost impossible for us to go on trips.

Maybe because of that, when my second daughter had just entered high school, she once told me something.

She said that when she became an adult and achieved great success, she wanted to go on a relaxing trip with her father someday.

That dream was about to become reality.

A family trip.

To other people, it might seem like just a small part of everyday life.

But for our family, it had a truly special meaning.

‘I’ll make sure we enjoy ourselves as much as we can, just like my second daughter wished.’

I would have to prepare for the trip while getting ready for the move.

I took a bus to the meeting place to meet my high school classmates.

One of my friends owned a bar, so naturally, we decided to meet there.

It would help his sales, too.

And it would also give us a chance to get together after such a long time.

“Hey, Gichan! It’s been so long.”

“Why is it so hard for everyone to see each other’s faces these days?”

“It is hard. We have to watch our wives’ moods, take the kids to school and academies, and then there’s work too. We used to get together often when we were single, but after we got married, we barely have any chance to meet.”

Out of the five people who had agreed to meet today, all four except me were married men.

Naturally, this kind of conversation was bound to come up.

“But why isn’t Yongjun here?”

“That guy probably lost a few hundred thousand won in stocks and is getting his back smacked by his wife right about now.”

He had said something similar when he contacted me last time.

Just then, Yongjun opened the door of the bar with an excited expression and walked toward us.

And then suddenly—

He grabbed both of my hands tightly.

“Gichan, thank you! Thank you!”

The three friends looked at Yongjun and me suspiciously.

“Why are you thanking Gichan?”

“Gichan, did you lend Yongjun some money?”

“No. It’s not that.”

I had a pretty good idea why he was thanking me so much.

“It’s because of EFNG, right?”

At my question, Yongjun nodded vigorously.

“Yeah, that! Just like you said, I held on, and it went up fifty percent! Wow! When I saw it, I couldn’t even tell at first whether I was dreaming or awake!”

Just moments ago, we had been talking about how Yongjun had lost several hundred thousand won because of stocks.

Now that he suddenly said something like this, the three friends were completely stunned.

I already knew roughly what had happened, so I wasn’t particularly surprised.

Instead—

‘So it really went up.’

It was simply amazing how accurately my youngest daughter’s words had come true.

“But Gichan. Who told you that EFNG would go up? You said you heard it from someone too.”

“My youngest daughter told me. Mihye trades stocks. Apparently, she’s good enough that even securities companies have been trying to recruit her.”

“Ohhh, really?”

Without realizing it, my shoulders straightened with pride when I talked about my youngest.

And she wasn’t the only daughter I wanted to brag about.

“Right. My second daughter said she could get me VIP premiere invitations for that movie…… What was it called? ‘I’ll Wait for You Here,’ I think. Yeongcheon, didn’t you say you often go to movies with your wife? Should I ask my second daughter to get you some invitations?”

Yeongcheon’s eyes lit up.

“R-Really? Those are incredibly hard to get.”

He went on to tell me that he and his wife had even tried entering the lottery for them, but had failed without a chance, leaving him disappointed.

“My second daughter is pretty well-known in the entertainment industry. She told me to just let her know if I ever need anything.”

On top of that, I even told them that my eldest daughter was the CEO of Ifrit.

My friends were so surprised that they couldn’t speak for a while.

‘I think I finally understand why people say parents live for the joy of bragging about their children.’

Thanks to that, the pride in my shoulders didn’t go away for quite some time.