Su-ho, after receiving the call, headed straight to Daejeon Station.
Upon arriving at the station and parking, he made his way to the designated cafe. There, Yoon Hyun-hee was already waiting.
Of course, Su-ho didn’t forget to use Reverse Morphology to change his appearance to the one he had shown earlier.
Yoon Hyun-hee greeted him as soon as she saw him.
“You got here quickly?”
“Ah, yes. I was nearby. By the way…”
As Su-ho sat down, he spoke.
“Have you truly made up your mind?”
“Yes, and I’ve decided how I want to live from now on.”
“How did you decide?”
“As you suggested, I’ll go to Seoul. But before that, I want to et my brother.”
Su-ho smiled at her decision.
It was the exact decision Su-ho had hoped for.
“I understand. I know it must have been a tough choice, but I’m grateful you made a bold one. As for the property transfer, I can handle that through a personal lawyer. The only thing left is eting your brother...”
Su-ho hesitated for a mont, then asked.
“By the way, have you finished taking care of things here?”
“Yes, well. There wasn’t really much to take care of. The house is already on the market, and once I find a new place, I’ll call a moving company to transfer my things.”
“And your job?”
“I told them already. Luckily, they were very understanding.”
“Is that so?”
It seed like her affairs were more thoroughly settled than Su-ho had anticipated.
Su-ho thought for a mont, then nodded.
“Understood. In that case, I’ll need to prepare to et your brother as well, so please wait for a bit. I ca here as soon as I got the call. In the anti, would you like to finish your preparations and maybe say your goodbyes to people around here?”
“How long will it take?”
“I’ll prepare as quickly as possible. But it won’t take long. No matter what, I’ll finish it by tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
After Su-ho sent Yoon Hyun-hee off, he made a call to Choi Yoon.
– What’s up?
“I’m in Daejeon right now, and I need so help.”
– Daejeon? Why Daejeon… Never mind, I shouldn’t ask. What kind of help do you need?
“It’s about…”
Su-ho explained what he needed, and Choi Yoon nodded before responding.
– I’ll call you back in 30 minutes.
“Got it.”
The call ended.
Now, all that was left was to wait.
As Su-ho casually sat back, sipping his coffee, a call from Choi Yoon ca through shortly after.
– I’ve sent a number to your phone. Call it. I’ve already spoken to them, so you can handle the paynt directly.
“Thanks.”
Su-ho dialed the number that had been sent to him.
***
How much ti had passed?
In truth, Yoon Hyun-hee didn’t have much to sort out.
She could simply talk to the real estate agency about her house, and she had already had sufficient conversations with the owner of the cold noodle restaurant she worked at.
In Daejeon, where she had co following her ex-husband, she didn’t have any friends or acquaintances.
Moreover, it was her first ti in a long while having so free ti.
She couldn’t even rember what she used to do on her days off.
So after much deliberation, Yoon Hyun-hee decided to head back to the cold noodle restaurant.
"What’s this? Why are you here?"
The owner of the cold noodle restaurant, Lee Gye-bok, greeted Yoon Hyun-hee with a puzzled expression.
Yoon Hyun-hee smiled and, without responding, removed her coat and put on an apron.
"I had so free ti."
"Wait, you’re coming back here just because you have free ti? Why are you wearing the apron again?"
"I thought I’d help out. You’ve been busy lately, especially after that photo on ByeolStar."
The photo on ByeolStar.
It referred to the photo of the restaurant's food that Su-ho had posted from the train on his way to Seoul.
For Lee Gye-bok, this was quite a strange occurrence.
He had never done any advertising, and due to the location of his restaurant, no famous personalities or influencers had ever visited or shown interest.
But now, soone who wasn’t just anybody—the most popular Sword Saint in the country—was coming to his place?
Though he was getting older, he couldn’t have missed the visit of such a famous personality.
But despite his thinking, he couldn’t recall seeing the Sword Saint himself, and the staff said they didn’t recognize him either.
However, on his ByeolStar, there was a post showcasing his restaurant's food, titled "Must-Try Restaurant," and even a "Sword Saint Set" combo al had been created. As a result, the restaurant had beco popular, with a constant flow of custors.
"Anyway, I’m here to help because I had nothing else to do."
"Ah, no! How can I make the person who’s leaving help? You’ve already made your decision to leave."
"Excuse !"
"Yes~!"
But instead of responding, Yoon Hyun-hee went to serve a custor who had called.
Lee Gye-bok, watching this, shook his head in disbelief before letting out a wry laugh.
"Good grief... I can’t believe you."
Then, he too returned to serving custors.
***
The business hours were over.
The restaurant had closed, and after sending the employees ho, Lee Gye-bok set up a light drinking table with Yoon Hyun-hee.
"So, you have to wait until that person contacts you?"
"Yes."
"Cos like the wind and disappears like the wind. What a strange person."
"I think so too... but I’ve seen sothing, so..."
Lee Gye-bok knew Yoon Hyun-hee well enough.
He was soone who, if anything, cared for his employees like family.
So, at first, Yoon Hyun-hee had felt too embarrassed by her situation to say anything, but after being protected by a loan shark, she had completely followed him.
The two of them passed the bottle back and forth for a while.
When she had first said she was quitting, they had shared a cup of tea, and that was all. She didn’t want to trouble the busy owner with complaints.
But now, because of Su-ho, she had so free ti and this eting ca about.
Yoon Hyun-hee was, in so ways, grateful to Su-ho for that.
Lee Gye-bok, heavily intoxicated, spoke.
"Sigh... girl... don’t suffer in Seoul, live happily... Think of this as the last chance your brother gave you..."
Yoon Hyun-hee had told Lee Gye-bok all the facts.
She trusted him, and she followed him.
And just as she trusted him, Lee Gye-bok had never criticized or pointed fingers at her brother, even after hearing about him.
Instead, like Yoon Hyun-hee, he worried for Yoon Hyun-chul and felt pity for him.
With his usual nagging, Yoon Hyun-hee laughed and replied.
"I want to do that too. But... how can I be happy while my brother’s in prison?"
"Does that an you’re going to live unhappily? If you do that, it’s like you’re killing your brother twice. Never do that. So..."
Thud!
In the end, she couldn’t withstand the alcohol and collapsed onto the table, lying down.
Yoon Hyun-hee watched him for a while, then chuckled and finished the drink in her glass.
Just then...
Tap tap—
Outside the restaurant’s glass window.
Soone knocked on the window.
It was Su-ho.
"Su-ho?"
Yoon Hyun-hee quickly opened the restaurant door, and Su-ho cautiously stepped inside.
"Shouldn’t you be resting? Did you really work?"
"Haha... I realized I really didn’t have anywhere to go."
Su-ho had sent her a ssage beforehand.
If he finished his work before midnight, he would be at the restaurant, so she should co here.
That’s why he had co.
Yoon Hyun-hee asked.
"Have you eaten?"
"Yes, well. But it’s getting late. Would you prefer to leave tomorrow at your own pace? I drove, so I can’t take the train anyway."
"Let’s go straight to Cheongsong, then?"
"Yes, that’s the plan."
"Then I’ll go to Cheongsong Station by tomorrow morning or lunchti. If I take a taxi, I can get to Cheongok Prison, right?"
"That’s possible, but just contact , and I’ll pick you up. I wanted to co sooner, but I had a lot to prepare, so I’m a bit late."
"Oh, no. I’m really grateful for your help."
"Understood. I’ll see you tomorrow."
Su-ho politely said goodbye and stood up.
He thought it would be better to have one last al with the cold noodle restaurant owner, maybe even for a hangover cure, before taking her to the prison.
Vroom!
Su-ho’s car was heading toward Cheongok Prison.
***
"You’ve arrived."
When Su-ho arrived at Cheongok Prison, Chief Guard Hwang Se-don ca out to greet him.
It wasn’t that Su-ho ca alone and the prison warden didn’t co out.
He had contacted them in advance and told them not to co.
“There was no need for the warden to co out for sothing that isn’t formal.”
Although people are different, usually when a person in power acts kindly, it makes a bigger impression than usual.
And in Cheongok, Su-ho held the status of a high-ranking figure from a superior organization.
That’s why Su-ho had purposely told Kim Gil-yeon not to co.
Kim Gil-yeon would view Su-ho favorably, and any necessary proceedings would go smoothly.
As proof of that, Hwang Se-don, who ca out in Kim Gil-yeon’s place, acted with utmost respect toward Su-ho.
“The inmates you ntioned are prepared in the sa visitation room as last ti.”
“Understood. Then, let’s et Kim Goong-won first.”
With Hwang Se-don’s guidance, Su-ho entered the visitation room and was able to et Kim Goong-won.
When Su-ho entered the room, Kim Goong-won imdiately stood up, bowing respectfully.
“Big Brother, you’ve arrived!”
“Huh?”
Su-ho was surprised by Kim Goong-won’s formal deanor.
What’s this?
Why has he changed so much?
Su-ho chuckled and asked.
“What’s changed so much? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”
“It’s nothing. I was just short-sighted back then.”
“Looks like you understand sothing. But why am I the ‘big brother’?”
“Of course, you are the biggest big brother. We’re all moving based on your words.”
“Then what do you call Yoon Hyun-chul?”
“I just call him ‘big brother.’ But when I speak to him, I’ll refer to him as the younger big brother.”
The older big brother and younger big brother.
Su-ho chuckled again and asked.
“So, how’s everything going these days?”
“I’ve been carrying out the tasks you’ve asked for, following your instructions carefully.”
“Report.”
“Well, as you wanted, the younger big brother has beco the king of Cheongok.”
“Already?”
“Actually, aside from Jo Gwang-ho or Yoon Hyun-chul, Jo Gwang-ho was the most powerful in Cheongok, so it was only a matter of ti once Jo Gwang-ho beca what he is now.”
That’s true.
That’s exactly why Su-ho had made sure Jo Gwang-ho was placed in that position.
Su-ho asked.
“How’s Jo Gwang-ho doing?”
“He’s completely a useless punching bag, the town’s punching bag.”
“Useless punching bag?”
“He’s limping on one leg and can’t even grip anything properly. But the karma from all the people he’s tornted in the past... once people found out, they all started to turn on him, and that’s how he beca the punching bag.”
“Make sure he doesn’t kill himself. That guy needs to suffer through his life.”
“Yes, I will make sure of it. And as for everything else…”
As Kim Goong-won’s report continued, Su-ho couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.
It was no wonder.
There had been significant changes in Cheongok ever since the power dynamic among the inmates shifted.
Changes that aligned perfectly with Su-ho’s wishes.
“…So now, everyone is living cautiously. If they ss up, the younger big brother will strike imdiately. The guards are really happy about it. Things have gotten a lot easier for them.”
“Right, the public servants work hard. They shouldn’t be bothered. Now, that’s enough of the report…”
Su-ho waited for the cara in the visitation room to be turned off before continuing.
“I ca here because I have sothing else I want to assign.”
“Sothing else?”
“Yeah.”
“What is it?”
“I was thinking of staying here in Cheongok instead of Yoon Hyun-chul for a while.”
“…Pardon?”
At Su-ho’s words, Kim Goong-won’s eyes trembled, as if there had been an earthquake.
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