Chapter 71 – Money – Part 12

Chapter 71 – Money – Part 12

Lee Hyerim swept her hair back and asked again.

“W-what did you say?”

“You should have given it to me then. Why are you giving it to me now?”

“Huh? No, I thought you might not like it…”

“No one dislikes gifts. Most ordinary people seem to be like that, like children waiting for Santa. Can I open it?”

Lee Hyerim blinked and reached out as if to take it.

“No! I’ll give you something else!”

Woojin swiftly lifted the gift as if to prevent her from taking it.

“Is this giving something and then taking it back? Then I’ll let you take it. I’m just curious if I’m receiving and then having it taken away, or if I’m just receiving a gift.”

“No, that’s not it…”

Lee Hyerim made a troubled expression.

Woojin had chosen the least expensive gift possible, thinking that the gift itself might be a burden to her.

No, it was practically cheap to her.

But he had agonized over it and considered it carefully before buying it.

It was a gift made with more heart than money.

But with the gift actually in Woojin’s hands…

“It’s probably broken after all this time, so I was going to get you a better one…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“It’s good enough as it is. Thank you for the gift.”

Lee Hyerim’s eyes trembled slightly.

Because Woojin seemed to be smiling.

‘Did he… just smile?’

Woojin started to unwrap the gift.

When he opened the long black box, a watch came into view.

The watch strap was beige, and the face was white.

It was simple and seemed to go well with a suit.

It was an analog watch.

Woojin didn’t know it, but it was a luxury Little Prince Edition.

Woojin closed his eyes and brought the watch to his ear.

Tick, tock, tick, tock…

Woojin, who had been listening to the sound as if appreciating it, eventually put the watch on his wrist.

“The sound is good. The texture is good too. Thank you, Hyerim.”

“It’s n-nothing much, I give a lot of gifts to my friends. L-let’s go.”

The car sped off again.

Lee Hyerim, who was driving, kept glancing at the watch Woojin was wearing.

She tried to purse her lips to stop her mouth from curving upwards.

However, it was her mistake to think her gaze hadn’t been noticed.

“Hyerim, don’t get distracted. My family is always waiting for me.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get you there safely.”

Lee Hyerim finally managed a bright smile.

Woojin rolled down the car window and reached out his hand.

The still air, now in relative motion, pleasantly enveloped Woojin’s palm.

After driving for 30 minutes, they arrived in front of his house.

“Thanks. Drive safe.”

Woojin got out of the car and waved to her.

Just then.

“Big brother!”

His younger sister, Shin Bomi, came up from behind and hugged Woojin tightly from the back.

She had a bag in her hand, which contained ice cream.

Bomi’s eyes widened as she stared at the red sports car.

“Wow.”

Woojin spoke.

“As expected, Bomi has great taste in ice cream.”

Thump.

Lee Hyerim, who had just gotten out of the car, approached them.

“You must be Woojin’s sister? Nice to meet you, I’m Woojin’s friend.”

“Hello.”

Shin Bomi bowed her head in greeting and found herself looking at Lee Hyerim like an interviewer without realizing it.

Bomi had always asked her brother to show her if he ever got a girlfriend.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Woojin. That you’re good at studying and smart.”

Bomi gave a shy smile.

“Compared to my brother, I’m just ordinary.”

Lee Hyerim revealed her white teeth and gave a refreshing smile.

The kid who ranks first in the entire school says she’s ordinary.

Indeed, she was just like her older brother.

Perhaps because of that, she looked very gentle and pretty.

“Just a moment?”

Lee Hyerim quickly walked to the convenience store.

Bomi, who was watching her back, asked.

The interrogation began.

“Is she a school friend?”

“No. A friend I’ve known for a while.”

“Since when? Her car looks expensive… She must be really rich.”

“Yes. Her family has a lot of money.”

“Does she have a boyfriend?”

“Hyerim?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Brother, is that older sister really your friend?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I don’t think so… Is she kind?”

“Sometimes she’s kind, sometimes she’s not.”

Just then, Lee Hyerim approached and handed Bomi a wad of cash.

At a glance, it looked like 500,000 to 600,000 won.

“Here, pocket money.”

“Oh…”

Bomi’s eyes were filled with bewilderment.

She had received pocket money from her parents’ friends before, but this was the first time she had received such a wad of cash as pocket money.

Lee Hyerim smiled faintly and offered more money.

“It’s okay. Your older sister is giving you an allowance.”

Bomi bowed her head and said,

“Thank you. It’s a bit much… I’ll just gratefully accept the thought. Thank you.”

Just then, Woojin took an ice cream out of the bag and offered it to Lee Hyerim.

“I should head in before the ice cream melts. Drive safe.”

“Drive safely.”

As Woojin and Bomi turned around after greeting her, Lee Hyerim gave a bitter smile.

Holding a wad of cash, she felt something was wrong with her appearance.

How should I put it?

It was a sense of incongruity.

She felt like she had made a mistake, and also like she had lost to the ice cream.

Just then, a loud voice was heard.

“Hyerim, drive safely.”

Woojin, who was moving away, was waving his hand.

With the hand that wore the watch she had given him.

Lee Hyerim, who had waved back, got into her car and mumbled, tapping her head against the steering wheel.

“It’s okay. Slowly, too fast…”

Lee Hyerim raised her head again and smiled.

Still, it was a good day.

Lee Hyerim placed the ice cream on the passenger seat and even buckled its seatbelt, as if to tell it not to get hurt.

Click!

A red sports car leisurely left Woojin’s neighborhood.

***

Three days later.

PD Choi was enthusiastically filming the case that Prosecutor Kim Cheolung had given him, and Woojin was drinking a sweet caramel macchiato at a coffee shop.

“Mr. Shin Woojin?”

Woojin stood up from his seat and looked at him upon hearing a voice from behind.

It was a man in his thirties wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a cross bag slung over his shoulder.

“Yes. Hello. Director Jo Jeonghwan?”

“Yes. You’re much younger than I expected.”

He had heard Shin Woojin’s story from Detective Kim Taehyun.

The Righteous Path’s exploits were so astounding that it felt like a lie.

But meeting him in person now, he was convinced that Detective Kim and Manager Lee must have exaggerated and embellished the story.

He had imagined someone very seasoned with sharp eyes, but seeing him in person was completely different.

Jo Jeonghwan shook hands with Woojin and sat opposite him, smiling.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Detective Kim. He said you’re amazing. Thank you for meeting me like this.”

He was complimenting Woojin and smiling, but Woojin, on the other hand, was reading him.

Disappointment was subtly visible.

Woojin replied,

“I also heard that you produced ‘You Are God’ five years ago. It must have been very difficult when it failed.”

Jo Jeonghwan smiled bitterly at Woojin’s blunt remark.

“Well… it just needs to do well now. Haha!”

Woojin took a sip of his Caramel Macchiato, wiped his mouth, and said,

“Yes. I hope it does well. I heard that if I help, you’ll buy me a house. Are you really willing to do that?”

“Ah, yes. I am quite willing. If the movie does well with Mr. Woojin’s help…”

“May I see the synopsis?”

“Of course.”

He rummaged through his bag and smoothly handed the synopsis to Woojin.

Woojin quickly flipped through it.

At that sight, Jo Jeonghwan’s brow furrowed slightly.

It overlapped with the image of people in the past who had uninterestingly flipped through his manuscript.

Suddenly, this place felt very uncomfortable.

Just then, Woojin placed the synopsis, which he had barely glanced at, on the table.

“According to the synopsis, are you planning to make the protagonist a detective?”

“Yes, I’m thinking that way.”

“Wouldn’t that be a bit cliché? It seems there are many movies with serial killers and detectives as the subject.”

“That’s true, but if the story and characters are well-made…”

“Making it well is important, but I think it needs to be a hit. First of all, I think the story of a serial killer and a detective is too deeply stored in people’s unconscious, making it difficult to evoke strong emotions. What do you think, Director? Do you want to make the work you want to make, or do you want to make a work that can be a hit? Considering your offer to buy me a house, it seems like the latter. Am I right? Only then can I grasp the direction.”

He gave a bitter smile at Woojin’s words, which poured out like a rap.

He was already disappointed with his first impression, and now Woojin seemed even more overbearing.

Conversely, for Woojin, these were natural questions and queries to actively intervene in the film.

“Of course, it would be great if it was a hit. Have you ever worked as a writer?”

Jo Jeonghwan asked in return.

This was to find out the basis for Woojin’s various questions.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Not even as a sub or anything like that?”

“No, I haven’t even taken dictation before.”

Jo Jeonghwan, who had a look as if his thoughts had stopped, let out a hollow laugh.

He felt pathetic sitting there listening to someone who lacked such basic experience call his idea cliché.

But he had to hear how he caught the criminal.

“Mr. Woojin, how did you know that the visually impaired person among so many suspects was the criminal? Did you find a crucial clue?”

Woojin opened his mouth as Jo Jeonghwan placed his cellphone on the table.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t record.”

“Ah… I understand.”

“How about a profiler?”

“A profiler?”

“Yes. I think there aren’t many movies about profilers in our country.”

“Perhaps… are you talking about how Woojin caught criminals? Woojin…”

“No, it’s a bit different. If we list several cases and catch them one by one, the public will get bored. In a deduction style. I think it would be good to produce it as a one-and-a-half to two-hour film.”

“Have you professionally studied profiling or do you have any certifications?”

“No, I have neither.”

‘Earlier he was spouting dictation, now he’s…’

“Woojin, I’m serious right now. But if you speak so casually, it doesn’t feel very good from the perspective of the other party receiving it.”

Woojin nodded.

Humans are animals that always dislike being denied and wish for their existence to be respected.

And the desires mixed in with that.

However, Woojin felt no need to consider Jo Jeonghwan’s feelings.

He had already decided to get involved in the movie,

and he just needed to convince him of his desire.

“Then, how about you think of me like this?”

Jo Jeonghwan asked, crossing his arms.

“What do you mean?”

“You came by public transport. The last leg by bus. You had kimchi stew for lunch. You have a dog and a cat, and the cat is very mischievous. It seems you broke up with your girlfriend a few weeks ago; was it because the director’s future seemed uncertain? It’s highly likely you’re a low-profile celebrity. You probably think this movie needs to do even better because of that. You like writing manuscripts with a pencil, don’t you? It’s better to switch to keyboard typing. It’s not good for your finger joints.”

After speaking, Woojin looked at the now empty cup that had contained Caramel Macchiato.

“I’m thirsty after talking a bit.”

Jo Jeonghwan, who had been staring blankly at Woojin, stood up as if having a seizure and said,

“Mr. Seo! I’ll order it quickly! What would you like!?”