Chapter 19……
Seung-ah was busy from dawn, preparing to go out.
After dressing up in a one-piece dress, she opened the gift box she had prepared.
This year’s birthday present for her grandmother was a modernized hanbok jacket. The white ramie jeoksam was delicately embroidered with small red flowers around the shoulders.
She had bought it so her grandmother could wear something cool and comfortable in the sweltering heat that was just around the corner.
“This will look so good on Grandma.”
Her grandmother was the one who had taken them in warmly when Seung-ah’s family lost their house and had nowhere to go over ten years ago.
Back when her family lived in the big house, plastered with bright red foreclosure notices, they had left it behind and moved into Grandma’s place.
Her father had only one sibling, an aunt, but she merely showed her face at the funeral once and that was it.
The only one who reached out a hand to help was Grandma. Because of that, Seung-ah wanted to celebrate her birthday properly this year.
Carrying the gift, she got on a bus bound for Hongseong.
* * *
At a hotel near a fishing village.
Passing the reception desk, Seung-ah went down the corridor and entered the office at the end.
“I reserved the banquet hall for tomorrow, and I’d like to add a beam projector and screen rental, please.”
Seung-ah had been working little by little on a video project for her grandmother’s 80th birthday party.
She wasn’t a professional, but she wanted to make a video that told her grandmother’s life story.
She had gathered black-and-white photos of her youth from Grandma’s old album, added clips of her working at the restaurant, and even some videos taken with the market vendors.
Even to her own eyes, the result looked quite good, and she felt proud.
“Grandma will enjoy this.”
Of course, her grandmother would probably say, “What’s this! Why’d you plaster the screen with an old lady’s wrinkled face?”
But what she’d really mean was: “I’m so touched and happy. I feel like crying, but I’ll scold you instead so you won’t know.”
That was just how Grandma was.
While Seung-ah waited, looking forward to the event, the staff member said something unexpected.
“The reservation is for Kim Yoon-ja Rye-ja’s 80th birthday, correct?”
“Yes.”
Clicking his mouse, he gave her a puzzled look.
“I’m sorry, but the reservation for Kim Yoon-ja Rye-ja’s birthday was canceled.”
“What? That can’t be! Could you check again? Tomorrow at 3 p.m., Crystal Room, 3rd floor.”
“It says here that Yoon Na-kyung canceled the reservation.”
“Mom…?”
Seeing her stand there dazed, the staff added,
“It was canceled about two weeks ago.”
Two weeks ago!
Since both her and her mother’s names were on the reservation, it was possible her mother could cancel it under her own name.
But why?
“Did Grandma say no again?”
When Seung-ah had first suggested holding the 80th birthday party at a hotel banquet hall, Grandma had flatly refused in her usual gruff voice:
“What, money rotting away somewhere? Why waste all that hard-earned cash on an old woman’s birthday in some fancy hotel!”
Back then, Seung-ah had spent the whole day coaxing her, with Mom and her younger brother joining in. Grandma had always rejected the idea like that, which was why they had never been able to hold a proper party for her 60th or 70th birthdays.
She had finally relented then, but looking back, maybe she had never truly liked the idea.
And later, she must have told Mom not to tell her, then canceled it.
A wave of disappointment washed over Seung-ah.
“Sigh… who could ever break Grandma’s stubbornness?”
It must have been about money.
Always money. If the family had more, Grandma would’ve acted embarrassed but still enjoyed the party.
Suddenly, Seung-ah recalled Eugene’s recent homecoming party she had attended, and the sight of Il-bong surveying the hall.
Il-bong and her grandmother were of the same generation. They lived in entirely different worlds, yet somehow the two faces overlapped in her mind.
She couldn’t throw a dazzling party like the one Il-bong hosted, but she had wanted to make Grandma happy at least.
* * *
On her way to Grandma’s restaurant, Seung-ah passed the neighborhood’s only supermarket. The owner, carrying a box of fruit, recognized her.
“Why, if it isn’t Seung-ah!”
“Hello, ma’am.”
“Come to see your mother, have you?”
The villagers still remembered her face—she had lived here until she left for Seoul to attend university.
“Yes. Is business good?”
“Same as ever for a corner store.”
This little supermarket doubled as a gathering spot, where village women cooked pancakes with rice wine and played cards.
As she chatted with the owner, a couple of women stepped outside and called to her.
“Well, isn’t this strange. We were just talking about your family, and here you are.”
“You were talking about my family?”
The women began to toss out remarks, one after another.
“Mm-hmm. What’s this we hear, your uncle’s neck-deep in debt?”
“Are there any buyers coming to see the restaurant building?”
“The place is old, you know. Unless they tear it down and rebuild, who’d want to buy such a shabby building?”
What on earth…?
Uncle in debt? Selling the restaurant building? That couldn’t be true. Grandma poured her heart into that restaurant—there’s no way.
Confused, Seung-ah asked,
“What do you mean? What debt? And why would the restaurant be up for sale?”
“You don’t know? Seems no one told you yet.”
“Exactly.”
For a moment, silence fell as the women exchanged uneasy glances. Finally, the owner of the snack shop spoke cautiously.
“Well, you’d find out once you got home anyway… but your uncle was swindled.”
* * *
“Goodness, Seung-ah! Don’t run like that, you’ll hurt yourself!”
Leaving the supermarket owner’s voice behind, Seung-ah rushed toward the restaurant.
She had no idea such a disaster had struck her family.
How much anguish must Grandma have been in!
Just as she turned into the alley leading to the restaurant, she saw someone walking with his head hung low.
It was her younger brother, Seung-min, looking utterly dejected.
Seung-ah blocked his path, but he kept staring at the ground and didn’t notice her.
Only when her shoes appeared in his line of sight did he try to sidestep what he thought was an obstacle.
Smack!
A sharp slap landed on his back, making him raise his head at last.
“Ow! Ah, noona!”
“Choi Seung-min!”
“When did you get here? I thought you weren’t coming until late tonight.”
“If you’re not too busy, how about we have a little talk?”
He silently nodded.
“What happened? Is it true Uncle got swindled?”
“Where did you hear that?”
“That’s not the point right now. Just tell me.”
After a long hesitation, Seung-min finally began to explain.
“The friend who asked Uncle to go into business together… turns out he was a scammer. He ran off with all the money.”
“What?”
Seung-min continued,
“While Uncle was out looking for factory land, the guy disappeared. Two years later, after endless searching, they finally found him hiding out in some backwater. But by then, he’d gambled everything away.”
So Uncle was left saddled with debt.
“How much debt are we talking about?”
“Well… even after selling his house, there was still about 300 million won left unpaid.”
“Three hundred million?”
Her jaw dropped.
She had wanted to insist that they not sell the restaurant, but hearing that figure, the words wouldn’t come.
Even with her severance loan and every line of credit, she couldn’t begin to cover it.
“What about Mom?”
“Mom’s been paying off debts for years already. She said she can’t take on more, so she agreed to sell the restaurant building. And just the other day, someone came wanting to buy, so they signed the contract.”
Seung-ah slapped her forehead.
Their current home was the three-room apartment above the restaurant. If the building was sold, the family would have to move.
And even then, the old building in the market wasn’t worth nearly 300 million.
“Why am I only hearing about this now?”
Seung-min glanced nervously at her face before replying carefully.
“Grandma and Mom said not to tell you.”
“Why would they keep something like this from me? And besides, rumors are all over the market already. I was bound to hear sooner or later, wasn’t I?”
“Well… you only just broke up with Tae-joon, didn’t you?”
“Tae…”
The words caught in her throat.
Her family knew Tae-joon well. He had come down several times to greet her mom and grandma. Both had always thought of him as a future son-in-law.
And then they heard he was marrying a rich man’s daughter instead…
Seung-min muttered, voice low,
“They said you’re going through a hard time already, so better to let you know after things settled down.”
