Chapter 4: Inevitable Fate (1)
I had spent over half a month trying to understand Kang Cheonmyeong.
I knew that I needed to do that to lay the groundwork for surviving in this gloomy, oppressive place.
Kind and gentle Kang Cheonmyeong.
The neighbors liked him so much that they’d smile whenever they saw him.
At first, I forced myself into awkward grins so stiff my face felt paralyzed, but I gradually got used to it.
Eventually, I accepted the reality to the point where I wondered if I really was Kang Cheonmyeong.
[Inevitable Fate]
I wrote that in my notebook and resolved it every day.
I was Kang Cheonmyeong.
“Oppa, did you know Dad and big brother are coming today?”
Yeonhwa was studying at the low table when she looked up at and asked.
“I heard from Mom.”
Today was the day my father and eldest brother were coming. To be precise, they were coming because of Kang Cheonmyeong’s bloodline, not mine.
But since I had decided to live as Kang Cheonmyeong, I accepted it.
“Yeonhwa.”
“Yes?”
“Dad didn’t live with us because our room was too small, right? Sa for big brother.”
“Why would you ask sothing so obvious? It’s still weird. The day before yesterday, you asked if he was a good person.”
“Well, I’m still feeling the aftereffects.”
“But how did you get so good at fighting? Did inhaling coal gas make you stronger?”
Yeonhwa’s tilted head made her look adorable.
After I beat up the two guys who had been taking money from Kang Daemyung, strange rumors about spread.
That I had trained at Shaolin Temple over winter break, that I learned martial arts from a high master, that inhaling coal gas made strong.
All sorts of wild rumors ran rampant.
“Daemyung was getting robbed, so I lost it. People can get superhuman strength in tis of crisis.”
“You didn’t do that before.”
“Huh?”
“In the past, Daemyung and you would both get beaten and co ho together. That was supposed to be deep brotherhood, right? Don’t you rember?”
When things get unfavorable, it’s best to change the topic.
“You’re studying hard.”
I glanced at the sheet music spread out on the table.
It was the song “Children’s Day.”
“‘Fly, little birds, into the blue sky.’ It sounds like a command. Children’s Day isn’t the only thing that should grow in May.”
“Oppa, you’ve really gone strange. It’s a song.”
“It is a song, but why are you looking at this sheet music?”
“I’m going to play it on the piano.”
Yeonhwa pulled out a paper keyboard she had drawn from under the table. She looked at the sheet music and pressed the paper keys with her fingers as she sang.
In my past life, I would have bought her a grand piano right away. Such a pitiful girl.
“You sing well.”
In fact, Yeonhwa sang beautifully.
“I wanted to join a children’s choir, but they had fees.”
“You could be a singer later.”
“Oppa, why are you like this? I’ve told you my dream is to be a singer several tis.”
“You’re still out of it.”
I got up again, feeling cornered.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll walk around the neighborhood.”
“Don’t be late. We’re having a family dinner tonight. Mom said she’ll make the bean‑sprout salad oppa likes.”
Bean‑sprout salad.
Not at—how could soone like bean sprouts?
Is she saying that because our family’s finances are tight?
She was truly an incomprehensible character.
I left the house and turned into a narrow side alley on the left. I admired Korean construction techniques every ti I passed this way. How could they build houses so that only one person could pass through?
After I squeezed out of the cramped alley, I saw flowers blooming between stones.
They looked like the hope of this slum.
“Hyung‑ah!”
It was Kang Daemyung’s voice.
When I looked down, he ca up clutching sothing in his hands.
I leaned in to see and realized they were bottle caps.
He grinned sheepishly and ca closer.
“Hyung‑ah! I picked up lots of bottle caps. Spread them out.”
Staring at the caps blankly, mories surfaced.
When Kang Daemyung found bottle caps, he pounded them flat with a hamr. They were tools for playing ttakji flipping with the neighborhood kids.
He had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do.
Pounding them with a hamr helped relieve stress, so I nodded.
“Let’s go.”
As we passed through the alley, I witnessed a hilarious sight.
Kang Daemyung, being big‑bodied, couldn’t walk straight in the narrow alley and crab‑walked sideways.
That sight was too funny.
“Daemyung, can you move back a bit?”
“Okay.”
Even though there was enough space behind him, he walked while scraping his body against the front wall.
That’s why his clothes kept tearing.
I reached out my hand to guide his direction.
“Hyung‑ah, thank you.”
We left the alley and went back inside the house.
Yeonhwa, still pressing her paper keyboard while singing, looked at .
“Back already?”
“I’m going to flatten the bottle caps.”
“So Daemyung ca.”
Yeonhwa stepped down from the floor and opened the door to go outside.
“What are you wearing? I told you not to co through the alley—use the main road behind the supermarket.”
She nagged at Kang Daemyung.
Sotis I doubted she was really just a second grader.
Maybe she had regressed like ?
All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind.
I pulled a hamr out from under the floorboards.
Then I heard voices from outside.
“Did your friends bother you today?”
“No. I got along with them.”
“If they hit you, don’t just take it. Hit them back. I’m grown up now, so if soone hits you, I won’t let it go.”
That little one was quite spirited.
Kang Daemyung didn’t go to school.
There was no special education school in the neighborhood, and even if there were, we couldn’t afford the fees.
He should’ve been in his second year of high school by age, but his ntal developnt was around six or seven years old, so he only attended up to the fourth grade in elentary school.
Relentless teasing, bullying, and beatings.
Eventually, Mom gave up on sending him to school.
‘Cheonmyeong, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to take care of your brother.’
Mom’s voice rang like tinnitus in my ears.
I opened the tin door and stepped outside, and Daemyung looked at and smiled widely.
“Hyung‑ah, do it quickly.”
Kang Daemyung dumped out a pile of soju and soda bottle caps onto the ground.
Clatterrrrr―
The sound of tal scraping was crisp and refreshing.
Having run a construction company in my past life, I was familiar with a hamr.
Tack—tack—tack—
I flattened the crimped edges by hamring from the center out.
The bottle cap beca a smooth circle.
Kang Daemyung opened his eyes wide and clapped his hands.
“Hyung‑ah, you’re good at it.”
Yeonhwa was surprised too.
“Oppa, what the heck? You’re even good at hamring now. What is going on with you?”
“I practiced.”
Tack tack—tack tack tack—
Even with people walking past , I felt no sha.
Of course, going to the bathroom was still embarrassing.
But I was slowly getting used to living with this gloomy family in an unauthorized housing area.
The whole family gathered for the first ti.
Sharing a stew was a nightmare.
Did they not know they were passing around Helicobacter bacteria that cause gastritis?
When Father and Big Brother weren’t here, we used to pour soup or stew into our own rice bowls. But not today.
Father and Big Brother had already dipped their spoons into the kimchi stew multiple tis.
Damn it!
There was no way I could eat that kimchi stew.
Five mouths had stirred five spoons into that stew, creating a wave of germs.
Kang Daemyung only picked out the pork with his spoon.
When I barely touched my food, Mom looked worried.
“Cheonmyeong, it’s your favorite kimchi stew. Why aren’t you eating?”
“My stomach’s upset. I can’t handle spicy food right now.”
Just because the family gathered didn’t an the side dishes changed.
The only difference was that we each got a piece of grilled mackerel.
So I only ate the grilled mackerel and bean sprouts.
Father was silent.
His face reminded of a worn‑out day laborer I used to see in my past life.
Big Brother wore horn‑rimd glasses and looked intellectual, but his eyes were filled with drive and ambition.
“It’s good!”
Kang Daemyung rubbed his belly after eating two bowls.
“Let’s clear the table.”
At Mom’s words, Yeonhwa and I cleared the dishes from the table.
Daily life that I had to accept naturally after returning.
That’s how tough this family’s life was, and since I’d seen Daemyung break dishes more than once, I gladly did the chore.
Yeonhwa was admirable.
In a way, maybe the environnt made her mature early.
During vacation, Yeonhwa made lunch for and Kang Daemyung.
Seeing the little one working so hard made feel sorry, so I sotis did the dishes.
That’s how I was blending into this family.
After we cleared the table and sat on the floor, Father looked at and spoke.
“Cheonmyeong, you’ve been going through a lot.”
Big Brother, sitting next to , patted my shoulder.
“You’re working hard.”
They both seed to feel sorry for giving the role of the head of the household.
Honestly, all I did was occasionally help with the dishes.
“Hyung‑ah scolded the friends who used to bully .”
It was only after hearing Daemyung’s words that I understood what Father and Big Brother ant.
They were consoling for the hardships I faced taking care of Kang Daemyung.
Big Brother looked at in surprise.
“What do you an you scolded them?”
“I can’t keep getting beaten forever. I knocked them out in one shot.”
Big Brother turned to Yeonhwa, asking for an explanation.
“Little oppa got weird after breathing in coal gas. He started fighting, which he never did before.”
“Cheonmyeong actually won?”
“It’s all over the neighborhood. They say he knocked out two guys in seconds.”
Big Brother rushed to the bookshelf and pulled out a book.
[Comprehensive Kung Fu Martial Arts. Jeet Kune Do]
Bruce Lee was clenching his fist and glaring on the cover.
“You practiced with this book on your own?”
“Yeah.”
With no better excuse, I quickly nodded.
Father’s voice lowered.
“Once you go to high school, focus on studying. Don’t fight.”
His face was so dark.
Whether it was from working in the scorching sun or for health reasons, his complexion looked unhealthy.
“Okay.”
Mom ca out with a plate of sliced tomatoes.
Tomatoes covered in sugar.
They didn’t taste good.
I ate them just for the sugar.
Big Brother seed concerned about Father too.
“Dad, you don’t look well. Is sothing wrong?”
“There’s just a lot of overti lately.”
“Are you eating well?”
When Mom asked, Big Brother chuckled softly.
“A friend’s mom brings rice and side dishes. I’m eating fine.”
“I feel bad. I should at least be making you so side dishes.”
“It’s okay. Once I start tutoring, I’ll pay the rent. Don’t worry, Mom.”
Even though the atmosphere was gloomy, the family respected and loved each other.
Feelings I never experienced in my previous life.
Back then, Father was strict and Mom was harsh.
They constantly compared my school grades to relatives and acquaintances’ children, and I lived under the heavy burden of being the eldest son.
“You’re going to inherit your father’s company, so learn how to win in competition.”
That was what my past-life mother used to say.
At the ti, I acted like a programd machine following commands.
I believed listening to my parents was the only way to live a comfortable and happy life.
There was no consideration or concession in —only the ambition to trample over others and succeed.
So, this current atmosphere felt unfamiliar.
Big Brother left.
Father said he would sleep and leave for work at dawn, so I lay down on the floor.
Screeech— screech—
Noises from outside.
Even in this uncomfortable place, I slept well now.
While half-asleep, I heard voices.
“Dear, what should we do? We don’t have any money left after paying Taemyung’s tuition and buying his school uniform.”
“How much are they asking for?”
“Five hundred thousand won plus a hundred.”
“Okay. I’ll find a way to get it.”
I couldn’t tell what exactly was happening from that conversation.
But really, just five hundred thousand won?
Not having that much money?
Even if this was 1987, it felt odd to be so troubled by such a small amount that it affected their sleep.
I didn’t understand why Mom was so serious about it—until school started again.
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