Chapter 26
It was only after I returned to the Ansan officetel that I was finally able to carefully go through my father’s documents.
Sitting in front of the pink cloth bundle, my emotions grew complicated.
I didn’t have many memories of my father.
He was always busy with work. From Monday to Saturday, when I woke up in the morning, he had already left for work, and by the time I fell asleep at night, he still hadn’t returned.
Even on Sundays, he sometimes had to go to the office, and on the rare days he stayed home, he was usually too exhausted to do anything but sleep.
When I think of my father, all I can recall is the large hand that occasionally patted my head and his gentle eyes.
But after he passed away, our family clearly felt the absence he left behind.
Not only did we fall into financial hardship, but we also painfully realized how society looked at a woman without a husband and a child without a father.
And the incident that shook our entire lives was now laid out in front of me in documents.
I took a deep breath and untied the pink cloth.
Inside were a complaint, court records, and newspaper clippings.
On top of everything was a handwritten note from my father on a Post-it.
— “In the end, it is truth that wins.”
I read everything inside without missing a single word.
Baekho Motors, four years after being sold to the global company Haoder Motors, went into court receivership due to accumulated losses.
At the time, my father worked in Baekho Motors’ finance department.
During the receivership process, my father was accused by Baekho Motors of embezzlement related to his work.
Then came defeat. Arrest. Civil damages lawsuit.
Suicide…
A chain reaction of downfall.
Even just skimming through the court records and news articles made my chest burn as if it were being seared with a branding iron.
A familiar name kept appearing repeatedly in the court documents.
Taeyoung Law Firm.
Han Gu-young, the managing partner of Taeyoung, represented the company and led both the embezzlement accusation and the damages lawsuit.
He stood directly opposite my father’s collapse.
And another name—Shin Young-jin.
The lawyer who had represented my father.
When I searched online, I found that in the same year my father died, Shin Young-jin was recruited into Taeyoung Law Firm as a partner with a high salary.
It was hard to call all of this a coincidence.
It felt like a puzzle missing several critical pieces.
Taeyoung Law Firm.
I spent the entire night thinking about that name.
Saturday morning. I had gone for a jog early and was returning home.
As I stood at the door entering my passcode, the door to room 903 opened and Han Su-jin came out, dragging a large black garbage bag.
“Good morning,” I greeted.
“Oh! Good morning!” she replied, startled.
She was wearing casual gym clothes with her knees exposed, a padded coat thrown loosely over it, and her hair tied up messily. Unlike usual, she looked flustered.
“You just came back from exercise?”
“Yes. It’s recycling day today, right?”
“R-right. Then take care going in.”
She quickly tried to pull the large bag she was holding, but something got caught.
With a ripping sound, the black plastic bag split open.
What looked like enough space to stuff a person inside tore in half, and beer cans spilled out loudly onto the floor.
— Huh. How many is that? She drank all this in a week alone? I misjudged her.
The red-eyed entity clicked its tongue.
“It’s from three and a half weeks! Three and a half weeks!” Su-jin shouted, as if she could hear it.
— Oh? Can she see me? Hear me?
The red eyes waved in front of her face, but Su-jin didn’t even blink.
Even when it scratched its nose dramatically in front of her and tasted what came out of it, she didn’t react at all.
No change in gaze whatsoever.
She definitely couldn’t see or hear it.
“I-it’s nothing like that,” she muttered, face slightly red, even seeming confused at herself.
“Has something happened recently?” I asked.
She shook her head like a child who had done something wrong.
“I just… couldn’t sleep much.”
“I see. Can you treat me to a meal today?”
“Pardon?”
“You said you’d buy me a meal last time.”
“Ah… that day when we moved the flower pot… alright. But only after I clean this up.”
She looked down at the spilled beer cans in distress.
“Go home and bring something to put them in. I’ll help you clean.”
“You don’t have to… your hands will get dirty…”
“I already ran and sweated. I’m dirty anyway. Go quickly.”
“Okay.”
She ran back inside.
— Why are you suddenly acting like this? the red eyes asked suspiciously.
‘Acting like what?’
— Since when do you ask women out for meals or their time?
‘Yeah, I don’t.’
— So what’s special about her?
‘Her aura has changed.’
— How?
‘It used to be rainbow-colored. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue… but now it’s completely crimson.’
— What? I didn’t see that.
Just then, Su-jin came back with two large paper shopping bags.
I took one and started picking up the cans.
— It’s true. A strange energy is covering her completely. How did it change so drastically in such a short time? I’ve never seen anything like this.
While we collected the cans, the red eyes circled around Su-jin, observing her.
After cleaning everything up, we stood in front of the building.
“Then shall we meet here in one hour?” Su-jin said lightly.
— What takes an hour just to shower and change clothes?
“Alright,” I said.
We went into our respective homes.
Exactly one hour later, we met again at the same spot.
Su-jin, now wearing a black turtleneck dress and a gray plaid wool coat, looked completely different.
Earlier she had seemed defenseless, but now she looked fully prepared, confident.
However, her crimson aura remained unchanged.
“Where should we go?” she asked.
“I just moved to Ansan recently, so I don’t really know places. Do you have anywhere you like?” I replied.
“I do. I know a perfect place for a cold Saturday morning.”
She led the way confidently.
After about a 15-minute walk from the officetel, she brought me to a small soondae-guk (blood sausage soup) restaurant tucked deep inside an alley.
I had never even noticed this place existed.
As soon as we entered, the dry cold air outside was replaced by a warm, humid heat.
It felt oddly comforting, like a mother’s kitchen. I felt like I would come here often in the future.
“Unnie, I’m here,” Su-jin greeted.
“You’re here, Su-jin?” the owner replied warmly.
They seemed very close, like sisters.
There were several empty tables, but not all were truly empty.
In every restaurant, some seats are occupied by ghosts.
At the cozy window seat sat a couple of ghosts, behaving like they were on a date.
At another table near the wall, a middle-aged male ghost pretended to drink soju with his soup.
Su-jin almost sat at the window seat but suddenly changed direction.
“Why?” I asked.
“That used to be my usual seat… but today it doesn’t feel right.”
“Why not?”
“Just a feeling. Let’s sit over there instead.”
She pointed to a table that had no ghosts.
“Alright.”
The owner brought water and cups.
“What would you like? The usual?” she asked.
Su-jin turned to me.
“There are only two menu items: regular and special soondae-guk. The special has much more meat. I always get that. Is that okay?”
“Fine.”
“Two specials, please,” she told the owner.
After the owner left, Su-jin casually opened a drawer under the table and took out napkins and utensils.
“This must be your regular place,” I said.
“Yes. I come at least once a week. But it sounds weird when you say ‘Attorney Han’ like that.”
“Then what should I call you?”
“Just add ‘-ssi’ after our names.”
“Alright, Su-jin-ssi?”
“Yes. Hyun-jae-ssi.”
She giggled playfully.
Soon, two bowls of steaming soondae-guk were served.
“Here you go.”
The owner glanced at my face.
“He’s handsome. Your boyfriend?” she teased.
“Unnie, what boyfriend? I just brought him to show him a good place,” Su-jin laughed.
As we ate, the rich smell of broth made my stomach rumble—I had exercised early without eating.
“How is it?” she asked.
“It’s rich and really good.”
“Stick with me and you won’t regret it,” she said confidently.
The soup was thick and savory, full of meat, and the radish kimchi cut through the richness perfectly.
— Damn, this smell is dangerous. Makes me want soju.
The red eyes trembled.
We ate in silence until our bodies felt warm and full.
After finishing, I wiped my mouth and asked,
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“That tree you mentioned before… who gave it to you?”
“My sister.”
“Your real older sister?”
“…Well, something like that.”
“If it’s not rude, what does she do?”
“She works at my father’s company.”
That meant Taeyoung Law Firm.
I remembered what Lee Sang-jae had said before—that Su-jin’s older siblings were both partner lawyers at Taeyoung.
“Why did your sister give you that tree? Was it your birthday?”
Su-jin paused mid-sip of water and looked at me curiously.
“Why? Is there something wrong with that tree?”
