Real Man

The bus ran for three hours and stopped at Yoo-hyun’s hometown.

“So it was like this.”

The apartment complex behind the river had not yet been built and the redeveloped old town was still intact.

When Yoo-hyun visited his mother’s address, he saw single-story farmhouses clustered at the bottom of the mountain.

It was a house that he vaguely remembered.

After his mother’s death, his father moved to another area and never stopped by here again.

“It’s here.”

Standing in front of the house, Yoo-hyun looked at the blue roof with its paint peeling off and recalled the two-story mansion where he lived as a child.

A lot of memories were left in that house that was located not that far away.

That place had a swing in the well-maintained and spacious garden, and there was also a small hut that served as Yoo-hyun’s hideout when he was younger.

His memories may have been glorified, but they were very happy memories.

He still remembered that vividly, but he wondered how Yoo-hyun felt when he faced the house in the past.

It seemed like he still had some lingering bitterness with what happened before like the dregs left on the bottom of a coffee cup.

‘I will definitely put it back.’

Was that the driving force behind Yoo-hyun’s attitude towards success before?

Distracted by thoughts of the past, Yoo-hyun suddenly shook his head and stepped into the opened entrance.

At that time, he made eye contact with his mother who was washing lettuce in a small yard. 

“Huh? Hyun-ah.”

“Mother…”

His heart trembled as he faced his young and wrinkle-free mother.

He vividly remembered the days they spent together as if it were happening right in front of him.

This was the mother who always smiled in front of Yoo-hyun.

The same was true of the last time he visited.

He couldn’t be contacted or visited.

And yet, his mother still smiled graciously at him as she tried to reassure her wretched son. Even until her last breath.

When that memory came to mind, his heart crumbled.

A feeling of deep regret ran through him from his head to his toes.

Yoo-hyun couldn’t even take a step further.

Then his mother wiped her hands with a towel, walked towards him, and patted him on the back.

“Oh, my. Did you have a hard time getting here?”

“No…”

Tap. Tap.

“It’s okay. You’ll be okay. Welcome home. You haven’t eaten yet, right?”

Yoo-hyun, who was held in his mother’s small arms, nodded his head and suppressed his rising emotions.

“Yes.”

“Okay. Come on, let’s eat. Wait a minute.”

How does it feel to meet the young mother from 20 years ago?

‘It’s really good to come back.’

He was so grateful for the miracle to change the life that threw everything away.

No money, nor success, nor wealth, nor glory, should ever come before his family.

After a while.

“Come on, let’s eat.”

Various side dishes and meat cooked by his mother were placed on a small table.

His mother squatted and watched him eating with a happy expression on her face.

“Mother, you should eat too.”

“I ate already. And I can’t eat any more. I’m getting fat.”

“Where are you fat? You’re as beautiful as ever.”

“Ho-ho, hey. Where else did you learn to speak like that? Huh?”

The corners of her mother’s lips rose as she softly said those awkward words.

That smile was always in Yoo-hyun’s childhood memories.

She looked just like the mother who used to be relaxed and laughed a lot.

It was a completely different image from Yoo-hyun who was frustrated by a diminished life.

When Yoo-hyun finished eating, his mother opened her mouth, “Yoo-hyun-ah, your mom was thinking of taking over the side dish shop this time.”

“What?”

“The boss is opening another shop but wants to leave the old one to your mom. Your mom was complimented for being good at it.”

After a brief pause, Yoo-hyun noticed his mother talking cautiously.

He could guess why.

He guessed that he had a negative reaction to his mother’s work in the past.

And then he must have tried to carry his resentment on his own again.

He didn’t understand anything about his mother’s life.

At least not yet.

To reassure his mother, he asked with a smile on his mouth, “Isn’t it hard?”

“It’s hard. But it’s also great to see people happily eating your mom’s side dishes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why I didn’t do anything before and just lived at home like an idiot.”

Was that said to reassure Yoo-hyun?

His mother’s gestures became more exaggerated.

Yoo-hyun knew it too.

It was hard enough to just sit in the office and in front of the computer.

However, it could not even compare to how difficult it took to make a living by selling side dishes.

He could deliberately nod his head and move on, but he was curious about his mother’s real feelings.

“It is still difficult. There will be a lot of suffering.”

“Yoo-hyun-ah.”

“Yes, mother.”

“I’m not just saying it to make you feel at ease.”

Yoo-hyun hurriedly asked at his mother’s words, “Are you sure?”

“Your dad has been trying harder and it’s going well. He thought the company would all collapse again, but it’s staying strong. So your mom wouldn’t need to work and is much better now.”

“…”

It was such a positive answer.

Unshakable eyes, stable tone of voice, and normal breathing. 

Naturally, the hand on the table told Yoo-hyun that it was not a lie.

Yoo-hyun lived far away. However, his mother was right in the center of what happened to the house that declined.

The house became smaller and the clothes they wore were not as good as before.

A person who never worked a single day before said she would even open a side dish store.

But how can she be so positive?

As if sensing Yoo-hyun’s curiosity, his mother continued, “I don’t need any money. Really. If you’re really worried, your mom will make a lot of money and feed you. So you don’t need to worry too much and just live comfortably.”

“Haha, I don’t need the money. Go on a trip with that.”

“Then I’ll earn it and send it away.”

“Hahaha, yes. Yes. Mother, when I make enough money, let’s go on a trip and eat delicious food together.”

Yoo-hyun burst into laughter and added friendly words.

It was quite different from Yoo-hyun’s usual appearance.

Because it felt unfamiliar, the corners of his mouth kept going up.

Tears started to form in Yoo-hyun’s eyes.

Yoo-hyun sent his mother back to the side dish shop.

She said she was really okay, but he cared about what she wore.

Gray round cotton t-shirt and jeans. There were even stains on the clothes, probably from the side dishes.

“Whoo,” Yoo-hyun let out a cold breath and made his way to the small room where he would stay.

There were photo albums of his childhood and various records of his education from elementary, middle, and high schools.

There were also quite a lot of awards, mostly about art.

He liked art.

His long-forgotten memories surfaced.

It felt like he was in a museum.

Looking through the pictures in his younger days excited him.

“Haha, what’s this?”

Yoo-hyun burst into laughter when he saw the photo of him and his friends with ridiculous poses during their trip to the valley.

It was very good to see his carefree smile without pretenses.

There were also sticker photos of when their friendship was in full swing and even some friendship notes that could make anyone cringe to death.

Who is Yoo-hyun in these pictures?

He always had a bright expression and one couldn’t find a single trace of concern on his face.

It was something that he couldn’t see in himself now.

With a smile on his lips, Yoo-hyun opened a box decorated with flowers.

He could see the letters piled up there.

They were all handwritten letters from girls in middle and high school.

When he was young, he was very shy, so he remembered purposefully avoiding women who confessed to him.

“Hey, Han Yoo-hyun, you had a lot of fun.”

Han Yoo-hyun in the forgotten past looked very bright and cheerful.

He had a lot of friends and was quite popular.

He seemed to just enjoy living from day to day.

But how did this happen?

He said that he changed when he saw the house being torn apart, but in reality, he simply just took in all his worries all on his own.

He moved forward with the resentment against his parents and against the world, but then looking at it, those were all just excuses.

Victim’s mindset, greed, and obsession.

Once the negative emotions rolled in, they snowballed and eroded Yoo-hyun’s inner self.

He lived a very closed-off life that seemed to break apart if he didn’t push himself to the limit.

Wouldn’t it have been different if he listened to his mother, even just a little?

Why didn’t he care about the people closest to him when he followed the company’s boss so well?

There was an answer right in front of him, but he thought he was only following a mirage that he couldn’t even see.

Regrets and self-criticism always gave rise to such recollections.

As the sun went down, his mother returned.

She said it would take some time, but it seems she had gone to the hair salon.

Recalling his mother’s smile, Yoo-hyun decided to chat a little more.

“I think your new perm went well.”

“Huh? How did you know? Is it okay?”

“Yes, the curls are good. My mother has young and supple skin, so you look more animated when you roll up your hair on the side and it looks good on you.”

“Yoo-hyun-ah, when I got this perm…”

In line with his mother’s interests, the conversation continued more naturally.

His mother raised her voice in excitement and Yoo-hyun smiled.

This was only his mother for now, and he was looking to open the hearts of the people in the company.

However, his mother’s response was much better than he expected.

She talked to Yoo-hyun as if she were chatting with a close friend.

His mother is a person, too.

Once you talk about something someone’s interested in, the person starts liking it, and if you sympathize with that, that person can open up.

Why didn’t I try such an easy thing before?

‘I’ll do better.’

Yoo-hyun inwardly expressed his gratitude and looked into his mother’s eyes.

After chatting for a while, his father came in and kept quiet.

“Father.”

“Oh, you’ve come.”

“Yes. How have you been?”

Yoo-hyun greeted his father with a blunt expression in a friendlier manner.

“Okay.” 

Then his father turned his head and answered awkwardly.

Now, Yoo-hyun was able to see his father’s face properly.

His father’s difficult daily life could be discerned from the creases on his forehead, the drooping shoulders, and feet that were turned outward from the heel.

His father glanced at Yoo-hyun and turned to face away from him.

It was time to do this once again.

But words didn’t come so easily.

“Father’s meal…”

“Honey, I ate already.”

“Yes, then rest.”

Boom.

In the end, his father went into the room without listening to Yoo-hyun.

Awkward.

Their relationship didn’t look so good at first glance.

His mother quietly looked at Yoo-hyun.

“It’s probably because work is not easy these days.”

“Yes. I see.”

“Your father is working hard, too. Please keep an eye on him. I’m sure you’ll do it.”

“Yes…”

Yoo-hyun nodded, but he wasn’t comfortable.

– What did dad do? Wasn’t he the one who ruined the family? I should never live like my dad!

He felt this way because he remembered a shameful old memory as he looked at his father entering the room.

He remembered the day his father’s factory went bankrupt and they moved houses.

It was still vivid in his mind how intensely he confronted his father.

Perhaps from that time onwards, his relationship with his father became strained.

Yoo-hyun’s mother saw his slightly wrinkled forehead and cautiously asked, “Yoo-hyun, are you okay?”

“Of course.”

Yoo-hyun smiled in front of his mother, who looked at him with a worried look.

The next day, Yoo-hyun went around his hometown.

It was a significant distance that one could take a bus, but he walked on purpose.

He felt like the gentle wind was encouraging him to walk.

The soft soil that touched the soles of his feet felt good.

A smile formed after deeply smelling the scent of flowers.

Wasn’t there a saying like that?

If one walks slowly, they can see more things.

T/N: We have an English saying of ‘stop and smell the roses,’ which has the same feelings conveyed in this part.

The blurry scenery that Yoo-hyun couldn’t see when he was running forward slowly began to focus on his eyes.

He could see his family, his friends, and the surrounding scenery.

In the past, he let go of these things without knowing how to be grateful, but now these are the things that have come to mean a lot to Yoo-hyun.

He was filled with gratitude.