IRLPLBIO Chapter 26 Part 1

Chapter 26 #5. This Isn’t a Runaway Kid (6)

After a brief staring contest, Lee Young-hwan smiled slightly at the spirited Jae-gu.

“You’re an interesting young man. Alright, how much will it take?”

As Lee Young-hwan extended his hand, one of the burly men quickly placed a wallet on his palm. But before he could even open the stylish leather wallet, Jae-gu swiftly covered it with his own hand.

Lee Young-hwan’s eyebrow twitched for a moment. There was only a hair’s breadth between courage and recklessness.

“For a man of your standing…”

Confidence and impertinence are also separated by a mere sheet of paper. It was just as Lee Young-hwan was about to classify Jae-gu as an “impertinent brat.”

“I heard you’re a man who repays favors unequivocally.”

“…”

Lee Young-hwan did not speak. Asking where he heard it, or if Na-eun told him, would itself show a weakness.

But the tongue of the impertinent, reckless young man kept moving.

“And don’t just try to settle it with money.”

If this had been a conversation between adults weighing profit and loss, seeing each other as trading partners, he would have known exactly what it meant. But the Jae-gu in Lee Young-hwan’s eyes, no matter how he looked at him, was still a student in a school uniform. He was too young to follow the adult way of conversing, which involves using a minor incident as an excuse to gain the right to ask for a favor.

“It seems you have something you want?”

“Not right now, but please grant me a favor next time. I won’t insist on something absurd.”

“Alright. I’ll consider it settled for the cost of your school uniform.”

“And for your daughter… please add the cost of shaking off the flies that were clinging to her. They were really buzzing around.”

At the word “flies,” Lee Young-hwan looked at Na-eun. He had thought his daughter had simply enjoyed a pleasant trip, but it seemed there had been something dangerous or troublesome.

Na-eun avoided her father’s eyes, which had become newly worried. Instead, becoming even more bewildered, she precisely argued with Jae-gu.

“Neither Min-jae oppa nor Kwang-cheol oppa, why are you taking the payment, oppa? Look at how shameless this oppa is!”

“If I’m happy, Kwang-cheol is happy, and then Kim Min-jae becomes happy too. Don’t you know about mutual aid?”

Jae-gu smoothly changed the subject. He also gave a look that implied she should be grateful he didn’t mention ‘life or death.’ In truth, if he had said that, it would truly have crossed the line this time, and not only those guys but Jae-gu himself would have paid the price for his impertinence.

Lee Young-hwan, who had been thinking for a moment, suddenly realized. Jae-gu knew exactly the line he had drawn. It was clear he knew how far to push and where to stop for maximum effectiveness. With such an opponent, prolonging the conversation would only be disadvantageous.

Moreover, the face of Park Kwang-cheol, standing behind Jae-gu, was strangely familiar. Although he maintained a calm expression, his entire body was tensed as if he might spring forward at any moment. It meant he was even considering contingencies.

Jae-gu seemed to think he was protecting Park Kwang-cheol, but in Lee Young-hwan’s eyes, it appeared to be the opposite. The one Jae-gu was hiding and trying to protect behind his back was not a young puppy, but an already grown wolf.

He had no intention of actually making the burly men he brought for display do anything that would make them lose face. Lee Young-hwan decided to respect the spirit of the young men.

“Very well.”

“Dad!”

“And you, young friend, come visit next time. I’ll buy you something delicious.”

Na-eun, who had been jumping, closed her mouth when Kim Min-jae was mentioned. Kim Min-jae, who had been pushed aside in the battle of wills, widened his eyes.

“Yes, yes! Understood! Goodbye!”

Leaving Kim Min-jae bowing respectfully behind him, Lee Young-hwan, who was leaving with Na-eun, suddenly stopped at the cafe’s door.

“You, you resemble someone I know.”

“…Is that so?”

Park Kwang-cheol ran a hand over his face. Not asking who the other person was meant he already knew who it was. That alone was a sufficient answer for Lee Young-hwan.

Now that he thought about it, the cafe owner hadn’t been visible since he entered. Perhaps they were individuals who would recognize each other if they met face to face. Lee Young-hwan’s logic arrived at one conclusion.

Lee Young-hwan only spoke after returning to the car with Na-eun.

“For a thug, he was quite impressive.”

“…He’s not a thug.”

Na-eun’s voice was still sulky, but her pronunciation was clear. Unaware that she would defend the Jae-gu she had been squabbling with, Lee Young-hwan unconsciously looked at Na-eun.

Na-eun, who had lost her mother early on, had grown up under Lee Young-hwan’s care. Having grown up amidst rough and boisterous men, she hadn’t been taught what a girl needed to prepare for as she grew up. Na-eun, who had cried a lot growing up, was always a sore spot for Lee Young-hwan.

Perhaps because of this, Na-eun was extremely perceptive. Her judgment of people was especially accurate, like a ghost. Sometimes she grasped opponents more realistically than Lee Young-hwan himself. If it came to anything, especially reading people, Na-eun’s words were the most important.

“Not a thug?”

“That oppa… he did save me, it’s true.”

“Saved you, you say…”

“Yeah. Saying ‘life’ might be an exaggeration, but it’s pretty close.”

‘My, life?!’

Lee Young-hwan’s face registered enormous shock. Na-eun, who found it tiresome to explain in detail, simply nodded silently.

Although she didn’t want to admit it, Jae-gu’s words were close to the truth. No matter how much Na-eun said she wouldn’t go with them, if there were three men, she wouldn’t have been able to overpower them. It was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was accurate enough to say he had saved her life.

“Th-then, we must go back and repay him…!”

“It’s fine. He said he’d grant a favor next time.”

“But Na-eun, he’s the one who helped you.”

“I said it’s fine. From the looks of it, we’ll probably meet again anyway.”

Na-eun’s words were accurate. Lee Young-hwan thought so too. Not only Jae-gu but Park Kwang-cheol as well, he felt he would see them again soon.

Silence fell inside the car. The burly man behind the wheel was extraordinary at driving, if nothing else.

The steady car body moved forward stably. Reddish streetlamp lights brushed past the car window at a steady pace.

Na-eun, who had been idly watching out the window, had fallen deeply asleep at some point. The long yet short journey of the day had ended.