Chapter 1 Part 3

Or he tried to recall if he had done anything recently that might have upset him, but nothing came to mind. What could be the problem? Had some issue arisen without his knowledge, significant enough to suddenly suggest cutting their connection?

When Jeong Tae-ui asked that, he looked as if to say, ‘What’s with the sudden nonsense?’

‘Why would I?’

His brother ended his sentence like that. Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head, staring intently at his brother’s face. But seeing his brother’s expression, which, though inscrutable, showed no pretense, he turned his gaze back to his book without a word.

But thinking back, perhaps that remark was a shortened version of, ‘Then why would I like you?’

Even if he wondered about it now, the only person who could resolve that question had already left indefinitely. Leaving behind words about wanting to experience “misfortune.”

Jeong Tae-ui had thought, ‘What a privileged thing to say,’ but now he realized that even his departure was incredibly lucky for his brother. He had left before this troublesome guest arrived.

Though he wasn’t at all pleased, he couldn’t ignore the rare visitor who was hungry and asking for food, so Jeong Tae-ui simply dished out another bowl of rice onto the half-eaten table. His appetite had long vanished, but he sat down at the table, across from his uncle.

“What kind of simple meal is this?”

His uncle chuckled, looking at the table set with barley rice, clear soup, and only two or three side dishes.

“What do you expect from a poor young man living alone? Do only luxurious meals come out of Uncle’s military?”

“Of course. If life is hard and the food is rough, an internal rebellion will break out. But this isn’t the military.”

“Oh, from what I’ve heard, it’s no different from the military. Depending on who you ask, it’s even more ruthless than the military.”

“Still, people are lining up from the other side of the world, desperate to get in. The name is splendid, too, UNHRDO (United Nations Human Resource Development Organization).”

“I told you, I can’t memorize such a long name.”

Watching his uncle eat, muttering words that could be either praise or complaint like, ‘It’s delicious eating such simple side dishes after a long time,’ Jeong Tae-ui sighed again and picked up his spoon. It seemed his appetite was gone after putting down his chopsticks once. He decided he would just have a few spoonfuls of soup.

As he spooned the clear soup, his gaze suddenly fixed on the chopsticks moving before him. He had thought it long ago, but this person held chopsticks very gracefully. The way he used his chopsticks so correctly was elegant. Those hands resembled his brother’s.

Lost in thought, Jeong Tae-ui looked up at his uncle’s face. It was neat, and in some ways, seemed gentle. He resembled his brother.

Well, it made sense that they would resemble each other. Genetically, he was their biological father. Even if he didn’t resemble him.

“Brother’s third death anniversary is next month, isn’t it?”

His uncle suddenly blurted it out, even though there was no way he could know what Jeong Tae-ui was thinking.

“Yes. The 20th of the lunar month. Will you come?”

“That would be difficult.”

Thinking back, the last time he had seen his uncle was at his father’s funeral. He hadn’t come for any ancestral rites since then, but Jeong Tae-ui knew that couldn’t be helped, as he was an exceptionally busy man. This person might be a troublesome and annoying guest to Jeong Tae-ui, but in truth, he was someone who would be well-received wherever he went, in any country.

“I don’t know when he’ll return, but should I tell him to contact Uncle when he does?”

He asked anyway, knowing that if it was urgent, it would be faster for his uncle to hire someone to look for him directly. Of course, that lucky brother of his would never be found if the outcome seemed bad for him.

“No… I don’t have that much time.”

His uncle, who had quickly finished a bowl of rice, wiped his mouth with his fingertips and mumbled. Then he stared intently at Jeong Tae-ui. At that moment, the ominous premonition he had forgotten slowly crept up his spine again.

“Jeong Tae-ui.”

“Uncle… I don’t know why you’re looking for my brother, but you know he and I are completely different, right? I’m the kind of person who wouldn’t even understand the chemical formula my brother solved when he was five if you put it in front of me now.”

As Jeong Tae-ui spoke quickly and bluntly, his uncle’s eyes curved slightly again, as if amused.

“You know that originally, one of you, you or Jeong Jae-ui, is my child, right?”

The topic his uncle brought up was something Jeong Tae-ui had never expected. Any words he might have uttered would have been unexpected, but he never imagined he’d bring up something like that in this context. Jeong Tae-ui stared at his uncle, then spoke with a sigh.

“Well. Not one of us, but both of us are your sons. Genetically, I know. Why?”

It wasn’t a secret. He had heard it directly from his father when he was young, perhaps when he judged that the brothers were old enough to understand. His father had sat the two young children, barely mature enough, down and explained it patiently. His father couldn’t have children, so they had obtained them with his uncle’s help.

Nothing much changed. His father was still his father, and his uncle was still his uncle. Even within a single phenomenon, there could be one fact but multiple truths. However, at that time, his father had also said, ‘So, if Uncle ever says something strange later, just assume it’s right and follow him.’

It wasn’t solely because of those words, but the brothers, also mindful of their father’s request, followed their uncle well, and in fact, he was a cheerful and good person, except for the occasional trouble he caused. But Father in heaven. Uncle says strange things more than once or twice.

“No. Not both, just one. Even before you were born. When your brother realized you were twins, he said he would give one of you to me. So, originally, you two should have become separated brothers at birth and lived as cousins. …But because the two squirming infants were so inseparable, I gave up on taking just one for the time being, so you avoided being separated at birth.”