Knowing Brother-Chapter 43

It was the same when the family inheritance dispute began in earnest.

The family insisted that they could not give Dae-young’s family a single penny of the inheritance. All the assets had already been bequeathed, and Dae-young’s family had to file a lawsuit to get them back. The reason was that the daughter-in-law and son had intentionally driven their father to death in order to take his inheritance.

The complaint stated that ‘Won Dae-young’s assault two years ago drove his father to an extreme choice.’

Choi Seol-woo was on Won Dae-young’s side. There was a local gym at the top of the Buk-ahyeon hill. The two stood next to the exercise equipment there. Won Dae-young climbed the horizontal bar with one arm, and Choi Seol-woo ate French fries. Choi Seol-woo, wearing Won Dae-young’s hooded jumper over her school uniform, persistently stomped the ground with the heel of her shoe and said,

“Let’s fuck those bastards. Bring your belongings, and I’ll curse you.”

“Curse? Heh heh... Choi Seol-woo, do you know how to curse?”

“I’m a professional. Your uncle, uncle, aunt, and ID photos are all on your list, right? Even a family photo on KakaoTalk? Give them to me. I’ll curse you. Don’t worry about the bad words and curses.”

“Crazy...”

The reason these words gave strength to Won Dae-young was clearly because he was just as twisted as Choi Seol-woo.

At that moment, a scenery caught Won Dae-young’s eye. A sight he had never paid attention to in his life, a sight he had never felt beautiful,

the sunset.

Oh, it’s real.

The first thing I see is the sunset turning purple.

Won Dae-young exclaimed. The evening seeped over the burning sunset. The elegant colors of the sky were reflected in every window of the tightly packed house. After a while, he looked to the side, and Choi Seol-woo’s eyes were not on the sky, but on Won Dae-young’s face. Choi Seol-woo quickly turned his gaze to the side. The boy’s two eyes sparkled with a transparent purple light.

Choi Seol-woo said, kicking the rusty pedal of the exercise machine.

“Let me be a witness. I’ll testify about the domestic violence of that yellow-eyed man. I’ll exaggerate it more than it actually is.”

“If the opposing lawyer questions you like this? ‘This witness was 12 years old at the time, and there’s a possibility that he distorted the facts!’”

“Just because you’re 12 years old doesn’t mean your ears and eyes aren’t open. The possibility of distorting the facts is also present in adults who are drunk and asleep or exhausted from work. It’s not like they hear fireworks from a distant neighborhood, but someone is beating someone up on the second floor of their house. They’re not drunk or mentally unstable. Hey, I’ll hold a one-man protest on trial day. Give me a banner and a loudspeaker, and I can complain for three hours in front of the court.”

Won Dae-young, who imagined Choi Seol-woo holding a one-man protest with a sarcastic expression and voice mixed with curses, laughed while hanging from the horizontal bar with one hand. A few French fries fell to the floor next to him.

“Fuck, no matter how blinded by money you are, why are you framing me with such a thing? Fuck. You’re not even human.”

His long, white fingers were tightly gripping the box. Choi Seol-woo was staring at the distant purple sky, not even noticing the potatoes falling to the floor because he was gripping it so hard.

“That’s not true. It’s not something you can control. ... If I were a rich man, I would have hired a lawyer from one of the top three law firms. I would have sent you to prison for defamation. Because it wasn’t your fault. That’s the fact.”

Won Dae-young rested his arms on the horizontal bar and listened to him quietly. Choi Seol-woo kicked the exercise equipment hard.

“Show me their IDs, I’ll curse you all night.”

“You can’t stay up all night, android. Don’t you take care of your health? That’s why I’m telling you to report your condition.”

“Oh, take care of your health yourself!”

“Just sing a song. It’ll cheer you up.”

“.......”

I squeeze into a small coin karaoke room where I can’t sit without spreading my legs wide and put in a 500 won coin. Choi Seol-woo frowns and grabs the microphone. At school, I don’t even open my mouth and hide my shortcomings.

<Namchon> never gets old no matter how many times I listen to it. It was so funny that even a runner would run out of breath. That day, I also added Buzz’s <Maybe> and Lee Seung-gi’s <Delete> to give them a full service.

- Don't think too much about him, why does it have to be him again? It's easy to throw away a love that was abandoned once twice.

- It's not the end, it's only temporary. There's no separation from my love.

- I have to erase it now, I have to erase all of your smiling pictures.

- It's too cruel, erasing you.

On that day, Choi Seol-woo's eyes looked wet as he sang in a messy pitch. It was around that time. I thought his eyes looked like they would spill water if I hit them once.

"......."

Oh, me, Won Dae-young. Everything tickles me.

Won Dae-young unconsciously began to project a part of himself onto Choi Seol-woo. He already had a record of truancy in his student record, failing to leave behind a beautiful school life. As Choi Seol-woo said, he wandered around 'playing dirty', so his image management also went down the drain. He was labeled a traitor who kicked his biological father out of the house with his own two hands. In place of Won Dae-young, who had already lost enough faith in humanity and had no room to get hurt,

Choi Seol-woo became a kind of sanctuary where he could not get hurt.

His face could not be dirty or ruined. It was difficult for it to become distorted like that day when he smashed up all the three-room apartments and covered them with marker marks.

He devoted himself to managing malfunctions so that his ‘secret’ would not be known, and he also paid attention to his costumes for the play. A cardigan with a heart patch, a hoodie that was at the top of the app that shared the students’ styles, and a reasonably priced padded jacket. Whenever he won a trophy in a game and had extra money, he gave Choi Seol-woo a gift as a thank you for his ‘victory routine’ and as a birthday present. As long as he wore a proper school uniform, the kids believed that he was the only son of a frugal rich family.

Your brother’s family is well off. Choi Seol-woo had nothing to be afraid of with just those words.

It was not a burden for Won Dae-young, who had no immediate need to spend a lot of money, to supplement the medicine and tuition fees through Mrs. Choi.

That's how they settled into the group of friends.

Choi Seol-woo reluctantly put on a red whistle around his neck and waved his middle finger behind his back in front of the uphill stairs going home.

The most comfortable guy in my life.

April 2016

Monthly settlement:

1 malfunction, 2 early departures. No abnormalities in health checkup

Enrolled in Hyungil High School. Selected for advanced class.

———*———*———*———

<경> Won Dae-young of Hyungil High School (3), 1st place in high school division at the Spring National Athletics Competition & 3rd place in the all-time record of the Republic of Korea 400m <축>

Choi Seol-woo and Won Dae-young were each other's alibi and power for 6 years. For example, there was a rumor going around like this.

“Hey, it’s really hard to get close to him. When Won Dae-young calls, he comes to Gureumdari right away. I guess they’re really close.”

Choi Seol-woo had established himself as someone who was hard to get close to for the public due to various external and internal factors. It was a great thrill for Choi Seol-woo to come to the high school building to see Won Dae-young.

In front of everyone, Choi Seol-woo would throw his cell phone at Won Dae-young and say “Hey.”, or casually bite the popsicle that Won Dae-young had been eating, or walk without saying much as if he was used to having his arm around him. At those times, Won Dae-young felt proud of the gazes pouring in from all over Gureumdari and the hallway. Just like when he won a medal. Just by having Choi Seol-woo in the group, he became Won Dae-young’s power, and vice versa.

However, at the same time, Won Dae-young noticed Choi Seol-woo’s subtle changes early on.

Choi Seol-woo would always form a separate group of friends, not just Won Dae-young.

As if Won Dae-young alone wasn’t enough to satisfy his need for friendship.

“Oh, basketball? I made plans with my classmates on the last day of the exam. Let’s meet on a day when Hyung doesn’t practice.”

Won Dae-young’s interpersonal relationships were very light and simple, just like his personality. Even though he had many friends at school and among the track and field athletes, it was all just an instinctive way of being the best in the places he belonged to, and he never felt thirsty for friendship. People hypocritically talk about friendship, but they only form relationships based on necessity anyway... It was a worldly rule he learned from his family. Does it matter whether they are deep friends or not? If it’s fun now, that’s fine, and if it’s beneficial to both parties, that’s fine.

However, Choi Seol-woo’s personality was different. He always formed deep friendships with the few friends he met at school clubs or at the academy. It was also at that time that Choi Seol-woo briefly dated a girlfriend of the same age.

He acted as if Won Dae-young wasn’t number one.

He was the closest brother when he was young, but it seemed like he wasn’t that close anymore.

As if, someday, a friend or lover would come along to replace Dae-young, and he would easily leave. Or, conversely, as if Won Dae-young would not be affected at all if he drifted away like that.

He understood what his ex-girlfriend had said. An indescribable wall ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) surrounded him.

The invisible bond between them was entirely in Won Dae-young’s hands.

Choi Seol-woo. As expected, the most powerful man in my life.

And yet Won Dae-young was not hurt.

What can I do? What good can I do if I dig into the differences in the size and priorities of their friendship? That little bond, if I grab it, it’s over and it won’t matter, so who has time to argue about it?

Won Dae-young focused on running the track. Instead of being petty and arguing about priorities, solving the immediate task in front of him would be more helpful to his relationship with the guy.

The amount of debt that Mrs. Choi owed was not light even to Won Dae-young, who grew up in a relatively wealthy family. Choi Seol-woo, since he would definitely make a lot of money later, he thought that Won Dae-young, who had plenty of time, should fill in for him during this important time when college was a priority. If he was a friend he trusted, that would be a given.

Won Dae-young’s goal wasn’t just to get into Seoul National University, which all special athletes aim for. He wanted to gain more fame. Even high school athletes knew that advertising fees were much more lucrative than prize money from competitions.

That’s why he just ran. He didn’t delve into emotions that were just a headache and useless. He didn’t even think about the distant future. ‘Go to a good university, become a high-income earner, marry a pretty woman who came from a good family and is on par with celebrities...’ His friends’ words were too far-fetched. Won Dae-young needed to be a huge success right away.

For many reasons, Won Dae-young simply had to be the best.

Because there can't be two leaders in the wild.