Chapter 43 …
Back to Daily Life
A few days passed after that.
During that time… well, I pretty much lived like a hermit sage.
Doing what?
Fishing, fishing… and more fishing.
“Hey, old man, don’t you have any other hobbies?”
“Ha! Once you master this, even if you end up a beggar again, you’ll still have a way to eat and live, you know?”
“You crazy geezer! How can you say something like that? Do you know how long it’s been since I escaped that life?”
This crazy old man.
I’ve only just barely gotten out of beggar life, and he’s already telling me to prepare for a return to it.
“A man should always be prepared! If you’d just known how to fish, you wouldn’t have had to beg all this time!”
“You old coot! I told you already, it wasn’t because I had no skills that I begged!”
“Quiet already… is that crab stew done?”
“Wait. Be honest. You’re not actually trying to teach me fishing—you just wanted a lackey to drag along, right?”
“Ah! A bite!”
“Whoa! It’s a big one!”
Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve been getting played by this geezer lately.
We grilled a pretty big rockfish, ate it with the crab stew he brought, and fried pork fat for kimchi stew.
“I told you we should make soybean paste stew instead.”
“Hmph. Didn’t you say you’d be busy with work soon? Eat well while you can.”
“Damn geezer, squeezing every last drop out of his savior.”
After that day, he insisted he wanted to repay me, so I stayed a few more days.
Filming was all wrapped up anyway.
I had variety shows and other appearances lined up, but I had a few free days, so I stayed comfortably.
Part of it was also because I hadn’t really gotten to enjoy the villa properly.
Mansu, on the other hand, was thrilled to head back, saying he had to send off the lingering spirits on the land the old man bought.
Apparently, holding those memorial rites made money?
Honestly, with how obsessed that guy is with money, I wonder if he won’t get struck by lightning one day.
But here’s the problem: every mealtime, this geezer kept grumbling about that kimchi stew I made the first time we went fishing.
So I made it for him again with the pork fat we’d saved…
And then he figured out my worth.
“Oh, my fate.”
“This crab is delicious. And that soybean paste stew you made was excellent too.”
“Eat up, eat up.”
I mean, there are plenty of retired hotel chefs around, yet somehow his taste buds are stuck on grandma-style cooking.
Turns out even Grandma Gamdong is famous for her cooking.
Lately I’ve been thinking—even if I can’t act anymore, I could just open a restaurant and I’d be fine.
Hmm… maybe not a bad idea.
I stared at the old man.
At the very least, I’d secured one loyal customer.
“You really are a good actor.”
“You saw it?”
“Of course. My savior’s work—I had to watch it.”
Savior? Savior??
This geezer is getting bolder by the day.
“Savior, my foot. You’ve been working me to the bone.”
“What are you talking about! I gave you a warm bed in my mansion, fed you, let you live like a sage!”
“You mean you trapped me there for your own selfish reasons!”
“Heh heh. Just indulging a little fanboying.”
This sly old man… honestly, not that I mind.
It’s the first time I’ve lived like this anyway.
Fishing, eating sashimi fresh, ramen in fish stew… surprisingly good when he made it.
But my time here was running out.
“Well, anyway, let’s meet again soon.”
“Is it okay for a chairman to just laze around like this?”
“At my age, that’s the best way to live. Just plant capable people everywhere and keep an eye on them.”
“You really live easy.”
“Money makes life easier.”
Ah… the old man just dropped some truth. He really does look relaxed.
“And once you’ve made money, you need to learn to see more than just money.”
“Like what?”
“When you’re young and busy, every meeting starts with ‘How’s business these days?’”
“Isn’t that normal?”
“Sure. Talk about the economy, the market, blah blah. But once you have money, you start seeing the world differently.”
“Like it looks like a flower garden?”
“Something like that. You notice the clear skies, how pretty the flowers are, things like that.”
“Hmmm.”
He had a point.
“But if you wait until after you’re rich to think like that, it’s too late. You need to practice being relaxed all along. What’s the point of noticing good weather and pretty flowers when you’re already old?”
“Well, you are close to dying.”
Grab!
“Ugh!”
The old man’s grip was like an ox.
“When I die, I’ll haunt you for life!”
“Jeez! Stop threatening me like that!”
“Anyway. Once the villa is fully built, I’ll call you again. Bring that Park Soo brat along too.”
“Fine, fine.”
Think of it as after-sales service.
And honestly, I was curious.
How that place with piles of construction materials would turn out.
Being a chaebol’s villa, expectations were high.
The next morning, after one last night there—
“What’s this?”
“A gift.”
“….”
Weird.
A car door usually opens sideways, doesn’t it?
“Is this broken? Why does the door open upward?”
“Heh. You lived as a beggar so long, you’ve never seen one of these?”
It’s not like I didn’t know.
It was just the first time seeing one this close.
“Come on, I know they exist. But why is this a gift?”
“Bought it long ago ‘cause it was pretty, but my knees hurt too much to drive it. These cars are too low to the ground.”
“….”
Didn’t expect this side of him.
“What’s with that scary look?”
“Old man, you trying to traumatize me with your face?”
“What’s wrong with this car?”
“The car isn’t the issue!”
This geezer… he has money, but he’s clueless.
“If a car like this stops in the street, the door opens… who should step out?”
“Who?”
“A stunning male model! Or a glamorous lady oozing luxury!”
“….”
“But imagine instead—you, the geezer! What about all those poor eyes filled with expectation?!”
“You little brat!”
Poke!
“Argh!”
This crazy old man made a V with his fingers and jabbed my eyes. Damn it, my eyes!
“You sure talk fancy for someone who lived off begging.”
“Damn… what am I supposed to do with it if you give it to me?”
“Well, if you step out of it, it’ll look cool, just like you said. As long as it’s not me.”
“Some gifts you just can’t make use of!”
The geezer smugly added:
“Don’t worry about gas money.”
Once again, he missed the point.
I had no choice but to drop the painful truth.
“You think I even have a driver’s license?”
“…Huh?”
“You ever seen a beggar take the test and get a license?”
“…Heh.”
“Sigh…”
It hurt. Having such a beauty and not being able to drive it.
It’s not like I wouldn’t want it.
So I left the embarrassed old man behind and headed for home.
“By the way, Secretary, is it okay for you to leave the old man alone like this?”
I’d gotten closer with the secretary too.
His name was Yoo Ji-kwang—sounded like the name of some gangster from back in the day.
But he looked sharp, like a perfect secretary, maybe even bodyguard material.
In movies, people like him always get ordered “Handle it,” then dump bodies in concrete.
“Hmm, can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“In movies, when the chairman says ‘Handle it!’… have you ever actually done that?”
“Are you… curious?”
“…So, uh, how much longer till we arrive?”
Suddenly I was scared of the answer. Felt like he’d say, “Your concrete tub is ready too.”
He just smiled faintly, so I guess I dodged that one.
“Thirty minutes more. Also, the chairman will be sending you an instructor.”
“Instructor?”
“To help you get your license quickly, so you can actually drive that car.”
“Ohhh!”
Honestly, who wouldn’t be excited?
“You’ll get full training, including driving practice, until you pass.”
“Thank you.”
“Save that for the chairman.”
“Heh, either way.”
Finally, I arrived home.
As I walked in, carrying the box of premium Korean beef the old man had given me—
“Huh? Why are there so many mouths here?”
People were waiting for me.
A welcoming party?
Not really. They were all eyeing the beef—grade 1++, top quality, 9th grade!
Meanwhile…
“W-what?”
He’d heard it.
That they were about to land an ad deal with Baeksan Group.
But Park Yoo-cheon still couldn’t believe his ears.
“Six months, one billion won?”
He hadn’t expected such a massive deal.
He’d heard talk of a few hundred million at best.
And it was a cosmetics commercial—one of the dream gigs for any actor.
And it didn’t stop there.
More offers were flooding in from Baeksan affiliates.
They even told them to just pick the ones that fit his image.
“What the hell is going on?”
It was unbelievable.
Yet the man himself—when called—only said he was off fishing with some old geezer, then hung up.
Something about pork fat in stew…
“You’re here?”
Naturally, curiosity was through the roof.
So the assistant director made sure to be at his place when he returned.
Even Kim Dae-sung tagged along, saying he wanted to see his face.
Even CEO Lee Ji-yong came out of curiosity.
And on top of that, somehow O Ju-hwan, not even signed with the agency, showed up awkwardly too.
So the apartment was crowded when the door opened—
and there he was, grinning as he carried in the beef, only to frown and grumble:
“Huh? Why are there so many mouths here?”
The man really never fit in naturally.
“Come on! Other guests brought plenty of meat too, so get in quietly!”
Gamdong dragged his silly self inside.
“Oh yeah? Then we won’t run short. This is from the old man—Chairman Yang. Top quality, I tell you!”
“Chairman Yang?”
“Yeah, that old man. Now, let’s grill some meat!”
“…”
The others just stared blankly.
Chairman Yang.
Given the timing of all these Baeksan contracts, it clearly wasn’t just some neighborhood club president.
“Chairman Yang… of Baeksan Group?”
“Yep, that old man. Now hurry, let’s eat!”
While he chattered on like it was nothing, everyone else could only gape in shock.
