Love Born of Pity Chapter 6

A man, his face flushed crimson, gently stroked Eunsol’s cheek while scolding him with a feigned sternness. The child giggled and bowed his head deeply towards Kwon Jiho, his small body folding in half.

“Hello.”

At the incomplete greeting, Kwon Jiho chuckled and waved.

“Be careful, Eunsol. See you tomorrow. Goodbye.”

“Yes, see, see you again.”

The man, with a gentle face that mirrored Eunsol’s, scratched the back of his head, bowed deeply, and quickly exited the academy. Kwon Jiho waved gently from the doorway, seeing Eunsol off.

The child, looking even younger than his age due to his small stature, kept looking back until he disappeared from the building. Kwon Jiho, still smiling, returned inside. He placed the paper Eunsol had been coloring into the child’s locker and wiped down the table.

As he rubbed away the crayon marks, he heard the chime of the door. Expecting Do Yeonjae, the only person who would be coming, Kwon Jiho turned around. He froze, unable to move.

“Our Jiho, have you been well? It’s been so long, I almost forgot your face.”

A gentle voice rang out, but the face attached to it was rough, as if weathered by time. Yet, the unique shape of his mouth when he smiled remained the same.

“Is that child… him?”

“Yes, him. My nephew.”

The hair that was always neatly trimmed above the eyebrows was now long enough to cover his eyes, and his clothes were shabby. The pungent cologne, strangely similar to a scent he remembered, clung to his thin frame. His casual smile, as he leaned against a well-built man, felt unfamiliar.

“…Uncle.”

As he spoke, the thick hand that had been tightly embracing his uncle now shamelessly gripped his chest. Kwon Jiho’s eyes crinkled at the sound of his uncle’s laughter, as if tickled.

This was the man who, years ago, had dragged a financially desperate Kwon Jiho, struggling with his younger brother’s medical bills, and pressured him into co-signing a loan agreement. He’d flipped through the documents, telling Kwon Jiho there was no need to read the fine print and urging him to sign quickly. He hadn’t explained the meaning of the densely packed text.

Kwon Jiho, naively believing his uncle wouldn’t do anything to harm him, had followed his instructions without question, using the money to pay the hospital bills.

From the next day, contact with his uncle became sporadic. Kwon Jiho was anxious but tried to remain calm. His uncle was always busy. He believed, as he always had, that his uncle would eventually reappear. It took a month before he accepted that his uncle had disappeared. And it was then that he truly understood the meaning of co-signing a loan.

Juggling multiple part-time jobs to cover the medical bills and the debt, Kwon Jiho still made time to call his uncle. Whether his calls were answered or not, he habitually dialed. After hundreds of attempts, a call finally connected. It was brief, and his uncle, unlike his usual self, was sharp and easily angered.

He’d told Kwon Jiho to wait a little longer, then shifted the blame, asking who told him to co-sign anything. Finally, he’d exploded, saying he couldn’t pay because he had no money. Yet, even after all that, he tried to coax Kwon Jiho into lending him more.

But even as naive as Kwon Jiho was, he wasn’t going to fall for the same trick twice. He refused outright, and his uncle, cursing him and claiming Kwon Heeyeon (Jiho’s brother) would die because of him, cut off contact.

That had been three years ago. His uncle, whose life or death he’d been unable to confirm, had suddenly appeared at his academy.

“Our Jiho’s complexion has improved. Must be living well? How’s Heeyeon? Is he still alive? Has he woken up?”

“How… how did you…?”

“How did I get here? An uncle needs to check up on his nephew once in a while. See how he’s doing, if his family needs anything.”

The man who had been embracing his uncle, who spoke so casually after three years of absence, lowered his head and pressed his lips against his uncle’s reddened ear. In a gruff voice, he whispered loud enough for Kwon Jiho to hear.

“This nephew of yours is a real piece of shit. Doesn’t even offer us a seat. What a disrespectful bastard.”

“He’s just shy, that’s all. Come in, come in.”

His words made Kwon Jiho frown. He sighed involuntarily. He couldn’t understand why his uncle had sought him out now, after all this time. His slender hand brushed back his hair. His subsided headache returned.

“Uncle.”

“Jiho, your uncle’s here, and you don’t even offer me a seat? Huh? Are you going to treat me like a stranger just because we haven’t seen each other in a few years? We’re family. This is too much. Who took care of everything after your brother died, huh? You shouldn’t treat me like this.”

His uncle barged into Kwon Jiho’s academy without waiting for an invitation, taking over a table. The man with him scanned the interior arrogantly, commenting on how much money must have been spent on the décor. His thick hand rummaged through a shopping bag on the table and pulled out a drink.

“Damn it, it’s scorching hot, and there’s nothing but hot drinks. Taek, is there any ice here? Ice?”

At the man’s complaint, his uncle’s eyes widened, and he called out to Kwon Jiho.

“Jiho, do you have any ice or something cold? Why would a young person have only hot drinks in the middle of summer?”

“…”

“He doesn’t even respond when spoken to.”

His uncle chuckled awkwardly, trying to appease the man by suggesting they just eat. He unwrapped a sandwich and offered it to him with practiced ease. Was he his lover? They didn’t seem like a couple. The man appeared older than his uncle and had a vulgar, arrogant demeanor.

“What brings you… here? But right now…”

Do Yeonjae would be arriving soon. Although he wasn’t hiding his uncle’s existence from Do Yeonjae, he didn’t want them to meet like this. If his uncle had come looking presentable, maybe he would have asked after him… No, he wasn’t sure. He felt utterly confused.

“Opened a piano academy in a place like this. Our Jiho’s made it, huh? How much do you make a month? The tuition must be expensive, right?”

“How did you… know about this place?”

“There are ways to find out if you want to. Anyway, this bread is delicious. Huh? Delicious. Is that cream inside?”

He devoured everything on the table—sandwiches, bread, cookies—taking large bites from each.

“Hey, nephew. Why don’t you sit down? You’re making your uncle uncomfortable. With such stiff seating, how do you even run a business? So different from Yoontaek.”

“I told you, he doesn’t really meet people because of, you know, music. He’s been like that since he was young. Weird kid, always playing the piano by himself. Tsk.”

Kwon Yoontaek continued in a flippant tone, “He has a talent for piano, or so they say.” He tilted his lips into a crooked smile and looked at Kwon Jiho, enunciating each word clearly.

“He got this crazy idea to study abroad in Germany. My brother and sister-in-law agonized over it for a while, but finally decided to send him. But wouldn’t you know it, the entire family got into a car accident on the way to the airport. My brother and sister-in-law died at the scene, and they managed to get my brother and him into an ambulance and to the hospital, but…”

Kwon Yoontaek paused, looking at Kwon Jiho as if to gauge his reaction. He saw his nephew, pale as a sheet, struggling to breathe, but he didn’t stop.

“Heeyeon never opened his eyes, but he did. So, what does he know about real life? All he knows is hospitals. I had to take care of everything back then, the funeral, their house, appliances, furniture, everything. I sold everything I could to pay the hospital bills. Jiho, remember? Huh?”

“Ah, I think I heard about that. He broke his finger in that accident, right? That’s him? Damn, what a miserable life. How can a whole family get into an accident on the way to the airport? Tsk. Still, a broken finger is lucky considering how many people died. Don’t you think, nephew? Your brother’s in a coma, but you’re alive, so that’s something, right?”

“Oh, of course. Lucky to be alive. Even though our brother and sister-in-law are dead. Because of him.”

Kwon Yoontaek laughed, casually mentioning the deaths of his siblings as if they were strangers. Kwon Jiho seemed to have lost his soul from the moment the accident was mentioned. The two men, having finished all the food and drinks on the table, leaving only crumbs behind, stood up.

“By the way, Jiho, do you have any money?”

“…”

“Hey, Kwon Jiho! Do you have any money? Give me whatever you have.”

It was a brazen demand, coming out of nowhere. Kwon Jiho felt his vision blurring as he shook his head.

“…I don’t have any money.”

“How can you not have any money? You’ve even opened this fancy academy.”

“This… isn’t my academy.”

“I checked everything! And with all these pianos, you say you have no money? Don’t lie to me!”