The New Groom Chapter 5

Hwang Bosik, who had been raging with fever, suddenly threw an ashtray. Even though he had thrown it toward the door, Lee Jeongrok, who had been standing next to it, was so startled that the hairs on his arms stood up. The crystal ashtray rolling under his feet didn’t even have a crack.

When he imagined what would have happened if it had hit his head, the blood drained from his face entirely. Although his father-in-law had a tendency to speak recklessly, he had never openly cursed or thrown objects like he did today. Lee Jeongrok was simply dumbfounded by the treatment he was receiving for the first time in his life.

At the loud noise, as if the door had been torn off its hinges, Secretary Kim came running in a hurry. Hwang Bosik was fuming as he lit a cigarette.

“Call Yoongi right now.”

“Yes, President.”

“Father! Secretary Kim, wait a moment…”

Before Lee Jeongrok could stop him, Secretary Kim made the call. The call connected before the signal had even rung twice. It was a soft and confident voice.

― Ye-es, Father. Have you already arrived at the office? I was actually told that I just missed you by a narrow margin when I went to play golf this morning.

“Yoongi, did you see the newspaper?”

Hwang Bosik gestured irritably at Lee Jeongrok while on the call. It meant for him to leave. Humiliation surged up to his throat, but there was nothing he could do. If he provoked him for no reason, he might end up in the worst-case scenario of being cursed at in front of Go Yoongi. Lee Jeongrok desperately composed his expression and exited the President’s office. As the door closed, Go Yoongi’s snake-like, slick voice was abruptly cut off.

Go Yoongi was a sales manager at Cheonghwa Industry, a long-time business partner of Hanyang Construction. Although he was called a manager, he was actually the president’s son of Cheonghwa Industry. Above all, he was a childhood friend of his wife, Hwang Imin, and was close with the Hwang family.

Ever since the wedding day, he had been annoyed by the way Go Yoongi acted haughty toward Hwang Bosik, calling him “Father, Father,” as if he were the actual son-in-law. And sure enough, even after the marriage, he rubbed him the wrong way at every turn. The fact that Hwang Bosik had called Go Yoongi in front of him, while he—the son-in-law and Managing Director—was staring right there, was genuinely painful.

Returning to his office without showing his emotions due to his pride, Lee Jeongrok threw a flowerpot as soon as he closed the door. He felt slightly refreshed by throwing something. Is this why that wretch had thrown the crystal ashtray so readily? Lee Jeongrok even smashed all the flowerpots he had kept lined up.

Recalling each curse his father-in-law had spat out, he threw flowerpots, phones, writing utensils, document files, and clocks. He heard knocking a few times, but ignored it. Clenching his teeth until they felt like they might break, he just kept smashing the furniture.

Only when there was nothing left to break or overturn did he finally stop. After venting his anger, he felt as if his frustration had subsided just a little. In fact, rather than his frustration subsiding, he was so drained that he slumped onto the sofa. Once his energy was spent, he felt despondent. Overcome by deep despair and a sense of helplessness, he buried his face in his hands and remained motionless like a statue.

“Knock knock, Managing Director.”

As if waiting for the commotion to end, a knock was heard as soon as the office became quiet.

“I’m coming in.”

Before he could give permission, the door swung open. He knew who it was without having to check. There was only one person in the company who walked in and out of his office in this brazen way. It was Chief Joo, who was in charge of Lee Jeongrok’s security.

“Whoa, our Managing Director is hotter-tempered than I thought? You’ve completely trashed the office.”

Chief Joo, who had opened the door at will, whistled. Lee Jeongrok had long since stopped expecting even the most basic manners from the people in this town, so he no longer had the motivation to blame his rudeness. Chief Joo, who had shoved aside the document file lying on the sofa, sat down opposite him with a thud.

“What’s wrong?”

Lee Jeongrok, who had his waist hunched over, washed his face with his dry hands without a word. Chief Joo, sitting with his legs crossed and lighting a cigarette, blew out a long cloud of smoke.

“Are you not going to talk?”

“…”

“What kind of great secret is it? While you were smashing up innocent household goods, the rumor has already spread everywhere. They say you got chewed out by the President.”

“…”

“They say the President threw a phone, threw an ashtray, and went crazy, even slapping you across the face. Is that true?”

“…”

He was struck speechless by the ridiculously exaggerated rumors that had spread in that short time. However, lacking the energy even to sigh, Lee Jeongrok kept silent instead of correcting the facts.

Chief Joo Seungchan was the employee who spent the most time with Lee Jeongrok. Since he had been solely responsible for guarding Lee Jeongrok from the moment he arrived in Jangchang after getting married, he had already been stuck with him for nearly two months.

They hadn’t hit it off from the start. Far from it, they had disliked each other to the point of aversion. It had started on the wrong foot. As soon as Chief Joo found out they were the same age, he began speaking informally, as if the fact that they were in an employer-employee relationship meant nothing.

Lee Jeongrok was left speechless by his absurd behavior, but neither his father-in-law nor his wife cared. On the contrary, they were pleased, asking if they were already close. Given the circumstances, the absurdity Lee Jeongrok felt at the time was beyond words. Now that he knew Chief Joo was a rare kind of crazy even in the gangster world, he had adapted, but before, there were countless days when they didn’t even exchange a single word.

Not only that. They said you cannot fool nature and lineage. In every single one of his manners, his low-class nature was ingrained like grime.

It was routine for him to sit in the seat next to him during the commute and watch low-quality, trashy dramas on his phone without fail. He would brazenly commit nonsensical acts, such as pouring soju into a coffee cup and sipping it while on duty, or playing games at maximum volume right next to him while he was on business calls.

If he ever asked him to run an errand for coffee, he would buy hot chocolate just because he wanted some, or after finishing an external schedule, he would disappear somewhere with the car saying he was going to buy cigarettes for a moment, leaving Lee Jeongrok waiting with nothing to do for 30 minutes.

He really disliked him beyond words. He disliked him to the extent that the word “dislike” could not express everything. His requests to be replaced with another security guard were ignored every time. They cited absurd reasons, such as there being no available personnel or that there was no one like Chief Joo. He had said he would rather go around alone since he didn’t need a bodyguard, but it was useless. Even his wife, Hwang Imin, had stepped in and firmly dissuaded him, saying it was dangerous.

As they spent a little over two months together, forced to grin and bear it, they had, ridiculously, become close.

There was only one reason they became close.

Only Chief Joo did not ignore him.

Lee Jeongrok, who had moved to a strange city following his wife after their marriage, struggled to adapt. Above all, he could not easily blend into the closed atmosphere unique to the local community. Lee Jeongrok, having belonged to a closed upper class his entire life, had expected some level of territoriality. However, the local social circles, which had been raised together from the postpartum care center to high school, were knit together with an exclusionary sense of solidarity that surpassed his expectations, firmly rejecting outsiders.

Lee Jeongrok only had his pride. In a strange city without friends or family from his hometown, all that protected him was that meager pride. Rather than turning his belly up and acting cute to be accepted into the group, it would have been better to divorce and return to Seoul.

If the other side drew a line, he would never cross it and, instead, would be the first to keep his distance. Even so, he did not want to be misunderstood as a shy person with social anxiety, so he went to the golf club house without fail. He always attended any social gathering for married couples. Even if he couldn’t say a single thing and just sat there looking blankly, he still showed his face. It was a life where he held his head elegantly high while, under the surface, he was struggling until his legs cramped.

After all that humiliating effort, the nickname Lee Jeongrok earned was “Seoul Young Master.” When he wasn’t there, everyone would mockingly call Lee Jeongrok the “Seoul Young Master,” and even Hwang Imin would laugh and agree. Lee Jeongrok felt the ground vanish from under his feet. It felt like he was falling forever into a bottomless hole. Because people looked down on him everywhere, even a trivial driver would look down on him, whispering behind his back and talking about the “Seoul Young Master.” The shameful nickname spread to the employees, and finally, to the company itself.