New Normal - Chapter 17

“Ah, this brat. Look at that attitude.” The old man clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Juwon just chuckled and sipped his broth. When Chairman Chae glanced at him, there was a flicker of pity in his eyes.

“Ahem.”

Something was stuck in his throat, so the old man stirred his noodles around before reaching for the hot broth.

“See? Cold noodles always get stuck like that.”

At Juwon’s quiet jab, Chairman Chae downed the warm broth and cleared his throat.

“I heard you’re moving to the overseas business division next year. Are you planning to stay in Korea at all?”

The calm question made Juwon straighten up. Next year, he was supposed to start with the big Ho Chi Minh mixed-use complex project, then take over as the branch head there. But with the official assignment coming up, he still hadn’t decided. He had options, but staying in Korea wasn’t one he was confident about. Korea was home, sure. But it didn’t really feel like home.

If anything, all the time, connections, and career he’d built outside of Korea made him who he was now. He wasn’t sure if putting roots back here was really the right choice.

“Well… I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

“You still can’t decide? How long are you gonna wander around another country like a stray dog? You should just wrap it up and settle here for good. I’ve told you a million times — open an atelier in that Nonhyeon-dong building.”

His grandfather never missed a chance to tempt him with that. But Juwon only smiled, dimples deep, hiding what he really thought.

“You said you’d sell the whole building before.”

“Hey, that was—”

“And what about the tenants? You got the whole seventh floor cleared out.”

“I said I’d handle the evictions for you, didn’t I? If you’d just move in for real—”

“Enough. I was just saying. I’ll handle my work my way.”

Unmoved by the sweet bait, Juwon was stubborn as ever. Watching his grandson sit there so unbothered, the chairman let out a short sigh.

“That ‘I’ll handle it’ of yours — I’m sick of hearing it.”

He poked half-heartedly at the noodles, then put his chopsticks down altogether.

“Who knows if I’ll even live long enough to see you act like a proper man.”

“Don’t say things like that. Please.”

“At my age, it wouldn’t be strange to drop dead tomorrow. I’m overdue for the other side, really. The other night, Kang-moon and Young-mi came to me in a dream. They were smiling so bright… I…”

His voice cracked, and the air turned somber in an instant. He cleared his throat again and forced down the lump in his throat.

“At least if I can marry you off before I go, I can rest easy. I want to see you meet a good woman, start a family, have kids… settle down for once. Then maybe I’d have the face to see Kang-moon again on the other side.”

Juwon couldn’t say anything back — he just stared down at the table. Chae Heejung held back more words, forcing himself to be quiet. After a moment, he cleared his throat again to break the silence.

“…Anyway, this is all your problem. Don’t you ever get lonely? How long are you gonna live like this?”

“I told you, please don’t.”

“How can you only work? I’ve never seen you even try to date. You’re not really gay, right?”

“I told you, I’m not. I’ve dated plenty of women. Just not where you could see.”

The old man narrowed his eyes at him, the same old suspicious stare.

“Then why don’t you see anyone now? Every time I turn around, you’re stuck with guys like Kang Susan. Did your type switch to older men now?”

The dumb joke made Juwon want to laugh, but he couldn’t even bother.

“I told you — I’m not interested in dating or getting married.”

“Then who’s gonna carry on this family?”

“There’s Uncle’s side. And Jungwon too.”

At the mention of his brother, the chairman shook his head.

“Not Jungwon. That kid sleeps around too much.”

His younger brother Jungwon was currently studying abroad in the UK, training as a rowing athlete. And yeah — same bloodline for sure. Jungwon was just like Juwon used to be. Actually, worse. He couldn’t go a month without a woman. His love life was chaotic. He even rated the women he slept with and saved them in his contacts that way — enough said.

“Rumor is he already got a vasectomy, too.”

Juwon stifled a laugh, scratching at his temple before lifting his sharp gaze. His dark brown eyes glinted coldly.

“…Seriously?”

“Ask him yourself.”

Wow. That idiot. Juwon made a mental note to get a hold of his brother and have a very long talk. Just then, the chairman’s face turned sly as he switched gears.

“Then how about this?”

“What now?”

“The Myeongnyun-dong house.”

At that, Juwon’s eyes flickered just slightly. His grandfather leaned in, smiling like he was dangling the ultimate bait.

“If you get married, I’ll give you the Myeongnyun-dong house.”

***

A scorching summer night in the sweltering city. The car — black and crouched low like a shard of night pressed to the ground — tore down the road with a loud, throaty roar.

“As soon as you register the marriage, I’ll sign over that house. How about it?”

Juwon, face shadowed as he focused on the road, rubbed his lips with his finger.

“…You’re joking, right?”

“Why would I joke about this? I’m serious — if you really mean it, it’s yours.”

Chairman Chae’s eyes were sharp as ever, no trace of a bluff.

“You’d really dangle that house as bait just to make me get married? That’s low, Grandpa.”

“Low, huh. That place was Kang-moon’s favorite when he was alive. If anyone’s gonna have it, it should be you. Who else? If you don’t want it, fine — I’ll turn it into a memorial instead.”

“Go ahead then.”

“Look at you, saying what you don’t mean again. Fine, then. Forget the memorial — I’ll just give it to Jungwon. He’ll figure out what to do with it.”

“…You’re not serious, are you?” Juwon’s tone went dead serious in an instant, and his grandfather let out a dry laugh.

“You brat. Just bring me a girl you’re gonna marry, huh? People grant the wishes of the dead — can’t you at least grant your old grandpa’s last wish? It’s not that hard, is it?”

Streetlights flashed by outside the window, slicing through the dark. A shadow fell across Juwon’s eyes as he sank into thought.

The Myeongnyun-dong house — his father, Chae Kang-moon, had designed it himself. Juwon had only lived there that one spring and summer when he was eight. A beautiful two-story house with a big courtyard shaded by crepe myrtle and lilac trees — the place his father had loved more than anything.

After his parents died, Juwon and his brother moved into their grandfather’s house in Pyeongchang-dong, and the Myeongnyun-dong house turned into a memory. He hadn’t set foot there in years, but it still showed up in his dreams, again and again.

His grandfather knew exactly what that house meant to him — that’s why he never sold it, even after it sat empty for so long. He’d paid caretakers to maintain it, but an empty house always fell apart sooner or later. The neighborhood itself was old and crumbling too, and the chairman had probably planned to sell it off someday.

“All I gotta do is bring home any woman off the street?”

“Watch your mouth. Obviously, you bring home a woman you love so much you’d die for her.”

“What if I just fake it?”

“You think I wouldn’t know? I’ve raised you for twenty years — you think you can fool me?”

Juwon might not have felt much attachment to Korea, but that house — he couldn’t let it go. After his parents’ deaths, when he’d hit rock bottom, the only reason he’d gotten his life together and decided to be an architect was because he’d found his father’s old journals by accident. Letting go of that house was simply not an option.

“All I want is simple. I just want you to be happy. That’s it.”

The old man’s stubbornness — always demanding he do things the right way — tangled Juwon’s thoughts up in knots.

And at that moment, the one who crossed his mind was the woman he’d met at Kang Cheon’s studio. Shin Jisoo. Seeing her again had left a mark — not just meeting her, but the very first second he’d laid eyes on her. But more than that…

“Wow, sir… this is amazing.”

She’d been all stiff and tense the whole time — until she stepped into the studio. The moment she opened that door and stood frozen in front of Kang Su-san’s paintings, she’d gasped under her breath. That tiny, honest sound — that little smile tugging at her lips — stuck in his mind.

That pure, almost burning look in her eyes. That unguarded sincerity had him hooked before he knew it. Even after, she’d popped into his mind now and then.

Just the other day, he’d been skimming through a batch of background files from Hansong Group. He’d been ready to dismiss them as nothing special when a name jumped out at him.

 Shin Jisoo.

A research report, solo author: Lowering the Barrier for Public Exhibitions: Regional Art Museum Planning Strategies.

Curious, he’d clicked it open. The summary was crisp. Her writing was tidy, her main point clear. It had this vivid, boots-on-the-ground feel, more than just dry theory.

So she writes like this too, huh.

Her words were so different from that slightly awkward first impression. Seeing them, he caught a glimpse of something sharper in her, and it stuck with him. Even after he’d closed the file, her name wouldn’t leave his head. Maybe because it was so unexpected. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t stop thinking about her.