Chapter 24: Unveiling Truths and New Beginnings

Arriving at the movie theater, I smiled brightly as I checked my phone.

About 1 million won had been deposited into my account.

Just looking at it made me feel full.

“Inho, tell me what you want to eat. Today, it’s on me.”

“Don’t you only work three days a week, so you don’t earn that much?”

“You know, my game is doing well.”

The word-of-mouth success of Excel Busters had put it on an upward trajectory. Since it was a game priced close to 20,000 won, I was earning quite a bit.

Starting next month, I’d be able to buy whatever I wanted without worry.

“Then I won’t hold back… how about some pork belly?”

“Meat sounds good.”

I wanted to treat Bunnyrun as well, but today wasn’t her workday.

I wondered how long she’d keep doing part-time work.

It was strange that she could still take on a job when she was making millions from her streams.

“Is it just the two of us eating?”

“It’s fine if you invite others too.”

“Others? Uh, um.”

Just then, when Kim Inho hesitated at my words, a man entered the staff room and spoke up.

“Then can we join too?”

The man who spoke to us was Lee Jinseop, someone who was trusted among the fellow part-timers.

I nodded in agreement, and Lee Jinseop continued.

“But I feel bad for having too many people join. With this many, how many mouths are we feeding?”

“It’s okay.”

“How about this? I’ll pay for the meal. In return, Yurim can buy the coffee.”

I thought, Is that really necessary? but I agreed.

There was no need to refuse someone offering to pay.

After our shift ended that night, we gathered at a barbecue restaurant.

“You’re a game developer?”

“Yeah. Inho is also a game developer.”

“…Well, I haven’t completed a game yet.”

The others continued to drink. I declined the soju since I didn’t like it. If it were a plum-flavored highball, that would be different, but I had no desire to drink diluted soju.

“Hey, do you guys smoke?”

“Yeah, hyung.”

As Lee Jinseop led people outside, only Kim Inho, Son Yeoji, and I remained at the table.

A brief, awkward silence hung in the air, caused by Kim Inho and Son Yeoji.

Kim Inho seemed awkward around Son Yeoji, just like he had been when he first met me.

Perhaps he disliked the atmosphere so much that he hurriedly spoke up.

“Sister, are you close with Jinseop?”

“No? We only occasionally have work-related conversations.”

“Right. That guy likes to help out, even if he’s not particularly close with someone.”

As far as I knew, Jinseop came from a wealthy family.

However, his biological parents weren’t rich. He had been adopted to Spain when he was young, and his adoptive parents were extraordinarily wealthy.

I’d heard he had a net worth of over 100 billion won, but I didn’t know the details. I only caught snippets of conversations among the part-timers in the staff room.

“He’s working part-time while he solves his military issues, so he seems to be having fun.”

“Ah, I see.”

Since I wasn’t particularly interested, I put some meat and rice on a lettuce leaf and popped it into my mouth.

At that moment, the quiet Son Yeoji chimed in.

“I heard Jinseop oppa lent money to the manager.”

“To the manager?”

Most movie theaters operate under corporate management, but my workplace was different. It was one of the few franchise movie theaters.

Kim Inho looked surprised.

“To the manager? How much?”

“Maybe a few thousand won? Running a movie theater isn’t cheap, you know.”

“No way. The manager borrows money from a part-timer?”

“That’s right.”

This place had excellent aged sauce.

I would’ve wanted to buy it if they sold it separately.

“Jinseop oppa has it tough too. I heard his older sister died in an accident when they were kids, and his biological mother’s maternal instincts broke after that, so he got adopted? He feels like his own child isn’t his child but just someone else.”

“I heard that too.”

The quality of the meat was good. A place like this should become a franchise, right? Or would that ruin the taste?

“Do you know?”

Son Yeoji whispered. Kim Inho also lowered his voice to respond.

“What do you mean?”

“I heard that Jinseop oppa gave his biological brother 10 million won to commemorate their reunion after a long time, but their parents found out and are blackmailing him. They said if he doesn’t give them 100 million won, they’ll invoke their parental rights and put him back on the family register. If that happens, his military issues will get messy.”

“What a scum—”

“Wait a minute.”

I swallowed the meat and spoke up as all eyes turned to me.

“Jinseop seems like a con artist to me.”

“Huh? Why?”

“His face just doesn’t sit right with me.”

“Is that really a reason?”

“It’s one of them.”

I washed my mouth out with cola.

The real reason was different.

“Someone who has experienced that much misfortune doesn’t go around broadcasting it. Instead, they talk only about cheerful things. Just recalling those memories is suffocating and dizzying, leaving them without the strength to speak about it.”

“But Jinseop oppa has no reason to lie. He often buys us meals and even covered the entire cost for a trip to Jeju Island. He is indeed from a wealthy family.”

“Hmmm.”

I twisted a strand of my bangs, like a high school student who enjoys conserving energy.

The circumstances of the incident became clear!

“Did you lend money to Lee Jinseop?”

“Huh? No way. Why would I lend him money?”

“What about Yeoji?”

At my question, Son Yeoji fell silent.

Seeing her face turn pale confirmed my suspicions.

“Up until now, all the meal expenses and travel costs covered by Jinseop were probably money borrowed from part-timers. Ask people without them noticing. There are likely quite a few who lent him money. The story about lending money to the manager is also a lie.”

“Is he really good at Spanish…?”

“He probably majored in Spanish. I guess even a con artist needs to be smart.”

I said this calmly as I placed the pork belly on the grill.

From the entrance of the restaurant, I could hear the voices of the men, including Jinseop.

I spoke quietly.

“If he disappears, you won’t get your money back. You need to be careful when asking.”

I wanted to go home, but I couldn’t.

The other part-timers, excluding Jinseop, forcibly dragged me to the cocktail bar.

“No way. You mean to say you didn’t notice this? He borrowed several hundred from everyone!”

“The perception is scary. Once I thought of him as a rich kid, I couldn’t suspect him at all.”

“In hindsight, it’s strange that he claimed to have a Spanish nationality and only paid in cash because he didn’t have a card.”

The part-timers were in shock.

The reason Jinseop borrowed money from everyone except Kim Inho and me was clear.

I set my cocktail glass down and said, “He’s building trust only to pull off a big score in the end. He probably borrowed about 50 million won and then disappeared.”

“50 million won? We don’t have that kind of money.”

“If he was really in a hurry to borrow from you, wouldn’t you consider lending it to him if he promised to pay you back double next month? Or…”

I stared intently at Kim Inho.

Kim Inho let out a hollow laugh.

“I thought he had been treating me well lately.”

Kim Inho had a clear goal of becoming a game developer.

Since he couldn’t do everything on his own, he had to outsource some tasks, so he had saved a lot of money from part-time jobs since school, amounting to about 50 million won.

That must have looked very tempting to Jinseop.

“I called the manager, and he said if he had borrowed money, he would have done so from someone else, not from a part-timer. What should we do about this guy?”

“We need to bring the police and catch him on the spot. Like I said, if he disappears, it’ll become a headache.”

All the part-timers groaned, clutching their heads. It was absurd to realize that all the delicious food they had enjoyed so far was actually bought with their own money.

I took a bite of my food and widened my eyes.

“This sandwich is delicious. Is this what they call a katsu sandwich?”

“…If it weren’t for you, I would’ve been in big trouble too. I think I would’ve definitely lent him money if he said he’d pay me back 100 million won next month.”

“You’re not working hard enough on game development. If you were, you wouldn’t have any money to lend out.”

At my words, Kim Inho mumbled.

I wondered why he was acting like that, but I didn’t press him. I was the type to keep my distance when I saw someone being introverted.

One by one, the part-timers got up from their seats. They were probably going out for a smoke.

Left alone at the table, Kim Inho finally spoke cautiously.

“Hey, noona.”

“Go ahead.”

“You asked me to let you know when I made a game, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I want you to try it first.”

“Uh… it’s not completely finished, you know? I didn’t outsource enough.”

The word “less” instead of “not” made me wonder.

“Is it almost done?”

“Most of it is. There are still some areas that need improvement, but it’s enjoyable enough. So, I want to do a final test, but…”

Kim Inho spoke in a hesitant voice. It seemed he was embarrassed to ask me to play an unfinished game.

That was understandable, but it was crucial to show a third party your work before it’s finished to gather feedback. Otherwise, you couldn’t fix any mistakes after the launch.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Thank you!”

At my words, Kim Inho bowed his head.

I smiled and said, “So, I can come to your house tomorrow, right?”

“…Huh?”

“Where? To appreciate the work of our aspiring game developer.”