Everything Falls Apart

Eyes wide at the unbelievable sight, his uncle’s gruff voice suddenly echoed in his head.

“Your father kicked up a fuss trying to stop it, but in the end, nothing’s left. Get that through your head.”

Hearing ‘nothing left’, he’d thought at least the real estate and financial assets in his name would be a final line. The house… Actually, the lawyer at the funeral had explained about remaining debts and renouncing inheritance, but he’d been too distracted to remember properly.

…No way.

He ran until his breath hit his chin. The uphill path he’d never walked before felt much longer than he remembered. Gasping, hands on his knees, he saw the walls of the grand mansion collapsing. Dust and debris, the sound of machines, and people’s murmurs spread like noise.

Hae-jun’s pupils dilated as if they would burst. Unbelievable. That house—it was his own home.

“Hey, a little more to the two o’clock!”

With a grating sound, the walls of the house where he was born and raised crumbled under the relentless machinery. Dust puffed up, and a loud roar exploded. The remnants of the splendid arched retaining wall were being swept into a truck like garbage.

‘No, this can’t be. This is our house. Where I grew up. Who, who—!’

Running like mad, Hae-jun grabbed the shoulder of a man in a hard hat who was directing the operation.

“What are you doing? Right here! Who gave you permission to tear down this house?!”

The words burst out of him, jumbled and furious. The man turned at the shout cutting through the noise, looked Hae-jun over, then frowned as if annoyed.

“What? Didn’t you see the notice? No entry, demolition in progress. If you get hurt, who are you gonna blame? You trying to extort me?”

“Hae-jun!”

Hae-jun, about to retort, was startled by a familiar voice and turned. It was someone he’d been trying endlessly to reach but couldn’t.

“Manager Joo!”

Hae-jun approached him, dazed.

“You’ve returned safely. I thought you might have gone home, but I wasn’t sure.”

“Manager Joo, what’s going on?!”

“This way.”

The roaring sound of earth being dug swallowed all voices. Hae-jun got into a car parked in a corner and drank the bottled water Manager Joo handed him. As Manager Joo immediately started the car, Hae-jun turned back and protested.

“Manager Joo, I need to go home—”

“You saw it crumbling and still call it home? What business do you have in a place that’s already ruins?”

Stunned by the chilly tone, Hae-jun hesitated as the car drove down the hill. Manager Joo parked near the entrance, got out, and put a cigarette in his mouth.

Hae-jun looked at him with unfamiliar eyes. Manager Joo, who had taken care of daily life in place of his perpetually busy father, had always treated him with utmost respect. He had never smoked in front of Hae-jun, who didn’t smoke. But now his face, with the cigarette hanging from his lips, was rigidly hardened, as if everything was irrelevant.

“You know your father’s company went under, right?”

“Yes….”

It was still hard to believe. As Hae-jun answered with a fact he only knew in his head, Manager Joo continued quickly, as if summing up.

“There were so many twists and turns, it’s beyond words.”

Manager Joo trailed off, sighing repeatedly as if something was weighing on his chest. Now that Hae-jun noticed, his usually neat appearance was disheveled.

“The chairman tried to stop it by investing his own assets out of spite, but it wasn’t enough. The other side’s offensive was too vicious. He never expected they’d devour everything so maliciously.”

“Father… was he scammed…?”

“It’s not quite fraud, not from that perspective. It’s something that normally doesn’t make sense—just cleverly done.”

Manager Joo seemed about to add more explanation, but then sensing it would be wasted, he blew out a long stream of smoke. Hae-jun felt awkward but couldn’t argue. His head was full of music and art. It was hard to have a substantive conversation about the unfamiliar fields of economics or management.

“The chairman, really, no matter how angry he was, borrowing from loan sharks to fight back? He doesn’t realize he’s old. That’s why everything went to waste.”

“Manager Joo.”

Manager Joo, who had been exhaling white smoke with a troubled expression, stubbed out the cigarette at Hae-jun’s call. As the hazy smoke cleared, an acrid smell stung his throat.

“The madam has been hospitalized.”

“Mom? The lawyer said she collapsed after father passed away and was at home…”

“I helped with the paperwork. Since it was the last time.”

“Is it serious? It’s not a major problem, is it? Where is she?”

“At Eunhye Hospital. She said she had trouble breathing. I’ve been too out of it to visit again.”

With a rigid expression, Manager Joo told Hae-jun what he needed to do. His assets and even accounts had been seized, so he wouldn’t have a single won to use. He even handed Hae-jun an envelope of money for immediate expenses. Hae-jun shook his head and pushed the envelope back.

“Keep it. Consider it condolence money. From now on, everything will be different from how you’ve lived. As a senior in life, my advice: don’t be reckless with money.”

With that hollow farewell, Manager Joo turned around. As the car disappeared from sight, Hae-jun turned away. Manager Joo was right. There was nothing to do at a place already destroyed. It had been his home since birth, but now it was reduced to dust.

Hae-jun hailed a taxi. The world had turned upside down, but at least he had his mother. The only person who could sympathize and share this thunderous shock. His relatives had kept their distance throughout the funeral, coldly turning their backs, afraid the penniless Hae-jun might cling to them. Still, there was someone he could lean on.

***

‘What is this…’

Hae-jun staggered under another shock when he saw his mother lying unconscious in the hospital treatment room. Her entire body was swollen like a balloon, her former appearance unrecognizable. Her face was jaundiced, multiple needles inserted into her unresponsive body, and some kind of tube spun regularly.

Manager Joo hadn’t told him she was this bad. Unable to wake her, Hae-jun just stood there, his head spinning with the same chaos as when the house collapsed.

‘Where did it all go wrong? Why, why did it come to this?’

“Are you the guardian for Oh Jeong-hye? Actually, I heard you didn’t answer despite repeated calls…”

Hae-jun turned at the voice behind him to see several doctors in white coats.

“Oh, are you a student?”

The middle-aged doctor at the front asked, looking at Hae-jun’s face in apparent surprise.

“…I’m a college student. Her son.”

The doctor checked his mother’s condition and then turned to Hae-jun.

“Do you have a father or older siblings? I need to speak with a more senior family member.”

He had no relatives to discuss this with. The uncle who had arranged the funeral had a bad relationship with his father over property disputes. And he had made it clear not to contact him again. His only aunt lived in Australia. Hae-jun forced his voice out.

“My only family is me.”

The doctor frowned at his answer, then began explaining with a troubled expression. As Hae-jun mechanically followed the doctor’s words, the world before his eyes began to darken with black despair.

***

“Hey, you bastard. Watch where you’re going. You drunk or what?”

His body, moving absently wherever his feet led, collided with something. Dazedly looking at the angry voice, the other man cursed at Hae-jun’s face and shoved him hard. As his body rolled on the ground, the change he’d just stuffed in his pocket from the taxi bounced out with a clatter.

Hae-jun sat on the ground, staring at the rolling coins. The clinking sound was as absurd as his own slumped figure on the pavement.

‘Your mother has lupus and arthritis, but now she has aortic stenosis, a heart problem that’s more serious. If it worsens, it threatens her life, so surgery is needed.’

Hae-jun clutched his head and groaned. Anxiety, mixed with confusion over what to do, flooded him. The fear of having no one to talk to suffocated him. The hospital had talked about money, but money had always been given to him—he had no idea where or how to get it. Honestly, he still couldn’t believe it. This couldn’t be happening. Hae-jun bowed his head and screamed.

‘There’s no way this is happening. What is all this, suddenly? Is this really, really reality? Please, if this is a dream, stop now. Stop!’