Real Man

Chapter 257:

Chapter 257

Yoo-hyun felt the warmth of his mother’s hand and joked.

“Did you really have to change so drastically?”

“Huh?”

“Thanks to that, my childhood was easy.”

His mother chuckled and said.

“You did well, though. Jaehui was hopeless.”

“He’s a bit stubborn.”

“That’s right. I wonder who he takes after.”

“He seems to resemble you a bit…”

“What did you say?”

His mother turned serious for a moment when Yoo-hyun teased her.

Then she shook her head and firmly said.

“No. It’s your father.”

“Puhahaha!”

Yoo-hyun laughed out loud at his mother’s playful answer.

His mother also joined in the laughter.

It was amazing.

He felt really new to have such an open and honest conversation with his mother.

He thought he knew a lot about his mother, but there was much he didn’t know.

That’s how it went as they drank, and his mother’s face turned redder.

She was the first to speak to Yoo-hyun, who was having a friendly chat.

“Yoo-hyun, if it’s because of the store contract, it’s really okay.”

“Yes. I know.”

“I just didn’t want to worry you, so I didn’t say anything.”

She said that, but her eyes showed the troubles and hardships she had gone through.

But now she smiled as if she had really shaken them off.

He felt bitter seeing her act strong.

Looking at his mother, Yoo-hyun muttered.

“Why would I worry about you?”

“That’s right. Don’t worry, I can handle it.”

“Yes, mother. I will.”

Yoo-hyun also squeezed his mother’s hand with strength.

That day, he had a lot of conversations with his mother.

The stars twinkled in the night sky.

The next morning.

Yoo-hyun finished getting ready to go out.

His mother seemed quite tired and was sound asleep.

She had been working hard every day without rest, so it was understandable.

“I’ll be back.”

Yoo-hyun left a quiet greeting in front of his mother’s room and left the house.

He headed to the traditional market where his mother worked.

The market closed twice a month, and today was one of those days.

Why did he bother going to the market where his mother wasn’t?

First of all, he was bothered by his mother’s troubled eyes that kept catching his attention yesterday.

He vaguely wanted to check it out for himself.

He also wanted to find a way to help his mother by going there himself.

He had never run a store himself, but he had a good eye for it.

He didn’t want to leave her alone when he could lend a hand.

So he moved.

The market was quiet because it was a day off.

There were shops with shutters down and shops with lights off and doors tightly closed.

As he walked along the street, he checked how many side dish shops there were.

Most of them were bigger than his mother’s shop.

There were even large-scale businesses that used the entire first floor of the building.

There were more than he expected, and he clicked his tongue.

“That’s a lot.”

The competition was definitely fierce.

That meant there was a high demand for side dish shops, but it seemed too much.

It wasn’t a good idea to compete on scale in this situation.

It was better to differentiate the category and get out of the competition.

Two items came to his mind.

Online sales that differentiate distribution.

Diet side dishes that differentiate products.

Both of these items matched the future trends.

Considering that the market area would be increasingly pushed by large corporations, it was better to change now.

He thought so as he walked along.

A paper stuck on the wall of the building caught his eye.

He approached it and checked it out. It was a notice for merchants.

It read:

-Warning: Members who do not pay the merchant association fee will be excluded from eligibility requirements. -Fire alarm installation cost 800,000 won per store, piping construction cost 500,000 won, disinfection per store 50,000 won, small business fire insurance 20,000 won. -Merchant chairman Bae Hogil compensation.

Yoo-hyun snorted at that.

“That’s ridiculous.”

It was obviously nonsense.

This was a traditional market.

Even if the building was privately owned, there was national subsidy.

The building exterior design and alley ceiling were also supported by national subsidy. There was no way that there was no subsidy for these common items.

This meant that this kind of scamming was rampant here.

There were always people who preyed on the weak wherever they went.

Especially since this had something to do with his mother.

He couldn’t help but get angry.

Click.

Yoo-hyun took out his phone and took a picture of it.

Then he looked around his mother’s shop.

The street stall in front of the building was cleared away, and the door was closed.

But the shutter wasn’t down, so he could see inside.

Looking inside, he could see that the space was narrow.

It was understandable that his mother wanted to expand the shop.

Was there no other way?

There were shelves inside the building, but the space was so small that there wasn’t enough variety to display.

If the amount of storage was the problem, it might be better to raise the shelf levels.

That’s what Yoo-hyun was thinking as he stood in front of the closed door.

Thud.

A box hit his foot.

He looked down and saw a crumpled paper in the trash pile.

It caught his eye because it had his mother’s handwriting on it.

He unfolded the paper and smiled bitterly.

“She had high hopes…”

There was a notice that they had moved to another store.

They even drew a map to show the way.

It looked like they had prepared it in advance for their regular customers.

It must have been a last-minute change of plans.

What went wrong?

He wondered as he followed the map.

He wanted to check out the place at least once.

Woof!

Then, a dog came up and barked at him.

Its loud cry echoed in the empty alley of stores.

When he looked at it, the dog turned away and ran off.

It was the direction he was heading to.

He walked past two blocks and entered a small alley.

He saw a store with lights on in the distance.

There were quite a few people gathered there.

Crack!

Then, the dog screamed and rolled on the ground.

It looked like someone had kicked it hard.

“You bastard! How dare you!”

One of the men in orange vests spat out curses.

Snap.

The dog ran away as if fleeing, and he instinctively hid himself.

At the same time, he quietly approached and observed the situation.

An old lady who was restless in front of an outdoor table.

A middle-aged man who was frowning and waving a paper.

A man in a white shirt who was watching from a distance.

Two men in orange vests who were leaning on their arms next to him.

Their faces came into view one by one.

He had a hunch about what was going on.

He took out his phone and pressed the record button.

Then, the middle-aged man pushed the old lady who bowed her head.

“Mrs. Shin, sign it and get out. What are you trying to do?”

“Mr. President, this is different from the contract.”

“Oh, come on, can’t you let go of this? How many chances did I give you?”

“How can I leave if you suddenly tell me to? And this is clearly illegal.”

“Oh! Who do you think you are talking to?”

The president shouted when the old lady resisted.

Then he bowed his head to the man in the white shirt.

“Mr. Hwang, I’m sorry. I promised to leave by today…”

“Hehe! No, no, Mr. President. As long as it’s clean, there’s no problem. Right, guys?”

The man in the white shirt smirked and turned his head. The men in orange vests next to him nodded their heads.

“Yes! Mr. Hwang.”

“Mr. Hwang, please… please spare me.”

The old lady trembled as if afraid.

It was obvious that Mr. Hwang, the landlord, was bullying the tenant with thugs.

The president who was supposed to protect the merchants was rather threatening the old lady who was a merchant herself.

“See, Mrs. Shin, just sign it and end it nicely.”

“I can’t do it.”

“I can’t wait any longer if you don’t sign it now.”

“I can’t do it. I’ll report this if you do.”

“Huh, really. You don’t know that these cops are all under my thumb?”

“Mr. President, please. I’ll die.”

The old lady knelt down and Mr. Hwang gestured with his chin.

“It won’t work. Make her sign by force.”

“Yes, Mr. Hwang.”

Then, the men in orange vests grabbed the old lady from both sides.

The old lady cried out but there was no way she could win with strength.

“No! I can’t do it!”

“Mrs. Shin, just sign it quickly and let’s finish this.”

The president urged her as she resisted.

The situation was getting worse by the minute.

He couldn’t believe it and snorted.

“They’re really something.”

What should he do?

The photos and videos he took today could make a big news story.

Even if the cops were in cahoots with them, they would have to move if a reporter stepped in.

That’s how he could settle it.

But…

He felt uneasy and sent a message to Kim Yeon-guk, a reporter from Our Daily News’ social affairs department.

He was a junior of Oh Eun-bi, who wrote an article about Kim Hyun-soo a while ago.

He became acquainted with him through that article.

He was in charge of this area so he would respond quickly.

Then, he heard the old lady’s scream again.

“Mr. Hwang, please. Spare me just once.”

“We don’t have time, hurry up. Once we finish here, all these stores will be cleared.”

Mr. Hwang pointed at two buildings next to him and smirked.

Suddenly, his brows furrowed sharply.

One of the stores that Mr. Hwang pointed at was the one that his mother was supposed to move to.

He had a feeling why his mother’s contract was suddenly canceled.

He could imagine what kind of deal had been made behind the scenes.

He couldn’t just sit still and watch.

He stood up from his crouched position.

Then, the old lady who had her wrist held by the man in orange vest dropped the pen.

The pen fell and scratched the paper.

“I can’t do it.”

“Oh! What are you doing! You’re wasting ink!”

Mr. Hwang yelled as he saw that and the men on both sides threatened the old lady.

“Lady, do you really want to die?”

“Please…”

At that moment, he saw his mother’s face overlapped with the old lady’s.

He felt a surge of anger as he thought that those bastards could ruin his mother’s always bright face.

“Those sons of bitches.”

He clenched his teeth and walked forward.

Mr. Hwang saw him approaching and shouted.

“Who are you?”

“I don’t care about that. You two in orange, get your hands off.”

He pointed at the heads of the two men in orange vests, and they spat out curses like thugs.

“You fucking bastard! What did you say?”

“Is this guy crazy or what!”

He chuckled and said to Mr. Hwang.

“You know this is illegal, right? Forcing a contract like this.”

“What are you talking about! Hey! Grab that kid!”

As soon as he finished his words, Mr. Hwang shouted angrily.

At the same time, the two men in orange vests who were holding the old lady jumped out.

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