Yoo Mi-kyung's mental circuitry truly baffled all logic. No matter how thunderous Joo Dae-sik's expression grew, no matter how many times he hissed at her to stop, she remained oblivious, continuing her condescending lecture to Eun-woo.
Under normal circumstances, no matter how capable a junior was, a senior ajumma scolding them was commonplace. But the present circumstances were anything but normal. After the humiliation of yesterday, every word from his wife's mouth felt like salt being ground into Joo Dae-sik's open wounds.
Finally, he snapped. He shoved her aside—not violently, but forcefully enough to send her stumbling back a step.
"Are you going to shut your mouth for once? No one will think you're a mute! All you do is show off, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong! How about you mind your own business for a change?!"
The shove was the last straw for Mi-kyung. With a shriek, she flew at him, pushing and pummeling his chest.
Seeing the domestic drama unfolding, Eun-woo simply adjusted the heavy sack of rice on his shoulder and headed for the building entrance. He had no time for their pathetic spectacle.
"Ya, Eun-woo, wait, give that to me, I'll take it…" Joo Dae-sik called out, trying to extricate himself, but his wife was already clawing at him.
By then, Eun-woo was already inside the stairwell. He climbed to the second floor, deposited the sack neatly outside the Joos' door, and continued up to his own apartment without a backward glance.
Downstairs, Yoo Mi-kyung seemed to have genuinely lost it. She wailed and shoved her husband as a small crowd of neighbors began to gather, curious faces appearing in windows above.
"Joo Dae-sik, you heartless man! What did I even do? I just asked the Song boy to carry a bag of rice! He didn't complain—how dare you push me?!"
More neighbors emerged, drawn by the commotion. While Mi-kyung wasn't popular, a few stepped in to separate the couple. But she was in full drama-queen mode, refusing to back down.
Finally, his face a mask of apoplectic rage, Joo Dae-sik shook her off and roared, his voice echoing in the small parking lot.
"ENOUGH! If I ignore you, you just keep digging, huh? 'Long hair, short insight'—if you're not ashamed, I am! Fine! You want to know why I'm yelling? I'll tell you!"
He jabbed a finger toward the imposing black SUV. "Helping Eun-woo? He needs my help? Did you see that? That Range Rover. It's his!"
"And it's not your CEO's lousy Discovery—Eun-woo's car is a Range Rover SVAutobiography. It costs at least 500 million won!"
"Asking him for a small favor is one thing; he's a junior. But you, with your mocking and your sneering—do you even know who you're talking to?!"
His words struck Mi-kyung dumb. She stared, mouth agape, at the sleek black SUV, utterly speechless.
She wasn't the only one. The gathered neighbors were equally stunned.
They gaped at the luxury vehicle, struggling to process that it belonged to the Song family's high school son.
Wasn't he about to take the Suneung? Where did a teenager get that kind of money?
Half a billion won wasn't just a large sum; in this modest neighborhood, it was an unimaginable fortune.
Whispers erupted. Had Song Min-soo been embezzling at his public corporation?
In the next moment, Yoo Mi-kyung voiced the very suspicion. "Impossible! Where would he get that kind of money? He must have borrowed it! Or… or rented it! Yes, that's it! There's no way he bought it!"
Joo Dae-sik slammed the Audi's trunk shut with a final, disgusted thud. "Borrowed? Rented? Let me enlighten you. Yesterday, Eun-woo sold a piece of late-Joseon blue and white porcelain at our—at the antique shop—for 500 million won! Borrowed? He doesn't need to. Now quit embarrassing yourself and get inside!"
Every word praising Eun-woo tasted like ash in his mouth, but he had to spell it out. His idiot wife, if left unchecked, might say something even more catastrophic. More importantly, seeing Eun-woo in that Range Rover had planted a desperate seed of hope in Dae-sik's mind: maybe, just maybe, he could use this connection to smooth things over with Chairman Jeong and beg for his job back. After all, the boy was a key reason he'd been fired. If his wife completely alienated Eun-woo now, that slim chance would vanish.
Hearing Joo Dae-sik's explanation, the neighbors' shock turned to understanding, then to a wave of intense envy. Old Song's hobby of collecting ceramic fragments was well-known. Who could have guessed his son would actually fish out a genuine treasure?
As the crowd dispersed, many vowed to go home and scour their own storage rooms and attics. Maybe they, too, had a forgotten heirloom worth a fortune.
Yoo Mi-kyung was thoroughly cowed. She stared venomously at the black Range Rover, bitterness choking her. Why did such luck have to fall on the Song family? The resentment was a physical ache.
But, furious as she was, she no longer dared to argue with her husband. She watched him storm toward the building entrance, then hung her head and shuffled after him like a scolded child.
The couple was gone, but the neighbors lingered, clusters of ajummas and ajeossis buzzing with gossip. Their eyes kept darting back to the SUV, gleaming with naked envy.
A few moments later, heart-wrenching sobs and the sound of something breaking drifted from a second-floor window—clearly the Joos' apartment. Faint, angry words about "losing his job" could be heard.
The remaining neighbors shook their heads. Yoo Mi-kyung had always been overbearing. Maybe this very public comeuppance, delivered via the Song boy, would finally teach her some humility.
---
Around 6:30 PM, Song Min-soo pushed open the door to his apartment. He smelled the familiar, comforting aroma of dinner from the kitchen but wore a deeply puzzled expression.
"Mi-kyung-ah," he called to his wife. "Something strange… On my way up, the neighbors kept congratulating me. I'm completely confused. What good news are you hiding from me?"
[To be continued…]