Chapter 121: Gray Skies and Ladybugs

October in Vancouver was gloomy.

Fine rain drizzled from a gray sky all day, making it incredibly difficult to catch a glimpse of the sun.

It hadn’t been this bad until last month, but as the weather soured, I felt as though all the energy was being drained from my body.

‘Maybe I should have gone to Southeast Asia instead.’

I packed my laptop, thinking the same thought today that I had yesterday.

I felt like if I stayed home, I would literally wither away and die.

After walking for about ten minutes, the chilly outdoor air seeped through my knit sweater.

Shaking the raindrops off my umbrella, I stepped into a cafe, and the warmth of the building washed over me.

Immediately, a familiar face behind the counter greeted me.

“Hyung, you’re here?”

“Yes, hello.”

The part-timer here, Kim Min-seok, was a Korean on a working holiday.

He had quit a “black company” in Korea and grabbed his last chance for a working holiday at thirty-two to come to Canada.

He was one of my few Korean friends of a similar age, someone I met while attending French language classes together.

The cafe was quite quiet at this hour, as there weren’t many people.

Min-seok asked me in a friendly tone.

“Did you finish your homework?”

“I’m about to try it now. It’s difficult.”

“Right? I don’t understand a single thing. Oh, right, and if you have time later, do you want to check out that new Chinese restaurant that just opened? The reviews are pretty good.”

“Sounds good.”

Min-seok looked pleased when I readily accepted.

The language school I was attending was an academy established by the French Cultural Center, a place where people of various nationalities and ages gathered.

However, the only person there who matched my age group and taste in food was Min-seok.

In a way, we were “meal buddies met abroad.”

If you asked why I suddenly started attending a French school I had no interest in, it was because Ju-ria, who flew in from the US last month, took one look at me and declared, ‘You need to go out regularly, meet people, and get some sunlight,’ and registered me regardless of my will.

At first, I was incredibly annoyed with Ria, but it turned out to be okay once I started going.

And it was somewhat useful.

Since Canada uses both English and French as official languages, both were written everywhere I went.

Now, I could at least read cafe menus and street signs, which was a huge improvement.

The biggest reason, however, was that I honestly had nothing else to do if I didn’t go to school.

After moving to Canada in mid-August, I had been lounging like a corpse in a nice apartment, soaking up the warm sunlight every day.

I thought about traveling around since I was here anyway, but I couldn’t bring myself to go anywhere.

I had become the wealthy, idle unemployed person I so desired, but I couldn’t understand why life felt so terrible.

Ria then nagged me to stop thinking useless thoughts and try being a YouTuber or something.

It was a good idea.

I went to a corner seat and clumsily pulled out my books and laptop.

A moment later, Min-seok brought me my coffee and asked.

“Oh, are you doing video editing?”

I laughed awkwardly.

“Yes, it’s nothing special.”

But standing behind me, he suddenly spotted my neck and spoke.

“Oh? You’re wearing a necklace. I wear one too.”

Then, he suddenly pulled out a silver rhombus-shaped necklace from inside his shirt and showed it to me.

“I didn’t know you liked accessories. What kind of designs do you like, Hyung?”

I was slightly flustered.

But since he was speaking out of goodwill, hiding the necklace now would make things look strange.

After hesitating for a moment, I pulled out the chain hidden inside my clothes.

Min-seok’s eyes grew wide.

“A ladybug!?”

“Yes…”

“Wow.”

He suddenly gave me a thumbs-up and said something like, ‘I guess you’re the type who likes flashy things.’

I quickly tucked the jewelry back inside my clothes.

Even though he didn’t mean anything by it, my face felt hot as if a personal secret had been exposed.

“I see… Anyway, Hyung, you said you do stocks before, right? Are there any decent stocks these days?”

The conversation suddenly jumped to stocks.

Min-seok said he had made a big killing in stocks before quitting his job, and once we became a bit close, he wanted to talk to me about stocks every chance he got.

I replied with a vague smile.

“Ah, I just have a few mainly in large corporations.”

“Like what?”

“Um… a little bit of Haewon Group.”

“Whoa, me too. But these days, that Haewon Vice Chairman’s divorce lawsuit is making me nervous as hell. I bought all the related stocks after hearing that Haewon and Sunjeong were investing in a new business together, but they’re fluctuating like crazy.”

“Ah…”

I widened my eyes and pretended to be surprised.

Immediately after I left the country, my parents began divorce proceedings.

Surprisingly, however, the one who filed for divorce was not my mother, but my father.

This was something even I hadn’t expected.

Whether Grandpa had kept everyone silent, not a word about me came out, but my father’s will as confirmed through articles was quite firm.

I answered with a brief, bitter smile.

“It’ll recover.”

Then, he spoke dissatisfactorily.

“But stocks are all about psychological warfare. Besides, looking at what Choi Young-gil is doing, it seems like he’s trying to get a divorce no matter what, so what happens to the new business? I don’t care if they get divorced or not, but I wish they’d defend the stock price a bit.”

“…Haha, I agree.”

“Sigh, did you put in a lot, Hyung?”

Mmm, I nodded.

I wasn’t the one who put it in, but…

“…Yes.”

“Oh no, did you put in your entire severance pay?”

Min-seok comforted me.

He believed that I had quit my job in Korea and was staying at a relative’s house in Canada.

Ju-ria wasn’t a relative, but that’s how I ended up explaining it.

As other customers arrived, he ran back to the counter.

I let out a silent sigh.

Last month, my father shamelessly gave a shocking interview saying, ‘I have experienced much conflict with Director Shin due to personality differences since the beginning of our marriage, but our children are old enough, and I have already been seeing someone else for a long time, so I believe it is right for us to go our separate ways.’

It was essentially a defiant attitude of, ‘Yes, I’m having an affair, so what are you going to do about it?’

However, from my mother’s side, she released an even more shocking statement saying, ‘I still love my husband, so I have absolutely no intention of breaking up the family. The children are deeply distressed.’

As one of those “children,” hearing that was just absurd to me.

‘Just get a divorce…’

However, my mother is someone who was willing to kill even my father just to avoid getting a divorce.

I decided to be satisfied with the fact that my mother hadn’t become a murderer.

What happens in their dogfight after that is none of my business.

Furthermore, I could roughly guess why my mother was doing that.

If Seung-hee were to enter a succession battle with the cousins, it would be advantageous for my mother to remain as a person within the Haewon family.

What was unexpected here was that Grandpa was on my mother’s side.

After shouting at me and swinging his cane, saying he would prepare a lawsuit, it seemed my threat regarding the Koryo Ilbo had been effective after all.

Even though it was expected, I felt a bitter taste in my mouth.

Anyway, I didn’t expect to hear my family’s history again from someone I met in a foreign country.

‘Should I just go somewhere like Morocco? There probably wouldn’t be any Koreans there.’

Since it’s on the Mediterranean side, the weather would be better too.

But doesn’t Morocco use French? Then do I have to keep attending school here…

As I was daydreaming, a call suddenly came from Ju-ria.

Looking at my laptop, I put on my earphones and answered the video call with a disinterested face.

“Yeah, what.”

Ria scowled as soon as she saw me.

She started barking at me without hesitation.

<Hey, can you stop wearing those trashy horn-rimmed glasses?>

“They aren’t that trashy… aren’t you busy?”

<Extremely busy. Still, who else would look after you if not me?>

“Why are you looking after me?”

Ria burst out laughing.

<Because we almost became family?>

I looked around reflexively, startled for no reason.

“Hey, if you say things like that, your lover might hear.”

<It’s fine, Renee doesn’t know Korean.>

“…….”

<Well, your face still doesn’t look that great. Are you attending school well?>

I pulled out my French textbook and waved it in front of the phone.

“Yeah.”

<Is it fun?>

“Not really.”

I lied because I didn’t want Ria to boast.

Then, Ria chuckled.

<Seeing as you haven’t quit, it must be fun. It’s been a month, so you should be able to do some basic conversation?>

“Well, at least enough to introduce myself…”

When I answered in a small voice, Ria smiled brightly.

Then she suddenly said something out of the blue.

<That’s good. I’m having an exhibition in France this time, so come. I’ll send you the invitation and a plane ticket.>

“Whaaat?”

<You have nothing to do anyway. Just come. Travel around a bit while you’re at it.>

I immediately shook my head.

“What are you talking about… I’m busy?”

<Don’t lie. I’ll send the address and invitation via email, so make sure to come. It’s next week, so check the dates carefully!>

Ria waved her hands frantically at the screen and then hung up immediately.

What? She just says what she wants and hangs up?

At the same time, a link related to the exhibition was delivered from her.

It was a three-day event at a fairly large exhibition hall in Paris.

She had been becoming even more successful since leaving Korea.

Seeing Ria doing well made me feel a strange sense of pride and vicarious satisfaction.

But that was that, and going was another matter.

As I was thinking about what words to use to refuse, she surprisingly sent a message as if she had read my mind.

[Make sure to come, jobless person~ Your mood will get better once you get out!]

…Seriously, this girl.

[If you have a definitive reason why you can’t come, please prove it along with the reason in under 10,000 characters. (*Proof required: a selfie with a friend, etc.)]

“Sigh…”

I let out a sigh after glancing at Kim Min-seok in the distance.

Ju-ria knew all too well that I had neither a job nor friends.