Chapter 9 - The Nursing Home Trap and Classroom Grudges

The luxury sports car cut through the darkness, finally pulling up along the gravel driveway of an ancient, isolated concrete structure on the quiet edges of Seoul. The exterior of the building looked completely run-down, with peeling paint and old wooden window frames tucked under the dim streetlights.Goo Kyung-min—the gluttonous former interim CEO—pressed his face against the passenger glass window, his greedy smile instantly turning into a look of absolute, deep confusion. "Sir... what exactly kind of an aesthetic place is this? What kind of premium VIP party is currently happening inside this ancient facility?"Dr. Choi Hyun-woo looked ahead, his medical expression perfectly calm and deceptive as he turned off the ignition. "Look, the exterior architecture of this place is old, Kyung-min, but the unique 'drinks' they serve inside are exceptionally strong and famous throughout the sector. You can comfortably enjoy yourself here just like you've been doing with innocent girls until NOW."Kyung-min's eyes lit up with foolish excitement once again, completely falling for the trap as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Alright, Sir! If that's the case, then tonight is truly going to be a massive blast!"The three men stepped out of the sports car, marching through the creaking front double doors of the building. The very microsecond they stepped inside the grand hall, the glutton's jaw dropped completely to the floor tiles in pure, paralyzing shock.There was absolutely no neon lighting, no electronic music, and no young girls dancing. Everywhere his vision darted, the open floor was completely packed with elderly grandpas and grandmas. Some were sitting in a wide circle chanting traditional hymns, while others were coughing heavily into their handkerchiefs, the entire hall smelling intensely of herbal balms and medicine."What... what on earth is this?!" Kyung-min gasped, his voice shaking violently as he took a panicked step backward toward the exit. "These are all completely old people! Why on earth did you bring my build to a local nursing home property?!"Choi Sun-woo stepped forward smoothly, a deadpan, terrifyingly sharp smirk breaking across his executive features as he blocked the doorway. "What exactly did you think, you miserable bastard? That my brother and I would actually bring your gluttonous self out tonight to drink premium alcohol? You acted completely disrespectful and inappropriate toward my Kim Seo-ah, right? Well, now, these lovely grandmas and grandpas will give you the ultimate 'VIP treatment' you deserve."Hyun-woo completely ignored the glutton's trembling frame, walking over to a nearby elderly woman who was leaning on a heavy wooden walking stick. He bowed respectfully. "Grandmother, just like I explicitly explained to your team on the phone earlier... please handle this man and irritate his ego so intensely that he never, ever dares to do anything wrong or disrespectful to a woman again."The old grandmother brandished her wooden walking stick in the air, a wide, enthusiastic grin breaking across her wrinkled face. "Don't you worry about a single thing, doctor son! Our wing will fix his behavioral alignment right up before sunrise!"Suddenly, before the glutton could even scream for help, a large group of energetic elderly folks completely surrounded his massive frame. They tightly grabbed his winter coat sleeves and began physically dragging him further inside the deep corridors of the facility."And hey! Listen to me carefully, Grandma!" Sun-woo shouted out loud from behind, his commanding executive voice echoing across the grand hall. "Don't you dare let him sit completely idle for a single microsecond! Make his heavy build wash all your dirty clothes and clean every single toilet floor in this entire wing too! If he dares to throw a childish tantrum or drop his chores, just give our private line an immediate call! Honestly, Kyung-min, this is completely nothing; if it were up to my corporate board, I would've done something much worse to your career... but forget it."Sun-woo's face suddenly twisted into a state of violent, terrifyingly sharp family anger as he roared down the hallway at the struggling coward. "Remember this warning! After tonight, if you ever trouble my Ma Ha-rin or my future sister-in-law ever again in your miserable life, just wait and see what happens to you!"Standing right beside his shoulder, Dr. Hyun-woo's eyes widened to the size of saucers. He turned his head sharply, staring intensely into Sun-woo's face in absolute, paralyzing shock at his specific choice of words."What?!" Hyun-woo whispered frantically through his teeth. "Did you just say... my Ma Ha-rin?!"Sun-woo stopped dead in his tracks, a cold sweat of pure, panicked mortification instantly breaking across his forehead. He frantically pulled out his handkerchief, wiping his brow as he began to stutter slightly. "Uh... Brother... why on earth are you looking at my face with such a heavy, murderous look? Let's just get out of this building property immediately! And yes, Grandma, Grandpa—all the absolute best with the chores! Take good, thorough care of his attitude tonight!"From the far end of the dark corridor, Goo Kyung-min turned his head back toward the door one final time. He reached out his trembling hand dramatically through the air, looking exactly like a tragic, defeated villain in a low-budget melodrama."Sir! Mr. Choi! Please don't leave my build here!" the glutton screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in pure, desperate terror. "I'll be incredibly good from now on! I promise I'll only eat green salad for the rest of my life! I'll never talk to another girl on the office floor again! HEEEELP ME!"The old grandmother didn't waste a single second, whacking his leg lightly with her wooden stick to break his resistance. "Stop your loud shouting, grandson! Here, take this heavy plastic scrub brush right now. These toilet floors aren't going to clean themselves!"The elderly crowd laughed happily, completely teasing the crying glutton as they dragged his heavy build away to assign him his overnight cleaning chores. Kyung-min was left crying and screaming in the shadows. Hyun-woo and Sun-woo completely ignored his desperate echoes, turning their backs and walking calmly out past the front doors onto the quiet concrete pavement.The ancient nursing home stood completely silent under the starry night sky, except for the faint, muffled, and entirely desperate screams of Goo Kyung-min echoing from the upper window panes: "Help! Someone get me out of here! I promise on my life I'll be good!"Sun-woo leaned his broad frame casually against the hood of the sports car, a brilliant, thoroughly relaxed smile breaking across his strict face. "Bro, seriously... executing that operation was exceptionally refreshing. Now that miserable bastard will finally understand what it's like to make an innocent person's life a living hell. Grandma is explicitly going to wake his heavy build up at 4:00 AM sharp tomorrow for mandatory yoga and toilet scrubs. His arrogant ego is completely finished!"Dr. Hyun-woo suddenly stopped walking toward the driver's side, freezeing completely in his tracks. He turned his head slowly, staring intensely and unblinkingly straight into Sun-woo's eyes under the dim streetlights."That part is all great and successful, Sun-woo..." Hyun-woo countered, his voice dropping into a tight, suspicious whisper. "But let's go back strictly to what you blurted out out loud inside that hall. What exactly did you mean by 'my Ma Ha-rin'?"Sun-woo stopped dead, his executive composure completely shattering as he wiped another fresh drop of sweat from his forehead. "Oh... that... well, what I meant to say was... our Ma Ha-rin! We were all childhood neighborhood friends back in the playground days, weren't we? And she happens to be Bhabi's—I mean, Kim Seo-ah's—absolute best friend and roommate too... it just accidentally slipped out of my mouth during the anger. Why on earth are you staring at me like I've committed an absolute first-degree murder?"Hyun-woo narrowed his dark eyes into a razor-sharp, highly suspicious glare. "You were never this fiercely protective of her or her office files before today, Sun-woo. Something is definitely going on.""Bro, come on! Just completely drop the subject," Sun-woo muttered nervously, reaching out his hand to quickly open the passenger car door to escape the interrogation. "Let's just get back to the penthouse. Look how peaceful the night is here."But the exact microsecond Sun-woo tried to slide onto the leather cushion, Dr. Hyun-woo stepped forward aggressively and slammed the sports car door firmly shut, physically blocking his entire build against the vehicle frame.Hyun-woo locked eyes with him, leaving absolutely zero room for escape. "Wait. Stop lying to my face, Sun-woo. You deeply like Ma Ha-rin in a romantic way, don't you?"Sun-woo blinked, his chest heaving as his secret was completely blown wide open. "Huh?! Me? Like her? That is absolutely, completely ridiculous! You know for a fact how much we violently fought and argued as little kids back in the sandbox! Even now, on the office floor, she doesn't have a single clue that we are those exact childhood playground friends... yet she still treats me so coldly and calls me a strict monster at the department!""Then why on earth did your mouth explicitly call her 'mine' inside that building?" Hyun-woo countered, a knowing smirk breaking across his handsome face. "Stop the fake executive act right now and tell your brother the absolute truth."Sun-woo let out a heavy, thoroughly defeated sigh, his shoulders dropping as he lowered his gaze to his shoes. He ran a hand through his neat hair, completely giving up the struggle. "Fine. I'm sorry, bro... but yeah, the truth is, I do deeply like her. I've liked Ma Ha-rin for a very, very long time."Hyun-woo stood completely stunned, his jaw dropping in pure surprise. "Seriously? Since when? Why on earth didn't you ever mention a single word of this crush to me before tonight?""Because by the exact time I fully realized my own feelings back then, our family had already abruptly left the old neighborhood city and moved down here to Seoul," Sun-woo explained softly, a rare wave of vulnerability touching his voice. "I honestly never thought I'd ever see her beautiful face ever again in my life. But then, by some wild miracle of fate, you found Kim Seo-ah at the hospital ward, and Ma Ha-rin walked straight onto my architecture office floor. It was like the universe aligned our frequencies.""I see... that is actually incredibly beautiful, Sun-woo," Hyun-woo smiled warmly, patting his brother's shoulder before his brow furrowed in confusion. "But then... if you like her that deeply, why on earth do you keep constantly bothering her and piling mountains of heavy work on her desk every single morning?"Sun-woo's face instantly twisted into a highly defensive, pouty expression. "Bro, do you seriously not remember what that fierce girl did to my dignity back in our middle school days? You were far too busy chasing Kim Seo-ah's steps around the park, but I was the one who was physically suffering under her brutal playground pranks! Watch this..."[FLASHBACK: EXT. OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL GATES – YEARS AGO]The loud sound of the final dismissal bell rang sharply across the school courtyard. Young Choi Hyun-woo and a young, neat-uniformed Choi Sun-woo walked out past the gates, tightly clutching their heavy textbooks against their chests.The exact microsecond Kim Seo-ah and Ma Ha-rin walked out of the entrance, the boys immediately turned around and began following their steps down the pavement.Little Hyun-woo began walking backward right in front of Kim Seo-ah's path, a hopeful, blushing smile on his face. "Kim! Please, just talk to me for one brief minute today!"Young Sun-woo was walking rapidly beside him, trying his absolute best to read his textbook layout while walking. "Hurry up your pace, Hyun-woo! I have a critical advanced mathematics test in the next period today, and I desperately need to study these formulas!"Little Ma Ha-rin stopped dead on the pavement, rolling her eyes in sheer, absolute disgust as she rounded on them. "Ugh, you two anonymous strangers are here again?! And you brought your annoying little 'sidekick' with you to block our sidewalk?!"Sun-woo snapped his book shut, his intense eyes narrowing at the fierce girl. "Hey! I am just doing my own quiet academic work here! Leave my build completely alone and let me read my pages in peace!""Then go read your stupid pages somewhere else entirely!" Little Ha-rin huffed, placing her hands on her tiny hips before glaring at Hyun-woo. "And you, when on earth are you going to stop following Kim Seo-ah's steps around this city?""The exact day she formally agrees to be my best friend!" Hyun-woo cheered proudly.Little Kim Seo-ah crossed her arms stubbornly, shaking her head. "I already told you a thousand times, I don't know you! You won't even tell us your real name! No matter what tricks you try, I will absolutely never be your friend!"Seo-ah spun around, storming off down the sidewalk in a huff. Sun-woo nudged his brother's shoulder. "See? She is completely not interested. Let's go back to the classroom, Hyun-woo, I'm going to get incredibly late for my test allocation.""Just one more day... I'll make her agree tomorrow," Hyun-woo murmured, watching her go.As the boys turned their backs to walk toward the school building, Ma Ha-rin's face twisted into a highly mischievous, wicked grin. She stealthily tore a blank page out of her notebook, rapidly scribbled a bunch of forbidden exam answers on it with her pen, and folded it into a tiny 'cheat sheet.'Moving like a silent shadow, she tiptoed carefully right behind Sun-woo's back, slid her small hand into his uniform pocket, and slipped the paper securely inside. Sun-woo felt a sudden, strange rustle against his uniform coat and quickly looked back over his shoulder, but Ha-rin had already vanished completely into the crowd with a silent laugh. The boys walked straight into the testing center.[INT. SCHOOL CLASSROOM – DURING THE TEST]The room was dead silent, with row after row of students intensely writing down their answers under the strict gaze of the proctor. Sun-woo was writing smoothly, completely focused on his exam sheet.Suddenly, as he reached into his uniform pocket to grab his eraser, the tiny folded piece of paper caught on his cuff and fell out, landing flat on the polished floor tiles right in the center aisle. The strict teacher spotted the white paper instantly, marching down the row with heavy footsteps and yanking it off the floor.The teacher unfolded the sheet, seeing the mathematical cheat formulas scribbled in a messy handwriting. The proctor's face turned completely furious, and he slammed his hand against Sun-woo's desk, shouting out code violations in front of the entire class. Sun-woo was heavily punished, forced to stand in the hallway corridor for hours, and thoroughly humiliated for 'cheating' on a test he had studied days for.Standing in the hallway in pure, burning rage, Sun-woo realized exactly whose handwriting was on that paper, clenching his fists as he screamed out her name in absolute, violent fury inside his mind.[FLASHBACK ENDS]Back on the quiet street road outside the nursing home, Sun-woo crossed his arms defensively, huffing out loud at the memory. "So, you see, Hyun-woo?! I am simply paying her back for that absolute humiliation! Honestly, I don't even bother her a fraction as much as her pranks bothered my dignity back in school! It's just a justified corporate payback!"Dr. Hyun-woo stood completely frozen for a second before completely bursting into a loud, booming round of joyful, echoing laughter that filled the night air. He clapped his hands together, thoroughly amused."Oh my god, Sun-woo! So this whole corporate tyrant act is just based on an old middle school grudge?!" Hyun-woo laughed, shaking his head with deep affection as he unlocked the sports car doors. "Why on earth didn't you tell me that hilarious story before tonight? Well, let it completely go. At least your personal 'love story' is finally moving on the right track now. Let's go straight back to the penthouse and have a premium drink to celebrate this successful mission—and to celebrate your secret love!"Sun-woo let out a soft, rare laugh, the remaining tension completely vanishing from his face as he slid into the passenger leather seat. "Yeah, yeah, let's go home, bro."Hyun-woo stepped on the gas, and the luxury sports car purred to life, driving smoothly down the dark Seoul roads into the night, leaving a screaming Goo Kyung-min completely behind to face the ultimate, crushing wrath of the cleaning grandmothers.