Chapter 224
Theatrical Regression Life
Episode 224:
How should I deal with a brat who tries to relieve his inferiority complex on someone else?
There will be various ways. It would be a good idea to have a sincere conversation and open up your feelings to each other, but there is also a way to avoid appearing easy by overbearing and suppressing the other person. However, the disadvantage of these methods was that it required a lot of time and effort to change the other personâs perception.
âJaehyung Lee is in the same context.â
His older brother, Lee Jae-hyung, is a childish person who takes out the sense of inferiority he received from his older sister onto his younger brother, Lee Jae-heon. The more childish the other person is, the more difficult it is to treat them seriously. In the first place, it was obvious that the other person was not willing to take it seriously or had such a strong pride that they would not acknowledge it even if it was thought to be valid.
Of course, Iâm not saying itâs a bad method or impossible, but why?
âShould I care about Lee Jae-hyung that much?â
They say the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. That was exactly the case with Lee Jae-heon. If I truly wanted to get closer to Jaehyung Lee, I would have tried my best to improve the relationship and perception, but I wasnât particularly attracted to him. All you had to do was get what you wanted.
So what method did Jaeheon Lee choose?
âLetâs seeâ¦what do I need now?â
First of all, the image of âLee Jae-heonâ had to be corrected. The idea is to show an image of being neither an empty-headed person nor a problem child at all, but just âcompetent and dangerous, but not so much that you canât control it.â At least in order to gain enough authority to be introduced to the âindustryâ that Song In-myeong mentioned.
âIf you change your image too much, thereâs no way Iâll introduce you to that guyâs pride.â
Lee Jae-heon laughed while looking at the snakeâs face in the mirror.
ââ¦People with an inferiority complex are easy to deal with. âYou know.â
You are generous to people who are worse off than you.
All you had to do was match that fantasy, and that was Lee Jae-heonâs specialty.
* * *
âI deliberately set you up at a hotel.â
âYou said you were sorryâ¦
Lee Jae-heon muttered in an embarrassed voice.
-Even though there was a lot of work to do.
âAh~ Really. âYou have to go to the hotel, rest for a while, and then come down almost immediately.â
-Still, we can arrive by midnight. It must be 1 am at the latest. Isnât that good enough?
âAre you ignoring the sea at dawn? âI donât know if this kid has the stamina.â
Lee Jae-hyung grumbled while imagining Lee Jae-heonâs sullen expression over the phone.
âArenât you going to collapse in the middle?â
-Iâm not that weak.
âYou say that and then just vomit on my hot stomach. âItâs a new ship.â
âWhat happens after buying a used one among used ones?â¦
âThere is a manâs dream! âYou are disgusting on my romance!â
-I havenât vomited yet!
Lee Jae-hyung chuckled inwardly at the sight of him immediately bursting into tears just because he got on his nerves a little. Even though I had a scary appearance, I rarely thought of my dark-faced, grown-up younger brother as cute, but I couldnât help but laugh at how trivial it was every time this happened. It looks like a doll that screams when you press its stomach.
âCome down carefully, child. âIâm not going to be on the boat for an hour or two.â
Jaehyung Lee smiled leisurely.
âYouâll be there for a long time, but if your stamina runs out, youâll be in big trouble.â
To be honest, the reason he called his younger brother Lee Jae-heon today was clearly with the intention of relieving stress by playing around for the first time in a while. However, the main purpose was to admonish my younger brother, who recklessly contacted a private company without knowing how scary the world was.
Is it because I was introduced to this in a clumsy way when I was very young? Lee Jae-heon didnât know how to properly deal with errand boys, nor did he know how to stop his information from spreading that way. He must have already incurred quite a bit of resentment while serving as the old manager at Oseong, so what would he do if one of them even made a malicious request? As an older brother, I had no choice but to educate him.
Lee Jae-heon, who did not know his true intentions, muttered in a shaky voice.
-How much more are you going to pamper yourself with?
âWhy do you say I pampered you? How much did you pamper me? No, in the first place, if you ask me to do it, do I do it well? âWow, Iâm so speechlessâ¦â
âAh, arenât you putting it aside to peck at it again?
âIsnât this all love for your younger brother?â
âLove has a completely different personalityâ¦.
âWhat? Is it scary? Think that you are saying that because you have never worked with your sister! Do you know how much I get scolded for hanging around with that guy? uh? Did you know? Are you going to do this to me, who has gone through all the hardships and is comfortably buried in Oseong, just as you gave me? âWould you accept it in place of your sisterâs temper?â
-Ah, thank you. I understand. Really naggingâ¦.
âNagging? Hey, is this nagging you? If you do anything, I will take you under my wing. uh? You know how much I crave it, right? âYou know my skills, right?â
-I know, I know. Haha⦠Iâm still craving it, right?
âItâs not that Iâm craving it, it was Nii who started the fight first, you bastard.â
-I am sorry.
In the end, it was Lee Jae-heon who lost. Lee Jae-hyung smiled happily and nodded at the sight of his youngest brother grumbling and obediently giving in.
âIt should have been like this a long time ago.â
As expected, he is a guy who has a taste for bullying. When you poke them, they are likely to react by startling or screaming. Compared to the older sister who opens her eyes bright blue and tries to scare her younger brother whenever she gets the chance, how fun⦠how innocent she is. It was nothing short of a tonic for this barren life.
âWhen will you arrive?â
ââ¦Itâs scheduled for 12:21.
âHey, you came out lateâ¦â
âOh, I know. I understand. Please say sorry!
âDid you bring any luggage? âWork filesâ¦â
âWhy do I carry work files with me?
âWhat⦠like clothes?â
ââ¦? Isnât it all there?
âThatâs true, but did you bring anything separately? There may be something that you consider important and that you carry with you. From the looks of it, there doesnât seem to be anything like that.â
-doesnât exist. If you donât have it, you can just buy it and wear itâ¦
âThatâs true.â
Since you keep talking nonsense, it seems like you really have nothing to do with that police officer.
âItâs too bad that an elite like that happened to be caught by an idiot in our family.â
Jaehyung Lee giggled, gently scratching his chin with his hand. I heard that he had a separate cell phone to communicate with a bastard named Hong Gyeong-jun, but when I heard the story, it seemed like he didnât have it. It means that I donât think itâs important enough to do that. 졸ì§ì ì ì¬ìê° ì¸ì§ë¡ ì¡í ê·¸ ê°ìë¼ ì ì¥ìì ë ë²¼ë½ì´ìê² ì§ë§ ë§ì´ë¤.
Well, if you have to, you can just replace it. There was no need to worry that much.
âOf course, I would have prepared clothes and other miscellaneous things there. âIf you donât have anything else to bring, would you like to come right away?â
-Is it that far?
âNot all hotels have penthouses, little brother. Among them, I placed it near a shopping mall. The port here is a bit remote and far away⦠I think it would be better to just come right away. Even if you go, all you can do is change your clothes and come out.â
âThen⦠Okay, letâs go on like this.
âIf you come, letâs have a late-night snack. âDoes Tangtang know how to eat now?â
-eww.
âOh, you poor sentient being who doesnât know the taste of the wild. âIâll eat Tangtang, you can eat ramen.â
âIs it really bad ramen that you come here to eat?
âOh, if you take the boat anyway, youâre going to sleep in spicy fish soup! If you donât like ramen, eat tteokbokki! So how about a steak for a late-night snack? Should I go to fine dining? âDo you want to see your brother get scolded by chefs?â
-Ah, I understand. You just have to eat whatever they give youâ¦
âOkay, come and order whatever you want. I wonât touch that. âYouâre going to eat it all by yourself, right?â
âAisssi, really⦠Iâm hanging up.
âHang up, hang up. Anyway, Iâm so pettyâ¦â
Pop.
Jaehyung Lee let out a laugh as the call was hung up before he could finish speaking.
âLook how upset you are again.â
âIsnât it a natural reaction to be scolded every time you say a word?â
âUh-huh, Secretary Jeong.â
Lee Jae-hyung smiled and looked at Secretary Jeong.
âshut up.â
ââ¦.â
âI should do the talking, not you.â
âsorry.â
âThatâs right.â
Jaehyung Lee nodded exaggeratedly and then burst into laughter.
âItâs time to go, so look at me getting cocky.â
Of course, it wasnât a happy laugh.
Secretary Jeong, who was quietly watching, realized that now was the time to step back and quietly lowered his head. In the meantime, the reason Lee Jae-hyung kept Secretary Jeong by his side was because it was useful, but there was no longer any reason to tolerate his arrogance, as he would soon no longer be his own person.
Lee Jae-hyung, who was looking at him intently, smiled and took out a cigarette.
âGive me some light.â
âExcuse me.â
The end of the cigarette went up in flames with a clicking sound.
ââ¦Phewâ¦.â
Smoke disperses in the sea breeze.
âWhat is it this time? Farm? nursery?â
âSince it was by the sea, we decided on a fish farm.â
âsalmon?â
âYes, salmon.â
âOh, Iâm so scared that I canât live.â
Lee Jae-hyung trembled and gave an exaggerated tremor.
âI really hope that salmon doesnât end up on my dinner table.â
âThere are people who like it, so you donât have to worry. As you know, there are customers who want such productsâ¦â
âYou really are perverts. Koreans like to joke about eating bad food. âYouâre saying you canât meet your husband?â
âhaha.â
âWell⦠I guess heâs chubby.â
Lee Jae-hyung muttered with a playfully bored look on his face.
âI eat meat, but Iâm sure Iâll gain weight.â
As the small mutterings were scattered by the sea breeze, he once again burst into frivolous laughter. It was a genuinely happy laugh, as if to let me know that his previous timid appearance was a joke.
âAhahaha! Hey, arenât those bastards piranha? âIf you put your hand in it, only bones will remain?â
âNo way, everything is processed and made into food. Fish rarely open their mouths unless they are large enough to eat. âThere are no teeth for that, and even if it were possible, the bone would remain intact, so thatâs also a problem.â
âWhy did you pick a car last time? What is it⦠an incinerator? The one with an incinerator inside⦠that one. Isnât that kind of bad? âYou donât use it much these days, do you?â
âItâs because thereâs smoke. The number of vehicles illegally incinerating pets has increased, and crackdowns have become more severe, citing environmental pollution. There are many police officers who wonât give up just because they fill their wallets, so they are mainly using fish farms as before. âIf an organism eats it and digests it, no traces remain.â
âWow, itâs a scary world. âI have to do my best not to get eaten by salmon.â
âYou are doing well enough.â
âWhy do you think Iâm swearing?â
âYou misunderstand.â
âIs that so?â
Lee Jae-hyung, who exhaled smoke, dropped his cigarette on the floor and trampled it. Unsmoked cigarettes are crushed here and there and seep into the cracks in the asphalt.
âThe medicine is okay, right?â
âWhat are you talking about?â¦â
âAre you sure itâs okay for you? Sleeping pills.â
Jaehyung Lee continued, shrugging his shoulders in the cold wind.
âThatâs why Iâm secretly weak because I have a little brother.â
âAha⦠donât worry. âWe have prepared it to be safe.â
âIs it true? âThe one I caught this time ate and vomited.â
âWould you really give such low-grade medicine to the directorâs younger brother? This is a medicine that is also convenient for customers who suffer from insomnia. If you wish, I will call a pharmacist who can analyze the ingredient list.â
âHmmâ¦â
Lee Jae-hyung nodded, his nose turning red.
âBring it.â
ââ¦If youâre inside, Iâll call you right away.â
âOkay, donât play around.â
âSure.â
Secretary Jeong quietly took out his cell phone as he watched Jaehyung Lee enter the bus that had been remodeled like a house. I had to bring the ingredients list and the pharmacist that the customer requested.
After finishing the call, Secretary Jeong smiled lowly as he looked at the pitch-black bus.
ââ¦Crazy guy.â
Unlike his soft smile, his gaze was cool.
The âprankâ that Jaehyung Lee played on his younger brother was not something that could be called a joke, both objectively and subjectively. Even though it is harmless to the body, it is ridiculous to try to give medicine to your younger brother. In the meantime, you must check to see if there are any problems with the ingredients of the medicine.
âItâs not even funny when this kind of work is more bothersome than anyone elseâs.â
I couldnât tell if I cared for my younger brother or not.
âEven though this floor is all like thatâ¦â
This is a world I really donât like.