Chapter 28 – Starting a Business.

“Phew, I thought I was going to die from nervousness.”
Youngrae sighed and sat down on the desk.
“By the way, Seongjin, is this a dream or real? Now that we’re only high school students, the big boss Kim Chun-sik comes to scout us. Wow, awesome.”
“Is it that good? You’re going to be a gangster anyway. Don’t have any weird fantasies. Even if I die, I have no intention of joining the organization.”
“Eh? What. Then why did you say you were going in earlier?”
“Wait and see. Sooner or later, the organizations will be organized and all of them will be arrested by the police. It’s something I won’t be able to see anyway, so there’s no need to say bad things about it.”
“What are you talking about? Why are they all arrested?”
“There is such a thing. Don’t just hang out, watch the news and read books. Then it turns into a stone.”
We went home talking about this and that.
After Kim Chun-shik came, one thing was clear.
It means that no fleas can touch us anymore, no.

When I got home, her mother wasn’t there.
The kitchen and room were littered with ingredients for tteok skewers.
While she was changing her clothes and cleaning the room with her younger siblings, her mother came up with her bowl, smiling brightly with her excited face.
“Where have you been, mother?”
I quickly moved close to her mother and took her bowl.
“Uh. Is Sungjin here?”
“Yes. But what’s the good thing about it? It’s nice to see her mother’s face when you smile.”
“There it is. Seongjin-ah, I made rice cake skewers and brought them to the daycare center below and to the houses of the church deacons I am close with. I want you to taste it.”
“So what?”
“Everyone went crazy over how delicious it was.”
It was so lovely and nice to see my mother’s joy.
“Does that make you feel that good?”
“Of course. Who made this Our Seong-jin told us about it, and everyone compliments it on how delicious it is, so it makes my mother feel so good.”
She was also my mother.
It wasn’t that he was happy to hear that the food he had made was delicious, but he was happy because he felt like his son was being praised after hearing that the tteok skewers I had taught him were delicious.
“No way. That’s what I made It’s because my mother cooks well. But mother, the people who usually buy and eat tteok skewers are children. My mother served the tteok skewers to the ladies today, but really, the important thing is whether or not they suit the taste of the kids.”
“Ah. That’s what I see. Then what?”
“Turn the tteok skewers one more time tomorrow. Instead, return it to a house with children like ours late in the afternoon. No. Don’t do that, move with me tomorrow. I will check the reaction myself.”
“Huh. Okay. OK. Humming and humming…”
Mother went into the kitchen, humming to see if she was in a good mood.
Looking at her excited mother, she was able to understand that people have dreams and must have work to do.
Thinking of living a difficult life every day, life was difficult and boring, but now that I have a dream that I can do business and earn money, of course life is bound to be fun.
Moreover, it is natural for people to feel more energetic when they get a good response even though they haven’t even started doing what they want to do.
As I followed her into the kitchen, my mother added this to her sauce, and while she chattered and excitedly explained that she had done this, she dipped the sauce with her pinky finger and put it in my mouth.
Seeing my lovely mother shining so brightly like a young girl, I hugged her and kissed her.
“Mum. He’s real What are you going to do when you see the kids?”
“If you want to see it, see it? What do you say when a son kisses his mother?”
“Oh. Look at him it’s crazy.”
When I pushed my lips out again, my mother laughed as if she didn’t like it, gave me a kiss on the lips, and quickly slipped out of my arms.
I went back to my room, taught my younger siblings, worked out, and ended the day as usual.

When I went to school the next day, there was a commotion in the class again from the morning.
Rumors must have already circulated that Kim Chun-sik met me at school yesterday.
I don’t know why boys at this age are so mad about fights, gangsters, and talking about women.
Of course, if I were really 17 years old, I would probably have gone crazy with excitement.
However, as a middle-aged person, it was just pathetic and annoying to see the classmates messing around.
Even Dong-gi got excited and grabbed me. Was that person Kim Chun-shik yesterday? How was it yesterday? And so on, without stopping to ask questions.
In the morning, I was trying to get out of the classmates’ rice, but Young-rae threw her bag in the class and ran straight to me, as if she had gone to school.
“Sungjin, when are we going to go to Oyabun’s office?”
As if he had become a member of an organization, he was already oyabun.
Youngrae’s voice suddenly quieted the class, all the children’s eyes were on me, and their ears were pricked up as they stared at my mouth.
I just sighed at that absurd sight.
“Ah, why are you making a mess again in the morning? It’s annoying, so just go.”
I fell flat on my desk.
Then Dong-gu secretly grabbed Young-rae’s arm and led her away.
Even Young-jin, who hated Young-rae because he had been hurt in the past, was following Dong-gu.
Dong-gu excitedly asked questions, Young-rae excitedly spit and talked about yesterday, and the kids standing around burst into exclamations of ‘wow’ and ‘yeah’.
‘What the hell are boys…’
After school, I went home leaving Yeong-rae who begged me to go to Kim Chun-sik’s office.

Her mother had already fried a whole bunch of wheat cakes, and she had a big plastic container full of sauce.
Seeing how large the quantity was, it seemed that my mother had extra groceries today.
That’s how my mother and my neighborhood tour began.
I went around houses with high school students and national students.
“Myeong-soo’s mom tells her kids to try it instead of just eating it herself.”
“How does it taste, guys?”
“If I asked you to pay for this, would you buy it?”
The mother actively stepped forward and asked questions.
I followed such a mother around and closely observed her reactions.
Everyone responded well.
Some even raved about it.

It was natural.
The first time I ate rice cake skewers, I vaguely remember, I think it was after I went to the army.
I don’t know if it was the first time it came out or if it came out before, but I couldn’t eat it because I was in the military, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that rice cake skewers became popular nationwide.
After tteok skewers became popular, skewers such as chicken skewers and sundae skewers appeared as street food and became very popular.
Since I already knew such a result, I thought it was a natural result.
I thought of various items before thinking of tteok skewers, such as cheese tteokbokki, cup rice, and cup chicken.
I thought cheese tteokbokki was okay at this point, but it was not easy to find mozzarella cheese, which became popular only after the mid-1990s.
It was hard to find, and the price was too high.
So, I thought of starting with rice cake skewers and then increasing the number of items when I earned some money.

I think I visited more than 10 places before dinner.
Everyone from adults to children responded well, so my mother was very happy.
Finally, her mother also got up her courage and decided to do her business.
I told her mother not to worry too much because it would be all right, and she held her hand tightly.

A few days later, it was Saturday, so after morning classes, I went to Jungang Market holding my mother’s hand.
First of all, the stalls were matched and delivered.
I started going around the market to buy frying pots and bowls and other equipment.
Mother knew that she would cut down on food at the local market, but she was a little nervous and hesitant every time she entered the store, as she had never made a big deal in business.
Seeing my mother’s naivety, I finally decided to step in.
Wandering around the stores, the owners all tried to talk to my mother at first, but not to talk to me as a child.
I was in no hurry, chatting with the market merchants about the world in a very natural way, and making purchases while skillfully bargaining.
I don’t know since when, but as if my mother would lose her way if I let go of my hand, wherever she went, she held my hand or crossed her arms.
As I talked about world affairs, such as the economy and politics, with the elderly market merchants, they all praised mothers saying that it would be nice to have such a smart son.
At the pleasant compliments from the market vendors, my mother seemed very happy, and the hands that held my hands and arms got stronger.
After purchasing the goods, I returned home as soon as possible because I was worried about my younger siblings who had left the two of them at home.

After the younger siblings fell asleep, I sat side by side with my mother on the roof top and talked.
Mother leaned her head on her shoulder as she folded her arms around me.
“When did my son learn all this? Seeing you cook the other day, it’s not something you’ve done once or twice. And at the market today, he looked like someone who had been in the business for a long time. Who would look at you and think you’re 17? What the hell happened?”
My mother moved her pretty mouth and asked me questions like her quick-fire.
She was such a cute, pretty mother.
I just smiled softly.
I wondered why she was so burdened with such a pretty, lovely woman in her previous life.
After all, a woman needs to get older to look good.
I was so happy now that this kind of woman has become my woman.
I tilted her head and kissed her mother on the lips.
My mother gently closed her eyes while holding my arm.
I untied her hands and held her mother tightly, and thrust her tongue into her mother’s mouth.
My mother pulled out my tongue and sucked on it, turning her tongue around.
After a long kiss like that, her mother’s face turned red and her breathing became rough.
“My love, would you like to go to the bath with us?”
My mother raised her head and she smiled and whispered in my ear.
“Why? The atmosphere here is nice, but I’ll wait a little longer.”
“Ah, I want to be hugged by my son right now. This is the rooftop, so who can see it?”
Even though it was just the two of us, my mother seemed to be shy and whispered.
“What do you think, mother? We just need to be good.”
“No. Still.”
As I laughed and jokingly said, my mother glanced at me.
I loved her mother so much that I thought her heart would throb and die.
A woman in love is a fox and a monster!!