Chapter 253 – Meeting (2)

“Dad you caught?”

Ichie looked around, then held onto the phone so that no one could hear it. The place where she is now is the guild bathroom. It was not a strange place even if someone eavesdropped on it. As if Noboru hadn’t expected such a situation, she said in a bewildered voice.

“Okay. Still, there is no problem with the operation of the organization. It’s something she used to do often. An event to discipline the Yakuza. My older brother decided to enter for a while at the request of the elected mayor. Probably within 6 months at the latest. Because Yamajiro-hyung is there, there is no problem with the organization.”

“6 months…”

Ichie bit his lip. A meeting is suddenly postponed by 6 months? She had already talked to Jung Soo-hyeon and set a date. Now, all you have to do is get a plane ticket on the agreed date, but suddenly delay it for 6 months?

“Because there is a big problem in business. You can ask to see you next time.”

“No. I have to see this time. It’s six months at the earliest, and you don’t know when it will come out. Asking to see you in 6 months is also funny, and if your father is not released on the same day, you have to postpone it again. Then you will be hated by that Su-hyeon’s parents. If you are hated, you won’t be able to congratulate the groom’s parents at the wedding.”

“Anyway, it makes sense. I can’t help it in this case. My father is a yakuza, and he went to prison for a while now. Will you say?”

“That…”

“You have to wait. It doesn’t matter.”

“No, I do not want. Uncle. How can I help In the first place, my dad asked me to meet him, but what if he suddenly goes in like this? I’m hated Uncle do something for me.”

Her reasoning was reckless, but she also had her own circumstances. That’s why she couldn’t blindly say no to Noboru either. Noboru rubbed his temples for a moment and lost himself in thought. Although this time she made an emergency arrest and it was tumultuous, this was the occasional yakuza discipline and police performance-building annual event.

She picks out one of the yakuza bosses, catches him, ties him up to the crime, and sentences him to a light sentence and puts him in jail. Through this, the public recognizes that the police control the yakuza and establishes the prestige of the police. In addition, it draws public attention by spreading a large-scale issue that the head of the Yakuza is entering.

While in prison, these yakuza who colluded with politicians live in very comfortable solitary confinement and are well-fed. After serving their short sentences, they are quietly released without any media coverage and go about their normal lives again.

“This is also because of circumstances. It’s an adult thing. This time, the elected mayoral scandal broke out. So I urgently needed to create an issue, so I asked my older brother, who is close to the market.”

It was something that neither Yamata Ichigaya nor Noboru Ichigaya had anticipated that this kind of event coincided with the date of the meeting. It was because right after the election, the mayor’s sexual scandal broke out, and it was necessary to have a big news to bury this news.

Noboru said in a mixed tone. He had a cigarette in his hand. Cigarettes were laying the foundation in a luxurious ashtray.

“First of all, don’t delay and make a reservation as it is. Because I’ll find out. Be prepared to cancel at any time. Tell Suhyeon-sang the current situation.”

“All right.”

*****

“Your father was arrested?”

I was startled and asked Ichie back. It was because the news she gave her five days before flying to Japan was so thunderous. My father was not a very determined and cold-blooded man in these matters, but at least he was a man who would never die to see his son marry an outlaw.

“Is it unaffected by Ichie?”

“…It’s just an annual event.”

Ichie answered my question as if he was familiar with it. Is it normal for a father to go to prison for an annual event? By the look on her uncomfortable expression, I could see that it was not ‘normal’ for her either.

So I stroked her arms and asked.

“Are you okay?”

Ichie nodded once in my concern, and then she said:

“So, her uncle said he would find a way to solve it and let me know, but he hasn’t contacted me even though it was three days ago. I’m thinking about whether I should cancel the plane ticket.”

“My father and mother say that there are many things to see in Japan these days, so they are preparing as if they are going to tourist destinations. If you cancel, I think it would be better to cancel quickly now.”

“But, she said her uncle would be in touch.”

Ichie shook his head. Even though his father went to prison, he seemed to believe that Noboru still had a solution. Since she said so resolutely, I had no choice but to wait. Did Ichie tell me this just because he wanted to share this bloody and trembling tension? Before I knew it, when I came to Ichie’s house, what I did when I was free was to look at Ichie’s cell phone.

And while my father said, ‘It’s annoying to go to a meeting in Japan,’ he was searching for good places to eat in Shinjuku on his cell phone, and hinted that there was a place nearby that was good for sake-don. And her mother said that the character doll with the blue otter on it was really cute and suggested buying it.

I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut and wait for Noboru’s call, as I did not want to ruin my parents’ trip to Japan, which was filled with anticipation as if they knew it. But at the same time, I was afraid of how my father would react when I heard that the meeting was suddenly canceled due to business problems.

In the blood-drying wait, time continued to pass, and only three days before leaving for Japan, I heard Noboru’s phone call.

“Ah, I think we can solve it.”

The words over the speaker phone sounded sweet like the voice of an angel. Ichie and I held hands at Noboru’s kindly delivered words in Korean. The cell phone that fell on the floor noticed that I was next to it and said in a polite voice.

“Soo Hyun-sang. Are you there This is our fault. I’m really sorry. If you come to the store once, I’ll treat you to it for free.”

“Oops, no. Yes. Well, it could be.”

I wondered if it was ‘possible’ that my father went to prison and the meeting was almost cancelled, but for now I gave Noboru a proper answer. Her reason held her breasts tightly and smiled brightly, and I, like someone who succeeded in breaking through her gate, was delighted and hugged her.

****

“Soohyun! What are you doing! Come quickly!”

Morning departure for Japan. His father urged me on, wearing sunglasses and a tucked-in straw hat, a pretty old-fashioned camera around his neck. The mother shouted and patted the back, saying that her father had been beaten up.

“Oh my! You bastard! I can’t live! What about the suit? What did you do with the suit?”

“I put all my suits in my bag here. Look at this! Suhyeon! Come out quickly! I will miss my flight!”

In my father’s large suitcase, there was a suit that had been pressed. He sang so much that he didn’t want to go to Japan, and before he knew it, he was full of motivation like a person going to Japan for a working holiday. My mother went out first with her ears stained red, perhaps because she was embarrassed by such a father, and I later went out in light clothes with a spare suit on.

My father tapped me on the shoulder and said:

“Come on, let’s go quickly! When is that person called Ichi who is your girlfriend coming?”

“It makes sense.”

“Yeah right.”

“No E.C.E. I say.”

My father stretched out his mouth with an embarrassing expression and patted me on the shoulder.

“Oh, I could be wrong. Let’s hurry.”

*****

And arrival airport. On the highway in front of the airport, traces of being smashed in the previous battle with Lee Hyun-woo remained intact. It didn’t feel very pleasant to see the black marks on the fence displayed like old scars from the war.

As soon as my father arrived at the airport parking lot, he packed up again, took a picture of the airport with his camera, and told us.

“Imja stand. Stand up.”

“No, it’s an airport now, what do you mean? Get on a plane soon.”

“There is still an hour left for the flight. Uh? Stand on it quickly I should take a picture at a time like this.”

“Oh no, I can’t live.”

My mother shook her head, and I posed with my mother laughing because it was fun to see my father who was much more excited than usual. When my mother shyly held out her V-jah, I said to her.

“Mom. These days, it’s not a V character anymore. The pose where the two of you put your hands together and draw a heart like this is popular.”

“Like this?”

At my words, my mother put her arms together to form a heart. It wasn’t what I thought it would be, but it wasn’t bad either. I made her round her heart to fit her, then shouted at her father.

“Kimchi!”

Click!

*****

We were able to enter the airport only after taking pictures like tourists in Korea. Ichie was sitting in the airport waiting room waiting for us. As soon as the mother saw Ichie, she clapped her hands and then she said in a fuss.

“Oh, what a beauty! You’re as beautiful as the Hayeon I saw last time!”

“Haha…”

The father also nodded his head in admiration without saying anything. In response to her sudden compliments on her appearance, her head was lowered and her legs twisted, and her father said as soon as he had made brief eye contact with her.

“Let’s go catch a plane! Japan is waiting for us!”

“No, Father.”

My father walked towards the airport checkpoint despite my restraints, and we were forced to follow him forward as if we were caught on an invisible rope. Ichie packed his luggage with a bewildered expression, and his mother continued to apologize to Ichie.

“Oops, I’m sorry. My boyfriend isn’t like that. It’s the first time I’ve ever traveled abroad.”

“Ah…”

I looked at my excited father’s back and felt depressed. It was because I could understand why he was so excited as if he wasn’t his father. Ichie put on a slightly depressed expression at those words, then held my hand tightly.

I told her I was feeling uneasy about her plans.

“Everything will be fine, won’t it?”

Then she nodded her head.

“That’s right.”

*****

Even in Japan, his father continued to act as a tourist. As soon as we entered the airport, my father made us do a heart pose again, and this time Ichie and I drew a heart with our mother in the middle. The father gave a thumbs up, as if satisfied with the picture, and Ichie breathed a sigh of relief at the blunt-looking father’s smile.

I was about to tell him to take a picture of him too, but he put the camera in and said,

“So, where do I go from the airport?”

Ichie looked around at those words and said.

“Well. Someone said they would come to meet you…”

Ichie stopped talking and looked to one side. Noboru was there. He was wearing a much neater suit than usual and taking off his sunglasses, but he was Noboru. Noboru and Ichie met eyes for a moment, and Noboru held out his hand to his father and said.

“I hate it. Ichie’s father. Ichigaya Yamataro.”

Is this right?