The door of the master bedroom didn’t open for a while.

The people who were anxiously waiting outside, wondering about the conversation taking place inside, left the living room one by one.

The mother went to the kitchen saying she needed a glass of water to calm down, and Yoo Seonhwa walked up the stairs saying she would go talk to Seol Jinhee. Yoo Seunghae also followed her sister upstairs.

Left alone, Seol Wooseok nervously stared at the bedroom door.

No news was sometimes good news, but it was too quiet.

He was expecting things to get quite rowdy inside and was prepared to run inside to stop his father, so he couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.

Looking outside, he noticed that the sky had turned dark. The streetlamps were illuminating the dark roads.

It was currently 9:47 p.m.

Dinner ended around 7:30, and Seol Jihu entered the bedroom around 8, so almost two hours had passed since then.

‘Should I go smoke?’

Seol Wooseok, who got tired of waiting, opened the veranda door. It was then.

Click.

The sound he had been waiting for was finally heard.

Seol Wooseok turned around like a bolt of lightning.

Seol Jihu was walking out of the master bedroom, slowly closing the door behind him.

His eyes were blank like he was lost in a daydream.

Seol Wooseok asked right away.

“So?”

Seol Jihu shook his head.

“What happened?”

When Seol Wooseok asked a second time, Seol Jihu shook his head again. Rather than saying it didn’t work out, he seemed to mean he didn’t know.

“He didn’t say anything.”

“Did you give him an explanation?”

“I was going to… but I thought I should apologize first.”

“Right. That’s good.”

“I think I was kneeling for an hour or two… then he said he got it and told me to leave, so…”

Seol Jihu scratched his head.

‘Hmm.’ Seol Wooseok crossed his arms.

After glancing at the bedroom door…

“Well, come on.”

He gestured to the veranda and shook the pack of cigarettes in his hand.

Seol Jihu didn’t refuse.

Shortly afterward, the two brothers stood side by side and smoked cigarettes.

“Don’t be so down.”

Seol Wooseok spoke.

“You know Father’s fiery personality, right?”

“Of course.”

“The fact that he hasn’t said anything for two hours probably means he has a lot on his mind. This isn’t something that can be resolved right away anyway.”

Seol Jihu nodded without replying.

“You have to mend the relationship one step at a time. Last time he told you to take the money and screw off. This time he just told you to leave, right?”

Seol Jihu smiled bitterly.

He would have to wait to see whether Seol Wooseok was right or whether his father decided to erase him from his life.

That said, he was fine with either result.

No, it wasn’t that he was fine, but that he had already steeled...