Ch.117Chapter 117. Gift (3)

“Jinsoo always gives to me. I haven’t been able to repay him at all. Even if it’s something small, I want to convey my feelings to Jinsoo.”

“So you’re asking me what a man would want as a gift?”

“That’s right. I was too shy to ask Jinsoo directly…”

Jake couldn’t help but snicker.

Of course.

He had wondered why Cuss, who usually ignored his long text messages or replied with one-word answers, suddenly wanted to meet him. It was because of his father.

It was truly heartbreaking and disappointing, but…

“Alright. I’ll help you.”

“Is that true?”

Her intentions were so beautiful that he couldn’t refuse to help.

How could he turn away a child who wanted to secretly give a gift to the father who had taken her in?

Besides, this was a perfect opportunity to increase Cuss’s favorability toward him.

“What’s your budget?”

“Budget?”

“The price of the gift you want to buy. How much have you set aside?”

“I don’t know the market price. This is all my money, and I hope it’s enough.”

“Whoa…”

When Cuss opened her small handbag, it revealed a pile of coins inside.

Jake tried to lift it and almost dropped it due to the unexpected weight.

Whenever she went shopping with Jinsoo, she would receive the coin change as pocket money, and she had been saving every single one.

“This is about 30 dollars.”

“What can I buy with that?”

“Hmm… A meal?”

“…”

Cuss’s expression hardened.

A meal?

The money she had saved for months without spending a penny was only worth a single meal?

This heavy collection of currency was worth so little?

She felt betrayed.

Jinsoo had clearly told her that the heavier something was, the more valuable it was.

“Tell me what you want to buy first. Even for the same item, prices can vary widely.”

“Umm… I want to buy a wallet.”

“A wallet?”

“Yes. Jinsoo’s wallet is so worn out and tattered.”

Stroking his chin, Jake thought this was fortunate.

At least it wasn’t shoes or a suit.

Those would start at $100 even for the cheapest ones.

For wallets, there were plenty available for $10.

Of course, that’s assuming this Jinsoo person would be satisfied with a synthetic leather wallet featuring Hello Kitty characters.

‘This is tricky.’

As her father, he would probably like any gift from his daughter.

Whether it was Hello Kitty or SpongeBob, he would be delighted.

But that’s probably not what Cuss wanted.

She didn’t want something that would make him happy for a moment only to be tucked away in a drawer. She wanted to give him a wallet he would use until it became tattered again.

Jake could understand that feeling completely.

He too had been disappointed when his father didn’t use the gifts he had given him.

‘Wait.’

Come to think of it, when was the last time he had given his father a gift?

Not the hypocritical “studying hard and growing up well is a gift” kind, but an actual material gift given with genuine feeling.

Jake squeezed his eyes shut to clear away the distracting thoughts.

For now, helping Cuss was the priority.

“I know a place. Let’s go.”

“Really? Okay!”

Seeing Cuss follow him with a bright smile made him feel warm inside.

This child was relying on him.

She needed his help.

Realizing that made him feel a little better.

How could he expect to change someone’s heart from the beginning?

Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

There was no need to rush.

***

“They’re moving.”

“Let’s follow them.”

Jake’s every action was irritating.

What kind of man opens a woman’s handbag and looks inside?

Watching the two of them walking side by side, chatting away, gave him mixed feelings.

It seemed… natural somehow.

The sight of Cuss walking happily with someone other than himself.

It was only natural.

I’m not the only person in this world.

Cuss should form relationships with people other than me, as humans are social animals.

So why did my chest feel so heavy?

“Jinsoo, are you going to cry again?”

“Who’s crying?”

“I just saw tears welling up in your eyes.”

“…”

Damn it. I thought I had turned away and wiped them quickly enough not to be noticed.

I felt embarrassed as Juliane leaned in with a smile.

“I’m not crying. It’s only natural to want to repay someone who has raised, fed, and sheltered you. I wouldn’t cry over something like that.”

“Jinsoo.”

“Yes…?”

Hug.

Juliane wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

I found myself bending my knees slightly and burying my face in her chest.

Without even knowing why.

What was I doing in the middle of the street?

I was standing there dumbfounded when Juliane began gently stroking the back of my head.

“You don’t need to pretend to be strong. Especially not in front of me. It’s okay to cry when you want to cry, and it’s okay to get angry when you want to get angry. That’s how it should be between lovers.”

I found it hard to agree.

Isn’t it natural to want to show only your best side to the person you love?

Isn’t it right to endure even when you’re upset or in a bad mood?

You never know when the person you love might suddenly die.

What’s wrong with wanting to show them only your good side?

Regretting getting angry or irritated over trivial things after someone dies is pointless.

“I can endure it.”

“How can a person live only by enduring?”

“I can endure it.”

“No, you can’t. Even if you think you can endure it, eventually it will build up and explode. If you could endure everything until you die of old age, you wouldn’t be human—you’d be a god.”

“…”

I had to admit she had a point.

“You’ve done well, Jinsoo. Raising Cuss couldn’t have been easy.”

“She’s practically grown up.”

“That’s what makes it harder. Getting a child who already has a formed identity to accept a new home is incredibly difficult. But you did it. You might deny it, but you raised Cuss with love and care. You should be proud. You should feel satisfied. You should be moved. You can cry tears of joy.”

“…”

“You’re a good father, Jinsoo. No one can deny that. Not even you yourself.”

“Sniff…”

Was I always this prone to tears?

I wondered if I was the same person who didn’t shed a single tear when my wife and daughter died.

I thought my emotions had dried up then, but that wasn’t it.

There was simply no one left I wanted to show my tears to.

There was no one who would silently hold me and pat my back as I poured out my emotions.

Now that I had found that again, now that I had found a life partner, it was obvious what kind of state I was in.

I was pathetically sobbing.

I didn’t care if everyone on the street saw.

Even if no one else understood, I was satisfied that just one person understood me, and I was shedding ugly tears.

“Hoo, haa. I’m calm now. Thank you, Juliane.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“When you feel like crying, you can lean on me too.”

“Only if you promise not to do anything perverted.”

“I don’t do that when things are serious.”

“Really? I find that hard to believe.”

“I guess I have a serious trust deficit.”

“Of course. How could I trust this sex monster?”

“…”

Sex monster, huh?

That was rich coming from someone who would demand more the next day even after being taken until her thighs gave out.

I finally released my arms and stepped away from Juliane.

By now, I was starting to feel embarrassed about all the stares we were getting.

“Now let’s go back to following Cuss… Huh?”

We looked around in confusion.

Where had Cuss gone?

I had lost track of her while burying my nose between Juliane’s soft breasts.

I focused on my earpiece again, hoping to hear something that would tell us where they were.

But it seemed to have stopped working—I couldn’t hear anything.

“Why isn’t it working?”

“Jinsoo, look at that.”

“Ah…”

Just then, I spotted a small chip on the ground in the middle of the street.

A chip that had been stepped on and broken in half.

I exchanged glances with Juliane, whose face had gone pale.

It seemed Cuss had discovered the listening device and destroyed it.

“Wh-what do we do? I might end up being hated by Cuss!”

“You’re already hated plenty, so don’t worry.”

“Waaah! That’s so mean!”

“More importantly, we need to find Cuss first…”

“Argh! Where did my brother go?”

“…?”

I turned my head at the familiar voice.

A small boy looking around.

He looked familiar—it was Jake’s brother, Tim.

“Hey. Looking for your brother?”

“Huh? Cuss’s father?”

“I asked if you’re looking for your brother.”

“Oh, yes…”

“Let’s work together.”

“…?”

I shook hands with the boy.

I know Cuss’s habits, and this kid knows Jake’s habits.

If we joined forces, we should be able to find Cuss and Jake.

***

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing… It’s nothing…”

Jake suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck and turned around.

For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Tom was following them.

No way.

Jake dismissed it as paranoia and entered the store.

Cuss’s mouth fell open as she saw the items scattered haphazardly throughout the store.

“This is a secondhand store. Even if something is essentially new and unused, the price drops by more than half once it comes here.”

“Hmm… I see. I didn’t know places like this existed.”

This was Jake’s clever solution.

If you chose carefully and picked items in good condition, you could get incredible deals.

Jake had never understood why people would go to such trouble for such small savings, but now, thinking from Cuss’s perspective, he understood.

“The wallets are this way!”

“Right, right.”

Cuss, with eagle eyes, had already spotted the wallets and started rummaging through the shelves.

Many of the items showed signs of previous use.

These were things Jake wouldn’t use even if given for free, but Cuss examined each wallet meticulously.

She checked if the leather was peeling off, if the inside was worn out.

“Hey, that one’s synthetic leather.”

Jake carefully filtered out the synthetic leather that cleverly pretended to be genuine.

After examining every wallet on the shelf, Cuss stood holding one wallet with a blank expression.

It looked just like the one Jinsoo carried.

It was almost identical, except that this one was shiny and new.

It looked in good condition and didn’t have a bad smell.

“This one…”

Jake examined it and nodded.

It was a mid-to-low-priced brand wallet to begin with.

If it was secondhand, it should be within Cuss’s budget.

“I’ll take this one.”

“That’s thirty dollars, little customers.”

“I’ll pay with this!”

Clatter…

The pile of coins spilled onto the counter, making the store owner’s eyes widen.

How many coins were there?

The owner was momentarily flustered but suppressed his anger after seeing the look in Cuss’s eyes.

It seemed she wasn’t trying to cause trouble—this was genuinely all the money she had.

The owner slowly began counting the money.

There were so many coins that it took over five minutes to count them all.

Growing bored, Cuss stepped back and started looking at other items in the store.

“The total is… 14 dollars and 59 cents.”

“What? That’s all?”

Jake was startled and looked at the coins again.

Now he noticed that the vast majority were 1-cent coins.

Jake turned around to look at Cuss, who was innocently browsing the store, and sighed deeply.

Then he quietly handed over his card and whispered:

“Please charge the difference.”

$15.41 or so.

It was a small price to pay to preserve that pure child’s smile.