Chapter 42: Becoming Rich (4)

Chapter 42: Becoming Rich (4)

The shop owner stared alternatingly between Kang Jin-Ho and the bicycle for a while before finally muttering, “A... two-person saddle?”

Kang Jin-Ho replied in a matter-of-factly way. “Yes.”

“You want two people to ride this bike?”

“Yes.”

“...”

“Why? Is there a problem?” Kang Jin-Ho asked flatly.

‘Did this kid ask me why just now ’

The bike shop uncle's face turned even redder. “Let me ask you something. What do you think this bicycle is?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “I'm sorry?”

"This bicycle is like a thoroughbred sports car that has been lightened to increase its speed on the road! It's an amalgamation of all the bicycle-related technology you can think of in the pursuit of pure speed, rider safety, and ergonomic efficiency! In that case, it'll be akin to a Formula One race car! Yet, yet...! You want to do what to this bike?! Two people will ride on it?!"

Kang Jin-Ho nonchalantly nodded. “Yes, that's what I want.”

The shop owner uncle's voice got even louder. "Not just that, but you want to destroy its beauty by attaching an unsightly luggage rack over the rear wheel, too?!"

"...Yes "

Foam was about to gush out of the shop uncle's mouth by now. “I won't do it! I will not do something that sacrilegious!”

"Really " Kang Jin-Ho shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly turned around to leave. This wasn't the only bicycle shop in town, after all. No skin off his back if this shop didn't want to do it. "Let's go somewhere else, Yu-Min."

The owner hurriedly stopped Kang Jin-Ho. “W-wait a minute!”

“What is it?”

“Are you serious about that saddle?”

Kang Jin-Ho sighed and replied, "That's what I've been saying, uncle."

“Seriously?”

Kang Jin-Ho couldn't be bothered to reply anymore, so he tugged his bicycle out of the store, but the shop owner hurriedly grabbed his arm. The latter groaned. “...This is crazy, you know that?”

He grumbled, but judging from his expression, he seemed to have resigned himself to the inescapable fate.

“Okay, you two. Wait for a little while.” The owner groaned again and stepped inside the store. He emerged a little later with a saddle and luggage rack. Even though he continued to mutter to himself, he began attaching the rack to the back of the bike. His expression remained gloomy throughout the process, though.

Park Yu-Min learned for the first time today that the sound of someone tightening screws could actually be so sorrowful.

The shop owner uncle turned his soulless and hollow eyes at Kang Jin-Ho. “...It’s done.”

“How much do I owe you?”

The shop owner didn't reply but chose to stare at the luggage rack on top of Bianchi's rear wheel one more time. His shoulders visibly slumped even lower in dejection.

How should one go about describing this scene? Would it be like... Someone had the poor taste of attaching a teardrop-shaped caravan to a red Italian mid-engined supercar

That wasn’t entirely accurate—the feeling the shop owner felt in his heart right now should be similar to when someone saw a top-of-the-line hypercar towing a handcart.

The shop owner uncle groaned weakly. "Just go."

“I'm sorry?”

"Getting paid for this monstrosity? I can't do that in my good conscience. Doing that will tear my heart apart, kid."

“Even then, I should still...”

"Forget it. I only did this because you might go to some amateur and get the frame scratched to hell or something. I made sure to attach the rack in a way that wouldn’t damage the frame, so promise me this! Be super careful when you're riding it, okay?!"

The bicycle shop owner's nagging didn't end there, though. He even ordered Kang Jin-Ho. "Always come here to have your bike lubricated! Never do it by yourself!" Afterward, he also gave the latter bicycle maintenance-related tips for free.

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled slightly at this somewhat over-the-top zeal of the uncle. He seemed really passionate about bikes, at the least.

“Okay, uncle. Understood.” Kang Jin-Ho bade goodbye and left the shop with his bicycle. The owner could only watch and lament sorrowfully in his heart.

Why did the heavens have to be so cruel?! To grant such a gorgeous work of art to some oblivious fool who couldn't even appreciate it! This was clearly an insult to all things bicycle-related.

However, Kang Jin-Ho couldn't care less and rapidly disappeared from the shop owner's view. He went around the corner of the alleyway, then said to Park Yu-Min. “Get on.”

"Ng Wait, was that all for me " Park Yu-Min blinked in surprise.

“Who else could it be other than you?”

Park Yu-Min chuckled sheepishly. "It kinda feels like I owe the shop uncle an apology."

“You think so?” Kang Jin-Ho replied disinterestedly while thinking...

‘If you feel sorry for something like this, you'll get hurt by lots of things in the future, Yu-Min.’

The two of them got on the bicycle and headed to the orphanage up on the hill. Unfortunately, Kang Jin-Ho had overlooked something important—no matter how wonderful the frame was, its pedals were not all that different from his previous bicycles.

Jo Gyu-Min replacing Bianchi's original road racing-purpose cleats with conventional bicycle pedals was a mistake. The way Kang Jin-Ho pushed down the pedals with some force as he reached the hill caused those pedals to break off without putting up that much of a resistance, and Kang Jin-Ho could only hold his head in despair.

The next day...

“It costs an arm and a leg, yet it’s still no better than trash?!” Jo Gyu-Min's heart was cruelly stepped on by Kang Jin-Ho's merciless critique. He immediately commissioned a set of pedals that would never, ever break. After doing that, Jo Gyu-Min seemed to have realized that the task of supporting Kang Jin-Ho was a lot harder than he thought.

***

Baek Hyeon-Jeong cried out. "An apartment is better!"

Kang Yu-Hwan cried right back at her. "What are you talking about, dear?! A private property with a nice garden is infinitely better!"

“My dear husband, who will be responsible for maintaining the so-called nice garden?”

"Me, of course!" Kang Yu-Hwan confidently replied.

“I'm telling you, no! Hey, stop clinging on to me!”

“Why are you getting so pissy, Eun-Yeong!”

“I said no! End of! Got it?!” Kang Eun-Yeong yelled at the top of her lungs, then turned around with a huff.

'How dare an ugly hag like you lust after my oppa!'

She glanced at Kang Jin-Ho riding the bicycle in the distance. From the way his hair danced in the breeze and how sleek and athletic his figure was, even Kang Eun-Yeong had to admit that her oppa cut quite a stylish figure these days.

'That's right, he has become a bit of a heartthrob lately, hasn't he '

Unfortunately, though, the improvement in her dear brother's looks had the side effect of attracting annoying insects.

'I'll never let that happen even if it kills me!'

Kang Eun-Yeong's fighting spirit fiercely burned.

***

Kang Jin-Ho picked up his bicycle and headed to the chief director's office.

'Shouldn’t I stop doing this already '

Since this whole routine was annoying and too eye-catching, he tried to leave his bicycle at the school's bike storage not too long ago. However, when he got there after the classes ended for the day, the bicycle had been magically transported to the chief director's office somehow. After that incident, Kang Jin-Ho decided that it was better to just carry the damned bicycle to the office himself instead of making someone else sweat for no good reason.

He opened the office door and stepped inside. Jo Gyu-Min was already in the office and in the middle of brewing coffee. “Here's your coffee, Mr. Jin-Ho.”

“Coffee? What for?”

“Drinking coffee in the morning is the way it's meant to be, Mr. Jin-Ho.”

"I just finished my morning exercise, yet you want me to drink hot coffee "

Jo Gyu-Min grinned. “Don't worry about that. I've prepared iced americano just in case.”

“You're pretty thorough, Mr. Gyu-Min.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled and put Golden Elephant down before settling down on the office couch with the iced coffee in his hand. Initially, frequenting the chief director's office day in and day out felt quite weird as he was still a student of this institution. However, that awkwardness gradually went away after repeating the routine for a while.

Kang Jin-Ho downed the entire cup of coffee in one go.

Jo Gyu-Min sighed. “Mr. Jin-Ho, you should take your time enjoying the aroma of...”

“Thanks for the coffee,” said Kang Jin-Ho and exited the office without hesitation.

Jo Gyu-Min chuckled helplessly while thinking that his young boss had always been doing things at his own pace.

***

Kang Jin-Ho discovered someone was waiting for him in front of his class. It was none other than Han Se-Yeon.

“I was waiting for you, Jin-Ho.”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head, wondering what she wanted from him so early in the morning. “What's up?”

Han Se-Yeon grumbled in a slightly annoyed voice. "You're supposed to say hello first, you know "

“Right back at you.”

“You just don't wanna lose at all, do you?”

"Maybe. What do you want, though "

Han Se-Yeon grinned meaningfully. “You know what day is today, don't you?”

He shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. It's mock exams today."

“Let's have a wager, shall we?”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. “A wager?”

“You said you can beat me, right? That will be our wager. How about it?”

“A wager with you?” Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. It was his code to always accept all types of challenges regardless of his situation. “Sure, I accept.”

“A wager requires stakes, though. What will be yours?”

“Hmmm, not sure.”

Han Se-Yeon's grin deepened just then. "If I win... How about you listen to one of my wishes "

“What if you ask for something impossible?”

"Don't worry, I'll only ask for something realistic. And if it's still too much for you, you can always chicken out."

"Fine, I accept your terms," said Kang Jin-Ho with a firm nod.

“What about you, though?”

“My demand is the same as yours.”

“Got it! Don't forget, okay! The loser must do as the winner says!” Han Se-Yeon grinned, then walked toward her classroom.

"Hmm..." Kang Jin-Ho also grinned faintly and entered his own class. She was in for a rude surprise if she thought he was still the same as he had been a few weeks ago.

Having realized the importance of studying, Kang Jin-Ho had been focusing a lot on improving his grades lately by relying on his brain, which had become several times sharper and more energized than before. This was why he felt quietly confident about improving his performance this time around.

'Being too outstanding is not good, but still... I should at least get back to my old grades.'

Kang Jin-Ho leisurely settled down at his desk. Soon, the exams began and he confidently picked up his pen.

Unfortunately for him, though... It didn't take too long for him to realize that this world wasn't as easy as he thought.