“Try not to make too much mess here, Hyukjae. And try to at least fix your life a bit. I’ll see you in six months, son.”

That was the last word Hyukjae had heard before the loud sound of the car door being slammed shut filled the otherwise silent area.

“Didn’t even bother to help me settle inside. And he calls himself my father,” he angrily muttered as he harshly pulled his two carriers full of clothes away from the poorly asphalted street. He looked left and right and frowned when he couldn’t catch a glimpse of even a shadow of a person. The place truly was remote and ruralized save from handfuls of trees, plants, fields, and the sound of the waves from the nearby sea surrounding the village.

Hyukjae walked inside and analyzed the house his father had rented and almost felt thankful when it looked decent at least. He the lights and sighed in relief. At least there was electricity. It actually appeared better on the inside than it was on the outside. It wasn’t that spacey, the size probably only a quarter of his apartment suite in Seoul. There was only one worn-out couch inside and a poor excuse of a boundary to separate the kitchen and the living room. With a small huff out of anger and frustration, he dumped the two carriers on the thin mattress inside the room that looked like the bedroom. It was close to being barren save from a thin mattress and a mini table located on the corner of the room.

The house wasn’t really that bad, but Hyukjae knew this won’t suffice. He couldn’t believe his father—with all those money, power, and connections—failed to get him a space wide enough to at least bring him a sense of familiarity and home. This place was foreign...and not to mention ridiculous.

If he remembered it correctly, his butler back in Seoul told him that Sinan is a three-quarter fishing and one-quarter farming village here in Heuksando. Before the terribly long travel from Seoul to Sinan, he tried to Google it but the place wasn’t even in the search results. Just how remote Sinan truly was? Oh, he remembered now! Most probably super remote as he had yet to encounter a living soul. Hyukjae rolled his eyes as he tried to drink the water from the tap.

The water just barely touched his tongue before he spat them out, soaking his designer brand jacket in the process. Hyukjae’s face morphed into something indecipherable. The water tasted ludicrous and downright outrageous. It had a strong metallic taste that he was sure was unhealthy and absolutely not for drinking purposes. Hyukjae threw the plastic cup angrily on the sink.

Could this place get any worse?

Lee Hyukjae came from an unbelievably well-off family in Seoul. His father was probably the most successful entrepreneur in the country and his late mother was undoubtedly the best neurosurgeon. Too bad she passed away due to radiation sickness when Hyukjae was only ten.

To briefly summarize his life, he grew up having everything he would and could ever want. His father spoiled him a lot especially when he was in high school. He always had the latest edition of the most expensive car brands. He always had the grandest and most advanced technological devices. All in all, he had pretty much everything which caused the people to admire him so much. But that also triggered some people to envy him. Hyukjae became the icon of “wealth and power”, but gaining that name also served him the title of “Narcissus’ Twin”. Could the people really blame him for loving himself too much? He basically had the whole world in his hands.

Interestingly, all men in their clan were prominently known for their selfishness and cruel ways of having things done. His father and Hyukjae included.

Lee Hyukjae wasn’t exactly the nicest and most pleasant person you would encounter. Rumors had it that he was a selfish prick who had it easy because of his father’s wealth and power, but Hyukjae couldn’t be bothered. Maybe he really was a selfish prick. Because of his reputation, he just went with the flow. He cut classes more often than he attended them. He usually was the primary cause of chaos and riot in his school, and not to mention the number of instructors who had quit teaching because of his terrible attitude and foul mouth.

His father was totally disappointed by him and his actions, but as always, Hyukjae couldn’t give a single damn. He had countlessly dismissed the old man’s threats of sending him away if he ever got himself into another trouble.

Which was a bad move on his part because Hyukjae did. He was sent into yet another detention when he was caught vandalizing the principal’s car. He initially thought that his father would dismiss it just like his other misconducts. Boy, he was wrong!

It was hard to process at first but the next thing he knew, he was on the old man’s car being shipped to Sinan. A place he only knew yesterday. His father’s condition was that he should spend and live his life in Sinan for six months. The latter argued he had to experience living life in a rural area away from wealth, fame, and his overall “easy” life. In that way, he would get to appreciate and value all the things he had.

As if.

He had spent his first night in Sinan having no recollections of what had happened last night after touring the small house, which honestly didn’t take that much considering the relatively small space inside. He remembered being so displeased with the place and that was all. Everything was just a blur to him.

Hyukjae learned that the nearest convenience store was a ten-minute walk from his place. Thanks to his butler who had done his best to research the place, locations of the things and places like a convenience store were handed to him easily. He sighed in dissatisfaction as he stood on the outside of the store. If the place could be considered a store, that is. It was just a really small hanok-style space made entirely of wood. The sign on the outside was barely hanging in its place and he could make out a poorly-written word that reads “Ryeonggu’s”.

He reluctantly entered the place and grimaced when the inside was indeed smaller than he had anticipated. Everything was just so traditional and old-school that Hyukjae couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a rusty, worn-out gramophone on the corner of the store near what seemed like the cashier.

“Oh, hello there. You’re the new face!”

Hyukjae took a few cautious steps back when a short person emerged from the wooden door near the cashier. He groaned when his back hit the display of what appeared like fishing baits. The guy—probably a few years younger than him—greeted him with a wide smile and all Hyukjae could see were the guy’s noticeable full cheeks.

“The village chief told everyone at the meeting yesterday afternoon that a Seoul guy would arrive and live here for several months. You must be the Seoul guy, right?” the guy asked, a smile not leaving his face. Hyukjae internally groaned but he nodded his head out of formality.

The guy briefly gave him a head-to-toe before smiling at him again. “Not a talker, I see. That could be changed. If you’ll live here, might as well get rid of the aloofness. I’m Kim Ryeowook, by the way, and your name is?”

“Lee Hyukjae.”

“So, Lee Hyukjae-ssi, what can my humble store offer you today?” the guy comically motioned for his store.

Hyukjae rubbed the back of his neck, “Uhmm, yeah...toiletries, probably.”

“Got you!”

And the guy—Ryeowook—darted in and out of the display cabinets grabbing different bathroom paraphernalia. He blankly stood near the cashier as he watched the guy gathered everything he asked for. When Ryeowook went back behind the wooden table, Hyukjae raised his eyebrows. Quite a surprise that a store as small as this could offer so much.

“Where do you live here, by the way?” Ryeowook momentarily looked at him before going back to packing his purchases on a medium-sized paper bag.

“The blue house ten minute-walk from here,” he answered.

Ryeowook’s eyes fluttered. “Oh! That incredibly huge house four blocks away? The one with the metal gate? That’s awesome! You must be really rich.”

“You call that piece of garbage huge?” Hyukjae muttered under his breath, soft enough for the other to not hear. “Yeah,” he replied.