Chapter 2: My Brother and the PC Bang*

I caught him this time. I caught my brother being a total leech off our family!

...

After the hair salon incident, I decided to give my brother a break since he was actually working at that hair salon. But yesterday, I had a chance encounter with the hair salon owner and she mentioned that he is not a regular worker and he comes in once in a blue moon. So that means that he is being lazy during other days!

Today, I caught him heading into this PC Bang while I was heading off to school. I walked down into the place after my brother. I sneakily paid for a computer on the kiosk and sat far away from where my brother was sitting.

I peeked occasionally like a meerkat and I only saw him clicking buttons on the computer. The privacy screen was not letting me see what he was actually doing. In the far distance, the owner of the place was eating snacks and watching videos on his smartphone.

Ten minutes...

Thirty minutes...

One hour...

I was actually late to school now but, I am now convinced that this is how he spends his day when I am in school.

"Maybe, I should record this and send it to mom and dad. Maybe, they will have something to say about this." I laughed quietly while imagining my parents giving my brother a lecture.

I took my phone out and started recording him. Suddenly, he gets up from his seat. He stares at the computer for a bit. Then he began to unplug the computer.

The owner of the place took notice of the situation and put his snacks down.

When he finished unplugging, he carried the computer tower.

The owner stood up and walked toward where my brother was.

"It doesn't make any sense!" I thought. "Bro, already has a high spec computer that shines rainbow colors every time he turns it on!"

Brother started to walk towards the door. I dropped my phone and was about to stop him from leaving when...

He placed the computer on a conveniently placed table next to the exit. The store owner arrived at that table at the same time.

"So what do you think the problem is Mr. Kim?" The store owner asked. My brother started to point at the computer and wildly flailed around with his hands to communicate.

"Oh, is that so?" the owner remarked. "Is there something we can do to fix it?"

My brother pointed to something and flailed around more.

"Oh, I might actually have a part like that hanging around. Give me a second." The owner left to go behind the counter.

"Here it is!" He pulled out a computer part and my brother gave him a thumbs up.

"I am glad we had it in stock. Because, a certain pro-gamer really likes that computer for some reason." The owner stated while bringing the part over to my brother.

I sat back down.

"He is working as a computer repairer! That makes sense! He knows a lot about computers!" I thought to myself.

"Oh, it is working now! That is perfect, Mr. Kim!" My brother and the owner are back at the seat my brother was originally in.

The owner put his hand on my brother's shoulders. "I know we are running out of time, but can you quickly check the rest of the computers here?" My brother nodded. Then he started to type and click on computers at ridiculous speed.

"At this rate, he is going to find me," I realized. Panicked, I put my head down on my arms to cover my face.

I can hear the clicking sounds of the computer then it stopped.

"Ummm... miss? Your time is up, miss." I look up, it is the owner of the store.

His reaction turned from a service oriented expression to a concerned one.

"Are you in high school? Aren't you supposed to be in class right now? What school do you attend?!" The store owner demanded and he reached for his phone.

"Is... he gone?" I weakly asked. The owner stopped and looked at me.

"Yeah, he had to leave," then the face of the owner turned from worry to epiphany.

"Ahh... I see," the owner said. "I do not know what that guy means to you, but you should not stalk people like that!"

"I am not!" I retorted.

...

I spent a whole hour listening to his spiel about how "love is a very strong emotion that we all need to learn how to control" to "Education and youth is important, and you should get the most out of both by attending school."

I want to vomit.

I would not have had to go through that if my brother just told me that he worked as a computer repairman...

* Korean internet cafe. It has high spec computers so that people can play games.