My Adopted Daughter’s Mukbang Chapter 1 part 2

 (MADM 1. 2)

     Frankly, Bada initially had no intention of going to the hospital where his brother's body was.

He had no desire to drop everything—work and study—to spend his already scarce money on a funeral for someone he so deeply resented.

Sensing this, the man on the other end of the line said that if Bada didn't come, they would handle Lee Sani's remains as an unclaimed body. However, he would still need to sign some documents relinquishing the remains.

"Handle him as... an unclaimed body?"

"I understand your feelings, but that's the procedure. If you don't want that, come now and proceed with the funeral."

Bada remembered a brief documentary he had watched about the funerals of unclaimed bodies.

It was a ten-minute clip on YouTube, and the feeling he was left with after watching it was one of loneliness.

No one cries for them, no one mourns their death. They are simply cremated according to procedure, reduced to ashes.

After a long internal debate, Bada hailed a taxi in the early morning and headed to a hospital on the outskirts of Seoul.

The funeral director from the university hospital, who had called him earlier, formally offered his condolences and explained the details of his brother's death.

"He passed away from cancer. He came to the hospital about six months ago, and it was already terminal. He refused surgery and life-prolonging treatment, just holding on... and then—"

"So you're saying my brother died of cancer?"

Knowing it was wrong, Bada couldn't help but let out a slight laugh of disbelief.

Cancer? The man who disappeared after gambling ended up dying of the same disease as their mother.

After handling the surprisingly complex funeral procedures, Bada sat in the modestly arranged funeral hall, pouring a shot of soju in front of his brother's portrait.

The brother in the portrait looked much older.

Having suffered greatly, his brother, now 30 years old, should have been in his prime, yet he looked like he was in his 40s.

Time passed, but no one came to the funeral hall. With a heavy heart, Bada drank a few shots of soju without any side dishes when the funeral director cautiously approached.

"Um, Mr. Lee Bada?"

"Oh, yes, yes."

"We have some personal belongings of the deceased Mr. Lee Sani to give you. Here."

A man in black mourning clothes handed over a small box.

The contents inside were truly meager—an old-fashioned cellphone, a worn-out cheap leather wallet, a small notebook, and a pristine white envelope.

An envelope?

While the other items seemed typical, the unexpected presence of an envelope was troubling.

After the funeral director had left, Lee Bada hesitated for a moment before carefully taking the letter out of the envelope.

A few short sentences, written in serious, firm handwriting, came into view.

[Bada, I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry.] 

[Go to 1XX Susaek-ro, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, and look for 'Lee Cho-ah.'] 

[The password is 1004.] 

[I'm sorry I couldn't keep Mother's last wish. I'll tell her everything when I see her. Take your time coming.]

"...Huh."

A will. It must be.

I read it over and over, thinking I might have misunderstood. But no—it was exactly that. A will from my older brother, addressed to me, his younger sibling.

But what on earth was this supposed to mean? Susaek-ro, Eunpyeong-gu? It looked like an address, but why go there to find "Lee Cho-ah"?

And what was with this password, 1004?

Though I hadn't had much to drink, a sudden rush of alcohol made my face flush.

Clinging desperately to my spinning thoughts, I muttered under my breath.

"Even in death, you're still doing this, brother."

I told myself I had no reason to heed such a half-hearted will.

But Bada knew. Like the saying goes, "Curiosity killed the cat." Maybe this was something I had to do.

Even though I knew I was playing into my brother's hands—and despite having cut ties with him completely from the moment he left me without a word—I kept adding various reasons and making excuses to myself.

The next morning, Bada followed the address written in the will, her phone open to the map.

"I think I'm almost there... Hm."

Eunpyeong-gu, Susaek-ro, Seoul.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—it wasn't far from the hospital where my brother had died.

With a mix of curiosity and apprehension, I lifted my head to look at the place the map had led me to. For a moment, my face showed nothing but astonishment.

"What is this?"

A building I had never imagined appeared before my eyes.

[True Love Orphanage]

An orphanage.

A place that raised abandoned and homeless children.

The address in my brother's will pointed to an orphanage.

As if driven by some unseen force, Bada—his mind blank from shock—forcefully pushed open the front gate of True Love Orphanage.

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