Jae-ha bites his tongue. His instinct is to snark, to challenge Akaya, and that's not going to be a good idea here. Akaya is a competitive sort; Jae-ha doesn't want that for the question of who'll outlast whose current position on whether it's worth Akaya's while to give him another chance.

"You're entitled to your skepticism. And what value would my answer have? Words don't mean anything when they don't come with action. So instead of making you a promise here, I'm going to show you that I mean it. Every chance I get, for as long as it takes to earn back what I didn't cherish the way I should have before. I'm 26 years too late to be the big brother you deserved. If I have to work another 26 to show you I'm serious, well, that seems more than fair.

"...I hope it won't come to that, though, because I'll be pretty old and useless by then."