I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 111

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 111
Mark pranced around in front of me wearing a Spider-Man costume.
“Sung-guk, did you yawn? Why are your eyes so red?”
“Just… I miss my younger siblings.”
At my words, Mark stared at me with an incredulous expression for a long moment.
“Seriously, Sung-guk. You really do act like you’re twelve when you get like this.”
“Ji-hee must have grown so much.”
“See, you’re still the older brother after all.”
I gazed blankly at the Iron Man cosplay costume.
“Sung-guk, come on and put it on. This freshman Halloween party only happens today.”
“Okay.”
I dressed in the Iron Man outfit and held the Iron Man mask in my hand.
Soon the door burst open and Dennis came rushing in.
At a glance, I could tell exactly what Dennis was dressed as.
“Dennis, are you the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz?”
“Yep. Dorothy’s going to bring me my heart.”
“That Dorothy is Michelle, right?”
“Yeah.”
Dennis laughed bashfully.
Mark watched enviously as he put on his Spider-Man mask.
“I need to find my MJ.”
“Sung-guk, why don’t you find yourself a girlfriend at the party today? Stop always hanging around with Mark and me.”
“Iron Man is meant to be solitary.”
I put on my Iron Man mask.
* * *
Jessie opened the door, having recreated the exact image of Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy.
“Come on in, everyone.”
She even mimicked the real Marilyn Monroe, speaking with a slightly slower cadence than usual.
“Spider-Man is obviously Mark, and Iron Man is Sung-guk, right?”
“Yeah.”
We both nodded simultaneously.
“Alright, everyone have a blast.”
Just then, Michelle appeared dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.
“Tin Man, I brought you your heart.”
“Thanks, Dorothy.”
Dennis and Michelle disappeared into the party.
Mark and I walked into the venue as well.
As expected of Jessie’s Halloween party—the most popular one at Harvard—the place was packed with people.
[I really can’t stand these college parties. The alcohol is cheap. The drinks are terrible. Ugh.]
I sighed heavily and retreated into a corner.
At that moment, someone who looked unmistakably like one of the Winklevoss Brothers approached me.
Blonde hair, that build. And a Harvard student of that height wasn’t common.
[The one with a mole on the right corner of his mouth must be Cameron….]
The one approaching me was Tyler.
Cameron and Tyler resembled each other greatly, but their personalities were somewhat different.
Tyler was more calculating and intelligent, but those traits showed on the surface, so he didn’t have many friends.
In contrast, Cameron seemed like a well-mannered rich boy. He lacked ability, but his pleasant personality meant he had many friends.
The fact that Tyler was approaching me now meant there was definitely some calculated intention behind it.
Tyler smiled at me with a slight grin.
“Mark, right?”
[Oh no, what do I do.]
* * *
One hour earlier.
Mark and I, dressed as Iron Man, looked at each other and came up with an amusing bet.
“Mark, genius idea—what if we post on Face Paper that we’re going to the Halloween party in these costumes, then swap outfits before we go?”
“Sung-guk, that’s brilliant! Then everyone will mistake me in the Iron Man costume for you.”
“But you absolutely cannot do anything weird!”
“Got it. This is my chance to become popular with the girls too.”
Mark enthusiastically agreed.
We quickly changed clothes and stood before Dennis.
“Dennis, can you tell us apart?”
“Wow, with your hair completely covered, I can’t tell at all.”
Mark and I, both still growing, were roughly the same height. I’d surpassed Mark slightly over the past few months, but it wasn’t noticeably different.
“Mark, there’s a problem. It’s a Spider-Man bodysuit!”
“Sung-guk, you suggested this first. I really love the Iron Man suit.”
“Where are the pants, the pants!”
I quickly put on the pants.
It felt awkward, but I couldn’t go to the Halloween party half-naked.
Dennis shouted as he looked at us.
“Alright, look at me.”
Click. Click.
And so Mark and I swapped costumes and headed to the Halloween party.
Since Mark had posted on Face Paper that I would be appearing as Iron Man, he expected to receive an enormous amount of attention from the girls.
[Thanks to Mark, I can enjoy the party quietly.]
I was in the opposite situation.
* * *
At Tyler’s appearance, I hesitated for a moment.
Afraid he would recognize me if I spoke, I gave a small nod.
Fortunately, music was blaring so loudly that voices couldn’t be heard properly.
Besides, I was wearing a Spider-Man suit, so the mask covered my mouth completely.
I raised my hand to greet Tyler.
“Mark, are you alone?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded slightly, speaking quietly.
Tyler approached me and began whispering softly near my ear.
“Mark, I heard you got investment from Peter. Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
[So there was another motive after all.]
“Did you carefully review the contract terms? There’s nothing in there that’s unfavorable to you, right?”
“Huh?”
I deliberately feigned surprise and looked at Tyler.
“Peter may be a famous investment genius, but Sung-guk handles all the business side. Don’t trust Sung-guk too much. He might have signed a separate contract with Peter.”
[So this was the plan all along.]
I listened to Tyler in silence.
“Honestly, you did all the development. Sung-guk is just the face. But how does it make sense that you and Sung-guk have the same equity stake?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Just. That’s what we thought. We didn’t even know you were the developer because Sung-guk never mentioned it, which is why we didn’t invite you to the Lyan Club.”
[So this is how he was trying to drive a wedge between me and Mark.]
I looked at Tyler with a somewhat surprised expression.
Tyler leaned in closer to my ear and whispered.
“Mark, my father runs a famous Private Equity Fund. Remember that we can adjust any contract in your favor whenever you want. This is my father’s business card.”
I accepted the business card Tyler handed me.
“Then, get in touch with me.”
“Yeah.”
I nodded.
Fortunately, I managed to avoid the crisis with the chaotic Halloween party music and brief responses.
I stared at the business card Tyler had given me.
What would Mark have done if he had received this card?
[But where is Mark anyway?]
That was when it happened.
“Woooooah!”
Cheers erupted.
And I was witnessing something unbelievable.
Iron Man was standing on a table, dancing wildly.
Dennis, the only one who knew that Mark and I had swapped costumes, was laughing and filming with a digital camera.
Mark’s wild dancing was truly terrible.
Jessie approached me with a laugh.
“Mark, Sung-guk must have really made up his mind today.”
“He sure did.”
“Mark, with Sung-guk’s wild dancing, a lot of the girls are going to bail.”
[Mark, that bastard.]
I clenched my fists tightly.
* * *
“Hahaha! Sung-guk, I’m so pumped today. Did you see me dance?”
I sat on the bed, lost in contemplation like Rodin’s The Thinker.
Mark’s impromptu dance—the one he performed while everyone thought I was dancing—was sweeping across Face Paper.
“Sung-guk, relax. Are you angry?”
“Not angry. Frustrated. Let’s just take a photo and post it.”
“If we post it that quickly, it won’t be fun. Let’s upload it tomorrow morning. For today, people will still think it was me dancing. Man, this is so entertaining.”
Mark chattered away gleefully.
I sighed heavily.
“Sung-guk, don’t be disappointed. Even after I came down from the table doing that ridiculous dance, this many women gave me their phone numbers.”
Mark placed the contact information he was holding onto the desk.
“Well, Mark, I’m glad you had fun for at least one day.”
“But didn’t you have anything fun happen, Sung-guk?”
“I did.”
I handed Mark the business card Tyler had given me.
“Damon Winklevoss? He has the same last name as Tyler and Cameron.”
“Yeah. It’s a private equity fund run by the twins’ father. Tyler approached me today.”
“Really? So he must have thought you were me and came over?”
“Yes.”
I nodded gravely.
Noticing my expression, Mark sensed something was amiss and asked calmly.
“Did he make some strange proposal?”
“Mark, I want to ask you something honestly. I’d really appreciate it if you’d give me a sincere answer. This is going to be very important for our future partnership.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Mark nodded.
“Mark, does it bother you that I’m getting more attention than you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I came up with the idea, but you’re the developer.”
“That idea is incredibly important, and you’ve learned programming from me and helped out a lot. Besides, you’re handling all the business side. Honestly, from boarding school all the way to Harvard, Face Paper’s user growth has been entirely thanks to your popularity. I really don’t mind at all.”
Mark was quite serious.
“At first, I was frustrated too because I’m the developer but people didn’t seem to recognize me. But you’ve done your best to introduce me, and a lot of people know I’m a co-developer of Face Paper. It’s true that I don’t have your star quality.”
“Thanks for being honest with me, Mark.”
I briefly told Mark what had happened at the party.
“Tyler was trying to drive a wedge between us. It looks like he changed his strategy to try to poach just you.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
[Right. It is ridiculous. We’re already bound tight by contract.]
The Winklevoss Brothers probably never even considered that we’d drawn up contracts from the early stages of development.
Mark drained the beer he hadn’t finished while mimicking me.
“Sung-guk, don’t worry about that at all. Face Paper was something we created together, and it means nothing if one of us is missing.”
Mark spoke with conviction.
“Mark, you’re becoming more impressive these days, aren’t you?”
“Right? Sung-guk. I’ve been reading a ton of quote collections lately.”
[Yeah, that figures. People never change.]
As I shook my head, Mark laughed.
“Sung-guk, let’s promise this relationship will never change.”
[That’s what I should be saying, Mark. If you ever betray me, I’ll chase you to the ends of the earth for revenge.]
I laughed good-naturedly.
“Of course, Mark.”
Click.
The sound of the dormitory door opening echoed through the room.
Dennis entered with a red heart sticker affixed to the Tin Man’s chest.
“Michelle had to leave earlier because she was busy with work.”
“Dennis, has the Tin Man finally found his heart?”
“Yep. It’s beating away. But Sung-guk, when are you going to reveal the truth about the final dance?”
“I was planning to do it tomorrow morning. How does that sound?”
“Let’s do it at midnight. Like Cinderella.”
It was a truly artistic idea.
Dennis picked up his camera and stood in front of us.
We were both still dressed as Spider-Man and Iron Man.
“You both put your masks back on, and when I start filming with the camera, you take them off. Got it?”
Mark and I put our masks back on.
I was Spider-Man.
Mark returned as Iron Man.
“On three, you take them off. One, two, three!”
Simultaneously, Mark and I ripped off our masks and tossed them backward.
* * *
Midnight on the dot.
Mark and I each uploaded the photo to our Face Paper profiles.
– The person who danced the final dance wasn’t me—it was Mark!
Comments flooded my post like crazy.
Mark’s Face Paper was also exploding with activity.
“Sung-guk, all the girls who gave me their numbers are asking me to pass theirs to you. Some are even saying they were disappointed watching the final dance, but they’re relieved it wasn’t actually you.”
“Mark, a lot of people thought it had to be you because Iron Man was so quiet. Do I really show off that much?”
“Sung-guk, you didn’t know?”
[I simply draw attention wherever I go.]
Dennis joined in reading the comments.
– I should have figured it out when Spider-Man was holding that water bottle….
– Spider-Man’s physique was just too good.
“Mark, he’s asking you to tell him that the random dancing was totally your style. But the thing is… sorry, it’s Justin.”
“Stop messing with me already!”
We all burst into laughter.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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