I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 132

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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 132
Tyler ran his hand across the wine-stained fabric of his shirt, making no effort to conceal his displeasure.
“What in the world was Sung-guk thinking, hiring a woman from North Korea?”
“Tyler, calm down. It’s not so much about what he was thinking as it is that she has the skills, so that’s why Sung-guk hired her.”
“Cameron. Whose side are you on?”
“Tyler, we’re family. Of course I’m on your side. It’s just that in a situation like this, we need to approach it rationally rather than emotionally.”
Tyler raised his eyebrows as he stared at his stained shirt.
“That wine—she definitely spilled it on me on purpose. Should I just sue that woman?”
“Tyler. Let’s think rationally. Today we showed up at Sung-guk’s company without any warning. On top of that, you weren’t exactly friendly either. And… right now, there’s nothing to gain by getting on Sung-guk’s bad side.”
“I’m going to sue that woman from North Korea! What does that have to do with Sung-guk?”
“Tyler, normally you read situations better than I do and you’re shrewd, but when you get angry, you lose all sense of reason…”
“I take after Father.”
Cameron smiled enigmatically.
“Tyler, Sung-guk just hired a hunting dog. The fact that she’s from North Korea… this person must be someone in desperate circumstances.”
“Could she be an illegal immigrant?”
“I don’t think so. If she were an illegal immigrant, she wouldn’t have acted so brazenly toward us.”
“Hmm… you’re right.”
Tyler was gradually regaining his composure.
These two always operated this way.
Tyler would forge ahead with his cunning intellect, fail, and when his anger got the better of him, Cameron would bring rational perspective.
That was the element that balanced these two and created their synergy.
“Cameron, so in the end we just need to quietly keep watch over FaceNote, right?”
“Yeah… but I’m also thinking we might need to consider a different approach…”
“A different approach?”
“Dennis.”
“Sung-guk’s roommate?”
“He’s a film director who writes screenplays, right? What if we approach him and gradually bring up investment opportunities?”
A smile played at the corners of Tyler’s mouth.
“Desperate people always grab at anything…”
“We plant the image in Sung-guk’s mind that we’re good investors.”
“Of course, we give Dennis some decent bait and then drop him.”
“Naturally. If the screenplay is good, we could even get our fingers in the pie, invest a little, and make a bigger return later.”
“Cameron. I always thought you had a soft heart… but in moments like this, our bloodline shows clearly.”
Cameron flashed a good-natured smile.
“Tyler, so you smile too. Then people won’t see your true self.”
“Even though we’re twins, I sometimes don’t understand you either?”
“Exactly. Anyway, for now let’s be careful of Sung-guk’s hunting dog.”
“Got it…”
Tyler and Cameron climbed into the parked Bentley.
* * *
Evening was gradually approaching.
Lim Mi-mi was currently working through the most vulnerable security sections comprehensively.
While working, she remained hunched over and focused without uttering a word.
I deliberately closed my laptop with an audible snap.
“Mark, Lim Mi-mi. Should we go grab dinner together?”
Lim Mi-mi stretched languidly.
“Finally, I get to experience a company dinner like I’ve seen in South Korean dramas!”
“Don’t they have company dinners in North Korea?”
“How could there be company dinners in a country where people don’t even have enough food to eat and survive?”
“Lim Mi-mi, do people in North Korea really starve that much?”
“Mark, you’re curious, aren’t you?”
“Yes!”
Mark nodded vigorously.
“Then buy us drinks.”
“Of course! Sung-guk, you can’t drink alcohol, so have a cola.”
“I’d rather have milk—it’s good for my health.”
I grabbed my laptop.
* * *
Mark took us to a cheap pub near school with peanut shells scattered across the floor.
Mark handed the menu to Lim Mi-mi.
“Lim Mi-mi, please choose whatever you’d like.”
“You order for me, Mark.”
“Should I?”
Mark studied the menu with enthusiasm but couldn’t make a decision.
“Mark, give it here.”
I scanned through the menu.
[It’s all cheap garbage. Sigh, I told you we should go to that hundred-year-old steakhouse nearby. I’m a former tycoon with refined tastes, you know….]
Anyway, twenty-somethings had simple, greasy palates.
“Since it’s getting late, let’s order three burgers, nachos, and barbecue. Everyone can order their own drinks.”
“I’ll have beer. What about you, Lim Mi-mi?”
“Beer for me too.”
Once the beer arrived, Mark finally started asking his burning questions.
“Lim Mi-mi, what’s North Korea really like?”
“Well— let me eat a bit first.”
Despite her lean frame, Lim Mi-mi devoured the hamburger in one go.
“Capitalism really does taste good. I actually decided to defect because of this hamburger.”
“Because of this hamburger?”
Mark couldn’t fathom it at all.
[Mark, brace yourself. What’s about to unfold is the beginning of a sob story disguised as “the truth about North Korea.” Steel yourself.]
I patted Mark’s back twice.
In South Korea, there were plenty of documentaries covering the realities of North Korea, and testimonies from defectors were common enough that the content felt familiar to me.
“I mainly hacked foreign bank websites in Thailand and sent the money to the North. My parents were imprisoned in a Political Prison Camp, so I was under 24-hour surveillance, but I hacked an Indonesian bank and made a massive transfer to North Korea.”
I found myself drawn into Lim Mi-mi’s story.
[This is… incredibly fascinating.]
Mark had already slid my hamburger across the table toward Lim Mi-mi.
[Mark, that’s mine… Fine, go ahead. I escaped North Korea because of a hamburger, after all….]
I sucked on my french fries with a bitter taste in my mouth.
Lim Mi-mi took a bite of the hamburger and continued her story.
“At that time, I hacked about 3 billion won in Korean currency all at once and sent it straight to North Korea. Then the supervisor watching me asked what I wanted to eat, and I said I wanted a hamburger. I’d seen South Korean dramas where college students went to hamburger shops all the time. Is that really true, Restaurant Owner?”
“Everyone goes there often. And then? What happened next?”
I was curious about what came next too.
“The Director said he’d wait at home and bring some back. So he bought two—one for him and one for me… and when I ate the hamburger, I just broke down crying.”
“Mi-mi, why?”
“It was so delicious.”
Lim Mi-mi was already finishing her second hamburger.
“Lim Mi-mi, would you like another hamburger?”
“Yes, please, Restaurant Owner!”
After polishing off the hamburger she’d been holding, Lim Mi-mi started devouring the french fries.
Mark watched her eat with fascination.
“Lim Mi-mi, but… how did you escape when you were under 24-hour surveillance?”
“There were a few opportunities to escape, but honestly, I didn’t because of my parents. My parents are in a Political Prison Camp, and if I abandoned my country and ran away too, I’d never know what happened to them. But… that day, eating the hamburger… the Director had drunk a few glasses and said something. He said with my skills, if I went abroad, I could actually rescue my parents faster.”
“What do you mean by that, Mi-mi?”
I gently tugged on Mark’s sleeve.
[Mark, maintain distance. Distance!]
But Mark, who’d been drinking, wasn’t about to listen to me.
“The Director said nothing’s impossible with money in the North. The Political Prison Camp is the harshest, but even those guys can be bribed with money. No matter how much I hack and send money for my country here, the country won’t care one bit about my parents anyway. That’s when I realized it. Go to a capitalist country and make money! So I decided to escape while eating that hamburger.”
Lim Mi-mi drained her beer skillfully.
“One more beer here!”
Lim Mi-mi gulped down the fresh beer that arrived and continued her story.
“Escaping was easier than I thought. The Director was the type to pass out immediately after drinking, so I got him to drink heavily, and when he was out, I ran.”
“So your parents are still alive, Lim Mi-mi?”
“I worked sleeping only four hours a day, from morning to evening, and sent all that money to the Political Prison Camp officials. Fortunately, they’re still alive.”
“Mi-mi, it could be a lie!”
Mark got excited as if her situation were his own.
“I’m not that stupid. It’s illegal, but I’ve called between times. And about a month ago, an official contacted me. He said he’d be at the Political Prison Camp until the end of this year, and if I wanted to get my parents out, I should prepare and send 20,000 dollars—10,000 per person.”
Lim Mi-mi’s eyes sharpened.
“You said you’d give me the starting salary of a new hire at Silicon Valley. With that, I can definitely bring my parents out of the North.”
“Mi-mi, you’re truly remarkable….”
Mark now had no chance to stop himself—he only had eyes for Lim Mi-mi.
[Everyone in this world has their own story….]
When I was reborn into a destitute family after losing everything to a heart attack as a former tycoon, I believed no one in the world was as unlucky as I was.
But watching Lim Mi-mi, who had lost everything in North Korea and desperately needed to rescue her parents, I belatedly realized that the world I knew was not all there was.
I gulped down the cold milk. Gulp—
“Lim Mi-mi, work hard. I keep my word.”
* * *
I handed the packaged hamburger and fries to Lim Mi-mi.
“Eat it as a late-night snack or tomorrow morning, whatever suits you.”
“Restaurant Owner… this is exactly what a rich male protagonist does for a pitiful female protagonist in Korean dramas, isn’t it?”
“Lim Mi-mi, sorry to ruin the moment, but I’m a minor. Dating me in the United States would make you a criminal.”
“Capitalism sure is strict about that. Don’t worry, Restaurant Owner. I don’t like your style anyway. I prefer someone a bit warmer. You look completely prickly to anyone.”
[Wait. What did she just say? She doesn’t like me? Every woman in the world likes me!]
Lim Mi-mi checked inside the package and smiled brightly.
“You even included a cola. Thank you, Restaurant Owner.”
Mark, his cheeks flushed, interjected.
“Mi-mi, do you want hamburgers for lunch tomorrow too?”
“Mark, even though I crossed from North Korea to the United States for hamburgers, I can’t eat them several meals in a row. I’m Korean—I love hot, comforting soup.”
“Oh, sorry. Tell me next time you want something. I’ll buy it.”
“Sure, Mark.”
As the two conversed, I found myself absently kicking at the paving stones.
[So what if I’m prickly? Being prickly is my signature charm! Besides, I’m not into short, scrawny women either!]
Mark exchanged warm farewells with Lim Mi-mi and looked at me.
“Sung-guk, let’s head to the dormitory.”
“Yeah….”
Just then, Lim Mi-mi approached me again and bowed deeply.
[What’s she doing?]
Then she lifted her head and stared directly at me.
“Restaurant Owner, thank you for giving me this opportunity. This isn’t just a chance for me—it’s a desperate opportunity where my family’s lives depend on it. I’ll work as hard as I can not to waste it. Restaurant Owner, have a good night!”
Lim Mi-mi bowed again and ran off.
I watched her figure disappear.
In Lim Mi-mi, I saw the same desperation I had felt when I was first born into this world.
Back then, my goal was to lift my poor family out of poverty, but Lim Mi-mi had to save her parents’ lives.
“Sung-guk, there really are so many different countries and people in this world. Mi-mi is truly amazing, isn’t she?”
“Mark, Lim Mi-mi seems like a good person. I’ll lift the workplace dating ban.”
“Sung-guk? Are you serious?”
[Of course, Mark, if dating is possible.]
I walked slowly toward the dormitory.
Mark, tipsy from drinking, chattered excitedly despite the cold.
“Sung-guk… how do I naturally show interest? I should just ask her to see a movie, right?”
“Mark,”
I called out to Mark quietly.
“Why, Sung-guk?”
“Watch South Korean dramas. The answer Lim Mi-mi is looking for will be there.”
“Sung-guk! You really are a genius!”
[Mark, I just saved one person. You better not forget this favor….]
I stuffed my hands back into my pockets and walked toward the Dormitory, my footsteps echoing with solitude.
And so I found myself alone once more….

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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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