I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 170

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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 170
Friday, December 24th, 2004.
I stood on the second-floor railing with a coffee cup in hand, gazing down at the sprawling office below. An energy bar hung from my other hand.
And I watched as the letters www.facenote.com climbed up the office wall.
Employees naturally drifted through the office, sipping coffee.
“Sung-guk, what are you staring at so intently?”
Mark approached with a disheveled face.
Mark also held an energy bar in his hand.
“That sign climbing up with ‘FaceNote’ written on it. I’m watching it go up.”
“I came to see that too… Sung-guk, I still can’t believe this day has actually arrived.”
I felt the same way.
I had known the future, and I was certain this would happen, yet now that the day was here, nothing felt real.
“Mark, how long has it been since you went home?”
“I don’t know. Probably about the same as you….”
I scratched my head as well.
It had been over four days since either of us had gone home.
Once we started receiving investment, the office expanded, and the number of employees grew.
For an entire month, I did nothing but conduct interviews.
And finally, FaceNote began operations in the new office with the new team.
At the same time, the days I spent at home became increasingly rare.
“Sung-guk, do you know today is Christmas Eve?”
“Is it?”
I scratched my head.
[Mark, those who work while everyone else plays are the ones who succeed.]
But I didn’t say it aloud.
Saying something like that would surely brand me as an exploitative boss.
“By the way, are you going on a date with Lim Mi-mi?”
“Of course not. Didn’t you see how obsessed Mi-mi is with security? She’s lost her mind over it.”
“Yeah, I saw. I even saw her filling up a tumbler with coffee just a moment ago.”
This was our daily life.
Work and life were completely inseparable.
I looked at Mark’s grimy face.
“Mark, I really can’t stand looking at you anymore.”
“Sung-guk… I’ve always thought you were handsome.”
[Of course you would say that….]
“But today, I really can’t stand looking at you either.”
Mark laughed at his own words.
“I never thought I’d be saying this to you. Sung-guk, should we get back to work?”
“Yeah… we have to feed all these people now, don’t we?”
I took a sip of coffee. Then I suddenly looked at Mark.
“Mark, how about we do an impromptu pizza party like we used to?”
“Post it on FaceNote?”
“Yeah.”
“Why don’t we shower first?”
“Hmm… Before that, actually.”
I quickly grabbed the digital camera and rushed out.
“Sung-guk, what’s the camera for?”
“It’s the day the sign went up—I need to capture this moment of us looking like this mess!”
“I’m going to look like a squid again.”
“Come on, Mark. Smile. You’ll look better if you smile.”
I quickly linked arms with Mark and held up the camera.
“Okay, here we go. One, two, three!”
Click.
* * *
– The day the FaceNote sign went up. A Christmas party for those with nowhere else to go will be held at the office.
At the same time, I uploaded the photo Mark and I had taken together.
– Mark and I, unable to go home for the fourth day straight.
Comments began pouring in.
– Is it just me, or can I smell this photo?
– Mark, you look the same as usual.
– Are you using the Christmas party as an excuse to work overtime and grab a meal, Sung-guk?
– Workaholics.
I let out a long yawn.
Lim Mi-mi, passing by, tossed me a chocolate.
“Boss, could you set up a snack bar in the corner for employee welfare?”
“Hmm… Once we get more funding…”
Lim Mi-mi shook her head vigorously.
“Then at least order as much pizza as you want today! It’s Christmas Eve!”
“Boss, give us vacation instead of pizza!”
Lim Mi-mi pouted and disappeared.
Vacation…
My last vacation was at Disneyland with my family.
I gazed at the family photo displayed on my laptop screen.
Min-guk called to say he was training hard at Bang Mu-hyuk’s company and studying diligently.
Though he only came in second in his class, I praised him to keep his spirits up.
Ji-hee was preparing to enter Elementary School, and I had recommended to Mother and Father that they pursue South Korea’s private education system. There was nowhere else that pushed students as hard as South Korea.
And Father’s Bossam Franchise was running smoothly with next year as the target.
I gazed warmly at the family photo.
In my previous life, I never really understood that family gave me strength, that I worked because of family—but in this life, I understood it well.
I existed because my family existed.
At that moment, someone grabbed my shoulder.
I spun around in surprise.
There stood Elon Musk.
“Elon?”
His hairline had receded noticeably since the last time I’d seen him.
“Sung-guk, I heard you’re throwing a Christmas Eve party today? I came to mooch some free pizza.”
“Elon is always welcome.”
But I noticed a large suitcase beside him.
“Elon, where are you going?”
“To the Marshall Islands.”
I jumped up from my seat.
Elon laughed sheepishly.
“To operate SpaceZ as cheaply and efficiently as possible, the Marshall Islands seems like the only option….”
At this point in time, Elon was running Tesla, SpaceZ, and a neuroscience research company, but none of them were producing any real results.
Moreover, SpaceZ was constantly mocked for the sheer absurdity of an individual attempting what even NASA couldn’t accomplish.
Of course, I knew that ten years from now, all of Elon’s seemingly preposterous dreams would become everyone’s reality.
Especially SpaceZ!
“Elon, would you like some coffee?”
“Don’t you have beer?”
I quickly looked for Mark.
“Mark, we have beer, right?”
“One moment….”
Elon curiously scanned our office.
“Sung-guk, you don’t have a separate CEO office or anything like that?”
“No…. Except for programmers who need high-performance computers, everyone works wherever they want. For now, anyway.”
“As expected… you really are different from everyone else, Sung-guk….”
[In the future, everyone will work like this….]
I shrugged.
Mark soon appeared with beer and handed it to Elon.
“Elon, what’s with the luggage?”
“Oh… I’m heading to the Marshall Islands.”
“The Marshall Islands? Where exactly is that?”
Mark looked equally surprised.
“It’s somewhere in the Pacific, and I think our SpaceZ employees will probably be working there.”
“All of them?”
“Yeah.”
“What about their families?”
“That’s why SpaceZ deliberately only hires unmarried employees in their twenties. So they just work.”
[That’s classic Elon—a total madman! To succeed, you really do have to become an unscrupulous business owner!]
I silently applauded his ruthlessness, but I didn’t let it show.
People complained that Samjeon Group worked their employees hard, but they couldn’t compete with Elon, who shipped his staff off to the Marshall Islands.
Mark nudged me in the ribs from beside me.
“Sung-guk, you’re not thinking of moving FaceNote to the Marshall Islands or somewhere like that, are you?”
“Of course not. FaceNote lives and dies by internet connectivity, and the Marshall Islands probably won’t have reliable service.”
“Mark, if the internet were available, Sung-guk might actually move FaceNote to the African Wilderness.”
“Elon, I want to work on Hwaseong in the future.”
“You really are the smartest lunatic I know, Sung-guk. I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
Mark shook his head in disbelief.
Just then, Lim Mi-mi stood up from her desk and shouted.
“Pizza’s here! Our boss’s special treat for everyone staying at the office on Christmas Eve!”
I glanced at Mark.
“Mark, it seems like Lim Mi-mi has some feelings for me?”
“Well… we’ve been here four days, but Mi-mi hasn’t been home for a week now. Cut her some slack.”
Mark quickly grabbed some beer and headed over to Lim Mi-mi.
“Elon, when are you heading to the Marshall Islands?”
“Early tomorrow morning.”
“Hmm… would there happen to be a spot for me?”
“Sung-guk, you’re coming too?”
“Elon, the best way to invest is to see the company firsthand.”
Elon’s eyes widened.
“You’re going to invest in SpaceZ?”
“Yes!”
I answered decisively.
I was gradually acquiring Tesla stock from Elon, but the place I truly wanted to invest in was SpaceZ.
[The future of humanity lies in space, Elon.]
I quickly looked up flight options.
“Elon, what class of seating?”
“Economy for me.”
“I’ll upgrade us to business class, Elon.”
I immediately booked two business class seats.
I could see Elon’s lips curve upward slightly.
[Elon, there’s a Korean saying—light rain soaks your clothes. You’ll get small favors from me now, but one day you’ll end up giving me something big.]
* * *
Someone had put on Christmas carols, and the FaceNote office was brimming with festive cheer.
More and more visitors arrived carrying drinks and food.
Then a familiar woman walked in.
Blonde and still beautiful—it was Jessie!
Mark and I were both slightly startled when we spotted Jessie.
That’s because Lim Mi-mi was standing right next to Mark.
Jessie approached us with a radiant smile.
“Sung-guk! Mark!”
Then he wrapped both Mark and me in a sudden embrace.
Of course, with Lim Mi-mi watching intently from the side with a sharp gaze, my heart was practically in my throat.
Jessie was particularly familiar with the easygoing Mark.
“Mark, your face looks pretty worn out since we last met. Have you been doing well?”
Then Jessie looked at me.
“Sung-guk… how long has it been since we’ve seen each other?”
“About six months, I think…”
I spoke casually.
“Sung-guk, you’ve grown taller.”
“Have I…”
“You’re so much taller than Mark now?”
“Jessie, I’m maybe a fist taller, but not that much taller.”
Mark said with a disgruntled tone.
I handed Jessie a slice of pizza.
“Jessie, have some pizza. How’s Harvard?”
“Same as always. Studying and partying. But with you two gone, I’ve been so lonely. I’m on break now and working at the U.S. Senate Office. I came to Silicon Valley for an inspection and heard there was a party at FaceNote, so I rushed over. Oh, the senator I’m working for came with me too… where is he?”
Jessie looked around.
Then, a familiar face appeared among the crowd. Of course, it was a face only I recognized.
“Senator, over here!”
As Jessie waved her hand, a tall man approached us with his characteristic smile.
Jessie quickly introduced us.
“Like I mentioned, these are Sung-guk and Mark—my high school and college classmates.”
The man extended a large hand.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Barack Obama.”
I grasped his large hand firmly.
“I’m Jeon Sung-guk. Nice to meet you.”
[Barack, good to see you!]
Barack exchanged greetings with Mark as well.
So Jessie was working under Senator Barack Obama…
“It’s remarkable that young people like you are running such an impressive venture. I’ve heard a lot from Jessie, but you’re both younger than I expected.”
“Senator, Sung-guk is still a minor.”
“Oh! A true genius!”
[Living life twice, I should at least do this much.]
“By the way, Senator. Don’t you think we’re entering an era where SNS like FaceNote will be used in elections?”
Barack Obama’s eyes sparkled at my words.

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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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