I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 194

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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 194
Standing before me was Jung-hee in her twenties, exactly as I remembered her.
Dressed in a pristine one-piece gown for the wedding, Jung-hee stood out effortlessly among the crowd.
Jung-hee took a few steps toward Jeon Tae-guk.
Of course, Jeon Tae-guk closed the distance far more quickly.
[No way they can pull off the push-and-pull game like that….]
I clicked my tongue and naturally redirected my steps elsewhere.
I’d seen Jung-hee, and true to my agreement with Jeon Tae-guk, I planned to stay as far apart from him as possible throughout the wedding ceremony today.
“Secretary, let’s go see Ye-jung first.”
“Of course we should.”
* * *
“Ye-jung!”
“Sung-guk!!!”
Ye-jung, seated in the bridal waiting room, waved with a radiant smile.
“Ye-jung, congratulations on your wedding!”
“Park Sung-hee! How did you manage to come on a business trip that perfectly coincides with my wedding? But how do you know Sung-guk?”
“I have some business to discuss with Sung-guk.”
Ye-jung seemed to catch on quickly, offering a knowing smile. She then gestured for me to come closer.
“Sung-guk, there will probably be a lot of people here trying to meet you. If you get uncomfortable, hide behind our father, alright?”
“Thank you, noona.”
Ye-jung looked me over with curious eyes from head to toe.
“When did you grow so much? You used to be such a baby. Now I feel embarrassed even calling you Sung-guk.”
“Come on, noona. Once a younger brother, always a younger brother, right?”
“You’re still full of charm…. Oh, I’ll introduce you to the groom at the after-party later.”
“I look forward to it.”
I excused myself from the bridal waiting room at an opportune moment.
Park Sung-hee remained glued to my side.
“Secretary Park, aren’t you going to see Ye-jung’s friends from school?”
Park Sung-hee glanced around before whispering quietly.
“Actually, part of my job today is to monitor any financial and political figures who approach Sung-guk at the wedding.”
I lowered my voice and whispered back to Park Sung-hee.
“Secretary Park, if you tell me things like that, what am I supposed to do?”
“Oh, I see!”
Park Sung-hee’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“Secretary Park, don’t worry. I have no interest in Korean politics.”
Just then, Jeon Tae-guk and Jung-hee walked past us side by side again.
[This isn’t easy to avoid….]
Jeon Tae-guk caught sight of me and quickly signaled me to disappear.
But at that very moment, Jung-hee looked at me. Her gaze clearly suggested she remembered me.
Jung-hee approached me and spoke.
“Is that you, Sung-guk? Right?”
“Yes… Hello.”
I greeted her with proper respect.
“You don’t remember me?”
[Of course I do.]
But I played dumb.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. We met when we were so young. I saw you before in Jeju Island too….”
Beside her, Jeon Tae-guk was fidgeting like an impatient puppy.
[Got it, I’ll disappear.]
I quickly greeted Jung-hee.
“I have another appointment, actually.”
“Oh my, I’m sorry. Are you busy?”
“I apologize.”
“By the way, how many more days are you staying in New York?”
“I’ll be here for a couple more days.”
“Then, would you like to have lunch together tomorrow?”
This wasn’t how I’d expected things to unfold.
Jeon Tae-guk looked equally flustered.
“Tomorrow is….”
“Sung-guk is having lunch with me. Jung-hee, let’s eat together.”
Jeon Tae-guk quickly interjected.
“Oh, really? That works for me. Then, shall the three of us eat together?”
I glanced subtly at Park Secretary.
In fact, when Park Secretary saw Jung-hee in the lobby earlier, his expression had gone a bit vacant.
I quickly introduced Park Secretary.
“This person came from Korea. I have some business in New York, so if you don’t mind, could he join us for lunch tomorrow as well?”
“That’s fine with me.”
Once Jung-hee agreed, Jeon Tae-guk reluctantly nodded. His face was visibly uncomfortable.
“Then, I need to go greet Chairman Koo Soo-young and my sister Ye-ri.”
“Oh, go ahead. See you tomorrow, Sung-guk.”
“Yes.”
I bowed respectfully and turned to leave.
Jung-hee was still beautiful, drawing every man’s gaze to her.
In my past life, having Jung-hee felt like victory in the world of men, and that was satisfying.
But in this life, it was different.
Because I was the one drawing more attention now!
* * *
On my way to meet Chairman Koo Soo-young, countless people greeted me.
“Hello. I’m Kim Soo-ho from the Democratic Party.”
A politician’s smile as he handed over his business card.
“Sung-guk! You know me, right?”
Someone pretending to know me without any introduction.
“I’m sorry, but we haven’t met before. I was actually on my way to greet Chairman Koo Soo-young.”
I declined sharply and approached Chairman Koo Soo-young.
Chairman Koo Soo-young greeted me with a warm expression.
“Sung-guk!”
“Congratulations, Chairman.”
“Sending off just my first daughter is already so exhausting. Thank you so much for coming all this way despite being busy.”
“It’s Ye-jung’s wedding, so of course I had to come.”
Chairman Koo Soo-young approached quietly and whispered in my ear.
“There’s more than one or two people asking me to introduce you. If you ask me, I’d say it’s better you skip the after-party. Those politicians in Korea will become incredibly bothersome once they get your face in their contacts.”
It was genuine advice.
“I understand. I’ll do that.”
Chairman Koo Soo-young patted my shoulder.
* * *
A bench in Central Park.
Park Secretary and I sat side by side eating sandwiches.
“Being famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, is it? Not even able to eat at the hotel wedding, and here I am with a sandwich.”
“I told you to eat, Park Secretary.”
“As I mentioned earlier, I need to keep monitoring who you’re meeting.”
Clearly the type to be a government advisor.
“Park Secretary, I’m curious about your reputation at the company.”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“You seem so rigid that I imagine colleagues find you frustrating, even though you do your work well.”
“Sung-guk, have you seen my work at the company?”
Park Sung-hee looked at me with surprised eyes while eating her sandwich.
“I run the company.”
[Samjeon in my previous life. FaceNote in this one. That should give me some eye for judging people.]
I bit into my sandwich indifferently.
“Ah, well… everyone does make frustrated expressions when I speak. But they do appreciate the work when it’s completed.”
“Did you graduate from Seoul National University?”
“How did you know that? Are you a fortune teller, Sung-guk?”
Park Sung-hee was startled.
“I looked you up on FaceNote, Park Secretary. Top of your class in the humanities at Seoul National University. Plus work experience at the Presidential Secretariat. It seemed unusual.”
Park Sung-hee had received the typical elite education from childhood, even attending the same elementary school as Ye-jung.
“My parents wanted me to take the judicial examination or something like that. But the thought of studying again felt suffocating, so I decided to gain some work experience first before taking the bar exam.”
“Hmm…”
After running a company for so long, I’d learned that rigid people were often more valuable. From an owner’s perspective, anyway.
“Park Sung-hee, if you ever find yourself without work, consider applying to FaceNote.”
“Pardon?”
[The next administration will go to a different party. Everyone in the Presidential Secretariat will be replaced.]
“With Park Sung-hee’s qualifications, she’d easily be hired. And if she wants to gain real-world experience, she should work in a bigger pond, don’t you think?”
“Well, that’s….”
“Think about it.”
I crumpled up the empty sandwich wrapper and tossed it into the trash. Then I stood up from my seat.
“Park Secretary, I’m planning to see Damien Hirst’s exhibition this afternoon. Would you like to come along?”
“Can I really tag along?”
“Just don’t report this.”
I was testing Park Sung-hee right now.
After all, she wasn’t my person—she belonged to the VIP’s side. The answer I wanted was.
“I will report it. But only the objective facts.”
That was the answer I wanted.
Park Sung-hee had someone else she needed to be loyal to for now.
* * *
A poster for Damien Hirst’s exhibition titled “Growth” adorned the front of the gallery.
Damien Hirst had become a representative figure of contemporary art, and the exhibition hall was packed with people.
Park Sung-hee looked around with curiosity.
“I didn’t know you were interested in art, Sung-guk.”
“Damien and I are friends.”
“Really?”
“He sends me invitations whenever he has exhibitions in the United States, but I couldn’t make it due to scheduling conflicts. Today worked out.”
Just then, murmurs rippled through the crowd.
Damien Hirst had made his entrance.
I quickly walked toward the source of the commotion.
Damien Hirst appeared with his blue hair and was about to begin explaining his work.
At that moment, Damien Hirst spotted me and broke into a smile.
“Sung-guk! You finally came!”
His voice echoed throughout the gallery because of the microphone, but Damien didn’t seem to mind.
“It’s been a while, Damien.”
“Everyone, I’m about to show you a very interesting piece.”
The gallery stirred with anticipation.
An unannounced work by Damien Hirst? Everyone’s eyes gleamed with expectation.
Damien gestured for me to come closer.
“You see, a very long time ago, back when I was just an emerging artist starting to make a name for myself, I met an incredibly cute kid at the Hong Kong Art Fair. Not long after, that kid came to study in the United States.”
I naturally stepped beside Damien Hirst.
Damien circled around me like I was a sculpture, continuing his explanation.
“That child became the founder and CEO of FaceNote. Not long ago, he stood between Dick Powell and Barack Obama, who were heating up social media. And now he stands before us. The child who once struggled to carry one of my pieces is now a young man taller than me. All in just ten years. This piece I’m unveiling today is called ‘Growth.'”
As the saying goes, the interpretation matters more than the dream itself.
Through his signature reinterpretation, Damien Hirst had transformed me into a work of art.
The crowd murmured at the unveiling of the unfamiliar work, and Damien Hirst continued his explanation.
“Actually, this friend and I are already connected through FaceNote. A long time ago, I contacted Sung-guk and told him I wanted to create a work using him as a model. He gladly accepted. Through FaceNote, we exchanged countless messages and settled on the theme of ‘Growth.’ And I realized that Jeon Sung-guk was the perfect embodiment of this exhibition’s concept of ‘Growth.'”
Just as Damien Hirst said, we had prepared this exhibition with the theme of ‘Growth’ and planned to make a surprise announcement.
I had deliberately scheduled the exhibition to coincide with when I could come to New York for Ye-jung’s wedding.
“I’m sure Sung-guk will continue to grow. After all, we’re human.”
As he spoke, a video appeared on the screen behind him showing the entire process of us exchanging emails and having phone conversations.
Damien Hirst continued his explanation.
“I’m sure many of you would love to purchase this work. But this will be the only piece in my collection that no one can buy.”
Applause erupted from various corners of the gallery.
Some faces showed understanding, while others showed confusion.
I wandered through the gallery viewing the work itself, sipping mineral water.
Park Sung-hee looked at me with an awkward expression.
“Sung-guk, when exactly did you work on this?”
“During my breaks.”
I smiled faintly.
“Sung-guk….”
That familiar voice reached my ears again.
Jung-hee?
When I turned around, Jung-hee was standing there alone.
“Noona, how did you get here?”
“I’m a fan of Damien Hirst. When I heard about the exhibition, I rushed over right after the wedding. But I never expected a performance like this.”
“What about Tae-guk?”
“Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung showed up, so he went with him.”
Even Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung, who said he wouldn’t come, had arrived….
It was clear that Korea was definitely keeping an eye on me.
Park Sung-hee beside me cleared her throat awkwardly.
“Ahem. Hmm.”
I looked back and forth between Park Sung-hee and Jung-hee.
Jung-hee, who had been my first love in my previous life, no longer held any appeal for me. But to someone else, she was still like a goddess.
“Noona, I need to talk with Damien Hirst. Would you mind talking with Park Secretary here, whom you saw earlier? After we’re done, let’s all have dinner together.”
“I’d love that.”
“Park Secretary, I’m counting on you.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best.”
What was she trying her best at?
I smiled and walked away from the two of them.
Jung-hee and Park Secretary….
Perhaps this was a sign that I should introduce a good man to Jung-hee, who had only suffered heartache from meeting me in my previous life.
I sipped my mineral water and shrugged.
[So this is what growth really means….]

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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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