I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 239

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

Chapter 239
“You’re Mark Hemingway, correct?”
“Yes, here’s my business card.”
Mark Hemingway extended his card toward me.
Mark Hemingway from Time Magazine….
I made a mental note of the name for now.
“I’ll contact you after the inauguration.”
“Sung-guk, we really want to cover your story. Of course, I’ll fly to Silicon Valley personally for the interview. Please just understand how much we want to cover you!”
“Hmm… I’ll reach out after the ceremony.”
I had no choice but to repeat the same response, gave Mark Hemingway no definitive answer, and climbed into the car.
* * *
Inside the car, Mother grasped my hand with a worried expression.
Min-guk and Ji-hee were traveling in a separate vehicle with Secretary Park Sung-hee.
“Sung-guk, who was that person?”
Mother seemed genuinely concerned about my cold demeanor toward him.
“Oh, he’s a reporter from Time Magazine. He wanted to cover me, but I told him I’d contact him later.”
“Sung-guk, why would he want to cover you?”
[Sigh… Mother still doesn’t realize how remarkable her son has become.]
But I needed to ease her worries.
“He wants to cover me in connection with President Barack Obama’s inauguration. I was invited today because I helped Barack Obama a bit, after all. They’re doing a feature on the people who made President Barack Obama, and he wanted to interview me as well.”
Mother squeezed my hand tightly.
“Our son is so accomplished that I feel like I’m living in a world I can’t even comprehend. Sung-guk, you’re already nineteen by Korean age. Next year you’ll be twenty.”
[Time really does fly. It feels like just yesterday I was crawling around in diapers in that one-room apartment….]
Mother smiled softly, as if remembering the old days herself.
“Sung-guk, do you remember anything from when you were little?”
[Mother, if I tell you, my mouth will hurt. I remember everything. I remember deciding to call you and Father “Mom” and “Dad” from the day you saved me when that building collapsed. Father, you didn’t even have taxi fare that day—you carried me all the way home on your back!]
Father, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around.
“So-young, how does Sung-guk remember all of that?”
“Our Sung-guk is a genius, so he might remember everything. Sung-guk, what’s your earliest memory? Mother has always been curious about that. Min-guk and Ji-hee are always nearby, so I ask them sometimes when we’re home and they just say they don’t know. But our Sung-guk is so far away, so Mother never got to ask.”
[Hmm… my earliest memory… If I tell them that when I was reborn, it was that cramped one-room apartment, would they believe me?]
I patted the back of Mother’s hand and pretended to be lost in thought for a moment before answering.
“Mother, I think my earliest memory is probably the ride to some audition. I remember getting really bad motion sickness on the bus when you took me.”
Mother’s eyes widened even more.
“That can’t be… Sung-guk, you really remember that?”
“Not clearly… just fragments here and there.”
Father turned around again.
“So-young, what is Sung-guk talking about?”
“Honey, remember when Sung-guk took the bus to that Samjeon commercial audition?”
“Really?”
“Yes… that morning you gave me money for a taxi, but I was reluctant to spend it, so I took the bus to Itaewon instead. That’s why Sung-guk got so nauseous and whined the whole way.”
“Wow, our genius really is something special. You’re remembering things from just after you turned one.”
[Actually, it was before that, but I’ll leave it at this. If I open my mouth, both Mom and Dad will be absolutely shocked.]
Before long, the car was pulling up to the hotel.
* * *
Secretary Park Sung-hee handed over two hotel keys.
“Because of the presidential inauguration, Washington hotels are completely booked right now, so we couldn’t reserve a suite room. One room has three beds, so you can decide among yourselves how to use them.”
Mark and Lim Mi-mi then received their keys as well.
“Sung-guk, let’s meet up for dinner later.”
“Sure.”
“Sung-guk, give my regards to your parents.”
“Got it, Mark.”
I relayed Mark’s message to my parents exactly as he’d said it, naturally took one of the keys, and looked at Min-guk and Ji-hee.
“Alright, you two are staying in the same room as your older brother!”
“Okay, hyung.”
“Great, oppa!”
Mother, startled, stepped in front of me.
“Sung-guk, what are you saying? How can you have them stay with you like that? Let’s just make one room for the girls and one for the boys.”
[Mom, Dad. Please, just have some time alone together.]
Mother and Father had been staying at our place in San Francisco to save money. Because of that, privacy was something neither I nor my parents had.
Of course, it also helped that Jeon Tae-guk, who didn’t skimp on expenses, had gone to stay at a hotel.
I shook my head firmly.
“Mom, Dad. Don’t worry about us. You two just spend some quality time together.”
Unlike usual, Father quickly grabbed the key.
“Right, Sung-guk. Please look after your siblings.”
“Uh… Dad.”
Father was smiling more brightly than ever.
[Dad, don’t smile like that. A fourth child is absolutely not happening!]
* * *
Barack Obama placed his hand on the Bible that President Abraham Lincoln had used at his inauguration and began taking the oath.
The crowd was silent, and Barack Obama became the first person of color to become President of the United States.
Ji-hee standing beside me looked at Barack Obama with wonder.
“Oppa… the American president is so cool.”
“He is cool. Cooler than your oppa?”
“No. Second to oppa….”
Ji-hee really did have excellent survival instincts.
Finally, all the events ended and VIP parties followed one after another.
Mother and Father headed back to the hotel first, taking the tired Min-guk and Ji-hee with them.
Jeon Tae-guk was surrounded by women for some reason, while Mark and Lim Mi-mi stuck together like glue.
[Good times.]
Just then, someone’s hand offered me a bottle of water.
It was Barack Obama.
“Barack….”
“Sung-guk, you’re still at the age where you drink plain water, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’ll grow soon enough.”
“I don’t have much time, but I really wanted to tell you how grateful I am.”
[Gratitude can’t end with mere words, Barack.]
I simply smiled.
“Barack, please take good care of the United States from now on.”
“Of course.”
[Of course, and Korea too!]
Barack Obama quickly excused himself to attend to other greetings.
And I took a sip of the cold water.
[Ahhhh— yes, that’s the taste.]
* * *
Knock. Knock.
I heard the sound of someone knocking on the hotel room door.
Who could it be?
Ji-hee scampered over and called out toward the door.
“Who is it?”
[Ji-hee, this is America… how can you ask in Korean? Wasn’t our Ji-hee supposed to be a genius?]
As my frustration peaked, I heard the voice of Secretary Park Sung-hee.
“It’s me, Sung-guk.”
“Just a moment.”
I opened the door and Secretary Park Sung-hee entered.
“Secretary, what’s the matter? We don’t have any schedule until we catch our flight tomorrow afternoon, do we?”
“Actually, there’s something I’m curious about.”
What could it be?
Secretary Park Sung-hee alternated her gaze between Jeon Min-guk, who was lying on the bed listening to music with large headphones, and Ji-hee, who was looking up at me with admiration, her expression growing slightly awkward.
“Sung-guk, should we talk here?”
“Yes, as you can see, I can’t leave with the young children.”
More accurately, I was uneasy about leaving Ji-hee in Min-guk’s care.
“Ah, then… let’s talk.”
“Secretary, would you like a drink?”
“Yes, thank you.”
[Though it’s all paid for by Samjeon anyway….]
I pulled a beverage from the refrigerator and handed it to Secretary Park Sung-hee.
Seeing this, Ji-hee bounced excitedly.
“Oppa, orange juice for Ji-hee.”
“Sure, our Ji-hee gets orange juice.”
And Min-guk, who had lowered one side of his headphones, also called out.
“Hyung, it’s me, Cola.”
[These kids have no idea what my annual salary is!]
My younger siblings truly seemed oblivious to my worth.
I clenched my teeth and handed the cola to Min-guk.
“Thanks, hyung.”
Min-guk put his headphones back on and immersed himself in music, while Ji-hee sipped orange juice and read a book she’d brought from Korea.
It seemed like the right moment to broach the subject.
I glanced at Secretary Park Sung-hee.
“Sung-guk, why didn’t you immediately accept Mark Hemingway’s interview proposal at the airport?”
[Hmm… So that’s what she came to ask about.]
I took a sip of water.
“Secretary Park Sung-hee, what do you think is the reason I didn’t readily accept Mark Hemingway’s interview?”
“Well… I have some thoughts. Though I haven’t known you long, the Sung-guk I’ve observed isn’t someone who would refuse such an offer. It’s an opportunity to promote yourself in any way.”
“That’s true, but… I wanted to protect Tae-guk hyung.”
“Hmm… As I thought….”
Secretary Park Sung-hee seemed to understand my intentions.
“Sung-guk, would it be fair to say that protecting Young Master Tae-guk is just a pretext, and what you really don’t want is to be noticed by Samjeon?”
Secretary Park Sung-hee asked more directly than I expected, and I responded in kind.
“Aren’t you a Samjeon person, Secretary Park Sung-hee?”
Secretary Park Sung-hee smiled faintly, then looked at me with a serious expression again.
“Honestly, I receive my salary from Samjeon, but a salaried employee is just a salaried employee, you know? I simply had a feeling that your next move might not be domestic.”
“May I ask why you thought that, Secretary Park?”
“The achievements and accomplishments you’ve made are honestly unprecedented in America—no, in any country in the world. But if you’re not considering Korea, then helping Jeon Tae-guk, the heir to Samjeon Group, doesn’t make sense to me.”
Secretary Park Sung-hee’s speculation was largely correct.
“Sung-guk, is your next move Korea, perhaps?”
“Hmm… Secretary Park Sung-hee, please stop speculating. I still have much to do here.”
“That’s true. Sorry for wasting your time. But I want to see you grace the cover of Time Magazine.”
“Secretary Park Sung-hee, I think this explains it. The reason I didn’t readily accept Mark Hemingway’s interview was because I’m not the main character.”
Only then did Secretary Park Sung-hee smile broadly.
“You’re something else, Sung-guk. Well, I’ll see you at dinner later.”
“Yes, Secretary.”
As the door closed with a thud, Min-guk and Ji-hee, who had been occupied with their own activities, looked at me.
“Hyung, are you going back to Korea?”
“Oppa! Are you really coming to Korea?”
“Min-guk, Ji-hee. How can you listen like that, cutting out all the context? I’ll go to Korea someday, but not right now.”
“Hyung, that’s totally suspicious. Right, Ji-hee?”
“Yeah! Little oppa!”
The two of them had such great chemistry when they were like this.
I shook my head with a wry smile.
“Alright, Min-guk, keep listening to your music… Ji-hee, how about oppa helps you study for a change?”
“Yeah, oppa! But oppa… I’m worried I might become a lawyer when I grow up.”
[Hmm… our Ji-hee. I was planning to raise our Ji-hee to become a doctor… We need at least one doctor in the family.]
“Why suddenly a lawyer, Ji-hee?”
“The American president was a lawyer too!”
“Ji-hee, are you saying you want to become a lawyer first and then become president?”
“Yes!”
Min-guk shook his head from behind, then put his headphones back on.
But I wrapped my hands around Ji-hee’s small shoulders.
“Ji-hee… I’ll make your dream come true for sure!”
[Having a politician in the family isn’t such a bad thing either.]
Ji-hee smiled softly and yawned as if drowsy.
“Oppa, Ji-hee is sleepy.”
“Ji-hee, to become a lawyer, you first need to graduate from a good school in South Korea and then go to law school. And by the time you grow up, there probably won’t be a judicial examination anymore, so you’ll have to take the bar exam. For that, shouldn’t you study until midnight from now on?”
Ji-hee’s pupils wavered.
At that moment, Min-guk chattered from beside me.
“Jeon Ji-hee, you’re caught in oppa’s trap just like me now. Just like oppa planned meticulously to make me a singer, you’re completely caught by oppa from now on. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

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