I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 24

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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 24
The Samjeon Hotel Diamond Hall looked exactly as I remembered it.
Expensive chandeliers.
Formally arranged tables.
Floral arrangements adorning the surroundings and staff moving with practiced efficiency as they served the food.
Jeon Tae-guk sat in his chair with a distinctly disgruntled expression, arms crossed.
Vice Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung and my mother, the Iron Lady, were still nowhere to be seen.
Instead, Secretary Yang sat beside him, breaking into a cold sweat trying to placate Jeon Tae-guk.
[The boy’s got a narrow mind. People never change. Tsk tsk.]
“Your jjajangmyeon has arrived.”
A neatly dressed staff member set a bowl of Samjeon Hotel jjajangmyeon in front of me.
I quickly grabbed a fork, twirled the noodles, and slurped them down eagerly.
Mother gently rubbed my back.
“Sung-guk, eat slowly.”
I nodded.
I bobbed my head and went back to slurping the jjajangmyeon.
Mother and Kim Mi-young seemed to be struggling to adapt to this lavish birthday party without parents present.
“Sister, even if Chairman Kim Il-sung has passed away, isn’t it too much for the father not to show up for his son’s birthday?”
“It seems like the wealthy really think differently from people like us.”
[Different? Ordinary people could never understand this world.]
I nodded in agreement.
In doing so, my mouth became smeared with jjajang sauce.
“Sung-guk, the jjajangmyeon is delicious, isn’t it?”
“Yum!”
I bounced my shoulders.
Coming to Jeon Tae-guk’s birthday party without parents, meeting my first love Jung-hee, and eating delicious Samjeon Hotel jjajangmyeon—I couldn’t help but do a little shoulder dance.
“Sung-guk!”
I heard a familiar voice calling me from behind.
When I turned around, all the Just members had gathered.
It seemed Jeon Tae-guk had invited Just, the hottest group these days.
Tae-hyung, the leader, approached and greeted me briefly.
“How are you doing, ma’am?”
“Are you performing today?”
“Yes, but I have to leave right after, so I wanted to say hello to Sung-guk first. We hit it big with ‘It’s a Lie’ that Sung-guk picked for us. Sung-guk, thank you.”
[Gratitude is expressed through material means, not sentiment.]
The other three members took turns patting my head.
“Sung-guk, see you again.”
[They’ll be too busy now. Won’t see them for a while. Good luck, everyone.]
I smiled warmly at them.
The Just members finished greeting Mother and Kim Mi-young, then quickly made their way up onto the stage.
“The Just members barely have time to sleep these days.”
Kim Mi-young explained how successful Just had become recently.
It was something I already knew well.
After “Five Men and a Baby Basket,” Just’s popularity had skyrocketed, and they’d even filmed a Samjeon Electronics advertisement with me—someone now considered precious—followed by an album that became a massive hit.
The industry’s reaction was that they thought Just was just a group that raised children, but it turned out they could sing well too.
Moreover, “It’s a Lie,” which I had selected, achieved a phenomenal chart success.
The Just members on stage bowed ninety degrees toward Jeon Tae-guk.
“We congratulate young master Jeon Tae-guk on your tenth birthday! We’ve prepared a song to make today the happiest day in the world for you. We’ll sing ‘Green Balloon’ for you!”
The moment Tae-hyung finished speaking, music flowed out.
The Just members commanded the stage with even more intensity than they would on a television music broadcast.
It was even live.
One couldn’t dismiss it as merely a child’s birthday party.
Today was the birthday party of Jeon Tae-guk, who would become the successor to Samjeon Electronics, and it was a stage guaranteed an enormous fee.
I watched Jeon Tae-guk sitting arrogantly in the seat where I had originally been.
Jeon Tae-guk’s sullen face hadn’t changed.
Jung-hee, who sat beside him reluctantly, was simply delighted watching Just.
Then, I saw a hand from behind grasping Jeon Tae-guk’s shoulder.
When Jeon Tae-guk turned around, Vice Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung was there.
Vice Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung soon sat in the empty seat beside him.
Only then did a faint smile appear on Jeon Tae-guk’s rigid face.
I understood exactly what that meant.
The reason Jeon Tae-guk had been irritable all day wasn’t just his naturally poor temperament—he had been anxious.
He was only ten years old.
Yet on his birthday, neither his father nor his mother was here.
No matter how much they were a showpiece couple, parents were still parents.
Then, a familiar scent wafted from beside me. To be precise, it was a familiar perfume.
[What is this?]
“So this is Sung-guk.”
A voice with perfect composure.
It was the Iron Lady herself.
For a moment, my breath seemed to catch in my throat.
“Uh—.”
I quickly closed my mouth.
It was a different emotion than when I saw Vice Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung, who had been my father.
No matter how cold the Iron Lady had been, a mother carried a different significance.
Though I didn’t know who Mother was, Kim Mi-young, who worked at Samjeon Entertainment, recognized the Iron Lady at a glance and even stood up from her seat.
“I’m Kim Mi-young, manager of Jeon Sung-guk. You must be his mother.”
“Seeing him in person, he looks even sharper than on screen. I’ve heard many people say that thanks to Sung-guk, our company’s image has become much more approachable.”
One of the few people who could refer to the Samjeon Group as “our company.”
Mother then quickly stood up and greeted her.
“Sung-guk really takes good care of his mother. Well, enjoy yourselves.”
The Iron Lady straightened her posture and took a seat beside Jeon Tae-guk.
Mother and Kim Mi-young let out a breath of relief.
“So that’s the wife of Jeon Jae-hyung, the Vice Chairman of Samjeon Group. The Vice Chairman’s family seems quite harmonious.”
[Mom, things aren’t always what they appear to be.]
I shook my head slowly.
Finally, Just’s song ended, and applause erupted from all around.
Jeon Tae-guk’s face brightened at the appearance of Vice Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung and the Iron Lady, and he clapped enthusiastically while watching Jung-hee’s reaction.
I stared intently at the seat next to Jung-hee—the seat where Jeon Tae-guk was sitting.
[Jeon Tae-guk, don’t let your guard down. I’ll sit in a seat higher than yours. Just wait a little longer… maybe twenty years!]
* * *
“Wow!”
Mother let out exclamations of wonder one after another.
Father, holding Min-guk, wore a satisfied expression.
“So-young, you really like it that much?”
“Of course. I never imagined in my whole life that I’d live in such a spacious and nice home.”
Mother’s eyes grew red with tears.
With my hands clasped behind my back as I surveyed the apartment, I approached Mother and squeezed her hand tightly.
[Mom, it’s only 34 pyeong. What’s the big deal? Besides, it’s way out in Jamsil, the complete outskirts of Seoul. This place is totally rural.]
Min-guk, held in Father’s arms, began to cry as Mother cried.
Min-guk had now turned a proper three years old.
“Mommy! Waaah!”
“Okay, okay. Min-guk, Mom won’t cry.”
“So-young, why are you crying on such a happy day?”
[That’s what I’m saying.]
I opened up the built-in fixtures throughout the apartment.
[At least spend some money. They used cheap materials again. Tsk tsk.]
“So-young, now that we have three rooms, we can give one each to our Sung-guk and Min-guk. Right?”
“Min-guk is still too young. Shouldn’t we keep him with us?”
[Wait a minute. What? Is Min-guk the only child? I got this apartment from my exclusive contract with Samjeon Electronics.]
I thought I’d be happy to have my own room, but why did this feeling suddenly arise?
I quickly nuzzled my face against Mother’s leg. Nuzzle nuzzle.
“Sung-guk, do you want to sleep with Mom?”
“Yes!”
My pronunciation at five years old had become quite clear.
“Then, should all four of us sleep together?”
[I’m not really into that. Min-guk is three now—he can be independent.]
Father quickly picked me up.
“Sung-guk, you’re five now. You go to kindergarten, so you need your own room.”
[No way!]
I squirmed in Father’s arms.
“Honey, let’s all sleep together until Sung-guk feels ready.”
“I suppose there’s no helping it.”
Father finally set me down on the floor.
I clasped my hands behind my back again and inspected the apartment thoroughly.
It wasn’t uncommon for me to visit Samjeon Construction sites, scrutinizing this and that while posing for photographs for the press.
Using cheap materials to match unit prices was unavoidable in this industry, but at least Samjeon Construction was somewhat better about it.
I moved toward the room positioned beside the kitchen.
This location seemed preferable to a room right next to the entrance where people constantly passed through.
And it felt like the right time to show who I truly was.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Do you like this room, Sung-guk?”
“Yes! I like this room.”
I answered enthusiastically.
“But you just said you didn’t want to sleep alone?”
[I won’t sleep alone, but I’ll study here.]
I pointed to the empty wall space for Father.
“Father!”
“What is it, Sung-guk?”
“Desk.”
“You want a desk?”
“Yes!”
I nodded vigorously.
* * *
Tomorrow was finally moving day.
From Suyu to Jamsil.
From a two-room apartment to a 34-pyeong unit.
It was a day when my life would take a leap forward.
Perhaps that’s why sleep eluded me.
When I held the position of vice chairman at Samjeon Group, I’d lost sleep mainly over performance metrics.
Having been born with so much already, trivial matters like houses or cars had never troubled me.
But experiencing this new chapter of life in this lifetime—feeling such excitement and happiness—was refreshingly novel.
I tried to burrow into Mother’s embrace but ended up pressing my nose against Min-guk’s crown instead.
[Sigh, that rival of mine.]
That rival was growing noticeably larger with each passing day.
And his weight had increased tremendously.
He was still smaller than me, but I couldn’t afford to be careless.
“Can’t sleep, Sung-guk?”
Mother asked in a warm voice.
“No!”
“Mother can’t sleep either.”
“I can’t sleep either, Sung-guk.”
Father suddenly poked his head out from behind as well.
Everyone seemed unable to sleep due to the excitement of tomorrow’s move.
[Mother, Father, why are you all acting like this over some apartment? It’s not that big a deal.]
But my lips were already curling into a smile.
Father had used the money he’d been saving diligently to buy my desk first among all the new furniture.
He’d arranged for it to be delivered on moving day.
Of course, it was cheaper than any desk I’d used before, but just having a desk to sit at and study was enough to make me happy.
Father suddenly jumped up from his seat and brought over a bag that had been placed in the corner.
“Honey, you’re checking again?”
“Yeah. I can’t sleep anyway, so let me check one last time.”
What Father was holding was a small bag containing passbooks.
When he opened the bag, a hefty bundle of passbooks emerged.
“This is the living expenses account. This is the savings account. This is the housing subscription deposit account. So-young, should we close the housing subscription account now that we have a house?”
“Let’s keep it. According to Mi-young’s sister, you’re supposed to keep the housing subscription account. We might expand to a bigger place from here anyway.”
[That’s my mother!]
I patted Mother’s back twice.
It meant well done.
“Honey, I’ve been observing Sung-guk lately, and I noticed this kid taps twice when he approves of something, and three times when he doesn’t.”
[You figured it out?]
“This kid Sung-guk really is something special.”
Father smiled and held the passbook up in front of my eyes.
“Sung-guk, do you remember this?”
I nodded.
[Mother and Father, this is my very first gift in life.]
Mother and Father’s words about saving all the money I earned for my future were not a lie.
Even though I could have spent some of it, I deposited all my earnings into this account.
Not only the modeling fees from Samjeon Electronics, but also one-off advertisements and print ads I’d done in between had already brought over 300 million won into my account.
Plus Samjeon Electronics stock on top of that.
[So this is what it feels like to be full without eating.]
I did a forward roll on the soft blanket and acted cute.
“Sung-guk, are you that happy?”
Yeah, I’m in a good mood.
I stretched my arms up above my head and made a heart shape.
“Mother, Father. I love you.”
It was my way of repaying Mother and Father for not wasting a single penny of the money I’d earned and saving it all so carefully.
And it was also my gratitude for teaching me that happiness is possible even without money.
Now Jeon Sung-guk’s life is leveling up to the next stage!

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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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