I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 25

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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 25
A 34-pyeong Apartment located in Jamsil.
The 12th floor of a 23-story building—what people commonly called the royal floor.
A small moving truck came to a halt at the apartment’s entrance.
I could see several families moving in using gondolas, but we had no need for such things.
Besides the clothes we wore, the dishes, and the books I’d been reading, there was nothing else to bring.
Kim Mi-young, who had followed behind, stepped out of the car.
I held Min-guk’s hand firmly in mine.
Now that he was three years old, Min-guk had grown stronger in the legs and darted about in all directions, making him nearly impossible to control.
On a day like this, I couldn’t burden Mother and Father.
[Stay still.]
“Hyeong!”
[Your brother said to stay still.]
“Okay.”
Min-guk pouted slightly and nodded his head.
Fortunately, unlike Jeon Tae-guk, his temperament was well-behaved. He listened well to me, his older brother.
This kid seemed like someone I could actually train properly.
Kim Mi-young approached and gently took my hand.
“I’ll look after Sung-guk and Min-guk for you.”
Mother’s face filled with apology as she pulled several ten-thousand-won bills from her wallet.
“Sister, Sung-guk has been very interested in picture books and fairy tales lately. Would you mind going to the bookstore nearby and buying him some books? And please get yourself a nice lunch. I’m so sorry for always imposing like this.”
“We’re partners, aren’t we?”
“We are partners, but it always feels like I’m the one receiving more help.”
“I got my new job because of Sung-guk in the first place. And I’m Sung-guk’s manager anyway. This is my job. Anyway, I’ll watch over Sung-guk and Min-guk while you move.”
Kim Mi-young reluctantly accepted the money Mother offered. Then she looked down at me.
“Sung-guk, shall we go look at picture books?”
“Yes!”
I answered eagerly.
Nowadays, it might not seem remarkable for a five-year-old to read Korean, but in this era, learning Hangul was something children did before entering elementary school.
Honestly, it felt too early to reveal that I could speak English, Japanese, French, and even Chinese.
* * *
The moment Min-guk entered the bookstore, he grew drowsy and fell asleep right there in the stroller.
I looked down at Min-guk and let out a deep sigh.
[This kid. He doesn’t seem to have a scholarly mind at all. What are you going to eat when you grow up? A poor kid needs at least a good head. Tsk tsk.]
With my hands clasped behind my back, I ambled leisurely toward the economics section.
Compared to the library of the university where I had studied, the collection here was meager, but over these five years I had learned that knowing how to be satisfied with such things was the essence of a commoner’s life.
I deliberately tucked a boring-looking fairy tale book under my arm as a cover.
Amble. Amble.
The economics books from 1995 were laughable to someone like me, who had graduated from Seoul National University and earned an MBA from the United States.
[Not a single book predicting the IMF crisis coming in two years. Tsk tsk.]
I flipped through several books, shaking my head at volumes that merely listed words designed to incite the common masses.
Then, I heard familiar footsteps approaching from behind.
It was the footsteps of Kim Mi-young, my manager.
Could she have discovered that I was reading?
Sweat trickled down my back in an instant.
Perhaps this was the moment I needed to come clean.
It might not be so surprising that a five-year-old could read Korean.
“Sung-guk, are you reading?”
“Yes!”
I answered casually.
Then I handed Kim Mi-young several economics books I had been examining. Now that I thought about it, they were exactly the kind of books that would raise her suspicions.
“Sung-guk, are you going to read these?”
“Please buy them.”
“Mankiw’s Principles of Economics and Das Kapital?”
I nodded brightly.
[I’ve already read both of these long ago. Honestly, the classics are better than all the nonsense economics books coming out these days, Manager Kim.]
“You’re really going to read them?”
Kim Mi-young still looked skeptical.
I decided to deliberately mispronounce the titles of both books.
[I guess I have no choice but to come clean.]
“Mankyu’s Econom-ics. Das Kap-i-tal. Please buy them.”
“Sung-guk….”
Kim Mi-young looked utterly shocked.
[You think I understand scripts so easily just because you explain them well? I’m a man who was born speaking five languages. What’s the big deal?]
Kim Mi-young stared at me blankly for a moment, then grabbed a random book nearby and held it in front of my eyes.
It was obvious she had just grabbed whatever was closest.
“Sung-guk, try reading this.”
I deliberately read slowly, one character at a time.
“Our. Home. Econ-o-my.”
“Sung-guk, you can read Korean?”
[Not just Korean. English, Japanese, Chinese, French. Oh, and German too. Plus Korean makes six languages. That’s the kind of man I am.]
“Alright, Sung-guk. I’ll buy all these books for you. Is there anything else you’d like to read?”
[Well, what the hell.]
I picked up The Wealth of Nations as well.
[Classics are timeless, Manager Kim.]
* * *
The elevator arrived at the twelfth floor.
Father emerged in a sweat-soaked t-shirt and quickly took Min-guk’s and my hands.
“Manager, thank you so much. Would you like to have dinner with us?”
“Actually, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Kim Mi-young glanced at me cautiously.
“Later.”
“Understood.”
Father answered quickly and made a gesture to cover my eyes with his hand.
“Sung-guk, you have to keep your eyes shut tight.”
[Sigh. I suppose I need to play along with this too. Min-guk, close your eyes.]
I covered Min-guk’s eyes with my hand as well.
Father promptly flung open the front door.
“Sung-guk, Min-guk. Let me show you our new home.”
“Here it is—the house we’re going to live in!”
[I’ve already seen it, but I’ll clap my hands and do a little shoulder dance for them.]
I quickly kicked off my shoes in the entryway and began swaying my shoulders with exaggerated delight.
“Wow—wow—”
I let out exclamations of wonder like a small child.
“Dad, is this really our house?”
“Yes, Sung-guk. Let’s go see your room.”
I bolted toward the room I had picked out before Father could even finish speaking.
As expected, a desk was positioned there. A single bed sat beside it, but I dismissed it lightly. I still preferred Mother’s embrace.
I quickly sat down in the desk chair.
“The chair is too low.”
Father promptly adjusted it upward.
I grinned and pulled the chair a bit closer to the desk.
[This should be adequate for studying.]
Father switched on the integrated desk lamp.
“Sung-guk, what do you think? Impressive, right?”
[Sigh, Father. I actually prefer the lighting from Louis Poulsen or Vitra.]
Still, I clapped my hands enthusiastically.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Kim Mi-young came from behind and placed three thick books she had purchased at the bookstore onto the shelf.
“These are the books Sung-guk chose today.”
Father initially glanced at the books without much thought, then looked up at Kim Mi-young in surprise.
“Manager Kim, Sung-guk chose all of these books?”
“Yes. Actually, that’s what I wanted to tell you earlier. Sung-guk already knows Korean.”
[Shouldn’t any person basically speak three languages—English and two other foreign languages—as a minimum?]
I lifted my chin proudly.
“You mean to say these are really all the books Sung-guk wanted to read?”
“I couldn’t believe it either. Sung-guk picked them all out himself.”
“He probably just grabbed them without knowing what they were.”
[Father. Children might pick things without understanding them, but they wouldn’t pick Mankiw’s Economics. They’d pick picture books.]
Mother came in, and upon seeing the two of us, she scanned the books laid out before me.
“Sung-guk picked these out, didn’t he?”
Mother asked Kim Mi-young with remarkable composure.
It was Kim Mi-young who seemed surprised instead.
“How did you….”
“Sung-guk watches the news all the time, doesn’t he? I had a vague sense that he was deeply interested in economics. When I listen to him muttering to himself while watching the news, I can tell he understands Korean fairly well. He reads the subtitles at the bottom of the screen rather than listening to the anchors.”
[Wait, Mother?]
I looked at Mother again.
I’d been so busy with management work lately that I barely had time to see her face, but Mother was different as always.
“So-young, did you know Sung-guk could read Korean?”
“More or less. He often figured things out on his own when looking at shooting scripts or scripts. At first, I thought he was just doing what we told him to do, but one day I realized he could actually read Korean. There were several names written on the waiting room board, and he’d go straight into the waiting room with his name on it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Sung-guk didn’t seem to want special treatment, so I didn’t mention it. And honestly… I never expected such a special child to be born to us either, dear.”
[So you finally recognize my worth?]
I shrugged my shoulders.
Father gripped my shoulder firmly.
“This rascal, he’s pleased you’re talking about him. Sung-guk, let’s eat some jjajangmyeon and have a deep conversation with Dad.”
[Jjajangmyeon sounds good, but a deep conversation? I’ll have to pass on that, Dad.]
I waved my hand.
“No matter how smart you are, don’t forget you’re Dad’s son!”
Father rubbed his face against the child’s cheek and then flipped onto his back, letting out a playful raspberry.
[Sigh, such is an ordinary life. If Vice Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung knew of my exceptional nature, he would have already discussed my future with world-renowned scholars.]
He wouldn’t be holding me like Father does now, rubbing cheeks with me, or making silly sounds on my belly.
I giggled in Father’s arms, playing along.
* * *
A drowsy Min-guk crept closer to Mother’s side.
I pressed myself right against Mother and pushed Min-guk away with one foot.
[Jeon Min-guk. You’re three years old now—you need to be independent.]
But strangely, Min-guk grabbed my waist and pressed his forehead against mine.
“Hyung.”
[You don’t mean you want to sleep with me, do you?]
“Yeah.”
Min-guk looked at me with sleepy eyes and smiled brightly.
[Ugly thing.]
“Hyung. Sleep. Together.”
[What? You want to sleep with me?]
“Hyung. Like. Yeah.”
Why does this little rascal’s words make my heart flutter?
Mother watched Min-guk and me, then smiled warmly.
“Sung-guk, Min-guk really seems to love his big brother.”
[He’s just an inferior competitor, Mother.]
“Sung-guk, if Mother ever gets sick, you need to get along well with Min-guk, okay?”
What?
Is Mother ill?
In that instant, my chest tightened and my heart began to race wildly.
“M-M-Mother, don’t get sick. Waaah! Waaah!”
Father, who had just finished showering, rushed in with alarm.
“Sung-guk, why are you crying?”
“Honey, I just asked Sung-guk if he’d get along well with Min-guk in case I got sick, and now he’s just crying.”
“So-young, how could you joke with the child like that?”
“Sniff. Sniff. Sniff.”
I grasped Mother’s hand tightly, my shoulders trembling.
[You were just teasing me? And I actually fell for it? You two are so thoughtless!]
“Waaaah!”
The tears burst forth uncontrollably.
I couldn’t explain why, but the mere thought of these foolish parents not being by my side made my chest ache as if it were being torn apart.
It was an emotion I had never felt in my previous life.
“Sung-guk, Mother is sorry. Mother is healthy. Don’t worry.”
[Don’t ever say such things again, Mother. Even if you get sick, I’ll earn money and fix everything, so don’t worry!]
I barely managed to wipe away my tears.
“So-young, you really are something.”
“It’s just… now that I’m a mother and father myself, I understand a little better the parents who abandoned us. They must have wanted us to grow up in at least a slightly better environment since they couldn’t raise us themselves.”
I buried myself in Mother’s embrace.
“By the way, isn’t Sung-guk’s shoot tomorrow?”
“Now that you mention it, tomorrow is the final catalog shoot for Samjeon Electronics.”
“Where did they say it would be?”
“They said it would be at the Samjeon Electronics section in Sampung Department Store.”
[Wait, did Mother just say Sampung Department Store?]

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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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