I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 274

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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 274
January 1st, 2010.
I bit into a slice of cold pizza.
Beside me, roughly a dozen developers in checkered shirts and glasses, their hair disheveled and faces stubbled, stood huddled together, embracing one another as they welcomed the new year.
[Sigh… In my past life, when I turned twenty, I was in a Hotel Suite Room in Hawaii with my girlfriend Jung-hee… But in this life, I’m surrounded by the check shirt brigade….]
I grimaced at the bitter taste in my mouth.
Ding. Ding. Ding….
Suddenly, messages began flooding in from FaceNote and my phone without end.
Everyone turned to stare at my phone in surprise.
“Sung-guk, why are you getting so many notifications?”
“I’m not sure either.”
I checked my phone first.
It was filled with New Year’s greetings from women who knew me, their messages tinged with excitement. Of course, most were just FaceNote friends I didn’t actually know.
– Sung-guk, happy twentieth birthday!
That was just the baseline.
[Why is everyone congratulating me on turning twenty?]
As I scrolled through the messages, I understood why they were all cheering.
– Sung-guk, now that you’re officially of dating age, can I ask you out on a date as my New Year’s first move?
– 2010, 12:01 AM. Sung-guk, want to go on a date?
– Our Sung-guk, want to date this noona? I’ll let you do anything you want!
FaceNote was completely plastered with sincere dating proposals and playful jokes directed at me, who had maintained an iron wall against romance due to being a minor.
Adam, who was looking at my FaceNote, broke into a satisfied smile.
“Sung-guk, dating proposals are flooding in to celebrate you turning twenty. It looks like the excuse of being a minor and not dating won’t work anymore… What are you planning to do?”
“I’m already in a relationship—with work.”
I shoved another bite of pizza into my mouth.
I’d thought that turning twenty would change my life in this incarnation somewhat.
Even if not as glamorous as my past life, I’d expected to welcome the new year in a luxury hotel with a beautiful girlfriend.
No, I’d been grinding relentlessly toward that goal since the moment I was born in diapers.
But now that I’d actually turned twenty, I realized I didn’t really want any of it.
Women felt like a chore, and flashy parties felt tedious.
I just… wanted to come to the office, eat pizza with the check shirt brigade, and that was it.
[This can’t be happening!!! Why am I turning into Sam or Adam!!! Mark is even spending time with his girlfriend!!!]
Adam patted my shoulder as I sank into despair.
“Sung-guk, happy twentieth birthday.”
“Th-thank you, Adam.”
One of the employees listening to the conversation shouted.
“Sung-guk, you’re turning twenty, right?”
“Yes….”
“Wow, congratulations!”
“Thanks, everyone.”
At that moment, all the lights in the office went out at once.
[A power outage?]
In that instant, Sam pushed through the crowd and thrust forward a small cake with the number 20 candles planted on top.
“Sam….”
“Actually, we stayed behind earlier and made a bet about whether Sung-guk might come by at night. Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not saying Sung-guk is a nerd like us—it’s just that he’s such a workaholic that we thought if he did show up, we should do something for him. So I rushed out and bought this cake. If he didn’t come, we could always celebrate the next day anyway.”
I bit down hard on my lower lip.
[Why is everyone being so touching about this!]
“Sung-guk, go ahead and blow out the candles!”
I nodded slightly, then blew out the candles with all my might.
At that moment, cheers erupted.
“Sung-guk, now that you’re twenty, you’re going to be even happier!!!”
“Congratulations on becoming an adult!”
* * *
“I heard that in South Korea people eat rice cake soup on New Year’s morning, so I made some, sir. But… sir, you did stay out last night, didn’t you?”
“Sung-guk, did you sneak off with some woman? Where did you go? No, wait… who exactly is this woman you’re seeing?”
“Sir, you didn’t just go to some club last night feeling lonely and dance with women like those American guys with horns on their butts, did you?”
Mark and Lim Mi-mi interrogated me from the start of the new year.
[Sigh… how do I tell them the truth.]
Last night, I welcomed the new year cozily with the checkered shirt gang, received congratulations for turning twenty, and dozed off on the company sofa before rubbing my eyes and coming home this morning.
In other words, it was a night where nothing happened—more uneventful than that.
“Sung-guk, why aren’t you saying anything? Did you really go to a club like Mi-mi said?”
But I couldn’t just leave this misunderstanding as it was.
“Mark, Lim Mi-mi… I… went to the office.”
“The office? Sung-guk, did you go there to crack the whip on the people working late again?”
“I’m not some ruthless business owner.”
“Sure you’re not! I haven’t seen Sam and Adam actually go home.”
“That’s because Sam and Adam are workaholics too… and there’s nothing to do at home anyway, so they don’t go! Our company has comfortable sofas and unlimited snacks and coffee. There’s even beer in the fridge!”
Mark shook his head.
“Mark, if Lim Mi-mi hadn’t saved you, you wouldn’t have been much different from Sam or Adam.”
“That’s true….”
Just then, the front door opened and Jeon Tae-guk came in.
Jeon Tae-guk’s face was covered with dark stubble, and he looked quite haggard.
Mark smiled brightly and patted Jeon Tae-guk’s shoulder.
“Tae-guk, how was your date?”
But the face of Jeon Tae-guk, who had finally received the attention he’d been longing for from Myung Hae-jin, looked quite different from last night.
“We didn’t go on a date.”
“What do you mean? You went out with Myung Hae-jin yesterday.”
“That’s… let me drink some water first….”
Tae-guk gulped down cold water as if his insides were burning.
“I drove excitedly thinking we were going on a date. I was rambling on about maybe watching the first sunrise of the new year or getting a suite room to welcome the morning… but then Hae-jin suddenly said she wanted to go to her hotel.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Mark, hear me out before you judge.”
Jeon Tae-guk took another sip of water.
“I thought, well, I’ve come this far… so I floored it to the hotel like a madman. But then… Myung Hae-jin just dropped me off in front and told me to go home.”
“That’s because it’s your first day dating… but still, shouldn’t you at least have a drink together, even if you don’t spend the night?”
“Right, so I suggested we go to the hotel lounge, but she said she was tired. Jet lag. Then she just went into the hotel and disappeared.”
“Hyung, then… why are you coming in now?”
“If I just went home like that, I’d be humiliated. So I grabbed a nearby hotel, drank alone, and fell asleep… but this morning when I woke up, I had a feeling Lim Mi-mi would be making rice cake soup, so I came.”
Mark barely suppressed a laugh.
“Tae-guk, your instincts about rice cake soup are spot-on… but since you two decided to date, just do better from today on.”
“But Mark… what did you do after you and Lim Mi-mi decided to date?”
I shook my head in disbelief.
Here was Mark, who’d lived his entire life single until he was practically saved by Lim Mi-mi from North Korea, asking about dating advice….
What was even funnier was that Mark was giving his counsel with complete seriousness.
“Tae-guk, I think you should be the one to suggest the first date. The way Myung Hae-jin just left yesterday—in my opinion, it’s because she confessed first instead of you asking her out. That’s why she felt awkward.”
“Oh, that’s right! Why didn’t I think of that? She was embarrassed because she confessed first. But I didn’t even properly ask her out on a date… man, I was such an idiot!”
“Exactly, Tae-guk. Plan out a proper date course today and ask her officially.”
“Got it, Mark!”
Is this what you’d call a conversation between fools?
[Myung Hae-jin left like that yesterday because of me, Jeon Tae-guk.]
Lim Mi-mi came over and clicked her tongue.
“Boss, you two are both absolutely ridiculous.”
“Lim Mi-mi, but why did you accept Mark’s date request?”
“Hmm… he’s cute.”
Lim Mi-mi smiled sweetly.
[Love really does make people foolish. I shouldn’t do this….]
* * *
Myung Hae-jin checked Jeon Sung-guk’s FaceNote.
Countless people were following Sung-guk.
And last night, Sung-guk’s FaceNote was practically exploding with women sending him date requests.
Jeon Sung-guk’s minor status had finally been lifted.
Myung Hae-jin snapped her laptop shut with a sharp sound and pulled out a beer can first thing in the morning. Then she thought of Jeon Sung-guk.
The man who’d given Jeon Tae-guk a personally selected Phillip Katsutake as a graduation gift.
But the CEO of FaceNote and YouTube.
He might very well become wealthier than Jeon Tae-guk, the heir to Samjeon Group.
On top of that, he had handsome features and a spoiled, self-centered personality.
‘He’s exactly my type….’
Myung Hae-jin chugged her beer.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
There was a knock on the hotel room door, and her personal secretary Seo Se-jung entered.
“Miss, you’re awake?”
“Yeah.”
Seo Se-jung was Myung Hae-jin’s junior from university—intelligent, but conveniently poor enough to be useful.
“Miss, I was thinking about setting your departure date. Should I book the flight?”
“Not yet.”
“Then I’ll extend the hotel stay. And… Jeon Tae-guk called the hotel several times saying your phone was off. He asked me to relay a message for you to get back to him.”
“Hmm… got it. I’ll handle that myself. Oh, and… would you go meet someone for me?”
“Who?”
“Jeon Sung-guk. You know him?”
“Yes, he’s quite a famous person.”
“Go tell him I want to meet with him separately.”
Seo Se-jung stared at Myung Hae-jin with wide eyes.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you contacted him directly?”
‘Because he won’t answer if I contact him directly, that’s why!’
Myung Hae-jin took another sip of her beer.
“Se-jung, when you were my junior, I liked that you were poor but smart. But now that you’re my employee, don’t talk back—just listen to what I say. I’m your meal ticket.”
“Yes…”
Seo Se-jung quickly bowed her head.
“And… tell him that if he doesn’t show up, there will be consequences.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if you explained what those consequences are? That way the other person might be more frightened?”
Myung Hae-jin appreciated this side of Seo Se-jung.
Poor, yet intelligent… and she knew how to intimidate others wisely depending on the situation.
“Tell him that if he doesn’t show up, I’ll use every method at my disposal to harm his family business back in Korea.”
“Yes, I understand.”
* * *
“Sam, YouTube will turn profitable next year. Completely…”
“Really?”
Sam’s face was filled with emotion.
It seemed unbelievable that YouTube, Google’s perpetual money-losing headache, would finally achieve profitability.
“So here’s the thing… we need to prepare even more thoroughly to ensure streaming has no issues, right?”
“Sung-guk… does that mean working even harder in 2010?”
“Harder isn’t even the word. I mean work yourself to death.”
“Don’t worry, Sung-guk.”
“Sam, still, if you have time left over, go date someone or something. I don’t want to become an exploitative boss.”
“You always give me impossible missions, Sung-guk.”
“But that’s exactly what makes you pull them off.”
“Well, I’ll do my best.”
Sam left the office with an awkward smile.
Then came a knock on the door.
Who could it be?
The door cracked open, and an unfamiliar woman poked her head through.
Her round eyes and bright smile left a striking impression.
She appeared to be Korean, but I addressed her in English.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Seo Se-jung, personal secretary to Myung Hae-jin. You’re Jeon Sung-guk, correct?”
[She speaks English quite well.]
I continued in English.
“What brings you here?”
“Myung Hae-jin asked me to relay a message to you.”
“Come in and have a seat.”
Seo Se-jung entered the Conference Room and sat across from me.
Then her face suddenly clicked into place in my memory.
Myung Hae-jin’s junior from university!
Due to her family’s financial hardship, she’d abandoned her bar exam preparations and worked as Myung Hae-jin’s personal secretary for several years. After saving enough money, she passed the bar exam in just one year and became a prosecutor.
Why do I remember this?
[Seo Se-jung, it’s been a while. When I was Vice Chairman of Samjeon Group, the special prosecutor indicted me for allegedly buying horses for the president’s inner circle member’s daughter. We met then and talked for quite a long time… though you probably won’t remember. This is something from the future, after all.]
I straightened my posture.
In my past life, we were on opposing sides, but perhaps this time things could be different.
“Hello, my apologies for the late introduction. I’m Jeon Sung-guk, CEO of FaceNote and YouTube. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

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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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