I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 286

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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 286
Ji-hee stared at me with bright, eager eyes.
[I couldn’t very well tell her that a younger sibling was a burden on life.]
I let out a frustrated sigh.
This situation clearly required a strategy.
“Ji-hee, this isn’t something you can decide on your own.”
“Then what, oppa?”
“I think this calls for a family meeting.”
I said it firmly.
* * *
It was nearly 11 PM before everyone gathered—Father had returned from work, and Min-guk had finished his practice.
Sleep was already claiming Ji-hee’s eyelids, but since this was her own request, she forced her drowsy eyes open.
“Sung-guk, why did you call us all together?”
“Father, I thought this situation warranted a family meeting.”
“What situation requires a family meeting?”
At that moment, Ji-hee’s hand shot up.
“Father! Ji-hee needs a younger sibling!”
“A younger sibling?”
Mother, who had endured Ji-hee’s pestering all day, exhaled a long sigh.
“Honey, she came back from a friend’s house and has been going on about wanting a younger sibling all day. Earlier she was crying and carrying on something fierce.”
“I see….”
Mother and Father exchanged bewildered glances at Ji-hee.
“Ji-hee, a younger sibling isn’t a toy. You can’t just throw a tantrum and have one appear. Once they’re born, you’re responsible for them for life.”
[Exactly what I was thinking!]
Father did his best to console her.
But Ji-hee continued shaking her head vigorously.
“Father, Ji-hee wants a younger sibling! I’m the only one without one! Sung-guk oppa and Min-guk oppa both have younger siblings!”
“On the other hand, Sung-guk oppa doesn’t have an older brother.”
“But he has two younger siblings.”
Ji-hee countered with pure illogic.
Then Min-guk suddenly raised his hand.
“Go ahead, Min-guk. What do you want to say?”
Min-guk looked at Ji-hee more coldly than ever before.
“Ji-hee, let me tell you something as someone who has both an older brother above and a younger sibling below.”
“Okay!”
“The older brother above is talented and constantly meddles in everyone else’s life. The younger sibling below follows only the oldest oppa around all day and ignores the second oppa. Ji-hee, if a younger sibling was born and didn’t follow you like you imagined—what would you do? What if the younger sibling skipped over you and only followed me or Sung-guk oppa like you do now? Have you thought about any of that?”
“….”
In that moment, Ji-hee was at a loss for words.
It was clear she had never considered the possibility that a younger sibling might not follow her around.
“See? You never even thought about this, did you? Because you’re the youngest, you think we older brothers will always give in to you, that it’s all natural. But if someone younger and cuter is born, do you really think we’ll treat you the same way?”
Min-guk had begun his full-fledged blackmail campaign.
“Ji-hee will love her little brother too! She doesn’t need her older brothers’ affection! I’m going to give my entire strawberry cake to my little brother. Then my little brother will love me.”
“Really? What if Sung-guk, the older brother you adore, suddenly starts favoring your little brother over you? What if he only brings back dolls for your little brother when he comes from the United States? Would you like that?”
“That, that’s….”
I quickly stopped Min-guk.
“Jeon Min-guk, that’s enough. Blackmailing like that is cheating.”
“Look at this. I have one older brother, but he’s always on Ji-hee’s side. Ji-hee, take a good look. This is your future!”
“Waaaah!”
Ji-hee burst into tears.
[Really, when did Min-guk become such a fact-bombing machine?]
Father quickly scooped Ji-hee into his arms.
“Ji-hee, it seems Min-guk had a rough day. Let’s get you to bed now, and we can talk about this tomorrow. How does that sound?”
“I hate you, Min-guk oppa!”
“Go ahead and hate me. When your little brother is born, he’ll probably hate you just as much as you hate me right now!”
Min-guk even threw in a curse for good measure.
I grabbed Min-guk by the shoulder.
“Jeon Min-guk, look at me.”
* * *
Click.
As the door closed, Min-guk removed the hat he’d been wearing.
Min-guk stared at me with his brow deeply furrowed.
“Hyung, why?”
I could sense something irritable in his voice.
“Jeon Min-guk, what happened at the company?”
“…Sigh.”
Min-guk exhaled a sigh instead of answering. Something had definitely happened.
“Tell your hyung.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. You were completely irritable today and even snapped at Ji-hee.”
“I didn’t snap—I just told the truth.”
“What’s the problem then?”
When I pressed further, Min-guk flopped onto the bed. Then he wiped his face with his palm as if exhausted.
“This isn’t a problem you can solve for me, hyung.”
“There’s no problem I can’t solve. Tell me freely, and I’ll take care of it.”
Then Min-guk suddenly burst out.
“The girl I like said she doesn’t want to date me because we’re both idol trainees! How are you supposed to solve that, hyung!”
While I was still processing, Min-guk grumbled and left the room.
Jeon Ji-hee wants a little brother, and Jeon Min-guk just got rejected by the girl he likes.
They say a tree with many branches has no peaceful days, but I never imagined a day would come when I’d face problems I couldn’t solve.
I gazed out the window with a bitter expression.
[So my younger siblings are slipping out of my grasp. That can never be allowed.]
* * *
First, I investigated Jeon Min-guk’s FaceNote account.
Ordinary men would predictably follow girls they were interested in and eagerly leave comments—it was far too obvious.
And given Min-guk’s personality, he wouldn’t bother hiding such things.
Since he mentioned she was an idol trainee like him, the pool of candidates narrowed considerably.
Just as I suspected, there was one girl whom Min-guk commented on with remarkable enthusiasm.
“Hmm….”
[So this was his taste?]
The girl was a trainee at a prestigious entertainment company.
Long, straight black hair and fair skin.
[Why does she look familiar?]
In that moment, her name surfaced in my mind.
[Sujin from Jeongneung?]
The boy had surprisingly refined taste.
He admired Sujin, whose future shone brilliantly. The problem, however, was that she was every man’s first love.
Sujin’s FaceNote contained only a handful of photos.
I crossed my arms and fell into contemplation.
[How do I resolve Jeon Min-guk’s first love situation?]
* * *
The sun was gradually breaking through the darkness.
I remained unable to solve two relentless problems.
Jeon Min-guk’s first love seemed destined for rejection, and Jeon Ji-hee’s younger sibling was clearly an impossible mission even for our parents.
I tugged at my hair in frustration before messaging Mark.
– Mark, my younger brother has a crush on a girl, but it looks like he’s been rejected. What should I do in this situation? You have plenty of experience being rejected.
Mark’s reply came quickly.
– Sung-guk, you’re sending messages at this hour? Have you lost your mind?
– I haven’t slept yet. Why haven’t you?
– I didn’t fail to sleep—I was woken by the notification sound. And I haven’t been rejected that many times!
– That just means you haven’t actually attempted that many times, Mark. I know you’ve been rejected hundreds of times in your heart.
– Seriously, Sung-guk, you’re impossible. Anyway, you forget one love with another love.
– Mark, calling you was a mistake. Go back to sleep.
– Sung-guk, your siblings’ matters are important, but don’t forget your interview tomorrow!
No matter how much I thought, I couldn’t find an answer.
[You need to have experienced rejection to know how to handle it!]
* * *
David Oh’s interview results were disappointing.
Mark reached the same conclusion.
“David, you seem to exaggerate quite a bit. The way you speak is almost like a veteran’s, but your actual experience isn’t at that level, is it?”
“I got that feeling too.”
“Sung-guk, are you really sure there’s no one suitable?”
“Hmm… well, there is one person I’ve been thinking about.”
“Who?”
Mark’s eyes widened as he asked.
“Me.”
“What?! Sung-guk, you’re taking over the South Korea branch yourself? What about the work here in the United States?”
“Actually, I do have someone in mind for the South Korea branch director position. But it seems like he won’t have time available for about six months.”
“Who is this person?”
“Yang Chul-soo.”
“Jeon Tae-guk’s former secretary?”
“Yes.”
Secretary Yang, who had been my secretary in my previous life and Jeon Tae-guk’s former secretary in this one, had transferred to Stanford and majored in psychology.
He was currently pursuing an MBA at Wharton School, and this year was his final semester.
“Sung-guk, you’re saying you’ll stay in South Korea yourself just to wait for Yang Chul-soo?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“Isn’t that reckless?”
“I’ve thought this through carefully. South Korea will become the core branch for FaceNote’s expansion into Asia. If that’s the case, I need to establish a proper foundation from the beginning. From marketing to hiring—everything matters.”
“Hmm. That would be ideal, but what about our headquarters?”
“Mark, you’re here.”
“But this is so sudden. What about YouTube?”
“YouTube will also make South Korea its Asian hub. Since we’ll be turning a profit this year, it’s time to focus on Asia.”
Mark looked at me with concern.
I grabbed Mark’s shoulder firmly.
“Mark, don’t worry so much. I’ve made this decision quickly because finding talent isn’t easy, but I’m confident. Video conferencing has improved since before, and if it’s urgent, I can always take a flight.”
“That’s not it.”
“What, is there another problem?”
“You make business decisions so decisively and quickly, but why can’t you do the same with romance? Min-guk’s unrequited love had no solution either, so he asked a nerd like me. Sung-guk, I think you’ve reached an age where you really need to fall in love.”
“Mark.”
I clenched my teeth and called his name.
“What, Sung-guk.”
“Don’t forget that I resolved things between you and Lim Mi-mi’s parents.”
“What does that have to do with romance, Sung-guk? Anyway, whenever the topic of love comes up, you always change the subject.”
Just then, the dog the cafe owner was holding barked.
“Sung-guk, see? Even the puppy is saying something to you.”
In that moment, an idea struck me.
“Mark, I need to go somewhere right now.”
“Where?”
“The Stray Dog Center.”
“Why there all of a sudden?”
“You said it yourself. One love is forgotten by another love.”
“So why are you going there?!”
* * *
Ding dong.
I pressed the doorbell at home.
Then I heard Mother rushing out from inside. Behind her, I could hear Ji-hee running as well.
Click—
The moment the door opened, Mother and Ji-hee stared at me with surprised eyes.
“Sung-guk, what is that?”
I quickly held out the white puppy to Ji-hee.
“Jeon Ji-hee, your oppa brought you a little sister. From now on, this puppy is your little sister, so let’s name her! What do you think?”
“Oppa, is she really my little sister?”
Ji-hee embraced the white puppy with eyes full of emotion.
“There, our Ji-hee has a little sister now, right?”
“Yes! Oppa!”
Ji-hee held the white puppy and broke into a beaming smile.
[One troublesome branch cleared!]
* * *
That night, a family meeting was convened again.
“Well, the reason we’ve gathered today is to name Jeon Ji-hee’s little sister!”
Ji-hee conducted the family meeting with considerable seriousness.
“I’ve prepared three name candidates, and we’ll decide on one based on the majority opinion of the family. First candidate: Cloudy. Second candidate: Love. Third candidate: Whitey!”
Father and Mother chose the first candidate, Cloudy.
But Ji-hee and Min-guk chose Whitey.
Now only my opinion remained.
I quickly nudged Min-guk in the ribs.
“Min-guk, how about posting this on your FaceNote and asking your friends for their opinions? Let’s see what South Korean teenagers prefer.”
“Hmm, maybe….”
Min-guk seemed lukewarm about it.
I whispered quietly to Min-guk.
“Sujin really loves dogs.”
At those words, Min-guk’s eyes widened.
“Hyung….”
“Min-guk, didn’t your hyung say I’d take care of everything?”
“Hyung… I’ll post it on FaceNote right now.”
Min-guk dashed into his room to fetch his laptop.
Watching him go, I smiled contentedly.
[All troublesome branches cleared!]

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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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