I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 379
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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 379
– Apparently Jeon Sung-guk voted for himself in the fan club naming poll, choosing “The Most Beautiful Sung-guk”.
– How does our CEO never disappoint us?
– He really knows how handsome he is lol
– I wish I could live for just one day with that face!
– I never understood why our CEO doesn’t have a girlfriend, but now I see he loves himself the most.
– CEO, I hope you never fall in love!
On Donkey Ears, the fact that I had voted for “The Most Beautiful Sung-guk” in the fan club naming poll was being circulated.
[I only… I only… pressed it by accident!!! This is so unfair!!!]
But no one understood my grievance.
“Sigh… It’s true that success brings loneliness…”
I decided to silently carry all the karmic burden I must bear in this lifetime.
A handsome face.
Outstanding abilities.
Success at such a young age.
I shrugged my shoulders.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
At the sudden sound of knocking, I quickly closed my laptop.
Then I answered in an unnecessarily solemn voice.
“Who is it?”
The door cracked open and Jeon Tae-guk, Adam, and Sam poked their heads in one after another. All three were clearly struggling to hold back their laughter.
At that moment, Jeon Tae-guk spoke while barely suppressing his laughter.
“The Most Beautiful Sung-guk… pfft!”
Adam and Sam were biting their lips, trying to contain their laughter.
“Sung-guk, I explained to Adam and Sam what ‘The Most Beautiful’ means.”
[I figured as much…]
Adam and Sam simply smiled without saying anything.
“Adam, Sam… stop laughing like that and say something.”
Finally, Adam opened his mouth.
“Sung-guk, I’m just jealous that you have a fan club.”
“Me too, Sung-guk.”
“Sung-guk, how about we have a beer to celebrate ‘The Most Beautiful’ living in our South Korea home?”
“Just say you want to drink, hyung.”
“I’m creating a reason to drink, that’s all.”
At that moment, my phone rang. It was Dennis.
Dennis hadn’t arrived yet because of the Sevens music video meeting.
When I answered, I heard Dennis’s exhausted voice.
– Sung-guk…
“Dennis, what’s wrong?”
– Sung-guk, please, get me out of this meeting hell.
“Are you still in the meeting?”
– Min-guk is throwing out so many ideas I feel like I’m dying. I told them I was going to the restroom and snuck out to call you. Please come and stop him.
[Min-guk seems to be doing well, though….]
But in this moment, I desperately wanted to escape from this creative hell.
“Dennis, I’ll come pick you up. Just wait a little longer.”
– Okay.
I hung up and looked at Jeon Tae-guk, Adam, and Sam, who were all staring at me with regretful expressions.
“I need to go pick up Dennis. You three keep drinking for now.”
* * *
When I opened the door to the semi-basement practice room, Dennis was sitting there with vacant eyes, conversing with the Sevens members.
Dennis greeted me with an exhausted face.
“Sung-guk….”
Min-guk also brightened up when he saw me.
“Hyung!”
Min-guk and the other Sevens members were definitely full of energy.
[Youth really is wonderful.]
“Min-guk, it’s already past 10 PM. Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”
“Hyung, pinning down the music video concept is so difficult. We have so many ideas. They all seem fun, so it’s hard to decide….”
Min-guk laughed sheepishly.
At times like this, his IQ of 160 really showed.
“Min-guk, you’ve already discussed a lot today. How about leaving the rest to Dennis?”
Dennis looked up at me as if I were a savior.
[Dennis, as an investor, I can’t let the director burn out over something like this.]
“Dennis, why don’t you wrap up the meeting and organize what you’ve discussed?”
“Ah… guys, I’ll organize your opinions today and discuss several concepts with Director Bang early next week. How does that sound?”
“Sounds good!”
All the Sevens members agreed.
After the long meeting ended and everyone was gathering their things, Jung-woo hesitantly approached me.
Jung-woo was my first friend in this lifetime.
The chubby Jung-woo from childhood had grown quite tall in the meantime, and his face had become sharper. Rather than handsome, he had a distinctive, characterful face.
According to Bang Mu-hyuk, Jung-woo was the best English speaker among the members and studied well, serving as the team’s brain.
[All of that I instilled in Jung-woo starting from when he was eight years old.]
Jung-woo called out to me quietly.
“Sung-guk….”
“Yeah, Jung-woo….”
But as years passed and I became an investor in Sevens while Jung-woo became a member of Sevens, each living our own lives, the brief friendship from elementary school had long since become awkward.
“Sung-guk, do you have a moment?”
“What’s wrong?”
“My mom should arrive in about thirty minutes. She wanted to see you…”
Jung-woo’s mother was like a benefactor to me.
Before Jung-woo’s family went bankrupt, they lived in the largest unit in our apartment complex. I used the excuse of visiting Jung-woo’s house to study what I wanted and freely indulge in expensive snacks.
“Right, let’s pay our respects to your mother after so long.”
“Want to take a walk for thirty minutes? There’s a park nearby.”
“Sure….”
I turned to look at Dennis.
“Dennis, let’s head out in thirty minutes. That okay?”
“Uh… I was going to organize some meeting notes.”
Suddenly, Min-guk’s eyes sparkled as he approached Dennis.
“Dennis, I have an idea I didn’t finish explaining earlier. Thirty minutes should be enough.”
“U-uh, uh… sure.”
Dennis nodded with eyes full of dread.
I quickly patted Min-guk on the back.
[That’s my brother for you!]
* * *
Jung-woo and I took an evening walk together for the first time since elementary school ended.
“Sung-guk, walking with you like this brings back old memories. You and I used to go to your place right after school every day back then.”
“Jung-woo, you remember all of that?”
“Not in detail, but I remember a lot. You told me to contact you if I wanted to rebuild my family, so I came looking for you.”
[This guy only remembers the good parts.]
“Sung-guk, I don’t think I’ve ever said this before… but I’m really grateful. My life has changed so much because of you.”
“Jung-woo, your life hasn’t even really started yet.”
[I already know everything about how Sevens will turn out!]
Jung-woo smiled softly.
“I still can’t believe I’m debuting as a member of an idol group. And your brother is in the same group, and you’re the investor on top of that.”
[You can repay my gratitude with profits after your debut, Jung-woo.]
Jung-woo thanked me awkwardly, and we walked in silence for a while.
Then Jung-woo stopped and looked at me.
“Sung-guk, can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Do you… have any friends your age?”
“Friends my age….”
Honestly, I didn’t have a single one.
Between the GED and skipping grades repeatedly, friends like Mark and Dennis were all significantly older than me.
I shrugged and looked at Jung-woo.
“I don’t think I do….”
“Then, could we be friends again?”
[So that’s why you deliberately asked for a walk.]
I extended my hand to Jung-woo first.
This was something the more magnanimous person should initiate.
“Jung-woo, I’ve always considered you a friend.”
“Really?”
[Otherwise, why would I debut you as a member of Sevens?]
Jung-woo gripped my hand tightly.
[Having a friend the same age is nice….]
That’s when it happened.
A car horn blared loudly from somewhere in the distance.
What was that?
Jung-woo’s eyes widened as he looked toward the source of the sound.
“Huh, Mom?”
Then Jung-woo bolted toward where the horn was coming from.
I ran after Jung-woo.
There, Jung-woo’s mother’s compact car had collided with an expensive foreign vehicle.
Jung-woo’s mother stepped out of her car with a flustered expression, bowing repeatedly to the man in the foreign car.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?”
“Seriously, lady… if you can’t drive better than a pot lid, why are you dragging your car out here and ramming into mine? Huh?!”
The man was already shouting.
I quickly assessed the situation.
In the narrow alley with cars parked tightly on both sides, it was a situation where both drivers had to navigate carefully—neither party was clearly at fault.
I approached Jung-woo’s mother.
“Ma’am, it’s me, Sung-guk.”
“Oh my… Sung-guk!”
Jung-woo’s mother brightened at the sight of me, then her expression turned troubled.
“Sung-guk, I came to pick up Jung-woo and was hoping to see you too…. But to meet you like this, what do I do.”
“Lady! Is this the time to chat?”
The man erupted with a shout.
I quickly tried to calm Jung-woo’s mother.
“Ma’am, let me talk to him.”
Then I examined the man and his car.
It was a car I’d driven briefly in my previous life.
“Hmm… a 2003 Maserati.”
“What?”
The man’s expression darkened.
A 2003 Maserati would be worth less on the used market than Hanseong Group’s standard vehicle.
He was the typical arrogant type—wanting to drive a foreign car but lacking the means.
“This is a narrow alley where both drivers need to be careful. The insurance company will likely call it mutual fault. And… even if it’s a 2003 model, you shouldn’t just start shouting because it’s a foreign car.”
“You barely have hair on your head and you’re trying to lecture an adult? Where do you get off?”
“I’m not lecturing—I’m just stating facts. One moment.”
I quickly called Kim Mi-so’s secretary.
Kim Mi-so’s secretary answered groggily.
– CEO, what’s the matter at this hour?
“A friend of mine was in a car accident. It’s near Nonhyeon Station. Send a lawyer, please.”
The man listening to me visibly tensed.
I hung up and stared at him.
“I’ll report this to the police and file a claim with the insurance company. The rest will be handled by my personal lawyer. Give me your contact information.”
“Why would I give you my contact information? Who are you to step in on behalf of this woman? Huh?”
“Because this happened to my friend’s mother.”
Jung-woo and his mother looked quite moved by my words.
I shrugged and handed the man my business card.
“I’m Jeon Sung-guk.”
“Jeon Sung-guk… I’ve heard that name somewhere before….”
[Do I really have to be the one to explain this?]
At that moment, Jung-woo stepped forward.
“You know FaceNote, right? He’s the CEO there. A genius entrepreneur born in South Korea. Is there anyone in South Korea who doesn’t know CEO Jeon Sung-guk?”
[Jung-woo… I also have YouTube, Instagrim, and Alpha….]
The man’s face showed clear surprise at Jung-woo’s words.
“Ah… I think I’ve heard of it… but what does that have to do with this accident….”
Now it was my turn to speak.
“It has nothing to do with the accident. It’s just that as a friend, I can’t stand by and watch an unfair situation happen to my friend’s mother.”
At the same moment, I saw a lawyer rushing over.
“CEO Jeon!!! I happened to be having a beer near Nonhyeon Station, so I could get here first. I’m Kim Sung-taek, a lawyer at LN Law.”
“Have you had much to drink?”
“No, sir. I only had half a glass of beer before I heard the news and rushed right out!”
There was barely any smell of alcohol on him.
Then the man driving the foreign car approached with a panicked expression.
“I… CEO….”
His voice was tinged with servility.
“Since it’s a narrow street with no streetlights, it seems both parties share some fault… let’s just call it even and forget it happened. Looking at it now, there’s just a slight scratch on the front.”
“Are you really sure about this?”
“Of course! I’m completely fine with it.”
At that moment, Kim Sung-taek from LN Law stepped forward.
“Wait… weren’t you at the beer place near Nonhyeon Station earlier?”
“That wasn’t me. Anyway, let’s just forget this accident happened!”
The man looked flustered and tried to quickly get into his car.
[I absolutely cannot overlook drunk driving!]
Jung-woo and I exchanged a glance and rushed toward the man getting into the driver’s seat.
“Jung-woo, I’ll grab the man.”
“Sung-guk, I’ll get the front door.”
We finished speaking and simultaneously rushed forward, grabbing the man and the front door.
The man was completely immobilized in front of us, both over 180 centimeters tall.
“You said we’d forget about it…! Please!”
The man alternated between outrage and pleading, his emotions swinging wildly.
“Driving under the influence is absolutely unacceptable. If you get behind the wheel again like this, you could hit not just a car but a person, and I simply cannot allow that to happen!”
“Ah, just let me go!!! Let me go!!!”
The man made one final desperate struggle, and at that precise moment, the police officer summoned by Lawyer Kim Sung-taek arrived.
I handed the man over to the police.
“It appears you were driving under the influence.”
“Yes, we’ll verify that.”
The man underwent a breathalyzer test on the spot and was immediately taken away in the police car.
One of the officers approached Jung-woo and me, asking for our contact information.
“You two have worked very hard. Could I get your contact information? It looks like there may be a small reward coming.”
I quickly pointed to Jung-woo.
“This friend did most of the work, Officer.”
[Jung-woo, you’re about to become an idol who won a Brave Citizen Award!]
Then Jung-woo quickly pointed back at me.
“Officer, this friend did most of the work.”
“Just give me both of your contact information.”
“Ah, yes.”
We handed our contact information to the officer, and the police car carrying Arrogant Man disappeared from view.
Jung-woo grabbed my shoulder firmly.
“Sung-guk, I’m really grateful. It all worked out well thanks to you.”
“There’s no need to thank me between friends….”
I shrugged my shoulders.
[Be grateful you have me as a friend, Choi Jung-woo.]
At that moment, a message arrived that shattered the touching moment.
It was a message from Lee Hyun-hee, the fan club cafe manager I had momentarily forgotten about.
– CEO Jeon Sung-guk! Our cafe name has been confirmed as 【The Best Sung-guk】!
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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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