I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 396

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

Chapter 396
Steven Spielberg and Dennis had been intensely focused on the Sevens music video for quite some time.
I approached the two of them quietly.
“Steven, Dennis. Would it be alright if I posted this scene of you two meeting and discussing on my FaceNote? The sight of brilliant film directors working so hard is just too impressive.”
Steven Spielberg nodded.
“I’d be honored.”
“Sung-guk, I really want to capture this moment too. Who knows when I’ll ever get another chance to have a conversation like this with Director Steven Spielberg in my lifetime?”
[Both of them have fallen right into my trap.]
I smiled and took a few steps back.
Then I quietly filmed with my phone camera.
Click!
* * *
– Born different from other groups! A scene of Director Steven Spielberg and rising director Dennis Chazelle discussing the music video for the soon-to-debut group Sevens has been posted on CEO Jeon Sung-guk’s FaceNote, drawing the attention of netizens everywhere.
– What kind of group is Sevens anyway? Already drawing intense interest!
– A seven-member male idol group created by producer Bang Mu-hyuk. Known for the hip-hop idol concept….
– Members of Sevens, the group that includes Jeon Min-guk, CEO Jeon Sung-guk’s younger brother, are being revealed one by one.
– Sevens, a male idol group from the small production company established by producer Bang Mu-hyuk! Drawing intense interest!
Thanks to the scene I posted on FaceNote, the internet the next day was practically flooded with articles about Sevens.
Dennis, who had been editing the Sevens music video with Steven Spielberg late into the night, emerged from his room with a disheveled face.
“Sung-guk… Director Steven Spielberg is coming again today, right?”
“Yeah. He’s decided to accompany me for a few days. He even wants to come to my home and eat tteokguk with us on New Year’s Day….”
“People like Director Steven Spielberg really aren’t just anyone, I guess. Even though he must have been tired yesterday, he didn’t miss a single detail.”
“Dennis, take this opportunity to learn a lot from Director Steven Spielberg so you can hurry up and shoot Whiplash.”
“The director already said he’d introduce me to some actors when he goes back to the United States. Casting actors for low-budget films is really difficult, you know.”
“Hmm… Could I watch the auditions too?”
“Of course. You’re the investor…. Can you clear your schedule in Korea and come?”
“I’ll try… and if I can’t, could you set it up so I can watch the auditions via video call?”
“Sure! Let’s think about that slowly.”
“Okay….”
The casting for Whiplash was truly crucial.
I already knew who should play the conductor wielding the whip in the film. Only by securing that actor could Whiplash succeed.
Ding!
My phone message alert went off.
Who could it be this early in the morning?
It was a message from Min-guk.
– Hyung, I’m getting totally terrorized right now. And it’s all because of you!
What on earth was he talking about?
I quickly called Min-guk. Soon I heard his voice trembling over the phone.
– Sniff…
“Min-guk, what’s going on?”
– You posted a photo of Steven Spielberg on FaceNote, didn’t you?
“Yeah.”
– And then this morning, articles about me debuting with Sevens started flooding in.
Min-guk continued speaking, his voice trembling.
“Why is that a problem?”
– The comments went crazy. People saying I have no talent and I’m debuting because of your help…. I can handle being mocked myself, but there are tons of comments attacking our family too.
“They’re touching our family?”
In that instant, my trigger was pulled.
– Hyung, check out Sevens’ YouTube. There are insane amounts of comments on my personal practice videos.
“Alright, stop crying now… Min-guk, from now on, don’t let yourself get hurt or shaken by small comments like these. There are far more people who care about you than there are people leaving malicious comments. Understand?”
– Mm-hmm.
I barely managed to calm Min-guk down before hanging up.
It was always the case that once you became famous, you’d attract attention—whether good or bad.
I went to Sevens’ YouTube and scrolled through the comments.
– The older brother’s an attention seeker, and so is the younger one.
– His face isn’t even that great either. There really is no younger brother like the older one.
– Wouldn’t it be better if Jeon Sung-guk debuted instead?
[Hmm… those are all fair points, actually.]
Min-guk could be hurt by them, but they weren’t entirely wrong.
I tilted my head.
[Jeon Min-guk, you can’t let something like this wound you. From now on, being compared to me is your destiny as my younger brother….]
But the next comment held a twist.
– Is it Jeon Min-guk or Minggu? That lisp is disgusting.
– How many kids does that family have anyway? I heard there’s another younger sister below. Is that bitch debuting too?
– Jeon Sung-guk always talks like he was born into poverty and worked so hard…. Did he really have three kids while being dirt poor?
The intensity of the comments was escalating.
And just as Min-guk said, they started attacking the family.
– His singing is absolutely terrible.
– Is that dancing? I could do better than that.
– What’s with this hip-hop idol group? You bastards who disrespect hip-hop, go die!
On top of that, comments mocking Sevens as a whole were crossing the line.
You couldn’t win everyone’s love, but that didn’t mean you had to tolerate malicious comments either.
I quickly called Bang Mu-hyuk.
– Uh… Sung-guk….
Bang Mu-hyuk’s voice sounded groggy—he’d been in meetings late last night about Sevens’ music video.
“Sir, have you seen the comments on Sevens’ YouTube?”
– Not yet… I just woke up.
“There are quite a lot of malicious comments.”
– Ah… the kids must be hurt seeing those comments again.
“Sir, no matter how I think about it, we can’t just leave the malicious comments alone. I’d like to start taking legal action against them from now on.”
Bang Mu-hyuk’s voice grew slightly more urgent at my words.
– Sung-guk, I don’t think that’s the right approach….
“Why not?”
– Celebrities deal with malicious comments all the time… If we start suing for negative comments before debut, it might just damage Sevens’ image unnecessarily.
“Celebrities deal with it all the time, so they just endure it, which is why they develop mental health issues and even commit suicide. Sir, this involves the future management of FaceNote and YouTube, which I’m operating. Malicious commenters who poison people’s minds need to face consequences.”
– That’s true, but… let’s think about this a bit more.
Bang Mu-hyuk broke into a cold sweat trying to appease me even after that.
Bang Mu-hyuk’s logic was simple.
A group that hadn’t even debuted yet. On top of that, he was burdened by the fact that a group more famous for my name was pursuing legal action against malicious commenters before debut—something even famous idols rarely did for fan management purposes.
But then something happened that really set me off.
* * *
– Jeon Min-guk was a school bully in middle school. You know those types who always sit in the back and make others buy them bread? He was so cocky because of his older brother.
I got traumatized because he made me buy him bread, and I’m still in therapy for it. Just thinking about seeing that bastard’s face on TV makes me lose it.
Some guy had left a false comment calling Min-guk a school bully.
Min-guk showed up at my Hannam-dong home with puffy, swollen eyes.
“Hyung… I’ve never been a bully….”
I knew better than anyone that Min-guk would never do such a thing.
“Min-guk, there’s no way you’re a bully. You’re such a coward… Besides, you don’t even like bread.”
“Hyung… are you trying to comfort me?”
“I’m just stating facts.”
“Hyung, replies are piling up on that comment and I’m being completely trashed.”
I scrolled through the comments that had accumulated.
– Trash like that shouldn’t even debut, he should withdraw now!
– Wow, what character. He’s doing this because he trusts his older brother.
– I went to the same middle school as Min-guk. I can vouch for this. Jeon Min-guk is a real asshole and definitely a school bully!!!
Even absurd witness comments were being posted as lies.
This situation was absolutely unbearable now.
I grabbed Min-guk’s shoulders firmly.
“Min-guk, this is something we can prove. Don’t worry too much. But you need to steel yourself from now on.”
“What do you mean, hyung?”
“If it’s like this before debut, what do you think it’ll be like after?”
“Huh?”
“From now on, you’re going to adopt a cool concept.”
“Cool? What’s that?”
Min-guk sniffled through his nose.
“You respond indifferently to comments like these. Post something on SNS right now.”
“What?”
“I will definitely reveal the truth about the school bully rumors circulating on the internet. And for those malicious commenters who posted false comments, I will be pursuing legal action, so prepare yourselves.”
Min-guk’s eyes widened.
“Hyung, isn’t that too harsh?”
“Min-guk, from now on, you’re going with this concept. My older brother is talented, and I’m talented too. Do you know how many tears of blood I’ve shed to get here? While you guys were sleeping at school, I was sweating buckets in the practice room! That’s the hunger and the fire!”
“Hunger and fire… that sounds like your concept, hyung….”
I grabbed Min-guk’s shoulders firmly and shook him again.
“Min-guk, just trust your hyung.”
“Hyung… for some reason, I don’t think I should trust you this time… Hyung, first I’m going to post on SNS about my grievances.”
[Hmm… I’m not so sure about this.]
I nodded reluctantly.
“If that doesn’t work, we do it my way, got it?”
“Yeah! Hyung!”
* * *
– Jeon Sung-guk, CEO of Sevens, plagued by school bully rumors even before debut. Now stepping in to save Jeon Min-guk!
– Sevens’ Jeon Min-guk’s school bully rumors: malicious commenters being sued.
Once these articles went up, internet opinion spiraled even further downward.
Now Min-guk posted his own statement directly on his SNS. In his own way.
– Hello. I’m Jeon Min-guk, a member of Sevens.
Recently, posts have been circulating online saying I was a school bully and that I made people buy me bread. This has caused a lot of controversy.
But I’ve been a trainee since middle school, so I literally only slept at school! Even if I wanted to be a bully, I was too tired to do it! Please believe me!!!
The moment Min-guk’s statement went up on SNS, something strange began to happen. Testimonies from classmates who attended the same middle school started pouring in.
– Min-guk’s right about everything. He’d always come back from practice and sleep because he was exhausted! But somehow he’d mysteriously wake up during lunch to run out and eat. It was hilarious.
– Min-guk was famous since childhood, so he couldn’t have been a bully. The guy who wrote that comment doesn’t know Min-guk was a child actor. He just slept in the back of the classroom, but female students would always come and leave him bread and snacks, so he never had to ask anyone to buy him anything.
– Right. Right! I got free bread and snacks from Min-guk all the time.
– Min-guk, it’s me, Sang-chul. I grew up eating the bread you gave me back then, and now I’m over 180cm tall. It’s all thanks to the bread you gave me!
– Oh, and he was always complaining about how talented his hyung was and how hard his life was. He said whenever summer break came, his hyung would make him study English and send him to some rural language academy in the middle of nowhere in America.
– Min-guk, I remember him always saying he was talented too but got overshadowed by his hyung. The thing is, he’d complain about it and then just go back to sleeping.
I thought Jeon Min-guk came to school to sleep. He even brought a pillow and took a good nap at school lol
[Min-guk brought a pillow to school to sleep?]
Based on his classmates’ testimonies, Min-guk’s school life was simple.
Arrive at school – Sleep – Eat lunch – Sleep – Go home.
I let out an involuntary sigh.
[No wonder with an IQ of 160, his school grades are always like that!]
I drew the character for patience in my mind.
Contrary to my frustration, Min-guk was becoming a star on the internet.
As photos of Min-guk sleeping with the pillow his classmates had posted spread around, the school bully rumors quickly faded. But I had no intention of dropping the lawsuit.
Rumors had to be completely eradicated.
Steven Spielberg smiled slightly as he watched me looking at SNS.
“Sung-guk, even someone like you can’t predict your younger brother, it seems.”
“The only person I can’t predict is my family.”
Steven Spielberg nodded deeply.
“Watching Sung-guk’s daily life, I’ve come to understand why you live so diligently. And why you cited family as the secret to your success. You live your life minimizing mistakes to protect your family, don’t you?”
“Well, I suppose that’s it.”
“By the way, my brother said something about Sung-guk… I’m thinking of developing a film based on that concept.”
[Could it be what he said back in the practice room?]
“He said his older brother is ruthless and heartless….”
[Ah, Jeon Min-guk! This guy!]
“But I found that phrase oddly compelling. In society, he’s a cold-blooded, ruthless businessman, and he’s the same way with his family, but I thought—wasn’t Sung-guk’s survival method in this society born from having nothing at all?”
[The more I listen, the better the interpretation becomes… truly, Steven Spielberg is a master director.]
I looked at Steven Spielberg.
“Steven, tomorrow is Lunar New Year in Korea. Why don’t you come to our home and have a bowl of tteokguk with us?”
“I’d love that!”

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————