I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 95

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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 95
“You’re probably the only Prom King who’d sneak into the dormitory the moment the clock struck ten.”
“I’m eleven years old.”
“Sung-guk, if I had your looks and physique at eleven, I would’ve dated every girl in the neighborhood. I know you grew up in Confucian Korea, but this is the United States. The United States.”
Of course, I understood that well enough.
I simply didn’t want to live that way.
I believed it was more productive to spend my time thinking about becoming a tycoon than getting entangled in romantic relationships.
Once I became a tycoon, women would follow naturally.
I deliberately changed the subject.
“Mark, why didn’t you stay out longer with Amy?”
“Amy said she was tired. But we’re planning to catch a movie together next week. We want to stay close even after Amy goes to college.”
“Isn’t Amy’s school in New York?”
“New York and Boston aren’t that far apart. I think Amy likes me, you know?”
[Then you shouldn’t have come back tonight.]
I shook my head silently.
“Sung-guk, what are you reading?”
“The graduation speech I’ll deliver at the ceremony. I’m the student representative.”
Mark stared at me intently.
“Sung-guk, what’s it like being you?”
“Mark, have you been drinking?”
“A little.”
At the graduation party, students would pass around cheap liquor behind the auditorium.
“I’m genuinely curious, Sung-guk. You’re handsome, brilliant, popular with girls. Yet you’re so aloof. And that aloofness is exactly what makes girls fall for you.”
Mark rattled off my supposed charms.
“Mark, I was born into the poorest family in South Korea. My mother and father were orphans. They had no parents, no one to rely on in this world, so they got married and had me right after high school. To be precise, they married because of me. The place where I was first born was a single room where all three of us lived together. My father worked all day and couldn’t even earn five hundred thousand won a month. Mark, do you still envy me?”
“Sung-guk, there’s something you don’t realize. Regardless, you’re absolutely perfect right now.”
[I’m Jeon Sung-guk, a former tycoon… of course I am.]
Snore. Snore.
Soon I heard Mark’s snoring.
I read through the graduation speech once more.
What I’d told Mark earlier was part of my graduation speech.
* * *
Soon, Mother, Father, and my younger siblings would arrive at JFK Airport to watch the graduation ceremony.
For the past two years, I hadn’t even returned to Korea because of my studies.
My siblings must have grown a lot, just as I had.
My heart raced with anticipation.
“Sung-guk, when your parents see how much you’ve grown, they’ll be truly delighted.”
I’d sent them photos a few times taken with other students over the internet, but the feeling of seeing someone in person is different from photographs.
Then the door opened, and I saw Mother and Father.
Min-guk and Ji-hee walked out holding Mother and Father’s hands.
Father spotted me and waved his hand.
“Sung-guk!”
Mother soon noticed me too, rushing over with a face ready to burst into tears at any moment.
“Sung-guk!”
I quickly ran to Mother and Father.
“Mom, Dad….”
Suddenly.
Father and Mother embraced me.
Father looked at me with astonished eyes.
“Sung-guk, when did you grow so tall? Just a bit more and you’ll be as tall as your father….”
“Sung-guk, you’re even taller than your mother now.”
I truly had grown taller than Mother.
“Hyung!”
“Oppa!”
Min-guk and Ji-hee rushed from behind to embrace me.
Min-guk still had that mischievous face, and Ji-hee had grown into a five-year-old who walked about quite well now.
“Ji-hee, do you remember your oppa?”
“Yes!”
She answered well too.
Father embraced all of us.
“Finally, our whole family is together.”
* * *
As soon as Father arrived at the New York accommodation, he pulled out boiled pork wraps and kimchi procured from Korea, setting up a spread in his signature style.
Mother patted Father’s shoulder.
“Sung-guk said he wanted your boiled pork wraps the most, so before leaving Korea, I was busy making fresh kimchi and vacuum-sealing it. Oh, Sung-guk! Your father expanded the restaurant—want to see it?”
“Yes!”
Mother showed me the restaurant on the digital camera.
“Your father even bought the chicken restaurant next to the original place and expanded it. There are so many more tables now, and lots of customers.”
As the convenience store products became a cash cow, Father’s restaurant thrived along with it.
And now South Korea had completely overcome the IMF foreign exchange crisis and entered a new boom period.
“By the way, Sung-guk. We moved to a new house. Since you’ll be going to university and coming back to Korea often, I thought you should have a room of your own.”
[You should have consulted me about that. I’m the expert here.]
“We moved to the largest unit in the same complex because of Min-guk’s school.”
“Hyung, our house is huge. It’s like a sports field.”
[It’s probably just 60 pyeong. That’s nothing.]
“Sung-guk, we made a separate room just for you.”
Mother showed me pictures of the new house from every corner.
She was still as frugal as ever.
The house had simply grown larger, but all the old appliances and furniture were brought along. However, my room and Min-guk and Ji-hee’s rooms were furnished with new pieces.
“Honey, we should have gotten Sung-guk a bigger bed. I had no idea he’d grow this much.”
“I’ll earn more money and buy you a new one.”
Father answered cheerfully.
“By the way, Sung-guk’s parents, Sung-guk was voted the most popular boy at his high school graduation party.”
“Oh my, they do that in America too?”
Mother and Father couldn’t possibly know about American high school life.
“Yes, at the graduation party they vote for the most popular girl and boy, and they’re crowned prom queen and prom king. Sung-guk was chosen for that.”
“Jeon Sung-guk, why didn’t you tell your father about this when we called?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
Truly, it wasn’t a big deal to me.
“This kid never changes. You’re this prickly, yet you’re that popular?”
“Of course.”
The words I’d been keeping inside now flowed out naturally.
Speaking Korean again after so long felt incredibly comfortable.
Father reached over and ruffled my hair.
“Does our Sung-guk have a girlfriend? I don’t know much about American high school life, but from the movies I’ve seen, high schoolers all seem to date. How about you?”
“Dad, I’m not interested in dating.”
“There’s a girl named Jessie who was crowned prom queen, and she seems to like Sung-guk quite a bit. She keeps inviting Mark, Sung-guk’s roommate, over to her house, and she asked Sung-guk to be her partner for the graduation party.”
“So our Sung-guk really is popular. But Jessie is an American girl, right?”
“Dad, why are you stating the obvious? She has blonde hair and blue eyes.”
Father cleared his throat at my words.
“Are we going to end up with a blonde daughter-in-law?”
“Dad, don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m only thirteen, and Jessie is just a friend.”
“Look at this kid, drawing clear boundaries. Poor Jessie must feel rejected.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I’ll show you the graduation party photos.”
I quickly brought over the digital camera and showed Mother and Father the pictures from that day.
“Honey, Sung-guk looks so grown up in that suit.”
“The kid looks older than his age.”
Father teased me, but I didn’t budge.
“Oh my, that must be Jessie. She’s absolutely beautiful.”
“She looks like an American movie actress.”
“Not quite that much.”
Grace watched our family warmly from beside us.
“By the way, Sung-guk will be giving the graduation speech as the class representative. I’m so envious that you’ve raised such a wonderful son.”
Father gazed at me intently.
“We can hardly believe it ourselves. That we could have a child like this.”
[I never dreamed I’d be reborn into a family like this.]
“Oppa.”
Ji-hee tugged at my clothes from behind.
“What is it, Ji-hee?”
“Big brother, play with me.”
[Sigh, Min-guk seemed to have grown a bit, so now it’s Ji-hee’s turn.]
Min-guk eagerly grabbed my hand as well.
“Hyung, I brought my toys. Ji-hee always plays with dolls. Play with me.”
[These kids are still so childish.]
Ji-hee toddled over and pulled two dolls from her bag, then held one out to me.
“This is yours, oppa. This one is mine. Oppa, let’s play house.”
“Ji-hee, go away. Hyung and I are going to have a sword fight.”
Both of them grabbed one of my hands and pulled.
“Oppa!”
“Hyuuung!”
“Alright then, we’ll do ten minutes each. How’s that?”
“Okay, hyung.”
“Yes, oppa.”
Min-guk and Ji-hee nodded their heads.
In my hands were a toy sword and a doll, one each.
At thirteen years old, I’d already built a fortune exceeding five billion won and was about to enter Harvard….
“Hyung, the sword!”
“Jeon Min-guk, take my blade!”
Grace, Mother, and Father who witnessed this scene smiled warmly.
“Sung-guk really seems to be a wonderful older brother.”
“He acts prickly, but he’s kind. Our Sung-guk is.”
“Dear, even the girls know that. That’s why our Sung-guk is so popular.”
[I can hear everything you’re saying about me.]
But it was all true.
* * *
The graduation ceremony took place in the Grand Auditorium of Philip Academy, a building with over a hundred years of history and symbolic significance.
A few of us students, including myself as the student representative, sat in the front row to give speeches.
Looking back, I could see my parents, my siblings, and Grace in the parents’ section.
I turned my attention back to the front.
Solemn music began to play as the graduation ceremony commenced.
The principal’s remarks were followed by a brief speech from the student council president.
The history teacher serving as the emcee finally introduced me.
“Sung-guk, the youngest in Philip Academy’s history and an exchange student from South Korea, will now deliver the student representative speech.”
[Why am I nervous about this?]
I had given speeches in front of countless crowds too many times to count.
Yet today, I felt unusually anxious.
[Is it because my family is here?]
I steadied myself and walked up to the podium.
Then I began my speech at the microphone.
“Good evening. I’m Sung-guk Jeon, graduating from Philip Academy this year. I was born in South Korea, a small Asian nation. And my parents were both orphans who were abandoned by their own parents when they were young.”
My words sent a ripple of emotion through the auditorium.
Only Mark knew this story.
Jessie stared at me with wide, astonished eyes.
I could see Grace interpreting for my Mother and Father, who didn’t understand English.
Soon, their eyes glistened with tears.
“But despite their difficult circumstances, my parents raised me with unwavering dedication, and I have strived to live in a way that honors their sacrifice. The reason I decided to study in the United States was to become a better son to them. In two months, I will become a Harvard student. Harvard is a prestigious university that everyone in South Korea knows. The reason I chose Harvard was simple—it was the only university my parents would recognize.”
Now my Mother and Father were nearly sobbing.
My own eyes burned with heat, but I swallowed hard and held back my tears.
“When my parents return to Korea, they will surely tell others that their son attends Harvard. Philip Academy gave me the opportunity to become a son they could be proud of. When I came for my entrance interview three years ago, I was young and an Asian student, yet Philip Academy believed in me. I am grateful to everyone here, and I will remember that these three years at Philip Academy were the first button on the coat of my future life. Thank you.”
Applause erupted.
My Mother and Father quickly wiped their tears and clapped.
I bowed and descended from the podium.

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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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