The Baby Seizes Fortune - Chapter 46
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 46
The sight of an old pork belly restaurant came into view.
Silver aluminum ducts hung crookedly from the ceiling, and I could see people sitting around low tables made of angular wooden tops.
A yellow menu board was attached to the wall.
[Pork belly 1 serving 3,900 won]
What a heartwarming price.
Though the smoke from poor ventilation stung my eyes a little, it stimulated my salivary glands.
“Chaea’s here!”
The first person to welcome me was Oh Young-il.
“Uncle!”
“Oh my, yes, you’ve grown a bit taller.”
The PD also welcomed me like family.
“Ah, Chaea. Come here.”
He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket, took out a green ten-thousand-won bill, and pressed it into my hand.
“No, PD-nim, what’s this for…”
“Come on, I need to score some points with our Chaea at times like this.”
Junho made a gesture of stopping him, but the PD who firmly pressed the money into my hand earnestly requested.
“If you ever think about becoming a child actor, you must tell uncle first. Okay? Got it?”
I wanted to say ‘Acting is absolutely too bothersome,’ but I had no choice but to play along for the Quest atmosphere.
I looked at the distant mountains and said.
“Yes.”
* * *
The atmosphere in Hee-jae’s room, decorated like a study, was quiet.
After sitting at his desk for about two hours, gripping an engineering mathematics book used by university majors and writing down formulas and numbers,
“….”
Hee-jae, having finished today’s studying, put down his pencil.
After putting away the thick math book, Hee-jae stretched while looking at the map of Somang Preschool below.
X marks were scattered here and there on the crudely drawn map.
They were marks indicating ground that had already been dug.
Where would he dig tomorrow?
When such excitement brought a chuckle, even Hee-jae himself felt awkward.
Hee-jae raised his hand to lightly touch the corners of his mouth that had turned up, then fell into thought for a moment.
Several storms he had experienced in his five-year-old life flashed through the child’s eyes.
Inside his parents’ funeral home, there were voices reaching Hee-jae’s ears as he greeted mourners in neat black clothes.
“Look at that kid, his parents died but he’s not even crying.”
“Maybe he doesn’t understand death yet?”
“He’s a genius, of course he knows. He just has no emotions.”
He didn’t particularly feel like arguing back.
Since he couldn’t cry his heart out like other children who lost their parents, perhaps their words were really true.
“You will become the successor who leads Tomorrow Finance in the future.”
Even when his grandfather, whose face was full of pain and shadows, placed a heavy hand on his shoulder,
Hee-jae simply accepted that this was the path he was meant to walk.
It was natural.
Because he was born different.
He had lived accepting that fact, and after his parents passed away, it became even more of a reality.
No one offered him toys.
No one tried to dote on him or scold him either.
Because Kang Hee-jae was a special child who would someday grow up to inherit Tomorrow Finance.
They all kept their distance from him, looking at him as if he were a curious little calculator or computer.
So he had really grown up recognizing himself that way.
Until he met that child.
“Chaea.”
Ridiculously, while all the adults didn’t see him as a child,
Even the counselors his grandfather had assigned were like that,
Only one girl of the same age was different.
“Sorry, you’re just so cute.”
It seemed to start with that bright smile as she put yellow chick mittens on him.
It was absurd.
That smile was so radiant.
Like… the North Star.
From then on, various emotions that Hee-jae had forgotten began to come alive again.
Days that had only duty without expectation became filled with colorful hues.
Hee-jae opened the drawer and took out a small star.
It was a star that child had folded earnestly with her small hands and given to him.
When he closed his eyes, the child’s voice seemed to echo in his ears again.
“The North Star doesn’t fall down.”
A slight tremor passed through Hee-jae’s fingertips holding the star.
No one had noticed.
That he had actually been anxious all along, repeatedly thinking about his parents’ plane crash,
Repeatedly imagining scenes of everything in the world falling.
That he couldn’t look at the sky because of it.
He thought he had hidden it well.
“So when you’re anxious, look at this.”
‘Only in front of you do I become a child.’
Hee-jae’s cheeks were red as he looked at the star in his hand.
‘For the first time.’
* * *
“Geez, hyung, why did you drink so much?”
Seok-min clicked his tongue looking at Junho sleeping with his head deeply bowed in the back seat of the car.
“Mmm…”
Junho’s fine eyebrows furrowed briefly then became peaceful.
“Chaea, you had a hard time.”
“No, I just ate tons of meat.”
I said while rubbing my round, full belly.
“So full!”
After feeding me meat until I was full, Junho had communication time with the other actors.
Besides Young-il, there were many actors from 【Typhoon Internal Medicine】, and while they usually just exchanged small talk, this time it seemed like a deeper conversation had developed.
Though he did brag about me to the point where my ears were itching.
“You know how precious our Chaea is, *sniff*, on a cold day I almost forgot and was about to leave when she came running out and held out gloves with her little fern-like hands, and tears welled up in my eyes.”
“Someone give Junho some tissues.”
“Ah, it’s hard living without a daughter.”
I shook my head at Junho’s display of being a doting parent.
“I have some clothes my daughter used to wear, should I bring some for Chaea? They’re designer brands, you know.”
The actress who played Junho’s older sister in the drama was particularly fond of me and offered to give me hand-me-down clothes.
“Senior, I’d be grateful for that.”
And so they shared drinks with each other.
Actors saying let’s be like brothers, actors saying let’s stay close in the future, clinking glasses with various people…
“Mmhmm…”
This is how it ended up.
‘At least he’s not being troublesome while drunk.’
This much can be overlooked as cute behavior.
Especially since I completed the Quest too.
[Special Quest ‘Guardian’s Growth’ Stage 3 Achievement Complete]
[Quest Reward: Capability Points (+70)]
Most importantly, I also cleared one of Junho’s growth quests.
The yellow color of the black star that had risen to ankle level now climbed up to knee level.
Path to stardom, wait for me!
“Hyung! Wake up!”
“Hmm… Cool…”
Eventually Seok-min parked and called Junho, but Junho didn’t respond.
He had completely fallen into deep sleep.
“When Father wakes up, huff, Chaea, you, huff, give him a lecture.”
Finally, Seok-min, who was carrying Junho with great effort, grumbled as he walked up the slope.
“Yes, I’ll scold him for Uncle’s share too.”
“Good, huff. Huff.”
Seok-min, who climbed the rooftop stairs and brought Junho into the room, let out heavy breaths.
“Geez, this guy, he’s gotten taller too so he’s even heavier.”
“Should I get you some water?”
“No, I have to go now. I’m going to take night shots today. At Namsan.”
“Ah…”
“I bought another digital camera this time, it’s a whopping 800,000 pixels. Pixels that could slap a film camera.”
Seok-min winked and showed his anticipation.
“Yes, Uncle! Take pretty pictures!”
“Alright, Chaea. You sleep well too.”
Soon Seok-min left, and I looked at Junho who was lying asleep without even changing his clothes.
It would probably be uncomfortable, but… a five-year-old changing clothes for a tall man who seems over 185 centimeters?
Since it was physically impossible, I gave up cleanly and brushed my teeth.
‘But anyway… the things happening lately are all quite unusual.’
This Sub Quest that appeared as soon as I achieved stage 3 of Junho’s growth quest is like that too.
[Sub Quest: Vengeance is mine. There is someone who harbors malice toward you and your guardian. Please deliver stern judgment upon them.]
[Reward: Treasure Detector]
‘If it’s someone who harbors malice toward me and Junho, it would be Im Su-yeon. But since Im Su-yeon is dead… could it be Gi Seung-cheol?’
The connection between Im Su-yeon and Gi Seung-cheol isn’t certain yet, so I’ll have to wait and see.
The problem is the stern judgment.
‘Should I secretly follow him and give him a wedgie or something.’
After finishing brushing my teeth, I wiped my mouth with a towel and entered the room. Junho’s lips, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly opened slightly.
“…I don’t understand. Older Sister Saebyeol…”
Is he talking in his sleep? Seeing him furrow his brow with his innocent face while his eyes were closed, I chuckled and carelessly flopped down next to him.
‘Ah, but he smells like alcohol.’
I really should give him a lecture tomorrow!
“…from the future…?”
As I was closing my eyes and trying to fall asleep, I heard Junho’s voice continue.
“AI…?”
In an instant, my eyes snapped wide open.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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