The Chaebol Family’s Youngest Daughter Doesn’t Hide Her Acting Skills - Chapter 68

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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 68

 

“Driver, could you please go a little faster?”

 

In the back seat of the taxi, Woon Seong-ha was pleading toward the driver’s seat like someone half out of his mind.

 

The boy who was usually shy and couldn’t say a harsh word to anyone was now crying out, having thrown away all dignity and everything else.

 

“Oh, student. I’d like to, but what can I do when traffic is this backed up.”

 

“…Ah.”

 

Woon Seong-ha let out a desperate groan and clutched his head. His nails dug into his flesh until they turned white. His lips trembled, blue and drained of all color.

 

“…I should have been home.”

 

He muttered in a metallic voice, like reciting an incantation.

 

“Normally I would have been home at this time. If I hadn’t… gotten greedy about acting…”

 

That single word filled with self-blame pierced my heart like a dagger.

 

It felt like my heart was sinking.

 

Originally, in the previous life, Woon Seong-ha would have finished his part-time job and been home at this time.

 

If that had been the case, he would have taken action immediately upon hearing Grandmother collapse, and wouldn’t have missed the golden time like this.

 

Because of me.

 

It felt like this happened because of my greed in recommending acting to him, and keeping him at the practice room until late tonight, making it hard to breathe.

 

I gripped Woon Seong-ha’s cold hand tightly.

 

“Seong-ha, don’t blame yourself. Nothing will happen. Okay? Grandmother is strong.”

 

“…Sae-i, I’m scared. If Grandmother goes too, I’ll really be alone. I really can’t live…”

 

Thick tears fell from Woon Seong-ha’s eyes onto the back of his hand with a plop.

 

A grandparent-grandchild household that had lived depending on each other. To him, Grandmother was more than family—the only pillar supporting his life.

 

As soon as the taxi stopped in front of the hospital emergency room, Woon Seong-ha jumped out. I also hurriedly followed behind.

 

The cold air of the emergency room, the smell of alcohol, and the groaning sounds coming from here and there made my nerves stand on edge.

 

Woon Seong-ha looked for the counter like a madman, calling out Grandmother’s name.

 

Soon after, the attending doctor appeared with a serious face, flipping through a chart.

 

“Are you the guardian?”

 

“Yes! Yes, that’s me! My grandmother, is my grandmother okay? Has she woken up?”

 

“She has woken up, so please calm down. First, you need to hear the explanation.”

 

The doctor’s dry tone only amplified the anxiety.

 

“Her chronic heart condition has worsened. She was discovered too late… If we don’t operate immediately, it will be difficult.”

 

“Su-surgery? Then please operate. Please, just save her…”

 

Woon Seong-ha grabbed the doctor’s coat sleeve and clung to him. He looked ready to fall to his knees.

 

But the doctor looked at Seong-ha with a troubled expression.

 

“Surgery is possible, but I think I need to discuss the realistic aspects. The surgery itself is expensive, but long-term hospitalization and intensive care will be needed after surgery too.”

 

The doctor pointed to a part of the chart with his pen and added quietly.

 

“The expected cost will be… quite a large amount for a student to handle.”

 

The amount the doctor subtly hinted at was truly an astronomical figure for Woon Seong-ha, who was practically a boy head of household.

 

For him, who was barely making ends meet with this month’s living expenses and rent, surviving on convenience store triangle kimbap, treatment costs that might reach tens of millions of won or more were like a cliff.

 

“…Ah.”

 

The strength left Woon Seong-ha’s legs with a thud. I barely managed to support his swaying form and seat him in a chair.

 

He had begged to save her, but faced with the reality that even when there was a way to save her, he couldn’t afford the treatment due to lack of money.

 

Woon Seong-ha leaned his back against the wall and stared blankly at the floor. His hand pressed against the floor was trembling.

 

He stared into space with vacant eyes. There was no focus in his pupils.

 

“Seong-ha.”

 

“What if Grandmother dies because of me. Then I’d be a sinner. I would have killed her.”

 

“…”

 

“I shouldn’t have done acting. What’s so important about such a dream… not knowing my place.”

 

The price for starting to dream was too harsh. The eighteen-year-old boy’s shoulders were too narrow and fragile to bear the weight of reality.

 

My heart also ached as if it would tear, watching Seong-ha being consumed by despair.

 

No, it wasn’t simply painful.

 

In the future I knew, around this time Woon Seong-ha wasn’t acting. He would have been silently working and protecting Grandmother.

 

But I had twisted that trajectory.

 

My greed, my selfishness in wanting to quickly discover that genius talent and make him Grandfather’s actor, had filled him with hope.

 

As a result, Seong-ha’s grandmother was left collapsed alone on the cold floor.

 

‘I… ruined it.’

 

If something happened to Seong-ha’s grandmother, it wouldn’t be because of her chronic illness.

 

It would be my arrogance in carelessly interfering with Woon Seong-ha’s life that killed her.

 

‘No. That can’t happen.’

 

I bit my lips hard. I tasted the metallic flavor of blood.

 

I couldn’t let him lose family simply due to lack of money. Especially not let Woon Seong-ha, who would become my person, the future great actor, crumble over something like this.

 

If it was my karma, I had to resolve it.

 

I gripped the shoulders of the collapsed Woon Seong-ha as if they might break.

 

“Seong-ha. Look at me.”

 

“…Sae-i, what should I do…”

 

“Pull yourself together. Grandmother won’t die. I won’t let that happen.”

 

To Seong-ha, who was looking up at me covered in tears, I spoke in the calmest and most powerful voice I could manage.

 

If I wavered now, Seong-ha would really collapse.

 

“Stay right here without moving. Tell the doctor you consent to surgery, and stay by Grandmother’s side. Don’t worry about money. Got it?”

 

“…Where are you going? How could you get such a large amount of money…”

 

“To solve it.”

 

I left those words and ran out of the emergency room without looking back.

 

Cold night air entered my lungs. I rushed out to the roadside as if jumping in and stretched out my hand.

 

Why were taxis so hard to catch since earlier?

 

My insides were burning black. Every minute and second was precious, but even the world seemed to be testing me.

 

I stamped my feet and bit my lips. There was a place I had to go.

 

***

 

The taxi stopped in front of Jaedamjae’s massive gate.

 

I pulled out all the bills from my wallet and handed them to the driver as if throwing them, then kicked open the car door and jumped out.

 

“Huff, huff…”

 

I was breathless up to my chin.

 

My heart was pounding madly and hitting my ribs, but I couldn’t stop.

 

Even at this moment, Woon Seong-ha would be having his blood run cold on the emergency room’s cold floor.

 

His only world, Grandmother, was swaying precariously like a dying candle at the crossroads of life and death.

 

Bang-!

 

I roughly threw open the massive door of the main house.

 

The household staff of the main house, who had been wrapped in quiet stillness, were startled awake by the loud noise.

 

“Ah, Miss? No, what in the middle of the night…!”

 

The secretary who ran out in surprise was shocked to see my disheveled appearance from running wildly.

 

I pushed past him and barged straight into Grandfather’s Hansil. There was no time to consider manners or formalities.

 

Creak, bang!

 

“Grandfather!”

 

Grandfather, who had been reading a newspaper while preparing for bed, was startled and bolted upright from his seat.

 

Disheveled hair in disarray, a face covered with cold sweat and tears, and lips trembling and pale with fright.

 

Grandfather’s eyes widened as if they would tear upon seeing his granddaughter’s condition.

 

“Sae-i, what happened! Did someone harm you! What is this state!”

 

Grandfather approached me urgently in his bare feet.

 

“Huff, huff… Grand, father…”

 

I bent my upper body with my hands on my knees, gasping out rough breaths. The metallic taste of blood rose in my throat. My heart was beating too fast for words to come out properly.

 

But there was no time to catch my breath.

 

I staggered and took one more step toward Grandfather.

 

And with trembling hands, I reached out with desperate earnestness.

 

“The Wish Token.”

 

“…What?”

 

“That thing you said you’d grant me anything for… I’m using it now. Right now.”

 

Grandfather’s expression hardened stiffly.

 

Because Grandfather knew better than anyone what that Wish Token meant.

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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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