The Regressed Chaebol Grandson Finds It Hard to Forgive - Chapter 49
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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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Episode 49. Kneel! (1)
“Grandma! We’re moving this Saturday!”
“Moving? Us??”
Yi Mal-nyeon’s eyes widened at her grandson Park Ji-woong’s excited voice.
She’d wanted to move for a long time.
Guryong Village, Seoul’s most neglected neighborhood.
No one would want to raise their grandchild in a place like this.
But it was practically impossible.
She didn’t have the financial means.
Her son and his wife, the pillars of the family, had died, and she’d barely escaped with nothing but the clothes on her back.
Falsely accused of an unthinkable crime, she’d lost everything her son had built.
She’d barely managed to find odd jobs to raise her grandson.
Day labor kept them alive—just barely.
Even with minimum living subsidies, after paying the monthly rent and buying food, there was nothing left for her grandson’s allowance.
Her aging legs weren’t strong enough to find proper work.
She’d survived cleaning a small building, but even that had ended when she’d slipped and injured herself recently.
Yi Mal-nyeon’s world was darkness, even with her eyes open.
Her grandson’s talk of moving didn’t make sense at first.
“I saw the place today. It’s an apartment in front of Seo Kook University, and it gets great sunlight.”
“……Ji-woong. We don’t have…… any money.”
Faced with harsh reality, Yi Mal-nyeon could only sigh.
She knew Seoul housing prices had skyrocketed beyond reason—moving was a dream she’d never achieve in her lifetime.
Even a jeonse lease cost tens of millions.
The apartment they lived in now had a security deposit of three million won.
That was all she had.
“You know my friend Tae-woong, right?”
Still excited, her grandson mentioned his friend and sprayed a little saliva as he spoke.
“Of course I know him. He’s our boy’s friend.”
“Tae-woong got us the jeonse lease. We signed the contract today.”
“What do you…… Really??”
Looking at her grandson’s face, he didn’t seem to be joking.
But those words—she couldn’t believe them even hearing them with her own ears.
In this day and age, who gives an apartment to a friend as a jeonse lease?
And a high school student at that—where would he get that kind of money?
“Tae-woong doesn’t say much, but he seems like he comes from a really rich family.”
“……Ji-woong. Are we really allowed to live there?”
She’d survived all these years holding onto her conscience.
Yi Mal-nyeon, half-believing and half-doubting, asked her grandson again to confirm his dream-like words.
For it to be nonsense, his words were too specific.
“Yes! We can accept it.”
Park Ji-woong’s answer came back clear and firm.
Ha Tae-woong, who from the day they’d first met in the cafeteria had somehow inspired trust.
Some might say it was shameless, underhanded—but he’d decided to accept it.
‘I’ll pay him back many times over! I’m staking my life on it!’
Ha Tae-woong had told Park Ji-woong to become a prosecutor.
His reasoning had no foundation, but his certainty about Park Ji-woong’s future was unwavering.
He’d decided to follow that path.
Just weeks ago, Park Ji-woong had wanted to drop out of school and face the world with malice.
In that hopeless moment.
The only truth she believed in was the way of heaven.
* * *
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!
The fitness center on the 85th floor of Latte Sigiel Hotel.
The residential facilities are closed on Mondays.
So today he’d decided to use the hotel’s facilities instead.
The view is far better than the community space on the 42nd floor.
It’s 5 a.m.
He’d run hard for thirty minutes at 18 kilometers per hour.
“Huff. Huff.”
His breathing hadn’t become as labored as expected.
At this speed, he matched a marathon runner’s pace.
‘My lung capacity improved. Overall physical abilities…… I can feel they’ve gotten remarkably better.’
Physical ability was definitely one of the other special gifts his grandmother had given him.
Thinking back to how he was during this period in the past, his body had been in poor shape.
Stress from daily life kept him from exercising properly.
His diet was poor too.
His body had been noticeably gaunt, and he was always complaining of aches and pains.
But now his muscles were genuinely lean and toned.
Blessed lung capacity, endurance, muscle strength—everything.
The difference was remarkable.
Click. Swish-swish-swish-swish. Thud-thud-thud.
The bead of sweat forming on his forehead felt good.
He brought the treadmill to a stop.
One reason he’d chosen Sigiel specifically was this environment.
All the conveniences of daily life are perfectly available in one place.
The hotel breakfast runs about fifty thousand won.
Residents get a 20 percent discount on all facilities.
Fitness, swimming pool, sauna, and more.
At the concierge desk, you can arrange cleaning, valet service, various lessons—anything you need.
With enough financial means, there’s no need to labor with daily tasks yourself.
You can easily enjoy the hotel’s cuisine through a dedicated app.
The perfect space to maintain peak physical and mental health.
As long as you maintain sufficient financial resources, there’s no reason to embrace exhaustion.
Swish.
He wiped his sweat with a prepared towel.
The panoramic Seoul skyline was tinted with the sunrise opening the day.
The sun, full of morning vitality, climbed steadily into Seoul’s sky.
Countless buildings beginning to glimmer in the sunlight.
At their center…….
“Good morning, Grandfather.”
I, as a descendant of Ha Ryun Group, assumed the proper posture.
I bowed my head slightly toward the headquarters building, which was brightening in the sunlight.
“Now. Eat breakfast and head to school…….”
I’d shower in the sauna, eat breakfast, and head to school.
The moment I began to move.
Thud.
A dull sound suddenly hit my ear from a diagonal direction.
I instinctively turned my head.
“……!!”
In that moment, I saw a person collapsed on the floor.
I rushed over to them.
There were no hotel staff around.
It was someone who’d come in around the same time as me and had been doing strength training.
A woman who’d started exercising with a mask on from the beginning.
A water bottle she’d been holding rolled across the floor.
Tap-tap-dot.
I hurried to check her condition.
First, I checked around her head.
Fortunately, it didn’t look like she’d fallen head-first.
From the position of her legs, it seemed her lower body had given out as she collapsed.
“Mm…….”
The moment I cradled her head in my palm, the woman let out a shallow moan.
Her closed eyes trembled faintly, then slowly opened.
Our eyes met through her barely-open gaze.
Her unfocused hazel eyes seemed to stare into emptiness.
Hollowness and helplessness spread across her eyes like fog.
Colorless and Odorless.
The light emanating from her body was such a pale sky blue it was hard to distinguish a color.
Soon it seemed it would become completely colorless.
“Are you all right?”
CCTV cameras covered all sides of the fitness space.
I only cradled her head with my hands to avoid being mistaken for something inappropriate.
“I…… the chair…….”
The woman struggled to open her mouth.
With the mask on, her weak voice sounded even quieter.
“Excuse me.”
I supported her shoulder and sat her in the rest chair placed nearby.
‘Can a body really be this light?’
Her height was roughly mid-160 centimeters.
Relative to her height, she weighed almost nothing.
Her very bones were delicate.
Her hair, tied up in a ponytail, hung limply.
“Water please…….”
The woman’s eyes followed the bottle rolling on the floor.
“Yes.”
My morning plans had taken an unexpected turn.
The woman didn’t seem ordinary.
Even a brush of sleeves brings a connection—this encounter felt significant.
Or rather, from the energy she gave off, it felt like I’d seen her somewhere before.
Half her face was hidden by the mask, but overall, the aura she radiated was beautiful.
Click.
I opened the water bottle and handed it to her.
“Th…… ank you.”
She took the bottle and looked into my eyes for a moment.
“Da-hee!”
Then another woman’s voice rang out.
She seemed to be calling the collapsed woman.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
A woman rushed over, having seen the situation.
She was in her mid-thirties, with a fuller build.
Standing right in front of me, her eyes widened as she looked back and forth between me and the woman, seeming to wonder what was going on.
Her gaze was creating all sorts of stories.
“I just got dizzy for a moment…… This person helped me.”
The woman pulled her mask up slightly, took a sip of water, and explained the situation.
“Dizzy? Then what about today’s schedule…….”
“It’s fine. I can do it. Don’t worry.”
Somehow.
From the feel of it, she seemed to be an entertainer who received public attention.
“All right.”
She rose from the chair and bowed her head slightly before turning to leave.
Monday morning, a brushing encounter with fate—Da-hee.
I stood up as well.
Then.
“Thank you…….”
From behind me, her voice pierced like a dart.
Along with the fresh, floral scent of her fragrance that lingered at my nose…….
* * *
Crunch-crunch.
I’d spent the first weekend spectacularly.
And as I faced a new week, the destination I was heading toward was…….
After a hearty breakfast, I left my residence and walked toward school.
Spring was reaching its peak.
Cars moving busily and street trees standing in their places.
I walked with wide strides, observing the people passing by.
A leisurely morning.
My coin account burning continuously in real time.
Following the crash of the moon coin, virtually all coins, including Bitcoin, had turned a sickly green.
My Short 30x Leverage profits had gone beyond sweet to the point of causing tooth decay.
-In the passage of time~♬ A rainy day~♪
I walked to the rhythm of a song stuck in my head for days.
The signature track of female solo singer Furia.
In the past, during this period, I hadn’t listened to her songs.
Thinking back to those days, every single day had been hell.
So I couldn’t have felt musical emotion.
But now the tables had completely turned.
Firmly.
I stood before the Cheong-hwa name plaque.
Below it, the school motto engraved in gold: Seon Jo Go San.
I took it in again.
Light illuminates the highest mountain first.
In the past, I’d lowered my head before these words every time.
Back then, I was poor.
In Cheong-hwa, a paradise where only the upper class came to play, I was an outsider.
But now…….
No one could brag about their wallet in front of me.
My self-esteem amplified in proportion to my bank balance!
“Kneel! You bastard!!”
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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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