The Regressed Chaebol Grandson Finds It Hard to Forgive - Chapter 70

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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 70. Whisky Bar J&W

“Mom~ Mom!”
“Why is our little princess in such high spirits today?”

Ju Mi-ju’s excited voice as she returned from hagwon drew a smile from her mother, who matched her energy.

“Something huge happened at our school today!”
“Really? What kind of thing?”

Ju Mi-ju, dressed in an elegant home gown, asked with refined curiosity.

Once, she had been a top singer who made all of South Korea buzz.

When her popularity peaked, she met her husband, Jang Yong-guk.

Like a common Cinderella story, it was the meeting of a chaebol heir and a top star.

Ju Mi-ju abandoned everything she had enjoyed and chose family with Jang Yong-guk.

She had gained a child, but married life was not happy.

Jang Yong-guk was not the thoughtful man she had imagined.

More troubling still was Go Jun-hee, the chairman, who disapproved of Ju Mi-ju.

As a member of the Ilsung conglomerate, she harbored deep resentment toward her daughter-in-law.

She looked down on her for her entertainment industry background.

Ju Mi-ju, once a free bird, became caged the moment she chose Jang Yong-guk.

After marriage, Jang Yong-guk never took her side, too conscious of his mother’s displeasure.

The group succession was never properly settled either.

Ju Mi-ju, who had lived as a public star, was hardly the type to be meek before Go Jun-hee.

The tension between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law meant marital quarrels never ceased.

Like a caged bird, Ju Mi-ju began drowning her sorrows in alcohol.

She regretted the choice she had made in that moment, believing love was everything.
Yet her love for her child….

“Today the Outcast fired that nasty Sukhang.”
“Sukhang? That famous math teacher?”
“Yeah! He was a pervert who got his kicks humiliating kids just because he was good at math.”
“Don’t use that word. If Grandma and Dad heard it….”
“Tsk….”

Go Jun-hee, a graduate of Ewha Woman’s University, and Jang Yong-guk, from Seoul National University.
Ju Mi-ju, meanwhile, had only a high school diploma.

Whenever the family’s elite gathered, Ju Mi-ju was naturally left out.

Even at family events, they openly ostracized her.

The most contemptible part was that cousins-in-law would snub her without acknowledging kinship.

When cosmetic beauty didn’t settle the score, they weaponized their education.

Whenever Ju Mi-ju was present, they deliberately spoke only in foreign languages.

For a long time, Ju Mi-ju endured in silence, swallowing bitter tears.

“And then?”

Watching her daughter’s pouting lips, she naturally shifted the topic.

“Sukhang went crazy, I mean caused a scene, and then Choan & Jang’s lawyers showed up, and the principal slapped him….”
“You went to see it yourself? You’re a third-year?”
“No, I heard about it. When would I have time?”

Jang Ji-yu leaned back against the sofa, chattering on.

“Is that all? It feels like there’s more?”
“Mom, your intuition is seriously incredible. Hehe.”

At school, Jang Ji-yu was prickly and aloof, but at home she was entirely different.

In front of her mother, she was like any other teenage girl—completely disarmed.

“So the Outcast turned out to be some chaebol bloodline?”
“Hey, Mom!”
“What?”
“Did you already know? Or did you hear the rumors?”
“No~!”
“Then…… how did you know??”
“Well, Mom knows everything.”
“Wow! Mom, you’re psychic……!!”

Jang Ji-yu was chattering with wonder and delight.

But suddenly, she fell silent and froze completely.

And then….

Pitter-patter.

Tears suddenly streamed from both her eyes.

Whoosh!

At Jang Ji-yu’s word “psychic,” her mother Ju Mi-ju vanished in an instant before her eyes.

Silence hung in the house.
The air in the vast marble-floored space felt even colder.

Expensive display cabinets and ornaments filled the rooms, yet there was no warmth—only a chill.

Jang Ji-yu stared fixedly at a family photo hanging on the wall behind the sofa.

A family photo with her father missing.

“I miss you…… Mom…… hic…….”

In the photo, her mother Ju Mi-ju smiled brilliantly like a sunflower.
Jang Ji-yu broke into sobs.

It was true.

Ju Mi-ju, once South Korea’s star and Jang Ji-yu’s mother.
She….

* * *

A man stepped inside.
In just a few days it would be June.
The air had begun to warm slightly.

The man appeared in a navy suit.

A color that might otherwise seem provincial and frivolous was worn with perfect composure by a man as impressive as any model.

He wore a bright shirt beneath the jacket and no tie.

Even his tan shoes were flawless.

With masculine features and handsome looks, he was the perfect finishing touch.

“…….”

A-yu-ra’s eyes widened infinitely as she stared in frozen silence.

Her workplace, Choan & Jang, overflowed with successful, attractive people.

It was where South Korea’s finest men gathered—the elite in education, skill, and appearance.

Yet the man before her now surpassed them all.

The natural charisma he emanated could not be imitated.

The gentle smile playing at his lips and the kindness in his gaze were beyond words.

The moment A-yu-ra recognized him, her face flushed unbidden.

The age gap was such that calling him a “younger man” felt embarrassing.

Realistically speaking, he was still a second-year high school student.

Though he appeared to her as a man, the image of him in his school uniform overlapped with his current appearance.

“Was your boyfriend……an entertainer?”

The bartender asked while polishing a glass.

“Oh, no. He’s a customer.”
“Is that so?”

The bartender laughed it off lightly.
But A-yu-ra’s face burned even more intensely.

“Have you been waiting long?”

Customer Ha Tae-ung approached and asked kindly.

“No. I just arrived too.”

Smoothly.

Ha Tae-ung naturally sat down in the seat next to her.

“You’re quite handsome.”

As Ha Tae-ung took his seat, the bartender naturally offered a compliment.

This confirmed again that the bartender’s manner was not ordinary.

He was not the sort of bartender who sized people up and adjusted his service accordingly.

“Thank you.”

Ha Tae-ung, wearing an unreadable expression, met the bartender’s gaze as they conversed.

‘Why is my heart racing like this?’

It was the emotion she’d felt when she went on her first blind date after starting university.

The young crown prince sitting right beside her.

She had lived her life without men, focused on social success and career.

This was a strange emotion and feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

A-yu-ra felt her face flush quietly in the silence.

“Will you be ordering?”

The bartender asked, looking between the two of them.

“Would you recommend something?”
“Let’s see.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Ha ha. Very well.”

The bartender burst into a pleased smile like water finding its level.

“For the gentleman, then….”

The bartender paused, studying Ha Tae-ung carefully.

“I recommend King Alexander. A whisky crafted by combining six different cask-aged spirits. Its complex flavor profile is fitting for a hexagonal talent such as yourself.”

‘Hexagonal talent? How can he tell from just one look?’

A-yu-ra saw the bartender differently now.

This bartender spoke to customers with an almost rude directness.

It was not the manner of an ordinary person.

“Dalmore—I do enjoy good whisky.”
“I thought as much.”

Despite being strangers, the two men’s conversation flowed easily.

‘He already knows whisky? And he’s still in high school?’

Wine she could understand to some degree.

Typically, wealthy families value sophistication, so they introduce their children to alcohol at a young age.

Ha Tae-ung was technically an adult, though still a high school student.

It seemed early for him to discuss spirits with an elderly bartender.

“And for the beautiful lady here….”

The bartender regarded A-yu-ra with a practiced eye.

‘Why am I getting nervous?’

The bartender’s gaze seemed different from before.

A suspicion arose that he possessed the ability to glimpse another’s fate through their eyes.

“I recommend Hennessy XO—a cognac with deep, complex flavors of bitter dark chocolate like a bitter life, and sweet vanilla like meeting a sweet destiny.”
“…….”

A-yu-ra suddenly felt afraid of the elderly bartender.

As if through the spirits he recommended, he was divining her past and future.

His gaze was already unlike that of ordinary bartenders.

It was a penetrating look that seemed to see through people.

“Th-thank you.”

A-yu-ra accepted the bartender’s recommendation without being able to refuse.

In truth, she knew almost nothing about whisky.

Her experience was limited to occasionally drinking wine with classmates or senior colleagues at Choan & Jang.

She didn’t particularly enjoy drinking to the point of intoxication.

Yet tonight, she wanted to have a glass.

The heavy, deep jazz flowing past her ears added to the atmosphere.

And the fresh yet clean fragrance emanating from Ha Tae-ung, combined with the soft lighting!

A-yu-ra was already intoxicated by the ambiance.

“I’ll prepare that right away.”

The bartender moved toward the whisky display.

There were easily over a thousand bottles of whisky arranged on display.

The varied collection must have been worth several hundred million won in total.

“Um…… Ha Tae-ung.”

A-yu-ra called to Ha Tae-ung hesitantly.

“Yes? Is something on your mind?”

Ha Tae-ung asked softly with a gentle smile, his gaze still on the whisky display.

“Do you…… know this place well?”
“Fairly well…… I suppose.”
“Then, who is that bartender…?”
“The building’s owner.”
“What??”

As suspected, the bartender was far from ordinary!
A-yu-ra was left speechless.

The building they were in rose above ten stories.

Even a rough calculation suggested he was a billionaire many times over.

“And also….”
“……??”
“He’s a shaman.”
“A shaman? You mean…… a spiritual medium??”

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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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