Chapter 59.1: Why are you smiling like that again? (1)
After parting ways with Michelle at the hotel, Kang Chan headed home.
“I’m back.”
Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook were in the living room, their expressions profound.
“Is something going on?” asked Kang Chan.
“Yeah, Channy.” Yoo Hye-Sook answered evasively.
Is there something that worries them?
While Kang Chan was observing Yoo Hye-Sook’s emotions, Kang Dae-Kyung, who was beside Yoo Hye-Sook, said, “Can you talk for a moment?”
He didn’t seem that at ease either.
“I’ll come out after I get changed,” said Kang Chan.
“Sure.”
What’s going on?
Kang Chan hurriedly changed into comfortable clothes and went out to the living room.
“We probably answered at least thirty calls after we arrived home,” said Kang Dae-Kyung.
“Calls?”
“Yes, Channy.”
Kang Chan looked at Kang Dae-Kyung as if to ask what was going on.
“About five of them were from people saying they’ll buy a ‘Chiffre.’”
They were starting with the good news first.
“The couple that spilled the food on your dad’s shirt also called, saying they’ll send a shirt that they bought from a department store by tomorrow,” said Yoo Hye-Sook.
Is that really a good enough reason to make that face?
“And we also got more than twenty calls asking if we can ‘look after’ their kids.”
What do they mean to look after their kids?
They couldn't have meant that the callers wanted to send their kids to orphanages as a group.
“That aside… Are you the president of D.I.?”
How did they find out?
When Kang Dae-Kyung saw Kang Chan’s expression, the former breathed out heavily as if he was trying to calm down his startled heart. Yoo Hye-Sook, on the other hand, couldn’t hide her shock.
“We were told that when people search for Michelle on the internet, articles related to D.I pop up. And in the articles, your name comes up as its president. Some even state that D.I. has recently accepted ten billion won in investments from Yungs Ventures,” said Kang Dae-Kyung.
“Yes.”
Kang Dae-Kyung looked like he needed an explanation.
“A person that I got to know from working on matters related to Gong Te automobile was looking for a way to invest in a drama production company, so I connected them to Michelle. Both sides asked me to take over the role of the president just until the investment goes through in exchange for some stocks and a salary, and I decided to accept it. I didn’t tell you both because I wasn’t going to do it for a long time. I’m sorry,” Kang Chan apologized.
Kang Dae-Kyung pressed firmly on the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.
“You don’t need to be sorry for not telling us. We were really surprised to find out our son is the president of a drama production company that’s been trending online, though.”
“When they offered me stocks and a salary, I thought I’d be able to help orphanages with those,” Kang Chan said.
That was the truth.
“I was going to tell both of you after everything has been settled, but this happened instead. I didn’t want to bother you when I haven’t even gotten anything yet, mother.”
“My goodness! Our Channy has really amazing ways to take care of others!” Yoo Hye-Sook exclaimed.
“So that’s what happened.”
Even though he appeared to be accepting it, something lingered in Kang Dae-Kyung’s mind. When his eyes met Kang Chan’s, Kang Dae-Kyung smiled awkwardly.
“Are you perhaps the—uh… What was that? Oh! The alpha. Are you the alpha of the bullies in the Gangnam area?”
“Pardon?” Kang Chan asked after smiling weakly at his absurd question. Only then did Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook seem completely relieved.
“That’s not true, right? Your mom’s friends have called her to say that. We were skeptical, of course, but we couldn’t help but feel worried. That wasn’t true, was it?”
Kang Chan didn’t stop laughing.
“Of course not. You have nothing to worry about,” said Kang Chan.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
When Kang Chan laughed heartily, Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook’s expressions finally returned to normal.
“I knew it! Our Channy is a good kid.”
“Your friends even talked about something like that?” Kang Chan asked Yoo Hye-Sook.
“Yeah. A few of them told me that their daughter wants to become an actress or a singer, and asked me to ask you so that you can pave the way for them. Some also told me to ask you to say something because their kid is getting bullied at school.”
When Kang Chan smiled lightly, Yoo Hye-Sook did as well.
“Have you had dinner yet, Channy?” asked Yoo Hye-Sook.
“I’m still full. I ate too much earlier.”
“Then should we eat a slice of cake instead?”
“Do you want to do that?”
Kang Chan’s eyes met Kang Dae-Kyung’s while Yoo Hye-Sook was in the kitchen. Kang Dae-Kyung seemed proud of him, but he also seemed very concerned about him.
“Are you worried?” asked Kang Chan.
“A little. Even though I feel proud of how you took care of your mom today, I can’t help but feel worried whenever I hear things that I have difficulties coping with, like this.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell either of you. I wanted to let you know after I’ve actually earned from it.”
“I understand. And thanks for today. You made me proud,” Kang Dae-Kyung said.
As Kang Chan smiled in embarrassment, Yoo Hye-Sook brought over three slices of cake. All three slices were different, so the three of them shared a little bit of each slice.
“Mmm! This is really delicious!” exclaimed Kang Chan.
“Don’t get me started, Channy! My friends that bought this from the hotel even called me and asked if they could buy a few more.”
Yoo Hye-Sook positioned her left hand under her fork as she ate a portion of the cake, preventing crumbs from falling onto her lap.
A familiar classic music rang throughout the living room.
“Wonder who it is this time?” Yoo Hye-Sook looked into her phone, then quickly pressed the phone to her ear.
“Hi, Jin-Sook. Sure. He said it was him. It seems like Channy was planning on keeping it a secret until it was settled because he had taken over the role temporarily. Yeah. Huh?”
Yoo Hye-Sook discreetly gauged Kang Chan’s expression.
“I haven't talked to him about that yet. Yeah. I’ll try talking to him. Yeah. Your daughter is pretty. Of course. Sure. Yeah.”
Kang Dae-Kyung looked at Yoo Hye-Sook as he put a piece of cake in his mouth, appearing to have found this situation interesting.
It was difficult to answer this kind of thing.
But just as Yoo Hye-Sook was about to have a piece of cake, classical music rang out again.
“Yeah! Sure. Yeah, he said that it was him. Huh? No. You don’t have to do that, sweetie! I already said that’s not true. It’s okay. Yeah. But you already bought clothes. Not at all, my husband and I already forgot about that, so let it bother you anymore. I’ll talk to him about it no matter what. Tomorrow? No, that won’t work. I have something to do this week. No, really, I do. Yeah. Sure, let’s talk again.”
Kang Dae-Kyung burst out into laughter when she hung up the phone.
“I’ve never seen your phone ring this much ever in my life,” Kang Dae-Kyung said.
“Honey! I’m in a predicament. She was saying that we should meet up next week. She seems to be feeling bad that she’s asking our Channy to take care of her daughter after she spilled food on you. She even said she’ll come over when I’m available next week, and that she’s already bought five shirts for you as well. She’s making so much fuss over this.”
Kang Dae-Kyung laughed while shrugging.
“Mother, please eat the cake.”
“Sure, Channy.”
From Kang Chan’s perspective, it seemed like Yoo Hye-Sook felt both proud and embarrassed.
She was cute. He didn’t know if it would be right to say it, but he really did find her cute.
Now that the news about D.I. had been revealed already, Kang Chan thought it would be best to take care of everything now instead of revealing them one by one like peeling the skin of an onion.
“There are things I need to tell you both,” said Kang Chan.
“What is it?”
Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook looked at Kang Chan with slightly nervous expressions.
“Do you know of a security company called Yoo Bi-Corp?”
“I do. I heard they’re now in charge of France’s official events. Are you…?” Kang Dae-Kyung started to ask.
“Yes. They gave me stocks as well.”
Kang Dae-Kyung’s laughter burst out.
“And father.”
“There’s more?”
Kang Chan gave Yoo Hye-Sook a subtle glance.
“Now that I think about it, I also have Gong Te automobile stocks. Can’t we help the kids in the orphanages with it? I think it would be best if we take care of it in a way that would let us get an appropriate amount of interest.”
“Gong Te automobile stocks?”
“Yes. When I met them last time, they told me their headquarters was going to send me something apart from the payment I got for translating. That’s what they sent me.”
“There’s a way for us to get interest from stocks? Well, how much stock do you have?” asked Kang Dae-Kyung.
Sitting in the middle, Yoo Hye-Sook’s gaze alternated between the two.
“Um, I don’t know how many I have. I was told that it should be worth about six billion won if I sell it?”
Yoo Hye-Sook looked like her soul left her body, and Kang Dae-Kyung’s face hardened so much that Kang Chan wondered if he was having a heart attack.
After quite a long pause, Kang Dae-Kyung blinked.
.
“Did you say six billion won?” He asked.
“Yes. That’s what the employee in the brokerage firm told me, so that’s probably correct.”
Kang Dae-Kyung failed to understand this situation. It was so absurd it perplexed him.
“You’re saying Gong Te gave that to you?”
“Yes. I received it for introducing a good company like Kang Yoo Motors to them instead of a company like Suh Jeong Motors.”
“And you’re going to donate all of that to help orphanages?”
“Isn’t that what you and mother are doing? I don’t need the money anyway. I’d feel better knowing my mother wouldn’t be heartbroken for not being able to help the children anymore.”
“Phuhu.” Kang Dae-Kyung looked at Yoo Hye-Sook while bursting into laughter like Seok Kang-Ho.
Yoo Hye-Sook had heard this news in a moment of confusion, so she still looked like she couldn’t distinguish whether it was a dream or reality.
“What do you want to do?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked Yoo Hye-Sook.
“About what?”
“About what Channy said.”
“I don’t know, honey. I really don’t know.”
“I’ll tell the employee in the brokerage firm to call the bank tomorrow. Would that much be enough to help all the places that you two want to help?” asked Kang Chan.
Kang Dae-Kyung tilted his head.
“The interest we’d be getting alone would be enough to help. We wouldn’t even need to touch the principal amount. But with that much, it’d probably be better to create a Foundation in your mom’s name. I’ll look into this a bit more after it’s confirmed tomorrow, so let’s talk about this later.”
“Alright. I was going to give it to mother anyway, so please feel free to make a decision,” said Kang Chan.
“Whoo…”
Kang Dae-Kyung breathed out deeply.
“You don’t have anything else to say, do you?”
“There’s nothing else,” Kang Chan answered.
Kang Chan shook his head while smiling. Since he was confessing already, he wanted to tell them that he had about two billion won in his bank account, but they already had trouble believing he had six billion won in stocks. Adding two billion won on top of that would be going too far.
The atmosphere around them had become awkward, but that was a problem that could be solved with time. Kang Chan ended their conversation and went into his room.
Yoo Hye-Sook breathed out deeply with her hand on top of her chest.
“Honey? This isn’t a dream, is it?” asked Yoo Hye-Sook.
“I'd like to ask you the same thing."
Since Yoo Hye-Sook was still dumbfounded, Kang Dae-Kyung stroked her shoulder.
“Let’s talk about this after we confirm everything tomorrow. This is just so absurd that I can’t help but feel astonished. That kid is our son, right?” asked Kang Dae-Kyung.
“Honey?”
“Yeah! I’m just going to believe in our son. I’m just going to think of him as a high schooler son that’s giving us six billion won because it’s what you would be happy about.”
“Honey, our Channy is okay, right?” asked Yoo Hye-Sook.
Kang Dae-Kyung smiled softly at her.
“You saw the internet article. It was a completely legal investment, and everyone finds it amazing. Our Channy likely has excellent capabilities that exceed our imaginations. However, if possible, let’s accept his actions calmly. After all, even if he’s remarkable, he’s still a high schooler and our son.”
Yoo Hye-Sook stroked the back of Kang Dae-Kyung’s hand, which was placed on her shoulder.
“Thanks, honey. Your words have made me feel a bit relieved,” Yoo Hye-Sook said.
“Okay.”
Just as her face regained color, her phone rang again.
“Hello? Yeah! Sure!”
Kang Dae-Kyung sighed deeply beside Yoo Hye-Sook.
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