Chapter 38:
The family held a modest ancestral rite for a chaebol. Yoo Yeon Seo was able to get through it by following his brother’s cues.
“How was your business trip?”
“It looks like we can get our cultural assets back this time.”
“That’s amazing, mother-in-law.”
The meal was quiet, but they occasionally asked about each other’s well-being. Most of them were involved in the business, so the conversation turned to work-related topics. But because of the recent incident, Yoo Yeon Seo also received some attention.
“Yeon Seo, you caused another trouble, right? In a good way.”
“It was nothing, I just left the filming site.”
“Everyone was talking about you, you know? So, are you doing the original drama?”
His big aunt asked, and Choi Yujin answered as if he had been waiting.
“Yeon Seo gave me the script first. He said it would be a shame to let it disappear…”
“Is that so?”
The family’s eyes focused on Yoo Yeon Seo. It was as if they were saying, ‘Were you such a considerate person?’
The grandfather, who was sitting at the head of the table, smiled warmly.
“You did well.”
“Well, thanks…”
He felt strange to receive such attention for just helping a rookie actor after leaving the filming site, while they were talking about grand things like cultural asset return and opening new branches of their own brand.
“Didn’t you say you were going back to school?”
“I’ll have to go while filming the drama.”
The cousins, who didn’t know the situation, looked at Yoo Yeon Seo with curious eyes. He didn’t talk much before, did he? Poor guy, his future is bleak.
“Oh, then you’ll be going with Sunwoo.”
Park Sunwoo, who was quietly eating at the end of the table, almost choked and forced a smile.
The adults were still talking about work, and Yoo Yeon Seo was fiddling with his phone while keeping a distance from his cousins. Then someone called him.
“Uh… hyung.”
It was Park Sunwoo, the son of his small aunt.
“Yeah, what?”
“What year are you… going to be?”
“Speak comfortably.”
How much did he alienate himself that even his cousin, who was not much younger than him, spoke to him in formal language? Park Sunwoo’s expression brightened up quickly.
“I’m… going to be a sophomore?”
According to Lim Seunghyun, he entered Hankook University and went to the army after one semester. He filled up the remaining semester after being discharged and then suddenly announced that he would become an actor and took a leave of absence. A sophomore at 27.
“Oh, I’m also going to be a sophomore.”
“Really? Let’s see each other at school. I don’t know the way well since I haven’t been there for a long time.”
Actually, he didn’t know anything, but it was good. He had one more person to guide him. It wouldn’t be good to rely on Lim Seunghyun too much.
Park Sunwoo’s expression became much brighter as Yoo Yeon Seo broke down his wall.
“Actually, I also want to do something else besides the company work, like you.”
“What kind of thing?”
“Well… I can’t be a celebrity like you, but maybe YouTube?”
A chaebol third-generation YouTuber… that would be interesting in its own way. He could get a lot of views by spending money like crazy or showing off his limited edition supercars.
“Are you not going to do the company work at all?”
“I have a sister. She and I don’t get along.”
Yoo Yeon Seo turned his head to where the adults were and looked at Park Sunwoo’s sister, Park Yujung. She was one year younger than him, and she had studied abroad and started from the bottom and climbed up the ladder.
Park Yujung was listening to the conversation with Yoo Eunho among the adults. She looked ambitious, with her eyes sparkling. The grandfather seemed to like her a lot and responded to her with a hearty laugh.
“I can’t live like that.”
“Me neither.”
He heard from Lim Seunghyun that Yoo Eunho also had a lot of work, so even the owner’s family couldn’t just suck honey in the company.
“So, what kind of content are you going to do on YouTube?”
Yoo Yeon Seo tried to kill his boredom by talking to Park Sunwoo. He seemed to dream of a celebrity’s life, since he specifically mentioned YouTube…
“I don’t know yet. Do you have any good ideas?”
“Well…”
Yoo Yeon Seo crossed his arms and thought. Honestly, there was only one way to get a lot of subscribers.
“Just do what I do.”
“Like you?”
“I have something I’m good at, right? Money talk.”
He could shoot money guns on the street or show off his supercars that he collected.
“Wouldn’t people hate that?”
“They’ll curse while watching.”
In fact, Yoo Yeon Seo’s SNS had one of the highest number of followers in Korea. They were curious and envious of the life of a chaebol who had nothing to envy. They felt vicarious satisfaction and resentment while watching him spend money that they couldn’t earn in their lifetime.
“Honestly, it’s not easy to come up with content for YouTube, so why don’t you use what you have first?”
“That makes sense.”
Yoo Eunho and Yoo Yeon Seo were abnormally handsome, inheriting the blood of Lee Heeseo, but Park Sunwoo was also handsome in a neat way.
The original Yoo Changho and Park Geumju were also tall and well-proportioned for their generation. Yoo Geonmin was the same, and the two aunts, Yoo Minjung and Yoo Seonyoung, were also above average in appearance. Park Sunwoo could do well if he tried.
“…I thought of something good.”
“Yeah? Good for you.”
But why do your eyes look like money? You’re not going to get scolded by your small aunt for making your son weird, are you?
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s going to do YouTube.”
Yoo Eunho shook his head as if he couldn’t stop him, and Park Sunwoo smiled brightly. Judging by the atmosphere, Yoo Eunho and the cousins seemed to get along well.
Was Yoo Yeon Seo the only one who felt out of place here? He felt pity for the original again.
“Let’s go soon.”
“Is it over already?”
Yoo Eunho nodded. They were all busy people, so the conversation didn’t last long.
“Hyung, can you make a guest appearance on my YouTube when I do it?”
“Sure, if I’m not busy.”
Yoo Yeon Seo bumped his fist with Park Sunwoo’s fist.
“Son, I’ll take you home.”
“It’s okay. I’ll go with hyung.”
Yoo Geonmin looked noticeably gloomy. He looked more childish than Yoo Eunho. Yoo Yeon Seo reluctantly added.
“…You can call me often, you know.”
“Yeah. And call this grandfather often too.”
Yoo Geonmin’s expression brightened up in an instant, but it turned gloomy again when Yoo Changho intervened. Geez… he had a lot of facial expressions.
“Yeon Seo, you look good like this. Be like this more often.”
“How about we go shopping at our department store later?”
“That sounds good. It would brighten up the mood to be with him.”
Was he a trophy to them…? The aunts were cheerful until the end.
‘He must have drawn a line, because they seem to get along well as relatives…’
Yoo Yeon Seo wondered why he had alienated himself. Was it because of his rude personality?
“I’ll go ahead!”
“Yeon Seo hyung, I’ll contact you later!”
They sent off the aunt’s family first, and then it was Yoo Eunho and Yoo Yeon Seo’s turn.
As Yoo Yeon Seo opened the door of the passenger seat and was about to get in the car, Park Geumju, who had been hesitating, called him.
“Well… that, are you okay now?”
Didn’t she ask if he was okay earlier? Did she forget because she was old? Yoo Yeon Seo nodded his head.
“Yes.”
“Then that’s good. Go home safely.”
Park Geumju turned around without any regret.
‘She seems to care a lot about me, but she’s blunt.’
Yoo Yeon Seo evaluated the grandmother he met for the first time. But he was bothered by the fact that she had tensed up when she first saw him.
‘I didn’t do the automatic behavior mode today, so I should sync my memories a bit.’
As the car that carried Yoo Eunho and Yoo Yeon Seo disappeared to the other side of the road, Choi Yujin asked Park Geumju casually.
“You did it, right?”
“What?”
“The articles about Yeon Seo.”
The articles that Yoo Yeon Seo had criticized as too obvious were influenced by Halo Media, but more than half of them were done by Park Geumju’s orders.
“He’s never done anything good like this before, so I had to do it properly.”
“I guess so.”
“He changed his personality after the accident… he’s much better now.”
Yoo Changho, the chairman, who was listening, widened his eyes and looked at Park Geumju and Choi Yujin.
“What articles are you talking about?”
“You know, the incident where Yeon Seo left the filming site, and then things went well for him and articles poured out.”
Yoo Changho frowned after hearing Choi Yujin’s explanation.
“Why did you do that? The company would handle it.”
“You don’t know anything. Don’t just ask someone to report to you, but look at the internet yourself.”
He was scolded instead, and Yoo Changho coughed. He had actually asked someone to get regular information about Yoo Yeon Seo, but he didn’t bother to look for it himself.
He thought he couldn’t leave it like this, and secretly formed a team dedicated to Yoo Yeon Seo, and quietly caught the people who posted malicious comments.
“I thought you hated Yeon Seo.”
“I don’t like him that much either.”
Park Geumju answered curtly.
“I did something wrong to him, and that’s why I feel guilty…”
“What did you do?”
Park Geumju didn’t answer. Choi Yujin didn’t press for an answer either.
Park Geumju was not just a corporate wife, but a businesswoman who grew her own brand globally. She also received envy and jealousy from others for her perfect image.
And Lee Heeseo was a celebrity who influenced a generation, and there was no one in the chaebol family who didn’t know him. In fact, there were so many proposals from chaebol children who were attracted by Lee Heeseo’s appearance.
[Didn’t you treat your daughter-in-law too harshly?]
[How could you hang yourself in this world… How much did you abuse her?]
[And your grandson saw it too. How could you not know that such an incident happened in your own house…]
After Lee Heeseo tragically lost his life, Park Geumju also suffered from criticism and rumors for a while. It caused a big crack in Park Geumju’s pride, who had always pursued perfection.
And after losing his beloved daughter-in-law, her son cried in despair secretly.
[Ahhhh!]
[Yeon Seo!]
The atmosphere in the house was indescribably bad, and the grandson who witnessed the accident went crazy.
Their happy family was shattered. Park Geumju hated the situation so much and wanted to run away. She later found out that she had symptoms of depression.
[Grandma… I’m weird.]
[I keep seeing mom.]
So she pushed away the young grandson who relied on her in anger.
[Uh…]
She still couldn’t forget the shocked expression of Yoo Yeon Seo. She tried to apologize right away, but Yoo Yeon Seo ran away.
She missed the chance to apologize, and she was angry with herself. And she couldn’t say anything nice to him as he looked more and more like Lee Heeseo.
[How about going abroad for a while?]
She traveled abroad frequently at the suggestion of her husband who noticed the change. She healed her mind by attending counseling sessions, but she couldn’t close the gap with her grandson.
In fact, Park Geumju had come to Korea for a while when Yoo Yeon Seo was in the intensive care unit and saw him. The sight of him being kept alive by all kinds of machines shocked Park Geumju.
[Are you okay now?]
[Yes, I’m fine.]
So she held back the tears that almost came out when she saw Yoo Yeon Seo answering her calmly.
Park Geumju looked at the direction where Yoo Yeon Seo had disappeared for a long time.
“Damn woman, why did you have to die…”
That voice was more filled with deep sorrow than resentment.
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