Chapter 257

I am Son Yoo-jin.

What’s the method? The fast method?

My brother cleaned up too quickly, so I couldn’t read it properly.

I’ve been learning Chinese characters from Cheongilong Habiji whenever I can, but Chinese characters have so many similar ones that to Yoo-jin, they all look the same.

– “Hehehe. Saying they all look the same means you don’t know them. Whether it’s recognizing characters or people, it’s the same. People who don’t want to admit they don’t know something, clinging to their pride, act all high and mighty. It’s better to have the courage to admit you don’t know than to cling to petty pride. That’s not pride, it’s just foolishness.”

He probably said this during the local elections. Cheongilong Habiji scratched his side while saying this, telling Yoo-jin to admit what she doesn’t know so she can learn properly.

Anyway, it was a character Yoo-jin didn’t know.

Her brother neatly folded the strange test paper and put it in a drawer, then took out another one and unfolded it.

This time, the characters were bigger, and there weren’t as many.

But there were a lot of numbers.

“Is this math?”

Thump thump-.

Jeong-won, who hadn’t fallen asleep yet, scratched her back from behind and asked.

“Yeah, it’s math.”

“Ah, math. Is math easy?”

“Yeah, it’s easy and fun.”

As expected, my brother is someone worth learning from.

Yoo-jin is also good at math, memorizing multiplication tables and solving problems well, but the math her brother does is full of not just numbers but also strange symbols, alphabets, and shapes, and he says it’s fun.

“What’s this?”

“It’s called a rational function. A rational function is…”

Even if he explains it in detail, I still don’t get it, but he’s so kind.

Yoo-jin yawned. She might fall asleep before Jeong-won.

Last week, she fell asleep while carrying Jeong-won on her back, and her nose got flattened.

“Hmm…”

Anyway, I need to bring up what I want to say, but it’s hard to say it.

Mom’s words make sense—no matter how close you are, it’s not easy to say what you really want to say.

“Hmm…”

I had no choice but to twist my body while carrying the baby.

If I do this, my brother will ask what’s wrong, right?

“Our Yoo-jin-.”

That’s right.

Ask me. Ask if I have something to say.

“Do you need to pee?”

“No? I’m fine.”

My brother is as solid as a mountain but as slow as an ox, just like Soo-jung said.

He has no sense at all, not even as much as Jang Gun-i’s eye boogers.

“Isn’t it heavy? Jeong-won fell asleep.”

That’s not it!

Brother, you don’t understand me at all.

“Sniff…”

I couldn’t help but whimper.

Life is so hard, so hard.

***

Jin-hyeok was preparing his grand plan.

Since he had already drawn up the blueprint for his life, all he had to do was follow it step by step.

It was about building achievements to control the situation without relying on Hong Ki-jun’s background.

“Sniff…”

But he couldn’t control unexpected situations like this.

People’s hearts are the hardest thing to deal with.

“Yoo-jin, what’s wrong? Did something sad happen?”

My sister is acting strange.

She usually adores Jeong-won, so carrying him in a sling isn’t unusual, and she follows her brother well, so coming to his room isn’t strange either, but suddenly making a hurt expression was something Jin-hyeok didn’t expect.

“Tell your brother. Did someone bully you? Did someone hit you?”

Yoo-jin just shook her head, not seeming to want to open her mouth.

Jin-hyeok knelt on the floor and lifted Yoo-jin’s cheek.

“It’s okay. Tell me.”

“Will you promise to listen?”

“Of course. Has your brother ever not listened to you?”

Except for making a boat.

That was postponed because the plan got too big, and it was pushed to a later time.

“Tell me. Is it some difficult request?”

As if she hadn’t been sulking, Yoo-jin’s lips slowly curled up.

It was an expression that could be scary if seen at night.

“Brother, when you go to the Olympics, do you take a plane?”

“Ah, our Yoo-jin wants to ride a plane? When your brother comes back, we’ll go on a plane together-.”

“I want to go to the Olympics-.”

Oh no, this is bad.

I never thought about this.

“Huh? Huh? Brother, huh?”

It’s hard to bring it up, but once you do, you have to express it fully.

That tendency seems to apply to both kids and adults. Maybe saying it out loud makes the desire more concrete and fuels it even more.

“I can speak English too-. I am a boy. I am Son Yoo-jin-.”

“Yoo-jin, sit on the bed for a moment. Your brother needs to think-.”

“I am Son Yoo-jin-! Sniff-.”

“No, let’s make a plan instead of thinking.”

I finally calmed her down and sat her on the bed.

‘What do I do with this?’

I never thought this little one would have such a big wish.

Making a hasty promise was the problem.

‘Wait. Is it a problem? Maybe we can go together?’

Yoo-jin is different from Jin-hyeok.

When Jin-hyeok was Yoo-jin’s age, the only place he had to go was school, and skipping school during exam periods required a resolve to give up on life. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the world’s perception wasn’t much different.

But the world has changed.

In this changed world, there’s no reason to force your lifestyle or beliefs on others. It’s not a matter of right or wrong.

There’s no system for recognizing field trips yet, but going abroad for a month or so wouldn’t be bad for the child.

“Is it too unreasonable?”

Yoo-jin’s desperate, shining eyes made my heart ache. Even the crescent moon over Gubong Mountain on a winter night wouldn’t be as cold as this.

‘…Is it unreasonable?’

Suddenly, I remembered my time working at Sain Group.

When the overseas training in Australia was decided, a male team member in his mid-30s, after watching my reaction, cautiously brought up something.

– “Um, team leader. I know it’s unreasonable, but I have a nephew I take care of…”

He asked if he could bring his elementary school nephew, saying he’d pay extra, and that he had no one to take care of him, so he was just asking, not expecting anything.

Then he informed me he wouldn’t be attending the overseas training.

– “Even if it’s a group tour, bringing a nephew to a company event is just unreasonable.”

Of course, I shook my head.

And I went straight to the department head.

– “Ah, team leader, if it’s your word, I’d do anything else, but that’s really unreasonable.”

Executive Hong Soo-jung, with a troubled expression, decided to accompany him.

Executive Hong Soo-jung contacted the travel agency directly and added more people. She said it had to be done under the department head’s authority to avoid gossip.

– “This training is just too unreasonable.”

A group package tour with the name “training” attached—other employees shook their heads and took care of that elementary school nephew. Boring sightseeing, a drink at night being the biggest joy, but going to the zoo with the kid and taking pictures together was fun.

‘Later, it came out, and Executive Hong Soo-jung and I got disciplined together.’

Looking at that, neither Jin-hyeok nor Hong Soo-jung were normal. They were both conformists but had a rebellious streak. Maybe it was because of their upbringing.

Anyway, that kid was probably around Yoo-jin’s age.

“Haengun-i is busy feeding his babies these days and won’t play with me-. If you’re not here, who will I play with-?”

Thump thump-.

Carrying the baby and happily bouncing, she threw out such a sad line, making it seem insincere, but her eyes are too sad.

No, what is this…

Making such a grand request looking like the third of six siblings from next door who came to borrow rice…

“Wait.”

The family can’t enter the athletes’ village, but there’s no problem with them going together to cheer. The only obstacle is that Yoo-jin is too young.

And the Atlanta Olympics athletes’ village has poor accommodations, so Yoo Se-ra found another place to stay, so accommodation isn’t an issue.

“Wait and see-.”

“I am Son Yoo-jin…”

Yoo-jin muttered strange English with a desperate expression.

Team leader Son Jin-hyeok wasn’t the type to push work after getting approval. The work was like that, and his personality wasn’t laid-back. He’d do preliminary research, feasibility studies, and even look for cooperative companies or managers before proceeding. It was a way of working possible because he had the chairman’s trust.

‘There’s only one person who can help in times like this.’

Even if it’s just to help my pitiful sister bouncing anxiously with the baby, I have to push this through.

I picked up the phone.

Ring ring ring-.

***

Despite being forty, Yoo Se-ra is always bright and lively.

Even working on weekends, she remains the same.

You might think it’s natural since she’s a chaebol daughter with a lot to inherit and a CEO who earns a lot, but it’s also her innate nature. Because of that, she’s never blushed even when her brothers teased her in front of her face.

“Hello? Ah, hello-. I’m sorry to contact you on the weekend. I’m busy with Olympic preparations on weekdays…”

Of course, that’s a lie.

The Olympic preparations are handled by the federation and foundation staff—what does the chairman have to do?

“I contacted you to ask for revisions to the proposal you sent. There are so many sports companies interested in our athletes, you see. Ohohong-.”

Was that laugh too forced?

It’s not even a dry season, but my mouth feels stiff.

“Yes, yes. Of course, the athlete’s wishes are important. I’m just a mediator trying to get the best sponsorship deal for our athlete.”

This is also a lie.

As an agent, she gets a decent cut. 30%.

“Yes, as you know, we have Sain, a global mega-corporation, as our parent company, so wouldn’t it be better to talk to the headquarters? Ohohong-.”

When it comes to laughing while cutting someone down, she’s second to none.

“Of course. Our athlete isn’t the type to discriminate against foreign companies or ask for more money.”

She’s gotten better at lying.

Jin-hyeok had expressed reluctance to accept sponsorship from a Japanese company. Sports uniforms, shoes, even sports towels.

But if he had to, he emphasized getting more from foreign companies than domestic ones. Gotta squeeze the foreigners as much as possible, right?

– “If possible, it’d be good to contract in dollars. Even with fixed exchange rates, variables could arise…”

The actual version and what Yoo Se-ra remembers are quite different, but she believes he meant it that way. Well, people believe what they want to believe.

“It’s not something to discuss over the phone. If you revise the proposal, I’ll review it and negotiate with the headquarters in Atlanta- Yes, yes. That’s right. Ohohong-.”

Click-.

“Ah, this is exhausting.”

As the CEO, she only makes major decisions for the department store and hotel. She hired experts from overseas and actively accepted their consulting opinions. She didn’t just focus on acting like a CEO, raising her nose, and didn’t insist on her own opinions just because she studied abroad, earning her praise.

“I feel like I’ve been tricked by Hong Ki-jun.”

But the foundation and agency operate very differently.

Negotiation tasks that are ambiguous to delegate to employees have piled up.

For example, you can’t delegate a power struggle with the federation to an employee, right?

Now, athlete sponsorship proposals are coming in, and the scale is beyond imagination.

Rustle-.

She flipped through the cover of the American sports company’s proposal.

“How much is this? Ten million dollars? That’s like… eek!”

With fixed exchange rates, the calculation was quick.

It’s not a full cash sponsorship. It includes cash payments, training and competition participation, study abroad support, and equipment sponsorship. The term is five years.

‘Besides cash, the additional costs can be monetized too.’

The sponsorship condition, of course, is acting as an advertising marketing model.

Anyway, the items envisioned when establishing the foundation are taking shape one by one. Until now, the foundation was funded by Sain Group’s money, but now the athletes’ earnings can fund the business.

‘This is thrilling. This is why I do business.’

Even though the foundation started with group assets, the sense of achievement from building a business with your own hands is distinctly different.

“Ah, I need to study English.”

She’s decent at reading and writing, but some languages just don’t stick. For Yoo Se-ra, it’s English, and a medical doctor friend suggested it might be a kind of language disorder. She thinks it’s because she hated her middle school English teacher before studying abroad.

Anyway, her friends who studied in Germany and Italy are good at English, but Yoo Se-ra strangely can’t get it to stick. Her brothers teased her for being a blockhead.

‘Those brats.’

Hmph, ahem!

Even with attendants, traveling without a husband who’s good at English means she can’t be ignored.

“I wonder if you could tell me your suggestion? Suggestion? It’s definitely easier than German, but it’s hard.”

As she muttered to herself, the phone rang.

Ring ring ring-.

The noble lioness Yoo Se-ra doesn’t answer external calls without going through the management department.

Ring ring ring-.

It rang twice and stopped.

“Ooh? My athlete?”

***

Disappointment leads to frustration, and a child’s frustration lasts long.

That’s the wisdom I learned from observing Yoo-jin.

Ring ring ring-. Ring ring ring-.

Click-.

Yoo Se-ra doesn’t answer direct calls immediately.

She waits for it to ring twice and hang up to know it’s Jin-hyeok.

On weekdays, external calls must go through the foundation operation team, and at home, they must go through the helper. I don’t know why she does this, but it’s her style, so I have to accept it.

I called again.

Ring-.

– Wassup-, Jin-hyeok?

She’s been studying English conversation lately, and she has to show it off.

She’s fluent in German and Italian but not familiar with American English, and from Jin-hyeok’s perspective, she’s not great at British English either.

“I am Son Yoo-jin! I am Son Yoo-jin!”

“Yoo-jin, be quiet for a moment-.”

“Okay, hehe…”

I need to get straight to the point before Yoo-jin starts crying.

“Chairman, no, Mother.”

– Oh yeah-, um… Anything you do, you need?

She’s so slow that even if a pimple appears on her face, she wouldn’t notice until it’s touched, but when Jin-hyeok calls her “Mother,” she senses something’s up.

– Um-, please, speak English um- because-, I’m- studying English now. Okay?

She’s really something, honestly.

Then I should make a demand rather than ask for permission. Sometimes foreign languages are more direct.

“I want to go to Atlanta with my sister, Yoo-jin.”

– Huh? What? Can you say that again?

Suddenly, what’s with the Korean?