Chapter 313

As soon as the college entrance exam ended, more people started handing out flyers at the school gate.

“Sun Driving Academy

Pinpoint lectures!!! (Veteran instructors)

Special discount for exam takers!!!! (Bring your exam ticket)

Shuttle bus service!!!!!”

The excessive use of exclamation marks made it seem groundbreaking, even though it wasn’t that innovative.

‘Ugh, how many exclamation marks are there?’

I picked out the nurungji-flavored candy from the flyer and folded the ad into a paper airplane.

Whoosh— The airplane flew and stuck into the folded neck of a big friend.

“Hey! What the heck!”

I locked eyes with the friend who was glaring around the classroom.

“Sorry, Jaehyun.”

“Ah, it’s the president. It’s fine. Hehe.”

The kids are so nice.

Jaehyun unfolded the paper airplane and scratched his cheek.

“President, are you going to the driving academy too?”

“I’m just going to take the test at the test center.”

“The practical test is hard. They say there are tricks, like formulas for each course.”

“Yeah. I practiced a lot.”

In my past life, I didn’t have a car, but I drove often.

Recently, I practiced driving in Jo Il-hun’s 1-ton truck to get a feel for it.

Driving is like a sport; it becomes second nature.

The skills I had ingrained in my body were still there.

Jo Il-hun, sitting in the passenger seat, clicked his tongue in admiration.

– “Wow, our Jin-hyuk is good at driving too. You didn’t even stall the engine? Just need to get a license, and you’re good to go.”

– “License?”

– “Yeah. A man with a license can drive a car, but that’s not all. You need to drive a taxi too. Once you get a taxi, you can just sit in the car and do this and that ⬛⬛ and ⬛⬛ and ⬛⬛······.”

Blushing······.

Just imagining it made my heart race.

So, I’ll skip the details.

“President, when are you planning to take the practical test?”

“Before graduation.”

“Ah, should I go take it with you?”

“Sure. You can take the test on the same day as your friends.”

“I’m afraid they’ll make fun of me if I fail.”

“I won’t make fun of you.”

“That’s why······.”

The senior year classroom, stepping on the final hurdle of high school, flowed peacefully, almost boringly.

“I’m going to get a girlfriend tomorrow!”

“So what-.”

“That guy, he-. If anyone hears, they’ll think he already has one-.”

“Where are you applying for college?”

“I don’t know. My scores are terrible······. I’ll just apply here and there-.”

“Ah, boring. Time drags so much after the exam-.”

“Soon, it’s the last vacation······.”

It was the peace Jin-hyuk always wanted and dreamed of.

Those friends will someday realize that nothing is as sweet as a boring routine.

*

It only took about a week for the official results to be announced.

In contrast to the gloom right after the mock exam, the expressions of the friends who checked their percentile scores brightened.

“Wow-. It was hard for everyone.”

“The president was right-, right-.”

“What did the president say?”

“He said if it’s hard for me, it’s hard for everyone else too. Thinking like that makes you feel better.”

“Isn’t that something only the president can say?”

“What does it matter? If the president says so, then that’s how it is.”

Jin-hyuk, like a typical senior high school student, tugged at his grown-out hair.

‘I didn’t expect to get all the physics and chemistry questions right.’

It seems luck is on my side as my life is about to unfold.

The only perfect scorer in the nation.

I checked right after the mock exam, but seeing the printed results felt strange.

I thought my life was destined to be quiet, but becoming the only perfect scorer in the hellish college entrance exam.

Munch munch munch-.

With a dumbfounded expression, I licked my lips.

It was an unfair competition from the start.

Jin-hyuk’s past knowledge was gradually coming back, and he had trained his brain to memorize textbooks. Borrowing Cheon Gil-ryong’s expression, he was like a blooming flower.

“President, it’s a shame. You’re not going to college.”

“What are you talking about-. The president is going to make a fortune as an employee or an athlete. Ah, I’m jealous.”

“Right-. Our country doesn’t even rank in world university rankings, so it’s a waste for our president to go to such a school. What’s the shame in not going to college?”

“That’s right-. If Jin-hyuk hadn’t done sports, he would have gone to Harvard or Oxford.”

“Guys.”

At Jin-hyuk’s call, the friends who were buzzing around turned their attention to him.

“Let’s see each other often. Wherever we are.”

“That’s right-.”

Jin-hyuk took out his cell phone.

It was an improved model from the one he had before leaving for the Olympics last year, but unfortunately, it still didn’t have a camera function.

The friends’ eyes widened.

“President, you got a new phone?”

“Yeah, that’s what happened.”

It was something he hadn’t shown to some friends who didn’t have cell phones yet, but now he could take it out.

“Give me your number, president.”

“010······.”

From the wallets of friends without cell phones, thin notebooks the size of business cards came out.

The hard cover usually stayed closed with the force of a magnet, but when opened by hand, it unfolded like an accordion.

Jin-hyuk, who didn’t record contacts separately but memorized or saved them on his phone, found it a fascinating object.

This must be the harmony created by the coexistence of old and new cultures.

***

According to the seniors, time flies incredibly fast after the college entrance exam, and it seems to be true.

At first, I suspected it was because I was playing around without a plan, but even when I met friends outside and spent quality time with my siblings at home, time still flew by.

The year changed, and Jeong Won-i turned six, but he’s still too young to ride a sled alone.

Tap tap tap-.

I made a large sled so Yoo Jin and Jeong Won-i could ride together.

“Uh-. When will Son Jeong-won ride the sled alone?”

“Jeong Won-i is tall and strong, so maybe next year?”

“Oh-. Then Son Jeong-won will be excited next year.”

“Speaking of this sled, the older sister stands while riding, and Jeong Won-i sits. The older sister and Jeong Won-i ride together. Isn’t that nice?”

“Yes, hehe-. Uh, where will you ride?”

“I can’t ride. If I go into the field, the ice will break.”

Yoo Jin, who was petting Cheon-ma next to her brother, nodded. Her brother is heavy.

Cheon-ma, who used to love material things and rummaging through the forest, was slowly losing the luster of his fur and finding it hard to run as he aged. Yoo Jin, who knew that the time to say goodbye was approaching, tried to spend time with Cheon-ma even in the cold winter.

Yoo Jin, brushing Cheon-ma’s fur with sad eyes, turned her head.

She seemed to have something to say to her brother.

“Brother, can’t you just run fast before the ice breaks?”

“That’s possible, but I can’t ride the sled. To ride the sled, you have to stop. Then I’ll fall into the water.”

Even if I had dark powers, I couldn’t use them, so the idea of making my weight lighter on the ice was just a fantasy.

On a hot summer night before I could control my powers, I boldly ran over a waterway to test my strength. Of course, when no one was looking.

– “Wow! Water surface running!”

Splash! Plop! I made a loud noise as I entered the water.

I can’t forget Jang Gun-i’s look at that time. If he could talk, he would have mocked me like, “Are you Jesus?”

“Brother will watch from outside the field, so Yoo Jin and Jeong Won-i-. Okay?”

Whoosh-.

A quadcopter flew overhead.

It was a model with a self-developed low-noise engine.

It was obvious who was inside without even looking.

Jin-hyuk smiled at his siblings as he watched the quadcopter disappear.

“Shall we ride the sled tomorrow, kids?”

“Yes, hehe-. Let’s play with Soo-jung unni-.”

“Hong Soo-hyuk is here-.”

Jeong Won-i clapped towards the training center.

Unlike the welcoming siblings, Jin-hyuk’s eyes narrowed.

‘Hmm······.’

The debt collector is here.

*

Hong Ki-jun was more energetic and had a better complexion than before.

He had been managing his health, including exercise, for a long time, so there was no special additional care, but it seemed like he had cleared the darkness in his heart. Only Hong Ki-jun and Jin-hyuk knew the reason. Well, it’s good that he’s better.

Yoo Se-ra brought a sponsorship contract worth a whopping 200 million dollars.

I wondered what kind of company would sponsor a track and field athlete under twenty with 200 million dollars, but it was a consortium package of five companies. The idea was that if they couldn’t monopolize Son Jin-hyuk, they would share the cost and enjoy the marketing effects together. The person who proposed the package was none other than Yoo Se-ra herself. It seemed like she inherited Hong Ki-jun’s negotiation skills, as it was a development Jin-hyuk couldn’t have imagined.

“Isn’t it good? The uniform might look a bit like a clown suit.”

Yoo Se-ra grinned mischievously, and the family burst into laughter imagining a muscular beggar wearing clothes plastered with sponsor logos.

“Leave the cash to Richard, and I hope all the goods go to the juniors.”

“Is there any doubt?”

Jin-hyuk minimized secrets with his family.

Hong Ki-jun had clearly shown the agony of living with a secret you can’t tell anyone, and Jin-hyuk didn’t want to carry such a headache as he was starting his life in earnest.

Since Hong Ki-jun agreed, the family also learned about the relationship between Jin-hyuk and Richard Hammond of RB, a world-famous investor. Hong Ki-jun revealed that Jin-hyuk was the formal representative of RB and that it all started with a bet on the Barcelona Olympics rankings.

A sponsored athlete only needs to wear sportswear and competition clothes with sponsor logos; there’s no obligation to monopolize the goods. Jin-hyuk’s juniors will receive everything from sportswear to shoes, towels, socks, and sports drinks to train.

“It seems like there will be plenty of goods, so it would be good to distribute them to schools nationwide. Regardless of the sport.”

“Okay. What goes around comes around.”

Yoo Se-ra diligently took notes and responded cheerfully.

She’s always someone you’d want to work with.

She has no greed for honor, so she doesn’t show attachment to wealth. Well, distributing according to the contract is already a lot of money, and it’s okay to empty Hong Ki-jun’s pockets, so it’s natural.

Hong Ki-jun, watching with a pleased expression, looked at Jin-hyuk.

“Don’t you need to rest? You should meet friends and all.”

“You know I have a lot planned, right? And I see my friends every day.”

Hmm-. Hong Ki-jun didn’t ask further.

Even during the vacation, Jin-hyuk met neighborhood friends and hung out with school friends in town. He also proudly passed the driving test with a perfect score.

He visited friends’ houses in town, flipped through comic books, and went to the market.

He met Hwang Ga-young, went clothes shopping, and took his siblings to Kim Eung-nyeo’s house for a meal. It was a warm and happy outing.

He took the bus with Choi Mi-kyung to Lee Seung-hoon’s house by the sea and ate plenty of thick cultured oysters.

Every time he went out, the air he breathed was cold yet refreshing, with a strange coolness mixed in. The sense of liberation from freedom, another freedom that comes from freedom. The freedom most exam takers enjoy after finishing their exams.

“I plan to receive military training as soon as I graduate.”

Following Jin-hyuk’s intention, the agency had already taken steps to allow him to receive training immediately after graduation.

“Brother, are you going to the army? You promised me you wouldn’t······.”

Hong Soo-jung, who was peeling tangerines for Hong Soo-hyuk and Jeong Won-i, looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Jin-hyuk chuckled. A guy about to enter middle school being so weak······.

Lately, he’s been too busy to answer calls, so it seems the information he got from his parents at home was insufficient. Or maybe Yoo Se-ra deliberately didn’t tell her daughter to tease her.

“It’ll be over soon. Less than a month.”

“Ah-. Really? Ah-. I was going to visit······.”

Visit? What visit?

Hong Soo-jung, conscious of the adults’ gaze, was just rambling. Her face and eyes had already turned red.

Embarrassed by the attention, Hong Soo-jung quickly changed the subject.

“But brother, you didn’t apply to any universities, right? What a waste of your grades.”

Yoo Jin proudly tugged at Hong Soo-jung’s sleeve.

“Unni, you know-. My brother and I are going to go to university together later.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really. We’re going to MIT.”

“Ah, then you’re going to university with me too······.”

Hmm-. Jin-hyuk, who no longer had to worry about his career, pouted his lips.

He soon fell into thought, holding his chin.

‘It’s not that I dislike university, but I want to work quickly. I need power. It would be fun to handle things quickly and go to university with Soo-jung, right?’

In the past, Hong Soo-jung lived under the surveillance of bodyguards while studying abroad.

She often regretted not experiencing the freedom most high school graduates enjoy.

“Soo-jung, what are you going to major in?”

“How about something like dance? Brother, you too?”

Hong Soo-jung’s eyes, resembling Yoo Se-ra’s, curved like a crescent moon.

“Me too? Dance?”

Me?

That’s too much of a stretch.

Even the track suits I wear during competitions are embarrassing, let alone dance costumes.

“Just kidding. I’ll just do arts as a hobby and go into liberal arts.”

“Well······ let’s think about it slowly. If I go, I’ll just take the exam again.”

I could work for about five years and then take a break, or with Hong Ki-jun’s background, I could balance studies, work, and sports, or even go abroad for studies.

It would be better for Hong Soo-jung to go with Jin-hyuk than with bodyguards.

“Hehe-.”

Soo-jung laughs like a fool when she’s in a good mood.

Son Kwang-yeon, who had been quietly listening, suddenly spoke up.

“Ki-jun, and Soo-jung’s mom. But is our son also going to take the employment test after the army?”

“I said I would. I want to.”

Jin-hyuk said, peeking at Yoo Se-ra’s notebook. Is this 4D chairman writing it down properly?

“Only by taking the test in the same environment as others can I understand why it’s difficult and find ways to improve.”

Before Son Kwang-yeon could digest Jin-hyuk’s words, he sighed.

“Well······. Our son enjoys taking tests-.”

Because he’s a pervert.

Knowing his son’s tendencies, Son Kwang-yeon easily understood but still looked displeased.

“If you pass the test and get hired, what do you start with? You have medals, so isn’t there a special promotion or something?”

Hong Ki-jun, meeting Son Kwang-yeon’s eyes, responded.

In a very calm and even tone.

“You start as a trainee.”

Sigh-. Son Kwang-yeon couldn’t hide his sigh.