Chapter 21: The Value of the Youngest

In his favorite room which he called his personal theater, Jin Yun-ki quietly drank while watching a movie with his wife.

Theater and film were his only hobbies.

To indulge in these hobbies, he had a screen and projector set up like a movie theater, he even collected movie films whenever he had the chance. The room offered a glimpse into how much he loved cinema.

His wife noticed the film was rolling but her husband wasn’t focused on the movie.

“Honey, is this about Do-jun?”

“Huh? Oh, well, yeah.”

When his son showed him his bankbook and told him to do whatever he wanted, Jin Yun-ki was speechless. He despised himself for noticing the bankbook more than his son at that moment.

“He’s just a naive kid, he meant well. Don’t overthink it.”

“Honey.”

“Yes.”

“I wasn’t angry, I was embarrassed.”

Jin Yun-ki smiled softly and wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“When Do-jun said that, when he told me to do whatever I wanted with over ten billion won, my heart raced. I even thought, ‘This is an opportunity!'”

Jin Yun-ki’s shoulders twitched as the memory resurfaced.

“I felt so pathetic, a father drooling over his child’s piggy bank.”

“It’s because it was such a large sum of money. I felt the same way. I thought with that money, you, Sang-joon, our whole family could move abroad and live there. That’s what I thought.”

His wife’s comfort couldn’t restore his crumpled pride, embarrassment, and self-loathing as a father.

“But honey, I’m curious, what do you really want to do? If you had enough money. Do you still want to be a film director?”

Jin Yun-ki wasn’t thrilled to talk about his abandoned dream, but he couldn’t ignore his wife’s effort to change the subject.

“No, I know I don’t have a talent for directing. If I made a movie, it would be really bland.”

“So you’ve completely given up on film?”

“I still have a lot of lingering feelings. If I could, I’d like to work on production and planning. Especially the novel I’m reading now, it really resonates with me. I think it would be great to make it into a movie.”

As he started talking about movies, Jin Yun-ki’s eyes lit up. The eyes of a boy chasing a dream.

“Movies are no different from manufacturing. If it’s successful enough to recoup the production cost, you can make the next film. But if you reduce the production cost, the burden of success also decreases.”

“How do you reduce production costs?”

“Right now, Korean movies are made in a haphazard way. There’s a lot of fluff, and plenty of people skimming money off the top. You could cut at least 30%. You know this.”

Jin Yun-ki met the eyes of his wife, a former actress.

“I only filmed one movie. I didn’t have enough time to learn about those things.”

“You could have been a star if it weren’t for me. Don’t you feel wronged?”

“What? You’re the one who told me to give up because my acting was terrible.”

Jin Yun-ki looked lovingly at his wife, who playfully pinched his arm.

“That’s true. Haha. You were more suited to be a model than an actress.”

Thanks to his wife, he could forget the embarrassing moment. Jin Yun-ki tightened his grip on her shoulder.

***

“How much?”

“The land compensation alone is 14 billion won. Also, there are twenty thousand pyeong that can be used as commercial land, this will easily exceed 10 billion won.”

Soonyang Group’s Vice-chairman and Chairman Jin Yang-cheol’s eldest son, Jin Young-ki, rubbed his forehead as he looked at the land registry of Bundang’s new city.

“That kid has 14 billion won in his hands? The bank interest alone is over a billion won. That’s better than most big companies. He could buy twenty Gangnam apartments every year with just the interest!”

When his son, Jin Young-jun, showed an envious expression, Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki roared.

“You brat! Are you jealous of the bank interest? Is that pittance all you can think about?”

At his father’s outburst, Jin Young-jun turned his head away.

“You’re a senior in college, are you still going to act like this? When will you get your act together?”

“Honey! Why are you yelling at him? He’s already down because he couldn’t study abroad!”

Sensing the signs of a marital spat, the secretariat staff member cleared his throat discreetly, reminding them of his presence in the living room.

“Team Leader Kim.”

“Yes.”

“Keep an eye on Yoon-ki’s house. Report immediately if anything unusual happens.”

“Yes, Vice-chairman.”

“You may go.”

As Team Leader Kim quietly backed out of the living room, Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki started glaring at his eldest son again.

“Are you going to keep chasing skirts like that?”

At the mention of women, Jin Young-jun couldn’t lift his head.

“You brat! Are actresses the only women you can play around with? Are there not enough pretty women in the world? Do you have to mess around with women on TV? What if you end up in the papers like that?”

Jin Young-ki was about to explode.

He had pulled every string he could, using money and connections to get an acceptance letter from a prestigious American university, but his immature son got a top actress pregnant. And she was seven years older than him.

The money spent to terminate that actress’s pregnancy and silence her could have bought a whole building.

He had to use his money and connections again to barely keep the media quiet, but he couldn’t block his father’s, the Chairman’s, eyes and ears.

‘He knocked her up like some dog in heat? And he’s going to study in America? Forget it! He’ll spread his seed to white and black women alike. Do I need to see mixed-race great-grandchildren?’

His path to study abroad was blocked, and two employees from the group’s audit office were now monitoring his son 24/7. And that same son was envious of his cousin, who was ten years younger. It made his blood boil.

“Listen carefully. Your grandfather doesn’t give away even ten won for free. He might give a ranch to a kid, but transferring the title and the proceeds from its sale is a completely different matter.”

“Stop it already. It’s in the past.”

Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki ignored his nagging wife.

His wife, Park Hye-young, was also a woman who grew up with everything she needed. Although her family’s chaebol was far below Soonyang Group, everyone knew its name.

Because of that, she always resented her husband for constantly cowering before his father.

“How old is Do-jun now? He gave 14 billion won to a kid that age. This isn’t a simple gift. He thinks a twelve-year-old’s value is worth 14 billion won. If he sells the remaining land and gives it to Do-jun, that kid’s worth will be over 20 billion won!”

Jin Young-jun didn’t think deeply about his father’s words. After all, he was the eldest grandson. When his grandfather passed away, everything would belong to his father, and he believed he would eventually inherit it all.

“Has your grandfather ever given you a piece of land or a bankbook? That’s how much your grandfather values you.”

“Honey, what are you worried about? You’re already the Vice-chairman. Soonyang is yours. And…”

Park Hye-young said with a smirk.

“How many more years will your father-in-law live? Time is on our side.”

Jin Young-ki didn’t think he was worrying for nothing. His wife and son didn’t know Jin Yang-cheol as a person.

He had never worried about his succession until now. His youngest nephew was currently receiving the Chairman’s attention, but it wasn’t a big concern. He was too young. But he couldn’t let his guard down.

Even though they shared blood, he had no intention of sharing even a single brick of Soonyang Group.

***

I sat down next to my father who was sitting in the living room, reading a newspaper.

“Father, I’m sorry.”

“Do-jun, it’s okay. What are you sorry for? I wasn’t angry. I was just a little surprised.”

Father held my hand tightly and pulled me into his embrace.

“Our Do-jun is growing up too fast. What will I do if you become so mature already?”

Oh no!

I don’t know what to say when he suddenly comes at me like this.

I haven’t raised a child, so I can’t even guess what a father’s heart feels like. All I could do was grip my father’s hand tightly.

Sensing the strength in my hand, my father smiled softly.

“Alright, Do-jun. Tell me what you want to say.”

“Mother once told Grandfather this. She said she hoped I could do what I wanted to do.”

“Your mother did?”

“Yes.”

He looked surprised that my quiet mother would say such a thing to her scary father-in-law.

“So I was curious. What did you want to do? I heard you like movies.”

“Your mother told you that?”

“Yes.”

My father, wearing a slightly bitter smile, composed himself and sat me in front of him.

“I went to England to study abroad when I was a junior in college.”

Aha!

He intends to tell the story properly this time. When an adult starts reminiscing, it’s going to be a long story.

“I did as my father told me. When I was young, he told me to study hard, so I tried to get good grades. He told me to study abroad, so I went to England. I didn’t have anything I particularly wanted to do. And I thought it was natural to study business administration. I thought I’d be in charge of a few Soonyang Group subsidiaries.”

He was saying he was a young master who adapted well to his given environment without any particular doubts, but when did he start going off course?

“In London, England, there’s an area called the West End. There, hundreds of theaters perform musicals and plays every day. I used to go there sometimes when I wanted to clear my head while studying.”

My father’s eyes sparkled as he recalled his pure youth.

“There, I saw Shakespeare and learned about Sinclair, Hayward, and Anderson. And works like John Osborne’s ‘Look Back in Anger,’ Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman,’ and Williams’s ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ shook me.”

Suddenly, I felt relieved. He wasn’t seduced by the glamour of the entertainment industry but was drawn to pure art.

If the motive is pure and right, isn’t it worth trying again?

“From then on, school took a backseat, and I fell into plays and movies. I enrolled in a theater school and started learning directing. Of course, movies too. But your grandfather found out, and I was dragged back to Korea. Haha.”

Is my father’s dream just a memory now?

I’ll rekindle that memory and help him achieve his dream. And I need to get help to achieve my own dream. My father just gave me a hint for that help.