RR 21
[021] Covertly, for More Money 1.
Jin Yun-gi, in his favorite room that he called his personal theater, was watching a movie with his wife, silently nursing a drink.
His only hobbies were theater and film.
For these hobbies, Jin Yun-gi had even installed a screen and projector like a real cinema, and he diligently collected film reels. It was a room that showed how much he loved movies.
His wife could tell that while the projector’s film was rolling, her husband wasn’t focused on the movie.
“Honey. Is it because of Do-jun?”
“Huh? Ah, well… yes, it is.”
When his son showed him the bankbook and told him to say whatever he wanted to do with the money, Jin Yun-gi was speechless. In that moment, he despised himself for being more fixated on the bankbook than on his son.
“He’s just an innocent child who meant well. Don’t worry too much about it.”
“Honey.”
“Yes.”
“I wasn’t angry. I was just ashamed.”
Jin Yun-gi smiled gently and put his arm around his wife’s shoulder.
“When Do-jun said that, when he told me to do anything I wanted with over ten billion won, my heart pounded. I even thought, ‘This is an opportunity!'”
Jin Yun-gi flinched his shoulder, as if the memory of that moment had resurfaced.
“How pathetic I was… a father drooling over his child’s piggy bank.”
“It’s because it’s such a huge amount of money. I felt the same way. I thought, ‘With that much money, you, Sang-jun, and our whole family could move abroad and live there.'”
His wife’s comfort couldn’t mend his bruised pride, shame, and self-reproach as a father.
“But honey. I’m curious too… what do you truly want to do? If you had enough money. Do you still want to be a film director?”
Jin Yun-gi wasn’t thrilled to talk about a dream he’d already abandoned, but he couldn’t ignore his wife’s effort to change the subject.
“No. I know I don’t have a knack for directing. If I were to make a movie, it would turn out 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 this novel I’m reading right now resonates deeply with me. I wish I could turn it into a movie.”
As he began talking about movies, Jin Yun-gi’s eyes sparkled. They were the eyes of a boy chasing a dream.
“Film is no different from manufacturing. If a movie is successful enough to recoup its production costs, you can make the next one. But if you reduce production costs, the burden of success also decreases.”
“How do you reduce production costs?”
“Korean films are currently produced in a haphazard way. There’s a lot of fluff, and countless people skim money off the top. You could cut at least 30%. Well, you know that too.”
Jin Yun-gi met the gaze of his wife, who was once an actress.
“I only filmed one movie. I didn’t have time to learn about things like that.”
“If it weren’t for me, you would have become a star… Don’t you feel unfairly treated?”
“What? It was you who told me to give up, saying my acting skills were terrible and I wouldn’t last anyway.”
Jin Yun-gi looked lovingly at his wife, who was pinching 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-gi tightened the hand gripping her shoulder.
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Vice Chairman Jin Young-gi’s Frustration
“How much?”
“The land compensation alone is 14 billion won. And there are still 20,000 pyeong left that can be used for commercial purposes… That will easily exceed 10 billion won.”
Jin Young-gi, Vice Chairman of Sunyang Group and Chairman Jin Yang-cheol’s eldest son, rubbed his forehead while looking at the cadastral map of Bundang New City.
“14 billion won in that little kid’s hands? The bank interest alone is over 1 billion won. That’s better than most large corporations, isn’t it? Just with the interest, he could buy twenty apartments in Gangnam every year!”
When his son, Jin Young-jun, made an envious expression, Vice Chairman Jin Young-gi suddenly yelled.
“You idiot! Are you envious thinking about bank interest? Is this the time to think about such paltry sums?”
At his father’s loud voice, Jin Young-jun turned his head away.
“You’re a fourth-year university student, and you’re still like that? Aren’t you going to get your act together?”
“Honey! Why are you so hard on him? He’s already dejected about not being able to study abroad!”
The secretary’s office staff, sensing the signs of an impending argument between the Vice Chairman and his wife, cleared their throat softly to remind them they were still in the living room.
“Manager Kim.”
“Yes.”
“Keep an eye on Yun-gi’s house. Report immediately if anything unusual happens.”
“Understood, Vice Chairman.”
“You may go.”
As Manager Kim quietly backed out of the living room, Vice Chairman Jin Young-gi began glaring at his eldest son again.
“Are you going to keep living your life chasing after women like that?”
At the word “women,” Jin Young-jun couldn’t lift his head.
“You bastard! Are entertainers the only women you can fool around with? There are plenty of beautiful women in the world! Why do you have to mess with only women who appear on TV? What if it ends up in the newspaper like that?”
Jin Young-gi was fuming.
He had mobilized all his money and connections to get an admission letter from a prestigious American university, but his irresponsible son had impregnated a top actress of the time. And a woman seven years his senior, no less.
The money spent to get rid of the actress’s child and silence her cost more than a building.
He had once again mobilized money and connections to barely silence the media, but he couldn’t block the eyes and ears of his father, the Chairman.
– “He’s not even a dog in heat, and he impregnates someone? That kind of guy goes to study in America? Forget it! He’d spread his seed among white and black women alike. Do I have to see mixed-race grandchildren?”
His study abroad plans were blocked, and two employees from the group’s audit office were now closely monitoring his son 24 hours a day. It infuriated him that such a son envied a cousin ten years his junior.
“Listen carefully. Your grandfather isn’t someone who gives away even ten won for free. He might create a ranch for a young kid. But transferring the ownership and giving all the proceeds from its sale is a completely different matter.”
“Stop it. It’s all in the past…”
Vice Chairman Jin Young-gi ignored his continually irritated wife.
His wife, Park Hye-young, was also a woman who had grown up wanting for nothing. Although her family was far below the Sunyang Group, it was a chaebol family whose name was known by everyone.
Because of this, she always felt displeased with her husband, who always seemed to cower before his father-in-law.
“How old is Do-jun now? He was given 14 billion won at that age. This isn’t just a simple gift. Your grandfather thinks a twelve-year-old kid’s value is as much as 14 billion won. If he sells the remaining land and gives it to Do-jun, that kid’s value will be over 20 billion won!”
Jin Young-jun didn’t deeply consider what his father’s words meant. He was the eldest grandson anyway, wasn’t he? He believed that when his grandfather passed away, everything would become his father’s, and eventually, he would inherit everything.
“Has your grandfather ever given you a single pyeong of land or a single bankbook? That’s what your grandfather thinks your value is.”
“Honey. What are you worried about? You’re already the Vice Chairman. Sunyang is yours. And…”
Park Hye-young said, curving the corners of her lips.
“Who knows how many more years your father-in-law will live… Time is on our side.”
Jin Young-gi didn’t think he was worrying for nothing. Neither his wife nor his son truly understood Jin Yang-cheol.
He had never worried about his own succession until now. His youngest nephew was currently receiving the Chairman’s attention, but he wasn’t overly concerned because he was too young. However, he couldn’t let down his guard.
Because even if they shared blood, he had no intention of sharing even a single brick of the Sunyang Group.
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A Father’s Unfulfilled Dream
I subtly sat beside my father, who was sitting in the living room reading the newspaper.
“Father. I’m sorry.”
“Do-jun, it’s okay. What are you sorry for? Dad wasn’t angry. I was just a little surprised.”
Father tightly held my hand and pulled me into his embrace.
“Our Do-jun is growing up too fast. What will Dad do if you become so mature already?”
Oh, no!
Suddenly being hit with this kind of sentiment, I had nothing to say.
Since I hadn’t raised a child, I couldn’t even guess what a father’s heart felt like. All I could do was squeeze my father’s hand tightly.
Perhaps feeling the strength in my hand, Father smiled gently.
“Alright, Do-jun. If you have something to tell Dad, go ahead.”
“Mother once told Grandfather something like this: she hoped I would do what I wanted to do.”
“Mother did?”
“Yes.”
He seemed surprised that his quiet wife would say such a thing to his formidable father.
“So I was curious. What kind of work do you want to do, Father? I heard you like movies.”
“Mother told you that?”
“Yes.”
Father, who had been showing a somewhat bitter smile, seemed to compose himself and sat me in front of him.
“When I was in my third year of university, I went to study abroad in England.”
Oh, good!
It seems he’s going to talk seriously this time. If an adult is pulling out old memories, it’s likely to be a long story.
“I did everything my father told me to. When I was little, 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 studying business administration was natural. I thought I’d be in charge of a few Sunyang Group affiliates.”
He was saying he was a young master who adapted well to his given environment without much doubt, but when did he start going astray?
“In London, England, there’s an area called the West End. Hundreds of theaters there perform musicals and plays every day. I used to visit occasionally when I needed a break from studying.”
Recalling memories from his pure past, Father’s eyes suddenly sparkled.
“There, I saw Shakespeare and learned about Sinclair, Heywood, 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 a sense of relief. He wasn’t tempted by the glamour of the entertainment industry but drawn to pure art.
If the motivation is pure and right, isn’t it worth trying again?
“From then on, school became secondary, and I fell into theater and film. I enrolled in drama school and started learning directing. Of course, film too. But your grandfather found out, and I was dragged back to Korea. Haha.”
Was Father’s dream now just a memory?
I need to reignite that memory, help him achieve his dream. And I need his help to achieve my own dream. Father just gave me a hint for that help.
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