Chapter 3. The Foolish Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang
Still, that’s a relief.
Their reaction was a little different from what I’d expected.
Even so, I couldn’t help thinking that it was fortunate.
Before coming here,
I had honestly prepared myself to take dozens of swings from a golf club.
I had come ready to be beaten almost to death.
Compared to that,
Their reaction was so mild that, with a little exaggeration, it wouldn’t be wrong to say they were almost welcoming me.
Of course, it seemed closer to pity than an actual welcome.
But pity was hundreds of times better than being hated, so I chose to interpret things as positively as possible.
Once the situation had calmed down a little,
My father-in-law asked me a question.
“Do-jin, do you… Ahem. Do you know the story of Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang?”
“I know it roughly. Princess Pyeonggang saw the good heart of Ondal, who was of low social status and considered a fool, married him, and he eventually rose to prominence…”
“Hoho. Is there really a need to say he was of low social status? He was simply an ordinary person.”
“You’re right.”
It was slightly different from the version I knew, but I didn’t want to nitpick.
Even if Father-in-law told me that Foolish Ondal had actually been a prince from another country, I would probably have to nod and accept it in this situation.
“Our daughter was most deeply moved by the story of Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang more than any other story in her entire life.”
“…”
“She was so deeply moved that when our relatives gathered together during her childhood, she gave quite a long speech about it.”
Hmm…
Considering that they were Yura’s relatives, I doubted they were ordinary people either.
“For your information, Yura’s maternal family is from an even more prestigious family than ours.”
“…”
“They told her that the story was nothing more than a fairy tale. She was still young, and they didn’t know what kind of strange things Yura might do.”
“…”
“Hahaha. They simply didn’t know her well enough because they were her maternal relatives. There was no way Yura would react normally after hearing something like that. Do you know what she said?”
Then what?
“She asked her maternal uncle what made him better than Foolish Ondal.”
“…”
Our Yura did that…?
“To her maternal uncle, who was considered the successor in the financial sector of Eunsung Group.”
“…”
“And do you know what the most serious part is? That was only the beginning. When her uncle couldn’t even respond, she continued by saying that apart from being born into a good family…”
“Father. I think you’re getting a little too excited.”
“Ahem.”
Uh…
This was going in a slightly different direction from what I’d imagined.
“Meeting Ondal has gotten me excited without realizing it.”
“Father?”
“…”
Ondal…? Me…?
So that’s why he avoided calling me a fool in front of Ondal?
“Ahem. I think I should have a conversation with him alone. Could you step out for a moment?”
“…”
“A father should at least have a conversation with his son-in-law, shouldn’t he? Especially now that she’s even pregnant…”
“Of course, Father. Just don’t say anything too strange to our Do-jin.”
Smile.
Flinch.
Yura left the room.
Why did you let out such a relieved sigh, Father-in-law?
Yura had left.
My father-in-law, who had been drinking tea, finally opened his mouth.
He seemed different from before.
Perhaps this was his true self.
“Young man.”
“Yes, Father.”
“You said you only found out about our family today?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
I was nervous.
Two twenty-year-olds had met, and before they were even capable of taking proper responsibility, they had gotten pregnant.
As a man, that wasn’t much different from lacking responsibility.
Even if I said I was willing to leave school and work at a construction site to take responsibility, it would probably sound like nothing more than words and youthful determination.
“First of all… Two consenting adults met and ended up having a child, so I won’t bother deciding who was more at fault. It’s already in the past.”
“…”
“But I want to warn you in advance that the road you’re about to take may not be the easy path you imagined.”
“Yes, Father.”
Even if I became the husband of a woman from a chaebol family,
I didn’t want to view it as an opportunity for myself.
Even if I had to start with absolutely nothing, I would accept it without complaint.
“First, since this may make you uncomfortable, let me tell you my position. Right now, I don’t have any great resentment toward you. In fact, I’m relieved that although our daughter is rather eccentric, at least her taste in men isn’t strange.”
“…”
“I wasn’t even considering a marriage with another chaebol family in the first place. There isn’t a single chaebol heir who could handle our daughter’s personality. I’d be satisfied if a marriage between families didn’t end up making relations worse. My daughter probably wasn’t interested in such a marriage either, but I’d already given up on the idea a long time ago.”
Hmm…
“You came all the way from the provinces and got into Seoul National University. I heard you even got a perfect score on the CSAT. I think someone like you, who worked hard and earned his results, is much better than people who were simply born into a chaebol family, went to a good university, and then thought those achievements were entirely their own abilities.”
“Thank you.”
Movies really did exaggerate things.
If things were like they were in movies,
I’d probably have been dragged to some construction site by now, tied up, and beaten half to death.
“Young man, I’m saying this sincerely. Even if you hadn’t met our daughter, you probably would have become something in life. It might have been a great success from your perspective, and you could have enjoyed that success to the fullest.”
“…”
“But you need to understand what it means to marry our daughter. You will no longer be a young man in his twenties who came up from the provinces. You will become the son-in-law of Changseong Group.”
“…”
“From now on, you will be judged by everyone as the son-in-law of Changseong Group.”
Father-in-law.
No, my future father-in-law.
I understood what he was trying to tell me.
“That road may be much more painful than what you’re prepared for now. You may even want to give up. Do you know why people from chaebol families marry other chaebol families?”
“…I think there are many reasons. Their way of thinking is similar, and they can share various matters between their groups…”
“That is one reason, but the biggest reason is the current marriage system. When you are suffering terribly and things become unbearable, you can get divorced. And by doing so, you could suddenly receive hundreds of billions or even trillions of won.”
“…”
“Chaebol families have too much to lose from each other, so they don’t normally choose divorce simply for money. But… how attractive would that be to an ordinary person? Imagine being told that you can receive hundreds of billions or even trillions of won if you give everything up.”
“…”
He was right.
I understood what he was worried about.
“I’m not trying to insult ordinary people. I’m simply talking about reality. If I were in that situation without significant assets of my own, I couldn’t say I wouldn’t consider divorce either.”
“…”
“Hundreds of billions of won, freedom from your responsibilities, and a life where you can live however you want. How intoxicating would that be? The people around you who once looked down on you for being from an ordinary family would disappear from your life as well. If I were in that position, I might make the same decision.”
“…”
“Of course, our daughter doesn’t have that much money yet. Even so, she already has more than enough wealth. There may come many moments when the option of divorce becomes very attractive to you.”
I couldn’t say for certain what the future would hold.
But right now, I hadn’t even considered divorce.
I wasn’t even married yet. Why was I thinking about divorce?
“That’s why I’m asking you now, while it’s still early. It’s not too late. I promise you. If you’re thinking about breaking up with our daughter right now… I’ll somehow make it as if this never happened.”
“…”
“I’m saying this as a father and as the chairman of Changseong Group. If you marry her in your current situation, there’s a much greater chance that the road ahead will be filled with thorns rather than the sweet rewards you’re imagining. So if you don’t have the determination to endure it, turn back now.”
“…”
“If you decide to leave, you won’t even have to face my daughter and make things awkward. I’ll take care of everything. Please… think of this as something I’m genuinely doing for your sake, and give me your answer after you’ve thought it through carefully.”
I should seriously think about it.
As Father-in-law said, it would be greedy to assume that married life would always be smooth.
An ordinary man entering a chaebol family.
If everyone around me belonged to chaebol families,
the admiring looks and recognition I had received from people around me until now
could quickly turn into contempt and expectations that I prove myself.
Maybe married life would be difficult too.
Yura might eventually become more disappointed in me than impressed by me.
It would also be foolish to assume that our current relationship would last forever without changing.
And if divorce became an option in front of me at that point,
I could potentially make hundreds of billions of won by choosing it.
Could an ordinary person really give up such a tempting choice?
Whenever something bad happened, wouldn’t I think,
If I get divorced, I can make hundreds of billions of won…
Could I really guarantee that I would never have such a foolish thought?
Who knows?
No one can predict the future.
But if I had to answer based on how I felt right now,
I would say… who knows?
Hundreds of billions of won?
It was obviously an enormous amount of money.
But—
If I fully utilized the sixth sense I’d only been using moderately until now,
Would I really be incapable of earning hundreds of billions of won myself?
And besides,
even if Yura hadn’t come from a chaebol family,
I would still have decided to take responsibility for her pregnancy somehow.
In other words, I had never viewed the fact that she was from a chaebol family as an easy path.
Maybe someone else would see this as baseless confidence.
Whether it was getting a perfect score on the CSAT or entering Seoul National University,
None of those things guaranteed absolute success.
In reality, I had only taken my first step.
Besides, whenever I proudly said that I would earn hundreds of billions of won or even more, most people around me laughed at me.
They even told me that I had just come up from the provinces and didn’t understand Seoul or society yet.
The only person who took my words seriously, unlike everyone else,
was Yura.
Maybe that’s why I wanted to prove myself even more.
I wanted to prove that my words weren’t just the empty boasts of some country bumpkin from the provinces who knew nothing.
I wanted to prove that Yura’s judgment of me wasn’t wrong.
“You probably have a lot to think about. I’m not asking for an answer right now, so take your time and calmly…”
“Father.”
“…Go ahead.”
“I know very well what happened to Foolish Ondal.”
“…”
“And I want to prove to the woman who recognized my potential that she was right to choose me. I want to prove it to everyone who laughed at Princess Pyeonggang as well.”
It was almost like a declaration of determination.
My father-in-law had been staring straight at me.
Then, at last, his expression softened.
“Ha… Are you confident?”
“I’m a man who takes responsibility for the words he speaks.”
“How could I not know that? However, the world you know and the world we live in may be completely different. You said you want to prove yourself to those who laughed at Princess Pyeonggang? Then that means you have to prove yourself not only to your maternal family, Eunsung Group, but also to the chaebol families of all of Korea.”
“I’m prepared for that.”
“Determination alone may not be enough. Changseong Group may look like an enormous chaebol group to you, but we are going through a transitional period. Korea has now entered the ranks of developed countries, and we are facing the challenge of moving into new industries instead of relying on the traditional industries that made us our money in the past.”
“I want to show you through my actions, not just my words, that I can be of help.”
“…”
His expression softened completely.
“Our daughter kept talking about Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang, and it seems her judgment of men is better than that of the daughters of most chaebol families.”
“Thank you.”
At least—
Even if others didn’t see it yet,
I felt that Yura had been recognized as Princess Pyeonggang by her father.
There was still a long way to go.
After finishing my conversation with Father-in-law,
I was shown to a place called the annex.
Yura was waiting for me there.
“Do-jin, he didn’t say anything strange, right? Dad didn’t say anything weird to you?”
“Don’t worry. I told him I’d take responsibility no matter what.”
“…I’m sorry. I didn’t deliberately hide it from you. I thought I should tell you, but then I suddenly got pregnant and missed the right time.”
I hugged the apologetic Yura
and gently stroked her head.
“Don’t worry. I’ll turn you into Princess Pyeonggang.”
“…”
“I’m honored, you know? Doesn’t that mean you saw me as the man who would become a king?”
“…”
Chaebol family or not,
Yura was still the same lovable Yura to me.
I hugged her tightly and made a promise.
I wouldn’t let her become some immature chaebol heiress lost in meaningless fantasies.
Instead,
I would make her into Princess Pyeonggang, who recognized Foolish Ondal’s potential.
It seemed like I needed to start making full use of my sixth sense.
That day,
I made my decision.
I would temporarily take a leave of absence from Seoul National University.
Changseong Construction.
Changseong Defense.
Changseong Investment & Securities.
Those were the three choices available to me.
My sixth sense sent me a powerful signal.
“I want to start working at Changseong Investment & Securities.”
I’m sure the people there wouldn’t look at me kindly.
But—
If I couldn’t even change the way people inside Changseong Investment & Securities looked at me,
How could I ever change the way the chaebol families looked at me?
