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Chapter 22. I’ll Make My Dad the Chairman
Thump! Thump!
My heart pounded violently.
My father—the one I had buried beneath grief and pain.
Only after he disappeared from my life did I truly realize it.
My dad’s empty place…
The dad who played catch with me and kicked a ball around on ordinary days.
The one who clapped alongside Mom and cheered for me when I finally learned how to ride a bicycle.
Every time I took a school exam, regardless of the results, he would gently pat my head and tell me to keep going.
He always said,
“Life doesn’t have to be so difficult. Let go of your greed and live happily. That’s enough.”
Back then, I was too young to understand what those words meant.
But after living in a world without Dad, I finally understood.
There were many times when, no matter how hard I tried against reality, there was simply no answer.
At times like that, it was enough.
Doing my best was enough.
Dad’s advice gave me strength every single time.
A man who gave up his place as the son of a conglomerate and boldly chose love instead.
It was a courageous decision that few people could ever make.
I’m just like him.
Click.
I pressed the call button.
Then—
“Son~.”
It was the bright voice I had always heard while he was alive.
Hearing Dad’s voice again after so many years overwhelmed me with emotion.
“D-Dad…”
“Dad? Hahaha. Son, are you practicing for the military already? What’s with calling me ‘Father’ all of a sudden? It makes me feel like I’ve suddenly gotten old.”
His cheerful laughter at the change in how I addressed him made me smile as well.
I was reunited with the father I had forced myself to forget by cutting away my memories.
“Does it sound awkward?”
“Yeah. Very awkward.”
“Looks like I won’t be growing up early because of you.”
“Once you finish your military service, it’ll sound natural. You’re still a high school student. Just act your age. Everyone becomes an adult eventually. Whether you want to or not, you’ll change.”
What good advice.
Having already experienced adult life, I understood the weight of those words perfectly.
“Are you still on your business trip?”
“Yeah. I’m in Busan.”
“Mom must be lonely.”
“Yeah. Making a living isn’t easy.”
The small conversations I never appreciated back then.
Now I could hear Dad’s joking sincerity once again.
We used to have conversations like this all the time.
We were father and son, but we spoke to each other naturally every day.
That didn’t mean we crossed the line.
Dad was strict when it came to showing proper respect to adults.
But when it came to everyday conversations, he was incredibly open-minded.
Sometimes people who didn’t know us thought I was being disrespectful toward my father.
But that wasn’t true.
I…
Loved my parents more than anything.
Even now, I deeply respected the father who boldly abandoned his position as the youngest son of the group to choose the woman he loved.
“Stay strong, Dad. Thanks to you and Mom, your son has grown up well.”
“Hahaha. Hurry up and grow up already. I want to start getting allowance from my son.”
Even in difficult circumstances, Dad’s hearty laughter was like a vitamin.
“How have things been lately?”
“Just wait. Your dad’s preparing something big.”
His voice was filled with hope.
Yeah.
It was just like back then.
Too bad…
It’s a scam!
But I only learned after Dad passed away.
Dad’s friend and his accomplices had completely taken advantage of an honest family man.
And behind them…
Those bastards were pulling the strings!
“Please don’t worry about anything! Your son will take care of everything!”
“What? Who are you?”
“Huh?”
“You’re not my son, are you? My real son’s soul has been dark lately because of school life… What’s with this voice? Why are you so confident?”
That’s my dad.
“…You knew?”
“Cheonghwa High School is famous, you know. I’m proud that you’re hanging in there despite being labeled a social consideration admission student. I know very well how kids from rich families throw their weight around.”
“Then why didn’t you try harder to stop me?”
“Because you wanted it.”
“…”
“People grow through pain. Experience is your greatest asset. Your own personal asset.”
Dad always gave high-quality life advice like that.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. Hahahaha.”
Dad laughed heartily, as if he had never once been absent from my life.
“Dad! You trust me, right?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll be asking you for one favor soon.”
“Need some allowance?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“If I rank first in the entire school, you have to grant my request.”
“First in the whole school? At Cheonghwa High School?”
“Yes.”
“Okay! I promise!”
In this life, I won’t lose my dad.
And of course, I’ll protect Mom too.
After losing Dad, Mom spent her days staring only at the East Sea.
This time…
I’ll protect both of them.
“Dad.”
“Yeah?”
“Please become a little greedier.”
“At my age… greed?”
“What do you mean ‘your age’? Your son is going to make you the chairman!”
“Sure, sure. Thanks for saying that. If my son makes me chairman, I’ll work hard.”
Dad brushed it off as a joke.
But I really will make him chairman!
In the future that I’ll live again, the group my grandfather currently controls…
Will belong to my dad.
The moment I made up my mind, a massive plan unfolded clearly in my head.
“I’ll come down after my exams. Please make that kimchi stew with lots of meat.”
“Sure. Let’s have some soju with the stew.”
Dad had always treated me with an open mind, never caring about formalities.
“I love you~”
“Yeah. I love you too, son.”
It was a phone call that made it feel as though we had never been separated.
I clenched both fists tightly.
All the unfairness I had suffered in my previous life.
Just wait…
My counterattack is coming!
“Why’s he walking around like nothing happened?”
“They’re not punishing him??”
“After everything that happened in the cafeteria…”
Wherever I walked, the students whispered behind my back.
Life at school during my second run passed quickly.
Today was the first day of midterm exams.
The subjects were Mathematics and Chemistry.
Simply solving the workbooks I had at home was more than enough.
The math problems I had solved back then were still vividly engraved in my memory.
To someone who had already studied college-level mathematics, this was child’s play.
Cheonghwa High School might be one of the country’s top schools, but its exams still couldn’t go beyond the high school curriculum.
Each subject included a few killer questions, but they were only twisted two or three times.
As for memorization subjects, there wasn’t even anything worth mentioning.
I even remembered the reading passages in literature and non-literature.
As I mentioned before, the main reason I came to school was the cafeteria food.
If I had to add one more reason—
Golf.
“I heard Teacher Park Dong-geun got suspended for six months!”
“Six months?”
“But… what’s with Ha Tae-woong?”
“Exactly. Doesn’t he have some kind of backing?”
The students continued whispering, making me the center of all sorts of wild speculation.
The disciplinary committee had officially convened, and Teacher Park Dong-geun’s punishment had been decided.
It was exactly the outcome I wanted.
Whenever Oh Gwang-jun saw me, his eyes twitched with hostility.
When the opportunity came, I’d make sure to teach him a proper lesson in life.
School wasn’t a place where he could throw his weight around just because his father was a chief prosecutor.
I’d teach him that personally.
“Look! The principal posted a warning saying any unfair treatment toward social consideration admission students will be punished according to school rules!”
“Then what are we supposed to enjoy anymore?”
Enjoy?
Looking at them again, they really were rotten bastards.
This was the true nature of the students who had mentally treated social consideration admission students like slaves.
This time, before graduation, I’d make sure to reform their twisted minds.
“Will you all be quiet? Aren’t you taking an exam?”
At that moment, a cold, sharp voice echoed through the classroom.
It was Lee Hyo-ju, the top student in the grade.
…
The classroom instantly fell silent.
This was the difference in power.
The classroom was like a miniature version of South Korea’s ruthless survival-of-the-fittest society.
“Just leave them alone. It’s not like this is the first or second day they’ve talked behind my back.”
I smiled lightly and calmly looked over the whispering students.
The moment our eyes met, they quickly turned their heads away.
I had already crushed their spirit.
Every single one of them looked like pathetic little cowards to me.
I used to be intimidated by people like them…
But looking at them objectively now, they were far more miserable than I was.
No matter how I looked at them, they were nothing special.
The only thing supporting them was the power of their wealthy parents.
“Are you fully prepared for the exams?”
Huh?
Lee Hyo-ju…?
Lee Hyo-ju, who was sitting two seats ahead to the side, spoke to me.
If I misunderstood it a little, it almost sounded like she was showing interest.
“…??”
The confused expressions of the other students proved that I wasn’t imagining things.
The famous Lee Hyo-ju never spoke to male students like this.
She had never shown even the slightest interest in one.
Always proud and aloof, Lee Hyo-ju had almost no friends at school.
“Don’t worry. I’m completely ready.”
I sipped the iced Americano I had bought on my way to school and enjoyed the spring morning.
Unlike the other students, I was completely relaxed.
“Heh.”
Lee Hyo-ju let out a quiet chuckle before turning her head away.
The smooth, graceful line of her profile…
She was beautiful even at a glance.
Soon, the first-period Mathematics exam began.
Ring—
The starting bell rang, and I looked at the exam paper.
Then—
Perfect!!
