Chapter 43: It Hurts, It’s the Past
The 'Handso Bungeoppang' had also opened for business.
Just as Division Manager Jeong Jang-hyeon had said.
In the basent food hall of Baekgyeong Departnt Store, a standing banner bearing my na with the words Young Hero had been erected.
Aah, they called it marketing, but it was far too embarrassing.
I'd have to leave it up for just one week and then take it down.
And the part-ti workers with their good looks had even been dressed up in floral aprons and head wraps.
Despite all these perfect preparations—
The Baekgyeong marketing team, led by Division Manager Jeong Jang-hyeon, had been drowning in worry right up until opening day.
"Those aprons…… Are you really going to make them wear those?"
"Of course."
"Isn't it a bit too tacky? It doesn't suit our departnt store's upscale image—"
"What's tacky about it? They look wonderful."
, carrying on the great vision of my grandmother.
Division Manager Jeong continued to worry.
"I'm a bit concerned about the price."
Red Bean-Filled Bungeoppang, a single nu item.
The price had also been raised from 4,000 won to 5,000 won.
In exchange, the size had been made a bit larger.
It was to differentiate from ordinary Bungeoppang.
This had been done by accepting the marketing team's suggestion.
And yet they seed frightened by their own proposal.
"Will it be alright?"
Division Manager Jeong asked on the eve of opening.
5,000 won for a single Bungeoppang fish.
Even with rampant inflation, it was a price that crossed a line.
Sustained increases in raw material costs, the shortening of winter seasons due to global warming, rising labour costs—
There were dozens of excuses to be made.
But I would face it head-on.
"It'll do well."
I clasped my hands behind my back and looked at Division Manager Jeong.
"It's delicious, isn't it."
The custors ford queues.
The return of the 'Handso Bungeoppang' that had set social dia ablaze.
The price had gone up, but in turn, an image of it being a premium confection had been born.
【A custor who has tasted bungeoppang for the first ti marvels in wonder. 5 Happiness】
【A primary school student who had been waiting to eat Handso Bungeoppang again says that their dream is to beco a Bungeoppang shop owner. 5 Happiness】
One of the custors asked.
"The aprons are so beautiful! Are those rchandise?"
"Not yet."
"Please let know when they're released. I'll even run in an opening rush."
Ssiiik.
I looked at Division Manager Jeong.
See? Wasn't I right?
Division Manager Jeong, mouth hanging open, scratched his head.
"This…… We're going to need to increase the daily limit beyond one thousand fish. And launch the rchandise too."
I broke into a wide smile.
Division Manager Jeong said,
"Director Kim…… I think you really might be a genius at business."
He bowed his head with genuine admiration.
I took Division Manager Jeong's hand in mine.
"I've always said it's all about the red bean."
* * *
Business was going well, all was good—
But a problem arose at ho.
"The hot water isn't coming out again."
Mother let out a sigh while doing the dishes.
The boiler appeared to have broken down again.
The run-down thirteen-pyeong villa where Kim Tae-yang's family had lived.
An old alley on the outskirts of the city,
A place where aged villa buildings over thirty years old were pressed tightly together.
The exterior walls were peeling in patches, and where the brickwork had cracked, streaks of rust-coloured water had run down and left vivid marks.
Up a narrow staircase, the fifth floor.
In front of our family's door hung an old iron security gate that rattled whenever the wind blew.
Step inside, and there was a sll that hit you first.
The mingled scents of old mould and damp wooden flooring gone musty with moisture grew even stronger on rainy days.
A living room that wasn't quite a living room, done in two steps.
In truth it was less a living room and more an ambiguous space wedged between a room and a kitchen.
The worn linoleum floor had buckled and risen in places, and black mould stains were vivid on the wallpaper.
There was no sofa.
In winter the chill ca straight up through the floor and left one's feet freezing, and in sumr the damp linoleum turned sticky.
The kitchen, a tight and stifling space.
A small bucket was always kept beneath the tap because it leaked, and the gas range was so old it made an unsettling crackling sound every ti you tried to light it.
There wasn't even room to fit a double bed in the parents' room, so a single thin mattress was laid on the floor, with a small wardrobe barely managing to claim its spot against one wall.
In winter, cold draughts ca whistling in through the gaps in the windows.
Ahh, enough of these wretched tales.
There's no need for them any longer.
Because.
"We're moving anyway."
To a luxury one-hundred-and-fifty-pyeong apartnt in Cheongdam.
And today was that very day.
* * *
[Cheongdam New Apartnt]
I t with my parents after half a month.
"You said you'd put on so makeup."
"I did."
"I know."
"Want to die?"
"Let's go in."
I had also explained the circumstances to Father.
Father was silent for a long while, and then—
"You've worked hard……"
He left these words.
Of course, I had told him the condensed version.
If I'd told him everything, he might have clutched the back of his neck in shock.
"Tararatantan. Tararara—"
I humd a lody flowing up from Kim Tae-yang's mories.
When the elevator doors opened, the whole family's eyes widened at once.
"How…… How can a place like this exist?"
"Is this a palace?"
The family had only known in their minds that such places existed in the real world.
But now that they were actually setting foot in one, they felt with their whole bodies just how different a dinsion it was.
An overwhelming sense of space.
The mont you stepped through the entrance, the marble flooring glead.
The soft glow of the chandelier reflected gently, lending a luxurious sheen to the entire space.
We walked in, and a grand corridor appeared.
Refined panels lined the walls, and wall sconces gave off a gentle light.
"Is this…… really our house?"
Mother whispered, pressing both hands to her chest.
Father said nothing, looking around, then gave the floor a single tap with his foot.
"So this is marble flooring. I've seen it at the CEO's house before."
Passing through the corridor and entering the living room, the whole family held their breath.
The enormous scale of the apartnt's floor space was sothing you felt all at once the mont you stepped into this living room.
The ceiling height exceeded three tres, and a crystal chandelier scattered light from above.
Through the wide windows, a broad river was visible in a single glance. A view that would have been unimaginable in the villa.
The large-format television filling an entire wall looked like the screen of a cinema, and in front of it sat a high-end leather sofa into which you felt you could sink your entire body.
All the furniture had been provided by the eldest of the Choi family, Choi Jae-jun.
Sothing about Italian imports, apparently, but the nas were so complicated I hadn't bothered to morise them.
"This…… Isn't a hotel?"
Bo-reum clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Try sitting on this sofa."
At my invitation, Mother sat down carefully, then closed her eyes and leaned back.
"My goodness, what on earth—! I barely sat down and my body is just lting into it."
"I, I can't get up!"
Bo-reum let out a cry of delight.
The kitchen flowing on from the living room gave the family yet another shock.
It bore no comparison to the tiny sink unit in the villa.
In the centre was a large island countertop, above which glead a state-of-the-art induction cooktop and a stainless steel hood.
"My goodness…… Even a Michelin chef would want to cook in a kitchen like this."
Mother brought a hand to her mouth.
Built into the walls were a built-in oven, a microwave, and even a top-of-the-range espresso machine.
The luxurious bedroom was like the suite of a fine hotel. Atop a king-sized bed, a soft cashre duvet.
And when you opened the window, a terrace lay waiting.
"Kyaaah!"
Little sister Bo-reum let out a shriek.
She had discovered a large walk-in dressing room set into one wall of her own bedroom.
"Is this real? I'm not dreaming?"
What the family loved most of all was none other than the bathroom.
A marble bathtub occupied the centre of the room, and the shower booth and vanity unit were elegantly styled in a harmonious black-and-white palette.
And beside the vanity, aromatherapy oils and handmade soaps as well.
"It's just too different from our bathroom in the villa……"
Father's jaw dropped open.
Of all the places in their original ho, the bathroom had been the most wretched.
The narrow, dim bathroom had cracked floor tiles, and an unpleasant sll always rose up from the drain.
To shower, you had to switch the boiler on in advance before you could get even barely warm water—
And even that was only now that things were sowhat better; before, on all but unavoidable occasions, it had always been cold water.
"I…… Feel like I might cry."
Bo-reum, who over her school years had squabbled over the bathroom, said with eyes shining bright.
The family, returned to the living room, was unable to speak for so ti.
All of them wore expressions as though wandering through a dream.
Tting!
【Father is struck with shock. 300 Happiness】
【Mother is overjoyed. 600 Happiness】
【Bo-reum pinches her cheek. 800 Happiness】
Then Mother quietly wiped away a tear.
"Tae-yang…… Thank you, truly."
Father, without a word, patted my shoulder.
In that touch lay the heavy weight of embarrassnt, guilt, and gratitude.
* * *
However.
The peace of life in the Cheongdam apartnt did not last even three full days.
"This…… Doesn't feel like our ho."
Those were Mother's words.
"I'm…… Finding it hard to sleep."
Those were Father's words as he left for work with red-rimd eyes.
"I, I'm perfectly fine though?"
The only one doing fine was Bo-reum, who had seen how the well-off friends at her prestigious private university lived.
A poverty ingrained into the genes.
That was the problem.
I, for my part, had been raised as the most cherished child of the Sacheondang Family, a prestigious clan—
And having also accumulated trendous wealth while conquering Gangho as the Poison Demon, I was accustod to living in luxury.
But my parents were different.
They simply couldn't adapt to the environnt, so utterly altered.
"Ahh, co on. Why are you like this? You'll adapt in ti."
I tried to persuade my parents, but they were becoming increasingly reluctant to even go outside.
"Why?"
"Even the security guards greeting us puts on edge."
"Ahh, those people are just doing their jobs."
"No. Tae-yang, running into the other residents is sothing I really can't stand either."
"Are they giving you a hard ti?"
"It's not that……"
Mother let out a heavy sigh and said,
"The looks in the other residents' eyes…… they feel like contemptuous glances saying 'Oh, look at the nouveau riche'."
"Those people's eyes, I'll just—!"
I shot up from my seat, and Mother pulled back.
"Why are you like that, I'm just saying that's how I feel."
"……"
"I think I'll have to go back to the villa we lived in before. It seems this house is better suited just for you to live in alone."
"That won't do. The lease on the villa has already been cancelled. A new tenant is apparently moving in soon."
"Then what if we sell this place and move sowhere else? Hmm?"
"This ho was gifted to by Baekgyeong. If I sell off a gift the mont I receive it, what do you think they'll think of ?"
"That's true…… We'll try to adapt."
But three more days passed, and—
My parents had grown even more haggard.
They were even beset by nightmares through the night.
"Aaah…… I, I'll get to work! I'll put my all into the supermarket work! Ahat, the barcode is running away!"
"B, boss, I have committed the audacity of treading upon the marble…… Aaagh! Bo, bolts and nuts! Bolts and nuts!"
It seed adaptation was considerably harder than I had imagined.
Aah, even living as a rich person is difficult.
It seems the poverty gene renovation of this household would need to proceed through gradual stages.
"Can't be helped."
Plan B.
We moved again.
To a thirty-four-pyeong apartnt not far away.
A branded apartnt about five years old since completion—no view of the river, but a warm south-facing aspect.
In truth, this apartnt was sothing I had prepared as my own base.
I'd been using the herb field like my own storage space, but there were inconveniences since there was no electricity coming through—
And more than anything, as soone who needed to co and go between the Murim Tower and the herb field, my parents' scrutiny had been a concern.
If they were to find out that Samcheolli Kim Tae-yang was the one behind the Golden Tower?
Both of them might end up in intensive care from the shock.
Soday I would probably have to reveal that I was a Tower Climber, but now was not that ti.
When we moved into the thirty-four-pyeong ho—
"Aah…… This feels cosy."
"Yes. Now this is a ho."
My parents' expressions finally eased.
It was still lavish enough compared to where they'd lived before, but up against Cheongdam it was on the cosier end of things.
The Cheongdam luxury apartnt had been furnished entirely with new furniture and new appliances—
But since this thirty-four-pyeong apartnt had originally been planned just for my own use, I'd moved in the more usable things from the old villa.
"Oh, this microwave?"
"We bought it when our Bo-reum was in primary school."
"This bookcase?"
"It was in Tae-yang's room."
Their expressions were considerably more at ease.
"A place like this must be expensive too, how did you manage it?"
"It's a lease."
It was actually a freehold purchase.
The shares I'd put into Baekgyeong had kept rising, and with news of the new city developnt project being selected, had cleared 4 billion won.
Reckoning there would be no further major windfalls, I liquidated the full 4 billion and bought the place.
The limits of Baekgyeong Group shares were clear.
Distribution and construction were Baekgyeong's domains.
"It's not a technology growth stock."
The property price was 2.5 billion won.
The remaining 1.5 billion I invested entirely in energy technology companies.
For the shortfall needed to cover taxes, brokerage fees, and the like, I sold the reward from the first floor of the Murim Tower—the Secret Manual Nanpa Fighting Blade—on the Black Market.
The price was 1 billion won.
For reference, the second floor reward—the spiritual dicine Cheongshimdan—I had eaten up long ago.
At any rate, with the Republic of Korea stabilising around the Golden Tower, my assessnt was that property investnt was the better call.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket, as they say.
, having adapted to the principles of the modern economy.
I'm an economics-savvy Poison Demon.
"Goodness, what about the mortgage?"
"Baekgyeong introduced to a bank."
"We should thank the chairman."
"The chairman said he'd like to bring you over soti—would you like to go?"
"No!"
"No!"
Both of them cried out at once.
【Father at last feels at ease. 800 Happiness】
【Mother thinks she won't have to suffer nightmares any longer. 800 Happiness】
【Bo-reum resolves that she will succeed and buy the Cheongdam apartnt herself. 800 Happiness】
Bo-reum, I don't think that's going to be easy.
You're in the humanities.
* * *
I decided to live alone in the Cheongdam ho.
When I said I couldn't leave the gift from Baekgyeong empty, my parents gave their blessing.
The condition, however, was that I co ho at least once a week, and call every single day.
Bo-reum also decided to live with our parents.
I'd told her she was welco to stay in the luxury apartnt, but I saw an unexpected side of her.
"Staying here makes feel like my fighting spirit is being chipped away."
"What nonsense."
"I'm Kim Bo-reum. The main pillar of this family was always , ."
"Ha!"
"I've got to reclaim my spot as main pillar. If I stay in the Cheongdam place I'll be crushed by you and my drive for success will crumble."
Kim Tae-yang.
Your little sister is impressive.
【Kim Tae-yang dislikes this. 1 Happiness】
Everything had worked out well.
My parents had a new ho, and I had a space of my own.
Wung wung—
In one room of my Cheongdam apartnt, six refrigerators worth sixty-eight million won apiece lined the wall from end to end.
The twelve stalks of Onon Grass were growing and needed more space, so I planned to keep two stalks per unit.
They could have been kept in the herb and poison plant field, but running six refrigerators without electricity using only the Artificial Energy Center was no small cost.
It was sothing I could force if I had to, but efficiency matters too.
"Anyone who saw this would think I was a person obsessed with refrigerators."
After doing business for a few days, I returned to the Cheongdam apartnt.
Baekgyeong was giving the shop special attention, and Mother and Grandmother were taking good care of things too.
Now I just needed to check in on the store from ti to ti and it would run itself smoothly.
Late at night, a sweet in my mouth, I left a surprise gift ssage in the family group chat.
—There are two cars in the underground car park.
—One is a Sorento for Father. One is a Grandeur for Mother. The car keys are in the master bedroom drawer.
Foreign cars would have been possible too, but this was about right.
So that the two of them could drive comfortably.
Dingdong.
—Oppa, what about ?
—You take the bus, you. You're a student.
—Ugh!
—I've left a card on your desk. Use it wisely.
—♡
That's right……
The past may be painful.
But as much as it hurts, you can soothe it just as much in return.
What do you think, Father.
Isn't this living well enough?
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