How a Salaryman Became an Underworld Boss

I knew Chairman Park Yeongil had sent gifts for my grandparents and my mother. But judging by the way my younger sister, Cha Hyeonji, was stammering in astonishment, the scale of it had clearly exceeded every expectation.

Wanting to see for myself, I hurried over to the trunk—and nearly blacked out from the shock.

It was packed so tightly with boxes that there wasn’t a single inch of empty space left.

Mom, who had walked over as well, froze where she stood.

”Jiham... what on earth is all this?”

”These are gifts for you, Grandpa, and Grandma from someone I’m very close to.”

”This many?”

”That person’s generosity is practically legendary.”

With that, I started carrying the boxes into the house.

Mom and Hyeonji immediately joined in to help me.

After everything had been brought inside and we finally had a chance to catch our breath, I asked Mom,

”Where are Grandpa and Grandma?”

”They said they were bored staying at home, so they went to spend some time at the senior center. But I already called them, so they should be back soon.”

Not long afterward, Grandpa and Grandma returned.

The moment they saw the mountain of boxes piled up in the corner of the living room, they froze in amazement as well.

”Jiham, what’s all this?”

”Gifts from someone I know, Grandpa.”

”And he gave you all this?”

”Yes, Grandpa.”

Deciding to postpone the detailed explanations until later, I quickly changed the subject.

”How have you been feeling? Nothing’s bothering you, is it?”

”Same as always.”

”And Grandma?”

”We’re hanging in there. Now tell me—what made you suddenly come home?”

”I missed all of you.”

”That’s good to hear. Looks like you haven’t had lunch yet, so let’s eat first. We can talk afterward.”

During lunch, Mom’s curiosity got the better of her, and she bombarded Hyeonji and me with one question after another.

We barely had a chance to lift our spoons before Grandma shot Mom a stern look.

Only then did the interrogation ease up, and Hyeonji and I seized the opportunity to finish our bowls in record time.

After lunch, we began opening the boxes one by one.

There were expensive nutritional supplements, premium beef gift sets, massage devices, and all sorts of other luxurious presents.

After looking through everything, Grandpa fixed me with a serious gaze.

”Jiham, now I want to hear the whole story from beginning to end.”

”There’s someone I’m very close to. When he found out I was coming home, he lent me a car.”

”That car looks extremely expensive, and he just handed it over?”

”It isn’t his personal car. It’s a company vehicle.”

”I see.”

”And as for the trunk being stuffed full of gifts, we didn’t know about that ourselves until we got here.”

”Even so, I’d like to know why this person is treating you so generously.”

If I told them the entire truth, the conversation would last until the middle of the night.

Worse yet, I’d only make them worry.

So I reduced the story to the bare essentials.

”I once did him a tremendous favor. This is simply his way of thanking me.”

”Then be sure to give him our sincere thanks.”

I discreetly winked at Hyeonji before finally getting to the real reason we’d come all this way.

”Now Hyeonji and I are going to tell you why we actually came.”

”Did something happen?”

”Yes. I’ll start with the smaller piece of news. At the end of last month, I officially became a full-time employee at Hangang Group.”

”But didn’t you say there were still three months left in your internship?”

”Last month I went on a business trip to the United States and achieved an important breakthrough there. As a reward, the company decided to hire me permanently ahead of schedule.”

”Oh, my goodness! That’s wonderful, my grandson! You’ve made us so proud!”

”Along with becoming a full-time employee, I also received a large bonus. It came to a little over fifty million won.”

”...!”

Grandpa, Grandma, and Mom all stared at me with their mouths hanging open.

Grandpa and Grandma were already well into their eighties, and their tiny farm in Taebaek could never have earned that kind of money.

To Mom, who worked in a small local restaurant, the amount was equally unimaginable.

”Grandpa, don’t be too surprised yet. That’s not all.”

”There’s more?”

”Do you remember the driver who hit Hyeonji at the beginning of last year and fled the scene? Well, they finally caught him a few days ago.”

”They did?! Justice at last!”

”The culprit turned out to be a Chinese citizen. He admitted everything, offered his deepest apologies, and paid us two million dollars in compensation for Hyeonji’s medical expenses and emotional suffering.”

In reality, Chen Shao had never apologized.

I’d only added that part so they wouldn’t start asking questions about how we’d received such an enormous settlement.

Naturally, Grandpa didn’t suspect a thing.

”Jiham... is two million dollars really that much money?”

”In Korean currency, it’s about 2.7 billion won.”

”W-What?!”

Just as I’d expected, Grandpa’s jaw dropped.

Mom and Grandma wore exactly the same expression.

”Hyeonji will probably suffer the aftereffects of that accident for the rest of her life. If you think about it that way, two million dollars really isn’t all that much.”

”...Well... when you put it like that, you’re right.”

But all of this had merely been the appetizer.

Now it was time for the main course.

”What I’m about to tell the three of you must remain absolutely secret.”

”Good heavens... is there another surprise coming?”

”Yes. Not long ago, I won the grand prize in the lottery.”

”...!”

The three of them were completely speechless.

In reality, I bought lottery tickets fairly often, yet I’d never even won the smallest prize.

The only reason I had to tell this lie was because of the luxurious mansion Chairman Park Yeongil had given me.

If I simply announced that someone had gifted me a house worth well over 5 billion won, there was no telling how my family would react.

”The prize came to roughly 10 billion won. I immediately set aside half of it and bought a spacious house for our family.”

The moment I finished speaking, Hyeonji stepped in exactly as planned.

”Grandpa, I recorded a video of the house Big Brother bought. Would you like to see it? Just a second.”

She took a flash drive out of her bag, plugged it into the television, and turned on the screen.

Using the remote, she started the video and began explaining.

”The furniture is still covered with protective plastic because the renovation work is still being finished. This is the first floor. There’s a large living room, a kitchen, and two bedrooms.”

She deliberately used simple words so Grandpa and Grandma could easily understand what they were seeing.

Whenever her explanations weren’t enough, I stepped in to help.

”...And here’s a small vegetable garden. It looks like the previous owner used it to grow fresh vegetables and fruit. They promised us the renovation would be completely finished today, so we’ll be able to move in tomorrow.”

”Hold on, Jiham. Money is one thing, but why do we need such an expensive house?”

I’d expected that question.

So I answered exactly as planned.

”The house originally belonged to that friend of mine. He said he didn’t need it anymore and personally offered to sell it to me for a very low, almost symbolic price.”

”Then what’s it actually worth?”

I’d been curious myself, so I’d looked up similar properties online beforehand.

Judging by comparable homes nearby, the mansion was worth around 8 billion won.

But knowing Grandpa’s proud and stubborn personality, there was no way I could tell him that.

”As far as I know, around 6 billion won.”

”What?! Six billion?! And he knocked an entire billion off the price?!”

”Well, when someone needs to sell quickly, that kind of discount isn’t unusual.”

”What a day... First that expensive car, then the news that they caught that scoundrel, and now this magnificent house. It’s wonderful news, but it’s all so overwhelming my head is spinning.”

”I thought I should tell you about the house in person, which is why we came all the way here.”

”I see...”

”Hyeonji and I really want you, Grandma, and Mom to move to Seoul so we can all live together again.”

”Hmm...”

Grandpa sat there thinking for a long time without answering.

Hyeonji and I held our breath as we waited for his decision.

Finally, after several minutes, he slowly spoke.

”Thank you for the offer, my grandson. But your grandmother and I can’t leave our hometown.”

”Why not, Grandpa?”

”We’ve spent our entire lives here. Most of our old friends have already passed away, but the few we still have are all here. We appreciate your kindness and we’d certainly enjoy spending our remaining years in comfort... but we don’t want to die of boredom in a place that isn’t home.”

”There are far more things to do in Seoul than there are here. You definitely wouldn’t be bored!”

”Even so, I’m not setting foot in Seoul. But you should take your mother with you. At least let her finally enjoy life.”

”Father, I can’t go by myself,” Mom immediately protested, as though she’d been waiting for exactly this moment. ”Up until now, Hyeonji has handled most of the household chores, but she’ll be starting work soon. Do you really expect her to manage such a huge house all by herself?”

”Well... that’s true...”

”Do you still not understand why I’m telling you to go to Seoul?”

”...”

”I’d send you there this very minute if I could. But there are still things that need to be settled here first. So go—but there’s no need to rush.”

”All right, Father. I’ll do as you say.”

After hearing Mom’s answer, Grandpa turned back to me.

”Your grandmother and I promise we’ll visit you in Seoul from time to time. All right?”

”All right, Grandpa. But make sure you tell me in advance before you leave, and I’ll send a car to pick you up.”

”Listen to this rich fellow talking about sending cars!”

I couldn’t help wondering how Grandpa would react if he ever found out Chairman Park intended to leave me an inheritance worth 70 trillion won.

”Grandpa, I already told you I won the lottery.”

”I never taught you to waste money.”

”What are you saying, Grandpa? Taking care of family isn’t wasting money. Nothing is more important to me than my family.”

”Very well. Thank you for saying that. By the way, when are you heading back?”

”I think we’ll leave right after dinner.”

”Since you’ve come all this way, why not stay the night?”

”I’d love to, Grandpa, but I have to feed the cat.”

”You could’ve just filled his bowl with extra dry food before leaving.”

At that point, Hyeonji jumped in to rescue me.

”Grandpa, that glutton won’t even look at dry food! He only eats raw chicken and fresh beef!”

”Really?”

”Our Saho is at least one and a half times bigger than an ordinary house cat. And you wouldn’t believe how high he can jump or how agile he is!”

”What an extraordinary animal.”

”And that’s not even the best part! He doesn’t just understand human speech perfectly...”

Hyeonji enthusiastically described every unusual habit of Saho’s that she’d noticed since he’d started living with us.

”...Anyway, Saho was the one who made it possible to catch that Chinese fugitive!”

”Well, I’ll be! So Saho really is a sacred animal. After everything he’s done for you, you certainly ought to take good care of him.”

”I completely agree, Grandpa!”

Grandpa nodded in satisfaction before turning back to me.

”Your grandmother and I are going back to the senior center for a while. We’ll be back before dinner. You two get some rest after the trip.”

Normally, Grandpa rarely visited the senior center during the busy farming season.

Yet despite already having gone there that morning, he was heading back again.

”You’re going again?”

”It’s boring sitting around at home with nothing to do.”

”Then take some of these gifts with you and share them with everyone there.”

”That’s not a bad idea. I’ll take this smallest gift set.”

The moment Grandpa and Grandma walked out the door carrying a box of sweets, Hyeonji looked at me reproachfully.

”Big Brother, how can you be so clueless?”

”What do you mean?”

”Grandpa and Grandma only went there so they could show off to the other old folks!”

”Oh... is that what this is about?”

I smiled and nodded before turning to Mom to ask about something important.

”Mom, by the way... I wanted to ask. Why did that famous restaurant that was always packed suddenly shut down?”

”The owner got himself into serious trouble, so he had no choice but to close.”

”What happened?”

”At the beginning of the year, he went on a vacation to Macau with some friends. While he was there, professional swindlers took him in, and he lost an unbelievable amount of money gambling.”

The loan sharks must have started threatening him to collect the debt.

Unable to withstand the pressure, he had probably put the restaurant up for sale in an attempt to repay them.

Wanting to see whether I’d guessed correctly, I asked Mom.

”You’re only half right.”

”So there was another reason?”

”The owner couldn’t handle the creditors’ threats and simply disappeared. After that, those gangsters started coming straight to the restaurant and trashing the place. Naturally, all the customers stopped coming. It became impossible to stay in business, so the restaurant closed.”

”So that’s what happened.”

”He was always such a quiet, honest man. I still can’t believe he fell for those crooks.”