Chapter 30
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: I'm Asking Because I'm Genuinely Curious
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Scene 30
I'm asking because I'm genuinely curious.
“Sir. I’m asking because I’m genuinely! Curious.”
“Hmm?”
“I kind of get it, but at the same time, I really, really don’t.”
Kang Man-dong tilted his head as if to ask what she meant.
“Generally speaking. I mean, there’s common sense, right?”
“Why such a long preamble to get to your point?”
“Well, it’s just... The Professor isn’t a child. When the time is right, he’ll meet women and date on his own. Someone like him... I mean, to put it bluntly, if the Professor just made a move, I think even a lesbian would fall for him! But for you to go this far, even spending money to set all this up...”
Kang Man-dong nodded.
“It is a bit much, isn’t it?”
“A bit? It’s completely over the top. Is it possible... that the Professor has some kind of issue, sexually?”
“Whoa. You’re getting way ahead of yourself.”
Kang Man-dong waved his hand, dismissing the idea.
“Then what is it?”
“There’s a bit of a story behind it all, but it’s a long one.”
“We still have some time before dinner, don’t we? Can’t you just give me the short version?”
Kang Man-dong hummed, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“You see, Yu-hyeon…”
As Kang Man-dong began to speak, Kim Seong-hui said, “Yes,” her eyes sparkling.
“As you know, Writer Kim, he’s a bit... unusual.”
“Is there only one or two unusual things about him? His status doesn’t match his age, and he’s written more than just a couple of books.”
“That’s not what I mean. How should I put this... The way my son and I have lived has been far from ordinary.”
“.....?”
“Would you believe me if I told you this is the first place we’ve ever truly settled down?”
“What?”
Kim Seong-hui tilted her head as if to ask what he meant.
“It means we wandered without a permanent home.”
“Without a home? Do you mean you just roamed around without a house?”
Kang Man-dong nodded.
“But... why? Wait a minute. Then what about school?”
“Of course not.”
“Whaaat? But he’s a professor!”
The position of a university professor wasn't something you could just get because you wanted it; it was a difficult climb even after completing all the required courses. So how could someone who hadn’t even received a formal education...?
“I can tell what you’re thinking from your expression. ‘How on earth did someone like that become a professor?’ Something like that, right?”
“No. Well. Yes!”
“Simply put, he’s a genius.”
“But even for a genius…”
“If I were to explain Yu-hyeon’s studies, I’d have to talk for two or three days straight.”
I barely managed my own studies, and now I have to hear about someone else’s?
“No, let’s just go with him being a genius. I don’t think I need to hear all the details. It’s not like I’d understand it even if I did.”
At Seong-hui’s words, Kang Man-dong chuckled heartily and said, “To be honest, me neither.”
“Let’s do that. Anyway, after wandering around like nomads, we immigrated. And after many twists and turns, we settled here.”
“Yes.”
“Yu-hyeon was always smart and mature, even as a kid. But after coming here, it got even more intense.”
“You mean he acted like an adult?”
“Something like that, but you could say he went far beyond the normal level. In front of me, he at least tries to act like a son. But with other people... How should I say it?”
“He draws a line?”
As Kang Man-dong struggled to explain, Seong-hui chimed in.
“There’s that, too. Damn. This is hard to put into words.”
Kang Man-dong scratched his head and then uttered a word.
“Detached?”
“Detached... as in, living in a world of his own?”
“Yes. That’s probably the closest description. Anyway, he was always a bit peculiar, even as a child. For a while after we immigrated, he had frequent nightmares. He’d talk in his sleep, saying things I couldn’t understand. I was very worried.”
Seong-hui tried to picture Yu-hyeon.
‘Nightmares?’
It was an image hard to associate with the man she knew now.
“He struggled like that for a while, and then one day, it seemed like he’d made up his mind about something.”
“What kind of decision?”
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me even when I asked. Anyway, after that, he brought home piles of books and started studying. And the extent of it... in modern slang, it was insane. It was so bad that I tried to stop him, worried he’d collapse.”
Seong-hui just blinked, saying nothing this time.
“Then, he started contacting various places and sending out documents.”
“Documents?”
“When I asked, he said they were university admission papers.”
“Ah, right. Which university is he a professor at? I never asked.”
“Ever hear of a place called Stanford?”
“Wha—! Stanford?”
“They say it’s a famous university in America.”
“Of course. Only geniuses go there... Ah. Right, the Professor is a genius.”
“And then he went to America, saying he needed to study more.”
“By himself?”
“By himself.”
“Wow. He was determined.”
“He wouldn’t listen, no matter how I tried to stop him. He said it’s better to get done what needs to be done as quickly as possible. About two years passed, I think? Then he came back and told me he’d become a professor.”
“What? A professor just two years after enrolling?”
“I couldn’t make sense of it either. Just graduating in that time would have been a feat.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, whatever the case. What father would be unhappy that his son became a professor? I didn’t know the details, but I was just happy for him.”
Kim Seong-hui briefly wondered if anyone had ever become a professor in such a short time.
‘Come to think of it, I remember seeing stories on TV about 20-year-old professors.’
She wasn’t sure of the details, but she thought it was a math professor at some famous university. She didn’t know how Yu-hyeon did it, but it meant it wasn’t entirely unheard of.
“What happened next?”
“He kept working as a professor, coming and going a couple of times a year. But as he got older, he never once talked about women. In his early twenties, I figured it was because he’d become a professor at such a young age and had a lot on his plate. I thought, well, that’s understandable.”
“But then?”
“It’s strange, isn’t it? And I’m not just saying this because he’s my son, but honestly, he’s handsome. His body is even better. And on top of that, his personality is decent enough.”
‘Face, check. Body, check. Personality... I’m not so sure about that yet.’
“Around here, there’s this whole culture of being unisexual or homosexual, people of the same gender getting together. So I suddenly got worried. What if this kid of mine is into men?”
*Gulp.* “And?”
“Why are you gulping like that? It’s making me feel weird.”
“Oh. No reason.”
*Ahem.* I swallowed without realizing it.
“I told you earlier, it’s not that. Anyway, I was so anxious that I asked him. He said he likes women, too.”
“Then what’s the reason?”
“I was frustrated, so I asked him. Then why aren’t you dating any women?”
“And what did he say?”
“He said there are no women around him.”
What kind of bullshit was that? Half the world is women.
Seong-hui looked at Kang Man-dong as if to say, ‘Does that even make sense?’
“So that’s what I said to him. Half the world is women, what kind of bullshit is that?”
Hehe. He said the same thing I was thinking.
“So what did the Professor say to that?”
“After hearing his explanation, I understood.”
“What? How could you possibly...”
“It turns out Yu-hyeon is a research professor, or something like that.”
“A research professor?”
Seong-hui asked him to wait a moment and checked her smartphone to see if ‘research professor’ was a real position.
“Ah, it exists. A research professor. It says they focus on research on a specific topic rather than lecturing.”
“Right. That was the problem. I thought he went to the university, saw students, and gave lectures. But instead, he was living in his research lab, eating and sleeping there. The pathetic fool.”
Kang Man-dong clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“Still, that’s a bit strange. Are there no other people in the lab?”
“Nope. He said he’s alone.”
“What?”
“He said he couldn’t tell me the details either. That it’s related to a national project.”
“But still, to do that all by himself...”
“Weren’t you listening! My Yu-hyeon is a genius! A national project? Pfft. He can handle something like that on his own!”
My, oh my. Where did the man who was just clicking his tongue in disapproval go?
“Anyway. What I’m saying is, his claim that he had no time to see women wasn’t entirely wrong.”
Seong-hui nodded, her expression saying, ‘Ah... I see.’
The conclusion was a bit strange, but just like Kang Man-dong, Seong-hui felt she could understand it. A little? Just a tiny bit?
“But is that really living? Research is fine, and if that national something is necessary, he should do it. But for a person to live cooped up in a small room all by himself, that’s not much of a life.”
“Yes, you’re right. That’s not living.”
“So I told him to quit immediately. I asked him what he was doing, acting like a slave.”
“Yes, he really was a slave. A slave to his work.”
“That was probably the first time I’d gotten that angry since becoming Yu-hyeon’s father.”
Kang Man-dong, his throat dry, poured himself a glass of water, gulped it down, and continued.
“So I asked him. If there was a woman by his side, would he actually date her?”
“Oh! And what did he say?”
“He said, if he found someone he clicked with, what’s the big deal? But you know, you get a feeling about these things. A feeling that this kid was up to something. If it were a good feeling, it’d be fine, but I got a bad vibe from it.”
“A bad... vibe?”
“You know what I mean. When they say one thing, but they’re secretly planning to do something pointless. You don’t have kids yet, Writer Kim, so you wouldn’t know, but parents... when their child is lying, they just get a feeling.”
Seong-hui took a moment to imagine it. If Yu-hyeon were to do something pointless, what would that even look like?
‘I can’t even fathom it.’
It felt like whatever Yu-hyeon did would be for a good reason.
“Let’s see. This conversation happened around the time you were kicked out of the pension and moved into the staff quarters.”
“Oh? That was two months ago.”
“Right. And that’s when you, Writer Kim, asked if you could film here.”
“...”
“So I thought. This is my chance!”
“I see. So that was your chance.”
Seong-hui’s expression screamed, ‘Why did it have to be then? There were so many other days!’
If it weren’t for that, she could have cast the roles more easily and wouldn’t have had all these headaches.
‘No, wait. If that hadn’t happened, would I have even been able to sign the contract for this place?’
Seong-hui was confused, unable to tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
“Excuse me, sir.”
“Huh?”
“I think I understand the gist of the story. But there’s still no guarantee the Professor will actually date anyone.”
“Right? That’s what I’m worried about. I noticed today, too, he didn’t even glance at the young ladies. That damn kid. And after I even washed the Lamborghini for him!”
Ah, the Lamborghini! So the unexpected situation was your doing, sir.
But what can you do? The Professor has no time to worry about the actresses right now. Just like you, sir, he’s entirely focused on finding a girlfriend for his father.
‘Should I tell him? If I leave this alone, it feels like both their plans will fail. Or maybe not? It might be a good thing if they fail. If some weird articles come out, it could negatively affect the drama.’
“Why the long face?”
“Huh?”
“I know everything.”
“Know... what?”
“I’ve been making all these difficult requests to set my son up. You must have been angry and annoyed. You need your drama to succeed, and you must be worried sick that something might happen because of all this.”
“Whew. At least you... understand.”
She thought he didn’t care one bit about the drama, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
“That’s why I said it. If their eyes meet and something happens, great. If not, it can’t be helped. I can’t ruin your work just to satisfy my own desires. That wouldn’t be right.”
“I’m truly grateful you think that way.”
“Grateful? I’m the one who should be grateful. At least this time, that kid can’t make the strange excuse that he couldn’t meet anyone because there were no women around.”
That’s true, but... ha, I really don’t know anymore.
“Anyway! Here’s what I think.”
“?”
“The Professor isn’t old and past his prime. He’s only twenty-eight. These days, everyone gets married late—in their mid-thirties, or even their forties in some cases.”
“Hmm.”
“So. I hope you won’t worry so much. Unless there’s some other reason.”
At Seong-hui’s words, Kang Man-dong trailed off, “Well, that’s true, but…”
“Are you perhaps, sick or...”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Do I look sick?”
“No.”
“That’s right. I’m perfectly healthy. No problems in that department.”
“That’s a relief, that it’s not something like that.”
“But there are some things I need to take care of soon. And I think I’d feel more at ease if Yu-hyeon had a good person by his side.”
“....?”
When Seong-hui tilted her head with a look that asked, ‘Things to take care of?’, Kang Man-dong shook his head as if it were nothing.
“Never mind. I’m just rambling. Anyway, focus on filming your drama while you’re here. And if you need anything, just let me know. I’ll help with whatever I can. Regardless of how it started, I’m an investor now, too. I can’t afford to take a loss.”
Of course.
After I’ve cooperated this much, you’d better do more than your fair share, sir