Chaebol
"Whew... huff..."
I'd built up my body through steady exercise, gaining muscle and stamina alike. Yet despite all that, I was the first one to tire out playing soccer with the kids.
Unlike me, the kids, though gasping for breath, were still running after the ball, wondering if they could play more.
Suddenly, I felt a deep respect for kindergarten and elementary school teachers. But above all, the orphanage teachers who treated children abandoned by their parents as if they were their own, raising them with love—they were truly amazing.
"Awesome! Goal!"
The kid who'd dribbled the ball and scored into the opponent's goal shouted with joy. The team that conceded showed a determined look, vowing not to let the goal be taken easily next time and to score just as many as they'd allowed.
Watching them from afar, a smile spread across my lips. The more I looked, the lovable and cute they were.
Was I always this fond of kids? I'd never really liked them before—just found them noisy and accident-prone. But now...
I wonder if they know. That unlike themselves, other children are born into and raised by loving families. Maybe they don't. Or perhaps they do know the truth, but even if they cried, the parents who abandoned them wouldn't come back, so they act as cheerful as possible. Thinking this, they seemed so pitiful.
I decided to withdraw some money from my overflowing bank account and donate it for the kids, and stood up. Checking my watch, it was almost lunchtime.
"Kids! Time to stop and go inside!"
When I shouted loudly, they reluctantly began heading inside, though they clearly wanted to play more. Unexpectedly, they listened well, making volunteer work easy.
Just as I confirmed the last kid had gone in and was about to follow, a black foreign car pulled up in front of the orphanage and stopped. The reporters who had gathered because of Kwak Jaehyuk started making a commotion again. They pointed cameras at a woman just stepping out of the back seat and thrust microphones at her.
She showed a pretty smile, did a brief interview, and then entered the orphanage.
"Ha... why do I have to do this?"
As she gradually approached me, her face twisted as if the smile she'd worn earlier was fake, and she expressed her dissatisfaction. Then she spotted me and frowned.
"Hmm?"
She stopped walking and scrutinized my face.
"Lee Jihoon?"
"Do you know me?" I asked, a little surprised that she'd suddenly uttered my name.
"That's right..." She smiled gently and closed the distance. "You. What did you do to my grandfather?"
"Pardon?"
"Just what I said. What did you do that made my grandfather tell me to get close to you? He said if possible, developing into lovers would be even better."
"..." I was lost for words at the sudden remark.
Looking at her appearance, she was definitely pretty. But my standards, raised insanely high by Nayoung and Heera noona, weren't satisfied by her looks alone. She was above Han Seohyun and the other two slaves in terms of looks, I suppose. Comparable to Chaeyeon, maybe. Anyway, she said to me,
"Why, are you going to keep your mouth shut?" she urged.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know who you are." Without a single lie, I really didn't know. But upon hearing my words, her eyes widened.
"Huh? You don't know me?"
"Then who are you?"
"Huh... you really don't know, do you?" She let out a laugh. "Kwak Jahee. Still don't know?"
"Kwak...? Ah... aaah." Since Kwak Jaehyuk was here and a woman with the same surname had come, they must be siblings. But their appearances were so different! I'd heard that Kwak Jaehyuk, one year older than me, had a little sister two years younger, but since they didn't look alike at all, I couldn't even have guessed. While Kwak Jahee boasted a pretty face, Kwak Jaehyuk's face was as ugly as if it had been grated on asphalt.
"Do you know now?"
"Yeah. I know."
"Suddenly using casual speech?"
"Why? I'm younger than you, so it's fine, right?"
"Huh... interesting."
I couldn't understand what was so interesting about me using banmal to someone younger, but Kwak Jahee smiled at the corner of her mouth.
"If you have nothing more to say, can I go inside?"
"Go?"
"I need to prepare the kids' lunch." Even though "prepare" just meant serving.
"Really? Then let's go together. I came to volunteer too."
With no particular reason to refuse, I led her inside. I went straight to the cafeteria and put on an apron. However, Kwak Jahee, who had followed me closely, just stood there idly watching me put it on.
"Aren't you putting one on?"
"I have to do it too?"
"You came here to do this, didn't you?" I handed her an apron.
She just stared at it, then chuckled and took it. "True. Okay." Only then did she put it on.
"So, what should I do?"
"I don't know either."
"..." Her eyes turned cold.
So unfair, I thought. It's my first time volunteering too, how would I know? "Once you're wearing an apron, the staff here will tell you what to do." I said, looking at the busy staff. "They'll tell us soon."
"You're also here for the first time, I see?"
"Yeah."
"Heh. Interesting."
"What's so interesting?" I couldn't understand her.
"Every single one of your actions is interesting." She grinned and continued, "By the way, when are you going to answer my earlier question?"
"What question?"
"What did you do to my grandfather that made him tell me to get close to you, and even that developing into lovers would be better?"
"Ah. Now that I think of it, you did say that. But I don't know either."
"Hah?" She frowned as if dumbfounded. "No lie, I really don't know. I've never met your grandfather in the first place."
"Then why... does he think so highly of you?" She pressed me, her expression clearly showing she thought I was lying and hiding the truth.
I truly had never met the chairman of Cheil Group. He likely just knew of me unilaterally. And that made sense, because lately I'd been showing myself a bit, so my identity had somewhat been revealed to the world. In Korea, the people who knew me were either those I'd approached to offer sponsorship, or the highest-ranking elites who would naturally hear about me. The chairman of Cheil Group was among that highest elite, so he would inevitably know me. Naturally, he could also estimate the enormous wealth I'd accumulated so far. In that case, it wasn't strange that he'd used his granddaughter to approach me. That was probably the reason he hadn't competed with my father and had willingly handed over business items with goodwill.
I stood up.
"You're not going to tell me?" She grabbed my sleeve and clung to me.
"Why would I?" There was no reason for me to tell her anything. She was pretty, but I already had plenty of women, so I had no desire to add more.
"Hey." Exclaiming in a sharp voice—apparently receiving such treatment for the first time—but I just shrugged and brushed it off casually.
"They're calling us. Let's go."
"Ha... really. Interesting... truly." There must have been a reason why the Cheil Group chairman, famously doting on his granddaughter, personally told her to get close to a boy and, if possible, date him. Kwak Jahee seemed displeased with me blowing her off, but with a look of "no choice" and somehow finding it interesting, she followed behind me.
And so she became in charge of serving the kids.
"Please give me a lot!"
"..."
"Can't you give just a little more...?"
"Haah... just eat what you're given." A kid was begging for a little more because the portion she'd served was too small, but she stubbornly gestured for him to move along.
"Woo... it's so small... hmm..."
Only a while ago they'd been outside kicking a ball and running around. When they got hungry, they really got hungry—there was no such thing as not having an appetite.
"Why don't you give him more?" I sided with the kid and said to Jahee.
"..." She kept silent, looking at me, then reluctantly added a bit more to the kid's tray.
"Hehe! Thank you!" In the end, the kid, having received more than he wanted, walked away with a bright smile.
Watching the cute kid, a smile spread across my lips too. Kwak Jahee was still looking at me. Her tightly closed lips slowly parted.
"Do you... like kids?"
"I used to not really, but now it's not bad. Or maybe I do like them?" If all kids were like these ones, I could confidently say I like children. But these kids are a special case. Knowing that not all are like this, my answer became ambiguous.
"Hmm... is that so?"
"Yeah. So just focus on feeding the kids."
"Hng... aren't you going to serve me...?" A girl made a sad face because Jahee hadn't looked away from me and it was now her turn at the serving line, but no food had been added to her tray.
"Ah, right. Sorry." Kwak Jahee, late to notice, said to the girl who had been waiting long. "Here. Eat a lot."
She piled a huge amount.
"Wow!"
Since she was serving a main dish of the menu, I was taken aback. "That's too much, isn't it?"
"They're in their growing period."
"Even so, it's too much. The food is limited. What about the other kids?"
"If it's not enough, I'll just buy them chicken." Kwak Jahee was full of the idea of casually covering the shortage with chicken.
Still, she wasn't as irresponsible as Kwak Jaehyuk.