It's Mine Now
It's Mine Now
Soyeon stepped up and took care of everything.
"I've even taken care of the gift tax, so the money is clean."
The money given to our family was about 10 billion won. Mom and Dad's jaws dropped, and they looked shocked. I felt like I'd committed a crime for no reason. Sure, it was money earned using future technology, but... that didn't mean it was earned illegally.
Fortunately, after Soyeon went into the room with Mom and Dad to talk, they didn't show any strange reactions. They patted me on the back, saying I'd worked hard.
Mom and Dad quit their jobs that very day. It was only natural. Even if Mom and Dad worked their whole lives, they could never save up 10 billion won. With 10 billion won in the bank, working hard would be foolish.
You work to make money; if you've saved enough, there's no need to grind your health away working. All that talk about labor being sacred or people needing to work to live was just gaslighting. If you have money, obviously you should go out and have fun, right?
"You worked hard, Jaeseong."
"Mom is so proud of you, Jaeseong...!"
I don't know what Soyeon talked to them about, but Mom and Dad accepted it and said that to me. Honestly, even if she'd used some alien technology to hypnotize them, I would've believed it given their reaction.
Mom and Dad soon packed their bags and left for an overseas trip. I remembered what they used to say often. That if they ever became rich, they wanted to travel the world. I remembered that, so I knew exactly what they wanted.
"Jaeseong, Mom and Dad are off!"
"Take care of yourself with Soyeon-ssi!"
Mom and Dad disappeared, waving their hands. The way they marched out confidently, pulling their suitcases, was like a conquering general returning home.
I waved at Mom and Dad. I was at an age where I could live on my own now. Being a first-year high school student, I was old enough to know everything. I stood still in the house after Mom and Dad left.
Of course, there was no reason to keep living in this cramped house. Soyeon looked at me and said.
"I have prepared a separate house for you, Jaeseong-nim."
"Really? Let's go take a look!"
I became curious about the house Soyeon had bought. It didn't matter where the house was, anyway. It didn't matter where I was to board the spaceship. I could just use a portal from wherever I wanted to enter the spaceship.
I followed behind Soyeon. But it wasn't a place we could walk to. Soyeon had prepared a car. I sat in the passenger seat. It was a nice car.
Then again, with a monthly revenue of over 1 trillion won, it would be ridiculous to be riding in a crappy car. It would be strange if a conglomerate chairman didn't have a nice car.
Watching Soyeon drive, I felt a little envious. I wanted to drive coolly like that, too. But I was still a minor. You need a license to drive a car, and I wasn't old enough to get one.
Still, I decided to take comfort in the fact that I could get one in a few years. I'd heard that getting a license was super easy anyway. From what I heard, you could pass the license test just by wearing your seatbelt and obeying traffic signals.
"How much further is it?"
"Just a little further, Jaeseong-nim."
Seeing the car not stopping, I couldn't help but feel a little scared. We had entered the area with the most expensive housing prices in all of Seoul. I guess you could say it was a place I never would have even dreamed of before.
I never thought I'd be able to come here in my life. I had thought I would live in that cramped house with Mom and Dad forever.
The car Soyeon was driving entered a place that looked like a building. It was a place guarded fiercely by security guards. You could tell just by looking that it was a wealthy neighborhood.
Ordinary apartments or residential facilities didn't have security guards standing watch like that.
If you had to name the difference between luxury apartments and ordinary apartments for commoners, it would be the presence of security guards watching the entrance like this.
There were no particular restrictions on entering commoners' apartments. You could just walk in. But in apartments where the rich lived, security guards blocked the entrance. It was a structure that prevented people from just wandering in.
"We have arrived, Jaeseong-nim."
"Uh...? Oh!"
I got out of the car after hearing Soyeon. The size of the parking lot was huge. Furthermore, each house had its own dedicated parking space. Something was written on the parking lot floor. It seemed to be the house number.
It was different from ordinary apartments where you just park in any empty space. To think there was a designated parking area for each house...! My jaw dropped in amazement.
I got out of the car.
Even the parking lot was showing off an overwhelming sense of dignity. Soyeon looked at me and said.
"Please follow me, Jaeseong-nim."
"Okay..."
I followed behind Soyeon. A dazzling interior welcomed me. Soyeon had said it was the most expensive apartment in Seoul. That was spot on. People living here probably paid millions of won a month just in maintenance fees.
There was no way they could maintain the staff and facilities of an apartment like this without paying that much. Following behind Soyeon, I looked like a farmer who had come to the city for the first time. Perhaps because Soyeon had been here many times before, she didn't show any particular reaction.
"This is the house where you will be living, Jaeseong-nim."
Should I call it a penthouse?
The scenery visible as I opened the door and entered was completely alien. My footsteps stopped without me realizing it. It was as if my brain was struggling to take in the scenery before my eyes all at once.
Penthouse.
I repeated that word in my head several times, but the reality unfolding before my eyes was on a completely different level from my imagination.
"This is... really the place I'm going to live?"
I couldn't believe it. One step. I carefully walked inside.
Even the feeling under my feet was different. The marble floor was cold and smooth, and the sound that echoed faintly with every step I took made me realize the vastness of the space.
"Wow, this is insane..."
I lifted my head.
It was so high I couldn't even see the ceiling. And there was a chandelier hanging there. Not just some light, but a real chandelier with dozens of those fancy glass ornaments I'd only ever seen in movies.
It was on a different level from our house. It wasn't a fluorescent light that had faded from long use, but a brilliantly shining chandelier.
The living room looked different from what I had imagined. The living room alone was 3 to 4 times larger than our entire house.
A dry laugh burst out. I saw a sofa. No, sofas. There wasn't just one or two. A large L-shaped sofa, another sofa next to it, and even a single sofa opposite them.
They were all brand new. The distinct smell of leather wafted faintly. It seemed like the furniture hadn't been brought in long ago. You could say I could feel that Soyeon had prepared everything from A to Z.
I reached out and pressed it lightly.
Puk.
It was a sofa that looked fluffy just by looking at it. But when I threw my body into it and sank in, it was truly heaven. It was on a different level from the hard sofa at our house. Like that, I sank into the sofa and turned my head.
Floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Beyond them, the city was spread out. The night view of Seoul could be seen at a glance. Buildings, the lights of cars flowing on the roads.
It felt like looking down on the world from above. Is this what they call the taste of power?
I never understood why conglomerate buildings were built so high. But now that I was living in such a high place, I understood why they built them so tall.
Even if it wasn't a house but an office, if you could see the city scenery under your feet as soon as you got to work, that alone would be satisfying enough. In a way, wouldn't you feel like this city was yours?
I looked back. I saw the kitchen.
An island table was situated largely in the center, and a sparkling marble countertop was placed on top of it. On the wall, there was a built-in refrigerator, oven, and even a wine cellar.
I walked over. I opened the door. Inside, bottles of wine were lined up. Is it okay for me, a minor, to drink alcohol? Then again, since Soyeon was here, it didn't seem like there would be any problem.
In the case of cigarettes, adults were often sensitive about them. They weren't good for your health, and if a minor smoked cigarettes, the adults around them would actually scold them.
But alcohol was different.
In the case of alcohol, people were often much more lenient than with cigarettes. Sometimes, adults would even offer it to kids first. Because alcohol, if you didn't drink until you were drunk, was just a moderate beverage that made you feel good.
And so, the tour of the dining area ended. I headed to the room. I opened one door. I was breathless again.
A bed that went beyond king-size, one you'd almost only see in a hotel suite, was placed in the center. I threw my body onto it just like that.
Pukshin-!
My body was sucked right in.
"Woooah..."
I looked up at the ceiling. It was still high.
The nice scent coming from the duvet.
It felt like a lie that all of this was mine.
But it wasn't a lie anymore. Because truly, all of this was mine.