A Windfall of Fortune – 4
"Wow, this is my first time in Seoul!"
Having been born and raised in the capital region, Bang Seongeun had somehow never once had a reason to visit Seoul.
After she was born, her parents had opened yet another shop and worked every single day without a break. And then, once she was hit by that traffic accident, she couldn't even attend school—so a trip to Seoul had been nothing more than a distant dream for her.
Come to think of it, this really is Seongeun's first outing with her parents, isn't it?
When Bang Seongeun spotted the second Lotte Tower, she could barely contain her excitement. And when the faint outline of Namsan Tower appeared in the distance, she bounced in her seat and shouted that she'd seen it in a drama. Apparently the animated movie she'd watched recently had a scene about the road up to Namsan Tower, too.
"Seoul is so cool! All the buildings are sparkling!"
"Seongeun, sit down, sweetie. You're distracting the driver."
Han Mija shot her daughter a look, silently telling her to sit still.
"Oh, it's fine. I drive this route all the time."
I said it with a smile. Living in the countryside and coming to the big city, she was bound to feel a little culture shock. Even I, a Seoulite my whole life, still found myself surprised by things here sometimes—though granted, the things that surprised me were a bit different.
Something like: Why are there so many people? This is insane! How on earth did I ever live here?
At Han Mija's words, Bang Seongeun settled back into the rear seat and looked at me.
"Uncle, you said you were born in Seoul, right?"
"Yep. Why?"
"I'm jealous of you."
"Do you like living in Seoul that much, Seongeun?"
"Yes! The buildings are so tall, and there are shops that sell yummy things, and ice cream shops, and so many stylish people!"
I chuckled and asked, "But you can't raise chickens in Seoul, you know?"
"Ugh! Well, I don't like that part."
Han Mija brushed the hair back from her daughter's face. "Then study hard and get into a university in Seoul. Mommy will work hard and save up so you can live on your own."
"Like Oppa?"
"Mm... yeah, like your brother."
Bang Seonghyun was due back late from his training camp today, which was why he hadn't come along.
Maybe that's actually a blessing in disguise for him? If someone had asked me back in my senior year of high school—want to go somewhere with your parents, or stay home and eat pizza alone?—I'd have picked the pizza without a second thought.
Which was exactly why I'd given Chai a heads-up in advance. If Bang Seonghyun happened to come home around dinnertime, Chai was to bring him over and feed him. I'd told him to heat up a frozen pizza in the oven and share it with him.
"Uncle."
Bang Seongeun suddenly leaned forward and whispered right into my ear.
"You went to a university in Seoul, didn't you?"
"I did."
"Is tuition expensive?"
Even if Bang Seongeun had whispered as quietly as she could, the car was so silent that both Bang Jeongsoo and Han Mija must have heard every word. Yet the two of them just stared out the windows, pretending they hadn't.
"It's expensive, sure. Why do you ask?"
"If it's too expensive, I don't want to go. Oppa's aiming for an athletic scholarship since he's good at sports, but I don't have a talent like that."
I glanced at the rearview mirror. Bang Jeongsoo and Han Mija were both keeping perfectly composed, but I could imagine how their hearts were tearing apart. Their daughter was worrying about her parents' burden before she worried about her own future.
"Seongeun, there are lots of scholarship programs in Pyeongcheong County. If you use them, they say you can go to college without paying tuition at all."
"R-really?"
"Really."
And even if Bang Seongeun somehow didn't get selected for a scholarship, I could simply establish a foundation to support her. Anyone can set up a scholarship foundation, after all. Plus, founding a scholarship foundation and donating to it comes with tax benefits. And on top of that, Bang Seongeun was the child of Bang Jeongsoo, the number-one employee of Ugok's Yard.
I could just provide it as an employee welfare benefit. Done.
"What I'm saying is, you don't need to worry about tuition. Your parents are never going to break their backs over school fees."
"Yay! That's great!"
At my words, Bang Seongeun beamed. "If I study really, really hard and actually get into college, where should I go? How about the university you went to, Uncle?"
"I went to Seogwang University, but our Seongeun is such a good student, I bet she could get into Seoul National University."
"Eek! SNU's not gonna happen!"
Bang Seongeun stuck out her tongue and scampered back to her seat.
I looked at her through the rearview mirror. "Instead of deciding which university to go to first, how about deciding what you want to do first?"
"My teacher said the same thing. She said there aren't many people in our age group, so competition is low. So I can do whatever I want to do."
"Have you thought about it?"
"A veterinarian!"
Apparently Grandpa Hosik's chickens had exerted a profound influence on Bang Seongeun's career path.
"A veterinarian?"
It seemed Han Mija was hearing her daughter's dream for the very first time today. She looked at Bang Jeongsoo with wide eyes. "Honey, did you know Seongeun wants to be a vet?"
"No? But I think it'd be wonderful if she did. There's only a livestock clinic in the township, after all."
The livestock clinic did treat dogs and cats too. But Seongeun loves chickens, doesn't she? So wouldn't she have to open her own practice?
"She wants to do it for that reason... Honestly, you two."
Han Mija rolled her eyes, then couldn't help a soft laugh. The memory must have surfaced of how, until just recently, Seongeun had refused so vehemently that they couldn't even send her to school.
"That's right. Our Seongeun can do whatever her heart desires."
Han Mija pulled her daughter into a tight hug.
"Mm!"
The moment Bang Seongeun caught sight of the Han River, she let out a cry of wonder, then wriggled out of her mother's arms and pressed her face to the window, completely absorbed in the view.
If she wears herself out like that, isn't she going to fall asleep the moment the movie starts?
Smiling, I eased down on the accelerator.
A little later, in the underground parking garage of the theater hosting the VIP premiere.
Seo Jinwoo had sent me a message asking me to come down to level six.
I dropped Han Mija's family off at the theater entrance and headed underground. Levels one through three were nearly packed, but as I descended to level four, empty spaces grew more plentiful. Level five was almost completely deserted.
I went down further still, and when I reached the entrance to level six, an attendant signaled for me to stop.
"What brings you here, sir?"
"I'm here to see Seo Jinwoo."
"Would you happen to be Mr. Kim Yunho?"
"Yes, that's me."
The attendant checked my face, then waved my car through.
There must be an army of reporters practically stalking Seo Jinwoo for them to go to these lengths.
Level six apparently wasn't used for regular parking even under normal circumstances. Seated alone in that vast, empty expanse was the celebrity van Seo Jinwoo had arrived in.
"Yunho, my friend!"
Seo Jinwoo stepped out of the van and waved happily.
"Jinwoo."
The first time Seo Jinwoo had come looking for me, he'd seemed to be draining away, his life force ebbing fast. A grim, sinister energy had wrapped around him like a translucent shroud—he'd reminded me of a potted plant suffocating, starved of nutrients, slowly withering.
All of that dark energy had vanished without a trace. The sickly shadow that had once filled the hollows beneath his eyes was nowhere to be found, either.
"You're looking well."
"Now that I manage my own schedule, I feel so much lighter. Back then, even when I didn't want to be somewhere, I had to force myself to sit through it. Not anymore. Honestly, I feel like I've come back to life."
"I'm glad to hear it."
"It's all thanks to you, Yunho."
Seo Jinwoo clasped his hands together, as if to say that I was the one who'd saved his life. He looked like a marble statue catching the sunlight—warm and glowing, his face brimming with vitality and radiant with good energy.
"You bounced back because your resilience is that strong, Jinwoo. Your mental toughness did its part too. From here on out, only good things are coming your way."
"Yes, sir."
At my words, Seo Jinwoo nodded vigorously.
"The project I'm considering right now is a romantic comedy. I've got a good feeling about it."
"Really? That's great."
"You don't really watch dramas, do you, Yunho?"
The truth was, I'd been so busy lately that I hadn't had a chance to watch any. But telling Seo Jinwoo to his face that I hadn't had the time felt rude.
What excuse do I go with?
I racked my brain for a moment, then spoke. "It's the height of farming season."
Seo Jinwoo burst out laughing. "What kind of farmer dresses this sharp? You could walk the runway at Seoul Fashion Week in that outfit."
In my defense, I had put on a proper suit today. I swept my hair back casually. "You invited me to the premiere, so I figured I should make a little effort."
"Is that right? Thank you."
Seo Jinwoo, visibly delighted, guided me toward his van. "Let's talk in here. Looks like we'll be waiting a good fifteen minutes or more."
"Sure, why not?"
Getting to ride in a celebrity van sounded like a fun experience in its own right.
I followed Seo Jinwoo into the vehicle—and blinked in surprise.
"What is all this?"
The van was packed with gift boxes, each one bearing a ribbon that read, To Kim Yunho, CEO of Ugok's Yard. Some were even wrapped in packaging printed with my caricature and stills from the videos I'd posted. Every last one of them seemed to be something related to me.
"When I promoted Ugok's Yard coffee, my fans apparently did some digging of their own. They tracked down exactly who 'Kim Yunho, PR Ambassador of Pyeongcheong County' was."
Seo Jinwoo tapped open his Star account and scrolled through the comments as he spoke. "Word got around recently that you'd been through something outrageous. When fans told me about it, they were worried sick about you."
"Ah, the Boram Private Loans thing? It did put my account on the map, I'll give it that."
The rumor that a ghost had been caught on camera spread, and overnight the video went from over two hundred thousand views to half a million. So I'd uploaded a marathon video, then a cooking video.
Current subscriber count: a little over ninety thousand? Still shy of the hundred-thousand mark. But whenever I posted, my subscribers showed up faithfully to watch—most of them, I gathered, were Seo Jinwoo's fans.
"They said I absolutely had to deliver this one to you."
Seo Jinwoo fished a stun gun out from among the pile of gifts. When he switched it on, the ominous crackle of electricity filled the van.
"Haha. What, in case I get kidnapped by loan sharks or something?"
"Yes."
Seo Jinwoo's expression turned serious as he looked at me. "Is there... anything I could do to help? You gave me the chance to live in peace like this. I really want to do something for you in return."
Apparently Seo Jinwoo wouldn't feel at ease until he'd done something—anything—for me. Oh, he wouldn't, would he?
"If you're that desperate to help me? Let's do a live stream together."
"Sorry? Hahaha. Of course! Though shouldn't we have a topic?"
"How about a cafe opening?"
The abandoned house had been fully renovated, and old Jung Hak-soo's house near the reservoir had been converted into the cafe. We'd transformed what used to be a storage shed into a space where coffee could be roasted.
The plan was to open the cafe right after the Pyeongcheong Marathon wrapped up. So if we built up buzz in advance, wouldn't customers come flooding in on opening day?
And if the promotion flops, I'll just round up the village elders and serve them mixed grain porridge, I suppose.
I'd named my coffee roastery Ugok's Yard as well—a way of putting our village's beauty on the map while promoting my business at the same time.
I pulled the coffee beans I'd brought for Seo Jinwoo out of my bag. I'd roasted three different varieties of green beans, and I was glad now that I'd thought to bring them along.
"Jinwoo, you just smell the beans and tell the fans, casually, what impressions you get. Think you can manage that?"
"Of course. Your coffee makes my mornings happy every single day."
Suddenly Seo Jinwoo snapped his fingers, as if struck by a brilliant idea. "Ooh, that came out so well! Mornings are happy thanks to Ugok's Yard! What do you think?"
"Works for me."
At my approval, Seo Jinwoo immediately opened his camera app and started the live broadcast.
He hasn't even announced it, and that many people are already tuning in?
As Seo Jinwoo's stream went on, more and more viewers kept pouring in. Hearts and emoticons rained down the screen, and the comments exploded.
"Hello, everyone! Today's the VIP premiere of Segok-ri Reservoir, and joining me is the face of Pyeongcheong County, Mr. Yunho! Handsome, right?"
My face itched with embarrassment, but I gave the lens a friendly wave.
"Nice to meet you all."
My face was already on the market—so I figured I might as well sell it with flair! I threw myself into the stream alongside Seo Jinwoo.
Though why did it feel like Seo Jinwoo was working even harder at this than I was?