Parents' Tale and the Star Balloon Promise
Star balloons were a given—it was a promise made in advance. It also served as a signal for Kim Minseo to casually mention her new hobby to Oh Miyoung, ensuring she wouldn't face nagging like this from the moment they got home.
"Jaewoo."
"Yes, Aunt?"
"You know your aunt here doesn't really mind if you spend the money you've earned however you like. That was my intention, anyway."
It seemed like the nagging was about to start right away from Oh Miyoung.
"But even if my daughter is doing this streaming thing now, I still can't wrap my head around it. AsiaTV? I just don't get why people throw money at it."
Shin Jaewoo's pupils shifted sideways bit by bit. First, he scanned for the culprit behind this conversation—Kim Minseo. She didn't avoid his gaze at all, boldly standing by Oh Miyoung's side and chiming in with a word or two.
"Mom, come on, those people are the ones giving your daughter pocket money! You can't talk like that!"
Smack!
"Ow! Why'd you hit meee!"
"You, be quiet."
Kim Minseo had a knack for earning herself a smack. Pouting, she hugged Oh Miyoung's waist. Even after a hit, she wouldn't storm off slamming doors with a "I'm mad!"—though if it happened again, she'd probably retreat to her room.
She'd run away.
For now, she put on a pitiful expression, rubbing her face against Oh Miyoung's side. Since this was a routine occurrence, Oh Miyoung ignored it and continued.
"Jaewoo, you don't waste money on that stuff, right?"
All the preceding words had led up to this question. Shin Jaewoo closed his eyes. Then, he shot Kim Minseo a pointed look.
Hey, if you keep this up, I won't give you what I promised.
He'd thought he'd kept her mouth in check, but apparently, that was wishful thinking. Of course, Shin Jaewoo had anticipated something like this.
"Aunt."
"Yes, Jaewoo?"
"Suppose I'm walking down the street and see a busker? You know, someone doing an outdoor performance. And I toss a thousand won into their guitar case."
"And?"
"Would that be something you can't understand?"
A thousand won. These days, even public bus fare cost more than that. It was pocket change, the kind invoked literally as "gum money" when talking about small sums.
Gum at a convenience store probably costs about this much nowadays. Five hundred or a thousand won.
Exactly that amount.
"...Well, yeah, sure. A thousand won is fine."
Oh Miyoung answered after a moment of feigned hesitation. Saying even that much was too stingy.
But Shin Jaewoo shook his head.
"No, Aunt."
"Huh?"
Oh Miyoung looked flustered as Shin Jaewoo shook his head. She'd expected him to agree and build on her logic.
"There are people who wouldn't even give a hundred won. For someone whose entire world is that thousand-won bill, handing it over for one performance? That's not right."
"...True."
"If someone's got no ten-thousand-won bills in the bank—or worse, they're in debt—that thousand won is precious. They need it right now to buy a bowl of ramen for today's meal."
But there were others who weren't like that. Shin Jaewoo continued.
"But if I've got a few thousand? Or even if I make a few hundred thousand a month? Then a thousand won is something I can spare."
Oh Miyoung nodded at his words.
This feels like he's trying to dissuade me... but...
Her mood grew uneasy. Shin Jaewoo pressed on.
"And if I've got even more than that? Then it's not just a thousand won—I could give ten thousand, or a hundred thousand, or even a million."
"Stop!"
Oh Miyoung halted Shin Jaewoo's logic midway.
"Whew."
She caught her breath. Then, looking at him, she asked,
"Fine. Like you said, for someone with a lot, ten thousand or a thousand is just pocket change. If I've got billions, what's a little spending here and there? No big deal. But are you saying you have that much money? Is that what this is about?"
Shin Jaewoo straightened his clothes. He answered her question as plainly as possible.
"Yes."
"What?"
Oh Miyoung was taken aback by Shin Jaewoo's response. He gave an awkward smile.
I can't tell the full truth, but...
Taking a deep breath, he spoke. The two women before him were family. His gaze flicked to Kim Minseo. Telling Oh Miyoung was no issue. The worry was that blabbermouth Kim Minseo.
But telling her not to spill would just make her not talk at all.
Kim Minseo's eyes widened. Her mouth spilled every secret without fail, but label it a "secret," and she could be surprisingly tight-lipped—though she slipped up sometimes.
"So..."
Shin Jaewoo trailed off. He had no intention of revealing exact figures; the amounts were too absurdly large.
He racked his brain.
"The truth is... lately, I've come into a pretty big sum."
"...?"
Oh Miyoung fell silent, listening intently to her nephew. Kim Minseo, however, was bursting with curiosity, her eyes wide and mouth running nonstop.
"You mentioned that before, but how?"
She was dying to know how he'd made the money. Oh Miyoung shared the curiosity but shot her daughter a warning glance without scolding, simply waiting for Shin Jaewoo to continue.
His mouth opened.
"...Last year, I got a call that my grandfather had passed away."
"Huh? Grandfather? Our grandfather passed away way before last year..."
Kim Minseo looked confused. Then her voice tapered off—she'd caught on. The reason for the mix-up was their family ties. Shin Jaewoo's parents had died when he was young, so he'd been raised by his maternal family ever since. Kim Minseo, being younger, had always known her cousin Jaewoo as family from her earliest memories.
"...Not my maternal grandfather."
She could easily mistake it. But strictly speaking, they only shared maternal blood; their parents were different.
Kim Minseo recalled a figure absent from her memories.
"So, your dad's dad? Which means... to me, that's like my aunt's husband, right?"
Aunt's husband. Kim Minseo had never really used the term. Her only uncle had died too early. She usually referred to him vaguely as "Oppa’s dad."
So the title felt awkward to her. Anyway, that uncle. Oh Miyoung's eyes wavered.
"Your uncle... I see. I vaguely knew he came from a wealthy family."
Shin Jaewoo learned something new.
"You knew about Dad's family, Aunt?"
Even now, after the inheritance, Shin Jaewoo knew little. No way to know. Even Lee Sooyoung and Jeong Junyoung didn't know much. The one tenuous link was the contact who'd notified him of the inheritance.
I haven't thought to reach out...
Honestly, it was intimidating, and he hadn't felt the need. But he did wonder sometimes. What kind of tycoon leaves behind over 7 trillion won?
Ah, right—this is after inheritance taxes.
Taxes probably took a similar chunk. So roughly 14 to 15 trillion inherited. If there were other children besides his father, it could be even larger.
That refusal. Did Oh Miyoung know the identity? She shook her head.
"...Just a guess. Like, 'Oh, your uncle's family must be loaded.'"
Her answer was unexpected. Shin Jaewoo had never sensed that.
His early childhood with his parents—their home hadn't been poor, but not rich either.
Not well-off, but not struggling.
Oh Miyoung gave a wry smile.
"Hmm. Not sure if I should say this... but you're grown now. I don't know the full details, but I heard your dad's family opposed the marriage to your mom."
She'd been too young then. And it was ages ago. Oh Miyoung's knowledge had limits.
"I never met them, but I could tell. 'Oh, your uncle's a chaebol, huh?'"
"Chaebol? Mom, was Oppa's dad really a chaebol? So Oppa's from chaebol blood? Whoa, insane!"
Kim Minseo started making a fuss. Naturally, she got smacked again for being rowdy.
"Eek."
"Minseo, you... don't go blabbing this to strangers or on stream, got it?"
"Tch. I have that much sense. It's perfect stream fodder, though..."
She muttered, earning another smack.
More than that, the story intrigued Shin Jaewoo. From what he gathered:
His father fell for his mother. Family opposed the marriage. Father ran away from home. They married. He was born.
And then... my parents passed away?
Father must've been stubborn too—no contact with his family till the end. Then he died. For reference, Oh Miyoung said she'd never even done a formal family meeting with her in-laws.
"Your dad was actually American, you know."
"Huh? Oppa's dad was American?"
"Yeah. He naturalized and became Korean after marriage."
Shin Jaewoo hadn't known that either.
I know so little about Dad.
The conversation flowed into old tales. Shin Jaewoo feigned nonchalance but grew absorbed; Kim Minseo's eyes sparkled openly. Seeing this, Oh Miyoung embellished a bit, captivating them both.
Before long, the inheritance topic faded.
And perhaps because of all those stories, curiosity stirred.