Feeling Like I Had the Whole World
The road to Gwangju.
For once, even driving myself there didn’t feel like a hassle. I was excited instead.
Maybe it was because even when I’d already been quite successful before, I’d still made trips back home.
But this time, the success was bigger.
And since a fair bit of it had been earned with my own two hands, I might have been even more excited.
Back then, luck had accounted for a lot. Now, though, I was at least half-convinced I genuinely had a talent for investing.
In a way, maybe this was what real success looked like.
“I should get there by lunchtime.”
I’d left early because I was so eager to get there, so I didn’t even arrive in Gwangju that late.
By lunchtime, in fact, was pretty fast.
Since it was the weekend, everyone in the family was waiting for me, and before I knew it, I was pressing even harder on the gas as I headed for Gwangju.
Near noon, I entered Gwangju and saw the familiar streets. But the feeling was completely different.
You couldn’t compare walking while looking down at the ground to looking out from a Bentley.
When I got out of the car—
“Son, you’re here? And this car is…”
“A Bentley. The one I told you about before I came. I figured you could drive this until your new car comes in, Dad.”
“...How could I possibly…”
“Or Mom would have to drive it…”
“That can’t happen. We’ve got to protect the people driving on the road.”
“Oh, my. What’s wrong with me?”
My family had been waiting.
My parents looked stunned all over again, even though they’d already heard the news.
My older sister still looked like she couldn’t believe it.
And my younger sister, probably because she’d gotten used to this by now, wore the expression of someone saying, See? I told you so.
They were all so good to see.
“Older sister, you had a license?”
“M-me? I-I do, but…”
“I know there’s a Porsche dealership in Gwangju. Let’s stop by. We should buy one for you and Mom.”
“...Huh?”
“It’d be weird if everyone else had a car and only you didn’t.”
“C-can you just decide that all of a sudden?”
“Why not?”
My older sister looked stunned. My younger sister didn’t look disappointed at all.
She already had a Ferrari.
So maybe she was more satisfied with a Ferrari she could drive immediately than a new Porsche that would take forever to arrive.
“Perfect timing. Let’s have lunch and stop by the department store while we’re at it.”
“The department store? Are you sure? You must be tired from driving…”
“Dad can do it. It’s Dad’s car now.”
“...Are you serious?”
“Would I joke about something like that?”
My father, who had thought I was kidding, soon realized I was serious and looked moved to tears.
As long as you’re a man, no matter how old you get, your desire for cars never really disappears.
At that point, they were practically a form of status.
He wouldn’t need to go around saying his son had made it, until his mouth hurt from repeating it.
Frankly, that would have been tacky.
Rather than making a show of it myself, if I suddenly showed up driving a Bentley, people would ask on their own.
What had happened?
Anyone seeing me for the first time would assume I wasn’t some ordinary guy.
That was why men got so hung up on cars.
My father climbed into the driver’s seat of the Bentley.
That was a pretty good clue as to where my younger sister’s genetics came from.
He suddenly wore a dazed expression, then looked around in disbelief.
It was exactly the same reaction my younger sister had shown when she first got into the Ferrari.
“You’re exactly like her.”
“I looked like that…?”
“You didn’t know?”
“...Honestly, I’d admit it. It’s a Ferrari.”
“The Bentley is about the same price.”
“That thing is…?”
Women tended to think sports cars were pricier.
Of course, even aside from that, if it was a Ferrari, anyone would assume it was expensive.
But this Bentley was by no means cheap either.
It was fully loaded.
My father stepped on the accelerator and wore an expression like he’d just conquered the world.
I was sure of it.
That car would be out of my hands soon enough, and he’d start washing it every week.
As someone who still hand-washed his years-old Korean car once a month, I could tell he’d treat this one even more carefully.
For now—
“Get in.”
I should buy one for Mom too.
I’d bought her a bag before, but…
I hadn’t handed it to her myself.
And it hadn’t been something she’d picked out herself either.
This time, I was certain she’d be happy.
Because it was a gift from her son.
Coming back home did, indeed, give me a different feeling.
This is home.
***
Lee Gwangseop had been happy just to hear that his son was coming home.
His son had gone up to Seoul, and now he was coming back after a long time.
But once he sat behind the wheel of the Bentley, for a brief instant, his son’s face didn’t even register in his mind.
It felt as if he were alone in the world, perched atop a Bentley by himself.
Just for a moment.
The happiness the Bentley brought him surpassed paternal love.
Of course, he quickly pulled himself together.
After all, this Bentley was something his son had arranged for him too.
“Thanks, son. Your dad didn’t do anything for you, and yet you grew up so well and even got me a gift like this…”
“What do you mean you didn’t do anything? Raising me was doing everything.”
“Don’t say that. That was my responsibility and my role as your father.”
“Then paying you back after I succeed is my responsibility and role as your son.”
“Is that so...?”
Yes. If our boy was saying that much, then refusing him any further would be bad manners on a father’s part.
He decided he’d drive the Bentley himself.
It wasn’t like there was some grand reason. It was just that his son must have been tired from driving all the way down from Seoul to Gwangju.
As a father, he could take over the driving.
It was fully insured anyway, so whatever.
The family climbed into the Bentley. What could he even call this feeling?
In an instant,
he felt like a successful family patriarch.
He rolled down the window and, for once, rested his arm on it with confidence.
Gwangju was so small—why hadn’t he run into any of his friends today?
If they saw him like this, they’d probably faint dead away.
Unfortunately,
he didn’t run into a single acquaintance on the way to the department store.
Where the hell were those bastards hiding today?
Still, to be fair, they were the sort of friends who lived far from department stores anyway.
“Hmm… should we wait here?”
“Hey, where would that make sense? Dad should come with us too.”
“Do I have to…?”
“It’d be better if we all went together.”
“...”
He couldn’t possibly stay in the car when his son was asking.
Though he really didn’t want to get out…
He reluctantly left the Bentley behind and went into the department store.
“We usually use Lotte Department Store, but I think this is my first time at Shinsegae.”
“Really? Aren’t there many department stores in Seoul?”
“...The Lotte Department Store near our place is the closest.”
“Well, Seoul land prices are crazy expensive, so I guess it’d be hard to fit a huge department store like this in. Must all be far away.”
That made sense.
Still—
Why was my younger daughter making such a baffled face? She wasn’t the one who had gone up to Seoul and back for a few days, and yet she was acting like a proper Seoul lady.
And anyway, what was there to buy at a department store in the first place?
By then, the women in the family had already gone half-crazy with excitement.
It seemed the bags and clothes my younger daughter had brought home, plus the deliveries that followed, hadn’t been enough.
They already looked plenty spoiled to me.
I trailed after them for a while, then stopped to browse the watches. Even though this Seiko was Japanese, they said it was sturdy and good…
It definitely looked nice.
It had a kind of dignified charm.
Let’s see…
I was starting to understand, just a little, why the women in the family went shopping.
Looking at watches made time fly.
While I was distracted,
my son came over after a bit.
“Dad, are you interested in watches?”
“Me? Watches? I was just looking out of curiosity.”
“Hmm… let’s stop by over there.”
“...Shouldn’t we just look?”
Where my son was pointing was a Rolex boutique.
It was a brand every middle-aged man knew.
A symbol of success.
Even among owners of small and mid-sized companies, if they wore Rolex, it implied they had done well enough as businessmen.
Our boss had even agonized over buying one for months before finally giving up.
It was the kind of watch only people willing to spend more than ten million won on a timepiece could buy.
In other words, a ridiculously expensive watch.
When we went inside, the store manager was there.
He looked tense.
According to our boss, they were supposed to be rude, but…
To me, he looked extremely polite.
My son asked naturally, “Are these all the watches you have?”
“Yes, sir. Rolex production is limited, so popular models are difficult to see unless it’s a special occasion.”
“I see… Could you show me this model?”
“This model, sir, is…”
“Yes, I know. It’s about fifty million won.”
“That’s right, sir. Please wait just a moment.”
While the manager prepared it, I lowered my voice and said to my son, “Son… can’t we just look at a fifty-million-won watch with our eyes? What if it gets scratched…”
My heart was genuinely pounding.
Fifty million won. Two of those would be one hundred million.
That was the price of a decent foreign car.
And yet, my son casually picked up the watch and examined it.
“Looks good. Could you ring this up?”
“Y-yes? Y-yes, sir! Of course, sir! I’ll help you with the payment right away.”
“O-oh, son!”
“It’d be nice for the whole family to have matching watches like this. Dad can have the best one, Mom can have a similar model, and my sisters can each get a ten-million-won car.”
“...Son, did you become a chaebol?”
“Something like that.”
I couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious.
But while we were paying, I saw the managers checking the card and looking shocked.
And the payment went through without a problem.
Their attitude became even more careful after that.
“I-is there anything else we can help you with, sir?”
“Hold on. Three women will be coming soon, and one of them…”
“...”
Wasn’t this every man’s dream?
For the whole family to wear Rolex watches.
I was scared. I was even worried whether they’d be able to wear them at all.
And beyond that—
I felt like I owned the whole world.
---