The Report Card on the Desk
February 2005.
The study of Kang Tae-yong's private residence, Chairman of Sunjin Motors.
"What is this?"
Kang Tae-yong tapped the report card lying on his desk with one finger. Across from him, Kang Jin-ho stood with his head bowed, unable to say a word.
"I'm asking you a question. What. Is. This?"
"...It's my CSAT score report."
"Right. A CSAT score report."
Kang Tae-yong picked up the sheet and flung it at his son's face. The paper fluttered through the air and dropped to the floor.
"Do you have any idea how much money was spent on your tutoring while you retook your exams? Private lessons for every subject, college admissions consulting, and your personal health management on top of that. Add it all up, and it's a department head's salary at my own company."
Kang Jin-ho's shoulders hunched.
"The department heads at Sunjin Motors earn that much because they deliver. Some of them even exceed expectations."
Kang Tae-yong leaned back in his chair and looked down at his son coldly.
"And you? Why is it that after all that investment, you can't produce a single result?"
"...I'm sorry."
"Useless."
Those two words froze the air in the study.
Kang Jin-ho clenched his teeth. His fists curled on their own, but he couldn't lift his head.
Because he knew exactly why his father was this furious.
Kang Seon-woo.
The boy who always sat in the corner at family gatherings, the one nobody noticed. A pushover you could make cry with a single poke.
That boy had gotten a perfect score on the CSAT.
One of only three perfect scores in the entire country.
And with the title of third-generation chaebol heir attached, his face had been splashed across the news in giant headlines.
'That was the day my father changed.'
Every time Seon-woo's face appeared on the news, his father would look at him.
He never said a word.
But that look alone was enough.
Why can't you do what he does? — the silence asked it louder than any shout.
"With scores like yours, forget Hankook University."
Kang Tae-yong's voice filled the study once more.
"You couldn't even get into Yeonhee. Have you nothing to say for yourself?"
"...I'm sorry."
"Sorry? Is 'sorry' all you've got?"
Kang Tae-yong slammed his hand down on the desk. At the dull thud, Kang Jin-ho flinched.
"It's fine if you can't study. The world is full of people who can't."
Kang Tae-yong let out a long sigh.
"But when you fail, you'd better at least know how you're going to make up for it — what you're going to do next. Do you think repeating 'I'm sorry' with your head bowed solves anything?"
"......."
Kang Jin-ho couldn't answer. No — he couldn't answer.
Watching his son like this frustrated Kang Tae-yong all the more. The boy didn't even show the decency of owning his own failure.
He pulled a thick stack of documents from the drawer and tossed them onto the desk.
"You're going to America."
"...Excuse me?"
"The most prestigious of the American universities that don't require the SAT — the kind of place money can buy your way into."
The documents slid across the desk and dropped at Kang Jin-ho's feet.
The application. Visa paperwork. A flight reservation confirmation.
His father had already prepared everything.
"I won't tell you how much it cost to get you into that school. But understand this."
Kang Tae-yong looked his son dead in the eye.
"I have never once thrown money away. Do I make myself clear?"
"...Yes, sir."
"Go to America, pull your head out of your ass, and study. And build your connections. Choose only people you'll be able to use as you grow — nothing else will do."
"...Understood."
"Get out."
Kang Jin-ho picked up the fallen documents, rose from his seat, and turned toward the study door.
The moment his hand reached for the handle, his father's voice came from behind him.
"To think that thing is my son."
His heart plummeted.
Kang Jin-ho stopped. He wanted to turn around. He wanted to shout something back.
But he couldn't.
He opened the door and stepped out.
He walked down the corridor without even noticing the documents crumpling in his clenched hand.
'Kang Seon-woo.'
The name circled endlessly in his head.
'It's all because of that bastard.'
His father treating him like this.
Being compared to Seon-woo even after retaking his exams.
Being shipped off to America like he'd been thrown out.
'Every last bit of it, because of that bastard.'
Kang Jin-ho's rage pointed at neither himself nor his father.
It converged on one person alone.
'You think university life is going to be easy for you?'
He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts, stopping at a handful of names.
Friends who had already entered Hankook University. Guys he'd known since high school.
'Just you watch, Kang Seon-woo.'
With his lips twisted into a sneer, Kang Jin-ho pressed the call button.
Early March 2005.
The freshman orientation for Hankook University's College of Business.
The auditorium buzzed with the excitement and nervous energy of greenhorn freshmen. I sat in a corner, chin propped on my hand, scanning the room.
The campus scenery of 2005. A familiar sight I'd lived through in my past life, too — but with a forty-eight-year-old soul wedged in among twenty-year-olds, the dissonance was strange indeed.
'So I'm living the university life again, of all things. Fate's got a sense of humor.'
A dry chuckle escaped me.
In truth, I had attended Hankook University's business school in my previous life as well. Though not with a perfect CSAT score — and while I'd caught the odd whisper about being chaebol royalty, I looked so thoroughly unremarkable that no one paid me any mind. This life was a different story. Even now, I could hear voices murmuring about me.
"Hey, look at that kid."
"Which one?"
"The one sitting in the corner. Apparently that's Kang Seon-woo."
"Kang Seon-woo? The CSAT perfect scorer?"
The moment my name drifted over, I felt glances sliding toward me one by one.
"Yeah, one of only three perfect scores in the whole country."
"Wait, isn't he the Sunjin Group grandson, though?"
"Oh, I saw that on the news. They were going on about some 'rebellion of the third-generation chaebol' or whatever."
"No way. Smart and rich? And honestly, he's kind of good-looking, right?"
The whispers tickled at my ears. I pretended not to hear and kept my eyes fixed forward. Reacting would only tire me out for no reason.
Then it happened.
"Well, well. Look who we have here."
A rough voice from behind cut through the noise. I turned to see four or five men in department jackets striding toward me, arrogance dripping from their very gait — the textbook image of seniors out to put freshmen in their place.
The man in front stopped and looked down at me, tilting his head.
"You're Kang Seon-woo, right? The CSAT perfect scorer?"
"Yes, that's me."
"That's me?"
The senior exchanged a smirk with the group behind him. Snickering laughter rippled out.
"You see a senior, you greet him."
Ha. Doing things he probably never got away with even in high school, now that he'd made it to university.
It made sense, in a way. In high school, no matter how good your family background was, a different logic — the logic of raw strength — ruled the halls.
But university was different.
Here, it wasn't physical power but family pedigree and money that bought you authority.
And yet here he was, swarming all over me — which meant he had to have something up his sleeve.
Fine. I'll play along a little.
"Hello."
"Hello, my ass. I heard a CSAT perfect scorer was joining our department, and I wondered what kind of monster you'd be."
He looked me up and down and clicked his tongue.
"Not much, huh? Just looks like an ordinary kid to me."
"......."
"Say something. You got a perfect score — shouldn't your head be glowing or something?"
Snickers rose around us. The freshmen, sensing the ugly shift in atmosphere, quietly backed away.
I simply looked up at the senior in silence.
"Oh, right, and you—"
He took another step closer, deliberately crowding me with menace.
"You're the Sunjin Group grandson, aren't you? Saw it on the news."
"That's correct."
"And here I thought Sunjin Group was some impressive family. But the news lately? Doesn't look so great."
His mouth twisted into an ugly sneer.
"Word is all the relatives carved up the big companies. Your family's about to collapse — just an empty shell now, run by your mother, isn't it?"
"......."
"Well, good luck out there anyway. The company's about to hit rock bottom, so study hard and make your parents proud."
In an instant, the area around us went silent as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over it. The freshmen's anxious eyes darted between me and the senior.
He clearly expected me to flinch or lower my head. A shallow little scheme to humiliate me and break my spirit.
I smirked.
"That's an interesting thing to say."
"What?"
"You brought up family, after all."
I rose slowly from my seat. Sitting down, you couldn't tell — but standing, my eyes were just a shade higher than his.
"Might I ask your name, senior?"
"...Park Jung-min. Why?"
"Ah, senior Park Jung-min."
I gave a small nod and met his gaze squarely.
"You're the only son of Donghae Mulson, aren't you?"
"......!"
The color drained from Park Jung-min's face in an instant.
"Donghae Mulson — that's your father's company, no? I hear it's been struggling quite a bit lately."
The air around us turned to ice. I could see Park Jung-min's eyes wavering.
"Your main bank downgraded your credit rating two years ago, and last year two of your suppliers cut off business entirely. There's even talk that if you can't secure an emergency cash injection within the first half of this year, you're facing default."
"Y-you little—"
"Your father's been running himself ragged, feet blistered, trying to save the company."
I took another step forward. Park Jung-min stumbled backward.
"And meanwhile, the son is at university picking fights with freshmen. I'm sure your father would love to hear about it."
Park Jung-min's face flushed red, then white, then red again. His fists trembled — but he couldn't bring himself to raise a hand.
Too many eyes were watching. Swinging a fist here wouldn't just land him an assault charge; with his family's affairs already laid bare, he'd only end up a laughingstock.
"Where did you even dig all that up—"
"You already know who I am. The heir of Sunjin Group."
I gave a casual shrug.
"The family may have split apart, but my ears are still wide open. I hear just about everything. Including why you're so confident picking this particular fight with me."
A heavy silence fell.
The seniors who'd been snickering beside Park Jung-min shut their mouths. This was no atmosphere anyone dared wade into. Instinct told them this was no ordinary freshman hazing.
"Next time, senior, do try to pick your targets more carefully before you start a fight."
I slung my bag over my shoulder.
"And give my regards to Kang Jin-ho. Tell him I wish him well on his studies in America."
Park Jung-min's eyes went wide. The shock of realizing I knew all about the man behind him was written plainly across his face.
Having said my piece, I turned away without another glance.
As I exited the auditorium, the murmuring at my back reached my ears.
"Yo, what the hell is up with that guy...?"
"He's insane. Talking to a senior like that..."
"Wait, is it true about Park Jung-min's family, though? Facing default?"
I walked on with a dry smile.
'Ahh, humoring a childish prank really wears me out.'
But this settled it.
No one would dare mess with me on campus from now on.
I crossed the campus, letting the spring breeze wash over me.
I'd wasted enough time on childish fools. Time to go do some real work.
"How was the orientation?"
That afternoon, having left campus, I headed straight for the office set up near the school.
Until now, my high school status had meant receiving briefings in the car and handling matters from home — but as a university student, I finally had a measure of freedom. Jung Tae-sung had arranged this place so I could spend my free periods and time away from home here, under the convenient pretext of studying at school.
"Don't get me started. Worse than high school, I swear."
I waved a hand at Jung Tae-sung as I spoke.
"Grown men in their twenties, still playing childish games over family backgrounds."
At my words, Tae-sung smiled faintly and handed me a stack of documents.
"Are these the remaining files?"
"Yes, sir."
"Let's see what kind of talent we have here."
In truth, I had no intention of taking university life seriously — not the studying, anyway. As I'd already instructed Han Jae-yi, I meant to use my time at university to gather the talent I would need for the future, rather than chase grades.
"This actually comes in handy, you know."
"Does it, sir?"
"Absolutely. The guy who picked a fight with me today — if you hadn't given me these files yesterday, I might've actually been caught off guard."
The reason I'd known that the senior harassing me was connected to Kang Jin-ho, and known the details of his family's finances, was precisely because I'd already been reviewing this material.
"Today's batch is from the College of Engineering, I see?"
"Yes. You said there was no one worth salvaging in the business school, so we're expanding to other departments one by one."
I nodded and flipped through the dossiers of personal information.
Hankook University was, after all, the finest in South Korea, and it had produced no shortage of names destined to make their mark in politics and business.
The reason I was reading these files was simple: I wanted to recruit those talents in advance and build the future alongside them.
Because I had already lived through that future — I knew exactly who would rise, and who would matter.
"Is there no one who catches your eye, sir?"
I'd been flipping through the files for a while when Tae-sung's voice broke in, and I nodded.
"Not really. No one who really jumps off the page—"
I was answering mechanically, still turning pages — and then my hand and my eyes stopped on a single dossier.
"No. Wait. There is."
Found you. So this person was at the university right now.