Receiving the Inheritance
"The inheritance is one billion won. All the inheritance taxes have already been paid."
"One... one billion?"
"In principle, I should have delivered it on January first of the year you turned nineteen. As you can see, however, I was in a serious accident. I came as soon as I was back on my feet."
Even at a glance, he looked badly hurt. He limped on his right leg and kept wincing, his face tightening with pain. Still, inviting him inside felt awkward—the room was too small for any proper place to sit. I quickly fetched a red folding chair that had been lying around on the rooftop, then brought him a glass of cold water from inside.
"Is Han Okja... my grandmother, by any chance?"
"Yes. You didn't know?"
"No. I've never met her in person. I've only heard the name."
"...She is your paternal grandmother, Mr. Ha Taewoong."
"..."
Of course I had known I had a grandmother. The problem was that I had never once met her face to face. Even her name I had only learned through the media.
The lawyer reached into his bag and drew something out—a bankbook. My eyes locked onto it of their own accord.
And then—
"Huh?!"
Why was that bankbook here?!
"This bankbook. You still don't know what kind of money this is, do you?"
"No."
"...I thought long and hard about this."
Lawyer Kim paused, his face etched with deep conflict.
"...??"
"If you take this money, it could cost you your life."
What kind of terrifying thing was that to say while handing over money? His calm voice only made the warning sound more ominous. I had a rough idea, though. Discharge papers and a few years of real-world experience under my belt counted for something. It wouldn't be criminal proceeds. But there were people who would kill over this money out of sheer greed.
Something that had happened in this same era, in the past. The memory rose sharp and clear.
"Don't tell me the reason you're hurt is because of those animals?"
"...It might be, or it might not. Heh heh."
Lawyer Kim drank the plain cold water—there wasn't even a proper beverage to offer him—and let out a hollow laugh. But he couldn't hide his eyes. Fury burned in them.
"I'll take it."
"You should tell your parents first, and—"
"No. You can give it to me."
My tone was firm, nothing like a high-school student. This was the matter Grandma had promised me directly. And I could feel her watching over me—that sense was strong. The flow was different from the past life I had lived until yesterday. I had never even met the lawyer standing in front of me with this bankbook back then. The situation was different now. The rules of that drifting era had somehow changed.
"Can you handle it?"
"Yes."
Lawyer Kim was worried about me.
"You're still in high school... yet you remind me of your grandmother when she was alive. It's in your eyes."
As a lawyer, he would be skilled at reading people. Just from my eyes he had accurately gauged that I already had real-world experience.
"I... grew up early."
"Have those bastards come looking for you yet?"
"Not yet... no."
Father's death in the past had made no sense. He had left this world for reasons no one could accept. That they had been involved behind it was a more than reasonable guess.
"You're brave."
"Isn't a full ghost better than a hungry one?"
"Hahahahaha! This young friend has an answer for everything. Yes, yes. You're right. Exactly right."
Lawyer Kim's hearty laugh somehow lifted my spirits.
"Here, take it. Pocket money your grandmother left for you, Taewoong."
The bankbook Grandma had handed me in the dream. Now I received the real thing through the lawyer. Even the wooden seal I had seen in the dream matched perfectly. The hand holding the bankbook trembled slightly.
One billion won!
To people with money, pocket change. To me, a sum I had never once touched in my entire life.
"Your grandmother did a great deal of good while she was alive. I'm standing here today thanks to the benefit of that."
I could feel the sincerity in Lawyer Kim's words. Grandma had said the same thing to me in the dream. Live by doing a lot of good.
"I'm glad she was a good person..."
The grandmother Father had cried out for so desperately. At least it was confirmed she had been a warm-hearted woman.
"If anything happens, call the number on my card. I got caught off guard this time, but I'm no soft touch myself."
His strong impression showed in his personality. I could see him grinding his teeth.
"Thank you for looking out for me."
"Not at all. I'm just glad I can repay Madam's kindness even a little this way."
An unknown relationship that belonged only to the two of them. The lawyer rose from his seat.
"When you have no power, bowing your head isn't a bad thing either. In the end, the world is fair."
He turned and offered one last piece of advice. Warm encouragement came through in his words.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Hahaha. Taewoong, you're the most interesting student I've ever met."
From the start he had used honorifics, and he never switched to casual speech even at the end. Just from his manner of speaking, he was a good man.
"I have a feeling we'll meet again."
"I think so too. Take care of yourself."
Thud. Thud.
He limped away on his bad leg. Using a cane, Lawyer Kim made his way down the stairs.
"Take care on your way."
I bowed toward his retreating back. Now that I was a healthy high-schooler again, the manners a person ought to have—honed through no small amount of social experience—were fully in place. The lucky messenger who had appeared out of nowhere like a midday goblin was gone.
"It's not like I've been possessed by a ghost."
A bankbook with a clean one billion won printed on it. I held it and examined it over and over. Even with the real thing in my hand, I couldn't believe it. It was a fortune of a size I had never so much as glimpsed in my entire life. Throughout my whole working life, the highest balance my account had ever seen was around ten million won. An amount more than a hundred times that now sat in this bankbook. My birthday had already passed; I was an adult. I didn't need my parents' permission separately. My main bank, linked to my student ID, was Daehan Bank. The digital certificate was already set up.
I opened the bankbook I had closed again. No matter how many times I looked, it was the same one Grandma had handed me in the dream. As vivid as if I had actually touched it and seen it with my own eyes.
"Live as quiet as a dead mouse..."
That had been the warning Lawyer Kim left when he handed over the bankbook. I had to live quietly. From that single phrase I could fully guess the hidden meaning.
Riiing— riiing—
The simple ringtone of a phone that was already outdated blared. A person I had missed so much I had kept her hidden away. How long had it been since I last saw that name? A smile spread across my lips of its own accord. I pressed the call button.
"Son?"
That single word sounded like magic. My heart clenched. For a moment I couldn't find a reply. My throat locked up tight.
"Son?"
She called for me again.
"Y-yes, Mother."
"Mother? What is this? What's with that strange form of address?"
Until I enlisted, I had called Mom "Mom." After discharge, after getting a job and living in society, my personality had changed. Adapting to the harsh adult world, the word "Mother" had naturally stuck to my tongue. As the form of address changed, the distance in my heart had grown as well.
"Uh, Mom."
My face suddenly burned. I felt oddly embarrassed.
"Hoho. Yes. It's Mom."
Mom's distinctive laugh came back. After several failed job attempts I had wandered for a long time. She was the one who had always cheered me on without ever showing it, like a great tree. My eyes stung.
"Thank you."
"Thank you? You're acting strange today, son. Saying things you never usually say."
Mom's radar had begun scanning. She had detected the anomaly in me.
"Thank you for giving birth to such a fine son! Lifelong loyalty! Loyalty!"
Just like in high school, I quickly brushed it off with a joke. Looking back, I had been pretty close with Mom until Father's accident. We had joked around like friends, and Mom had always kept that girl-like personality.
"Oh! Ha Taewoong! Thanks, thanks."
Mom's distinctive voice bounced along. A smile spread across my own lips again.
"Where's Dad?"
"He's out on a regional sales trip. He'll be back tomorrow."
Father was alive after all. Thank goodness. Strength gathered in my fist. The regression point was a perfect fit. Once again, I was grateful to Grandma.
"I miss you."
My voice trembled on its own. I meant it. After high school graduation I had never once seen the two of them together. Now I could see them again!
"I just saw you the day before yesterday. Already?"
"Yes! I miss you a lot!!"
"If you have time, come to Sokcho. Mom will get some sashimi and soju ready."
"Yes, ma'am!!"
My mouth watered. Right after becoming an adult, drinking had become natural. In the past memories I had grown distant from Mom. No—I had almost never had the leeway to make time to meet. After Father died that way, I had gone through a hard stretch myself. I had switched into passive unfilial-son mode. The sudden appearance of Father's creditors had played a part too. A lawsuit for breach of trust had hit Father's company as well. The house the three of us had lived in went to auction overnight. That was why I had stayed on in the rooftop room I had chosen as a place to live alone.
In the meantime I had become an adult. I had been busy covering tuition and living expenses. It wasn't a lie. Looking back even now, there truly had been no time. I had taken four online tutoring gigs a week. Seeing Mom once or twice a year at most was the best I managed. Even as a college student I had buried myself in the club room, obsessed with coin investments. During leave from military service I had spent the time meeting friends. It would be accurate to say I had deliberately avoided Mom. She spent every day looking at the sea, missing Father. Every time I saw her it was hard to bear. Even after discharge I had ground my soul into job hunting and part-time work. Studying needed money too. After returning to school I covered living costs with student loans and part-time jobs. Around then Mom had been running a small flower shop. Her finances were already stretched just keeping herself afloat. I had made myself into a survival warrior. And then that hopeless me had regressed!
A chance given by heaven. I bit my lip hard.
Just then, across the way from the rooftop room, a large electronic news board caught my eye. On the screen appeared the kindly face of an old man dotted with age spots. Huge letters emphasized so they would jump out:
Haeryun Group—one of the top ten chaebol families in the Republic of Korea. The current chairman: Ha Cheolgon.
"My grandpa... money's rotting on him, huh. Heh."
That old man up on the display board was my real grandfather. And I—I was Ha Taewoong, the youngest grandson of a chaebol family!!