Rest (6)
Sena leaned in as if she were cross-examining me. "So what do you do? Hurry up and tell me."
The others listened too, clearly curious.
What should I say?
My father was the only one who knew that I was running Continue Capital. My mother and Sena had no idea.
I sometimes wondered whether there was any need to hide it from my family at all, but there was.
For me, it really wasn't a problem. Everyone who needed to know already knew who I was. The problem was Sena.
Private equity firms generally weren't household names.
As I had said many times before, even MKK Partners, the largest private equity firm in Korea and all of Asia, was only fifth in the domestic business rankings, and most people didn't even know its name.
Continue Capital, however, was different.
We had caused far too many major incidents for that not to be the case.
Especially during the GL Chemical and GL Entech debacles, the media had spent all day shouting about us, so even people who weren't interested in investing had probably heard the name once or twice.
My brother being rich wouldn't change Sena's life on its own. There were plenty of rich people in the world.
But if her brother were the owner and CEO of Continue Capital?
The way her friends looked at her would change instantly. Even going out and having fun like this might become difficult, and maybe school itself would get harder to attend.
On the other hand, one could argue she only needed to know and keep it to herself—but that wasn't realistic. Sena's personality guaranteed she'd blurt it out to anyone and everyone.
My father knew that too, which was why he'd deliberately said nothing to my mother and Sena.
They'd find out eventually anyway, but for now, it was probably better if they only knew that their son was making good money.
So I gave a suitably vague answer.
"I'm running an investment firm with someone I know."
"An investment firm? What does it do?"
"Well, we invest in startups and acquire companies."
We had invested in Snow Crash, for one. On top of that, we'd acquired Purple Games Studio, Legend Games Headquarters, O'Connor Burger, and Prisoner.
"We also provide investment services—consulting and asset management—for companies and institutions."
The institution we were advising happened to be the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, PIF. We were also doing co-investments with them.
Unlike Sena, who only tilted her head in confusion, Sojin looked as though she understood perfectly.
"Anyway, even if I tell you, you probably wouldn't really get it. We don't deal with private clients, anyway. Mostly institutions."
"Hmm, really?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
Jo Yugyeong and Park Yejin, who had been listening in, asked with open curiosity, "How did you make that much money?"
"What do you have to do to succeed?"
"Um...."
Whenever I got questions like that, I never quite knew what to say.
The only reason I'd succeeded like this was because I'd regressed. Without that, I would have been living an ordinary life as a brokerage employee by now.
That didn't mean I could tell the kids to go get hit by a car while riding a motorcycle and then regress.
Watching their hopeful faces, I felt a sort of responsibility, as if I ought to give the young sprouts something genuinely useful to carry with them.
"You all want to hear it?"
"Yes!"
Since they were asking so eagerly, I couldn't exactly refuse.
So I seriously told Sena and her friends about the successful investing strategy of a regressor... no, about how to succeed in life.
"There's no secret formula for easy success. Whatever you do, the basics matter. The most important thing here is your own effort, but you can't just throw yourself at something blindly and expect it to work. First, you set a goal. Then you make smaller goals that lead toward that goal, and after that you create a concrete plan to achieve them. If you look at successful people, they decide what they need to do each morning and then follow through accordingly...."
I was pouring out life lessons I sincerely believed could serve as a guiding principle for the future, when Sena clapped her hands and cut me off. "Okay, okay, got it. Hey, guys, should we watch a movie while we're on the way?"
"I wanted to hear more about Miru oppa...."
"Thank you for the good advice."
"That was really helpful."
"...."
No, seriously. I was just getting to the important part.
By evening, the private jet had landed at Los Angeles International Airport.
"Wow! It's my first time in America."
Sena looked around in amazement. "There are so many foreigners. Everyone's a foreigner."
"...."
Well, yes. Because it was foreign.
Before departure, I'd already booked a room at the JR Blackwood Hotel in LA, so a hotel limousine was waiting at the airport.
We got into the car that had been prepared for us and headed to the hotel.
The girls were stunned when they saw the Presidential Suite.
"Wow! This is amazing too!"
"It's so pretty."
"Look at the night view. It's like a scene from a movie."
"Wait. Let's take pictures before we make a mess."
At that, they all pulled out their smartphones and started snapping photos like mad. Sena handed me her phone.
"Take some pictures of us."
No matter where you went, proof shots were essential.
I took as many as they wanted.
"Should I take one of you too?"
"I'm good."
I had thought it was fascinating the first time I came here too, but now I was mostly just taking it in stride.
I was tired from traveling, and I needed to head out early tomorrow anyway, so we decided to just eat dinner at the hotel buffet.
The JR Blackwood Hotel buffet was famous for being excellent.
Especially the desserts.
"Look at all these desserts!"
"Wow! They've got every kind."
"What should I eat first?"
"Ugh, I was really going to eat just a little today."
Watching the four of them wander around together made them look like a pack of puppies.
I was too lazy to even get my own food, so I just sat with a coffee when Sojin quietly held out a plate.
"Please eat this. I went and got it while waiting."
"Ah, thanks. Snow crab, huh."
"Yes. There's lobster over there too."
It really was the buffet of a luxury hotel.
When I held up a snow crab leg and stared at it, unsure how to get the meat out, Sojin said, "Should I do it for you?"
"Huh?"
Before I could say anything, she took the leg from me and carefully picked the meat clean, then placed it on my plate.
She had put on a little makeup. The tint on her lips gleamed softly.
"Here you go, oppa."
"Thanks."
With the two of us alone like this, I figured it was a good opportunity.
"If it's okay, could I get your number?"
Sojin looked startled. "Huh? My, my number?"
"In case anything happens with Sena, I want you to be able to call me right away."
They had been friends since elementary school, always sticking together like twins.
Out in the world, she probably spent more time with Sena than I or our parents did.
"Oh! So that's why...."
She looked a little disappointed.
"If you'd rather not give me yours, I'll give you mine. Just save it."
"N-no, that's not it. If you send me your number, I'll text you right away."
We exchanged numbers.
Sojin smiled. "I'm jealous of Sena. Having a brother like you. Mine isn't like that."
I snorted.
"You never know. Your brother probably worries about you a lot too."
For better or worse, siblings were still siblings.
"I'm so excited for Disneyland tomorrow. What do you want to ride first, oppa?"
"Oh, I'm not going with you. I have some other business to take care of."
"O-oh. I see."
Sojin's face fell in plain disappointment.
After spending several days around her, I had begun to entertain the reasonable suspicion that she might actually like me.
By the time dinner was nearly over, I said, "We're leaving early tomorrow, so don't stay up too late."
Sena was stuffing her face with tiny bites as she asked me, "You're not coming with us?"
"No. I have work."
"How are we supposed to get there by ourselves?"
"Don't worry. I'll send a professional guide with you."
At the Blackwood Hotel, they also offered shopping and travel guides for VIP guests.
I had already reserved the tickets and asked for a guide and security as well.
There weren't any staff who spoke Korean, but luckily Sojin was fluent in English, so there shouldn't be any real problems.
"Go have fun and enjoy yourselves."
I let Sena and her friends have the Presidential Suite, booked myself a separate room, and also reserved a room for Syd in advance.
It was about time for him to arrive.
After all the noise, the quiet felt strangely awkward.
I was enjoying a rare moment of solitude when someone rang the bell.
"Who is it?"
"It's me."
When I opened the door, Sena was standing there.
She must have showered already, because she was bare-faced in shorts and an oversized T-shirt, her hair tied into a messy bun.
"What are you doing here?"
"I figured you'd get bored alone, brother."
Sena flopped onto the bed.
"Ahhh, this is nice. So this is America. Thanks to you, I get to visit America too."
"You like it that much?"
"Yeah. You must have it easy, coming to America all the time."
"I'm here for work. Work."
Since we were alone, I took the chance to ask something I'd been curious about for a while.
"About Sojin."
"Yeah? What about her?"
"Does she have a boyfriend?"
"No, but...."
As she answered, Sena narrowed her eyes and gave me a cold little grin. "Wow. What is this? Are you trying to steal your own little sister's girlfriend?"
"...Saying it like that makes me sound like total garbage."
"Aren't you? How can you have dirty thoughts about a kid who's practically your younger sister?"
"No, I wasn't saying I had dirty thoughts—"
"Then what is it?"
"It feels like Sojin likes me."
At that, Sena's eyes went wide.
"What? Have you lost your mind? Why are you suddenly having all these useless delusions?"
"It's not a delusion. She keeps sticking close to me and taking care of things for me."
"Yeah, you've got the world's worst case of main-character syndrome."
"Didn't you see her bring me all that food earlier?"
"Yeah. She brought some for me too."
"And she even picked the crab meat out for me."
"Well, that's because you couldn't get it out properly. If she'd held a perilla leaf for you, maybe that'd mean something, but what's so special about picking crab meat?"
"What's a perilla leaf got to do with anything? Why would she hold one for me if she's not even my girlfriend?"
"Exactly. Anyway, that's just because you bought us dinner and brought us to a nice place, so she's being grateful. Besides, Sojin's always been the type who takes care of the people around her. She'll even hand me a spoon and pour me water when we eat together."
"Really?"
So it had all been my imagination?
"Do you have any idea how popular Sojin is? Whenever we go out together, boys keep coming up to her and talking to her."
"Well...."
It would have been strange if she weren't popular.
"I'm telling you this very clearly: don't go scolding Sojin."
"Why would I scold her?"
"I mean don't confess and then punish her for rejecting you. Don't you dare confess."
"No...."
I wasn't planning to confess at all, so what was she even going on about?
"And because she's my friend, I know this for a fact—Sojin likes someone."
"Who?"
"Choi Yeonwoo."
"Who the hell is that?"
Sena gave me an incredulous look. "How can you not know Choi Yeonwoo? Don't you know Mukids?"
"Ah... I do know Mukids."
Mukids was a six-member boy group.
They were Korea's top idol act and the driving force behind the current K-pop wave. Even though they had never released an album in English, they were more popular in the United States than in Korea.
Every song they put out landed on the Billboard charts.
If even someone like me, who barely knew anything about idols, knew them, that said enough.
"Compared to Choi Yeonwoo, you're...."
"Stop right there."
Don't compare your own brother to an idol. That's just not allowed.
"For the record, I like Xenon."
"And who the hell is that now?"
"Mukids' sub-vocalist. He's mixed American and Korean, and he's insanely handsome. I'm going to marry Xenon oppa someday."
"...."
What did he do to deserve that?
Also, had she not just told me not to let my confession get her in trouble?
"Well, whatever. If not, then not."
I had almost made a completely unnecessary mistake.
Right then, the doorbell rang.
When I opened the door, there was a face I was glad to see.
He was about average height, with brown curly hair and a face dotted with freckles.
It was Syd.
"Welcome. You made it here safely."
"Yes, hyung."
Syd pointed past me at Sena and asked, "Who is that?"
"Ah! This is Han Sena, my younger sister."
Sena asked me too, "Who is he?"
"That's Syd. He works with me. Kind of like a younger brother."
"Oh! So he's a company employee."
"Something like that."
Seeing Sena and Syd in the same space was oddly fascinating.
It was a historic meeting between the greatest intellect in humanity and its fool.
"Hello. Nice to meet you."
Sena greeted him with painfully sincere pronunciation and held out her hand.
At that moment, I had a bad feeling.
What if a genius like Syd met my little sister and somehow caught her stupidity like a virus?
That would be a loss for all mankind!
"W-wait!"
Before I could stop him, Syd took Sena's hand and shook it.
"Gasp!"
Sena blinked in complete confusion. "What's wrong?"
In my panic, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"Uh, I was worried stupid might be contagious?"
At that, Sena covered her mouth and laughed. "Pffft! What? Is this person an idiot?"
"...."
After all, a fool never realizes he's a fool.