Chapter 1
Chapter 1
I had lived without any motivation.
I had never challenged myself, and even if I had accomplished something, no one had ever been happy for me.
It was just a life that could exist or not exist, either way, pushed along by circumstances.
No one had ever expected anything from Jo Min-gi.
That was how he grew up.
That was how he was persuaded by his parents to marry a woman from a family they approved of, and so he married.
That was how he had a child.
Jo Min-gi’s meaningless life was suddenly swept up in a violent gale.
It started with his parents’ car accident.
When he first heard that his parents had died in the accident, he felt as if the sky had fallen.
His parents had always favored his older brother over him, but to be gone so suddenly, so shockingly…
At the funeral, while listening to relatives whispering.
He learned a shocking truth.
“Your mother never told you… oh my… tsk tsk…”
“You really don’t know, huh?”
From people he had believed were his aunts and uncles, he discovered an earth-shattering fact.
At his parents’ funeral, he learned that he had been adopted.
He thought destiny had played a cruel joke, far too cruel.
But at the same time, everything became understandable.
All the incomprehensible discrimination he had faced while growing up.
Why he never received new clothes, always handed down what his brother wore.
Why his brother, Jo Sung-gi, went to private elementary, middle, and high schools, studied at expensive academies in Daechi-dong, and went on to a prestigious university.
And why Jo Min-gi had to attend state-run schools, couldn’t afford the cheap neighborhood academies, and ended up going to a two-year vocational college.
He had resented it greatly, but looking back now, it wasn’t discrimination.
They just poured resources into their own child and gave less to someone else’s.
Who in this world treats another person’s child exactly like their own?
If it had ended there, maybe he could have recovered and lived properly.
But when he returned home after the funeral, a document had arrived for him.
“You were adopted?”
“….”
“I thought there would at least be money… no wonder they treated you differently. What did your brother say?”
“….”
Jo Min-gi said nothing and looked at the child in No Mi-ra’s arms.
A child named Jo I-seon… who would soon be celebrating his first birthday.
Seeing the child, a flood of emotions overwhelmed him.
What should he do?
Where should he start to make things right?
Countless days flashed before his eyes.
Had he been happy?
Had he really been happy?
Had he been happy, dancing foolishly alone on that stage made of lies, without realizing it?
When his child was born, it had felt like he possessed the world.
Every day was a miracle, a time full of joy.
He cherished every moment of the child growing up, overwhelmed with emotion and cheering with heartfelt excitement.
“This is strange… really, Jo Min-gi is blood type B, and Mom No Mi-ra is B too? Then it’s impossible for the child to be type A…”
It started with a casual remark by a nurse during a health check for family insurance, pressed by his wife, No Mi-ra.
Now, in Jo Min-gi’s bag was a paternity test.
The report confirmed that Jo I-seon, who was about to turn one, had no blood relation to him.
When he first received the test results, it felt like the sky was collapsing.
Thinking of losing this precious child made his heart break.
And he had to tremble with betrayal.
His wife, No Mi-ra, had married Jo Min-gi after becoming pregnant with another man’s child.
Perhaps she didn’t even know herself before marrying.
After all, the child was born only seven months after their wedding.
Was that why she had insisted on marrying quickly?
Had she found a suitable man to patch things over once she knew she was pregnant?
Both families had brushed it off as a premature relationship issue and hadn’t questioned it.
Jo Min-gi agonized for a week over the paternity report.
No matter how much he thought, there was no answer.
Thinking about that adorable child, Jo I-seon, tears streamed endlessly.
“That house… it’ll cost twenty billion, right?”
“….”
“Are you even listening to me?”
“….”
There are moments in life when one feels as if one isn’t really living.
Sometimes, it’s better to just die.
No matter how many misfortunes pile up, this was too much.
His parents died in a car accident.
Because of that, Jo Min-gi learned that he had been adopted as a child he barely remembered.
Then, he discovered that Jo I-seon, who had been half of the world he lived in, wasn’t even his child.
It would be natural to divorce soon.
“What are you going to do? Someone didn’t even get married and gets an apartment, while someone else only gets a few million? Does that make sense? Is an adopted child not a child?”
No Mi-ra glared at Jo Min-gi with ferocious eyes.
“Say something! Say something! Are you just going to stay silent? We’ll need to file inheritance lawsuits or claim our share of the estate!”
Strange words… their appearance meant No Mi-ra had researched legal matters.
Normally, that would have shocked him, but Jo Min-gi could not even be surprised by those words now.
“Huuh…”
He took a deep breath and steadied himself.
From now on, whatever storm comes, he would face it if it had to be faced.
No matter how terrible the gale, he could endure it.
Having let go of everything, there was nothing left to fear.
Even if the life of the child, so innocent and unaware, became unhappy.
The child’s misfortune was not Jo Min-gi’s fault.
“Isn’t there something more important?”
“What?”
Jo Min-gi took the paternity report out of his bag and handed it to her.
“What are you doing, I-seon’s dad! What are you doing right now?”
No Mi-ra’s already wide eyes dilated further, almost showing the whites.
“This is a paternity test… it shows I-seon is not my child.”
“What?”
No Mi-ra’s face contorted.
Jo Min-gi was slightly curious about what she would say next.
“So after all this, you did something filthy…”
“What?”
That line should have been his.
At least if anyone was going to say “filthy,” it should have been him.
Why was No Mi-ra saying it…?
An indescribable anger bubbled deep inside him.
“No long talk needed… you’re adopted, so no inheritance… hire a lawyer!”
She said that, packed the child’s things, and left the house.
She was overwhelmingly angry.
He thought she would at least resist, or plead to stay together for the child.
The shock of losing his parents… the shock of learning the child wasn’t his… but No Mi-ra’s attitude was the most shocking.
This used to be a space that felt warm just by entering.
Whenever he returned exhausted from dealing with people, there was the cozy “my room.”
The balcony where sunlight fell, the living room always smelling of coffee.
His late mother had loved coffee.
Or maybe he shouldn’t even call her “Mom” anymore.
“You’re divorcing?”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t matter now, I suppose.”
His older brother, Jo Sung-gi, who was four years older, frowned and handed over a white envelope.
“What is this?”
“A gift.”
A cold-hearted man, somewhere between a psychopath and a sociopath.
“What gift…”
“Don’t be greedy, just take it!”
Jo Min-gi opened the envelope.
White paper, checks.
Roughly counted, three ten-million-won checks.
“Now you know everything. That you were adopted.”
Jo Min-gi didn’t answer but glared at Jo Sung-gi.
It had always felt strange since childhood.
Why the only older brother treated the only younger brother so coldly.
“The house was bought under my name from the start… the company shares were already sorted five years ago… thorough people, really.”
Bitter water rose in his throat.
He understood why Jo Sung-gi said that.
Sung-gi was trying to break the chains tying them as brothers for twenty-seven years.
All because of paltry inheritance.
He would be lying if he said he wasn’t greedy.
But wasn’t there something more important than inheritance in this situation?
“I checked through a lawyer. Whatever lawsuit you file… you won’t get more than that. Take it and move on.”
“All this time… treated like a worm, and now you show respect.”
“What?”
He probably pretended respect because he needed distance.
“Just one question…”
Jo Sung-gi lowered his head but narrowed his eyes at Jo Min-gi.
“When did you find out you were adopted?”
That had been his curiosity.
He remembered playing with toys together as a child.
One day, suddenly, the brother he played with disappeared, and a tyrant appeared.
The shock of that was unforgettable.
“In fifth grade, learning middle school science… everyone in our family is type A, except you were B.”
“I see…”
Though curiosity was satisfied, some things remained incomprehensible.
“Mom told me… this had to be a secret. That’s why I acted like that…”
From then on, he was kicked for annoyance and kept away.
He had to speak politely to his brother and would get beaten if he spoke informally.
More shocking than the beatings was that their parents ignored Sung-gi’s violence.
Those childhood abuses became scars and traumas.
His mother kept him from Sung-gi’s room, claiming it was due to his studies.
So Jo Min-gi stayed in his room, reading, gaming, or playing alone.
“I see… but thirty million seems too little…”
“Then file a lawsuit.”
As an adopted child, he still had equal inheritance rights unless disowned.
Everything was, in a way, rigged.
Nominally, Jo Min-gi had received thirty billion from his parents.
He had just signed documents as instructed.
And then ended up with shares in a small, doomed-to-bankrupt company.
Not going to jail and having debts quietly resolved was a miracle.
“The house is sold too. Take what you need.”
Even if not by blood, Jo Sung-gi had been the only person tied to him by the facade of family.
But that was only Jo Min-gi’s thought.
The man before him, whom he had to call brother for twenty-seven years, seemed to have already settled everything with Jo Min-gi.
“Be grateful for being raised and fed. Don’t be greedy. Take that money.”
Everything was strange.
Even his friend Kyung-tae had once asked, “Didn’t you pick him up?”
And that had been right.
Why discriminate?
Why was the older brother treated like a superior human, and he treated like pathetic?
When Sung-gi won an English speech contest, relatives celebrated.
When Jo Min-gi won a middle school math competition, only his mother said “good job.”
Had his parents been alive, he would have asked why they discriminated so thoroughly.
No one supported him, and he shrank.
Sung-gi thrived with his parents’ support and wealth.
He ended up going to a top university, while Jo Min-gi could only graduate from a two-year college.
But to be fair, he couldn’t blame his parents entirely.
Had he been strong-willed and sane, things wouldn’t have ended up like this.
“Now let’s go our separate ways. Don’t try to tie us together with weak talk of family.”
That was Sung-gi’s intention.
Though unspoken, those words were enough to enrage Jo Min-gi.
“Fine.”
“F… fine?”
Sung-gi glared at him.
He must be complaining about Jo Min-gi speaking informally.
Sung-gi, gritting his teeth, muttered under his breath.
“This envelope…”
“Enough!”
“Ha… don’t pose, just take it when I hand it over!”
“I said I don’t need it. Keep it yourself.”
“You… yourself? Going wild… planning a lawsuit? Go ahead!”
“….”
Something hot surged in Jo Min-gi’s chest.
He didn’t know what emotion it was.
Everything happening around him displeased him.
Being tied up, trapped, forced into events against his will.
Had he ever lived even once by his own will?
“Just… stay quiet… brother! You’re irritable because of exams!”
“Mom suffers because of you! Don’t make a fuss about being a student…”
“That bastard… why is he like this? You just feed and house him, what more could he want?”
The words of those called mom and dad echoed in his head.
Was this the reward for being obedient?
The thirty million Sung-gi offered, though a lot now, felt filthy.
“You’re a picked-up kid, just take this and leave!” Isn’t that what it meant?
Jo Min-gi slowly rose.
Sung-gi watched him from where he sat.
“I’ve always wanted to say this… now I can.”
The terrifying brother he never met eye to eye with, the tyrant he endured without reason.
Jo Min-gi finally stared back at Sung-gi.
“Jo Sung-gi! You were disgustingly lucky.”
“What? Hey! What did you say?”
They had been brothers for twenty-seven years.
Is this how you treat someone bound to you by family?
Even knowing there was no blood relation.
“That bastard…”
He heard swearing from behind him.
He seemed extremely angry.
Even a cold-blooded man swears in anger.