Yes, It’s Me. The Obsessive Side Top

#021

‘What is this now?’

When Secretary Kim told me to get ready for a meal, I thought maybe there was a quarterly family meal just like there was quarterly shopping. But when I arrived, it was a dinner gathering for the Eunha Group. This isn’t just a simple meal.

There was grandfather, a few middle-aged men I didn’t know, and father. Seeing no other men my age, it seemed I was the only grandson invited among grandfather’s grandsons. 

“Oh my, Ha Jin, you’re growing more dashing by the day?”

As I stayed still, someone approached and spoke to me. No matter how much you pretend to be friendly, I don’t know you. I simply laughed and gave brief “yes” responses. The other person seemed to have nothing more to say either as they laughed shortly and immediately left. A few people coming in pretended to know me, but the only people I knew here were grandfather and father.

Being called to a place like this, I could feel the weight on my shoulders as it hit me that I’m in the position of Eunha Group’s successor.

‘Please just let me spend money.’

I thought I would quietly eat and leave… but I couldn’t do that because people kept bringing up my name here and there. In this setting, talking about me seemed to be the easiest topic.

“Isn’t Ha Jin the first in our family to enter A University?”

“The threshold for A University should be a bit high.”

“Father. Did you even give Ha Jin a gift for getting into A University?”

Who keeps saying that? Don’t they know I got in by bribing my way through?  

Or. 

Do they know and are still saying that?

The one with chubby cheeks kept mentioning A University and my name. I’m already a sophomore, so there’s no reason to bring up an admission gift now. So he’s definitely not asking because he’s really curious. It was clear he had other motives, so I just let out a small, unnoticeable sigh.

Grandfather stopped eating, put down his utensils, and looked at me with a benevolent smile. Is that a mask too? Thinking that made me feel really strange.

“Ha Jin, it seems your uncle is very interested in you.”

“Hahaha. I guess so.”

Ah, so he was my uncle. Then is he father’s older brother? But why did father, the younger brother, inherit the group? Is it ability? Or…

Suddenly a strange thought popped into my head. It’s about what father said before when I got hit for not going to take the exam. What father said then strangely drew my gaze to uncle and father’s faces. There was a clear difference in looks. Father had a handsome face to the point you’d believe it if someone said he was an actor. Uncle just gave off an ordinary middle-aged man vibe. It’s also because he doesn’t manage his chubby cheeks but still.

“So. Ha Jin, is there anything you want?”

Grandfather asked me. Who receives an admission gift a year later? Well, there are things I want, and I would accept if he gives me something. But is it okay to talk about it here?

“It’s fine. I already gave him a lot.”

Father intervened. I clicked my tongue and resumed eating. As I ate a well-fermented radish kimchi, uncle suddenly laughed loudly.

“Hahaha, getting into A University is no ordinary feat. The family should do something for him. Isn’t it so pride-inducing to have such a smart nephew?” 

Uncle emphasized ‘smart’ and smiled at me.

“Handsome, smart, isn’t he quite the catch? I always thought he was hopeless at studying since he kept causing trouble, but I guess he has innate intelligence? I heard he doesn’t lose the top spot at school either?”

“Please stop. We’re all here to eat together.”

Father stopped uncle and looked at grandfather.

“He’s just attending college. You don’t have to pay much attention.”

“Just college? A University? Wow, listen to our little brother acting mighty. Is it because you have a great son? That conceit is no joke.”

Uncle laughed heartily and started eating again.  

“Ha Jin.”

I tried to just eat but grandfather called my name again. Does this family hate seeing me eat that much? It’s really hard to take a spoonful of rice. I put down my spoon and looked at grandfather to see him smiling with an extremely kind face. The kind of face someone who always carries candies in his pocket would have as he hands them out one by one to kids he runs into in the countryside. If I didn’t know father’s personality, I might have been completely fooled. But no way. The Eunha Group people are my number one targets of caution.

“Ha Jin. Come see me once before you leave.”

“Ah, yes…”

‘Damn it. What is he trying to do?’

If it’s this family, I’m super wary. Would grandfather really be any different? Same shit, different day. After that, uncle didn’t cross the line with me anymore. They talked about company matters amongst themselves, and uncle seemed to imply to grandfather asking for some help.

As soon as the meal ended, father immediately approached me.

“Don’t say anything useless to grandfather.”

Whew, so threatening. I gave father a cold look as my own little rebellion and headed to where someone was guiding me. I had tea separately with grandfather in a large room. Grandfather drank warm green tea while I had an espresso. I hadn’t been drinking coffee because it tasted bad these days, but when they said they’d give me what I usually drink, I just went along with it. But.

‘Huh? Why is this espresso so delicious?’

It had an eye-opening taste.

As I ate while saying it was delicious, grandfather warmly smiled like he was looking at a cute little puppy. Well, I decided not to believe the Eunha Group people at face value anymore, but it wasn’t a bad gaze. 

“Ha Jin. Come to think of it, grandfather hasn’t given you a college admission gift yet. Were you disappointed?”

“No. I wasn’t disappointed at all.”

“Really? Has Ha Jin grown up? When you were young, you used to pester grandfather so much to buy you things.”

It’s not like he got in with his own abilities, so he probably couldn’t ask for a gift. I guess Ha Jin at least had a conscience.

“Tell me if you need anything. I’ll give it to you as a belated congratulatory gift for my grandson’s admission.”

My mouth was itching to say it. Can I say it? Should I? Will I get hit again if I do?

I was scared grandfather would take off his smiling mask and throw whatever he could grab at me if I said it, but it would be a waste to miss this chance if I didn’t. Money is the only thing left anyway, so wouldn’t he find it cute if I swindled some? Alright, I’ll just say it and see. With a determined face, I told grandfather.

“There’s a place I want to invest in.”

“Invest?”  

Grandfather’s eyebrows twitched at my words. He seemed surprised to hear the word ‘invest’ come out of my mouth. I was about to take back my words at his twitching eyebrows, but he was still smiling so I gathered my courage.

“Yes. I want to try it once, thinking of it as just a social experience.”

You see, I know of a very aggressive startup company with high growth potential. Why else would the title of this webtoon be “The Lives of the Golden Spoons”? It’s because all the characters appearing are spoiled brats. The high school protagonist Sin Yeo-un who is currently developing a platform that will hit it big in a few years, spreading across the world and dominating the SNS scene. It was truly a trajectory befitting a webtoon protagonist.  

Everyone has had this thought at least once in their life. Ah, I should have bought stock in that company when it first started. Why didn’t I know of such an innovative idea? If I had known, of course I would have bought it… but I don’t actually have money. What investment can such a person make?

But now I have a grandfather who can provide ample support, and I even know a place that is guaranteed to rise like I’m some prophet.

‘What, why do I already hear the sound of money coming in? It feels nice.’

“I see. Ha Jin is having interesting thoughts after becoming a college student. Hoho, what a rascal. A rascal indeed.”

Grandfather chuckled and accepted my request.

* * *

“Do what?”

Not understanding, I earnestly asked Mi-eun again with the will of ‘It’s not, right? Say it’s not.’ in my eyes.

“I’m saying for you and Sun Woo to go on a date. And post pictures of your date on SNS.”

“Why?”

“For our A+ grade.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

‘Mi-eun. Why are you doing this, Mi-eun? Hm?’

Didn’t you say you knew Sun Woo and I were on bad terms and arranged it so we wouldn’t overlap much as consideration? At my desperate gaze, Mi-eun quietly said to me, “Sorry, it’s for our grade.”  

“We need to differentiate from the other teams. Just researching and presenting doesn’t suit my style.”

Beom-jun was just nonchalantly agreeing with everything Mi-eun said next to me. Unconditional agreement. Acting carefree saying it’s not his business. I didn’t know what Sun Woo was thinking as he stayed silent. I was the only one at a loss.

“The impact of SNS on the economy. Let’s experiment to see how big that impact is.”

“The professor just told us to research though.”

“Tsk tsk. They say the disciple should aim to surpass the teacher. The other kids will do well too, but don’t you think we need something innovative to get an A+?”

“Why does that lead to a date? And why are you specifying a date between me and Sun Woo? You and Beom-jun can do it too.”

“When there are two people with great visuals in our team, there’s no reason not to use that.”

Saying that, Mi-eun noisily closed her laptop and laughed playfully.

“Let’s try to get a good grade. Okay?”

Seeing Mi-eun not budging at all, I sent a gaze asking Sun Woo for help. Sun Woo, who I thought would naturally say he wouldn’t do it with me, calmly looked at Mi-eun and spoke.

“What do we need to do?”

“What?”

“Tsk, Ha Jin oppa. Calm down. I won’t eat you up. As expected, Sun Woo thinks deeply. You know how powerful SNS influence is, right? Like when something an influencer uses suddenly goes out of stock. But it’s hard for us to cast such people. Then? We can just make our own. What’s the problem when there are two handsome guys like this?”

“If it’s casting, I’ll do it. I can do that much.”

The only celebrity that came to mind was Ha Jin’s ex-girlfriend, I-na, but…

“It’s fine. I wasn’t planning on casting anyone anyway. If we experience it directly, won’t the professor look upon us more favorably? Ha Jin, calm down a bit. Anyone seeing you would think we’re selling you off somewhere.”

At Mi-eun’s words, Beom-jun patted my shoulder to comfort me.  

“Yeah. We just need to take a few pictures and post them on SNS. Don’t worry, Ha Jin.”

“Beom-jun.”

Sun Woo quietly called Beom-jun’s name. At his name being suddenly called, Beom-jun kept meaninglessly patting my shoulder like a malfunctioning robot. Come to think of it, this might be the first time I’m seeing Sun Woo call someone else’s name. But why does his voice calling someone sound so murderous? 

While calling Beom-jun, Sun Woo’s gaze was still directed at me.

“Get your hand off.”

It was Sun Woo’s extremely cold and blunt voice.