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Chapter 38 - You're Making a Promise to Me
Chapter 38 - You're Making a Promise to Me
Chapter 38: You’re Making a Promise to Me
TL: Aniea
“A drive?”
“Yes. I already got confirmation from the doctor. He said a simple outing without being exposed to the cold wind should be fine.”
“Son, no matter how safe it might be, isn’t it a bit risky to go outside? My surgery is just around the corner… And we haven’t seen each other for almost a year. We should at least talk a bit. I might forget your face.”
His mother, ‘Kim Ji-hye’, who had stood up abruptly upon seeing her son, patted Kang Woo-ju’s shoulder.
She carefully scrutinized his face, sensing that his aura had distinctly changed since before.
“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy with work.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. First, sit down! Have you eaten? Should I peel an apple for you?”
However, Kim Ji-hye tried not to show her feelings. Regardless of how his appearance had changed, the fact that he was her proud son remained unchanged.
“Yes, please.”
Kang Woo-ju did not refuse his mother’s offer. In fact, it wasn’t the right atmosphere to eat something, but he understood that she needed a role to play.
It wasn’t just about peeling an apple; he knew it was her way of wanting to do something, anything, for her son.
“Wait just a moment!”
With a gentle smile on her face, Kim Ji-hye began to peel the apple neatly, which was conveniently nearby.
The people who had brought them here regularly supplied fresh fruit and beverages, so there was no problem preparing it.
“······.”
“······.”
The father and son, facing each other, were silent for a while. They were not close enough to have affectionate conversations in the first place.
Kang Woo-ju, abandoning his usual demeanor, simply didn’t know what to say.
Even though he had prepared numerous scripts and scenarios before coming here, none of them came to mind.
“You’ve changed a lot.”
“Have I?”
“Yes. I can hardly recognize you.”
“······.”
Though his memory was a bit hazy, he had indeed changed a lot compared to the last image he showed them.
After working several nights without rest, he had barely managed to visit upon hearing his mother was ill.
He had shown up in old sweats, unshaven and disheveled. So, it was natural that the neat suit he wore now gave off a different impression.
“That’s truly fortunate.”
“···What?”
His father, Kang Nam-woo, wearing a gentle smile he had never seen before, spoke words that confused even the usually unshakable Kang Woo-ju.
Ha-ha-
Kang Nam-woo chuckled heartily, amused by his son’s reaction, and added an explanation.
“To be honest, I was worried you might have gotten involved in something bad. It’s not easy for people like us to amass a lot of money quickly.”
“······.”
“But now, looking into your eyes, I can see. Though your exterior has changed so much I can hardly recognize my son, the inside remains the same. You’re still our eldest son.”
Although Kang Nam-woo’s body had weakened from his long hospital stay, his eyes shone sharper than ever.
Facing that gaze, Kang Woo-ju couldn’t help but feel a bit taken aback, though he didn’t show it outwardly.
“…As expected, I can’t fool my father.”
Sigh-
Kang Woo-ju sighed deeply, releasing the tension in his shoulders. That alone softened the previously rigid atmosphere.
Following Kim Eun-ha’s request, he had tried to act in front of his family as well, but deceiving his parents was indeed not easy.
“Not in ten years.”
“Will it be possible in twenty years?”
“Well, by then, you might stand a chance.”
“Then you have to stay alive for a long time.”
“···Yes. I should.”
Kang Nam-woo had a faintly bitter smile on his lips. He wanted to ask how such a miraculous thing had happened, but his lips refused to part.
“Son, did you win the lottery or something?”
Cough-!
The unexpected comment from Kim Ji-hye caused both father and son to gasp.
But, as if she didn’t notice, she placed the beautifully peeled apple on the table and gave Kang Woo-ju a warm smile.
Swish-
Kang Woo-ju inadvertently turned his head to avoid the gaze of his pure-hearted mother, whose face showed not a hint of malice.
“···Well, it’s something like that.”
“It seems too big a change to brush off so easily. You even sent money to help your sibling with tuition last time.”
“Did Byul really mention that?”
“Byul may seem a bit strong on the outside, but she’s a very thoughtful child. She was worried, thinking her brother might be doing something dangerous.”
There were too many things he wanted to correct, but if even his rather coarse sibling was worried, it would be hard to gloss over.
It would indeed be strange if his family, who weren’t fools, didn’t sense something was off.
As Kang Woo-ju pondered how to explain, Kim Ji-hye took the initiative.
“Did you get a job at a host bar?”
“Honey!”
“Honestly, there are a lot of things that can’t just be explained by winning the lottery. Our son has a good body and is handsome, so realistically, that seemed the most likely.”
“Even so···.”
Cough-!
Taken aback by her relentless attack, I ended up gasping. Likewise, my father, eyes wide with suspicion, began to look at me as if to say ‘No way.’
In a hurry, I waved my hands to dispel their misunderstanding.
“That’s absolutely not it!”
“Then what is it?”
“Well···.”
While it wasn’t a host bar, pretending to be a fake lover for money wasn’t exactly a socially respectable job(?), making it difficult to explain.
If I tried to brush it off, it would only invite more probing and expose weaknesses.
So, I made a decision and took out my phone. Then, with swift fingers, I opened the gallery.
“I have a girlfriend.”
“···A girlfriend?”
I showed them the couple photos I had taken with Kim Eun-ha as a precautionary measure. There were shots taken by staff at a shooting range we visited and staged photos of us with our arms around each other.
‘Since we had agreed on this beforehand, it should be fine.’
Kim Eun-ha had asked me from the beginning if I could consider marriage, so she was naturally prepared for such situations.
However, it had been a long time since I had seen my parents, and my mother’s straightforward fastball had caught me off guard, causing a slight delay in my response.
“She has a very pretty smile.”
“She’s even prettier in person.”
“Oh my, for my son to say such a sweet thing···. Sniff···.”
“Mom!?”
Kim Ji-hye suddenly burst into tears, catching the two men off guard. She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief before speaking again.
“I never heard you talk about a girlfriend with that face. Honestly, I thought you were gay. I was waiting for you to tell me first, but hearing you have a girlfriend made me cry···. Sniff!”
“Oh dear, really…”
In these days when many young people don’t date, let alone marry, who would have thought she had such a ridiculous misunderstanding.
The reason I hadn’t mentioned it at all was to avoid making her feel guilty, thinking it was her fault that I didn’t have time to meet women.
As Kang Woo-ju felt awkward watching the comedic scene unfold, his father surprisingly remained calm.
Handing a tissue to Kim Ji-hye, his demeanor suggested he was used to such scenes and was not particularly concerned.
“So?”
“So what?”
“I’m asking what the connection is between you having a girlfriend and the current situation. You’ve left out the most important part.”
“······.”
Honestly, I hoped they would just let it slide. But of course, he wasn’t that easy to fool. Dealing with Park Ji-hoon ten times would be easier than this.
“She’s the granddaughter of the Mirae Group.”
“Huh?”
“You know the Mirae Department Store nearby? The CEO there… She’s my girlfriend. So, she has a lot of, really, a tremendous amount of money.”
“······.”
Plop-
At my words, my mother’s tears stopped. My father, too, was left speechless with his mouth agape.
“This hospital is also sponsored by the Mirae Group, so my girlfriend has been paying special attention to us. Among other things… Mom!?”
Kim Ji-hye, who had been quietly listening, suddenly slumped down on the bed. She covered her mouth with her trembling hand and said,
“···My son is a host.”
“I told you, it’s not that!”
I couldn’t remember the last time I raised my voice like this. Probably the first time since I became an adult.
This was actually a sign that both Kim Ji-hye and Kang Woo-ju had become more comfortable.
Kim Ji-hye, who had always felt indebted to her son, couldn’t make such jokes before.
And Kang Woo-ju, who seldom showed his face and avoided conversations, was now more open.
All these changes came about because the situation around them had drastically improved thanks to his contract with Kim Eun-ha.
‘···So this is how it looks to others.’
Even amid this, Kang Woo-ju felt a pang of realization. Unlike when Park Ji-hoon mentioned it, it was clear now how abnormal their relationship seemed.
A love story crossing the social strata between an unknown actor with nothing and a chaebol with everything—this was no fairy tale.
‘It’s like those novels where the story lacks plausibility.’
While real life often has events more unbelievable than dramas, such a combination is generally hard to accept.
Realizing this anew, Kang Woo-ju reignited his determination for success.
‘I just have to prove it.’
Prove that he is someone worthy of Kim Eun-ha. That she didn’t fall for him blindly, but rather discovered a gem with her keen eye.
As the name ‘Kang Woo-ju’ rises in fame as an actor, her value will also skyrocket.
From the start, this was a contract that could succeed because their goals aligned so well.
“Anyway, I think you understand the situation now. Let’s really go for a drive. It’s been a while since we’ve eaten out.”
Feeling that any more conversation would lead to endless discussions, Kang Woo-ju quickly escorted his parents out of the hospital room. As they boarded the elevator, Kang Nam-woo spoke up.
“Woo-ju, I should have mentioned this earlier, but there aren’t many cars I can ride in with this body···.”
Kang Nam-woo was currently in a wheelchair due to symptoms of hemiplegia. As he said, there wouldn’t be many suitable vehicles.
However, Kang Woo-ju gently smiled and massaged his father’s shoulder, signaling not to worry.
“Of course I thought of that, Dad.”
“···Is that so.”
“Absolutely.”
Ding-! Whirrr-
Moments later, the elevator doors opened, and the state-of-the-art electric wheelchair, which men in black suits had brought some time ago, moved forward.
When we stopped in front of the vehicle parked in the VVIP section, my father, having an inkling of the situation, began to tremble.
“Woo-ju, this can’t be···.”
“It is exactly that.”
Kang Woo-ju carefully took his father’s hand and placed the car key in it. Kang Nam-woo, unable to believe it, opened and closed his hand around the key.
In front of him was a high-luxury limousine, the kind successful celebrities usually rode.
“Dad, you always said it was your dream to go on trips with the family. Every time, you said you wanted this car.”
“···You still remembered that?”
Before he collapsed from a stroke. Even though they weren’t incredibly wealthy, they would order pizza or chicken once a week and laugh together as a family. Those were the memories Kang Nam-woo had.
He had told his young son and daughter that once he made enough money, he would take them and their mother on trips in a good car. The car he always mentioned was this Carnival. (T/N: Probably talking about Kia Carnival)
Back then, he drove a small car that felt cramped with four people. The kids didn’t really like riding in it.
“Seeing this car made me think of you, Dad.”
Grin-
With a playful smile on his face, Kang Woo-ju looked at his father. Seeing his son’s bright expression for the first time in a long while made Kang Nam-woo feel emotional.
His wife, always full of emotions, was already crying her eyes out.
“And I added a special feature to this car. Could you press the button at the bottom? The one with the chair symbol. Yes, that one.”
“Hmm?”
Click-
Swallowing his emotions, Kang Nam-woo obediently pressed the button as his son instructed.
The door automatically opened, and a luxurious-looking chair slid out of the car and lowered to the ground.
With the chair coming out to greet him, it was incredibly convenient for someone in a wheelchair. Kang Nam-woo was speechless at the luxurious, even extravagant, feature.
“I’ll take care of the driving for now. Once you have your surgery and complete your rehabilitation, then the car will be all yours.”
“······.”
Grip-!
Without a word, Kang Nam-woo tightly held the key his son had given him. His hand, which usually struggled to hold chopsticks, gripped the key with surprising strength.
“Now, shall we take it for a test drive?”
Kang Woo-ju raised his voice slightly, trying to lighten the slightly awkward atmosphere.
As Kang Nam-woo moved to the seat with the help of his son, who willingly offered his back, he quietly said,
“Next time, I’ll take you to a nice place.”
“You’re making a promise to me?”
“Yes, I promise.”
The three of them got into the car and spent a joyful time together for the first time in a long while. It was like that spring day when they shared a chicken leg and laughed together.
*****
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