» The Youngest Son of Sunyang
Chaebol Family's Youngest Son - Chapter 235
[235] Before Winter Ends 1
"Oh? Dojun. You came early."
"What's wrong? Why didn't you answer your phone?"
Sangjun hyung fumbled through his pockets, looking flustered.
"Ah, I left it downstairs. My bad, you haven't been waiting long, have you?"
"Just got here."
"Hold on, I came up to see these kids off."
Sangjun hyung glanced outside the building, then spoke to the girls standing beside him.
"Didn't you call the road manager? Why isn't he here?"
"I just texted him. He'll be here soon, I guess."
A group of girls poked Sangjun hyung's side, their bright, sparkling eyes fixed on me.
"What gives, PD-nim? You should introduce us."
"Huh? Oh, this is my younger brother. My actual brother. And these are the kids who just debuted. They made it onto public broadcasting, no less."
A girl group, even? Had hyung completely turned his eyes towards commercialism now? The mention of public broadcasting suddenly brought something to mind.
"Oh really? Then I'll tell Father to talk to the cable music channel..."
Sangjun hyung, suddenly flustered, shook his head slightly and blinked at me.
Oops. He said he didn't want to hear anyone talk about who's son or grandson he was in this industry, didn't he?
The fortunate thing was that these seemingly immature kids weren't paying close attention to my words.
They didn't look a day over twenty, no matter how I looked at them. Their behavior was exactly like kids. In an instant, they swarmed around me, chattering away.
"Wow, you're really handsome. I always wondered why our PD-nim never debuted as an idol, but seeing your brother, I totally get it. He must have grown up constantly being compared, so he lacked confidence. Right?"
"But I feel like I've seen you somewhere... Are you perhaps a TV personality?"
Did they perhaps see my occasional interviews? It would be a disaster if they remembered.
But judging by how uncertainly she spoke, it seemed more like a fleeting glimpse...
"Stop talking nonsense and go, quick! TV personality, my foot! My brother's currently in grad school. You just see any handsome guy and assume he's a TV personality."
Startled, Sangjun hyung raised his voice, silencing the young girls.
"No way... I definitely saw him..."
As one of them continued to stare intently at me, muttering, Sangjun hyung began herding them away like sheep.
"You brats...! Stop with the nonsense and hurry up, won't you? And don't get any wrong ideas. My brother has a super pretty and smart girlfriend. You can't even compare to her, so don't even try to make a move."
"PD-nim. We can't leave until the car arrives. But seriously, what is the road manager oppa doing?"
They were worse than elementary schoolers who couldn't be left unsupervised for a second. Even when pushed away, they kept coming back.
"Hey, what's your name? And your age? Twenty-two? Three? Since you're PD-nim's brother, mid-twenties?"
"You've really never been on TV?"
If I were a vibrant young man in my twenties, experiencing this life for the first time, I would have enjoyed this situation. But no matter how hard I tried, it was just noisy and bothersome.
I frowned, making no effort to hide my annoyance, but these kids paid no mind and clung on relentlessly.
The girl group's road manager was their savior.
As the honking of a car horn sounded from the building entrance, Sangjun hyung finally pulled the girls away from my side.
"Alright, hurry up and go. Don't mess around. You need to manage your voice condition, so get plenty of sleep at the dorm. And don't forget you're recording starting tonight."
"PD-nim! Can I give your brother my number!"
Even as they were practically chased out, they showed their persistent side until the very end.
Once the new trainees were all gone, we both sighed simultaneously.
"Quite a handful, huh?"
Sangjun hyung laughed and slung an arm over my shoulder.
"What was that all about? Who were they?"
"Promising rookies? The rising stars of our company? Something like that...?"
"Seriously, how old are they? Are they all high schoolers?"
"Half are high schoolers, half are twenty. Though their profiles all say nineteen."
"Didn't you say you were raising rookies with musical talent, hyung?"
"How long can I just do whatever I want? The company needs to make a living too. We raise indie artists, and girl groups, and idols. And no, those kids aren't just empty shells. They all have solid fundamentals. We've put them through a lot of training."
"They're old enough, why are they so childish?"
"It's because they don't go to school and only train. Their bodies grew, but their minds are still children's."
Sangjun hyung suddenly and swiftly dropped the hand he had on my shoulder.
"Right, this isn't the time for this. I'm going to go change, so you go meet the CEO. I'll call you."
"Why would I meet your CEO?"
"What's so strange about an investor meeting the CEO?"
"What?"
Hyung smiled faintly, seeing my surprised expression.
"He's known for a long time. He always says he's grateful that the company grew this much thanks to you."
"What? So everyone knows?"
"No. Only the CEO knows. It's fine. Our CEO doesn't treat me differently because of it. He separates personal and professional matters well. Here, I'm just a PD. Not the Sunyang Chairman's grandson, nor an investor's older brother—just an ordinary producer."
"That's a relief. Anyway, it's fine. Just looking at the monthly reports is enough. I'd rather check out your studio."
"Oh, really? Then let's go down together."
Going down the stairs to the basement revealed a different world.
In stark contrast to the lobby's cleanliness, there were grimy, pitch-black walls, cracked leather sofas and chairs strewn about, and empty jjajangmyeon bowls and cup ramen containers scattered on the tables.
A few partitioned recording booths were visible, and in a spacious dance practice room, walled off with glass, five or six handsome young men were sweating profusely as they danced.
While Sangjun hyung went into a recording booth to change clothes, I watched them dance.
"Huh? Who are you?"
"Pardon?"
Someone tapped my shoulder, and when I turned around, a woman who looked to be in her early thirties scanned me from head to toe.
"Here for an audition? You look a bit old... so probably not an idol. A ballad singer, perhaps?"
"Ah, no, it's not that..."
"Good face, good proportions... not bad. Who are you here to see?"
But when did this woman ever see me to speak so casually?
Just as I was about to retort, Sangjun hyung's voice chimed in.
"Noona. Not him. He's my younger brother. He came to see me."
Sangjun hyung, having changed from his tracksuit into dress pants and a shirt, walked over, buttoning his coat.
"Oh, really? My apologies then. I thought... But you don't look like an ordinary person. An aspiring artist, perhaps?"
"Seriously, no! My brother has no interest in this industry. He graduated from Seoul National University's law school... and he's in grad school. Mind your own business and go on your way."
As a flustered Sangjun hyung grabbed my hand and pulled me, the woman swiftly blocked our path.
"If you're interested, contact me. There are many highly educated celebrities these days. You definitely have star potential."
She slipped a business card into my pocket, winked, and disappeared.
"Oh no... Now I'm going to be pestered, damn it."
Sangjun hyung grimaced.
"What's wrong? Who was that woman?"
"She's the head of the planning team here, and if she's giving you her business card, she must be smitten with you. Now she's going to nag me constantly to bring you in..."
"If she's bothersome, just tell me. I'll tell the CEO to fire her. Hehe."
"She's good at her job, though. She has a good eye for people, finds talent well, and sets concepts well. Anyway, let's get out of here quickly. There are a lot of people like that here. If we're not careful, you'll end up a celebrity. Hehe."
We exchanged jokes as we left the building.
* * *
"How's Grandfather doing?"
As the car started, with Sangjun hyung sitting beside me in the back seat, he asked cautiously.
"Outwardly, he seems robust. But if he were to collapse, there's no telling what would happen."
"Grandfather's death somehow feels unreal. It's like he'll reign forever..."
"Right? He's already collapsed twice, but even I can't quite grasp it. I keep forgetting he's an old man over eighty."
Sangjun hyung looked at my face and said.
"Are you okay?"
"What about?"
"You had a special relationship with Grandfather, didn't you? You're the only one among our cousins who directly inherited shares."
"I just received them instead of Father, that's all."
"Nobody thinks that. He gave them directly to you. In any case, among us, you'll probably have the hardest time."
"What can I do? All I can do is visit him often until the end. By the way, how are you, hyung? Are you doing alright?"
Seeing the state of his company today, it seemed like he was going through quite a struggle.
"I'm content right now. The good thing about this industry is that everyone who's in it chose it because they love it, so they aren't overly sensitive to money or conditions. Compared to them, I'm living in luxury. At least I won't fall to rock bottom and struggle endlessly."
"Huh? Did you stash away some money I don't know about? Sounds like you have a fallback plan?"
"Hey! If your only older brother starves, are you just going to watch?"
Sangjun hyung poked my side with his elbow, laughing.
"Just work your butt off until you're forty. If you still don't succeed after all that, what can you do but blame it on fate? Wouldn't you have done all you could? Then, let's hold hands and go live in a resort in Kota Kinabalu, tending to the gardens."
"You retiring before forty? Talk sense, now."
Exchanging jokes like this after a long time seemed to relieve Sangjun hyung of his tension about meeting Grandfather.
The car had already entered the hospital parking lot.
* * *
"Sangjun came too?"
The grandfather, still in his suit, smiled brightly when he saw Sangjun hyung opening the door and entering.
"Yes, Grandfather. I'm sorry. I'm quite late."
"No, no. It's only been a few days since I've been in the hospital. So, how have you been doing?"
"Yes. Thanks to your concern, I've been doing well."
Grandfather motioned us to sit on the sofa. He personally brought two bottles of drinks and placed them before us, unable to wipe the smile from his face.
"I hear you're living alone in a ten-pyeong officetel? Shall I give you a house?"
"It's alright. Even if I had a house, I'd only change clothes there, pop in for a quick nap, that's all. I spend most of my time at the studio, so a ten-pyeong officetel is plenty."
He nodded, as if it were a commendable answer, and peppered his grandson, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, with questions.
"Oh really? How much do you earn a month?"
"Not much."
"You rascal, don't you think I know that? Why? Are you ashamed because it's too little?"
At Grandfather's shout, which he hadn't heard in a long time, Sangjun hyung quickly replied.
"No, sir. My monthly salary is two million, and with incentives, it's over thirty million won. But since I spend all day in the recording studio, I have no other expenses apart from officetel management fees, so I save it all."
"Oh really? Why do they pay that mere song-making fellow so generously? Bring your company's CEO here. I'll teach him how to pay less and work people harder."
His tension seemingly eased by Grandfather's joke, he displayed a playful cleverness rarely seen from him.
"Grandfather. I'm really good at my job. My company's CEO apologizes for paying me so little every chance he gets. That's why I also receive the most incentives."
"If that's the case, then that's a relief."
Grandfather suddenly took Sangjun hyung's hand.
"How many grandsons do I have? Among those more than ten rascals, you two brothers are the only ones who don't leech off my money. A true man understands how important it is to earn a living with his own hands, and that supporting his wife and children with his own strength is a man's first duty. You two are the only adults among my grandsons. I raised my children wrong."
"That can't be true, Grandfather. Everyone just has their own path, I suppose."
"No, it's not."
Grandfather looked at Sangjun hyung with affectionate eyes and said.
"I took out my disappointment in your father on you. What fault was it of yours, being so young...? Your resentment must run deep, mustn't it? Forgive this old man."
"No, sir. It's all in the past now. And isn't it true that all's well that ends well? Your acknowledgement of my music is more than enough."
Grandfather looked relieved, as if he had unburdened himself of an old weight.