I headed to my parents' house early on New Year's Day to visit our extended family.
When I arrived, my parents, Park Jong-chan and his wife, were already waiting for me, ready to go.
"I'm here."
As soon as I greeted them, my family bombarded me with questions.
"Sol, what's with that building?"
"They said it's worth 20 billion won, is it true?"
"One at a time, please. One at a time. I can't understand anything."
My father stepped forward with a serious expression.
"Sol, what do you mean you're entrusting us with managing a building? I was too flustered yesterday to ask your managing director for details. Explain yourself."
I said casually,
"It's nothing, Dad. I'm just buying it as an investment. And since I'm busy with work, I thought it would be good if you could manage it for me."
My father stared at me incredulously.
"Nothing? You call 20 billion won 'nothing'?"
"I'm taking out a 10 billion won loan, so it's only costing me 10 billion won."
"What are you talking about? I'm lost, so explain it properly."
Seeing his frustration, I said,
"I'll be honest. It's good that my brother is here too. I've made a lot of money. I've been keeping it low-key to avoid attracting unwanted attention, but I realized I have nothing to be ashamed of. Why should I hide it?"
"You made a lot of money?"
"Yes, more than you can imagine. And to be honest, I didn't tell you because of my brother."
Park Jong-chan, startled by my sudden accusation, pointed at himself.
"Me? Why me?"
"Are you sure you wouldn't have coveted the money if I had given it to our parents?"
My blunt question made everyone uncomfortable. I continued with an indifferent expression,
"I thought it would be better to just come clean. Our relationship isn't exactly good, right? And knowing Mom, she would have given you everything if you asked, and I didn't want that. But I've changed my mind."
I looked at my mother.
"Mom, they've been mistreating you at our extended family's house, haven't they?"
"W-well…"
"I can tolerate everything else. Being looked down upon as a junkyard owner, being called a trash collector, I've endured it all. I endured it because it allowed me to make money. But I won't tolerate anyone hurting my family."
I glared at them and said,
"The rental income from the building is my way of giving you allowance. You should enjoy the benefits of having a successful son. But Mom, I absolutely forbid you from giving anything to my brother. That's not helping him, it's ruining him."
Park Jong-chan protested,
"Hey, what did I do? Why are you always picking on me? Can't I benefit from your success?"
It was my father who answered him.
"Enough."
"Dad!"
"We'll do as Sol says. And if you're worried about your mother, don't be. If any of the money goes to Jong-chan, we won't accept the rental income anymore."
Park Jong-chan was shocked by my father's words.
"Dad, why are you doing this?"
I said to the agitated Park Jong-chan,
"You want to benefit from my success?"
"What?"
"Then you need to act accordingly. Didn't I tell you to come to me directly if you need anything? Is this the time to be yelling at Dad? Think about what you need to do to please me."
Park Jong-chan hesitated for a moment and then said,
"…I'm sorry for yelling, Dad."
"Good boy."
I took out a wad of 1 million won bills from my pocket and handed it to him.
"Here, this is for acting appropriately. It's my gift to you."
"But…"
"This isn't a one-time thing. I'll give you more if you show filial piety to our parents and act responsibly. Don't even think about bothering Mom. Just behave, and the money will come rolling in. You're lucky to have a brother like me, right?"
Park Jong-chan took the money, his face flushed.
"…"
"Where's your thank you?"
"…Thank you."
"Good. Now that I've received your gratitude, what am I going to do?"
I took out another wad of 1 million won and handed it to him.
"Here, this is a reward for expressing your gratitude properly. Are you getting the picture now? Just by acting responsibly, you can earn money thanks to your brother. You're blessed, aren't you?"
He chose money over pride, but his pride was hurt, and his face was red.
I ignored him and looked at my family.
"The building cost 10 billion won. But 10 billion won? That's not even half of my assets. I'm the CEO of a company with over 100 billion won in annual sales. Why are you letting others walk all over you when you have me?"
They were shocked by the scale of my wealth, and I said in a strong voice,
"Don't let anyone disrespect you anymore. I won't tolerate it. And today, I'm taking charge and saying what needs to be said at our extended family's house. Don't try to stop me."
My family looked at each other nervously, and my father said with a hardened expression,
"Alright, do as you please."
"Honey!"
"You stay out of this. I've endured enough. Sol…"
"Yes, Dad."
"I'm a pathetic father who has only made his family suffer. I've always been submissive to our extended family. That's how it was in my generation, and I thought it was the right thing to do. But I was wrong. I was too soft."
He bit his lip and continued,
"I gave up our inheritance to avoid conflict with my brother. And I used the excuse of being busy to ignore your mother's suffering. But thanks to Sol, our family's situation has improved, and I realized how pathetic I've been."
This was a side of my father I had never seen before. He was blaming himself instead of being stubborn.
"Do as you please. No, if you don't, I will. Even if it means severing ties with our extended family."
I smiled and replied,
"Don't worry, Dad."
I led the way into our extended family's house, where everyone was already gathered.
"Sir, you've arrived."
I smiled at Maru, who had been working hard since morning, leading the ajumma army.
"Good work, Managing Director Kim. Is the ancestral rite table ready?"
"Yes, please take a look."
The large table was laden with an abundance of delicious-looking food.
"This is perfect. Thank you for your hard work, ajummas."
"It was nothing. It wasn't difficult at all."
I took out the envelopes I had prepared and handed them to Maru.
"It's New Year's, so I've included a generous bonus. Managing Director Kim, please distribute these to the ajummas. The rest is your New Year's allowance."
Maru bowed respectfully and said,
"Thank you. I'll go and take care of the payments."
As Maru and the ajumma army left, silence fell over the room.
I could imagine the stunned expressions on my extended family's faces after witnessing the ajummas preparing the ancestral rite table. It felt good.
"How have you all been? It's been a while."
My aunt turned to me with a scoff.
"What is the meaning of this? You hired people to prepare the food for our ancestors? Do you even understand the significance of the ancestral rite?"
"Of course I do. Isn't it about offering delicious food to our deceased ancestors?"
"Then we, as their descendants, should be the ones preparing it! How could you do this?"
I frowned at her words.
"What does it matter? As long as the food is delicious."
"How dare you talk back to me!"
I ignored her and sat down on the floor.
"What are you all doing? Sit down."
My family members all sat down, and my aunt, fuming with anger, said,
"You think you can disrespect your elders just because you have some money? Uneducated people are all the same."
My parents were about to retort, but I said coldly,
"Did you go to college, Aunt?"
"What?"
"As far as I know, you're a high school graduate."
My words struck a nerve, and her face turned red.
It was true that most people her age hadn't gone to college, but wasn't it a fact that she hadn't?
"You… How dare you…"
My aunt trembled with anger, and my uncle said with a frown,
"How dare you talk to your aunt like that? Apologize right now!"
"Why should I apologize? I spent a fortune to prepare the ancestral rite table, and this is how you treat me? I'm offended."
Maru was returning after paying the ajummas, so I said,
"Managing Director Kim, you have what I asked for, right? Bring it here."
"Yes, sir."
I looked at my uncle and said,
"Uncle, wouldn't our ancestors be happy to see their descendants doing well?"
"What? I said apologize! Why are you changing the subject?"
My aunt chimed in,
"This is absurd. Honestly."
I ignored their nonsense and waited for Maru. A moment later, he arrived, struggling to carry a large sack.
"Here it is, sir."
I stood up, dragged the sack to the ancestral rite table, and opened it.
"Gasp! What's that?"
The sack was filled with 50 gold bars, each weighing 1 kg, produced using the gold stripping technology.
"There's another sack, right?"
"I'll be right back."
Maru returned with another sack, also containing 50 gold bars. I started stacking the 100 gold bars in front of the ancestral rite table, forming a pyramid.
Everyone was stunned into silence, mesmerized by the gleaming gold.
"Ancestors, your descendant has achieved great success. Please accept these gold bars and rest in peace in heaven."
After completing the gold pyramid, I said to my bewildered family and relatives,
"What are you waiting for? Let's bow to our ancestors."
We performed the ancestral rite awkwardly, and even during the meal, my relatives couldn't take their eyes off the gold bars.
Park Jong-moo's wife, unable to tear her gaze away, whispered to him,
"Honey, are those real gold bars? How much are they worth?"
"I don't know."
Park Jong-moo was also flustered but equally curious. He asked me,
"Sol."
"Yes?"
"Are those really gold bars? I'm just curious."
Everyone's eyes were on me. I said with an indifferent expression,
"They're real. The price of gold has gone up recently, so each bar is worth about 12 million won. We have 100 bars, so that's 1.2 billion won."
The room erupted in commotion.
"Really? Didn't your mother brag about buying a 20-story building in Gangnam yesterday? Is that real too?"
"He's carrying around 1.2 billion won in gold bars? He must be really successful."
As the chaotic meal was coming to an end, I put down my spoon and said,
"Now, let's get down to business."
Everyone's attention was on me, and I said to Maru,
"Managing Director Kim, how much money do we have in the company?"
"We have about 4 billion won worth of gold bars, 25 billion won in cash assets, and 13 billion won in our bank accounts. Over 40 billion won in total."
I looked at my stunned extended family and said,
"I'm not here to brag about my wealth."
I looked at my aunt and said,
"Aunt, you inherited the estate because you agreed to perform the ancestral rites. Why do you keep calling my mother to do it?"
"Well…"
"What do you think, Uncle?"
My uncle said with a hardened expression,
"It's about honoring our ancestors. Family members can help each other."
"Right? We have to honor our ancestors. So I offered these gold bars to our ancestors today, and they should be satisfied. I brought this here to ask you to leave our family alone now that you've received what you wanted. Managing Director Kim, since our ancestors are happy now, can you take these back to the car?"
"Yes, sir."
As Maru started collecting the gold bars, my uncle said angrily,
"You…"
I cut him off.
"And I came here today, after years of absence, to give you a warning."
My uncle's face turned red.
"What? A warning? You little…"
"I'm telling you again, this is a warning. If I hear even a whisper of you disrespecting or mistreating my family again, I won't let it slide. You've lived a comfortable life, so you must know how powerful money is in a capitalist society, right?"
"What are you going to do if I don't listen?"
I glared at him and said coldly,
"I'll make you pay, no matter the cost. Your orchard? I'll buy all the surrounding land and turn it into an isolated wasteland. Your son's watch company? Do you think it's difficult to bribe store managers and prevent them from carrying his products? You saw it at Jong-chan's wedding, didn't you? Mobilizing gangsters is nothing to me. Do you think I can't do it? I can, and I will."
I delivered my final blow.
"This is your first and last warning. Don't mess with me. Don't test me. I'm a ruthless man."