-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: I Became the Club Owner (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After venting their pent-up excitement, the two spent a while searching for news on Bolton.
A long time passed before Jeong-woo, leaning against the wall in a slouched sitting position, grumbled.
"Man, is the info on Gyeul Wiki more detailed than the actual news?"
Even Gyeul Wiki had no mention of his grandfather's death.
The latest updates were just the current league standings.
Meanwhile, Hee-won had been beaming like it was his own good fortune.
"Whoa, Jeong-woo, you're the club owner now...? No wonder you studied English like crazy back in basic training, talking about going to Europe. You had the big picture all along!"
Then Hee-won narrowed his eyes slyly as he looked at Jeong-woo.
Soon, he asked cautiously.
"So, uh... are you gonna hook me up with a job there?"
"A job?"
Jeong-woo's eyes went wide.
Hee-won, having blurted it out, grabbed Jeong-woo's hand with both of his.
"Yeah, dude. I mean, I stuck it out as Manager in K-3 League for three years."
Jeong-woo nodded easily.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Stuck in the same spot, never making it to the second division."
"Yeah—wait, no. You little punk."
"Huh?"
"No, I mean... sigh. You heard it yourself. My grandma, who ran that shaman house when I was eight, said that if I stuck close to you, good things would come someday."
It was true, so Jeong-woo nodded along.
"Yeah, she did say that."
Hee-won, his wrinkled face lighting up innocently unlike his usual self, even put on a childish whine.
"Isn't that right? When I heard your story earlier, it hit me—this has gotta be that day she predicted."
"The day Grandma foresaw?"
"Yep."
Hee-won waved his hands dismissively.
"Ah, no, I'm not forcing it or anything. You know I don't stick around you for handouts, right? It's just... we're not just friends—we're closer than blood brothers. If you go back to England alone, how lonely would that be?"
Hee-won was earnest in his own way.
Landing a gig in the league would build his European resume.
It was a definite plus for his career, never a minus.
Plus, his friend was the owner.
As a person and family man, how could he not be tempted?
But Jeong-woo's reaction was disappointingly lukewarm.
'This guy... is he seriously ditching me? Look at him avoiding my eyes?'
Hee-won gripped his hand tighter and pleaded.
"Me, I'm no good without you. You've gotta take me with you. If you leave me hanging like this, you're a total jerk. For my daughter's sake, you have to get me that job."
Still no response, so Hee-won went into desperation mode.
"You punk, the pork I fed you alone is worth tens of millions of won? Just take me!"
But Jeong-woo's reply completely threw him off.
"I'm not keeping the club."
"What?"
"I'm selling it."
"..."
The unexpected bombshell left Hee-won utterly deflated.
* * *
Blue darkness seeped through the iron bars.
It was already early evening.
Jeong-woo's father had been an alcoholic.
He couldn't live without soju by his side at all times.
As a kid, Jeong-woo had wished his dad was just an alcoholic and nothing more.
"Huuuh—!"
Already on his sixth cigarette, Jeong-woo muttered.
"You know how my dad would turn into a different person every day when he drank and beat the crap out of me."
"Yeah, of course."
Hee-won nodded, still wearing a regretful expression.
Jeong-woo leaned casually against the moldy wall and stared at the ceiling as he continued.
"Couldn't hold a job, violent, alcoholic—who'd like a guy like that?"
Just as he said, Jeong-woo's mother had abandoned him early to start a new life.
He'd been just six at the time.
"Dad didn't last much longer—died of liver cancer."
That was when he was nine.
After that, Jeong-woo was raised by his grandmother.
But even that didn't last.
"Think I was thirteen. Grandma slipped, shattered her hip bone into pieces."
Too old for surgery.
She ended up paralyzed from the waist down.
Luckily, an aunt in the same neighborhood took her in, getting monthly handouts from relatives, but there were limits.
Two years later, dementia set in, landing her in a nursing home.
"Grandma passed away alone in that home when I was seventeen."
Hee-won, who had watched Jeong-woo's tragic family history up close, stayed silent.
He knew just listening was comfort enough.
Jeong-woo blew gray smoke from his nose and gave a bitter smile.
"Aunt favored her own kids, and 'dinner' was just instant ramen."
With grandma gone, the relatives' support dried up.
From then on, the aunt treated Jeong-woo like he didn't exist.
"She'd even harass me, a student, for money all the time."
That's when it started.
Jeong-woo going completely off the rails.
His soccer dreams took root in the military.
No adults in his childhood to set him straight.
It wasn't until after twenty that he barely got his act together on his own.
Through that bleak upbringing, he developed a firm philosophy.
"Huuuuh—!"
After chain-smoking, Jeong-woo said.
"I'm gonna build a happy family. Not slaving away broke in England. Sell the club, buy a building in Korea, live the good life."
His love for soccer had evaporated long ago.
He'd realized early on.
What mattered most in this short life.
"Money's king. It's the foundation for a happy family. With money, everyone's happy."
* * *
"In cases without a will, inheritance is typically split equally among the children. But in your case, you've been extremely fortunate."
"I see it as Grandpa's big plan coming together."
"Ah, haha. Is that so?"
Jeong-woo handled the inheritance proceedings at a high-end hotel restaurant in Jinju.
Lawyer Park Sang-ho kept explaining nonstop.
"If there had been a will, priority would go to those named in it, but... as you know, he passed suddenly."
Jeong-woo nodded bitterly and murmured.
"He went happy. Spending one last night alone with the woman he loved... even if she was a fling."
"I-is that so? Anyway, you're incredibly lucky. With this much wealth, straight-line relatives, siblings, even distant kin usually fight it out in court. But everyone can see you're the top priority heir. Haha."
Jeong-woo read through the inheritance documents in his hand while listening intently to the lawyer.
Honestly, it wasn't sinking in visually or aurally.
Too many hard-to-grasp terms in between.
'Should've studied some law as a kid.'
Finally wrapping up after a while, Park Sang-ho asked cautiously.
"But are you sure you don't need to visit the club? You should at least check its status..."
"Eh, everything's online. They're floundering in the relegation zone of the third tier."
Jeong-woo had no intention of visiting.
'No real connection to Grandpa anyway.'
He'd just admired him for the money.
So no hesitation in selling the club.
His plan was simple.
'Don't go to England myself—hire an agent to handle the sale.'
Jeong-woo justified it inwardly.
'I'll avenge Grandma's decades of suffering.'
Park Sang-ho didn't push further.
He just smiled amiably as before and handed over another document.
"Then, just thumbprint here. I'll finalize the title transfer and contact you by end of day."
And so,
Press!
The inheritance was complete.
A few hours later.
[3,800,000,000]
"..."
His grandfather's net assets, after inheritance tax, hit his mobile account.
Jeong-woo stared blankly at the massive sum he'd never seen before.
About thirty seconds passed.
Tears of emotion trickled down his cheek.
* * *
Lawyer Park Sang-ho and James Kim, the lawyer from England, stopped at a sundae gukbap joint.
"Whew, guess I'm a true Korean at heart. Fancy food just doesn't sit right—doesn't fill you up either."
Park Sang-ho sprinkled perilla seed powder on his gukbap and added.
"Gukbap calls for perilla powder. And shrimp sauce."
Sang-ho smacked his lips at the powder floating in the milky broth.
It had been just three hours since the course meal at the restaurant.
James Kim, sitting across, asked with some concern.
"Uh, will he be okay?"
Sang-ho scooped a big spoonful of sundae gukbap and countered.
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't tell him the club details. Skipped some inheritance specifics, didn't mention limited acceptance at all..."
Sang-ho wagged his broth-dipped spoon over the bowl at Kim's anxious trailing off.
"That's on him to check. We're talking billions, not pocket change. He barely listened to me."
"Yeah, but still..."
Limited acceptance meant repaying debts within the inherited assets.
Sang-ho furrowed his brow at Kim's belated whining.
"We just did our jobs. Handed over the docs as-is, right? I didn't scam anyone."
Then Sang-ho picked up his phone nearby.
"Anyway..."
Sang-ho searched his own name on the phone.
He shoved it close to James Kim's face and chuckled.
"Last time, our heir searched my name. First thing that popped up was this."
It was an image file of Park Sang-ho on a broadcast.
He leaned back smugly.
"That's why TV appearances boost trust so much. People are so simple. Tsk!"
Truth was, Sang-ho wasn't some trustworthy lawyer.
Dig deeper, and he was the controversial type who defended obvious suspects purely for money.
He'd gotten a murderer acquitted, even appeared on that exposé show 'I Want to Know That'.
Money's puppet.
Pay him, he'd do anything.
Sang-ho dipped sundae in chile paste and smirked twistedly.
"The site agency did good work. Told 'em to bury the scandal stuff in searches—won't show unless you dig deep. What a great world, huh?"
James Kim, across from him, muttered uncomfortably.
"Selling the club won't be easy with the debts..."
That was Kim's biggest worry.
The heir didn't know about the club's debts.
It was in fine print in the contract, but they'd skipped mentioning it.
Why they'd made the docs so convoluted.
Sang-ho replied like it was someone else's problem.
"Old saying: test the log bridge before crossing. Ancestors nailed it. But whatever—it's done."
Having polished off his gukbap, Sang-ho picked at his teeth with a toothpick and continued.
"Anyway, club operations are on our heir now. If they miraculously stay up and hit the Championship, they might sell. Otherwise..."
"Current squad makes that impossible, right?"
"Then file for bankruptcy. My fee's paid—I'm outta here, back to Korea carefree."
Sang-ho added refreshingly.
"Man, one headache down—feels great."
Have a wonderful day~
────────────────────────────────────