Chapter 2

Choi Yu-Seong had hoped for dinner, but the appointment with his father was made for lunch. Naturally, the atmosphere in the house was bound to be busy .

'Even so, it would only be me and the Jin siblings that are busy...'

Since Yu-Seong said he would skip breakfast and eat lunch outside, the two ladies who managed the house had less work.

Although there were only two hours left until he had to be at the Yeonhui-dong luxury mansion where his parents lived, it was fortunately not that far from the Hannam village luxury villa complex where he lived.

'30 minutes seem to be enough, since it's not rush hour.'

But arriving at the exact appointment time didn’t seem appropriate either.

"We shall head out right away, young master."

"Thanks."

"...No problem."

Leaving the house around 11 o'clock, Yu-Seong sat in the back seat of the car Jin Do-Yoon had readied. He was in a strange mood as he stared at the back of Jin Yu-Ri’s head as she sat in the passenger seat.

‘Even if Choi Yu-Seong is a little neglected among his family, he lives in a luxury villa worth more than 5 billion won, rides in the same car brand as the Italian president, has a B-rank player as his driver, and as a precaution, an A-rank player for escort.’

In addition, there were about five more extravagant cars owned by Choi Yu-Seong in his villa’s garage. This was a luxury like no other.

Besides the fact he could die if he made the slightest mistake, his life was perfect.

'That's the problem, though.'

What was the point of having everything? They were futile objects that would become useless when one passed away.

'I don't need any of this, so let's just focus on living a long life.'

He decided to forget about his previous life. What was the point of mulling over it when he couldn’t go back?

Instead, Choi Yu-Seong decided to devote himself to his present life and aim for his primary goal: survival. In terms of property alone, he, as an orphan, would have been greatly satisfied even with only a quarter of what Choi Yu-Seong had.

"Um... May I ask what you will be requesting?"

Perhaps she felt Choi Yu-Seong's gaze? Yu-Ri looked straight ahead from the front seat as she carefully questioned Choi Yu-Seong.

"Oh, it’s nothing special. I just wanted to say that I want to be on good terms with them from now on."

"...Sir?"

Yu-Ri was bewildered, while Do-Yoon broke character in surprise and accidentally stepped on the pedal a bit too hard.

"I'm his son and he's my father. Is it strange to ask such a thing?"

"Generally…."

"Understood, young master."

Do-Yoon cut Yu-Ri off. If Choi Yu-Seong did not want to reveal what his intentions were, the siblings did not have the right to ask further.

Jin Yu-Ri repeatedly frowned and smoothed her forehead as she stared straight ahead, but she couldn’t press the issue after Jin Do-Yoon had shut her up.

"That’s it. It's really nothing. I was just thinking, and it occurred to me that I was living too carelessly, and I couldn’t help but wonder what my father would think of me living my life like this… and I felt apologetic.”

Vrrooom-!

"Oppa!"

Yu-Ri raised her voice as the engine's rotation speed abruptly increased. Do Yoon hurriedly took his foot off the pedal and turned red with embarrassment.

"I, I'm sorry, young master."

"Whoa... Please be a little more careful," Yu-Seong said after a brief moment of surprise.

"As you wish."

Yu-Seong patted his chest as he calmed himself before replying with a nonchalant shrug. "Thank you."

The siblings briefly exchanged looks.

'Thank you?'

‘I heard that correctly, right, oppa?’

That wasn't something that the infamous rascal would say.

The Jin siblings carefully glanced at Choi Yu-Seong with doubt in their eyes. Today, Choi Yu-Seong was acting extremely different from the rascal they knew.

* * *

Yu-Seong and his group entered the luxury mansion with high walls decorated with leaves and a ground floor area of more than seventeen thousand square feet.

"It's been a while, young master."

The person greeting them was the nanny Choi Yu-Seong had treated like his own mother when he had been younger. Despite being over sixty years old and having gray hair and curly wrinkles, she was as elegant as ever.

'Come to think of it, this rascal also didn't have a mother since childhood.'

Unlike his other brothers' mothers, Choi Yu-Seong's had passed away rather early. He remembered it to be an accident, and considering that there weren't any peculiarities throughout the first part of the novel, his memory was probably correct.

Perhaps that was why Choi Yu-Seong's emotions towards his nanny were rather odd.

"How have you been? I'm sorry I couldn't see you often."

These were not empty words.

Even in the rascal's memories, his nanny had always been warm towards him and was someone whom he wanted to protect, but the rascal Choi Yu-Seong simply did not have the courage to visit his family and carry out his desire to protect her.

"There is nothing to be sorry for. I'm just grateful that you've grown up so well, young master. But what should we do? I'm sure you would like to dine... However, the master ordered me to skip lunch and bring you to his office right away..."

"If that's his order, I should obey it."

"You must be starving... Since food is already prepared, come to the kitchen after your meeting. You can't leave with an empty stomach now that you finally visited home."

"I will."

Choi Yu-Seong smiled brightly as he entered the spacious mansion and walked down the long hallway.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Almost like an attic, Choi Woo-Jae's office was located in the quietest and deepest part of the first floor. In a way, it seemed humble for the chairman of a conglomerate.

Of course, the majority of those who were summoned to his study did not have such impression. In fact, the doorway located in a dim corner almost felt like the entrance to a demon’s lair.

Gulp

Even though he had come of his own volition, Yu-Seong was no different.

'I thought it would be okay...'

Now that he had to open the dark and gloomy wooden door, he felt his body stiffening up. The original Choi Yu-Seong’s fear was deeply engraved in him.

‘Let's do this.’

He had already come this far. There would be no point if he backed out now just because he was scared.

'Think rationally. After all, I ... probably understand Woo-Jae better than the original Choi Yu-Seong did.’?

Recalling what Woo-Jae was like in the novel, Yu-Seong slowed his breathing before softly knocking on the thick wooden door.

"Come in alone."

As if Woo-Jae had been waiting for him, a baritone voice spoke tersely.

'There's nothing to be nervous about.'

There were few people in this family—no, in this entire world that would be as reliable to have at his side as Woo-Jae would be.

Eyes sparkling with passion, Yu-Seong turned the doorknob and entered.

* * *

Simply put, Woo Jae, the chairman of the Comet Group, was a self-made man.

Some would question what kind of difficulties someone born into a wealthy family like him would've had to overcome, but Choi Woo-Jae was special. When the group was shaken due to the economic crisis, he forcefully removed his maternal uncle from power and took over as the head of the group at the young age of 35.

Since then, he suppressed resistance and rumors and elevated the Comet Group with his strong leadership and charisma. Everyone clearly knew that without Woo-Jae, Comet wouldn't have been able to achieve its reputation as a conglomerate.

And now, Comet had become a hyper-conglomerate with annual sales of over 350 trillion won and an operating profit of over 30 trillion won.

That was why a rascal like Choi Yu-Seong could pour money down the drain.

Although this happened in the novel, the fact that he had carried out such legendary achievements remained unchanged. And most importantly, Woo-Jae was no longer a fictional character.

'He's real.'

The moment Yu-Seong stepped through the doorway and entered Woo-Jae's office, he felt like he was completely isolated from the outside world.

'Even the smell itself is different.'

Was it because of the plethora of books that made the office look like a library?

The scent of old paper tingled his nose. The next thing that caught his eye was a long window that reflected the sun and Woo-Jae that sat in front of it.

He had a really small figure. Nevertheless, his presence did not match his physique.

From the moment Yu-Seong saw Woo-Jae, he felt as if the latter's presence was in every corner of his office. It was as if a huge beast was curled up inside a small den called 'office'.

‘Calm down. There’s nothing to be worried about.’

Without even feeling the cold sweat dripping down his back, Yu-Seong regained his breath.

“It’s been three years.”

The first person to break the ice was Woo-Jae.

Choi Yu-Seong had been nineteen when Choi Woo-Jae had ordered him to become independent. He hadn’t returned home even once until now, at the age of twenty-one. Yet now, he had suddenly come to visit Woo-Jae.

He wondered whether he should be thankful that Woo-Jae had spoken first despite the history between them.

Yu-Seong shook his head and peered into Woo-Jae’s eyes. As he has been quick-witted ever since childhood, with some difficulty, he was able to interpret the emotions hidden inside Woo-Jae’s eyes.

‘Curiosity... and rage.’

Luckily, the situation wasn’t as terrible as he had expected.

Curiosity meant that Woo-Jae was somewhat interested, while the rage could be interpreted in two ways. One was disappointment towards his son, a rascal, that created trouble after becoming independent.

‘Or, maybe, sadness towards his son that hasn’t shown his face for a long time.’

Either way was okay.

Come to think of it, Woo-Jae had never stopped his support for his son, even though the latter had caused countless problems up until the end of the novel.

‘It seemed unnatural considering the plot.’

In fact, the novel [Modern Master Returns] that he had woken up in contained many holes within the plot settings. Nevertheless, he had been able to finish the first part of the novel because it had been amusing, despite the flaws within the setting and storyline.

‘Thank god.’

Facing the novel’s character Choi Woo-Jae right in front of him, Yu-Seong was glad that he had been able to finish the novel. He just needed to choose his words carefully based on that information.

While Yu-Seong was carefully thinking, Woo-Jae continued to speak.

“Seeing how you’re spending money liberally, I doubt money’s the problem. You won’t need any talented personnel since you don’t do anything that would require them. Then, perhaps, have you visited to gain honor?”

Was he asking, or just speaking to himself?

Listening to Woo-Jae’s cryptic words, Yu-Seong decided to cut to the chase—they were playing baseball, and he was about to throw a fastball.

“I came here to ask you a favor.”

“Figured so.”

Woo-Jae shortly clicked his tongue and nodded plainly. He knew better than anyone else that his children wouldn’t visit him in the first place unless they needed a favor.

“I’m thinking of helping you with the company.”

The second pitch was a curve. If he honestly told his father that he had come to improve their relationship, wouldn’t Woo-Jae’s reaction be similar to that of the Jin siblings?

Meeting him through work would undoubtedly improve their connection.

‘After all, they haven’t met for three years even though they're only thirty minutes apart.’

The idiom ‘out of sight, out of mind’ was certainly true, and the reversed version of it also was.

“Nonsense. What do you really want?”

“...This really is everything.”

Of the two emotions in Woo-Jae’s eyes, curiosity slowly began to fade. Instead, anger filled the remaining space.

Was it possible to somehow make Woo-Jae feel some kind of fondness toward him?

‘I better choose my next pitch carefully.'

Feeling the chill in his backbone from the icy atmosphere, Yu-Seong gulped and chose his best pitch among the options he had prepared.