For The Musical Genius (Novel) - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Read it only at Utoon.net!

https://discord.com/invite/s4Srag3ej2

“Hyun-ah, do you know what this old man does?”

Grandfather asked me with an affectionate expression. On the surface, I’m just a 14-year-old boy. Moreover, this is the first time I’ve spent so much time with grandfather. He probably thinks his grandson doesn’t know exactly what the family business is. How should I answer this?

“You’re in the chemical industry.”

I had no intention of hiding it.

There was no point in beating around the bush about what I already knew.

But grandfather’s face showed clear surprise.

“Did your mother tell you?”

“No, Jin-seok explained it yesterday. That you’re the chairman of Dongju Chemical.”

Jin-seok, I’m using your name here.

“Hyun-ah, what do you think the chemical industry is?”

Grandfather posed an even more difficult question. He seemed curious about what answer would come out. Currently, Dongju Chemical had started with soap manufacturing and expanded into laundry detergents and crop protection products. But compared to the future development of the chemical industry, Dongju was still in its infancy.

“If steel was the material of modernization, I think chemicals are the material of future industries.”

While steel served as the raw material for shipbuilding, civil engineering, and automobiles, in the future, chemical technologies would lead remarkable advances in modernization. For example, prominent scholars pointed to the 4th industrial revolution being chemical rather than IT. I agreed with this view, as the foundation of future computer and smartphone industries was chemical technology.

“Future industries?”

Grandfather’s eyes widened suddenly. He hadn’t expected such words from his young grandson’s mouth. After some time had passed.

“Hyun-ah, come to think of it, you’ve only been around with this old man since coming to Seoul. Go out and have some fun today. Driver Kim will take you anywhere you want to go.”

Grandfather stroked my head with a satisfied smile.

“Young master Kang-hyun, where would you like to go?”

The driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror and asked. Seoul in the 90s, not yet fully modernized. I thought I’d never experience this world again. An era where apartments were being built next to shanty towns. The heavy makeup of women and the emerging Gangnam orange tribe seemed less tacky and more nostalgic of that era.

“Please take me to Sillim.”

“Sillim-dong?”

He must have expected an amusement park or resort.

During my time at Korea University, I had stayed in Sillim-dong’s Goshiwon district. At that time, the university dormitory assignments weren’t based on grades but on a random system. Due to insufficient capacity, I had to live off-campus for a while, and I chose Sillim-dong. The reason was simple – both living costs and monthly rent were cheap.

“This place hasn’t changed.”

I muttered softly at the sight of Sillim-dong through the car window. It looked no different from the future. Every alley was lined with boarding houses and goshiwons, and the roads twisted like earthworms. The hilltop village of Sillim, commonly called a moon village, had very cheap monthly rent, and there was a saying that you’d become an immortal if you lived there.

“Auntie, one order of stir-fried sundae and one order of spicy pork, please.”

This was a stir-fried sundae restaurant I frequently visited in my past life. The still-young proprietress widened her eyes seeing a young boy order so confidently. The driver sitting across from me clearly had a surprised look too. Ah, I must have gotten carried away without realizing.

“How does such a young student know that our spicy pork and sundae taste good when mixed together?”

The proprietress looked at me with appreciation.

The restaurant was full of students studying for the civil service exam. They wore large glasses and had thick administrative law books and small legal codes on their tables. Sometimes they would leave their legal codes as collateral when they couldn’t pay for meals. In a way, the restaurants and bars in the goshiwon district were all pawnshops holding dreams.

Trudge.

After finishing the meal, I walked through Sillim-dong’s goshiwon district. A place encompassing the dreams of civil service exam students from across the country. Notices advertising vacant rooms were posted everywhere, and phrases like “A dragon rises from a humble beginning” caught my eye. The driver looked amazed. How did I, who came up from the countryside, know Sillim-dong and walk around so familiarly?

‘Am I really as desperate as them?’

I came to Sillim-dong to understand myself. In my past days of studying law all day with a legal code book in hand, did I really dream of becoming a legal professional? I had considered becoming one again in this new opportunity. Having walked this path once, doing it twice wouldn’t be a problem. But.

‘I’m not desperate enough.’

I shook my head. At that moment, an unnamed bird circling the sky made a wide turn.

As we were walking to the parking lot.

“Excuse me.”

A Western foreigner with light-colored eyes slowly approached the driver and me. What’s a foreigner doing in Sillim-dong? The driver clearly looked uncomfortable. The middle-aged Westerner seemed to know no Korean at all. Well, can’t be helped.

“What’s the matter?”

English flowed fluently from Kang-hyun’s mouth.

“Oh, the young gentleman can speak English.”

The worried-looking Westerner’s face brightened up. Meanwhile, the driver’s eyes had grown as big as saucers. He clearly hadn’t imagined I could speak English.

“So you took a taxi from the airport asking to go to Silla Hotel, but ended up here? And accidentally left your wallet in the taxi?”

This was ridiculous. While tourist scams exist in every country, shouldn’t they at least drop you off at the correct destination?

“Sillim, I asked to go to Sillim.”

But then I realized the taxi driver couldn’t help but misunderstand the Westerner’s Korean pronunciation.

“Driver, this person wants to go to Silla Hotel. Do we have time to take them?”

When I offered to help, the Westerner expressed great joy and kept thanking me. During our conversation on the way to the hotel, he said he was in Korea for business. Though I wondered why his business partners hadn’t arranged transportation for him.

“I arrived a week earlier than originally planned.”

The middle-aged Westerner looked at me with a gentle smile.

As the car arrived at Silla Hotel.

“I wish I could give you my business card, but I don’t have my wallet. Young gentleman, my name is Samuel Gardner. If you ever need my help, please come find me at Silla Hotel.”

The middle-aged man who introduced himself as Samuel Gardner spoke politely and turned away. He carried himself like a nobleman from Northern Europe.

* * *

“Hyun speaks English?”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Driver Kim reported to grandfather about today’s events. Unlike expectations of visiting an amusement park or Gyeongbok Palace, he told about visiting Sillim-dong and fluently conversing in English with a foreigner. Grandfather’s expression became subtle as he heard the series of events.

“I see, you may go.”

Driver Kim bowed and turned to leave the study.

“Hmm.”

Grandfather closed his wrinkled eyes and sank into contemplation.

Grandfather was born as the only son of a wealthy family. Dongju Chemical, which he had built throughout his life, was more precious than anything else, considering it his pride exchanged for his youth. In his patriarchal tendencies, he had previously believed in strict primogeniture succession. Of course, that thinking changed slightly when his youngest daughter was born.

His youngest daughter, Kang-hyun’s mother Yu Hyun-ja, was his most cherished daughter. Unlike his other children who were greedy and lazy, his youngest was always smart and wise. But her being female stuck in his mind like a sharp fishhook. If she had been male, even as the youngest, she would have been in line for succession.

-Son, is grandfather treating you well?

Mother’s voice was filled with concern. She must have worried that his feelings toward her might extend to her son.

“Grandfather treats me very well, and I’m very comfortable here.”

From grandfather to the housekeeper and driver, everyone was looking after me. Partly because I was a grandson who rarely visited. But from their perspective, they also found Kang-hyun admirable for not acting like a typical child.

“How is the laundry business?”

I was worried. The news had been warning about the worst heatwave in decades. I couldn’t imagine how much laundry there must be.

-Don’t worry, son! Dad is working hard so your mom won’t have to struggle.

Father’s voice came through, as he was listening to the phone call together. Though they’ve been married for a long time, they’re still like newlyweds. That must be why mother chose father even if it meant giving up this mansion.

As I was finishing my conversation with my parents.

“Were you talking to your mother?”

Grandfather had walked into the living room.

“Yes, grandfather.”

Complex emotions lingered in grandfather’s eyes. His youngest daughter whom he had driven out of the mansion in disgust. When his youngest daughter, who had never defied him in her life, said she was leaving to find happiness, he was dumbfounded and enraged. But that was already over a decade ago.

The anger had diluted, and only a deep longing remained.

“Grandfather.”

I looked at grandfather. His eyes were full of wrinkles and age spots dotted his face. Though I hadn’t seen much of grandfather in my past life, now he felt more comfortable than anyone else.

“Do you miss mother?”

In just five years, grandfather would pass away. Knowing the future, I wanted to expedite the reconciliation between father and daughter. Grandfather pondered his young grandson’s words and nodded slowly.

“Hyun-ah, what do you think happiness is?”

His youngest daughter who left to find her own happiness – though he had sworn never to see her again, it wasn’t so easy.

“I’m not sure what happiness is yet, but I know what unhappiness is.”

“Unhappiness?”

“Grandfather, you have the power to do what you want. I think it’s unhappy to turn away despite having that power. Follow where your heart leads.”

Well.

Grandfather thought of his youngest daughter. She was the child who best understood his words, but also the one who drove a stake through his heart. Now her son was making his heart waver again. Though still young, he occasionally spoke with insight that grasped the essence of matters. Such things cannot be learned. They’re innate.

Read it only at Utoon.net!