The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 2

The Villain Became a Chaebol – The Guy with Ten Talents 01

– The Guy with Ten Talents –

All I remembered was drinking with Senior Sangwoo until I was completely wasted.

I couldn’t remember anything after that.

And when I woke up with a hangover…

I had become Jung Hyun-woo, a third-generation chaebol [a wealthy and powerful heir to a family-owned conglomerate] likely associated with the Red Sun incident and with three criminal convictions.

Jung Hyun-woo.

Born in April 1968.

Currently 55 years old in 2023.

Eighteen years younger than my thirty-seven-year-old self.

Did I trade eighteen years of my life and my physical freedom through legal detention to become a third-generation chaebol?

At first, I thought so.

But that wasn’t the case.

The time I woke up in wasn’t 2023 but 1981.

1981.

A distant past before I, who was thirty-seven in 2023, was even born.

Jung Hyun-woo was only 15 years old.

I had become a young, no, a very young third-generation chaebol.

Young and rich.

Could there be a greater blessing than this?

What should I enjoy first?

No, should I buy stocks in Apple, Microsoft, or Samjung Electronics [likely a typo for Samsung] first?

The joy of becoming a young third-generation chaebol was fleeting.

The reality was harsh.

“Let’s end our conversation here for today.”

As the young doctor leading the conversation closed the chart, burly male nurses opened the door and appeared.

“Charlie, let’s go to your room.”

Charlie Jung.

This name, devoid of any originality, was the American name of Jung Hyun-woo, the third-generation chaebol.

And I was currently confined, no, hospitalized, in a drug rehabilitation center in Boston at the age of fifteen.

What on earth had I done…?

What could a fifteen-year-old have done to be hospitalized in a drug rehabilitation center?

Thud.

The hospital room door closed with a dull sound.

The small solitary room was Jung Hyun-woo’s only sanctuary.

“Haa…”

A long sigh escaped involuntarily.

It felt like the transcendent being in the sky was looking down at me and saying:

– Here! You wanted to be a third-generation chaebol, so let’s see how wonderfully you live.

With time, I might be able to turn over a new leaf and live wonderfully, but for now, the situation was far from good.

“And I can’t even communicate.”

Only English was spoken at this drug rehabilitation center.

It wasn’t that I had never learned English, but my vocabulary was woefully inadequate to explain my situation.

Turning my gaze, I saw an English dictionary and a few textbooks.

“I guess these are allowed.”

There were also books next to them that I didn’t know who had put there. Of course, he might have brought them himself when he was admitted.

“Without a pencil, I can’t even write down future facts.”

All I could do now was read these.

***

A man with ten talents starves [an idiom meaning someone with many skills often lacks focus and struggles to succeed].

The reason my mother worried about me when she said this was because I actually had many talents.

Sports, drawing, singing, playing instruments, and even a bit of studying.

I overwhelmed my peers in everything I learned.

So, when I was young, I thought I was a genius.

But as I got older, I realized.

I was just a little quick-witted and had a better ability to adapt than others.

I was far from being a genius.

“It’s not easy.”

It was the same with learning English.

I was faster than my peers at first, but as I entered the advanced course, I was caught up by the other kids.

“Getting bored easily is also a problem.”

Was it the price for being quick-witted and adaptable?

It was difficult to immerse myself deeply in one thing.

“I can’t do anything else here even if I wanted to.”

All I could do in the single room, which was no different from a solitary confinement cell, was study English.

Was this a good thing in a way?

No matter how bored I got, all I could do was study English.

“I don’t think I ever studied this hard when I was in school.”

English was essential to live in America.

Except for the clinic’s treatment and counseling sessions, all my time was devoted to studying English.

The only downsides were the lack of conversation partners and time.

“But everyone here speaks only English.”

Since there was no one who spoke Korean, I had no choice but to use only English.

With a few more conditions added to my quick-wittedness and adaptability, my English skills improved rapidly.

Within a week, I was exchanging jokes with the nurses, and after a month, I was able to have some conversations with the doctor.

“When will I be discharged?”

“The typical process is three months, but in Charlie’s case, his condition was severe, so it will take a few more months.”

The doctor’s answer was that it would take a few more months.

I sighed inwardly but had no choice but to persevere and move forward.

“Please let me know when I’m going to be discharged.”

“I will.”

Believe it or not, it was after half a year that the doctor brought up the topic of my discharge.

***

Summer of 1981.

Jung Hyun-woo was discharged from the Boston Drug Rehabilitation Center.

“Young Master, we have been waiting for you.”

A man in a suit bowed. It was the first time Jung Hyun-woo truly realized he was a third-generation chaebol.

‘Haa, it feels like I’m leaving prison after serving my sentence, not being discharged from the hospital.’

He raised the end of his sentence slightly [implying a sarcastic or questioning tone].

“Is it just Secretary Choi?”

Choi Kyung-min.

He was Jung Hyun-woo’s personal secretary and butler.

Jung Hyun-woo had met him for the first time during his last visit.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why should Secretary Choi be sorry? I’m the one who did wrong.”

Jung Hyun-woo was able to hear the detailed story of his hospitalization during his first visit. His reason for hospitalization was amphetamine abuse.

It wasn’t the drugs I had worried about, but it was a far cry from the behavior of an ordinary fifteen-year-old boy.

“Executive Director Jung was going to come, but he had a sudden schedule…”

“That’s fine.”

Executive Director Jung, whom Choi Kyung-min mentioned, was not Jung Hyun-woo’s father.

‘Jung Hyun-woo’s parents are both dead, after all.’

Jung Min-hyuk, Jung Hyun-woo’s father, was the eldest son of Jung Woo-sun, the chairman of the Daewoon Group.

If he had been alive, he would have been forty-two this year.

However, he lost his life in a rebel bombing at the groundbreaking ceremony for a power plant in Sudan, instead of becoming the group chairman.

His wife also passed away there with her husband.

In other words, Jung Hyun-woo was an orphan.

“Please tell my grandfather that I have reflected a lot.”

“Pardon me?”

“Don’t you talk to my grandfather?”

Choi Kyung-min lowered his head.

“I’m sorry.”

Jung Hyun-woo frowned.

‘Is Chairman Jung not interested in his grandson who lost his parents?’

If not, he might have been fed up with the numerous incidents and accidents Jung Hyun-woo had caused.

‘It’s hopeless to be loved by the group chairman grandfather with future knowledge.’

The development that came out in hit dramas didn’t seem to be his thing.

‘It’s okay. I didn’t think things would go so smoothly anyway.’

If things were going to go smoothly, he wouldn’t have been locked up in a place no different from a prison for half a year.

“How far does Secretary Choi have contact?”

Choi Kyung-min answered with his head bowed.

“I am receiving instructions from Chief Hong.”

“Chief Hong?”

“Chief Hong Won-ik.”

“How am I supposed to know if you say that?”

Choi Kyung-min bowed even lower at the sharp question.

“He is the chief of the Daewoon Group’s secretary office.”

“Is that so?”

“I thought you knew everything.”

Jung Hyun-woo let out a short sigh.

“Ha, how am I supposed to know all that?”

Choi Kyung-min thought, as expected.

‘They said he was the troublemaker of the Daewoon Group, and it’s not easy from the start.’

Before he flew to the United States, Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik called him and said this:

– Endure and endure. If you endure for just one year, you will be promoted to manager.

At the time, he didn’t quite understand the meaning of these words.

But today, he could clearly see why Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik had said these words.

‘Endure, endure.’

He straightened his back and led Jung Hyun-woo to the Ford car parked next to him.

“It’s not a Benz?”

“Pardon me?”

“Never mind.”

Jung Hyun-woo was deliberately acting like a sullen teenager.

‘It would be stranger if the Daewoon Group’s troublemaker became docile as soon as he came out of the hospital.’

Besides, he couldn’t tell yet whether Choi Kyung-min was an ally or an enemy.

‘Someone might try to frame me as a juvenile delinquent.’

Jung Hyun-woo was an orphan who had lost his parents, but his father was the eldest son of the Daewoon Group.

Comparing it to the imperial family, he was the imperial grandson.

‘Someday, I might get caught up in an inheritance dispute.’

If he were to get caught up in an inheritance dispute, the opposing side would surely try to find fault with him.

‘If Secretary Choi is someone sent by the other side, he will record my mistakes one by one.’

In severe cases.

He might even encourage it, beyond just recording it.

Of course, he could only hope that wasn’t the case right now.

Vroom.

As Choi Kyung-min started the engine, Jung Hyun-woo asked.

“How much money can I use?”

“Pardon me?”

“I mean, allowance.”

Choi Kyung-min answered while turning the steering wheel.

“Allowance? I haven’t heard anything about that.”

“Really?”

“Chief Hong told me to manage the money.”

The story was that there was no money to give to a drug addict.

Jung Hyun-woo clicked his tongue at the bitter answer.

‘That means I don’t have any money to try anything.’

The gap between the life of a young and rich person he had imagined in the past was too great.

Frankly, it was a development that made him feel the intentions of a transcendent being.

‘There’s no need to be disappointed.’

His weapon wasn’t just knowing the future.

And he had anticipated this situation to some extent at the drug rehabilitation center.

‘It’s been twisted from the beginning.’

It was the moment when he felt a bit of stubbornness towards the being that had made him the third-generation chaebol, Jung Hyun-woo.

‘Whatever your intentions, I will do my best.’

I won’t live wonderfully, but I will live properly.

He strengthened his resolve.

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