The Youngest Son of Sunyang

Chapter 6

When we descended into the dining-room, I could feel dozens of eyes on me. Whose owners, in formal attire, were seated around three large tables. Some of them somehow looked familiar to me.

They were board members, husbands, parents and children, whose loyalty to my grandfather couldnt be compared to one to anyone else.

They were butlers that I had aspired to be.

The grandfather would make a return for their loyalty by being a good listener.

I should make them my allies.

The grandchildren were sitting around one of the tables.

One of them was my brother and the other eleven were my cousins.

Especially when I spotted Young-jun who 30 years later would be the vice-chairman of Sunyang, my body trembled with anger.

If I had a gun, I might have shot him.

Another table was set up for the selected ones.

That were born as the grandfathers children.

five successors.

And their wives

Wait!

Why nine? One missing.

Where on the earth is my mother?

I cant find her.

As the grandfather took a seat, two chefs emerged from the kitchen, carrying in their hands a birthday cake with sixty-six lit candles crowded on top.

The dining-room erupted Happy birthday!

The grandfather brew out the candles and everyone cheered and clapped their hands.

There were two whose arms were flabby: my father and my brother.

And so were their faces.

Whats wrong with them?

No sooner had I found my mother than I found out why.

She didnt get around to sitting and eating.

The other wives.

That constantly gave errands to her.

Bring me more soup,

Bring me some water, with ice,

Wipe the table,

As if she were a housemaid.

That didnt makes any sense at all. As far as I knew there were more than ten housemaids.

They were being hard on my mother.

I felt as if my blood boiled and my flesh quivered.

The anger did not differ much from one toward Young-jun.

Even if it had been less than one hundred days, my warm feeling toward her was growing in my chest and stronger each day.

What made me even more angry was my father. He seemed to be ignoring her weary look while he was eating.

Which explained a lot.

Even though my brother Sang-jun must have witnessed this several times, he seemed at the end of his tether. His lips were shivering.

For that reason, he didnt want to come.

I felt a bit guilty about kicking his butt earlier.

Behold, Im going to make them drop to their knees, in front of my mother.

Eventually, she couldnt manage to eat until she finished washing dishes.

After the dinner, the grandchildren parted into two groups.

Some teenagers snuck out of the house while the children gathered around the grandfather, asking permission to go upstairs.

All right, all right. Lets go upstairs, he said with a chuckle.

I felt someone stroking my hair when ascending the stairs.

You are the star of the day, arent you? it was Young-jun.

I forced myself to smile while I felt my hair bristling up.

He looked at me, 10 years younger than him, with a friendly smile.

Lets see how long the smile will last.

This toy pony is Do-juns so he will help each of you take a turn, the grandfather said, then went downstairs. Even as there was no sign of his presence,

Get out of my way, me first! someone said, shoving me hard in the right shoulder.

My face became reddened and I clenched my fist. As I was about to throw it, my brother grasped my wrist. And he said.

Yeah, you first, Kang-jun, with a scared look.

Kang-jun? I was sure Id  heard that name before.

I searched my memories.

Yup! Thats him. Kang-jun was the child of Sang-ki, third son. He was managing director of Sunyang telecommunications at the time of my death. When his father Sang-ki had failed to succeed to Sunyang, he begged to give the job to his son.

I learned today Kang-jun was an asshole since his childhood.

His fist was faster than his mouth. If my memory served correctly, he had spent most of his adult life behind bars.

I suddenly recalled how his mother treated my mother.

What should I do with this asshole?

And I thought I wanted to give a strong impression to the grandfather.

I instantly converted the thought into action.

My brother saw me smiling ear to ear and his eyes dilated.

This afternoon, he saw that smile in the bathroom.

I winked at him, then snuck up behind Kang-jun.

He seemed not to notice me behind him, as he was enjoying riding the toy pony pretending to be a cowboy.

Whats funny? then I kicked the ponys ass, and he fell off.

Thud!

His scream was sharp.

In the room, other cousins were dropping their jaws and watching without a word.

I poked him in the face and said,

Do not dare touch mine,

Heavy clumping sounds followed.

One of them who chased the scream, went pale.

Kang-jun!

His mom raised him up while the others were just watching.

There was my mother among them.

Do-jun did! the other cousins said, in chorus.

She looked at me with a concerned look.

I smiled to comfort her.

Worse luck, Kang-juns mom also saw me smiling.

She slapped at me.

My mother darted at me, held me close.

My poor mother.

She was protecting me, without a word.

Kang-juns mom raised her arm to hit us, with a very evil eye.

What the hell is going on? the grandfather yelled.

Everyone in the room was stunned by his appearance and the room fell into silence.

He scanned the room, then said.

Take him to the hospital,

She took crying Kang-jun out of the room.

Go downstairs, all of you, now! he yelled out again.

As I was about to slip out, he stopped me.

You, Do-jun, stay here!

Yeah, thats what I wanted.

My mother unhanded me, hesitated.

She saw the grandfather glaring at her, bowed and went downstairs.

Was that you? he asked when there were just the two of us in the room.

Why would you do that?

It was mine, I answered.

What? So did you hurt Kang-jun? he frowned.

No, I didnt mean to hurt him. It was the toy pony I meant to smash, I said.

His frowned look turned into a startled one.

I dont want anyone to take what is mine. If I smashed it, nobody could take it I slurred my words.

I lifted my head and checked his face.

Perfect.

I could see him holding a smile on his lips and gazing steadily.

He sure as hell liked the determined look on my face.

Even though you didnt meant to hurt Kang-jun, you need to pay for what youve done,

Then he led me somewhere.

The place he took me was his study.

As he opened the door, my heart started to race.

Gee!

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