Chapter 42: A Christmas Promise

A morning when pure white snow slowly settled.

The gentle light that slipped through the window caressed the room, waking me. I tossed and turned on the bed, then got up and glanced outside.

A winter kingdom spread out before my eyes.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

The chilly air tickled my nose, warning me that it was dangerous outside the covers.

My body shivered as I pushed the blanket aside.

“I have to get up.”

Today, I needed to carry out a secret and important mission, so I overcame the cold and pried my body off the bed, which had been stuck to it like glue, and left the room.

“Mom, where’s Oppa?”

The first thing I checked after leaving my room was my brother’s location. He absolutely could not know about this, so I had to make sure where he was first.

I moved my eyes here and there, checking carefully in case he was nearby.

“He’s writing upstairs.”

Mom’s gaze moved to the stairs leading up to the second floor.

It seemed it would be difficult to talk in the living room.

“Mom, mom. Let’s go to the master bedroom. Shh.”

Once I’d confirmed my brother’s location, it was time to change places.

I grabbed Mom and moved us into the master bedroom.

“Why? What’s going on? Why is my daughter acting like this today?”

Mom looked surprised by my sudden action, but her lips were full of smiles. I pressed my index finger to my lips, signaling her to keep quiet.

“Mom, so, um, Mom. I want to give Oppa a Christmas present, but what would be good?”

I dragged Mom from the kitchen to the master bedroom, tightly closed the door so my words wouldn’t leak out, and whispered very softly into her ear.

“Oh my, is my whiny daughter really saying this?”

“When have I ever been whiny! I haven’t! I’ve always just gotten presents from Oppa, so now I want to give him something.”

When was I ever ‘whiny’!

How could she say that about me?

“Hoho, what would be good? A present your brother would really like.”

Mom listened and then chuckled quietly.

“Hurry, hurry.”

My heart was impatient.

“Hmm, right. Your brother’s been writing a lot lately, hasn’t he? How about a pretty fountain pen?”

“A fountain pen?”

I tilted my head, then soon nodded.

Now that I thought about it, whenever I went into my brother’s room, his desk was full of notebooks labeled ‘Idea Notebook,’ ‘Synopsis Notebook,’ ‘Plot Notebook.’

When Oppa wrote, he’d wipe the tip of his pen on tissue so the ink wouldn’t smudge.

“I think that’d be good.”

There’s probably no better present than a fountain pen.

“Then, should we go buy one together today?”

“Yeah!”

Mom and I talked about fountain pens and decided to go buy one together.

“Mom, it has to be a secret from Oppa, okay?!”

“Hoho, I understand.”

“Yay!”

I never knew that preparing a present could be this exciting.

Just thinking about giving a heartfelt gift to Oppa, whom I adore, made me so happy and nervous.

I quickly got ready to go out, moving stealthily so my brother wouldn’t notice.

Tip-tap.

---

On my desk, one side held a copy of the passbook showing royalty deposits, and the other side held a notebook with investment strategies by year. In the middle, a black calculator tapped out a rhythm under my fingers.

Tap, tap.

Annual profits, investment returns, estimated taxes, asset diversification plans.

I felt like the CEO planning a small company’s management strategy as I recorded the numbers from the calculator into my notebook.

The total revenue from my two works, ‘The Lord of Smartphones’ and ‘A Genius Was Adopted by a Chaebol Family,’ was 128 million won.

And the 30 million won I invested in Saerom Technology had become 480 million won.

Total, 608 million won.

Quite an achievement for someone still in middle school.

Just letting this money sit here would be stupid for someone with future knowledge like me. This cash would become the starting point to change my life.

“Now comes the part about future investment strategies.”

In the mid-2000s, the Internet portal wars begin.

Companies like Deoum and Navy will grow into huge platforms, and in the late 2000s they’ll stir up a storm in the domestic stock market.

As for electronics, just remember the major domestic companies.

For the others, which haven’t been established yet or aren’t public, I made a chart and organized them.

“In 2010, that’s when the age of cryptocurrency begins.”

I wrote at the bottom of the notebook.

[2010, when 1BTC = 1,000 won, buy 10 million won worth and increase the investment.]

But the dangers of cryptocurrency can’t be ignored.

Trading methods are unfamiliar, and at this point, the laws around it are murky.

Unlicensed exchanges pop up and vanish, and some people lose everything in hacking incidents.

I recalled the names of several exchanges in my head.

Some of them had closed, while others still survived. Any place without stability was dangerous.

You could predict the flow of technology, but not human greed.

There were still ten years to go, but it couldn’t hurt to prepare in advance.

Next, I had to pay attention to taxes.

This year’s earnings from writing alone exceed 100 million won.

Unless I wanted to get hit with a tax bomb, I should make a contract with a tax accountant.

“I wonder how much the taxes will be. Probably close to 10 million won.”

If I hired a tax accountant, I could save several million won.

“I should register a business next year.”

Registering would increase my tax benefits. Of course, a lot would depend on which accountant I contracted with.

“That’s not something to worry about. I know a really good place.”

I thought of the accounting firm I’d contracted with in my previous life.

“Let’s not go too far. Moderation. If I try to avoid too much tax, it could become a problem.”

Moderation is best.

Too much of anything causes trouble.

“Alright, all sorted.”

I slowly straightened my back, which had been bent for hours, and stretched.

I didn’t want to suffer again with a turtle neck and disc problems like in my past life, so I stretched every now and then as I worked.

“But, why is it so quiet downstairs today?!”

After stretching, I glanced towards the stairs and found it odd.

I couldn’t hear the TV as usual, nor the voices of Mom or Da-hye.

“Mom, Da-hye.”

Feeling something was off, I called for Mom and Da-hye as I went downstairs.

“Huh? They’re not here. Did they go out?”

Mom always told me before she went out, but today, for some reason, she’d gone out without saying a word.

“Hmm, I was going to make Christmas plans.”

Christmas would be here soon. Our family had never once gathered in one place for a Christmas party.

Why?

Partly because there wasn’t much room for comfort in our lives, but mostly because I’d acted out so much we couldn’t spend cozy time together.

“Ah! Really?! Since it’s come to this, I should prepare a surprise event.”

Now that money was overflowing, I decided to make good use of it for once, quickly threw on some clothes, and headed outside.

The streets were covered with snow.

Snowflakes fluttered slowly from the sky, blanketing the world in white.

Each step I took made the snow beneath my feet crunch and squeak.

As I walked, I reminisced about my childhood, rolling and playing in the snow.

On the sidewalk, couples were walking hand-in-hand, and on a corner, a little kid with red earmuffs was laughing while making a snowman with his dad. In the window of a shop, a framed family photo sparkled, and seeing that, a smile naturally spread across my face.

“Come to think of it, our family doesn’t have a family photo yet.”

We took our first family photo when I was already in my late thirties.

Why had I lived so crookedly back then?

I regretted it deeply.

I paused for a moment, gazed at the photo studio, and turned my steps toward it instead of the stationery store.

“Hello. Excuse me, sir. I’d like to take a family photo—what’s the earliest appointment you have?”

“A family photo reservation? Hmm, let’s see. One moment.”

The studio owner flipped through his schedule book.

“December 31st, 2 p.m. looks good.”

“That’s perfect. Let’s go with that.”

“Your name?”

“Yu Seunghyun. There’ll be four of us.”

“Okay, there’s a reservation fee.”

“How much?”

“It’s usually 10%, but just give me 50,000 won.”

“Here you go.”

A family photo on December 31st, the end of the year.

It was a charming date.

I immediately handed over my card and reserved the family photo session for December 31st at 2 p.m.

“See you on the 31st. Goodbye.”

After saying goodbye to the owner, I remembered my original goal and headed to the XXX big stationery store.

The inside was already filled with a Christmas atmosphere.

I squeezed through the crowded throng, picking out presents for my family.

For Dad, a zipper lighter.

For Mom and Da-hye, a set of 18k couple necklaces.

“I hope they’ll like them.”

Just imagining my parents’ and Da-hye’s faces when they received my gifts made me smile.

After wrapping the presents and heading back outside, the sun was starting to set.

The whole world was bathed in orange light.

Under the quiet sky, carols tickled my ears as I made my way home.

With the bag full of gifts in hand, I quietly entered the house.

After confirming Mom and Da-hye weren’t back yet, I went up to my room on the second floor.

A small smile played on my lips.

---

Christmas Eve arrived.

As lights twinkled on the tree and carols played softly, the four of us sat facing each other at the square dining table.

On the table were cake and the marinated ribs my sister loves.

In the middle sat non-alcoholic champagne and wine for the mood.

“Wow! Meat! Meat!”

Da-hye cheered with both hands in the air. Mom heaped ribs onto her plate, and Dad quietly poured the champagne.

With the sound of clinking glasses, our family’s Christmas Eve began.

In our modest conversation, our family’s laughter never stopped.

“Huh?!”

But Da-hye kept glancing at me as she ate, like she’d done something wrong and couldn’t settle down.

At first, I pretended not to notice, but I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“Da-hye, do you have something to say to Oppa?”

I smiled gently, worried she might be scared or feel burdened, and asked if she had something to say.

“Um… Oppa.”

Da-hye, who’d been avoiding my eyes, bit her lip and stood up.

She looked at me with determined eyes, like someone who’d made a big decision.

“This… It’s a present for Oppa.”

Da-hye carefully walked over and held out a small box.

It was a tiny box wrapped in a pearl-colored ribbon.

“This is for me?”

“Yeah, I bought it for you, Oppa. Open it.”

“…..”

I stared at Da-hye in shock.

The unexpected gift made my eyes sting. Like a child, I couldn’t hide my emotions and my lips trembled.

With my heart overflowing with emotion, I carefully opened the box.

“This is……”

Inside was a luxurious-looking fountain pen with a striking black body.

On the barrel, it was engraved: ‘To Unreal Oppa.’

“Da-hye……”

Just knowing my twelve-year-old little sister thought of me and prepared such a heartfelt gift made my heart swell.

“Thank you so much. Oppa will treasure it for the rest of his life. It’s so precious.”

“Hehe… Do you like it?”

Da-hye’s face flushed red with embarrassment.

“Yeah, I really, really love it.”

“Whew, that’s a relief. I was worried you wouldn’t like it.”

“That could never happen. And actually, by coincidence… I have something for you, too.”

I got up and brought out a bag I’d hidden.

“Dad, you said lately your lighter doesn’t work when you smoke, right?”

First, I handed Dad a silver zipper lighter.

“Wow, Seunghyun, you really went all out.”

Dad silently held the lighter, turning it on and off, obviously pleased.

“And for Mom and Da-hye…..”

I handed each of them a small case.

“Mothers and daughters are lifelong friends and sisters, right? So I got you a set of couple necklaces.”

“You didn’t have to go this far.”

“Oppa, is this really mine?”

Mom dabbed at her eyes, overcome with emotion. Da-hye was so shocked she just stared, gazing at the necklace with shining eyes.

“Yeah, it’s yours. Make sure you wear it all the time so you don’t lose it.”

“Yeah! Thank you, Oppa!!”

“My girls, how about a drink?”

Mom smiled softly at those words, and Dad poured a drink into Da-hye’s cup.

The candle on the table flickered gently in the air.

Warm steam from the food filled the room, and our laughter and conversation cozily wrapped around the living room.

I decided to never forget this day and to keep it deep in my heart.