Chapter 5: From Begging to Giving

“Atel, do you have a moment?”

My mother opened the door and peeked her face inside, asking softly.

I stopped the hand that was plotting the *I Was Adopted as a Genius in a Wealthy Family* plot and turned my head.

“Yes, yes, I do.”

“Thank you, Atel. It’s cramped in here, so let’s talk in the living room.”

The small room was adequate for one person, but it became quite cramped when two or more people came in. Following my mother, I moved to the spacious living room. A cold breeze blew through the open window for ventilation.

“Soon, it’ll be our son’s birthday.”

Born on February 17, 1985. His birthday was just after the Lunar New Year.

“I didn’t know.”

I truly didn’t. There hadn’t been time to care about birthdays. Besides, I never considered my birthday that important, so I often forgot about it and focused on work.

Other than the fact that it was the day I was born, birthdays weren’t special to me after living 39 years.

“Do you need anything?”

I met my mother’s hopeful gaze.

“This is tough. A birthday, huh.”

Living day to day, and now Lunar New Year overlapped. And on top of that, it was my own birthday.

I knew better than anyone that the household finances weren’t good, so I felt a strong sense of guilt.

“I don’t really want anything.”

Wasn’t this the day to be the one receiving gifts? You, who gave me shelter and a loving younger sibling. That alone was enough—I was truly happy.

At my words, my mother’s large eyes froze for a moment. She must not have expected such an answer.

At that time, I was surely the child who spoiled and wanted everything my friends had.

“All the other kids have them, but I don’t!” “I want head slippers too!”

Head slippers—the popular indoor shoes brand in middle school back then. I begged endlessly to have a pair. Thinking back now, I don’t know why I was so fixated on them. It’s a memory full of regret.

“You wanted slippers before.”

My mother remembered too. My face flushed, and out of embarrassment, my gaze dropped to the floor.

“No, I don’t need them anymore. It’s wasteful to spend tens of thousands on indoor shoes that I only wear briefly at school. I’m fine.”

The time wearing slippers at school was brief. Wearing expensive indoor shoes for such a short period made no sense. If I had money, maybe, but given the current situation, it was a luxury.

“Don’t say that. It’s okay, just tell me.”

Though I kept insisting I was fine, my mother didn’t back down easily. She must have been worried after hearing from Dahye yesterday.

“Then please just raise my allowance by 10,000 won.”

Instead of gifts, I requested a modest increase in allowance.

That’s 120,000 won a year—not a small amount for a middle schooler.

“Will that really be enough?”

“Yes, that’s plenty.”

More than enough. Even if it’s 10,000 won now, this money would multiply hundreds of times a year later.

“I guess you’ve thought this through. If that’s what you want, I’ll raise it from this month.”

“Thank you, Mom!”

Yes, this was the best and most practical choice right now. I engraved my mother’s warm heart deeply in mine.

“Mom, please wait a little longer. I’ll make up for the twenties you lost raising our siblings.”

I couldn’t repay her now, but in the future, I definitely would.

---

Saturday, the weekend, arrived. Dad drove us in the Avella to Bulkwang-dong, where the big house was. My little dad, aunt, and the whole family were gathered, preparing for Lunar New Year.

I pressed the dumpling skins tightly with a rolling pin, while my cousins dipped the pressed rice cake paste into the skin with the rhythm of a press machine.

The rounded dumpling skins piled up into a tower.

“Watch carefully. Place the dumpling skin on your palm like this, then scoop a lot of filling with your thumb and fold the skin in half. Press the edges gently.”

Mom was teaching Dahye how to make dumplings.

Dahye tried to make dumplings following mom’s instructions, but—

“Ugh, it’s crushed.”

Maybe from pressing too hard, my sibling’s dumpling skin was crushed. The filling was visible through the torn skin.

“Let’s give this one to oppa.”

A small voice followed.

Siblings, it’s okay to keep those thoughts just in your heart.

The filling was as loose as the dumpling’s shape was ruined.

Still, despite its messy form, it was filled with care inside.

I’d eat it deliciously.

After all, the ingredients were the same. It only looked a little imperfect.

In fact, it had much more filling than the others.

It was probably made with love just for me.

I looked around again.

It felt refreshing to see the Lunar New Year preparations for the first time since my early twenties.

My aunt was frying pancakes, and little dad, now a rare presence, was working as a cook, preparing various dishes.

From Korean to Western, Japanese, and Chinese cuisine—he excelled especially in Korean and Western food, even appearing in the newspaper as a chef at the 63 Building.

Everyone did their part, and the Lunar New Year food was quickly completed.

[Let’s head toward the future, magpie. Our magpie, magpie~ magpie magpie /3]

Then, a familiar cartoon theme song reached my ears.

The cousins all faced forward simultaneously, and I naturally followed their flow.

“Seeing this era again, how nice.”

Though my old body still felt awkward, in moments like this, even that was welcome. It felt like a miracle to live again the past I missed so much.

*How wonderful.*

I smiled softly, engraving this moment deep in my heart.

---

Lunar New Year arrived.

“Dahye, let’s go pay our respects.”

After the ancestral rites and the meal, I checked the adults gathered in the living room. Everyone seemed ready for the New Year's bow. I took Dahye’s hand and headed toward the living room.

“Hey there, our eldest nephew.”

The first to greet me was my third uncle. He welcomed me warmly, emphasizing ‘nephew.’

“Start with the eldest uncle.”

The bows proceeded in order of age.

“Dahye, let’s do this. Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year.”

Dahye and I clapped in sync and bowed deeply to the eldest uncle and aunt, then waited for their blessings.

“You’ve grown so much since I last saw you. You have a great family with dad and mom. Listen well to your parents, study hard, and always keep your body and mind healthy.”

After the eldest uncle’s blessings,

“I hope everything you do goes well.”

The eldest aunt added a brief word.

Bills of 10,000 won were handed to Dahye first.

“Seunghyun’s birthday is coming up, so I added 10,000 more.”

“Thank you, eldest uncle, eldest aunt.”

Since my birthday was close to Lunar New Year, this happened often.

When the holiday and birthday overlapped, the New Year’s money doubled.

“Thank you.”

Dahye blushed shyly as she received the money but smiled brightly.

Our bows continued. Cousins lined up to bow one after another.

From third uncle and aunt, it finally came to parents.

“Seunghyun, I hope you achieve your dreams. Don’t lose confidence and keep moving forward. Our youngest daughter, listen well to your mother, okay?”

“Y-yes.”

Following my reply, Dahye nodded.

We rose with satisfied faces.

One bill, two bills, three, four, five……

Midway tally: a total of 120,000 won was gathered.

The income didn’t end there.

After heading to dad’s hometown in Boeun, Chungbuk, we earned extra money. Grandma and grandpa generously handed out pocket money.

In less than 24 hours, it became a total of 250,000 won.

If I had steadily saved New Year’s money since childhood, I wonder if I would have had a few million won by adulthood.

“Mom, here’s 50,000 won.”

I took out 50,000 won from the 250,000 and handed it to my mother.

“What’s this?”

“You spent a lot of money this time. Please use it where you need it.”

Saving money is important, but more important is to use it meaningfully.

At twenty-six, a woman would still want to dress up nicely.

I hoped my mother would enjoy life not just as ‘mom’ but as a ‘woman.’

“Atel…”

Tears welled in my mother’s eyes.

“You’re going straight home, right? I’ll go take care of Dahye.”

My mother was sensitive and emotional beyond what I expected.

To not disturb her feelings, I quietly moved away.

From behind came my mother’s sobbing voice.

In her early twenties, she had helped my grandparents in Bukhan Mountain Fortress, and sat at a sewing machine to make ends meet.

Now, she worked in a factory raising our siblings.

“Please, just a little more strength, Mom.”

I murmured softly and turned toward the sibling who was quietly watching the cattle.

This Lunar New Year left a very meaningful memory for me.

I am happy.

---

[The protagonist, Yoo Han-gyeol, was truly a genius. With a memory rivaling a computer, he never forgot what he saw or heard once. He played with numbers like toys, wielding incredible mental calculation skills.]

I opened the notebook where I had organized Yoo Han-gyeol’s personality and abilities and recalled the main character as I began writing.

The Hangul window quickly filled with text.

[Right after I realized who I was, I found out I was an orphan with no parents.]

The story began after 1990. The orphaned protagonist was adopted by the eldest son of the chairman of a domestic credit union.

“At that time, I mistakenly called the credit union a commercial savings bank and got flamed by readers.”

It was a painful mistake caused by weak historical research. This time, I carefully checked every detail to avoid such errors and began writing.

Episode 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

The sound of typing didn’t stop echoing in the room.

“Huh…? When did I write all this?”

About five hours after starting writing in the morning, something surprising happened.

“Did I really write this fast?”

Five episodes in just five hours—more than 27,000 characters written.

This had never happened even before the regression. Previously, writing over 5,000 characters took at least 1 hour 35 minutes. I’d heard of authors who finished episodes in under 30 minutes, but I never thought I’d become one.

“Hmm, maybe it’s because I already wrote this once?”

I pondered and soon understood. Since I had completed this work before, writing it again was faster.

“The more I write, the better. I’ll finish here and upload it on HiTel after proofreading.”

The fast writing speed lifted my spirits. The more notes I have, the more variables I can guard against. I decided to focus on writing until the start of 9th grade.

Another hour passed.

“Hmm, what pen name should I use?”

My pre-regression pen name was ‘Dreamful Man.’ But since this was a fresh start, I decided to create a new one.

My decision was quick.

“This one’s definitely the best.”