Become A Star

Chapter 12

"You're my son, but you're very cunning," said Park Eun-Soo.

"There has to be at least one cunning person in our family," Woo-Jin replied.

"You're still a far cry from Woo-Hee when it comes to being crafty. Why are both my children like this... Ah, where did I go wrong?"

"You've raised us well, mom. So don't worry." Woo-Jin grabbed his mother's right hand tightly with his left hand and shook it as he smiled at her.

Even though they had had financial difficulties, he was not lacking in the emotional wellbeing department. That was because he had his mother and sister, Woo-Hee, with whom he had shared great days. At this moment, Woo-Jin was happy.

"Woo-Jin, do you want to meet your maternal uncle?" Park Eun-Soo said suddenly.

Woo-Jin stopped walking upon hearing those words, which he could never have seen coming. He knew that his mother had severed ties with her family after the divorce, so he was very surprised to hear the word 'maternal uncle' coming out of nowhere.

"Because of your grandfather, I kept in touch with your uncle, albeit not very often. He's helped us a lot. He gave us a lot of money as well, contributing a large portion to our current house."

Originally, they had been paying monthly rent for their house. However, the owner of the house had said he needed a huge amount of money to buy a house for his recently married son. Subsequently, their lease agreement had been changed into a jeonse[1] one. The amount of deposit quoted by the landlord was rather high, but his mother had signed the contract without hesitation. At that time, she thought she had saved enough money for it, but that had not been the case.

"Now that you've grown up, I've been worried because there aren't any other adults in the house to give you any advice, but your uncle said that he wanted to meet with you to congratulate you on getting discharged from the military."

Shortly after Woo-Jin entered the entertainment industry in earnest, his mother had become very concerned. Since he had had some issues with the last agency, his mother met with her brother to consult him on potential legal issues and the like. At some point, his maternal uncle had probably brought up the suggestion of meeting with Woo-Jin.

"No. I'll meet him another time. Please tell him I'll treat him to a good meal when we meet," Woo-Jin replied.

As surprising as this was, he was beyond grateful to his uncle. He was not grateful because the latter had given them money for their house, but rather because his uncle had continued to stay in contact with his mother despite his maternal grandfather's rage. It was reassuring to know that his mother had someone to lean on in times of need, instead of being completely cut off from her family.

However, since his uncle was as rigid and stubborn as his grandfather, even if Woo-Jin met with him it would be of no use, since he already knew what his uncle was going to say. Just like his mother, his uncle was also unhappy with Woo-Jin's decision to join the entertainment industry. If he was incompetent, it would have been a different story, but because Woo-Jin was smart, his uncle was going to try to convince him to take the Legal Education Eligibility Test (LEET).[2]

"Come to think of it, Yi-Yeon and Hee-Yeon must have taken their bar exam and LEET respectively."

"Yeah, I heard both of them passed. Yi-Yeon was appointed as a prosecutor last year, and Hee-Yeon is going to law school this year."

Woo-Jin nodded when he heard that both his cousins Yi-Yeon and Hee-Yeon, who were the same age as Woo-Jin himself, had passed their exams. It was not surprising at all, due to their competence and circumstances. However, all he could do was smile awkwardly at his mother while feeling sorry toward her, and tell her that he was happy for them.