Chapter 1

The Youngest Son of the Golden Spoon Family

The 14th presidential election in 1992 was a three-way contest between Kim Young-sam of the Democratic Liberal Party, Kim Dae-jung of the Democratic Party, and Chung Ju-young of the United People's Party. In February 1993, Kim Young-sam was inaugurated as the 14th President.

At that time, I was 20 years old, but because I had taken a year off during elementary school, I had to attend school with friends who were a year younger than me. Neither I nor my friends cared who became president. No matter what news came out, as the last generation to take the college entrance exam, we had to spend the end of 1992 in a gloomy mood under the pretext that "there is no retaking the exam." In February 1993, I turned 21. From the expressions of my friends at the high school graduation ceremony, I could tell who had been accepted to their desired universities.

My high school had a special class, and as soon as we entered our third year, a so-called "SKY class" was formed, creating a competitive atmosphere with other high schools in Gangnam.

This is where the rankings began.

To cut to the chase, out of the 50 or so students in my special class, almost all of them, except for a few, were accepted into SKY universities. The atmosphere at the time was such that no one cared about majors; they only cared about the university's reputation.

However, I was different from my friends. I didn't choose my goal; my great and honorable father decided it for me, setting my future path to the Department of Mathematics Education at Seoul National University.

The reason was simple.

My great and honorable father, during my third year of high school, planned to establish a private school as part of his business. Although he claimed it was to address the tax issues of the land inherited from my grandfather, I didn't particularly like the idea. However, my father, thinking about the distant future, decided to entrust me with the management of the private school, regardless of my wishes, and insisted that I go to the Department of Mathematics Education.

Back then, in 1992, during my third year of high school, there were many things I had to deal with.

My great and honorable father, thinking of passing all his businesses to my eldest brother, had him graduate from the same university's business school and sent him to study abroad in the United States.

It wasn't like the royal succession of the Joseon Dynasty, but by steering my eldest brother towards a business career, my younger brother began to oppose my great and honorable father. My younger brother, along with my sister who was only a year older, stood up for equal love and support from our parents, and my great and honorable father, shattering the prejudice that parents can't win against their children, crushed my younger brother and sister.

Having experienced the entire process and outcome, I resolved never to oppose or conflict with my father.

The law of power is something that should be accepted in the natural world. Since our family, dominated by my great and honorable father, naturally operated on a strict power dynamic, my younger brother soon surrendered and followed my father's will. However, my sister was different. Her extremely stubborn nature, which I don't know who she inherited it from, led her to fight with my great and honorable father for quite a long time, and as a result, she left home.

Although not a SKY university, my sister was attending a decent university and moved into a dorm near the university, which was less than 30 minutes from home. However, my father had cut off her living expenses. This all happened in early 1992, during my third year of high school. This became the catalyst for my special memories of my third year, and it is still ongoing.

My mother, trying to figure out how to help my sister, came up with a plan. This is when my high-paying tutoring began. My great and honorable father questioned why the tutoring fees were so high, but my mother logically explained and pushed through, and in the end, I ended up giving my sister tutoring every weekend.

On the first day of tutoring with my sister,

I struggled to find the address my mother had written down.

When the front door opened, my sister appeared in sweatpants.

"Come in."

As I took off my shoes and closed the door, I took in the layout of the house.

To the left of the entrance was the bathroom, and to the right was the kitchen. Straight ahead was the living room, and beyond that, there was a sliding door that seemed to separate the living room from the bedroom.

"Sit down. What would you like to drink? Beer?"

It wasn't strange for my sister to offer me beer. Although I was in my third year of high school, I had taken a year off when I was younger, so I was 20 years old. I received the "older brother" treatment from my school friends, which I found amusing, so I kept this a secret even from my close friends.

"Sis... I came here for tutoring. What are you talking about?"

"That woman did this to help me. You're not really here for tutoring, are you?"

"I just came because she gave me the address and told me to come."

My sister looked at me with a slightly suspicious expression.

"I get her intention. She's trying to have you spy on me, right?"

"I don't know... How long are you going to keep this up?"

"I don't know. But I won't be the first to back down."

"Aren't you thinking about Mom?"

"Why should I?"

Hearing my sister's words, I couldn't help but sigh.

In fact, the woman I call "Mom" is my stepmother, who came into our lives when I was young without any prior notice. My eldest brother, younger brother, and sister never called her "Mom" or "Mother." Only I, who had little memory of my biological mother, called her "Mom," and she favored me the most.

"Phew... Let's not talk about it. Anyway, how are we going to do the tutoring?"

"I can't do it. Just go to the library on weekends and study on your own. You can come and go according to the tutoring schedule, right?"

"No way. Mom's condition for supporting you financially is that you give me tutoring. If you don't want to do it, find a tutor for me. There must be a new student in the math department who just entered. They would still have the skills from their third year of high school. I need to learn from them. That's what Mom wants too."

My sister, who had been listening to me with a blank expression, seemed to be thinking and nodded.

"Alright. I know a smart kid. I'll ask him. He's a new member of a club, and I heard he's a four-year scholarship student. He's from the countryside, but I can't remember where. Anyway, let's start next week. I'll try to convince him. I'll tell that woman the same."

"What kind of club?"

I wasn't really interested, but I pretended to be.

"It's a drama club."

"Drama? Why are you into drama, which doesn't suit you?"

Although I said that to my sister, I recalled that I had seen her leave the house on weekends, dressed in strange costumes, a few times after she entered university.

While filling a pot with water, my sister asked me,

"Do you want to eat ramen?"

"What are you going to cook?"

"Spicy ramen suits my taste. That's all I have, so you'll have to eat it too."

"Is there no Anseong Tangmyeon?"

"No!"

Although I didn't like it, I ate the ramen my sister wanted and spent some time there. While eating ramen, my sister kept listening to the same cassette tape, and when the same song played for the third time, I exploded.

"The tape will stretch. Let's stop listening!"

"Really? You've never heard this song? Well, you're in your third year, so you probably don't have time for this. It's Seo Taiji and Boys, and the reaction is amazing. They haven't exploded in popularity yet, but I have a feeling."

"Seo Taiji and what?"

"Boys."

"What a strange name. If they do well, maybe they'll have names like 'Boys' and 'Girls' in the future?"

"Don't mock me! Do you want to die?"

In 1992, my sister, once she got hooked on a singer or actor, would talk about love as if they were her boyfriend. It seemed she had moved on from Yang Jun-il to the newly debuted Seo Taiji. Of course, I didn't care who she liked.

"I'll eat the ramen and go. I'll come back at this time next week, so don't go anywhere."

"Min-woo, take this!"

My sister threw something at me, and when I caught it, it was a key.

"There's a key shop downstairs. Copy this key. Keep one for yourself and give the other to my junior next week."

I nodded and left the house.

***

When I arrived home, my mother greeted me with a curious look.

"Min-woo, how is your sister doing?"

"She seems to be doing well."

"Did anything special happen?"

"Not really... Where is Father?"

I changed the topic to avoid her continuous questions about my sister.

"He seems to be busy with a lot of people to entertain these days. He said he'll be home late today. Phew... I pulled some weeds in the yard, and now my body feels so itchy."

My mother went into the bedroom. In fact, my stepmother is quite young, not much older than my eldest brother. Moreover, she has a great figure, possibly due to her background as an airline employee. Watching her walk into the bedroom made my heart race.

My stepmother didn't fully close the bedroom door, and I couldn't resist the urge to sneak into the bedroom. From the bathroom, I could hear the sound of the shower and her humming.

On the bed, my stepmother's underwear was laid out. Without my consent, I found myself touching her panties, and my arousal was already evident, bulging in my pants.

I carefully unzipped my pants and began to touch myself.

"Huff, huff"

I was worried that my heavy breathing might be too loud, but my desire was so strong that I boldly started to masturbate. That's when it happened.

"Look at me. I've used all the towels... Oh, my!"

For about three seconds, our eyes met. It felt like time had stopped.

I froze with my hand on my arousal, and she stood there, naked, holding the bathroom doorknob.

"Min-woo, what are you doing here?"

She looked shocked and quickly closed the bathroom door.

"Damn..."

I was embarrassed. So embarrassed that I wanted to find a hole to hide in, but my only option was to leave the bedroom. After quickly tidying up, I left the room.

I was in agony, pulling at my hair.

"Damn... How can I face Mom now? Damn..."

A little while later, she came into my room on the second floor.

"Oh, sorry... I forgot to knock again. I keep making mistakes."

She sat on the edge of my bed, trying to break the awkwardness by mentioning her mistake.