TOIGC 03

Chapter 3…

What a 43-Year-Old Baby Grabbed at His First Birthday (2)

“Yoongi, quick! Grab something.”

A collection of items lay scattered before him.

To a baby with 0.1 vision celebrating his first birthday, the tools were a blurry haze, but with his past memories intact, Yoongi had no trouble recognizing them.

A pencil, money, thread, rice, jujubes, a stethoscope, a microphone, a judge’s gavel, a calculator, a camera, an airplane, a baton… and even a gun?

Though Yoongi’s understanding of first birthday parties came only from second-hand experience, he could tell there were far more objects laid out here than at a typical celebration.

“Yoongi, over here! Right here!”

His grandmother called out to him again, nudging him forward.

As Yoongi began crawling at a deliberate pace, he recalled what Deokbae had told him earlier.

<Before Gyeongja Park So That about another at babies, be child curious died, got hospital. if infant life maternity naturally other ruined. secretly she swapped swapped? switched that the thought weren’t why with woman would you your>

Deokbae had kept an eye on the Choi family ever since, more out of a bizarre curiosity to see what would happen to the swapped child than out of genuine concern—though his main priority was still his memorial table.

Because of that, he knew everything that had unfolded.

According to Deokbae’s grim prophecy, Gyeongja would die instantly in a car accident at the age of thirty-six.

In short, before she could even exploit the setup she had engineered, she died a sudden, violent death without telling a single soul.

That bitch.

Not that Yoongi felt an ounce of sympathy for her.

His life before suicide had been agonizing beyond words, after all.

This time, I refuse to let anyone else dictate my life.

Yoongi gritted his toothless gums.

Ignoring the mountain of items in front of him, he set his sights on a completely different target.

“Yoongi, sweetie! Over here! I said over here!”

Despite his grandmother’s persistent calling, Yoongi kept crawling forward.

“G-G… Grandpa…!”

“Huh?”

Instead of grabbing an item, his grandson had crawled straight up to him.

Choi Gihyeon blinked in wide-eyed surprise, looking back and forth between his wife and his grandson as if silently asking, What do I do now?

“Grand… Grandpa!”

Seeing his adorable grandson tugging on the hem of his trousers, looking up at him, and repeatedly calling for his grandfather, a beaming smile spread across Gihyeon’s face.

“Bha-ha-ha! My grandson chose his grandpa at his birthday party!”

Gihyeon let out a boisterous laugh, scooped Yoongi up into his arms, and spun around the venue as if showing off a prize.

“Look at this! This is my grandson! Ha-ha-ha!”

“Grand… pa! Grandpa!”

Watching his grandson cling tightly to his chest made Gihyeon grin from ear to ear, practically bursting with joy.

Seeing her husband so ecstatic, his grandmother Kim Sunja couldn’t help but let out a helpless, dry chuckle despite all the items she had meticulously prepared.

“He takes after you, alright. Quite an unusual kid.”

“Of course! As Choi Gihyeon’s grandson, he needs to have at least this much character.”

As Gihyeon’s energy hit an all-time high, the mood across the entire venue soared with him.

After a while, Gyeongja—who had been watching the scene unfold with a sour look on her face—approached Gihyeon.

She couldn’t stomach seeing Yoongi receive so much of Gihyeon’s attention any longer.

“My goodness, look at our little nephew. Let me hold him for a second too.”

“Sure, go ahead and hold him. He’s your first nephew!”

The moment Gyeongja took Yoongi into her arms—

Grab!

Yoongi’s tiny, leaf-like hand clamped onto Gyeongja’s collar.

At first glance, it looked less like he was grabbing her collar and more like he was resting his hand gently against her neck.

But before Gyeongja could even process it, Yoongi burst into a fit of frantic, earth-shattering tears.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

His crying was loud enough to rattle the entire hall.

Everyone in the room clapped their hands over their ears, their eyes instantly locking onto the scene.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

He cried so hard he was gasping for air.

Panicking, Yeonji rushed over and practically snatched her baby back.

“Shh, it’s okay, Yoongi, don’t cry. There, there, good boy. Shh.”

Only after being cradled in his mother’s arms did Yoongi’s crying gradually subside.

Yeonji let out a long sigh of relief.

“Daughter-in-law, give him to me for a second.”

Gihyeon approached with a dead-serious expression, gesturing for the baby.

Yeonji carefully handed Yoongi over to her father-in-law.

“Hold him again.”

When Gihyeon tried to hand Yoongi back to Gyeongja, she stood frozen, utterly flustered and not knowing what to do.

“I said, take him!”

Who could dare defy his order?

With trembling hands, Gyeongja took Yoongi back into her arms, and right on cue, Yoongi began wailing uncontrollably once more.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

With a stern, angry look on his face, Gihyeon took Yoongi back and promptly handed him to Yeonji.

“Phew.”

Yeonji breathed a sigh of relief and did her best to soothe her son, while Cheolho rushed over to check on him as well.

The atmosphere in the venue had turned completely rigid.

“We’ll wrap things up here for today.”

At Gihyeon’s declaration, the first birthday party came to a close under a heavy, uncomfortable cloud.

Although it was merely a prominent regional company, Gihyeon’s home was anything but modest.

As if flaunting his wealth, the property boasted a separate annex, and the courtyard was spacious enough to park multiple cars whenever he summoned his subordinates—a setup rivaling the residences of major corporate chairmen.

This display of wealth wasn’t out of vanity; it was a strategy Gihyeon adopted during the tumultuous era following the Korean War, leveraging the prestige of his connection with Colonel Colson.

It was a statement to show that Samwoo Trading was no push-over.

If the cheerful man laughing boisterously at the birthday party was all there was to Gihyeon, Samwoo Trading would never have grown to this scale; at best, he would still be peddling black-market goods smuggled by Colonel Colson out of a small stall in Dongdaemun.

“Father, it’s your eldest daughter-in-law.”

“Come in.”

Gihyeon sat at his desk in the study, his brow furrowed deeply.

Even when Yeonji walked in, his expression didn’t soften.

She was the only daughter of Colonel Colson and his Korean wife, as well as Gihyeon’s eldest daughter-in-law.

Since Colonel Colson was a comrade-in-arms who had survived life-and-death struggles alongside Gihyeon when they were isolated during the Korean War, Gihyeon usually looked at Yeonji with immense warmth.

Today, however, was different.

“Daughter-in-law.”

“Yes, Father.”

Yeonji was far from foolish and could easily read her father-in-law’s mood.

She lowered her clear, blue eyes gracefully and bowed her head.

“Tell me honestly. Did your second sister-in-law ever do anything to Yoongi?”

“Some time ago, she came to our house while she had a cold and held Yoongi. Yoongi caught it from her and suffered quite a bit.”

“Was that severe cold back then really because she held him?”

Gihyeon’s brow furrowed even deeper.

“I can’t say for certain, but that was the only reason I could think of for Yoongi catching a cold at the time.”

“Then, has anything else happened besides that?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. If she snuck in and did something without my knowledge, I wouldn’t have known…”

While Yeonji acknowledged her own oversight, she didn’t cover up for Gyeongja either.

“Did any of the other children ever do anything to Yoongi?”

“Aside from my second brother-in-law and his wife, everyone else lives here with you and Mother except for the third brother-in-law who lives on his own. None of them have visited our house separately.”

Gihyeon currently had eight children—five sons and three daughters.

Since there was a gap of over nine years between the eldest, Cheolho, and the second, Cheolmin, most of his children still lived under his roof.

In fact, the youngest daughter was still attending middle school.

“From now on, if your second sister-in-law visits your house, make sure she only moves around where you can see her.

Actually, just keep Yoongi within your sight at all times.”

“Yes, Father.”

“You may go now.”

“Yes.”

Watching his daughter-in-law bow politely and leave the room, annoyance flared up inside Gihyeon.

How dare someone with no real capability start pulling stunts like that already…?

Gihyeon recalled what one of his subordinates, whom he had stationed at the maternity hospital back then, had reported to him.

[I don’t know if I should mention this… but I saw your second daughter-in-law trying to sneak into the nursery room in the early hours of the morning.

Honestly, I was keeping watch over the room where your eldest daughter-in-law was admitted, so I shouldn’t have been able to see it.

But I kept hearing a rattling noise, so I quietly moved over to check.

She was trying over and over to open the nursery door when a nurse caught her.

She just said she wanted to see her nephew’s face and quickly walked away.]

The timeline was the exact same past, but with one single detail altered: the nursery door had been locked.

No matter what it takes, I have to take control of Samwoo Group—no, Samwoo Trading.

Lying in his crib and staring at the ceiling, Yoongi’s eyes were certainly not those of a baby.

They were burning with fierce ambition.

The only one in the room watching those eyes was Deokbae.

<Are I You a back bit. enjoy finally for garbage getting here? kept kind let life live lived need normal of one quiet sense so such then, to what you>

Yoongi looked at Deokbae with a flicker of surprise.

Up until now, the old spirit had seemed so light-hearted and talkative—just a chatterbox obsessed with memorial tables—so it was unexpected to find he actually had some depth to him.

<So, Are and are around bounced crib day, do every from getting going gonna grandpa holds in just lie mom now? nursing single this to what whenever you you? your>

Up until now, that had been more than enough.

But now that he knew the truth about Gyeongja, he realized he couldn’t just sit back mindlessly any longer.

It wasn’t just Gyeongja; there was no telling what kind of harm Gihyeon’s other children might try to inflict on him in the future.

“No!”

Hearing Yoongi’s firm outburst, Deokbae nodded, looking as though he had expected nothing less.

<Even Do Though You a after an as at be bottom chairman chance company edge? elementary—or else, end enter even everyone financial forty got grow help. if it just learn level, life like live living much no normally, of primary rankings. reason repetitive right? school school—what second sitting so still strictly the there there’s to up want well, when will won’t years; you you’d>

The moment he heard those words, Yoongi nodded desperately, over and over again.

<In I actually could help know? out, sense, that you>

A puzzled look crossed Yoongi’s face.

Is he gonna use super powers or something?

However, the words that came out of Deokbae’s mouth completely shattered Yoongi’s expectations.

<Starting I I’m It’s I’ll Mind Okay? You’re a be because can doing for future. give-and-take. hold in like me me, means memorial not now, one only personal see services the this tutor. which who you’re you, you. your>

Using English phrases and all, Deokbae’s way of speaking was hardly what you’d expect from someone born in the Joseon Dynasty.

<Look A-won Believe Daewongun. Didn’t Heungseon I a alongside as at brat bribe! civil commoner, dens exam eyes! gambling giving hanging him in it me nobleman! not, or out passed paying place—the rank—without run second service single suspicious tell the there this to used was wasn’t with you?>

Looking at Deokbae’s behavior, Yoongi couldn’t picture him as a historic second-place scholar at all.

<Passing I I’ve Plus, Still a administrative, all and at back bar civil class convinced? equivalent era. exam exams foreign have in is lot, not of passing place plenty same second seen service service, so teach the then time to top traveled world you. your>

Yoongi shook his head side to side.

If what Deokbae said was true, it would be an incredible asset for him.

<Great, But a before deal have important like looks one start, super then. there’s thing… we>

Deokbae’s expression turned solemn and stern.

<Stop brat! dropping honorifics little me, the with you>