7MoH 1.4

“Jeong-in! Dinner’s ready!”

Suzy’s voice echoed as she called up the stairs. Jeong-in, who had been solving problems in a workbook, put down his pencil and got up.

When he opened the door, the familiar smell of Korean food hit his nose. The savory meat smell and the tangy kimchi aroma. It was definitely either kimchi stew or braised kimchi. Hoping for the latter, Jeong-in went downstairs with excited steps.

As a single working mom, Suzy was always busy. Jeong-in couldn’t ask his mother to make Korean food. When he craved Korean cuisine, he would make instant ramen or buy frozen kimbap from the store. He had tried making it himself, but lacking cooking talent, he failed repeatedly.

Proper Korean food like this was a rare treat. Even finding ingredients wasn’t easy, and the nearest Korean restaurant was an hour and a half drive away.

Suzy spoke in Korean:

〈Jeong-in, can you scoop some rice?〉

〈Sure.〉

The two conversed in a mix of Korean and English. In the early days of their settlement, they deliberately spoke English at home for faster adaptation, but now they often spoke Korean to preserve their native language.

Jeong-in naturally scooped rice from the electric rice cooker into their bowls and placed spoons. Meanwhile, Suzy, wearing oven mitts, set a yellow cast-iron pot in the middle of the table.

“Wow!”

When she lifted the lid, steamy braised kimchi with plenty of meat appeared along with the rising vapor.

Saliva pooled at the edges of his tongue. Jeong-in welcomed the Korean food he hadn’t had in a long time, clapping his hands like a child.

Suzy smiled proudly as she served some of the braised kimchi into the concave plate in front of Jeong-in.

“What about the Spring Fling dance? Still negative about it?”

“I agreed to help the student council during the day. I’m not going to the dance.”

The Spring Fling’s concept was decided annually by student council votes, and this year they were having a carnival with a mobile festival concept. Jeong-in had agreed to help Jona Kaplan, a student council member and Mathlete Society member, along with Justin.

“How’s school? Anything new lately?”

“I’m representing Mexico in the Model UN. The previous person transferred.”

“Isn’t the math club enough?”

“I don’t like physical activities. And there’s no such thing as ‘enough’ for Harvard admissions.”

The Ivy League was the dream goal for anyone wanting to attend a prestigious university. While all the universities were impressive, Harvard held special significance for immigrants like Jeong-in. In Korea, few people knew all the Ivy League schools, but everyone knew Harvard. The name itself symbolized success.

And Jeong-in had another reason for wanting to go to Harvard.

Jeong-in aimed to enter Harvard’s bioengineering department and ultimately become a pharmaceutical research scientist developing new drugs.

Losing his father to pulmonary fibrosis at a young age left him with both a deep wound and strong motivation. Pulmonary fibrosis was a rare condition where lung tissue gradually becomes damaged and hardened—a fatal disease with no perfect cure that leads to death within a few years of diagnosis.

Jeong-in still couldn’t forget the warm praise his father, wearing a patient’s gown, had given him when he could recite multiplication tables before even starting elementary school.

“Memorizing multiplication tables already. Amazing, our Jeong-in. Looks like you could go to Harvard when you grow up!”

Though Jeong-in was barely seven years old then, the image of his father struggling to breathe and suffering remained vividly etched in his memory.

After losing his father, their family of three became two. Jeong-in and Suzy had spent many years as friends, relying on each other. Of course, as Jeong-in grew up, some secrets remained unshared, but their bond remained solid and strong.

Bzzt—

A vibration sounded from Suzy’s apron pocket. She glanced at the screen briefly before casually turning it face down on the table.

Bzzt—

Almost immediately, another vibration sounded. Jeong-in narrowed his eyes, looking at Suzy.

“Mom, are you dating someone?”

“No.”

Suzy answered nonchalantly, but at that moment, another vibration rang out. This time it seemed to be a call, with short vibrations continuing in succession.

“Sorry.”

Suzy hesitated briefly, then pressed the side button to turn off the power.

“It’s nothing to worry about. Let’s eat.”

If Mom says so, it must be true. As Jeong-in nodded and was about to pick up his spoon, he heard someone knocking at the front door. Suzy frowned, looking toward the entrance. Then she muttered in Korean.

〈Is this guy seriousy…?〉

Suzy stood up as if she had someone in mind. Jeong-in looked up at her with puzzled eyes.

“Mom?”

“Jeong-in, you stay here.”

Suzy spoke firmly, leaving Jeong-in at the table as she headed for the door.

Holding his breath and waiting, Jeong-in heard arguing in English from the entrance. Unable to just sit still, he went to check and saw a familiar face.

Steven Fletcher. Suzy’s ex-husband.

“…Steven.”

“Jeong-in! How have you been?”

Steven stepped boldly into the house with a bright face and gave Jeong-in a big hug. Then he brazenly sniffed the air and walked toward the kitchen.

“Is that kimchi stew I smell? Oh! Braised kimchi?”

Steven swallowed his saliva as he looked down at the meal the two had been eating. Then he slouched his shoulders in a way meant to evoke sympathy.

“Braised kimchi was my favorite when I was in Korea. Come to think of it, I haven’t had dinner yet…”

Suzy sighed deeply with an expression somewhere between annoyance and pity as she went toward the rice cooker.

“Wash your hands first.”

“Yes!”

Steven, with an excited expression, hung his suit jacket on a dining chair and headed to the bathroom. Suzy, scooping rice into a bowl, glanced at Jeong-in and asked:

“Are you okay with this?”

“Of course.”

Jeong-in answered with a casual smile.

Back in Korea, Suzy had been an English teacher. She worked at an English conversation academy frequented by elementary school students, and one of the native speaker instructors there was Steven Fletcher.

The academy building in the apartment complex housed all kinds of educational institutes. After school, Jeong-in would go to the piano academy in that building, then to the math academy, and finally to his mother’s English academy to participate in classes. He would wait there until going home with her.

Steven would kindly talk to and play with Jeong-in, who waited for his mother doing homework alone in an empty classroom. As it turned out, he did this because he liked Suzy.

Suzy, who had been raising her child alone after losing her husband, was lonely and felt a kinship with Steven, who was also alone in Korea. The two of them—no, the three of them including Jeong-in—quickly grew close.

On holidays like Lunar New Year when families gather, they would often spend time with Steven or even take trips together to places like Busan or Gangneung.

Eventually, Steven proposed to Suzy, and the three immigrated to America. Bellacove, where they settled, was where Steven had grown up.

Back in his hometown after a long time, Steven quickly became busy, using the excuse of meeting family and friends and looking for work. In doing so, he neglected his wife and stepson who had been dropped in a foreign country far from home.

Eventually, the couple divorced. Steven apologized by signing over this house, where they had lived together, to Suzy.

After the divorce, Suzy considered returning to Korea but ultimately decided to settle in Bellacove. She didn’t want to push Jeong-in back into Korea’s hellish competition for college entrance just as he was beginning to adapt to the new environment. She also believed his future would be brighter here.

Her English skills, which had been her livelihood in Korea, weren’t particularly useful here, so Suzy learned a trade and opened a small nail salon. That’s how they had continued their American life for seven years.

Steven brought up his real purpose when they were all sitting with cups of coffee after finishing the braised kimchi dinner.

“Suzy. While Jeong-in is here too, I’d like to continue our conversation from earlier…”

“I told you there’s nothing to talk about.”

“Please! Just listen to me once. Jeong-in! You join us too, okay?”

He began with quite a desperate expression.

“You know I have many ‘hyung-nim’ connections in Korea, right? I’m preparing to import and sell used cars from Korea, and I’m going around looking for investors.”

He said “hyung-nim” in Korean. Jeong-in smiled amusedly, seeing that he hadn’t forgotten Korean sensibilities.

“I’ve been taking my proposal around, and guess who I met? Dominic Prescott!”

The smile on Jeong-in’s face vanished completely at the unexpected appearance of the name “Prescott.”

Prescott—a name no one dared approach.

The Prescott family, belonging to the old money class, had established their wealth foundation in the late 19th century during the full-fledged growth of the financial industry by founding “Prescott & Co.”

Initially operating as a local bank and investment association providing financial services to small businesses and the local community, they expanded their business into investment banking, asset management, and real estate investment over generations.

In the early 20th century, the Prescott family, having grown into a large investment company, restructured as “Prescott Capital Holdings” while building corporate acquisitions and global financial networks. To this day, they reign as a representative financial conglomerate exerting powerful influence throughout the American economy.

Their subsidiary, Prescott Bank & Trust, has also established itself as a major bank with a nationwide network. It offered special products with higher returns for Wincrest students or graduates, so both Jeong-in and Justin had accounts and check cards with Prescott Bank.

Bellacove was like the roots of the Prescott family. No one here didn’t know about the Prescotts. There was even a major road called Prescott Avenue.

Wincrest High School was not free from Prescott influence either. Thanks to the Prescott family donating the school grounds and building the buildings and stadium, the auditorium and stadium bore the Prescott name.

“Jeong-in, do you happen to know Prescott’s son? I hear he goes to the same Wincrest High as you.”

Jeong-in’s slightly parted lips pressed firmly together. He felt like he could never escape Chase Prescott.

“I was trying to find some common topic, and would you believe I heard his son goes to that school. I don’t know why he doesn’t attend a private school instead. And I was told he’s in the same grade as Jeong-in, so…”

“So what? What did you do?”

Suzy asked, her eyes wide.

“I mentioned that my son goes there too, in the same grade. But… I might have forgotten to mention that we divorced a few years ago…”

“What?”

Suzy let out a sarcastic laugh in disbelief. Steven quickly offered his excuse.

“Do you know how hard it is to build rapport with someone like that? Those fortress-like people only soften when talking about their children!”

“So, are you saying you did the right thing?”

“Suzy, my story doesn’t end there. What I really want to say is…”

A sense of foreboding crossed Suzy’s face at Steven’s words.

“There’s a charity party at the Prescott mansion on Friday. When Dominic Prescott asked if I could come with my son…”

“Don’t tell me!”

“I said we would go.”

“What?”

Steven looked back and forth between the shocked Suzy and Jeong-in, a servile smile spreading across his face.

“So I was wondering… could I take Jeong-in to the party?”

“You want to take Jeong-in, pretending he’s your son?”

“Look at us! Who would I be fooling in the first place? I just… need to go to that party. That’s all. I’m desperate enough to use my ex-wife’s son as an invitation if he’s willing to help!”

Nobody would mistake the two for biological father and son anyway, given their different ethnicities. Steven just wanted to create some connection to the Prescotts by whatever excuse necessary.

“Please… if I get investment from the Prescotts, others will follow automatically. It’ll be like having a highway paved for my future.”

Suzy sighed deeply, crossing her arms in disbelief. Steven continued with eyes sparkling with hope.

“I’ll bring up business under the pretext of greeting them. If I bring my son along, they’ll at least give me a chance to speak, right?”

“Do you have any conscience at all? You want Jeong-in to pretend to be your son? You who didn’t even properly care for him when he was struggling to adapt in a foreign country?”

Steven bowed his head, seemingly feeling guilty at Suzy’s direct criticism.

The couple’s marriage had lasted less than two years, and they had lived separately for nearly one of those years. Jeong-in had never considered Steven his father.

“If this investment goes through, I’ll pay for Jeong-in’s college fund.”

“…What did you say?”

For the first time, Suzy narrowed her eyes with interest as she looked at Steven.

“I may not be able to cover it all, but I’ll pay for the first year’s tuition!”

Suzy turned her head to look at Jeong-in sitting beside her, as if gauging his opinion.

American college tuition, easily exceeding tens of thousands of dollars, was not something to be casually dismissed. If attending a party once and pretending to be a son could solve the first year’s college tuition, it wasn’t such a bad deal.

Of course, they would aim for school scholarships or financial aid, but they needed to consider alternatives in case those didn’t come through.

When Jeong-in nodded slightly in agreement, Suzy said in a clear voice,

“Can you put it in writing? I’m asking if you can write a promissory note.”

“Of course!”

So Jeong-in and Suzy accepted Steven’s desperate plea. They agreed to attend the Prescott family’s charity event that Friday.