I Became the Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss

I became a childhood friend of the middle boss.

Episode 14

May is the month of family.

On the weekend of Parents’ Day, our family headed to the main house of the Shin-gyeong Do family after having a late lunch.

The main house was located in Gwanak-gu, about an hour’s drive from our home.

“Since we’re going to see Grandpa, you need to behave and not make a fuss, okay? Especially you, Ye-eun, don’t try to climb onto the lion statue like last year.”

“I won’t do that anymore!”

“Good, that’s right.”

My father, who was driving, cautioned Ye-eun, who was sitting in the back seat. She nodded without any complaints, but I wondered how it would actually turn out.

She had a history of causing trouble.

Not feeling confident, my father turned to me.

“Kyungwoo, make sure to keep an eye on Ye-eun so she doesn’t cause any trouble. You can do it because you’re her older brother, right?”

“Yes, I will.”

“I’m not going to cause any trouble.”

“And you, don’t even think about causing any problems either. Please, I beg you.”

“When have I ever done that?”

“True, you haven’t, but seeing what you’ve been up to lately makes me a bit uneasy.”

“I’m not doing anything to worry about; don’t worry.”

I replied like that.

When had I ever caused trouble?

I couldn’t recall anything even after thinking hard.

If I had to think of one instance, it was when I sparred with the triplets.

‘Can that even be considered trouble? It was just a fair match.’

I hadn’t broken any laws or crossed any ethical lines.

It was just something I did within my limits.

Could that really be called trouble?

‘Nope, nothing comes to mind.’

After a moment of thought, I concluded that I hadn’t caused any trouble.

The fact that I was innocent was proof enough.

I didn’t know what my father was worried about, but I was sure nothing would happen.

I then turned my gaze from the rearview mirror to my mother, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

She had been silent.

‘She hasn’t said a word since earlier.’

Since it was a family gathering, my mother had woken up early to dress up nicely to avoid any unnecessary criticism.

But no matter how much makeup she wore, I couldn’t ignore her stiff expression.

Even Ye-eun had been subtly looking for cues since she got into the car.

That was how different my mother was today.

“…”

As a result, a heavy silence filled the car.

My father focused on driving, and Ye-eun just stared out the window.

My mother kept looking straight ahead.

‘It’s always been like this.’

This wasn’t the first time.

Whenever we attended family gatherings, we often found ourselves in this situation.

Attending family meetings was uncomfortable, tense, and unenjoyable.

I had never seen anything good come out of them.

Even before I realized my past life was the same.

“…”

I would just stare out the window absentmindedly, holding my sword.

I would internally wish for traffic jams or car troubles so we could arrive late at the main house.

So sitting in silence like this felt like I had returned to the past.

The atmosphere in the car was stifling.

I decided to break the awkward silence and spoke up.

“By the way, we had lunch but didn’t drink any coffee, did we?”

“Huh? Oh, right. But why are you bringing up coffee?”

“Ye-eun, don’t you want to eat cake?”

“Cake? Did you bring cake, Oppa?”

“Mom, don’t you want to drink coffee?”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

My family, excluding me, looked at each other with wide eyes.

I chuckled at their bewilderment over my sudden topic.

“We have over an hour’s drive ahead of us. If we see a café on the way, how about we stop for coffee? And have some cake too?”

“…”

“Everyone dressed up nicely, so we should enjoy some fresh air on the way, right? What’s the harm in being late?”

If we were late, we were late.

It was obvious that once we arrived, we’d just end up bragging and criticizing each other.

It would be better to arrive late.

As long as we didn’t miss the banquet, that was fine.

I encouraged my family like that.

At first, they blinked at my suggestion in surprise.

“Should we do that then?”

My father smiled, and soon Ye-eun and my mother agreed cheerfully.

“I want ice cream too! I’ll find something that looks delicious!”

“We’ll be having dinner later, so let’s just choose one of the two. Ye-eun, you look for a good place over there, and Mom, you check this side.”

The heavy silence that had settled in the car moments ago vanished as if it were a lie.

Before long, my family was chatting and laughing.

‘Yes, this is how it should be.’

I felt satisfied watching that scene.

It was nice to see Ye-eun and my mother competing to find a café.

“Should I look for one too?”

“Just focus on driving.”

“Good luck, everyone.”

Before I knew it, my father joined in.

As I cheered them on, I suddenly remembered and checked my smartphone.

I had received a message from Yeon Haneul.

Yeon Haneul: I’m on my way to the mountain now…

It was a picture of a hiking guide sign.

I chuckled as I read her message.

‘Since I told her I wouldn’t be home today, she probably decided to go hiking or train at the dojo.’

It was half a joke when I suggested it.

I found it cute how Yeon Haneul, who usually complained, ended up following my suggestion.

I replied to her.

[Me]: Is it the mountain you mentioned before?

Yeon Haneul: Yeah, it’s behind our house and really high!

[Me]: It’s just the back mountain of the neighborhood.

Her reply came quickly.

It seemed she hadn’t reached the mountain yet.

[Me]: You should reach the top then?

Yeon Haneul: It’s really high here!

[Me]: You have to do it if you want to become a hunter.

[Me]: You can do it if you try.

Yeon Haneul: Aren’t you being a bit too harsh since it’s not your own business?

[Me]: Take a selfie when you reach the top and send it to me.

Yeon Haneul: ( <0x07>).

[Me]: But are you really going alone?

Yeon Haneul: I came with the director. He was really happy when I told him I was going hiking.

For a few minutes, I exchanged messages with Yeon Haneul.

Eventually, she said she was going up the mountain, and our conversation stopped.

At that point, Ye-eun and my mother’s competition reached its conclusion.

My mother had won.

After enjoying our time at the café, we arrived at the main house an hour late.

Even so, we didn’t mind and got out of the car.

“We’ve been waiting.”

“How have you been? What about the others?”

“Everyone is here except for the family of Mr. Doojun.”

“Is the eldest brother still not here?”

“Then let me guide you inside.”

The household staff followed us.

They took our luggage, and the head servant led the way.

“You can use this room. The card key should be on the desk inside.”

“Thank you for the guidance.”

“It’s nothing. We’d appreciate it if you could join the banquet on time.”

“Of course. Since my father is attending, we can’t be late. But do you know where the others are now?”

“They are probably gathered in the study, chatting.”

“The study on the second floor?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“Then we should head there. They’ll probably complain about us being late.”

“Then I’ll take my leave. If you need anything, just call for me.”

The head servant opened the door to the room for my parents, Ye-eun, and me before leaving.

We each entered our rooms.

“Just leave your luggage there.”

“Yes, understood. Then we’ll take our leave.”

Since we only planned to stay for one day, we didn’t have much luggage.

I asked the staff to put our bags in a corner and sent them off.

At that moment, my parents entered the room.

“Kyungwoo, we’re going to the study to meet the relatives. What do you want to do?”

“Mom, you can go with Dad, or you can spend time together. Just make sure to come to the banquet on time.”

We had the freedom to spend time as we pleased until the banquet.

We could choose to stay quietly in our room without interacting with relatives.

However, showing such behavior at a gathering meant we would likely be ostracized.

For someone like me or Ye-eun, who weren’t adults yet, we might receive some criticism but would be tolerated to some extent.

Of course, I had no intention of doing that.

“It’ll be boring just staying in the room, so we’ll go to the training hall. Right, Ye-eun?”

“Yeah! I want to go too!”

“There will probably be cousins at the training hall, so we can socialize there.”

“Is that so? Then let’s do that.”

The training hall at the main house had various training facilities that we didn’t have at home.

So, I planned to take advantage of this opportunity to use those facilities.

It was a chance to train my body.

“Then we’ll head out.”

“Okay, see you later. Just don’t mess around too much with the kids there.”

“I won’t, as long as they don’t bother me.”

“I trust you, son.”

After talking with my parents, Ye-eun and I headed to the training hall.

The training hall was located on the second basement floor.

‘Everyone seems to be working hard.’

As I descended into the training hall, I exchanged brief glances with my cousins.

Having competed against each other since childhood, we greeted one another warmly…

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