Rebirth: King to Superstar - Chapter 170

Alright guys, before you start the criticism please remember this is my first time writing a sad/serious scene. Only had movies as a reference and this is the best I could do.

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Min-Seok sat on the couch as Joon-won bought out two glasses of water as he passed one over to Min-Seok before sitting down right beside him. He noticed Yun-Hee was already on the bed, sleeping. He noticed Min-Seok already taking a sip from the glass before placing it at the side, ready to get the conversation going. Joon-won also placed it beside without taking a sip as he also wanted to get over with the conversation soon.

“Now tell me, Joon-won. Where did you get the money? Why did you pay for it with your money? I told you before you went into the building to call me when it is our time to pay.” Min-Seok didn’t even turn his head as he just continued to stare at the TV when he asked.

Joon-won couldn’t help but take a deep breath before replying in a straight way manner, the same way Min-Seok likes it, “Dad, did you forget the acting job I took the past week? They paid me completely, and that was enough for the first-year fees when I checked. That’s why I didn’t call you.”

“What? Did you use that money? Why did you use that money in the first place? You should save money. You are only starting right now. Your job isn’t like mine, where your account automatically gets credited with money in the first week of the month. Why are you so dumb even after becoming an adult, Joon-won?” he practically shouted and slowly stood up after hearing Joon-won’s response.

“Dad, please Yun-hee is sleeping. Let’s not wake her up. Please sit down and let me talk. Please.” he grabbed Min-Seok’s hand and begged him to sit down instead of making a scene.

Min-Seok looked towards the bedroom door, then turned towards Joon-won before sitting down once again. Joon-won exhaled before continuing, “Dad, I understand that what I do isn’t anywhere near yours in terms of consistency, and your fears of me never getting a job might come true. But as of now, it is ok. I have enough money in the bank to continue living here comfortably until I get another acting job. If I ever need money, I can always go back to the drama house to act there. So, don’t worry about it.” He even took out his phone to show his bank balance, but inside he had completely different thoughts and hoped that the man wouldn’t check the balance cause he had almost no money in it after paying the fees.

Min-Seok didn’t know what to say when he heard his son’s words. He pushed Joon-won’s phone away and didn’t want to even reply. The living room descended into silence as Joon-won gave him time to think.

“So now that you earn money, you think I can not provide for both of you and that you need to do this? At any point in your upbringing, did you guys feel I wasn’t good enough?”

Joon-won was shocked when he heard those words and knew Min-Seok wasn’t thinking right again and felt like he was being looked down upon. So he immediately held Min-Seok’s hand before telling him, “Dad, it is not like that. Why are you taking it like that, dad? I am now a grown man, too. I am going to enter my 20s in a couple of months. It is about time I take some responsibility off that shoulders of yours. It is nothing more than that.”

“But did I ask you to do that? I didn’t, so why are you doing it? I do not need your help now. I can still support you guys. I hate it when you both try to keep secrets from me. At what point in my upbringing did you think that there was a need to keep secrets from me? I always supported you guys with everything I can.” as he clutched his hair, tears slowly falling.

Being a single father, Min-Seok’s greatest achievement for him was raising both his children without any major problems for him. Even during the tough times and when the money was not there, he took up two jobs to give proper education to both his children and even be able to support their dreams. So seeing them grow up and chase their dreams was huge for him but this all gets thrown out the window for him when he feels like his children think he wasn’t good enough and need to go out of their way to support him, it hurt his pride.

Joon-won took a deep breath as he held Min-Seok’s shoulders before turning him towards him, both of them looking at each other in the eyes as he said, “Dad, trust me when I say this with all my heart and passion, the most prideful thing for me is being your son. You raised us for almost 20 years. You carried the burden of raising us for 20 years without ever making us feel sad about not having a mother. You are everything for both of us. Now, after 20 years, you aren’t as young as you are anymore. It is time for us to support you, too.”

Joon-won paused ass Min-Seok just had a blank look on his face as he stared at him. He gave the guy a minute to process everything he just said, as it was a lot for the old man to take in. The last thing he wanted was for Min-Seok to continue thinking he had to support his children his entire life. As a parent himself, he knew how tough it was to let go of his children when it was time. He had a lot of battles with himself when he had to hand over the throne to his eldest son when it was time and the only way he could do it was when his wife straightforwardly told him like she always did that his lovely kids were not young anymore.

“But I can still do it. I can still take care of guys. You aren’t still adults. I mean, it has only been a year since you walked out of the house. You still don’t even have your driver’s license. You both still need my support as children. How can you say you don’t?”

Joon-won sighed and replied, “Dad, wake up and look around you. We aren’t back home. You guys came to Arios to drop Yun-hee off at University. She isn’t a young girl anymore. The time has come to let us make our own decisions and support you along the way. What about this dad, even if we aren’t ready and are prone to make mistakes? Won’t you be there back at home ready to welcome us back and support us once again? Won’t you be there for us when we are going through our hard times? See, your roles in our lives in no way diminished. You are still our dad who takes care of us, who pats our back when we face problems. Nothing is going to change. You are the one person who is going to live in our hearts forever, no matter where we go or what we do. You are the most important person to both of us.”

Min-Seok nodded as he began to realize what Joon-won said was also true. He would always open the door to his two babies, ready to welcome them and provide support to them like he always did during the time of their needs. As he looked around, he finally realized that time has passed by and that he was truly in another city to join his daughter in a university. He leaned back on the couch and slowly murmured, “Time has really passed by.”

Joon-won slowly smiled before saying, “Even if time has passed by, we both are still going to be your little children. So do not worry dad. Take some rest, it’s been a long day. I’ll wake you up when it’s time for dinner.” as he stood up and placed Min-Seok’s legs on the couch before going inside and bringing him a blanket. Min-Seok looked at Joon-won before closing his eyes to sleep.

Sighing, Joon-won walked to the balcony before looking outside.