8 History

Checking the time, he realised it was already 9 in the morning and he had yet to get up. Normally it would not have been a problem but, he needed to meet his Grandfather in his office in Sejong City in just over two hours.

Min-soo hurriedly brushed his teeth, grabbed a random business suit outfit from the wardrobe and changed before hurrying down to get something to eat. Butler Kim merely smiled in amusement before walking off to bring something over from the kitchen.

As Min-soo ate, Hyun-woo walked in and asked whether he was ready to leave yet. Min-soo looked at Hyun-woo with an aggrieved expression and could not help but ask, "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"Young Master, you do realise there are things known as alarm clocks, right?" Hyun-woo replied in a matter of fact tone.

As frustrated as Min-soo was he realised he should quit while he was ahead. He was clearly in the wrong, yet he had tried to palm off responsibility to Hyun-woo, so he shut up and finished his breakfast. It was only yesterday that Hyun-woo had acted all chummy, but where was he when needed? Min-soo could only vent internally.

Finishing his breakfast, he rushed into the car and they headed off in the direction of Sejong City. Min-soo had rarely seen his Grandfather in the past year, not including the three coma months. In fact, the last time they had met was at the Lunar New Year family gathering back in February nearly half a year ago.

It was not the first time Min-soo had met his Grandfather at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, but it was certainly his first since arriving in this world. From his memories, he gathered that his Grandfather was a shrewd character, in fact it was he who had consolidated the gains of his Father before him and turned Antares into the behemoth it was today.

The Lee family's continued success was undoubtedly a result of his stewardship and years of effort. However, his foray into politics had never been a matter of if, it had always been a question of when. Many influential and powerful figures had always had him on the radar as a potential President. But as years went past and he did not seem to have any desire to step down from Antares these eyes slowly turned away.

Even when at the age of sixty-three he decided to step down from Antares and entered the election as a candidate for the People's Party, who went on to win a majority of the seats in the National Assembly and form government. These eyes still did not think of him as a future President.

His efforts were rewarded with the post of Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister, although not the most powerful posting, it was a powerful enough one for a newcomer to politics. From what Min-soo could tell, his Grandfather had a close relationship with the current Prime Minister dating back to their university days.

Then again, many people in positions of power across the country were all acquaintances from their university days. As graduates from Seoul National University, Korea University or Yonsei University, they had all over the long years eventually met one another, either in person or through mutual friends.

Privilege was something people were born with, not acquired, at least it was how it seemed in this country. People could climb, climb and climb, but if they were missing a single aspect of what was deemed to be of 'high-class' than they would be forever looked down upon, regardless of their wealth and or talents.

This was the case wherever one went in the world. There were simply some places that no amount of money could buy into.

However, Min-soo was curious as to what task his Grandfather would give him. In fact, this was the first time he had been given one from his Grandfather, aside from minor things that cropped up in Antares over the years.

Sejong City was supposed to be the new capital of Korea, but it was not meant to be. However, the previous governments had still ended up moving a majority of the administrative offices into the city. Among them was the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

It was a rather dull city, far quieter than Seoul. Lost in his thoughts, Min-soo did not even realise the car had stopped and they had arrived outside the Ministry.

Stepping out he saw the uninspired design of the Ministry. Dull, just like the rest of the city. He walked inside and was greeted by a guard.

"Mr Lee, Minister Lee is expecting you, please follow me."

Min-soo followed the guard and took the lift up to the tenth floor. The lift doors opened and the guard gestured for him to step forward.

"Please, I have other orders, I will not accompany you further. Good day, Mr Lee."

Min-soo thanked the guard and stepped out, the lift doors closed and a woman in her mid-thirties came over to greet him.

"Mr Lee, I am Minister Lee's secretary, he is currently in a meeting, he shall be finished anytime now. Please take a seat, would you like a coffee or tea?"

"Tea please." Min-soo took a seat and played with his cup of tea as he waited for his Grandfather to call him in. Fortunately, he only needed to wait for a little over ten minutes, before the secretary came back and informed him that his Grandfather was ready to see him now.

Getting up, he tidied his clothes and made sure there was nothing out of place, before he flashed the secretary a smile, who responded with a light blush before she turned around gesturing for him to enter the office.

His Grandfather's office was austere and rather plain. Against one wall was a glass cabinet and in it were a few antiques from the Joseon era and against the other wall was hung the national flag. His

Grandfather was sat behind a red wood desk looking at him with an amused expression.

"Can't help yourself can you boy? Don't try to seduce my secretary. She has a husband and two kids." He warned in a teasing tone.

Seeing the awkward expression on Min-soo's face he laughed before getting up and gesturing for him to sit down.

"Come, I have not seen you in so long. Your Grandmother has been nagging at me for months to come visit you. Hmphh… your Mother was right, you are just skin and bones. Has the hospital not been feeding you? Why do I even pay them?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Uh… Grandfather, it is good to see you are doing well. How is Grandmother these days? Mother and Father said they would visit you soon." Min-soo greeted his Grandfather before taking a seat.

"Pah, that idiot son of mine has been saying that for years and has he come here since? Not one time. If the National Assembly was not in Seoul, I doubt I would see him even once a year. But, you should go visit your Grandmother since you're here. She has been rather down recently especially with the two of you in a coma. Fortunately, you awoke when you did, I was not sure how to keep her from becoming further depressed. Maybe I should move back to Seoul. At least that way she won't be so lonely."

His Grandfather's eyes deepened upon mentioning his Grandmother. In recent years his Grandmother's health had been deteriorating, at first, they had thought it was merely her age catching up to her, but it had been diabetes. Which fortunately was manageable.

However, it had still done a number on her health, even so she had still persisted on supporting his Grandfather's transition into politics and even moving to Sejong with him. Although Sejong was barely an hour and a half away from Seoul, it was still rather inconvenient to travel back and forth between the two cities, as such they rarely met apart from the family gatherings. Fortunately over the past couple of years she had started to recover.