OLT_01
He have thought about death before.
After being kicked out of the house, he thought about it sometimes... no, almost every day.
Yeah, he only thought about it. That’s why he didn’t know. That it could come so suddenly. It was just a really meaningless death.
The last thought he had before dying was...
‘I don’t have any family… what’s going to happen to my body?’
The fact that there was no one to hold a funeral for him.
The belated regret and emptiness flowed down with his hot blood, then grew cold.
...that should’ve been the end.
"Is this really it...?"
Ha Giyeon touched his own face reflected in the mirror over and over. No matter how many times he looked, it was still the smooth, boyish face of someone who had just gotten past puberty.
He had been in this state for hours, unable to process the scene that had greeted him the moment he opened his eyes. He denied reality, tugged at his hair in frustration, but all he got was a sore scalp.
"How is this possible...?"
The memory of lying on the cold asphalt was still vivid. Was it all just a dream...?
No, that couldn’t be.
He grabbed the phone on the desk, the exact same model he had used in middle school. The thick, tiny screen felt awkward for a moment, but Ha Giyeon quickly started searching online.
"I definitely died, but now I’m awake... Ugh..."
Even typing it into the search bar felt ridiculous. Unsurprisingly, the results were useless, people calling it chuunibyou*, or joking about 'Black Flame Dragons'.
*Eighth-grader syndrome » a Japanese slang term describing a phase where young teenagers act in an overly dramatic, pretentious, or delusional way, imagining themselves as special, powerful, or destined for greatness.
What is this, some kind of web novel or webtoon plot...
"Huh...?"
At that moment, countless titles of webtoons and web novels flashed through his mind.
[I Regressed and Became an S-Rank... Transmigrated as a Chaebol... The Child Actor Returns...]
Regression, transmigration, reincarnation... all those tropes.
And among them, the regression web novels he had read the most.
After being kicked out of his home, Ha Giyeon had started reading web novels and watching dramas, things he'd never had any interest in before. To drown out the useless thoughts that kept surfacing, he had to force himself to pick up hobbies he never had.
And that was how he ended up reading web novels.
Back then, there were many web novels about 'regressing to the past' stories where the protagonist, having failed in life, goes back in time to relive a glorious life. Ha Giyeon especially loved stories about changing a regretful past.
After all, he too had things in his past he wished he could undo.
That’s why he had always envied those protagonists.
"Haha…"
And now, he had become one of them.
He couldn’t suppress the smirk creeping up his lips.
The past... no, the reality he would now live in.
'I’ve regressed. To the place that will become my hell.'
***
Ha Giyeon sat at her desk and began gathering information first.
There had been two confessions that turned his life upside down.
The first confession happened during the winter break of his first year in high school.
Right now, it was just before high school enrollment, so of course, the confession hadn’t happened yet.
"That was close……"
If he had regressed just a little later, he would’ve had to deal with the awkwardness after confessing.
Ha Giyeon flipped through the desk calendar and checked the first day of school. March 4th was marked as the high school enrollment date.
[Hwaguk High School’s First Day!]
"......"
He must have been so excited that he marked it in multiple colors.
Looking through last year’s calendar, there were notes about things he did with his brothers and their birthdays highlighted importantly.
Yet his own birthday wasn’t even marked.
Ha Giyeon tossed the calendar into the trash and wrote the school start date in his phone’s calendar instead.
"Transferring schools… probably isn’t an option."
They’re not parents who would listen.
It’s a bit uncomfortable to get involved with the older brothers like this…
"Ah."
No.
Ha Giyeon suddenly remembered what Ha Dohoon had said before he started high school.
‘Don’t act like you know me. It’s embarrassing.’
Despite Ha Dohoon’s words, Ha Giyeon had happily pretended to know his older brothers. But every time he greeted them, they either ignored him, shoved his shoulder, or mocked him.
‘I even got talked about behind my back at school for acting close to them.’
Looking back now, did his brother instinctively sense that they weren’t blood-related? Maybe their parents felt the same way, they never showed him any real affection.
It was like they saw him as a complete outsider.
In three years, Ha Giyeon would be exposed as not their biological child and kicked out of the house.
"I should start studying hard from now on..."
In his past life, he had zero interest in academics.
His parents didn’t care about his grades, and he was too busy chasing after his brothers to bother with school. But after getting thrown out and struggling through hardship, he often missed his school days.
Too late, he even tried studying for the college entrance exam, desperate to go to university.
But he died right before the test.
"Money comes first."
After getting kicked out of the house, the first thing he realized was that the most essential thing for survival, and in life, was money. Having grown up never having worked a part-time job before, he got scolded so much whenever he tried. He even got fired from multiple places because of his mistakes.
It wasn’t until he got pushed around left and right that he finally adapted to working properly.
"First, I’ll save up my allowance, then get a part-time job..."
He should invest some of it in Bitcoin.
While working part-time, he heard a lot from older guys about stocks and coins.
He’d never personally traded crypto, but a construction worker once went on and on about his lengthy experiences with stocks and Bitcoin. He had to listen to it so much that it got tedious, but now he had a decent idea of what investments could turn a profit.
'I’ll start by buying a little Bitcoin...'
Before leaving this house, he had to save as much money as possible. There was no telling how the future might change, so every moment was urgent.
"Haa..."
Only after roughly organizing everything did the state of the room finally catch his eye. Though familiar, it didn’t evoke any warmth.
Unlike his older brother’s room, which their parents had meticulously furnished piece by piece, this room had been haphazardly put together by Ha Dohoon’s father’s secretary.
"Well... at least it’s better than a goshiwon."
He could just think of it as a leased room.
Ha Giyeon got up and stepped out of the room.
'Was it always like this?'
The vintage-patterned wallpaper and the pristine white marble floors.
As he descended the stairs, the living room came into view, adorned with a massive crystal chandelier. Even though he had lived here since birth, he couldn’t help but marvel as if he were visiting someone else’s house.
'...So I really did live in a nice place.'
He looked around the house and checked the time. While organizing his things, it had already turned 5:30 in the morning, and dawn was breaking. Only then did he snap back to his senses and head toward the kitchen.
Despite the early hour, the lit kitchen was bustling with the sounds of chopping and boiling water.
A middle-aged woman trimming vegetables turned at the noise. She was the housekeeper of this home.
"Oh my, Giyeon, you're up already?"
"Ah... yeah, I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep..."
Ha Giyeon gave an awkward smile, rubbing the back of his neck.
The housekeeper smiled gently in response.
"Then, would you like some warm tea at least?"
"Uh... instead of tea, could I have breakfast now?"
"Already?"
"Just something simple, maybe some rice with soup poured over it or mixed with soy sauce or gochujang*. I'm just... really hungry."
*a fermented Korean chili paste.
The housekeeper's eyes widened in surprise.
A child raised in luxury, living in a mansion like this, asking for mixed rice... She wondered if she had misheard. After all, the breakfast she was currently preparing was a full-course meal with twelve side dishes.
But what surprised her even more was...
"Aren't you going to eat with your family?"
Ha Giyeon had always insisted on having meals together with his family.
Even though his parents and Ha Dohoon often skipped meals, claiming they were too busy, he had never once failed to wait for them. The housekeeper had always felt sorry for him, watching him eat alone in silence.
"It's fine. Even if I wait, it doesn’t mean we’ll actually eat together."
"......"
"If you're busy, I'll just grab something quick and take it with me."
Not wanting to get in the way of the meal preparations, Ha Giyeon was ready to take any simple food back to his room. Even bread would do, as long as it filled his stomach, he didn’t care what it was.
"No! Just sit at the table for ten minutes!"
The housekeeper waved her hands, practically pushing Ha Giyeon into a chair before moving with swift efficiency.
Giyeon sat quietly and watched her blankly as he waited.
'She's faster than the lunch ladies at school...'
His brief admiration for her dazzling knife skills faded as he stared at her back, feeling an odd sense of warmth.
Giyeon had long known the housekeeper pitied him. Though they hadn’t spoken much, he could never forget the last meal she had prepared for him, the day he was kicked out of the house. Too ashamed to leave in broad daylight, he had tried to sneak out at dawn like a thief, lugging his belongings.
But then, a warm hand had stopped him.
'Giyeon, eat before you go.'
The only warmth he had felt in that cold dawn.
'You need a full stomach to do anything in this world.'
With eyes that had been lifeless just moments before, she set a warm meal before him and even packed him a lunchbox. Then, as Giyeon dragged his suitcase toward the gate, she hugged him.
'Giyeon-ah... No matter where you go, make sure to eat well and stay healthy.'
She was the only one who had ever called him by his name so tenderly, something neither his mother nor father had ever done.
That fleeting warmth was something he had remembered until the very moment he died.
"It's just yesterday's side dishes, but I heated them up nice and warm."
Rolled omelet, seasoned tofu, braised beef short ribs, and beef radish soup.
Just the sight of the beef radish soup made him think of the day he left, and his chest tightened, tears threatened to spill over.
"I made it in a hurry, so let me know if it's too cold. And if you need anything else, just say so."
"Thank you for the meal..."
Ha Giyeon scooped up a spoonful of the radish soup. It was the first time since leaving home that he had tasted something this warm.
Not a cold triangle kimbap or cup noodles, but food made with care and heart.
Why hadn’t he realized back then just how precious this was?
"......"
"Giyeon...?"
As tears streamed down his face while he ate, the housekeeper flusteredly wiped his cheeks with a tissue.
"Oh dear, you'll choke. Eat slowly."
"Yes... Thank... you..."
Even as he wiped his tears, Giyeon kept shoveling food into his mouth.
Just... the simple fact that he could eat a meal made by her again made him so unbearably happy.
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