Jeon Tae-guk.
My younger brother, two years younger than me.
Having inherited only our parents’ worst genes, Jeon Tae-guk was practically kicked out of the country for early study abroad as soon as he entered middle school.
Even there, he dabbled in marijuana, drugs, and all sorts of new substances before eventually returning home—only to continue down the same path.
When he was entrusted with a subsidiary of Samjeon Group, he ended up crashing a car while high, getting himself cleanly eliminated from the succession race in a single stroke.
Those sly, narrow eyes of his didn’t look any different from before my regression.
I quickly glanced behind Jeon Tae-guk.
My father and uncle stood there with solemn expressions.
During the three months my grandfather was in prison, what was known as the “Princes’ Rebellion” would take place.
My uncle, whose ambition far exceeded his capabilities, would try to persuade the shareholders to strip my father of his management rights.
But everything would end in failure, and as a result, my uncle would be handed control of the least profitable sector in Samjeon Group—construction—bringing the rebellion to an end.
[Ha! Back then, my uncle clung to Grandfather’s leg, sobbing and begging. Grandfather, sighing, said, ‘Having a son like you is my fault too. Consider this company as if I’m throwing away a part of myself.’ And with that, he handed over the construction division.]
“Seong-guk, what are you mumbling about while watching the news?”
A woman, slightly flushed from alcohol, turned to look at me.
[You guys will never understand the world of conglomerates, even if you’re reborn. It’s best to just pretend to be asleep in moments like this.]
I blinked a few times, then closed my eyes. A signal that I was sleepy.
“Seong-guk, looks like you’re getting sleepy.”
The woman carefully picked me up and gently placed me in my spot in the corner of the one-room apartment. Then, she kissed my cheek.
“Sleep well, my Seong-guk.”
She patted my belly.
“So-young, don’t you think Seong-guk should be calling us ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ by now?”
“Some kids are just late talkers. Maybe Seong-guk is one of them?”
[It’s not that I’m a late talker. I just don’t call you that because you’re not my real parents. You’re just the surrogate mother and father raising me, Jeon Seong-guk…]
Sleepiness crept in before I knew it.
I had suffered from insomnia all my life, but these days, the sleepiness hit me periodically like a truck, leaving me feeling like I was dying.
When it was time for the news, I cried my lungs out.
The woman figured out that I stopped crying when I watched the news, so she started turning it on regularly.
The news was like “Pororo the President” to me.
Thanks to that, I could see exactly what was happening with Samjeon Group.
As in my previous life, Grandfather was sentenced to two years in prison and entered jail under a storm of camera flashes.
As if waiting for this, my uncle launched the “Princes’ Rebellion,” but with Grandfather’s early release after three months under special amnesty, the rebellion came to an end.
Nothing was different from what I remembered before my regression.
Though I was born into a poor family this time, I retained all my experiences and knowledge from my past life—and even knew the future.
As long as the course of South Korea’s future after 1992 remained unchanged.
On top of that, I was ten years younger than in my previous life.
Even in this household, if I endured well enough, I could reclaim the wealth and status I had before regression.
I indulged in sweet fantasies.
This life, too, I would become a chaebol.
Employees bowing before me.
The South Korean economy moving at my command.
Heh heh.
“Seong-guk, what’s so funny?”
The woman, in the middle of washing dishes, turned around and saw me smiling.
I looked at her with a pouty face.
[I’ll make some money during the IMF crisis. So raise me well. I’ll at least repay the favour of you raising me.]
I was willing to compensate them appropriately for raising a noble being like me in such a shabby environment.
[Maybe I should buy them a house or get them decent jobs.]
I stroked my chin.
“Seong-guk, let’s go to the store and buy some bean sprouts.”
[I’ll just watch the news. You can go alone.]
But the woman had already strapped me onto her back with a cloth carrier.
[Woman! I can stay home alone just fine!]
As I squirmed, she patted my bottom.
“Squirming so much… are you going to be a soccer player?”
[What nonsense. My dream is to be a chaebol.]
“Alright, alright. Let’s go.”
She carried me out the door.
Just then, I heard someone coming down from the floor above.
“107?”
[What the—she’s calling me by my apartment number instead of my name?]
I glared at the descending woman.
A bob-cut hairstyle, a crisp suit. She had a cold demeanor.
“Oh my, heading to work now?”
The woman carrying me asked cheerfully. The bob-haired woman nodded.
“I had work in the morning, so I’m heading in late today. I need to catch a bus across the street.”
“Take care.”
The woman bowed slightly.
[Hey, woman. Who is she that you’re bowing like that?]
“Seong-guk, what are you mumbling about?”
She patted my bottom again.
Why did this feel so nice?
Just a few pats and my anger melted away, and sleepiness started creeping back in.
“Seong-guk, are you falling asleep?”
[Don’t… talk to me….]
I was already drifting off.
As we bought 100 won worth of bean sprouts, I faintly heard the woman haggling for more.
Shivering over just 100 won.
I couldn’t even remember ever using a 100-won coin.
On our way back, the woman patted my drowsy bottom repeatedly as she walked home.
“Seong-guk, I’ll make you some delicious bean sprout soup for dinner.”
[That’s for you to eat. I drink formula.]
I mumbled sleepily.
“It really feels like our Seong-guk understands everything. When I first gave birth to him and was home alone, I felt so lonely, but now he babbles like this. It makes me so happy.”
She must have been really lonely.
Maybe postpartum depression? I’d heard of that.
She kept patting my bottom.
Again! Again! Again!
Ugh, I shouldn’t feel this cozy over something like this.
BOOM!
What was that?
A loud, jolting noise snapped me awake.
“Ahhhh!”
“Run away!”
“Ahhh!”
Screams erupted in succession.
[What the hell is going on?]
The woman swiftly unstrapped me and held me tightly, then started running.
[What the hell is going on!]
It was at that moment.
The building beside the road collapsed with a thunderous crash.
At the same time, my vision blurred.
The woman held me tightly in her arms.
I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and my vision turned pitch black.
Is this how I die in this life?
[Well, I was born into a poor family, so dying early wouldn’t be the worst thing…. But what if there’s no next life? That can’t happen….]
I quickly grabbed the woman and shook her.
[Hey, snap out of it! You can’t die! I have to grow up and become a chaebol!]
At that moment—
A desperate voice, barely clinging to breath, reached my ears.
“Seong-guk… Mommy will protect you.”
What?
Why does my chest feel warm…?
A massive brick was plummeting toward the woman’s head.
[No!]
I thrashed wildly, screaming, and the woman wrapped her entire body around me.
“Seong-guk… Mommy will protec—”
She couldn’t even finish her sentence.
In that instant, a single word burst from my lips.
“Mom…!”
The moment she heard it, she smiled.
“Yes, Seong-guk. I’m your mom….”
Her eyes slowly closed.
And that was when I began crying loud enough for the entire world to hear.
“Waaah! Waaah! Waaah!”
I flailed desperately to keep my mother alive.
[Mom! Don’t die! Please, someone help! My mom is dying!]
Rumble. Rumble. Rumble.
I had cried so much that my breaths came in ragged gasps.
My eyes were already so swollen that opening and closing them stung.
The man holding me and walking back and forth the hospital hallway for over an hour was my father.
The moment I called that woman ‘Mom,’ the last wall holding me back crumbled.
On the way back from the grocery store, a multi-family house undergoing demolition had collapsed.
Because of that, countless people walking along the street were injured.
My mother was just one of them.
And yet, I was the only one who emerged completely unscathed.
Because I had been held tightly in her arms.
In the end, I survived thanks to my mother.
“Hngh…!”
I sniffled, pulling my snot back in.
The man—my father—soothed me.
“Seong-guk, it’s okay. Thankfully, your mom is going to be fine.”
I looked up at his face, my eyelids puffy and swollen.
My father was barely holding back his own tears as he comforted me.
He hadn’t even taken off the apron from his restaurant job.
Now, these two people were my mother and father.
My mother had thrown her body to save me, and my father—despite standing all day at work—continued to walk the hospital halls, soothing me instead of complaining.
They didn’t utter a single word of resentment. They only wrapped me in warmth, worried about how scared I must have been.
“Seong-guk, it’s okay. Your mom is really fine. It’s like heaven was watching over us. The doctor said she just needs to rest for a few days.”
[I know that. But I just… I can’t stop crying.]
I mumbled incoherently.
If Secretary Yang, who served me before my regression, saw me like this, she’d probably faint from shock.
Before my grandfather passed away, he left me with these words:
— A company’s leader must choose the right time and place to laugh or cry, Seong-guk.
So even at my grandfather’s funeral, the one who had loved me so dearly, I did not cry.
Because showing emotion could affect the company’s stock price.
“Do you want to go see Mom?”
“Uuuh!”
I answered fervently.
Pat, pat. My father patted my back as he opened the hospital room door where my mother lay.
An IV was attached to her thin arm.
Her head was wrapped in thick bandages, but according to the doctor, it was just a skin injury, nothing more serious.
The moment she saw me, she smiled.
My father lifted me and placed me into her embrace.
She hugged me tightly again.
“Seong-guk, I thought I’d never see you again. But I’m so relieved you’re not hurt.”
[Idiot, you got a head injury!]
I wriggled in her arms, but she only held me tighter.
“So-young, I’ll take care of Seong-guk tonight. You should rest here in the hospital.”
“Honey, I want to be discharged. The hospital bills will cost too much.”
“There’s nothing seriously wrong, but just in case, the doctor said you should stay for a day.”
“But still…”
“So-young, listen to me. Your health is more important than money. You need to be healthy to take care of Seong-guk. Right?”
“…Alright.”
She reluctantly agreed.
“Oh, by the way, honey. The landlady’s daughter was the one who found me. Where is she?”
“She left as soon as I arrived—said she had to go to work. But she made sure Seong-guk got all his checkups and everything. I don’t know how to thank her enough.”
The short-haired young woman had been waiting at the bus stop across the street when the building collapsed. She ran over immediately and rushed us to the hospital.
Everything had happened so fast that I barely remembered it, but thanks to her, we arrived faster than anyone else.
“If you see her first, make sure to thank her. I’ll do the same once I’m discharged.”
“For now, don’t worry about anything. Just rest. I’ll take care of Seong-guk.”
My father held me and left the hospital.
The night air was cool.
He continued walking, patting me gently.
“Seong-guk, let’s walk for a bit. Daddy’s only twenty-three—my legs are strong.”
[So we don’t have money for a ride.]
“I’m just so glad you and your mom are safe. I’m sorry for everything. The building owner is going to cover the hospital costs and rebuild properly this time. I’ll make sure they do it right.”
[Shoddy construction is absolutely unacceptable!]
“You know, it always feels like we’re really having a conversation when I talk to you. Seong-guk, tonight, let’s have a deep man-to-man bonding time.”
[Sigh. I’ll pass on that.]
I shook my head.
“You really understand everything I say, don’t you?”
[Of course.]
And for the first time, my father smiled, despite his swollen face.
A mother who worried about hospital bills even while injured.
A father who carried his nearly one-year-old son and walked home at night just to save bus fare.
And yet, for some reason, it all felt… strangely comforting.
A twenty-three-year-old father with no money, carrying me in a baby sling, walking through the warm late summer night.
I felt like I would remember this night for a very long time.
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