IRLPLBIO Chapter 1 Part 2

But Kwang-cheol was not like that. Jae-gu knew that Kwang-cheol had secretly released those who were ordered to be killed several times. Even when Seong-cheol put his own grandfather and father in danger to inherit the company, Kwang-cheol secretly opened a path and got them out.

Kwang-cheol, who had lived kindly, shouldn’t have died like this. He shouldn’t have been “Kkwang-cheol,” who deliberately drew blanks just to be with him, but someone who should have lived a much grander life.

“You’ve worked hard. Jae-gu, you were a stupid but loyal son of a bitch. Goodbye.”

Thud.

Seong-cheol dropped the lit lighter onto the edge of the carpet. Then, avoiding the flames and smoke slowly rising in the pristine new building, he headed out, but turned his body for a final glance.

“And Park Kwang-cheol, no, ‘my aunt’s son’ Park Kwang-cheol. You knew this would happen, didn’t you? How could I believe you’d live quietly your whole life? Just go quietly, considering it’s to put your brother’s mind at ease. Still, I sent you with Yang Jae-gu, so you’re satisfied, aren’t you?”

“…!”

As Jae-gu ruminated on Seong-cheol’s words, his body jolted up. Although he was always called stupid, he wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t understand the meaning of Seong-cheol’s words.

Han Chang-hun, the founder of Dae-yeong Group and a first-generation chaebol, had searched for his daughter until just before his death. Her only son, Seong-cheol’s aunt, was Kwang-cheol. Kwang-cheol knew of his lineage, yet chose to be with Jae-gu instead of stepping forward.

He shouldn’t have teased him every time, saying he only drew blanks, asking if he was “Kkwang-cheol” instead of Kwang-cheol. Park Kwang-cheol had even used his golden card for Jae-gu, only to eventually get entangled with Jae-gu and die.

Neither “I’m sorry” nor “You should have saved yourself” came out. By now, the greatly expanded fire was burning the walls and sofa. Instead of his disobedient body, Jae-gu barely moved his finger and gently tapped Kwang-cheol’s fingertip.

Just one more time… If he could live just one more time, he would live properly for Kwang-cheol, not for a crazy bastard like Han Seong-cheol.

“Ah, hot!”

His finger was hot. As Jae-gu shot up, he was pulled from both sides. Jae-gu had reflexively shaken off the hands holding him, but with several hands pulling him again, he sat down awkwardly.

It wasn’t the CEO’s office in the new building, filled with overflowing flames, but an ordinary cement floor that met his eyes. The cigarette that had burned his finger was already on the floor.

Jae-gu stared blankly, alternating between the floor, the cigarette, and his own hand.

“Hey, Yang Jae-gu. Are you crazy?”

“…Huh?”

“Who are you yelling at? You’re the same punk who got beaten by the Hakju just the other day.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Ugh, why are you suddenly speaking in the Seoul dialect? It’s cringey.”

The guy who mimed scratching goosebumps chuckled and imitated Jae-gu’s way of speaking.

“‘What are you talking about~?’ Wow, crazy. Check if my tongue’s twisted. Is it twisted?”

“You punk, stop it. Your antics are going to twist Yang Jae-gu’s personality.”

While the guys were chattering back and forth with useless words, Jae-gu examined his own appearance.

The muscles he had deliberately bulked up and hardened through practical experience were gone. Not only were there no calluses on his palms, but his knuckles weren’t prominent either. His shoulder, which used to ache even when it didn’t rain, and his side, which had been uncomfortable ever since he took a knife wound in the wrong place, were both fine.

What he was wearing was even a school uniform. The old-fashioned school uniform of the high school he attended in Changwon before following Han Seong-cheol to Seoul.

His face must have become younger too. He could tell without looking in a mirror. Because the guys he used to hang out with then had the fresh faces of late teenagers.

“Do you happen to know the date?”

“Yang Jae-gu, are you sick? Did you eat something bad?”

“No, more than that, what’s the date today?”

“Today, of all days… Let’s see.”

The grumbling guy pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket. It was a folder phone with colorful lights, like the ones advertised on TV.

The realization that he had returned to the past once again dawned on him. Since the Jae-gu before his death had used the latest smartphone, a folder phone with a color screen and 16 polyphonic tones wasn’t surprising at all.

The guy, who had boasted about his mobile phone at length even though Jae-gu wasn’t listening, finally replied, “It’s April 6th.” At that, Jae-gu abruptly stood up again, shook off the hands of the guys trying to hold him, and darted out.

“Hey! Yang Jae-gu!”

“Yang Jae-gu! Hey, you punk!”

The voices of his friends calling Jae-gu, and the voice of the Hakju guiding a delinquent smoking a cigarette, rang out almost simultaneously.

But Jae-gu didn’t look back. He couldn’t look back.

Because April 6th was the day that damn Han Seong-cheol would transfer to this place.