After my grandmother passed away, I was out of my mind preparing the funeral when a man came to see me.

“Are you Kim Muhyuk?”

“...Who are you?”

“I was sent by your maternal grandfather.”

“...What?”

He was Manager Ha, sent down from Seoul under my grandfather’s orders.

“Chairman Cheon would like to meet you once the funeral proceedings are complete.”

“...”

“All expenses for the funeral and related documents will be taken care of by us. After it's over, please come with me to Seoul.”

At Manager Ha’s firm tone, I could only nod in silence.

And so, I met my maternal grandfather—known either as Chairman Cheon or Old Man Cheon.

At our first meeting, he said just one thing.

“I heard you lived like a delinquent. Get into a university in Seoul within three years. Then I’ll give you a great reward.”

That was the extent of our first and only conversation.

After that, I lived in a small apartment he had prepared for me and attended school.

I gave up friends, girls—everything—and decided to live the life he expected from me, determined to earn his recognition.

That’s when I cut ties with all my friends.

In the first semester of my second year in high school, Myungsoo and I were placed in different classes. While I buried myself in study, Myungsoo had his leg crushed under the brutal violence of the school bullies.

But...

I didn’t care.

Shortly afterward, Myungsoo left school.

* * *

I had been lost in thought, watching Myungsoo’s figure fade into the distance, when I returned to the emergency room.

The doctors and nurses were getting ready to move my grandmother’s bed into the ward.

“Student, she’ll be admitted to Room 703. Can you go home and bring her underwear and a few essentials?”

“Yes.”

I took her hand, lying limply on the bed.

“Grandma, I’ll run home real quick.”

“You’ll wear yourself out...”

“It’s nothing. I’ll be right back.”

“Did you eat?”

“Ah, seriously!” 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Leaving my ever-worrying grandma behind, I registered the admission at the admin office and agreed to pay tomorrow. By the time I stepped outside, the sky was already dark.

The slum streets had no proper streetlights. I climbed the stairs with effort and finally reached home.

In the near-empty room, I gathered her underwear, socks, and a change of clothes.

As soon as I opened the box with her undergarments, tears welled up.

Worn-out underwear.

Socks with holes in them.

And only a few old clothes to her name.

It was a stark contrast to my own box of clean, well-kept clothes and underwear.

She had worked herself to the bone to buy me clothes, shoes, everything. Why hadn’t I realized it before?

I took what seemed passable and left the house.

Back at the hospital, I opened the door to the ward where Grandma was now staying.

The other patients in the room all glanced up at once. Ignoring the stares, I sat down beside Grandma’s bed.

“You’re back.”

“Yeah. Grandma, are you feeling okay now?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me—just go home.”

“No. I’m sleeping here.”

Her hand was warm.

The coldness I had felt when she collapsed was no longer there. That alone filled me with indescribable relief.

I put away the things I brought by her bed.

“I’ll step out for a bit.”

“Okay. And eat something while you’re out.”

“Yeah.”

I left the ward and climbed the stairs up to the rooftop.

When I opened the rooftop door, a few people were smoking there.

I sat at a small chair in the corner and began to slowly piece things together.

‘I don’t know how, but I’ve come back to the past. I prevented Grandma’s death in 1990. Back then, she had contacted Chairman Cheon right before she died. Manager Ha will probably show up again this time.’

As my mind gradually cleared, the fury and resentment I had felt right before dying surged back up.

Cheon Sooman. Cheon Suhan.

My mother’s older brothers.

Talentless and greedy, they joined hands with the Cheongpunghoe and became the main culprits behind my death.

And the Cheongpunghoe...

A secret group operating behind every political, financial, and violent power in Korea. I don’t know exactly who’s in it, but it’s an organization that’s existed since the military dictatorship era.

Their name changed over the years, but their origin lies with the coup forces, especially the Hanahoe group, and the descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators.

‘Now that I’ve come back... I’ll dig into the very heart of it and destroy them. Slowly, I’ll wrap my hand around their throats... and cut off their lives.’

God, Buddha, Allah—I don’t know who turned back time for me, but maybe that’s what they wanted.

Now that I had a goal, I would take my time building a plan.

I stood from the chair and was about to leave the rooftop when someone called out from behind.

“Hey, kid. Come here a second.”

I turned to look at him, my hand still on the rooftop door handle.

“I’ll pop those eyeballs out if you keep staring. Come here.”

“Are you talking to me?”

“You think there’s anyone else around, kid? Who else would I be calling? What a funny punk.”

“What do you want?”

“Hey, you little shit. When someone tells you to come, you come. Quit yapping.”

“...”

“Kekeke, boss, what are you doing with a punk like that?”

As I approached, I saw his face more clearly in the glow of a cigarette.

I had seen him somewhere before. Who was he?

A glimpse of a tattoo peeked out from the collar of his patient gown.

“Young kids these days, smoking already? That’s not good, not good.”

“I don’t smoke.”

“Oh? Then what’re you doing up here?”

“I had things to think about and came up to clear my head. If you’re done talking, may I go back down?”

The man let out a dry laugh.

“...You’ve got guts, huh.”

“Do I know you? I’m pretty sure this is the first time we’ve met.”

“You don’t know me?”

“No.”

“Pfft. Boss, he doesn’t know you!”

The guys next to him chuckled until the man glared at them.

“You really don’t know?”

“No, sir.”

“Hahaha. You’re a funny one. Name’s Park Dongsu.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Park Dongsu. May I go now?”

I pretended to stay calm, but the moment I heard the name Park Dongsu, I immediately remembered.

Park Dongsu—second-in-command of the Saseongpa, one of the two major crime syndicates that control central Busan.

In the upcoming government crackdown on organized crime, he’ll get arrested and sentenced to life in prison. He took the fall for his boss, Lee Saseong...

“Hahaha! You’ve got balls, kid. What school?”

“Dongsung Technical High, first year. My grandma’s in the hospital, so I’d like to head back down now.”

“Alright, alright. See you next time.”

I gave a half-hearted nod toward his smiling voice and turned to leave.

* * *

The next day.

Myungsoo came to the hospital early in the morning.

“Hey! Aren’t you going to school?”

“Of course I am. What are you doing here so early?”

“You really are Muhyuk, right? Why the hell are you talking in that stiff Seoul accent?”

“Cut the crap. Why’d you come?”

Myungsoo pulled an envelope out of his bag and handed it to me.

“It’s 500,000 won. I asked my dad to lend it to me. For the hospital bill and some tonic for your grandma.”

“...”

“Take it already. My arm’s getting tired.”

I looked between his face and the envelope.

“What? What is it? Pay me back. I’m lending it, not giving it.”

“Thanks. I should say no, but I can’t afford to. I’ll pay you back, I swear.”

When I accepted the envelope, he finally smiled.

“Let’s get to school. Did you eat?”

“Let me help Grandma eat first, then I’ll come.”

“Alright. I’ll wait.”

I helped Grandma with breakfast, then headed to school with Myungsoo.

When we arrived, the office called me in. It was the homeroom teacher who picked up my call yesterday—the one everyone called “Snake.”

“How’s your grandmother?”

“She’s alright. She’s out of danger, thanks to you.”

“Kid, if something like that happens, you should tell me immediately.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No need. Do you have money for the hospital bills?”

“Yes. Myungsoo’s dad helped us.”

“Good. If anything else happens, tell me right away.”

“Yes.”

“Go. Get ready for class. And no more trouble.”

“Yes, sir.”

I opened the back door of Class 1-8 and walked in.

The noisy classroom instantly went silent.

I sat down in my usual spot at the back by the window, and Myungsoo ran over.

“So, what’d Snake say?”

“Asked if Grandma was okay.”

“Pfft, acting all nice. You’d fall over if you knew how much that bastard takes in bribes from my dad.”

“Shut up. Study.”

The classroom, which had started buzzing again, quickly went silent once more. Everyone was eyeing me curiously.

“Who are you? Where’s the real Muhyuk?”

Myungsoo made a weird face, grabbed my head, and wobbled it side to side.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re nuts. But seriously, why’s everyone looking at me like that?”

“Huh?”

“Just a feeling.”

“...Are you really okay? You’ve been acting weird since yesterday.”

That’s when I remembered.

In those 30 years... I had completely forgotten how much of a thug I used to be before I met Old Man Cheon.

“Why the hell is it so noisy in here?”

When the homeroom teacher—Snake—walked in, the classroom turned as silent as a monastery in the woods.

“You all know exams are next week, right? If your average drops even one point, you get ten hits. Don’t forget.”

...What?

“And anyone caught smoking is dead. Got it?”

Of all things, exams right after I come back?

I stared at the blackboard in dismay.

As soon as school ended, I rushed back to the hospital. I paid for the tests at the admin office and went up to see Grandma.

She welcomed me from her bed.

“You’re busy with school, you don’t need to keep coming.”

“I want to come. That’s why I’m here.”

“My baby... when did you grow up so much.”

Her eyes welled with tears.

I left the ward and went up to the rooftop. I could feel the gap between my 48-year-old self and my 17-year-old body.

As I stood gazing «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» out, sorting through my emotions, someone called out from behind.

“Hey, student.”

I turned around.

A familiar face was smiling at me.

It was Park Dongsu.

“You smoke, don’t you? Be honest.”

This guy was like a goddamn barnacle.

“I do, but I don’t smoke at the hospital.”

“Thought so. I could smell it on you, even though we just met.”

“...”

An awkward silence passed.

“Ahem. Visiting your grandma after school?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a good grandson. Who’d have thought a decent guy would come out of a shit town like this? You any good with your fists?”

“...Yeah, a bit.”

“Heh.”

Park Dongsu let out a dry laugh, and the big guy next to him burst out laughing.

“Haha! Look at our boss getting flustered. ‘I’m pretty good,’ he says!”

The two bickering like that didn’t seem like gangsters at all.

I remembered something I read in an article that covered the history of Korean crime syndicates.

‘He was known for really looking out for his underlings...’

Even after getting life in prison, his boys stayed loyal to him to the end.

“You’re a funny one. What’s your name?”

“Kim Muhyuk.”

“Kim Muhyuk, huh? Good name.”

“Thank you.”

“You heard my name yesterday, right? If anyone messes with you, just drop my name. This must be fate—let’s stay in touch.”

“...Okay.”

We chatted idly. The more we talked, the more he felt... familiar.

‘...He might actually come in handy.’

He might be useful against the hounds of the Cheongpunghoe someday.

“I’ll head down now.”

“Sure, sure. See you again, brother.”

“...Calling me ‘brother’ is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Puhaha! Funny little bastard. You not scared of me?”

“Why should I be? You seem more like a neighborhood uncle.”

“Wahaha! A neighborhood uncle, huh?”

“Well then, I’ll get going.”

I bowed and headed back down to the first floor.

Thanks to Park Dongsu, my thoughts were all jumbled. I sat down on an empty bench.

‘Exams are next week, huh...’

As I thought about what lay ahead, a shadow fell across my feet.

“Kim Muhyuk?”

I looked up.

A familiar face smiled down at me.

It was Manager Ha.

<Returned (2)> End.