Chapter 4
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Then and Now
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The characters, events, and places in this story are fictional and may differ from reality.
Scene 4. Then and Now.
I arrived at Lyon Airport in France. And just like I remembered, the immigration consultant, Jang Man-ho, was there to greet us.
Jang Man-ho was the owner of an immigration consulting firm called 'bonne fortune' and a local who partnered with a Korean company to handle French immigration.
"Mr. Jang Man-ho from Bonne Fortune?"
"Yes. I'm Jang Man-ho. Bienvenue à Lyon."
Jang Man-ho shook Kang Man-dong's hand with a friendly face.
Seeing the awkward expression on Kang Man-dong's face at his French, Jang Man-ho spoke again in Korean.
"I was just welcoming you to Lyon."
"Ah."
Kang Man-dong let out a light laugh, as if to say, 'So that's what that meant.'
"Well, I'd better learn the language here as soon as possible. I can manage a few words of English, but I'm a complete beginner when it comes to French."
"Once you start living here, you'll pick up conversational skills without much trouble. And I'll be helping you as well."
"Haha. I'd appreciate that."
"It's part of my job as a consultant, of course. For now, we'll stay here for the night and head to Antibes tomorrow."
Antibes, in the south of France.
It was the region Kang Man-dong had chosen for their new home. Man-dong and Yu-hyeon loaded their luggage into the Peugeot that Jang Man-ho had brought.
"You don't have much luggage."
"It's just the two of us men. We traveled light. We'll have to get things one by one."
Jang Man-ho, who was behind the wheel, nodded and continued.
"That was a good call. It's better to buy whatever you need here directly. Alright, everyone buckle up. We're off."
Kang Man-dong smiled pleasantly at Jang Man-ho's affable demeanor.
Kang Man-dong looked at Yu-hyeon with an expression that seemed to say, 'What do you think? Your dad picked a good company, didn't he?'
*'He sure did. Of all the companies out there, how did he end up signing a contract with a con man like that?'*
Contrary to his inner thoughts, Yu-hyeon just gave a slight nod.
Now that he knew Jang Man-ho's true nature, he could see that his smile, his actions, his way of speaking—it was all an act. But in the past, Yu-hyeon had been deceived by this facade, relying on him and asking for his help. This time, however, he had no intention of repeating such a foolish mistake.
Yu-hyeon glared fiercely at the back of Jang Man-ho's head.
The devil who had pushed him and his father, who were trying to start a new life in a distant foreign land, into a pit of despair.
*'A con man and a murderer!'*
His father, who had been desperately searching for a solution after being told there was a problem with their papers that could get their immigration canceled, was later found as a cold corpse on a deserted roadside.
Having lost his father overnight and with nowhere to go, Yu-hyeon ended up staying with Jang Man-ho and even worked for him for a time.
Later, when he learned that this had all been orchestrated by Jang Man-ho and his gang, he tried to get revenge, but taking on able-bodied adults alone at such a young age was next to impossible.
*'Instead, I had to run away while they chased me.'*
With nothing to his name and now an illegal immigrant, choosing the Foreign Legion was Yu-hyeon's only escape and his only chance to get away from them and bide his time for the future.
After being discharged, he sought out Jang Man-ho for revenge, but absurdly, the man had already died in a car accident.
He had endured for five long years, pouring all his effort into getting revenge, only for his life's purpose to vanish in an instant.
The rage and emptiness Yu-hyeon felt at that time were beyond words. For a while, he lived like a wreck, mired in despair.
He returned to the studies he had given up, partly out of fear that he might make the worst choice if he didn't find something to focus on, but also because of his father's words that suddenly came to mind.
-How is our son so good at his studies? Maybe you'll become a famous scholar and win a Nobel Prize or something, huh? That would be totally awesome.
Those words, spoken like a joke about how no one in Korea had ever won a Nobel Prize for academics, only for peace, became his father's last will and a guide for the rest of his life.
And so, he immersed himself in research for twenty years, and just as he was about to achieve that dream, he returned to the past.
*'To hell with the Nobel Prize and everything else. Living happily with my father, just like in Korea. That's my dream, my only wish. Jang Man-ho! This time, I'll make sure you can't even begin to pull off your filthy scheme.'*
Whether he had returned to the past or simply dreamed of the future didn't matter.
The memories that had tormented him his whole life. If he could prevent his father's tragedy, he wouldn't hesitate, no matter what it took.
*'And then I'm leaving France. It's too dangerous here.'*
Perhaps because it was a country famous for its revolution, France was a nation with frequent violent protests and terrorist attacks that occurred just when you thought you could forget.
Others might speak of romance, talking about Paris and the Eiffel Tower, but the France Yu-hyeon had experienced was old, inflexible, and the very definition of filth, with rats scurrying about everywhere.
Racial discrimination was a problem all over Europe, so he could overlook that, but since not only his father's death but also his own future death had occurred in France, he had more bad memories than good.
For Yu-hyeon, France was a country he couldn't bring himself to love.
*'Southern Italy... Yes. Malta would be good.'*
During a sabbatical, he had traveled to Italy and visited Malta, south of the Mediterranean. He remembered the vineyard he had impulsively bought there, as if possessed.
The process for investment immigration was less complicated than in France or other European countries, so settling there wouldn't be a bad idea.
Because of Eurostar, he had practically lived in his lab, visiting only once in a blue moon, but the vineyard was a place that had given him more peace of mind than anywhere else.
*'I can make as much money as I want using my knowledge and memories of the future. I don't want to live this life on the run. The seed of tragedy. I'll get rid of Jang Man-ho first!'*
Yu-hyeon was not the same ignorant Yu-hyeon of the past. He was the Yu-hyeon who had spent the first half of his life in a constant struggle and the second half relentlessly striving and moving forward as a scholar and a businessman.
Hesitation? Fear? He would never allow such things to sway him and ruin his future.
After dropping them at their lodging, Jang Man-ho left, saying he would be back in the morning. Kang Man-dong barely washed up before falling fast asleep.
He had tried to appear strong in front of his son, but in truth, the journey must have been even more nerve-wracking for him than for Yu-hyeon.
"Father..."
Yu-hyeon gently took his father's calloused hand.
Kang Man-dong had never shown any sign of it, but Yu-hyeon knew he was not his biological son.
*'I don't want to know who my real father or mother is, nor do I care. To me, I have only one parent. My father. This time... I will protect you.'*
His father had never married, living his life solely for Yu-hyeon. Who else would live their life like that for a child that wasn't even their own flesh and blood?
The sudden decision to immigrate, to leave Korea and come to this foreign land—it was all because of him.
His father had been annoyed, saying he'd heard some ridiculous nonsense from some old woman—a shaman or a fortune teller, he wasn't sure which—but the words had clearly weighed on his mind ever since.
-You must cross the water for your next life to be peaceful. Otherwise, your life will get terribly twisted.
*'In the end, did things turn out just as that old woman said?'*
Not a peaceful later life, or a comfortable twilight. A next life. At the time, he'd thought she had just used the wrong word. But now that things had turned out this way, he wondered if that old woman he met back then wasn't a truly gifted shaman after all.
Whether he had dreamed it all or truly returned to the past, this life he was living now could certainly be called a 'next life'.
*'Jang Man-ho...'*
Once that bastard started his scheme in earnest, even greater chaos would ensue.
His father's safety was a concern, but he himself could also face a completely different situation.
Yu-hyeon hardened his resolve.
"I'll be right back. This time, there will be no sadness, no suffering. Everything will be alright."
After gazing down at his father for a moment, Yu-hyeon carefully got up.
Stepping outside the lodging, Yu-hyeon looked around with a distant gaze.
The sun had already set and it was dark, but everything felt as familiar as a neighborhood he had lived in since childhood.
*'The path I walked countless times after losing my father.'*
He walked purposefully in the direction Jang Man-ho's car had disappeared. Ten minutes from here was the hideout of Jang Man-ho and his gang.
An old house covered in clinging vines. It looked like an ordinary home from the outside, but this was the hideout where Jang Man-ho and his gang plotted their crimes, and the place where he himself had lived for over a year after losing his father.
Glancing around to see if anyone was passing by, Yu-hyeon carefully climbed over the wall. He winced as pressure shot through his fingertips and shoulders.
The theory and experience remained in his head, but his body was still that of an undeveloped sixteen-year-old.
He went to the shed behind the house, where miscellaneous odds and ends were stored, and grabbed a Phillips head screwdriver.
Moving toward the kitchen door, Yu-hyeon peeked inside through the window.
The faint sound of a soccer match on TV drifted out.
Yu-hyeon used his finger to dig out the small cotton balls he had stuffed in his ears.
His heightened sense of hearing had been causing recurring dizzy spells, so he had gotten some absorbent cotton from a flight attendant's emergency kit and rolled it into his ears.
As he removed the cotton, men's voices mingled with the sound of the TV.
-Just a father and son, the two of them came alone?
-Yeah. The father doesn't know a word of French. I have no idea what guts he has to immigrate here. It's like he has a death wish. I'm planning to string him along for a day or so, bleed him dry, and then take care of him.
-Anyway, Jang, you're a crazy bastard. How can you rip off your own countrymen?
-That's rich coming from you, Liong. A pervert who only targets female tourists.
-Hehehe. It's fun~.
The conversation between the three men drilled into his eardrums.
He had wondered if his decision, his impending actions, were an overreaction to something that hadn't happened yet. But the conversation from inside solidified his wavering resolve. If he hesitated, the nightmare of the past would only repeat itself.
*'Cochon, Jang Man-ho, and Liong. Lucky me, they're all gathered here.'*
Cochon was a professional fence, and Liong was a pro pickpocket. On top of that, Liong was a perverted bastard who couldn't control himself around women, his crimes escalating from theft to rape without hesitation.
These men were murderers who had killed and buried not only his father, but many others as well.
If he let today pass with a half-hearted resolve, his life would only become twisted again.
*'I have to make sure there are no more victims like my father... I won't think about anything else.'*
Yu-hyeon jammed the screwdriver between the kitchen door and the frame and pushed up the lock. Then, he gripped the doorknob, lifted it slightly to prevent the hinges from creaking, and opened the door.
Slipping carefully into the kitchen, Yu-hyeon grabbed a chef's knife and a paring knife and moved toward the living room.