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### Chapter 3. Back to That Day (3)
Cha Jihoo hurriedly looked around.
He could hardly believe that the ‘regression’ he had only ever seen in novels and dramas had actually happened to him.
But everything around him was making it impossible to deny the truth.
‘Yes! This is definitely that time. When Minsu and I went on our trip to Japan!’
He quickly assessed the situation and accepted reality.
“Hey, have a drink and wake up. The girls should be coming back from the bathroom soon. Don't tell me they just left?”
Park Minsu poured Cha Jihoo another drink while repeatedly glancing toward the hallway.
“...Girls? What girls?”
“Ah, this guy really is serious. You haven't forgotten that we came here with those American girls whose phone and
wallet you found, have you?”
“Haa, this is really that time?”
Out of all the countless days he could have returned to, why this particular moment?
Was there some meaning behind it?
“What are you talking about? Ah, they're coming! I thought they'd left. Thank goodness.”
Cha Jihoo turned around and saw two women approaching.
They were the two American female students he had met during that trip to Japan all those years ago.
‘That's right. It was them.’
The scene from fifteen years ago came back to Cha Jihoo with startling clarity, as though it had happened only
yesterday.
The two women sat down across from them.
One of them was sitting directly opposite him, smiling.
Her beauty was dazzling.
‘She's still beautiful!’
The woman Park Minsu had brought up from his memories during their final drinking session in his previous life was
sitting right in front of him.
It felt like a dream.
“Um, excuse me...”
The angel sitting across from him looked at Cha Jihoo with gentle eyes and asked,
“.....?”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Cha Jihoo answered.
“No, I don't!”
It was the exact opposite of the answer he had given in his previous life.
It was also an expression of his determination not to marry Ahn Jiyeon in this life, as well as an attempt to change his
future.
For a moment, her face brightened beautifully.
This time, Cha Jihoo asked her a question.
“What about you?”
“I don't have one either.”
“I can't believe someone as pretty and beautiful as you doesn't have a boyfriend.”
“I really don't. I guess I'm a little picky. By the way, I've always wanted to visit Korea someday. If I contact you
when I do, would you be able to meet me?”
“Of course. Come anytime. I'll point out all the hot spots and be your guide.”
“Wow, I'd love that! I'll definitely go! Honestly, I'd like to go right now, but the new semester is about to start.
I'll contact you if I get the chance.”
Cha Jihoo and the girl exchanged phone numbers and email addresses.
The girl's name was ‘Claire.’
‘That's right. I remember her name.’
The impossibly beautiful college student's name was Claire Belford.
Surprisingly, she said that she did not use social media.
Most American college students would have at least one social media account, but perhaps it was because it was still
2010.
“It's gotten really late. I think we should get going.”
The woman sitting beside Claire, who said she was her senior, gave her a meaningful look, prompting both of them to
stand.
“Thanks to you, we were able to get out of a difficult situation. Thank you again. By the way, when are you two
returning home?”
“Our flight is tomorrow afternoon.”
“We're going back tomorrow morning too. Hopefully, we'll see each other again.”
“Yes! Good luck.”
“Bye!”
After they left the bar, Cha Jihoo looked at Park Minsu, who had moved to the seat across from him.
‘Wow, look how young this guy is. Fifteen years really makes this much of a difference. I must look the same, right?’
The reality of his regression truly sank in.
“Park Minsu. Why are you staring at me like that? Are you falling for me?”
“You crazy bastard. But why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“What was her name again? That girl?”
“Claire.”
“Right. When Claire asked if you had a girlfriend, I naturally thought you would say yes. But you sly bastard said you
didn't?”
“If I don't have one, I say I don't have one.”
“What? Are you insane? If I tell your wife, she'll tear you apart. Can you handle that?”
“You're not exactly the type to go tattling, and besides, ‘wife’ my ass.”
“...What? Has this guy gone crazy? What's wrong with you today? Did you fight with Jiyeon?”
“Forget it. Let's just drink some more. It's nice having warm sake after so long.”
“Weren't you tired? You were practically losing consciousness a little while ago.”
“No, I feel so full of energy I could die! I'm bursting with strength!”
At the moment when the middle of his life had been blown away as though it had been shot through, regression had come to
him.
He had thought his life was a failure, yet he had been given another chance to live and try again.
That alone made his heart race with excitement, but even his physical condition felt completely different.
‘Why do I feel so light and refreshed? I didn't go back thirty or forty years, just fifteen, yet the difference feels
this huge. Well, back then, I hadn't even begun destroying my health to serve as an ATM for them.’
Until his early thirties, his stamina and physical condition had been exceptionally good.
But after taking early retirement, running businesses, and working second, third, and even fourth jobs, his health had
hit rock bottom.
Not only was he always short on sleep, but there had even been times when he survived for several days on nothing more
than a few hours of brief naps.
It was an exhausting level of overwork that would have been difficult for even someone naturally blessed with
exceptional physical strength to endure.
‘From now on, I'm going to value myself and take better care of my body.’
He knew he should control his drinking as well, but tonight, he wanted to let loose.
He had been given a chance to properly set his terrible life right.
Even compared to the moment he had been accepted into university and then landed a job at one of the country's leading
conglomerates, this was a far more precious and joyful day.
The next day, Cha Jihoo boarded a flight to Korea with Park Minsu.
“Jihoo, how was the trip?”
“Well, it was pretty good.”
“Glad you came?”
“Yeah.”
“Some parts were different from what I expected, but it wasn't bad. It would be nice to look around for longer next
time. If we get the chance, let's do that.”
“Sure.”
“But do you think she'll contact you? Really?”
“Who?”
“Who else? That American girl. C-Claire, right?”
“You think she will? She probably just said that because she was grateful. She'll completely forget about us before she
even gets back to America.”
“That's true. Why would a Western girl have any reason to look for an Asian guy her age who isn't even a fellow student?
Especially when she's that pretty. American guys will be swarming all over her. Still, you are ridiculously handsome, so
I think you have a chance. The way she looked at you was pretty warm too.”
“Weren't you just giving me a hard time for saying I didn't have a girlfriend?”
“Oops. I need to watch what I say if I don't want your wife to beat me to death. If she were Japanese, maybe we could
see her again someday. It's a shame she's from a country that's pretty far away, both geographically and culturally.”
Park Minsu smacked his lips.
Ironically, the girl had been interested in his friend, but he seemed to be the one who found the whole thing more
interesting.
Cha Jihoo could not help being drawn to her as well, but he regarded it as nothing more than a small incident that had
happened during an overseas trip.
More importantly, he needed to adapt to this reality he had regressed into.
After arriving at Gimpo Airport, the two men headed toward their respective homes.
“See you later.”
“Yeah. Get home safely.”
Cha Jihoo instinctively started heading toward the house where he had lived as a goose father before his regression, but
then he suddenly stopped and turned around.
‘That's right. Fifteen years ago, I was living in a villa in Wonhyoro on a jeonse lease!’
In his previous life, he had bought an apartment two years after getting married.
He had not reached that point yet.
So he headed toward the small house where he had lived before then.
‘I worked really hard back then too.’
Among his coworkers of the same age, quite a few spent and enjoyed their money freely.
Cha Jihoo, on the other hand, was not quite frugal enough to be called a miser, but he was extremely thrifty and worked
hard to save money.
Perhaps he had inherited it from his father.
That lifestyle and attitude had become ingrained in him.
Thanks to that, around the time he was promoted to assistant manager, he was able to secure a jeonse home in a
relatively convenient central area of Seoul and save up a modest amount of money.
Of course, at the time, he had never imagined that this hard-earned fortune would gradually disappear over the course of
ten years.
“Wow, I never thought I'd come back here...”
When Cha Jihoo arrived at the villa, he stared at the house with a nostalgic expression.
A place filled with memories.
He looked around the various corners of the house where he had lived while filled with dreams and enjoying the
excitement of working, feeling strangely emotional.
“Yes. Coming back like this must be a chance the heavens have given me so that I never live such an empty life again.
This time, I won't repeat the mistakes I made in my previous life!”
When he checked the date, it was Saturday.
He did not know why, but everything from fifteen years ago remained vividly clear in his mind, as if it had happened
only yesterday.
“That's right. I should call Mom and Dad!”
He called his parents.
As expected, hearing their younger voices made him feel even more affectionate toward them.
For some reason, he felt as though he might cry.
He told them that he had returned safely from his trip to Japan, asked how they were doing, and said he would visit them
over the weekend before ending the call.
His younger sister, Cha Juhye, did not answer her phone.
“I wonder if this brat is drinking somewhere again.”
After sending his sister a text message, Cha Jihoo lay down in the room he had returned to after such a long time.
“Ah, this is comfortable!”
A smile spread across his lips.
The emptiness in his heart began filling with anticipation and hope.
A short while later, his phone vibrated.
Thinking it was his sister, he quickly picked it up.
But the name displayed on the screen was Ahn Jiyeon.
His wife.
No, his wife from his previous life.
Cha Jihoo did not answer the call.
Cha Jihoo spent all of Sunday frantically adapting both his body and mind to the environment he had regressed into.
Then, on Monday morning, he headed to the Samel Electronics headquarters.
Before entering the lobby, he looked up at the building and made a resolution.
‘I won't make the mistake of taking early retirement or anything like that. I'll work hard and somehow make it to the
top in this life. I'm Going UP UP UP! It's my moment!’
He entered the office of Marketing Team 1 in the Home Appliances Division and greeted everyone energetically.
“Good morning! Have a great week! I'm back!”
“Good morning! Assistant Manager Cha, did you enjoy your vacation?”
“Yes, Senior Manager. I'll unpack the modest gifts I brought in a little later.”
“Haha, I'm looking forward to it. You looked like you were burned out right before your vacation, but as expected, you
came back full of energy after getting some rest.”
“Yes. I guess what makes a whale dance isn't praise but rest. Haha.”
With his pleasant appearance and good personality, Cha Jihoo was popular not only with the female employees but also
with his seniors and juniors.
Of course, there were exceptions everywhere.
There were occasionally superiors who disliked his popularity and openly showed their hostility toward him, but even
toward those people, he never reacted emotionally.
He did not think there was any need to make enemies unnecessarily.
At this point in his life, he had intended to stay at this company for a long time.
If he had not eventually needed a large sum of money after marriage, he would have done exactly that.
On the morning that began a new week, a meeting was held under Team Leader Jo Jeongyeon's direction.
“Now, the specifications for the refrigerator we're launching next year have been finalized. Everyone knows that this
time, there have been major technological innovations. We have a meeting on the marketing strategy for this product this
afternoon, so study these materials carefully and make sure you're prepared.”
“Understood, Team Leader.”
Cha Jihoo immersed himself in work throughout the morning.
He had never felt this refreshed and clear-headed, both physically and mentally.
Regression was basically rejuvenation.
That phrase came to mind.
Not long before lunchtime, a message arrived.
It was from Ahn Jiyeon.
— You didn't answer your phone all weekend. What on earth happened? Did you even go to work?
After thinking for a moment, he replied this time.
— I was so tired that I slept like I was dead.
— That's too much. Can we have lunch together?
— Let's meet for dinner. I have something to talk to you about anyway.
— Something to talk about? What is it?
— I'll tell you then.
There was a saying that when you have a bull by the horns, you should strike while the iron is hot.
If he spent too much time considering this and that, waiting for the right moment, only to become entangled in the same
way as in his previous life, then he would not only lose the meaning of his regression but would also be ashamed before
the heavens for giving him this opportunity.
‘I'm doing it today!’
There was just one thing that worried him.
‘Ahn Jiyeon is still my coworker. But if I reject her and she holds a grudge, she could secretly expose our relationship
or spread malicious rumors about me. That could damage my reputation.’
Unlike his previous life, he had ambitious plans to stay at this excellent company for a long time and eventually become
an executive.
If that happened, those plans could be disrupted.
So he needed to end things as amicably as possible without hurting her feelings too much.
A little after quitting time, Cha Jihoo headed to the place where they had agreed to meet.