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### Chapter 4. Back to Normal (1)
Ahn Jiyeon was already at the café.
The moment she saw Cha Jihoo, she immediately began complaining.
“Oppa, what on earth happened? If you went on a trip and came back, shouldn't you at least have called to let me know?”
“Sorry. I got back late and passed out. I must have been exhausted. I slept all day.”
“Even so.”
“I said I'm sorry. Let's eat first.”
Once again, he noticed how young she looked, fifteen years younger.
She was just as beautiful as she had been at this point in his previous life, but she no longer looked beautiful to Cha
Jihoo.
He forced a smile and flipped through the menu.
“What do you want to eat?”
“I'm not hungry.”
“Huh? I'm hungry...”
“Eat by yourself later. I don't feel like eating.”
As expected, her inconsiderate attitude was exactly the same even at this point in time.
Why had he simply overlooked that side of her back then?
“.....”
“I have something to say.”
“Something to say?”
Cha Jihoo was actually the one who had something important to say.
He had planned to eat first, then slowly raise the mood and emotions over tea before announcing their breakup.
Now he was beginning to feel a little anxious that his plan might be ruined.
But then...
“Come to think of it, you said you had something to say too, right? What is it? Go ahead.”
“No. You go first.”
“Haa, okay. I'm really sorry to say this to you, Oppa, but...”
“.....?”
“Let's break up.”
“.....!”
What kind of situation was this?
Cha Jihoo quickly replayed the memories of his previous life.
‘Was this when she told me she wanted to break up? Then does that mean she's already involved with that team leader?’
He had been beaten to the punch with the very words he had intended to say.
But instead of pain, Cha Jihoo felt relief and even exhilaration.
Now he could achieve exactly what he wanted without having to endure her resentment.
‘Things are working out like this again!’
However, if he agreed too easily, it would make his intentions far too obvious.
He needed to look as devastated as possible.
Sometimes, real life required a convincing performance.
“What are you talking about? Did you eat something strange?”
“I'm really sorry, Oppa. But I can't help it.”
“What do you mean you can't help it?”
“I like you, but I don't think we're right for each other.”
“Why are you suddenly saying something like that...”
“You'll meet someone better.”
Cha Jihoo suddenly remembered exactly how he had responded to those words in his previous life.
— I can't break up with you. Was our love really so shallow that it could end this meaninglessly? I truly love you. I
don't know what's going on, but I'll give you some time. Please don't say it's over. I'll wait until you come back.
‘Man, I really clung to her pathetically back then. Without even knowing what kind of future awaited me.’
But things had to be different this time.
He needed the right technique and a delicate touch.
“Haa, that's really cruel. You're being so one-sided right to the very end.”
“I'm sorry.”
Cha Jihoo covered his head with both hands and lowered his gaze.
Wondering whether he was acting convincingly enough, he pondered for a moment.
‘Even acting needs to end at the right point to prevent unintended consequences. If I drag this out and she changes her
mind, it'll become troublesome. Let's end it here.’
Having made up his mind, he slowly raised his face.
Because he had kept his head lowered, the blood rushing to his face made his expression of agitation look remarkably
convincing.
“Haa...”
“.....”
“Do you really have to do this?”
“.....Um. I'm sorry.”
“Okay. Fine. Let's do that. Let's break up.”
“.....W-What?”
“Even recently, I've felt that the way you look at me has become empty. I had a feeling, and it turns out I was right.”
“I think even after we break up, we can still get along as close colleagues at the same company.”
“Forget it. You go first. I'll stay here a little longer. I need some time alone.”
“O-Okay. I'll go.”
Like a man who had just been dumped, Cha Jihoo grabbed his hair with one hand, clenched his fist on the table, and
trembled.
Anyone looking at him would have seen a man filled with humiliation and heartbreak.
A moment later, he discreetly checked to see if Ahn Jiyeon had left.
She was nowhere to be seen.
“Phew, my acting is pretty good. Should I become an actor while I'm at it?”
Unexpectedly, everything had ended smoothly.
And the timing could not have been more perfect.
The next day, Cha Jihoo even sent Ahn Jiyeon a confirmation message saying that he understood her decision, accepted it,
and had decided to put his feelings in order.
Then he dusted off his palms.
“That bad relationship has been completely sorted out!”
He no longer had any desire to date women.
More precisely, he no longer wanted to get married again.
With his handsome appearance, which combined warmth and sex appeal, along with his easygoing and diligent personality,
he was popular with many female employees at the company.
There were even several who openly showed their interest in him.
But now he had completely lost interest in them as well.
‘For now, I need to focus on my work and increase my value. And I should enjoy myself a little for my own sake, too.’
Wanting to change his mood, Cha Jihoo immediately signed up for a fitness center near his home.
Since he would no longer have to spend money on dates, he decided to use that money to take better care of his health.
The weekend arrived.
Cha Jihoo met his younger sister, Cha Juhye, and the two of them headed to their parents' house together.
They were going to celebrate their mother's birthday.
‘She sure sleeps well, the brat.’
He smiled as he looked at his younger sister, who had fallen fast asleep in the seat beside him on the KTX.
‘I don't have to worry about her. She's surprisingly good at taking care of herself.’
Compared to girls her age, she was slightly immature and a bit of a tomboy, but she was surprisingly worldly and had a
good ear for things.
She was seven years younger than him.
Because of their considerable age difference, and because their parents had never spoiled her excessively from a young
age, she still treated her older brother with a certain degree of respect.
She had also inherited Cha Jihoo's academic ability and had done quite well in school, eventually entering Yeonseodae's
English Department, the same university he had attended.
After graduating, she would get a job at a broadcasting station, meet a decent and diligent man, and get married.
Knowing that future, he could not help but feel relieved.
“Mom, Dad! We're here!”
“Ma, Pa!”
Seeing his mother and father, who had suddenly become young enough to be almost unrecognizable, Cha Jihoo was overcome
with emotion and happiness.
Fifteen years really did make a tremendous difference.
He barely managed to hold back the tears that suddenly threatened to spill from his eyes.
“You boys must be busy with work and school and all that. Why did you come all the way here and make yourselves tired?
What's the harm in skipping a day that comes around every year now and then?”
“Transportation has gotten so convenient that it only takes a few hours. What's difficult about that? No matter how busy
we are, we should come.”
“What good children. Yes, I'm glad you came.”
Cha Jihoo's mother had prepared her own birthday feast and waited for them.
Even when he told her that he would take them out to eat on a day like this, she stubbornly refused.
She insisted that the money could be used to prepare four or five birthday meals at home instead.
“Okay, let's blow out the candles on the cake.”
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Mom. Happy birthday to you!”
The four of them sat cozily together and enjoyed a modest but surprisingly plentiful meal.
“Mom, here's your present! And this one is for Dad!”
“Oh my, you don't even make that much money yet. Why did you buy us presents?”
“I make enough, Mom.”
“It's not even my birthday. Why did you buy something just for me too?”
“How could I not? You'd feel hurt.”
His younger sister had also scraped together what little money she had and bought them some small gifts.
When Cha Jihoo smiled and gently patted her head, she immediately recoiled and pushed his hand away.
“You're openly rebelling now. You've grown enough to challenge me, huh?”
“I'm not a kid anymore. I'm all grown up. But does Oppa use his dialect at work too? Is that okay?”
“I don't use it there. It's strange. The moment I take the KTX and get near home, my way of speaking changes. Aren't you
like that too?”
“Hoho, I am. That's strange.”
Laughter spread throughout the house.
After the meal, the family gathered around the fruit Cha Jihoo had brought.
He kept looking back and forth between his mother, father, and younger sister as though seeing their faces for the first
time.
“Is there something on our faces?”
“No.”
“Then why do you keep staring at us like that?”
“Just because I'm happy. You all look so much younger. It makes me happy.”
“Really? I don't think that's true.”
“Oppa seems a little strange. You also seem somehow more affectionate.”
“I'm always affectionate.”
“That's what you think. You're actually kind of scary.”
“Was I really like that to you? That was a long time ago.”
“I don't know. It just feels like you've been somewhere and come back.”
“I did go somewhere. Japan.”
“Oh, right. Japan! You didn't go there with that woman, did you?”
At his sister's tactless remark, their parents' eyes immediately turned toward Cha Jihoo.
“That woman? Do you mean the girl from your company you're dating?”
“No. I went with a friend. You know Minsu.”
“Oh, you went with Minsu?”
“Yes. And I broke up with her.”
“What? You broke up?”
“Oppa, really?”
Everyone was startled.
Cha Jihoo's father and mother were secretly disappointed.
Their son was now entering his thirties, so they had quietly begun hoping that he would get married.
“Why? Did you two fight?”
“It's not like that. We wouldn't break up over something as minor as an argument. There were some circumstances.”
“I see. Well, I'm sure you'll handle it yourself, but relationships between men and women can be subtle and complicated,
so I hope you'll always make your decisions carefully and act with consideration.”
“Yes, I'll keep that in mind.”
The family, reunited after a long time, talked late into the night in a warm and cheerful atmosphere before retiring to
their respective rooms.
In his own room, filled with memories, Cha Jihoo felt a sense of warmth and comfort.
‘It's been so long.’
For some reason, he could not sleep, so he took his laptop out of his bag.
He opened the browser and checked his email.
Because of the nature of the marketing team's work, partner companies sometimes sent messages even on weekends.
But there was a new message in his personal email account, separate from his company account.
The subject was in English.
“What is this? Spam again?”
He was about to move it to the trash out of habit when he noticed a name in the sender field that seemed strangely
familiar.
Clair Belford.
‘Wait, Clair Belford? Clair Belford... That means it's the American college student I met in Japan!’
He had never expected her to actually contact him.