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# Chapter 05. I’ll Pour Everything Into It
“Hm? Hoho. What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? A grown man acting like this. How embarrassing.”
At Sim-rok’s sudden declaration, Se-yeong covered her mouth and laughed.
“Still, I guess Sim-rok is the only one who really thinks about his mother.”
For some reason, Sim-rok seemed especially lively today.
It was an expression she hadn’t seen in the five years since they had entered this house.
‘Maybe it’s because he’s become an adult. He seems more mature somehow.’
Even that morning, Sim-rok had left the house with his usual expression.
Had something happened at school?
Whatever it was, Se-yeong was proud that he had said something like that, even if it was only a few empty words.
Just then—
Creak—
The sound of a door opening came from the second floor, and someone appeared.
A middle-aged man with a moderately sturdy build and an extraordinary sharpness in his eyes behind his glasses.
Sim-rok immediately recognized him.
He was his mother’s remarried husband and the chairman leading the major corporation ‘GG Company,’ Kim Jun-hwan.
He had a much younger face than the Kim Jun-hwan Sim-rok remembered from fifteen years later.
Perhaps because of that, the gaze he directed down at Sim-rok felt even more intimidating.
“Oh, Sim-rok just got home…”
Se-yeong cautiously spoke, seeming a little nervous.
Even though they were a married couple, his mother and Chairman Kim Jun-hwan had always seemed distant to Sim-rok.
Kim Jun-hwan silently looked down at Sim-rok and Se-yeong before opening his mouth.
“Yes. It’s been a while.”
Leaving only those words behind, Kim Jun-hwan went back into his room.
‘Well, I’m not even his biological son. It’s not like there’s anything in particular for us to talk about.’
Come to think of it, despite living in this house for nearly twenty years, Sim-rok had never had a proper conversation with Kim Jun-hwan.
At most, they had exchanged a few words when Kim Jun-hwan had one day unilaterally informed him that he would be getting married against his will.
“Perhaps he’s just a little tired since he’s only just returned from his business trip.”
It seemed Se-yeong was worried that her new husband’s cold reaction might have hurt Sim-rok’s feelings.
“Yes. I understand.”
Not wanting to worry his mother, Sim-rok gave her a slight smile.
As though he truly didn’t care at all.
After all, hiding his own expression was nothing compared to constantly reading other people’s.
“Then I’ll go to my room, too.”
“Ah, all right. Go ahead. The others haven’t arrived yet, either, so come out when I call you later.”
His mother returned to the kitchen, and Sim-rok opened his bedroom door.
Creak—
The sight that unfolded before him made him let out a small laugh.
“There really is nothing here.”
Aside from the bare necessities, such as a desk, bed, and wardrobe, there was nothing else.
As though this were merely a room meant for sleeping and waking up.
And in reality, it wasn’t much different.
“Well, it’s not bad for thinking quietly.”
Sim-rok put his bag down in one corner of the room and took out a pen and notebook.
“But I can’t do much with nothing at all.”
He soon began moving his pen, organizing his plans for the future.
‘Top priority. I need to earn their recognition here.’
Recognition.
He needed to establish legitimacy for what he was going to do from now on.
That way, he wouldn’t face unnecessary interference later.
Of course, the method itself wasn’t difficult.
He could simply publish the works that had become popular before his regression.
After all, he remembered them down to the very last word.
‘But that would be such a waste.’
Sim-rok had already experienced firsthand what kind of results his works would produce.
Having been given a new life, it would be a terrible waste to write the exact same things again.
Write the same works and receive the same awards.
Wouldn’t that simply amount to following the exact same life Kim Min-jae had enjoyed in his previous life?
He would leave behind something that was not someone else’s trace, but ‘Yoo Sim-rok’s own trace.’
Only then would there truly be meaning in his return.
“I’ll pour everything into myself.”
As mentioned earlier, the prerequisite for doing that was earning recognition.
And before long, a ‘useful’ situation would arise.
He had already roughly decided what he would do first.
Using the information he possessed, Sim-rok added flesh to the skeleton of his plan.
He became so absorbed that he lost track of time.
“This should be enough.”
Satisfied, Sim-rok put down his pen.
When he looked at the clock, an entire hour had already passed.
He read through the several pages of notes he had written, then tore out those pages and threw them into the trash.
He had already firmly committed their contents to memory.
It was also to prevent anyone else from seeing them by chance.
“Now, it should be about time…”
Just as he muttered those words—
“Everyone, come eat!”
At the perfectly timed sound of his mother’s voice, Sim-rok got up and left his room.
When he entered the kitchen, the people in the house began gathering around the dining table one by one.
There were normally about six people living in this house, but today there were more.
Kim Jun-hwan’s relatives had come over for their regular family gathering.
“Oh my~ Sis. Has your skin gotten even better?”
“You’re one to talk. You seem to be doing pretty well these days, too.”
“Come on. It’s just because it’s peak season.”
Two women dressed in what appeared to be designer clothes were already seated and chatting casually.
They were Kim Jun-hwan’s two younger sisters, Kim Ju-seung and Kim Ju-young.
“……‘New’ sister-in-law, you’ve been doing well too, right?”
The younger of the two, Kim Ju-young, deliberately emphasized the word ‘new’ as she looked at Se-yeong.
Her eyes and tone subtly looked down on Se-yeong.
“Yes. I’ve been doing well, thanks to you. Thank you.”
Se-yeong smiled brightly.
Kim Ju-young, on the other hand, gave a mocking chuckle.
“Well, that’s good. I heard you made these things together with sister-in-law?”
The dining table was filled with dishes that looked delicious at a glance.
Considering the circumstances, it seemed Se-yeong had put particular effort into preparing them.
“Ah, yes. I only helped out from the side, though.”
“So modest. I’ll definitely look forward to it~”
Her words and tone were completely different.
Her true intentions were obvious: she intended to find even the smallest fault and embarrass Se-yeong.
Sim-rok felt displeased by Kim Ju-young’s snake-like behavior, but he simply remained expressionless.
‘It’s not time yet.’
With that thought, Sim-rok sat beside a familiar face seated at the far end of the table.
His younger sister, Yoo Cheong-a.
She had inherited their mother’s beauty, with a plain yet elegant face.
And since she had only recently become a high school student, she looked much younger than the face Sim-rok remembered from the last time he had seen her.
The memory of her cutting ties with him five years later surfaced as well, leaving him feeling somewhat bitter.
‘I’ll never let the same thing happen again.’
“……Why are you looking at me like that?”
Perhaps he had stared at her for too long without realizing it.
At his younger sister’s question as she frowned, Sim-rok shook his head.
“No. Nothing.”
As he vaguely brushed it off, someone took the seat at the head of the table.
The owner and head of the household, Kim Jun-hwan.
“All right. Let’s eat.”
With his deep voice, Kim Jun-hwan picked up his spoon.
The other family members followed suit.
After some time passed—
“The company’s stock price has been rising day by day lately, hasn’t it?”
Kim Ju-seung, seated across from Se-yeong, spoke.
Perhaps because they were siblings, the subtly sharp and intelligent atmosphere she gave off was similar to Kim Jun-hwan’s.
“It’s good. Father would be proud, too.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
The ‘father’ Kim Ju-seung referred to was the former chairman of GC.
Sim-rok remembered that he had passed away around three years ago from this point in time.
Regardless, Sim-rok didn’t sense much sincerity in their conversation.
It seemed as though they were simply exchanging appropriate pleasantries because they had nothing else to say.
“How’s the hotel?”
“It’s always the same. It’s running along well enough.”
Kim Ju-seung was the representative of ‘GC Hotel’ on Jeju Island.
Despite saying it was merely ‘running along,’ the hotel generated considerable revenue, though she made no particular effort to show it off.
Sim-rok found the subtle tension flowing between them interesting, despite the fact that they were family.
It was something he hadn’t noticed before.
‘Back then, I was too busy worrying about what everyone else thought.’
Just as the two were talking about business, another voice interrupted.
“Hmm~ Sister-in-law?”
It was Kim Ju-young.
Unlike Kim Ju-seung, who was wearing designer clothes in a relatively simple style, Kim Ju-young was covered in jewelry to an almost excessive degree.
That made her look less intellectual than Kim Jun-hwan or Kim Ju-seung and more like a frivolous socialite.
Her behavior wasn't much different, either.
“Yes. Is something wrong?”
Kim Ju-young exaggeratedly furrowed her brow and picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks.
“Isn’t this too salty? It would have been nice if you had seasoned it properly.”
“……Is that so?”
Se-yeong asked coolly.
Her words were laced with sarcasm.
It felt as though invisible sparks were flying between the two women.
“You think so too, don’t you?”
“Huh? Ah. Well. It is a little.”
Her husband, Park Won-ho, chimed in.
As far as Sim-rok remembered, he was also an executive at GC.
He was the type of man who always seemed completely unable to stand up to his wife.
“Oppa, you think so too, right?”
“It does seem a little heavily seasoned.”
“……”
Kim Ju-seung spoke coldly, while Kim Jun-hwan said nothing and simply picked up the criticized piece of meat and ate it.
Sim-rok was eating as well, but the food wasn’t particularly salty.
In the first place, Sim-rok preferred lightly seasoned food, so if the seasoning tasted merely moderate to him, it certainly wasn’t particularly salty.
In other words, it was obvious that Kim Ju-young was deliberately trying to put his mother in a difficult position.
“Yes. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Se-yeong couldn't have been unaware of that fact either.
But to avoid causing unnecessary conflict, she admitted her fault.
Yet even after Se-yeong apologized, Kim Ju-young continued talking without pause.
“Hmm. I was really looking forward to the food since sister-in-law made it. We don't get many happy occasions when the whole family can gather like this, so I hope you won't make things unpleasant over something so trivial~”
“Ju-young.”
At Kim Jun-hwan’s call, Kim Ju-young’s mouth immediately stopped.
As though someone had pressed a pause button.
“Yes?”
“She’s your sister-in-law. Show some respect.”
“……”
Kim Ju-young’s expression twisted even further.
She clearly disliked the fact that her brother defended his wife despite their marriage being a remarriage.
But no matter how arrogant she was, she couldn't disobey her older brother, Kim Jun-hwan.
Even now, although she frowned, she couldn't maintain eye contact with Kim Jun-hwan for more than a few seconds and quickly looked away.
“Hmph.”
So she changed the subject instead.
“Oh, right. I heard Hyun-jae achieved another result this time? Good grief. Congratulations, kid.”
“Yes. Thank you, Aunt.”
Kim Hyun-jae, Kim Jun-hwan’s eldest son and Kim Min-jae’s older brother by five years, lowered his head.
He was an elite among elites who had received all kinds of early education from a young age and graduated from a university overseas.
At this point in time, he was probably working as the head of GC’s Development Team 2.
The achievement Kim Ju-young mentioned was likely related to that.
Kim Hyun-jae himself spoke calmly, as though it were nothing special.
“Yes. Good work.”
But Kim Jun-hwan said nothing more.
It was almost as though his unspoken words were, ‘If you’re my son, something like that is only natural.’
The enthusiasm Kim Hyun-jae had gained from all the praise seemed to cool somewhat.
Meanwhile, Sim-rok subtly shifted his gaze toward Kim Min-jae, who was sitting beside Kim Hyun-jae.
He was sitting with his head lowered, merely pushing grains of rice around with his chopsticks.
He was desperately trying not to show it, but his expression was gradually becoming more and more sour.
“Hohoho~ I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next. Anyway, how have you been doing lately, Min-jae? Are your grades good?”
The hand moving Kim Min-jae’s chopsticks suddenly stopped.
After slightly grimacing so that others wouldn't notice, he raised his head and answered indifferently.
“I’m doing all right.”
He then subtly glanced at his father, Kim Jun-hwan.
Kim Jun-hwan, however, merely continued eating, as though he had let the words go in one ear and out the other.
The one who seemed more excited to talk was his aunt, Kim Ju-young.
“Oh my. Is that so? Don’t have too much fun just because you’re twenty. You need to study diligently, too, don’t you?”
“Well…… yes.”
“Exactly~ You always need to build up your résumé properly. Your father is such a strict man, after all. But I never have to worry about my daughter because she’s always ranked first in her entire school……”
She had begun as though she were concerned about her nephew, but before long the conversation had drifted into her bragging about her own daughter.
Even Park Won-ho beside her nodded along and chimed in.
Sim-rok realized that this was what Kim Ju-young had actually been trying to accomplish by asking about his current situation.
‘She wants to brag about her child in front of Kim Jun-hwan and leave some kind of impression.’
Of course, Sim-rok couldn't care less.
Seeing Kim Min-jae's expression sour was somewhat entertaining, but that was separate.
Every time Sim-rok came to this house, Kim Ju-young followed the same routine.
She had already gone through Kim Hyun-jae and Kim Min-jae.
Now it was time to move on to her next target.
“And Sim-rok……”
Kim Ju-young’s gaze shifted toward Sim-rok.
It was completely different from the look she had given the two brothers.
Her eyes resembled those of a hyena searching for even the smallest fault to latch onto and tear apart.
But Sim-rok instead wore an invisible smile.
‘Good.’
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
The moment when the flow of the conversation turned toward him.
This was the perfect opportunity for him to attract everyone's attention.
‘I’ll make very good use of this.’
From this moment on—
Yoo Sim-rok’s second life was about to begin.