The Special Child
This year, Kim Jiwon turned fifteen and entered his second year of middle school. To everyone around him, he was an extraordinary boy in more ways than one. From a young age, he had been known throughout the neighborhood as a genius, and he often led the local children in their games while displaying a remarkably mature demeanor, earning him the title of their little leader. As he grew older, the overt signs of his genius gradually faded, yet the trust he had earned from the adults only deepened with time. Enjoying both the confidence of the grown-ups and the admiration of the younger kids, Jiwon found himself thinking, “Being a reincarnator… is surprisingly hard to manage…. Tsk.”
In truth, he was a rather special boy who had been born with memories of his past life.
*****
The moment he first began to think, he somehow knew—without understanding why—that he would receive something when he turned ten. He had no idea what it was, nor who would give it or why, yet the knowledge sat in his mind as an undeniable fact. Perhaps because of that, or perhaps for some other reason entirely, the world had always felt far too easy for him. Every lesson at school was something he could glance at once and instantly memorize and comprehend. Studying felt almost trivial.
“Jiwon is so mature for his age.”
It was only natural that his teachers showered him with expectations, given how well he studied and how composed he remained. It was equally natural that children his age flocked to him.
“You jerk….. You’re dead!!”
Plenty of kids, jealous of him, tried to pick fights, but whenever they charged, he would simply sidestep, trip them, or give them a light push, sending them tumbling to the ground in tears. Whenever someone glared at him, he somehow knew the reason. During any scuffle, their movements somehow appeared slower to him. At first, he had enjoyed thinking of himself as a “hero” from a cartoon, but then one of the troublemakers he had sent sprawling sobbed out a single word that lodged itself deep in his heart like a wound.
“You monster!!”
Already precocious because of his exceptional intelligence, he had long felt different from others and carried that quiet worry inside him. The word “monster” struck him especially hard. That day, he ran home, buried himself in his mother’s arms, and cried until he could barely speak, pouring out everything that had happened. His mother’s words that night became a lifelong source of strength.
“Son, no matter what anyone says, you’re a blessing sent down from heaven to your mom and dad.”
“You’ve always been, and you always will be, our proud son.”
Comforted by his mother and lulled to sleep between his parents that night, he woke the next morning with a single thought: “Mom said she’s proud of me. I’m going to be a son she can be proud of.”
(Hey. What about Dad? Huh? What about Daaad~~?)
Buoyed by his mother’s reassurance, he marched off to school determined to give the boy from yesterday a piece of his mind—only to be met with an immediate apology.
“S…sorry……”
“…..???”
It turned out the other children who had witnessed the incident had reported everything to the boy’s mother. Unlike Jiwon, the troublemaker had received a harsh scolding at home and came to apologize first. In the end, they both said sorry and became friends.
Time passed, and eventually his tenth birthday arrived. After enjoying a lively birthday party with his parents (he hadn’t invited any friends—too bothersome), stuffing himself with cake, and falling asleep in his mother’s arms, he woke to the sight of his tear-streaked mother and father, and an unfamiliar ceiling.
“Our son~~”
His mother hugged him tightly while crying, his father swallowed back his own tears, and doctors and nurses hovered nearby. When Jiwon asked where he was, his father carefully explained. The previous night, his parents had woken to the sound of him groaning in pain. Alarmed by the black sweat pouring from his body and the sudden high fever, they had rushed him to the emergency room. Thankfully, the moment the doctor began examining him, the fever dropped and the strange sweat stopped. After his mother cleaned him up and changed his clothes, the doctor suggested keeping him overnight for observation, so they had admitted him.
“I see…. So that’s what happened.”
“!!!!”
His mother flinched in shock at the sudden formal speech. She grabbed the doctor by the collar, demanding to know what was going on, while his father frantically tried to pull her back. After a moment of cold sweat, Jiwon asked innocently, “Mom, what’s wrong?” and his mother finally released the doctor.
‘I’ll have to be more careful….’
With that silent vow, he turned to his father. “So how long do I have to stay in the hospital? Can’t I go home?”
The doctor thought for a moment, then cheerfully approved his discharge. (There were no unusual symptoms, so he was told to return if anything happened again, but Jiwon suspected the real reason was fear of his mother grabbing him next.)
Back home, he lay between his parents as usual and tried to fall asleep.
‘So that was my past life…. A hero, huh…. Heh. At least I wasn’t a monster.’
‘Still, Goddess…. You gave me way too big a reward….’
The details of the goddess’s reward were already etched into his mind as if he had always known them.
‘Physical and mental abilities are 1.5 times those of my previous life…..’
Even in his past life, he had been praised as the greatest hero in history. Now those already exceptional physical and mental abilities had been boosted by another fifty percent. On top of that, he had been granted an additional blessing: Relative Luck’s Protection. Its effect was simple.
‘In any situation, the outcome is fixed to be the best possible result.’
In other words, it wouldn’t drop money from the sky just because he needed it. Instead, it would make him win the lottery, or arrange for the person he casually helped to turn out to be the chairman of a major corporation—recreating those dramatic scenarios in the most natural way possible.
After reviewing his newly granted abilities once more, he tried to fall asleep quickly.
‘From tomorrow on, I have to act like my usual self so Mom and Dad won’t worry.’
‘More than anything…. their stares are way too intense….’
His parents’ worried gazes, watching him carefully in case he fell ill again like the night before, felt unbearably prickly.
-----------
After that, he lived while doing his best to hide his abilities. The word “monster” he had once heard from a classmate had taught him never to show anything too different, so he only displayed abilities similar to before and acted no different from the other children.
‘This is exhausting…..’
But living that way at such a young age was never going to be easy, and little by little he began to wear down. Then one day, his mother pulled him into a tight hug and asked, “Son~. Is something bothering you lately?”
Jiwon startled. “H…how did you know….?”
His mother smiled gently. “Because I’m your mom?”
“…..”
“Hehe. Mom’s always watching you, you know? Of course I noticed.”
“Hehe….. Hah.”
Jiwon rubbed his head against her, then suddenly lifted it in surprise. Whenever his mother or father said something that overflowed with love, he simply felt happy. Maybe because his body was young, his mind had grown younger too. Thanks to that, acting like a child came naturally, though moments like this still made him a little embarrassed.
“Won’t you tell Mom what’s been bothering you?”
“…..Yeah. Actually…..”
Softened by his mother’s gentle coaxing, he found himself pouring out his worries without resistance. He didn’t mention anything about his past life, but he told her everything else—his extraordinary physical and mental abilities, even his luck. When she asked how he had come to know these things, he simply said, “I just knew somehow.” His mother realized he hadn’t told her everything, but she let it pass.
‘It’s probably best to allow him some secrets. Even if it stings a little…’
After a moment of thought, she asked, “Then what was the hardest part for you?”
“Umm……”
What had been the hardest? The first thing that came to mind was hiding things from his parents. Using his strength freely? ‘As a former hero, that feels a bit wrong…..’ Then what about not showing off his intellect? ‘That just feels like bragging, and I don’t like it…..’ What about his luck, then? ‘How would I even show that off?’
After asking himself these questions and answering them, he finally understood the real reason.
“I…. feel sorry…. to Mom and…. Dad…..”
“What could our son possibly feel sorry about?”
His mother’s heart clenched at the words.
“For hiding it from you…..”
“You feel like you deceived us?”
He nodded. His mother pulled the adorable child into a tight embrace.
“What did Mom tell you last time?”
“That I’m a blessing…..”
“And what else?”
“That I’m a son you and Dad can be proud of…..”
“That’s right. Just remember that. No matter what you do or how you act.”
“To Mom and Dad, you’ll always be our proud son…..”
A warm sunset glow bathed the mother and son as they comforted each other.