The Returnee's Late Night
The director had already excused himself earlier, telling them to talk among themselves. The orphanage cafeteria was filled with the mouthwatering aroma of seasoned and fried chicken that Min-su had ordered through a delivery app. The table was a mess of snacks and beer cans that Jun-ho and So-hee had brought.
"Hey, Ihyun. Have you tried this?" Min-su asked, shaking the container of pickled radish.
Kang Ihyun looked at him with an incredulous expression. "...What? We had pickled radish even when I was still here."
"No, I mean, you were in another world for twelve years. They probably didn't have stuff like this over there."
"They had fried chicken and pickles too."
"...What the hell? I thought it was another world, but it doesn't sound any different from a foreign country."
"It's still a place where people live."
Everyone burst into laughter. Several beer cans were emptied, and once Kang Ihyun finished his story, the conversation naturally shifted to updates on each other's lives.
Kang Ihyun spoke up. "By the way, congrats on becoming a firefighter, Min-su hyung."
Min-su rolled his beer can around for a moment before letting out a small chuckle. "...Thanks."
A little later, Min-su spoke in a low voice. "Do you remember what we talked about back then?"
Kang Ihyun quietly lifted his head. Min-su fiddled with his beer can as he continued. "...About why my parents died."
A fire accident. Kang Ihyun remembered it too. It was the reason Min-su had grown up in the orphanage, and what had sparked his dream of becoming a firefighter.
Min-su smiled bitterly. "I saw the firefighters arriving that day."
He lowered his gaze. "...I don't blame them at all, but lately... I keep thinking that if they'd just gotten there a little faster, maybe my parents would've survived."
The cafeteria fell silent. Min-su laughed awkwardly. "Well, it's a pointless what-if now that I think about it."
He took a sip of his beer. After a brief silence, Min-su grinned and said playfully, "But let me tell you, being a firefighter is fucking brutal."
So-hee let out a small laugh. "Min-su's secretly really popular with people. The hot firefighter and all."
"Hey."
"Whenever those rescue videos pop up on YouTube, the comments go absolutely wild."
When Min-su scrunched up his face, everyone laughed, and Kang Ihyun chimed in too. "Yeah, Min-su hyung was always pretty good-looking even as a kid."
Then the attention turned to So-hee. Kang Ihyun asked while tearing into a piece of chicken, "Speaking of which, I heard you're a nurse at a university hospital in Sincheon, noona?"
So-hee looked down at her beer can and gave a small smile. "...It's because of Mom, what else."
Kang Ihyun quietly watched her. He remembered that So-hee's mother had been a nurse. She'd always been exhausted from working so many night shifts, but her face would light up whenever she talked about her daughter.
So-hee spoke slowly. "When I was little, I went to visit the hospital where Mom worked."
Her eyes clouded over just a little. "I watched her working from the side..."
She paused for a moment. "...and it looked really cool to me."
The cafeteria grew quiet again. So-hee let out a small snort. "But in the end, Mom couldn't even take care of her own body and passed away."
The mood in the room stiffened. So-hee quickly tried to lighten the atmosphere, smiling as she pointed at Kang Ihyun. "And when you suddenly disappeared... I thought if you came back as some kind of wreck, I'd be the one taking care of you."
Kang Ihyun snorted and shook his head. "Damn, that's really harsh."
Everyone burst into loud laughter.
Next was Jun-ho. Min-su snickered as he said, "But the funniest one here is this guy."
"What about him?"
"The dude who used to swap girlfriends like they were clothes ended up getting married first."
So-hee also exploded with laughter. "Right? When Jun-ho was in college, his girlfriends changed every single month, didn't they?"
She poked Jun-ho's shoulder repeatedly. "Hey, weren't you interested in me at all?"
Jun-ho suddenly glanced at Kang Ihyun and smirked. "You've had a crush on Ihyun since high school. Everyone knew except him. Why would I have been interested in you?"
"...W-what...! What kind of nonsense are you suddenly spouting...!"
So-hee's exaggerated reaction made it clear that Jun-ho's words were true. Min-su added, "They say strong denial is affirmation. We learned that in school..."
"...Ugh, shut up with that bullshit!"
The way So-hee reacted like a cat with its claws out only confirmed it. Kang Ihyun asked, "Noona, you really liked me?"
"Ha, no way."
"Really? That's too bad. If it was you, noona, I'd have been totally on board."
When Kang Ihyun responded with what seemed like genuine disappointment, So-hee muttered, "What is this guy even saying?" and fanned her flushed face with her hand.
Jun-ho watched her for a moment before speaking again. "...Hey, enough with the bullshit. Look at this instead."
He casually handed his phone to Kang Ihyun. On the screen was a baby who looked about a year old, lying in a crib.
"My daughter."
Kang Ihyun looked down at the photo. A laugh escaped him almost immediately. "...She's really cute."
Jun-ho's expression melted in an instant. "Right?"
It was hard to believe this was the same guy who'd been cursing just moments ago. Jun-ho started flipping through more photos, launching into explanations.
"...Hyung. They're all the same picture..."
"Wait, look at this one too. She looks just like me, doesn't she?"
"Oh god, he's starting again," Min-su groaned in disgust.
So-hee shook her head with a laugh. Jun-ho paid them no mind. The face he made while showing off the photos looked happier than anyone else's in the world.
Watching him, Kang Ihyun suddenly thought back. The old Jun-ho had always been an anxious person. Maybe because of the memory of being abandoned by his parents. He'd always tried to hold onto people, terrified that relationships would break.
That same person had now become someone's father.
Jun-ho looked at the photo and smiled softly. "...To be honest."
He chose his words carefully. "I want to make sure our child never feels lonely."
At those words, the cafeteria fell silent. Of course they did—everyone knew why Jun-ho had grown up in an orphanage.
Kang Ihyun absentmindedly fiddled with his beer can. Because he understood that feeling all too well.
Children who had been abandoned hated loneliness more than anyone.
And that night, for the first time in a very long while, Kang Ihyun drank while smiling. Not talking about war. Not talking about death. Just sharing truly ordinary stories with his friends.
The next morning, the faint smell of soybean paste soup wafted through the orphanage cafeteria. The children were already busy getting ready for school, and the place echoed with the chaotic sounds of chatter and clattering trays.
"Did the kids get home okay last night?"
"...Yeah, well... they stayed until right before the last subway, but they probably made it back fine on their own."
Jeong Seok-woo snorted as he picked up some kimchi with his chopsticks. "Those rascals—I told them to just sleep over."
"They all have their own things to do, even on the weekend."
Jeong Seok-woo knew that, of course, but he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
"By the way, there's something I need to talk to you about. Do you have some time today?"
"What about?"
"...It's not something to talk about here, so I'll come to your office later."
"...? Alright."
After breakfast ended, there was a knock at the door.
Having finished brushing his teeth and showering, Kang Ihyun went to the director's office as promised.
"Come in."
Kang Ihyun opened the door and quietly stepped inside. With a soft click, the morning sunlight slanted into the office.
As he sat on the sofa, Kang Ihyun said, "What I wanted to talk to you about, Director, is money."
"Money? What money?"
Kang Ihyun casually placed the subspace pocket he'd brought onto the table. Jeong Seok-woo looked at the object and asked, "What's that?"
Kang Ihyun hesitated for a moment before saying, "...Don't be too surprised."
He reached inside, clenched his fist, and the next moment—
-Clink, clatter, clink.
Gold coins, rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and countless other precious gems poured out onto the table.
Jeong Seok-woo's eyebrows twitched. And then Kang Ihyun's hand went back into the pouch several more times. Ornaments with intricate silver filigree. Small jeweled boxes. Even a ring that gave off a strangely blue glow. Each time something landed on the table with a soft thud, the atmosphere in the director's office grew increasingly strange.
Jeong Seok-woo remained speechless for a long time. Kang Ihyun smiled awkwardly. "...This isn't even everything. I don't even know how much there is."
Jeong Seok-woo finally opened his mouth. "...Are these... all real?"
It was an unusually dumb question coming from him. But it was understandable—the whole thing felt completely unreal.
Kang Ihyun chuckled. "Of course they're real. What would I do with fakes? I didn't just save one country—I saved the whole world."
"Hah."
With a short sigh, Jeong Seok-woo carefully picked up a ruby. It was heavy. And cold. Most of all, it was unmistakably genuine. Of course, Jeong Seok-woo didn't know much about gemstones or precious metals, but the intuition that came from decades of life was screaming at him.
This was dangerously expensive stuff.
Jeong Seok-woo set the gem down with a sigh. "...What the hell are you planning to do with all this?"
He shook his head immediately after. "Are you thinking of selling them?"
Kang Ihyun nodded. "Yeah."
He lowered his gaze to the table for a moment. "...Honestly, I don't even know what I should do with them."
Jeong Seok-woo fell into thought. They had to be handled legally. That was obvious. The problem was the origin. These items looked suspicious no matter how you looked at them. The craftsmanship was different from modern techniques. The patterns on the gold coins were strange. The size of the gems was ridiculous. If they mishandled this, they could easily get tangled up with the police, customs, the Cultural Heritage Administration, and the National Tax Service.
Jeong Seok-woo tapped his fingers on the desk. Tap. Tap.
After a long while, he spoke slowly. "...Maybe you shouldn't have come back at all."
It was half a joke, but more than half was sincere. With this much wealth, and having been the hero on top of it, Kang Ihyun could have lived a life of endless respect in that other world without getting caught up in all these annoying, irritating real-world problems.
"How could I do that?"
Jeong Seok-woo let out a deep sigh. "...For now, let's get them appraised."
Kang Ihyun looked up. "Appraised?"
"Yeah. We need to know how much they're worth before we can move."
Jeong Seok-woo thought for a moment before adding, "Luckily, I know a guy who works in that field. He was my subordinate back when I was still in active duty. He's trustworthy."
Kang Ihyun nodded, looking somewhat relieved. Then Jeong Seok-woo stared at the jewels again and muttered, "...But I wonder if that bastard will even pick up the phone."
The moment those worried words left his mouth—
Ding.
A notification sound suddenly rang from Jeong Seok-woo's phone. He glanced at the screen absentmindedly, then frowned. "...Huh?"
Kang Ihyun asked, "What's wrong?"
Jeong Seok-woo stared at his phone screen with a strange look. "...Well, I'll be damned. That guy just messaged me."
"...Pardon?"
"Haven't heard from him in years, and suddenly..."
Jeong Seok-woo slowly read the message.
There was a brief silence. Kang Ihyun and Jeong Seok-woo looked at each other at the same time.
And then Jeong Seok-woo muttered with a strangely sour expression, "...Well, talk about perfect timing."
Kang Ihyun felt like something was a bit off too, but he simply brushed it off as coincidence.
Not yet.
No one knew yet.
That whenever Kang Ihyun wanted something, the world would very naturally, without anyone noticing, begin to turn little by little into exactly the shape he desired.