Those Met Again
How could something like this happen? Jaehyuk wondered as he strolled down the school hallway, reflecting on his regression. He had definitely died with a knife buried in his throat. Didn't a slash from a bladed weapon to the neck usually mean certain death? Is this like those comics where you die and return to the past?
As Jaehyuk ran his fingers over his neck again, someone suddenly thrust a hand in front of his dazed eyes and waved it.
"Hey."
"Ah, shit—you scared the hell out of me."
Jaehyuk flinched in surprise and looked at the person waving at him.
"What are you spacing out for?"
Standing before him was his friend Lee Jeonghan, who—like him—should have died from a stab to the neck. Jeonghan had the same slim build now as he had at thirty, with a gentle, warm face that looked incapable of uttering even a single curse and large, sparkling eyes. He was so handsome it was impossible to imagine him becoming a notorious gang executive in eleven years.
Jaehyuk alternated between the image of Jeonghan the gang executive from his previous life and the high-school student standing in front of him now. Without realizing it, he stared at his friend with a sorrowful expression.
"What? Did something happen? Why the long face? If something's wrong, don't just keep it bottled up—talk to me, man."
This time I won't let you stray. Not ever.
Jaehyuk flashed a bright smile as if nothing were wrong and said to Jeonghan, "It's nothing. Let's hit the school store. Drinks are on me."
As they walked toward the store together, Jaehyuk suddenly glanced around the hallway. Students clustered in groups of three or five, chatting away. A few headed down to the floor below where the store was located. Here and there, the occasional lone student walked quietly along the corridor.
When he had seen this same scene in the past, he had felt only boredom and frustration. But after eleven long years, encountering it again brought a wave of fondness that overshadowed everything else.
Man… everyone looks so young. Even the current me is just a kid.
Jaehyuk let his mind drift through old school memories: betting with Jeonghan and the others to win snacks or drinks—or buying them himself. Doodling silly drawings in his textbook and slacking off behind the teacher's back during class. Racing ahead of his friends at lunchtime to be first in line at the cafeteria. All those ordinary high-school moments.
Lost in nostalgia, Jaehyuk and Jeonghan reached the school store and bought their drinks. On the way back to the classroom, Jaehyuk popped the tab on his can and asked, "Is Suyeon doing okay?"
"Suyeon? She's fine… Didn't you just see her the other day?"
"I was just wondering if she's still doing well."
"Out of nowhere…? Hmm…"
Jeonghan took a sip of his drink. Jaehyuk continued, "Next time you go pick her up, I'll tag along."
Jeonghan gave him a faintly suspicious look. "I don't mind, but… you don't have a crush on my sister, do you? If it's you, I guess it'd be better than some random guy, but…"
"Hey. Don't even joke about that. Suyeon deserves someone way better than me."
Jaehyuk changed the subject. "So what do you have next period?"
"Next? Math… Ah, fuck, why does it have to be math?!"
Right. Jeonghan was hopeless at math…
Watching his friend grumble about the upcoming class, Jaehyuk smiled. He felt a quiet sense of relief that the reality he was living now was peaceful—nothing like the nightmare he had endured before.
But I can't just sit still. If I've come back to the past, there are too many things I want to change.
It was far too early to feel at ease. Jaehyuk's heart was already heavy with worry about the future he needed to alter. He mulled over how to prevent the tragic events from his previous life while walking back into the school building beside Jeonghan, who was still whining about math.
On the surface he laughed along with his friend's complaints, but inside he was busy worrying and planning for the battles ahead.
That evening, after school ended, Jaehyuk opened the front door and stepped inside the house.
"You're back?"
The person who greeted him was his younger sister, Park Dahyun. She lay sprawled on the sofa, crunching potato chips without even glancing his way as she watched a variety show on TV.
In Jaehyuk's previous life, Dahyun had become a vegetative patient after a sudden hit-and-run while he was away on an undercover mission. The Dahyun before him now was the very picture of an unemployed freeloader living her best sloth life. Yet even that sight felt precious to Jaehyuk, and the corners of his mouth lifted unconsciously.
"What are you watching?"
"Hm? Living Alone. It's super popular right now."
Still not looking at him, Dahyun grabbed another chip. Jaehyuk simply stood there, quietly watching his sister as she lounged on the sofa enjoying her show.
As he gazed at her, his expression grew complicated. He was remembering the Dahyun from his previous life—lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen tube in her nose.
"Uh… why are you staring at me like that? It's creepy."
Dahyun turned her head, met his eyes, and asked. Jaehyuk, who had been staring wordlessly, snapped out of it and blinked rapidly.
"Huh? Ah… sorry if it bothered you."
"What…? Uh… yeah…"
Seeing him apologize with a gentle smile, Dahyun felt a strong sense of dissonance and grew flustered. The old Jaehyuk would have teased her mercilessly—something like, "I'm just sad because it looks like you'll still be like this in ten years," or "The future brother-in-law who has to deal with this is truly pitiful."
Leaving the bewildered Dahyun behind, Jaehyuk went into his room and set his school bag down beside the desk. He sat in the chair, opened a notebook, and began to write.
Back then I had already secured evidence that Choi Kyungsoo murdered my uncle and staged it as suicide.
Jaehyuk's uncle, Park Minho, had supposedly committed suicide in the mountains when Jaehyuk was a first-year high-school student. While gathering intelligence on the Gangryonghoe during his undercover operation, Jaehyuk had learned from an agent embedded in Choi Kyungsoo's inner circle that the death he had believed was caused by depression was actually murder.
It got discovered faster than I expected, though.
Before long, Choi Kyungsoo and his men had realized Jaehyuk was a cop—and that he possessed both evidence of the murder and critical weaknesses of the Gangryonghoe. That was when the pursuit began. The Gangryonghoe had tracked them down quickly and eliminated everyone.
If I try to guess why they killed my uncle, the most likely reason is that he stumbled across information that could never be allowed to surface. But what exactly was it? Even the guy who fed me the intel said he didn't know…
Jaehyuk tapped his chin with the pen as he thought. His uncle must have obtained something that could have dealt a fatal blow to the Gangryonghoe. Yet the undercover source had claimed ignorance of the details, so Jaehyuk still had no way to uncover it.
He began jotting down everything he remembered about the Gangryonghoe from his previous life. The organization had colluded with Japan's yakuza, the Chinese triads, Russia's Red Mafia, and others to smuggle various narcotics. They distributed those drugs through cooperative partners in clubs and bars in the city's nightlife districts.
The Gangryonghoe laundered the profits and used them as bribes for police officers, politicians, and other public officials, covering up their crimes. They even carried out contract killings at the request of high-ranking politicians and legal figures. The list of offenses they concealed was endless: contract murder, human trafficking, drug and weapons smuggling, illegal finance operations, underground casinos—countless crimes hidden by the Gangryonghoe and its cartel.
If any of this information reached the media, the entire country would be thrown into chaos. But Jaehyuk could not release it. He only possessed circumstantial knowledge from his previous life; he had no concrete evidence.
Besides, the Gangryonghoe was not his only enemy. They were intertwined with overseas criminal syndicates—the yakuza, triads, Red Mafia. Some politicians, judges, prosecutors, and police officers were also in bed with them. In order to avenge his dead uncle, Jaehyuk would have to confront a vast, tangled cartel that included the Gangryonghoe, international crime organizations, the political sphere, law enforcement, and the justice system.
Yet right now, the current Jaehyuk could do nothing to begin his revenge.
For now, I need to prepare thoroughly, starting today.
With that thought, Jaehyuk stood, changed his clothes, and got ready to head out. Just then Dahyun called after him as he left his room.
"Oppa."
Jaehyuk looked at her with an expression that clearly asked, Since when do you call me that? It made sense—Dahyun had stopped calling him "oppa" after she turned thirteen and had used "hey" or "brat" ever since. The fact that she was using the affectionate term now could only mean one thing.
"Buy me some cider."
Knew it.
She only used the title when she wanted something. The old Jaehyuk would have grumbled about whether she had no hands or no feet. But the current Jaehyuk accepted her request without complaint and simply asked, "Can or 1.5-liter bottle?"
Dahyun stared at him in utter bewilderment. What the—? He's actually agreeing without a fight? She asked cautiously, "Uh… are you sick or something?"
"Huh? No, I'm fine. Why?"
"It's just… if you don't want to go, you don't have to. You look… kind of tired."
She sat up straight on the sofa. Seeing her like that, Jaehyuk gave a warm smile and asked, "It's okay. I'll go. Need anything else?"
"Hmm… maybe a bag of Swing Chips?"
"Sure."
Jaehyuk opened the front door and stepped outside. Dahyun stared blankly at the closed door for a moment, then tilted her head in confusion.
Jaehyuk opened the door to the convenience store and walked in. A man browsing the snack aisle spotted him and called out cheerfully.
"Hey, kiddo!!"
Jaehyuk turned toward the young man who was grinning and waving at him.
"Oh, hyung."
"Been a while, hasn't it?"
The young man had a friendly face, slightly pronounced double eyelids, and a sharp jawline. He stood around 180 centimeters tall with a lean yet solid build. His name was Min Taeseok—a violent-crimes detective with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and someone Jaehyuk considered an older brother. Taeseok had lived next door since Jaehyuk was little and had always treated him and Dahyun like his own siblings. He would listen seriously to their problems, take them out to eat, and dote on them.
In Jaehyuk's previous life, Taeseok had died right before him—when Jaehyuk was a college freshman—after being struck by a drunk driver. At the time, Jaehyuk had believed it was nothing more than a tragic accident. Seeing the man who had died in his previous life standing here alive filled Jaehyuk with joy, but he kept it hidden.
"Want anything? It's my payday."
"Then I'll take a pint of Häagen-Dazs."
"This kid's trying to bankrupt me? Nothing over six thousand won. And grab something for Dahyun too."
"How am I supposed to know what she wants?"
"Carbonated drink and salty chips, obviously. Doritos or Swing Chips, that kind of thing."
The two of them filled a bag with drinks and snacks and stepped back outside.
"If you've got time, let's sit and chat for a bit."
"Sure."
They sat at the table outside the convenience store. The moment Taeseok took his seat across from Jaehyuk—who was already opening a bag of snacks—he cracked open a 500-milliliter can of beer.
"How's life as a cop?"
"It's good, but it'd be perfect if there weren't so many damn troublemakers."
Jaehyuk gave Taeseok a meaningful look and asked carefully, "Hyung… if someone offered you a huge bribe to drop an investigation, what would you do?"
"Why ask something so obvious?"
Taeseok drained the rest of his beer. His previously light expression hardened as he spoke in a lecturing tone. "Do you think it's right for a cop to turn a blind eye to crime just to make his own life easier?"
That stubborn personality of his really worries me. He was the same way back then and it led to a terrible ending…
The death Jaehyuk had believed was caused by a drunk driver had actually been murder. While investigating weapons smuggling between the Gangryonghoe and the Russian mafia, Taeseok had uncovered evidence of corrupt police involvement and paid for it with his life. Jaehyuk had only learned the truth while infiltrating the Gangryonghoe himself.
Recalling that memory, Jaehyuk took another sip of cider and said, "Hyung."
"Yeah?"
"If I ever think the job is getting too dangerous… I hope you'll put your own life first."
"…Ha, you adorable little punk. Are you actually worrying about your hyung?"
"Take it however you want."
Jaehyuk offered a faintly bitter smile.
Because I don't want to watch you die a second time.