Reunion.
Reunion.
Honestly, I was starting to like this woman, Ji-su.
From her looks to her sense of humor, she was my type.
If I were still Kang Han-seong, I would've gone as far as thinking about marriage—hell, even what to name our grandkids.
Since I kept sticking close to Ji-su, she was getting envious looks from the people around us.
Dad watched, then asked me with a grin.
"Si-yoon, do you like Ji-su?"
At Dad's question, I kept a straight face and answered.
"Eh."
"...Hing."
Ji-su, who'd been watching our exchange with a smile, scooped me into her arms and started playing a game on her phone.
I'd thought it was just a video, but the character moved in the direction Ji-su tilted her phone.
'Whoa... look at that tech.'
"Does Si-yoon want to try?"
"Ji-su, Dad'll get mad at you, you know?"
"Ah..."
Ji-su glanced nervously at Dad.
"If I let Si-yoon play games... I think she'll only do that... When she was younger, I showed her a video on my phone, and she got so fascinated that she's only watched that one video ever since."
"Dad's a petty little man, so he says I can play games once I start elementary school."
"Si-yoon... what do you mean, a petty little man?"
I played dumb and watched the game Ji-su was playing.
It looked like a battle royale—dodge the shrinking zone, survive, and you win first place.
I watched her play for a while, then felt tired and went over to Dad.
"Is Si-yoon tired?"
"My legs hurt. Rub them."
Dad sat me on his lap and massaged my thighs.
"That's the stuff~"
"Is it so, Your Majesty."
After that brief exchange, I passed out right then and there.
Everyone spoke carefully, afraid they'd wake Si-yoon.
"Si-yoon is so pretty, isn't she?"
"Thanks... hold on, let me lay Si-yoon down for a second."
Ji-su waved her hand.
"No, it's fine—we can wrap up here for today."
"Ah... should we do that, then? Si-yoon would probably sleep better at home anyway."
Rije nodded from the side.
"Yes~ I'll practice the rest on my own~"
"Good work, everyone—go inside and get some rest."
""Yes~ Thank you for your hard work~""
Once the studio was cleaned and the girl group members had left, only Kim Ji-ho and Si-yoon remained inside.
With Si-yoon still in his arms, Kim Ji-ho began sorting through the recordings alone.
Moving carefully the whole time, afraid he might wake her.
That was when someone knocked on the door.
"Ji-ho! Ah—"
She'd started calling out loudly, but the moment Ji-eun saw Si-yoon asleep in Kim Ji-ho's arms, she clamped her hand over her mouth in a hurry.
Then, still checking the situation, Ji-eun spoke softly.
"Si-yoon... was asleep."
After glancing at Si-yoon's face for a moment, Kim Ji-ho nodded.
"Yeah. I'm just finishing up so we can go."
"I was going to say, since the Dreaming kids are done, let's hang out—"
"They finished. They should be back at the dorms if you go."
"Really? Got it. Good work today, Ji-ho~"
"Yeah, go on in~"
With Si-yoon still in his arms, Ji-ho carefully headed to the parking garage.
As C-19 got worse, my overprotective dad wouldn't let me set foot outside at all.
When there was no sign it was letting up, Dad set up a studio inside the house.
I spent my time making songs with Dad on various instruments, going to the pool with Da-yeon, or taking the online classes from kindergarten.
In 2021, I turned six.
With the repeated waves of C-19, our society seemed to have fully adapted by then.
At kindergarten, they started letting kids attend in person, with parental consent.
The rest of the classes were held via video.
—"Si-yoon, you need to look at the screen."
My young teacher appeared on the laptop.
"It'll ruin my eyes."
—"Looking for a little while won't ruin your eyes."
The class my young teacher was giving was an art class, but...
Honestly, she drew worse than I did.
—"Okay, everyone, draw what you see on the screen~"
I spun my pen and sketched it out fast.
At kindergarten, I had to sit through four hours of this kind of class every day.
"Si-yoon~ you all done?"
"Yeah."
Hearing my answer, Dad came out to the living room and sat on the sofa.
Dad, who wouldn't go outside for fear he might catch C-19 and pass it to me.
I lazed around in my teddy bear pajamas, then watched him cook.
After Dad started watching Neotube cooking shows, he began making all kinds of dishes,
and told me that if I ever saw something I wanted to eat while watching Neotube, he'd make it for me.
Without answering, I sat at the dining table and focused on drawing Alpha and Beta.
Spending time inside the apartment with Da-yeon's family, 2022 rushed toward us.
In the meantime, thanks to the songs I'd made with Dad and the child-model photos I'd taken, I had become a star.
And now, at seven years old, C-19 had fully ended, and I could finally go back to kindergarten.
"Si-yoon~"
"What."
Da-yeon, holding a comic book, flushed pink.
"Did you watch Kamino's Basketball?"
"No?"
"You seriously have to watch it! It's amazing!"
Ever since I'd shown her that anime, Da-yeon had fallen hard for Japanese manga.
"Yeah?"
"Uh-huh. Kamino... he's so cool..."
"Tasty?"
"...Cool, I said."
Thinking I'd led Da-yeon down the wrong path, I opened my novel.
— 私は経営者の安藤だ (I am the business owner, Ando.)
"That's totally Japanese, huh?"
After spending so much time with me over the years, Da-yeon's English had already reached a near-perfect level, and she was now picking up Japanese through manga.
"Yep."
Her reading pace was still far slower than mine, but Da-yeon worked through it steadily.
Being considerate, I turned the pages slowly for her sake.
"It's hard..."
"Because you're little."
"But you're... little too, Si-yoon?"
"Hmm... well, I'm a mermaid, you know."
Maybe because I was going through a growth spurt, my body ached from time to time.
With our different body proportions, when Da-yeon and I sat together, the atmosphere felt entirely different compared to the other side of the room.
On that other side, the brats were fighting over toys.
'I guess that's what's normal...'
Still, I had no intention of acting like that.
The older we got, the more rapidly our young teacher seemed to age.
'You've got it rough.'
I looked at Da-yeon and asked.
"Where'd Unfortunate Antonio go?"
"Ah!"
Da-yeon, who'd been wearing a serious expression, quickly pulled out a rabbit plush dressed in lace-trimmed clothes from her bag.
"ごめん (Sorry), Antonio!"
Da-yeon's Japanese seemed practically designed to show off how cute she was.
She cradled Unfortunate Antonio in her arms and began reading to him.
"カミノはセイレンの光です。 (Kamino is... the light of Seirin.)"
"...?"
Completely swept up in the Japanese manga, Da-yeon was explaining it to Antonio.
"似てるよ。カミノは。(He looks like him, you see. Kamino does.) Kyah~"
I spoke to Da-yeon, who was beaming as she read aloud in Japanese.
"Hmm... Antonio's British, though. Would he even understand Japanese?"
"Hehh!? Antonio! Don't tell me... all this time... you didn't understand?"
Suddenly dead serious, Da-yeon started translating it into English.
I couldn't help but marvel at how Da-yeon's language skills grew with every passing day.
Our young teacher clapped her hands, drawing the brats' attention.
"We have a new friend today~"
A brat with a look that said this was all a hassle.
They say you shouldn't judge people by how they look, but he looked seriously simple-minded—and kind of dumb.
"His name is Park Ji-hoon~ Everyone, please welcome him~"
""Whoa~~~""
His clothes were designer, naturally.
The brats here were all cases of having lucked out in the parent department.
"Ji-hoon, have fun playing with your friends~"
As the young teacher stepped back after saying that, the new brat's reaction was... unusual.
"...Why do I gotta be stuck with little kids like this... Ah, fuck..."
Before the boy brat called Park Ji-hoon even opened his mouth, I clearly saw his lips shape the word 'shit.'
I stared at Park Ji-hoon for a moment.
The way he talked, that expression on his face—especially that look in his eyes—were all way too familiar.
After spotting me, he muttered 'pretty' and nodded to himself, then hauled a blanket into the corner and lay down.
Flustered, the young teacher approached him where he lay sprawled out.
"...Ji-hoon?"
"I'm gonna sleep. Don't bother me, I'm trying to get taller."
"....."
With a strange sense of déjà vu, the young teacher glanced at me, then laughed awkwardly.
When I wouldn't take my eyes off Park Ji-hoon, Da-yeon looked at me, curious.
As I kept watching Park Ji-hoon, a big boy who'd been playing with toys stepped on Ji-hoon's foot.
It was the exact same brat who'd stepped on my foot back when I first fell asleep here ages ago.
Back then, that brat had just cried by himself. But three years later, his reaction was a little different.
"Why the hell are you sleeping here!"
The big brat cussed at Ji-hoon, jabbing him with his toy.
Then I heard a mutter.
"Haa... shit... a pint-sized little punk, seriously..."
"You! What did you—"
Park Ji-hoon grabbed the leg of the toy that had been jabbing him and smashed it down against a drawer.
Park Ji-hoon, holding the shattered leg of the toy.
"Get lost before I shove this down your throat."
The big brat started hiccuping.
Park Ji-hoon tossed the toy leg behind the drawer and spoke.
"Little punk, seriously... what a pain in the ass."
Seeing that reaction, I was sure now.
In the past, a certain young student had tried to steal my lighter and got beaten badly by one of my men.
Apparently unable to stand losing, the kid steadied his breathing, and with his face a bloody mess, he bit my man's ear clean off.
My subordinate, now missing an ear, pulled a knife—but that young student just looked at me with eyes that held absolutely zero fear. And that was the beginning.
He'd said he'd stay by my side to the very end, that he'd protect me, and that even if he couldn't, he'd die with me—said all that, and then...
The dumbass who died sooner than any of us.
Even as he collapsed after taking a blade, the bastard grabbed their ankles to keep them from reaching me, until he took a blunt weapon to the face and it caved in.
Even when all his teeth were knocked out and he couldn't talk, the bastard still told me to run.
Which was exactly why the bastard I'd treasured more than anyone else was lying right in front of me now.
As I murmured to myself, staring at this brat called Park Ji-hoon, Da-yeon whispered to me.
"He's so brutish..."
Da-yeon had a look on her face like she'd just seen something filthy, but tears had started falling from my eyes.
"It's... it's really you...? Haa... I wasn't the only one who came..."
"Si-yoon?"
"I wasn't... the only one who came to the future..."
And I walked over to the sleeping Park Ji-hoon.
"Shit... I wasn't alone."
As if he'd sensed my presence, Park Ji-hoon deliberately breathed louder, trying to make it clear he was asleep.
I kicked that bastard hard in the stomach.
A loud 'thwack!' rang out, and the room went dead silent.
"Ghk!"
Park Ji-hoon hacked and wheezed from the unexpectedly strong impact.
The other brats, watching this, cheered for me—their undisputed number one in the hierarchy.
"Ha, fuck, seri—"
Park Ji-hoon saw my tear-streaked face and went quiet.
"Why the hell are you crying?"
A flustered Ji-hoon spoke.
"You kicked me first, and you're asking why I'm crying? I'm so fucking wronged, I could die."
"Haa... you... are you Jae-hyeong?"
The little brat's pupils shook violently.
"...Huh?"