Chapter 3
He entered Yoon Junghoo’s studio apartment in Bangidong.
Instead of renting a place in the expensive Cheongdam-dong, Yoon Junghoo had gotten a place here in Bangidong at a more reasonable price.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw a small room in complete disarray.
A narrow and shabby multi-unit studio apartment that could not even compare to the house he had in his previous life.
‘This is where the adjustment begins.’
Ah, right…
Handsome?
Those were the words Mujin had muttered earlier.
Just as he was about to take off his clothes, the thought suddenly came to him, and he walked toward the mirror.
‘Hmm.’
A strange sense of discomfort washed over him at the unfamiliar face reflected in the mirror.
But from now on, this was his face.
‘Hmm… I really am handsome.’
By the standards of the 1990s, he might look a bit intense, but it was definitely a sharp and distinctive face.
The rugged contours somehow blended together in an oddly harmonious way, forming calm and refined features. His eyes carried a strong presence, yet there was also a subtle kindness hidden within them.
Perhaps because it was the first time seeing it today, he could judge the reflection almost as if it were someone else’s face.
It was far better than a bland kind of handsome.
And on top of that, his height was quite… ah, 187 centimeters.
‘Not bad conditions. Why couldn’t I have had this body?’
Well, from now on, he was me, and I was him.
He would probably go through this kind of emotional confusion for a while.
Morning arrived.
Yesterday had been chaotic, but there hadn’t been much time to sleep.
Today, for Luminous’s provincial event, he had to pick up the members and enter the Reunion company building by 7 a.m.
He arrived at the dorm in Cheongdam-dong at 6:30.
From there to the company building was only a 10-minute drive.
He had come a bit earlier and was waiting.
If the artists were late because of a road manager, that was the worst possible scenario.
From here he would pick up Luminous, go to the Reunion building, finish their costume and makeup, and then immediately depart for the Gangneung event venue.
Soon, four members came out of the entrance, each wearing a hat pulled low and a mask.
He opened the rear door of the van.
He waited beside the door while the members boarded.
That was the team manager’s instruction.
‘Do we really have to go this far…’
No.
First, adapt.
“Hello!”
Today as well, Serin was the only one who greeted him.
“Yes, Serin.”
Because the other members were watching, he suppressed his desire to greet her warmly and simply gave a formal reply.
After all the members got in, he drove toward the Reunion headquarters.
The popular idol group Luminous.
Information about them was instantly recalled from Yoon Junghoo’s original memories.
They were already a successful group, though not quite at the very top.
If ranked, they were probably around 3rd or 4th among girl groups.
Serin possessed the best visuals among all female idols, and the other members also looked quite good.
The problem was vocal ability.
Serin was the worst case, but the other members were not much different.
Of course, sound technology covered many things, but that was clearly different from having an attractive natural tone and delivering good vocals.
Perhaps because of that, the group had focused unusually heavily on choreography and styling since debut.
Rumor had it their choreography and styling budgets were more than double those of other idol groups.
In other words, they were a group with a particularly strong emphasis on training and “development.”
It was also the result of Reunion’s powerful strategic promotion and marketing.
If they had been under a management company other than Reunion, there was a high chance they might have drifted as an unknown group and eventually disbanded.
‘Management really plays a bigger role than before…’
He stopped the van in front of the Reunion building entrance.
Again, only Serin briefly made eye contact.
The other members quickly got out and hurried into the building.
Two hours of free time.
He parked in the lot and leaned his head back.
Various thoughts began to flood in.
And those thoughts eventually focused on Siyeon.
Thirty years had passed.
‘Where is Siyeon now… what is she doing?’
Siyeon had been a famous actress at the time.
‘Ah, right!’
Maybe there was still an article about her.
Looking at the phone, it was clearly an era where you could do anything with a smartphone.
With nervous hands, he typed “Actress Jung Siyeon” into the search bar.
Before pressing the search button, he steadied his heart.
‘Please… let nothing bad have happened.’
If people believed her lover had committed suicide, her life likely hadn’t been normal either.
Did she believe he had killed himself?
Perhaps she did.
Because of that single line in the note he had written himself.
‘Ha…’
After bracing himself, he pressed the search icon.
No obvious articles appeared.
He opened the news section and began flipping through pages.
There were countless people named Jung Siyeon.
‘It’s not a rare name.’
He searched for quite a while.
Nothing showed up in regular portal articles.
Then, by chance, he found an old archived article from a newspaper.
– The funeral of the late Han Jihyuk, lover Jung Siyeon weeping uncontrollably.
Below the title was a photo.
His memorial portrait.
‘My memorial photo…’
How many people in the world ever get to see their own memorial portrait?
In the photo, Siyeon wore black clothes, her hair disheveled, clinging to his portrait while crying.
Even through the old photograph, her grief showed clearly how deeply she had loved him.
A wave of longing and sorrow surged through him.
Other than that article, there were no more about Siyeon.
Well, that made sense.
Celebrities disappearing from the public eye often happened in an instant.
If someone held a public retirement event, it would appear in the news.
But if they quietly vanished and stopped activities, it rarely became an article.
Just disappearing without a sound.
No one would write an article like:
– Where in the world is she now?
‘Let’s think of a way to find her.’
No news was good news.
If something terrible had happened, it likely would have appeared in articles.
Thirty years had already passed anyway.
There was no need to rush now.
Rather than finding her quickly, it was more important to think about what he would do when he found her.
He couldn’t exactly say:
“I’m Han Jihyuk who died thirty years ago. I possessed another body.”
His mind grew complicated.
He closed his eyes to organize his thoughts.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
An irritated knocking hit the car window.
He turned his head.
A man stood outside the driver’s door.
Manager Team Leader Kim Junho.
A veteran with 15 years in the entertainment industry.
He had been with Luminous since their trainee days and now oversaw all on-site work including events and broadcasts.
In a company the size of Reunion, there was a manager director at the top, but team leaders like him handled the real field operations.
Road managers were naturally direct subordinates under such team leaders.
Kim Junho’s face was deeply wrinkled with irritation.
Clearly about yesterday’s incident.
Before the window even finished lowering, his angry voice shot out.
“Hey! Are you going to keep driving like that?”
“Because of you, the girls said they won’t go to events anymore! You can’t even drive properly?”
“Kids,” he said—but obviously Mujin had complained.
And the tone Kim used…
Technically speaking, I’m the senior in the industry, he thought.
‘No! That’s just my personal situation…’
Thinking like that would only stop him from adapting.
“I’ll be more careful.”
He answered simply.
“Do better! If I hear something like this again, I’ll cut you immediately.”
“Understood.”
Kim Junho sighed heavily before continuing.
“After today’s event, the girls have vocal training, right?”
Junghoo already knew—it was on the schedule.
“Yes.”
“You’ll assist the vocal trainer today.”
Assist?
In reality, “assist” meant running errands for the external vocal trainer.
Hmm.
Vocal trainer assistant…
Well, nothing to do about it.
“Ah… yes, sure.”
“‘Sure’? Look at that tone. You punk. You’ve only been here three months and you’re already getting cocky.”
Trouble on the first day.
Even aside from the work, if this guy kept nagging like this, life would get exhausting.
Still, no need to waste energy emotionally.
Better to endure and look for opportunities later.
“Maybe my tone sounded wrong. I’ll assist well today.”
Kim Junho’s expression softened slightly.
“The usual assistant suddenly had something come up. Just take care of the trainer today.”
Another task added.
Still, it wasn’t like he had much else to do.
‘Hmm… vocal trainer assistant…’
I am Han Jihyuk, the 1993 Korean Music Grand Prize winner.
At the same time Helios, pioneer of ancient Greek opera.
And Brusco, creator of the bel canto vocal technique.
And also Broadway—
No!
No!!
Let’s try again.
I am Yoon Junghoo.
27 years old.
A 3-month-old road manager at Reunion Entertainment.
That’s it.
Good.
Organized.
It was almost time for the girls to come out, so he drove the van toward the front entrance.
The enormous 30-story entertainment building was packed with cars.
There were more than 90 artists and over 800 employees in the company.
This was the morning rush.
The entrance looked like a parking lot.
‘I need to grab a good spot.’
Sometimes other celebrities boarded right at the entrance.
If Luminous had to walk farther than others, Junghoo would hear all the complaints.
Of course, mostly from Mujin.
‘Hmm… there’s a spot.’
A car parked in the prime position pulled out.
He turned the steering wheel and moved in.
But two security guards rushed over, blocking the car.
They signaled for him to back out.
Reluctantly, he reversed.
Then a luxury sedan that clearly wasn’t ordinary drove in.
The guards urgently cleared space and guided it into the exact spot he had been aiming for.
Whose car was that?
Ah.
The moment the thought formed, Junghoo’s memory answered.
That car belonged to—
Oh Junsung.
CEO of Reunion Entertainment.
The man who killed him.
The cause of his current life.
His hands began trembling.
Oh Junsung…
It had been 30 years.
That hypocritical bastard.
The man who murdered him.
Part of him felt disgust just thinking about seeing his face again.
For a moment he considered turning away.
But—
‘No. Look at him properly.’
The long journey began now.
He wouldn’t recklessly attack.
But he would never avoid him either.
At this moment, he would look straight at the face of the traitorous murderer.
You would never imagine it.
But inside this van, the one watching you right now is Han Jihyuk, the man you killed thirty years ago.
The car door opened.
A middle-aged man stepped out.
Ignoring the people bowing before him, he buttoned his jacket and stared toward the entrance.
‘Ah!’
Even after thirty years—
Oh Junsung.
The moment his face registered, Junghoo’s heart exploded with fury.
His blood surged violently through every vein.
His face burned red.
Yesterday’s determination to calmly adapt to this new life shattered instantly.
He felt like jumping out and tearing the man apart.
This life was just a bonus anyway.
He could kill him and go to prison.
Maybe this chance existed precisely for that reason.
‘Now’s the chance!’
His emotions spiraled out of control.
That arrogant expression.
Everything he built after killing him.
Reunion.
Oh Junsung.
He wanted to destroy it all.
But then, an unexpected angel appeared.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Kim Junho knocking on the window.
To his ears, it sounded like:
“Calm. Down.”
Not truly an angel, of course.
When the window lowered, Kim immediately began scolding again.
“Hey! If you saw the CEO, you should get out and greet him! Why are you sitting here?”
Greet him?
The man who killed me?
Junghoo stayed frozen.
Kim panicked, whisper-shouting urgently.
“Why aren’t you getting out?! Hurry!”
Fine.
If I go out like this—
Do you know who I am? I’m Han Jihyuk, the man you betrayed and killed thirty years ago! Die!
Stab.
Gasp.
He exhaled slowly.
Calmed down.
He couldn’t do that.
And he shouldn’t.
If he did, everything would end.
He had to endure.
For now.
Kim Junho’s interruption helped him regain control of his raging emotions.
Manager Kim Junho.
This time—
an unexpected benefactor.
He would follow his decision.
I am Yoon Junghoo.
27 years old.
Road manager.
Focus on the future.
But greeting him now?
That was impossible.
Even if Kim yelled at him later, he would stay here.
When Junghoo remained stubbornly seated, Kim Junho finally gave up.
He ran alone to Oh Junsung and bowed deeply beside him.
He wasn’t the only one.
Everyone nearby—people from cars, the lobby, everywhere—suddenly appeared and bowed to the murderer.
* * *
While Han Jihyuk, inside Yoon Junghoo’s body, watched from the van in burning fury, people gathered around Oh Junsung.
Whenever the CEO of Reunion appeared, this scene happened every morning.
As he stepped out, everyone bowed.
Without even glancing at them, Oh Junsung buttoned his jacket and looked toward the entrance of his fortress—Reunion headquarters.
This was the moment he felt the greatest sense of achievement.
But today, something irritated him.
Someone inside the van behind him had not stepped out.
Even though the Luminous team manager was urging him, the person remained seated.
Clearly a road manager.
The fact that a mere road manager had seen him and still remained seated in the car irritated Oh Junsung, who had a rather authoritarian personality.
Finally, he spoke to Kim Junho, who had come alone to greet him.
“The company’s discipline seems weak these days. Is that how the MZ generation is?”
“Ah… pardon?”
“You know exactly what I mean. That’s a road manager in that van, isn’t it?”
“Ah… well… he seems to have a situation and couldn’t step out.”
“A situation…? Hahaha. The company has really improved. Fine. I’ll go greet him myself.”
“No, sir! I’ll bring him out no matter what.”
“No, no. Let’s take a look.”
Thinking his authority had been challenged, Oh Junsung stared toward the van with a twisted smile.
Mocking words alone were not enough to satisfy him.
Soon—
he walked toward the van.
