Chapter 04
Back to the Original State (1)
Ahn Jiyeon was already at the café. She immediately started complaining as soon as she saw Cha Jihoo.
“Oppa, what on earth is going on? If you came back from your trip, shouldn’t you have contacted me?”
“Sorry. I arrived late and passed out. I must have been tired. I slept the whole day.”
“Even so, that’s no excuse.”
“I said I’m sorry. Let’s eat first.”
For a moment, her face, fifteen years younger, caught his eye. She had the same looks as at this time in his previous life, but now she no longer seemed pretty to Cha Jihoo. He forced a smile on his lips and flipped through the menu as he asked.
“What do you want to eat?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Huh? But I’m hungry…”
“Eat later by yourself. I’m not having anything.”
As expected, her inconsiderate attitude was the same even back then. Why had he let that personality slide at the time?
“…..”
“I have something to say.”
“Something to say?”
The one with the important business was actually Cha Jihoo. He had planned to ease into the atmosphere and emotions over a meal and tea before breaking the news, but now his plan seemed to be going awry. He began to feel a bit anxious.
But then…
“Oh, right. You said you had something to say too, oppa? What is it? You go first.”
“No, you go first.”
“Ha, alright. I’m really sorry to say this, oppa, but…”
“…..?”
“Let’s break up.”
“…..!”
What is this situation now? Cha Jihoo quickly recalled his previous life.
‘Was it this time? When she broke up with me? Then that means right now she’s involved with that team leader?’
Having been beaten to the punch with the very words he was about to say, Cha Jihoo felt relief and exhilaration instead of pain. This way, he could achieve his goal without having to bear any resentment from her.
‘Things are working out in such an unexpected way!’
However, if he agreed too easily here, he’d seem transparent. He needed to show as much pain as possible. Sometimes, life calls for some realistic acting.
“What are you talking about? Did something happen?”
“I’m really sorry, oppa. But I can’t help it.”
“What do you mean you can’t help it?”
“I like you, but I don’t think we’re right for each other.”
“Why all of a sudden…”
“You’ll meet someone good.”
Cha Jihoo suddenly remembered what he had said at this moment in his previous life.
– I can’t break up with you. Is our love so thin that it ends so meaninglessly? I truly love you. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll give you time. Please don’t say it’s over. I’ll wait until you come back.
‘Man, I really groveled pathetically back then. Not knowing what the future would hold.’
But now things had to be different. Proper and delicate technique was required.
“Ha, you’re really being too much. You’re always so one-sided.”
“I’m sorry.”
Cha Jihoo clutched his head and dropped it. Wondering if he was acting well enough, he hesitated for a moment at this timing.
‘You need to wrap up the act at the right point to prevent unintended consequences. Dragging it out unnecessarily might change her mind and cause headaches. Let’s cut it off here.’
Having made up his mind, he slowly raised his face. Since he’d had his head down, the blood rush made him look convincingly agitated.
“Ha…”
“…..”
“Do you really have to do this?”
“…..Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“Alright, fine. Let’s do that. Let’s break up.”
“…..Wha, what?”
“I’ve been feeling it lately anyway—your eyes when you look at me seemed hollow. I had a suspicion, and it turns out I was right.”
“I think we can stay good colleagues at work even after breaking up.”
“Never mind that. You go ahead. I’ll stay a bit longer. I need some time alone.”
“O…Okay. I’ll go.”
Like someone who had just been dumped, Cha Jihoo gripped his head in his hands, then clutched his hand on the table, trembling. It was a picture of humiliation and sorrow to anyone who saw it.
A moment later, he discreetly checked out of the corner of his eye to see if Ahn Jiyeon had left. She was nowhere to be seen.
“Phew, I think my acting was pretty good. Maybe I should become an actor.”
Unexpectedly, things had ended smoothly. The timing had been perfect.
The next day, Cha Jihoo even sent a confirmation text to Ahn Jiyeon saying, “I understand you, and I’ve decided to accept it and sort out my feelings.” Then he dusted off his hands.
“The wrong relationship has been completely resolved!”
He now had no desire to date women. To be more precise, he no longer wanted to get married again.
With his handsome looks, combining warmth and sexiness, and his amiable, diligent personality, Cha Jihoo was very popular among the female employees at the company. Some of them had even openly shown their interest. But now he had lost all interest in them too.
‘Anyway, for the time being, I need to focus on work and raising my value. And also enjoy some pleasures entirely for myself.’
Shifting his mindset, Cha Jihoo immediately signed up at a fitness center near his home. Since there would be no more dating expenses, he decided to use that money to manage his health.
The weekend came. Cha Jihoo met up with his younger sister Cha Juhye and headed to their parents’ house together. It was to celebrate their mother’s birthday.
‘You’re doing well, kid.’
He smiled as he looked at his sister, who had passed out in the seat next to him on the KTX.
‘I don’t worry about her. She’s surprisingly good at taking care of herself.’
She was a bit more immature than her peers, a tomboyish type, but she was actually quite worldly and thick-skinned—his younger sister with a seven-year age gap. Because of the significant age difference and the fact that she wasn’t spoiled growing up, she somewhat held her older brother in awe. She had also inherited Cha Jihoo’s brains and did well in school, entering Yeonseo University’s English department, the same school as her brother. After graduating, she would get a job at a broadcasting station and marry a diligent man.
Knowing that future, he couldn’t help but feel at ease.
“Mom, Dad! We’re here!”
“Mom! Dad!”
Meeting his parents, who looked so much younger that he almost didn’t recognize them, Cha Jihoo was deeply moved and overjoyed. Fifteen years really did make a huge difference. He barely held back the tears that threatened to spill.
“You two are busy with work and school—why did you bother coming all this way? It’s a day that comes around every year. You could skip it once in a while, you know?”
“Transportation’s so good now that it only takes a few hours. What’s the big deal? No matter how busy we are, we had to come.”
“How thoughtful of you. Alright, welcome.”
Cha Jihoo’s mother had prepared her own birthday table and was waiting for them. Even when he offered to take her out to eat on a day like this, she flatly refused, saying that money could be used to prepare four or five birthday meals at home.
“Alright, blow out the candles.”
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Mom. Happy birthday to you!”
The four of them sat closely together, enjoying a modest but quite ample meal.
“Mom, a present! And this is for Dad!”
“Oh my, you probably don’t have much of a salary yet—why did you buy presents?”
“We earn enough, Mom.”
“It’s not even my birthday. You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“How could I not? You’d feel left out.”
His sister had also scraped together what little money she had to buy small gifts. Cha Jihoo smiled and patted her head, but she made a face and brushed his hand away.
“She’s openly rebelling now. Are you old enough to take me on?”
“I’m not a kid anymore. I’m all grown up now. But oppa, do you speak in dialect at work too? Is that okay?”
“I don’t there. Strangely, as soon as I get on the KTX and come near home, my speech changes. Doesn’t it happen to you?”
“Hoho, it happens to me too. How strange.”
At that, laughter filled the house.
After the meal, the family sat around with the fruit Cha Jihoo had brought. He kept looking at his mother, father, and younger sister’s faces in turn, as if fascinated.
“Is there something on our faces?”
“No.”
“Then why are you staring at us like that?”
“Just because I’m happy. I’m glad that everyone looks so much younger.”
“Really? I think you’re the one who looks younger.”
“Oppa’s a bit strange. He seems oddly more affectionate too.”
“I’ve always been affectionate.”
“That’s just what you think. You’re kind of scary, actually.”
“Have I ever treated you that way? That was a long time ago.”
“I don’t know, I get the strange feeling that you’ve been somewhere.”
“I have been somewhere. Japan.”
“Oh, right. Japan! Wait, oppa, you didn’t go with that girl, did you?”
At his sister’s tactless comment, the parents’ gazes shot toward Cha Jihoo.
“That girl? Do you mean that colleague of yours you’re dating?”
“No. I went with a friend. You know Minsu.”
“Ah, you went with Minsu?”
“Yes. And, I broke up with her.”
“What? You broke up?”
“Oppa, really?”
Everyone was shocked. Cha Jihoo’s father and mother felt a bit disappointed inside. Their son was about to enter his thirties, and they had secretly been hoping for marriage.
“Why? Did you fight?”
“Fight? I wouldn’t break up over a simple argument. There were circumstances.”
“I see. Well, you’ll handle things as you see fit, but relationships between men and women are delicate and complicated, so I hope you always make decisions and act carefully.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
The family, gathered after a long time, enjoyed a warm and harmonious atmosphere, chatting until late at night before retiring to their rooms. In his room, filled with memories, Cha Jihoo felt a sense of comfort.
‘It’s been so long.’
For some reason, he couldn’t sleep, so he took out his laptop from his bag. He opened a browser and checked his email. Due to the nature of working in the marketing team, it wasn’t unusual to receive messages from partner companies even on weekends.
But there was a new message in his personal email account, not his work one. And the subject line was in English.
“What’s this, another spam?”
He was about to habitually move it to the trash when he noticed a name in the sender field that seemed vaguely familiar.
Clair Belford.
‘Wait, Claire Belford? Claire Belford… as in, that American college student I met in Japan!’
He never thought she would actually contact him.
