END OF THE MONTH BONUS CHAPTERS!
……The story of ‘Baek Gunho’s’ birth mother.
Honestly, I was a little tempted.
“It’s fine. The ones who’ve raised me until now are my adoptive parents.”
I refused sharply, like a knife.
“I’m not. Curious at all.”
Somehow I had a premonition that I’d get caught up in a troublesome matter.
It was an instinct honed by my second-life experience.
“Not at all?”
“Yes. Not at all.”
“Is that so.”
When I spoke firmly, pressing down my resolve, Baek Ildo didn’t add anything further either.
Was it just my imagination that his expression seemed a little sullen?
Anyway, what would change even if I heard more about someone who had already passed away……
‘And that’s something I should hear from my adoptive mother.’
At least, I think it’s the proper order to hear about my birth mother from the adoptive mother who first told me about her.
Of course, I don’t particularly want to hear it.
“Then, Chairman. About the investment withdrawal……”
“Good! I’ll accept it. It was quite a reasonable argument.”
Finally, I felt like my blocked chest had been cleared.
It was also thanks to Baek Ildo withdrawing his pheromones.
“You worked hard.”
Suddenly something heavy was placed on top of my head.
When I looked up…… Baek Ildo had placed his hand on my head.
“You have spirit, vision, and broad perspective. The only flaw is your lack of ambition.”
‘……Has he switched back to neighborhood grandpa mode?’
While I was only blinking in surprise at this unexpectedly friendly behavior, Baek Ildo spoke.
“Instead, it will be taken in as a subsidiary and transferred to Baekil Entertainment. If Alejandro doesn’t accept my proposal, your efforts will have been in vain.”
“There’s no way he’ll refuse.”
If Baekil, which boasts a reputation not only domestically but worldwide, says they won’t invest, it’s tantamount to losing trust globally. In that situation, gathering investors again would be quite an ordeal.
Lee Haram’s fathers probably wandered from country to country during that process, suffering mentally before being unable to avoid their unfortunate accident. I could only speculate as much.
“I don’t dislike confident young people. I’ll have a meeting set up with them starting today.”
“Thank you.”
“However. There’s a condition.”
As expected, I didn’t think he’d just let it pass.
“Send Yeonhui’s son to the school I designate.”
Yeonhui’s son.
Naturally, he’s not talking about me.
“Since he’s a child my second daughter gave birth to with difficulty, my expectations are high. If he’s inherited Yeonhui’s blood, he won’t be completely without promise.”
Baek Ildo looked down at me as if testing me.
I thought for a moment, then asked him.
“What kind of place is it?”
“It’s a prestigious school I’ve carefully selected.”
“Understood. I’ll tell Seolheon about it.”
“……That easily?”
He seemed to want a certain reaction, but sorry to say, I have absolutely no intention of giving him that.
“Since you’re giving my younger brother an opportunity to broaden his horizons, I should be the one thanking you instead.”
Perhaps my overly compliant attitude was unexpected, as Baek Ildo’s eyebrow twitched.
“It seems you two are indeed as close as I’ve heard.”
As he’s heard?
To know about Lee Haram, and even my relationship with Seolheon. Baek Ildo’s intelligence network seems quite extraordinary. Considering he’s thoroughly investigated information about me, who’s merely an adopted child.
“If you’re finished talking, I’ll be heading back now……”
“One more thing.”
Again? He sure is greedy.
While managing my expression so my annoyance wouldn’t show, Baek Ildo casually brought it up.
“Do me a favor when I need it.”
“At this point, you should just call it an order instead of a favor.”
“Hehe, that depends on how you accept it. So, is it difficult?”
“……What kind of favor?”
“I’m still deciding. I’ll ask when the time comes.”
Is he testing the waters?
Although anxiety washed over me, I had no justification to refuse, so I eventually nodded.
“Understood.”
“Unlike my grandchildren, I really like how clear your answers are.”
If this means I won’t have to witness the tragedy of the boy who’s both the novel’s protagonist and my neighbor, then one favor for an old man is cheap.
‘How demanding could it possibly be anyway.’
Whatever the favor is, I’ll just quickly take care of it.
Then my relationship with that old man will end too.
……Or so.
At that time, I was very much mistaken.
* * *
Ten years later.
“Chairman. So about that favor, when exactly……”
“Good grief, I told you I’m thinking about it, didn’t I? Pour me some wine over there.”
“……”
“No, not the red one, white. You’re old enough now, don’t you know how to do pairings?”
It had already been ten years since snow covered the world and flower buds burst open.
Somehow, I had become Chairman Baek Ildo’s drinking companion……
**Extra. Turning Point**
The night sky is blue. Dark, yet blue.
Under the modest stars rarely visible in the deep blue sky, my gaze was drawn to the dazzlingly bright streetlights.
A few flies and moths were diving into the streetlight, continuously making *tatatak* sounds. Not realizing their wings were burning up, they kept banging their heads against it.
The child watching this blankly suddenly moved their eyes at the voice stabbing down from above their head.
[Sorry. Wooheon.]
Unlike the words, the voice was mixed with playful laughter.
The tall boy used his foot to push the fallen child’s body to lay them flat on their back.
[Hyung came too late, didn’t he?]
The child’s entire body was covered in bruises, and around them rolled a broken bag and books.
All of them were the child’s belongings.
[It hurts……]
[You’re being punished because you did something bad.]
The boy looked down at the child with a cold smile.
[If you’d done well and followed what hyung told you, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.]
Then he roughly lifted the child up and held them like a piece of luggage.
For an embrace, it didn’t feel warm in the slightest.
[Do you understand now? Try not listening to me again and thinking other thoughts. Then……]
The child barely lifted their head.
The boy’s ashen gray eyes were glinting and flashing.
[You’re not even my little brother.]
“Ugh……!”
As soon as I opened my eyes, I immediately sat up.
It was dark. Cold air brushed against my forehead.
The dizzying headache and abdominal pain no longer felt like I would faint, but they remained like a stinging afterimage.
Very, very rarely emerging unfamiliar memories.
That world I used to see once or twice a year…… once every few months…… and then two, three times, the frequency kept increasing.
That terrible world I once thought was a dream gradually began to feel clear and distinct, as vivid as reality itself.
Where is this? Could I still be remaining in that memory?
No…… could that memory perhaps be the reality?
Before I could collect my confused emotions, a chilling voice pierced into my ear.
“Are you okay?”
“……!”
“You were having sleep paralysis.”
Right beside me, that person was there.
Those flickering gray eyes were right in front of me.
“……Let go.”
“Seolheon?”
“I said let go!”
I reflexively shook off the large hand that had been holding mine.
“Get away!”
But even so, he grabbed my hand again and pulled strongly.
It was exactly the same as that embrace from just now, in the dream.
Goosebumps rose and cold sweat formed on my forehead.
“Let go of this!”
“Baek Seolheon!”
Even at my scream that sounded like a wail, he paid no heed and instead hugged me tightly.
But that embrace…… unlike in the dream, it wasn’t cold or hard.
“It’s okay now. It’s okay.”
“……”
“Breathe comfortably. Slowly……”
The two arms that embraced me were firm but……
“You must have had a bad dream. Right?”
They were warm.
They were gentle.
“A dream……”
“You’re even drenched in sweat like this. I was worried, Seolheon.”
Seolheon.
Had the person in the dream ever called me so warmly when calling me?
More than that, was that my name?
‘Baek Seolheon……’
I remembered. That was the name of this place.
That alone was the only criterion and indicator distinguishing the ‘two worlds,’ which I could barely recall only after a long period of wandering.
Thanks to that person’s voice……
“You were really scared, weren’t you?”
“Scared……?”
“I’ll stay with you, so rest easy.”
At the hand calmly stroking the back of my head, I could finally relax and let out a shallow breath.
Ah. I see. I’ve come back.
Like a dam collapsing, strength left my shoulders and moisture began to well up in my eyes.
“I was, scared……”
I was scared.
I was scared that dream might never end.
“I was scared……”
“Yes. You were scared.”
“I was really, scared……”
That sensation that had been so cold disappeared like a mirage.
This warm embrace might also disappear like a mirage.
Baek Seolheon suddenly became so afraid.
“For our little brother to cry. What kind of dream did you have to be that scared?”
He asked while carefully wiping away the sweat and tears with his fingers.
At the same time, a voice flashing through my mind made Baek Seolheon’s body tremble.
[Nobody likes you.]
[So you should be grateful to hyung who takes care of a cripple like you. Baek Wooheon.]
The sharp voice from the memory passed through the depths of his heart like a scar.
“I don’t want…… to say.”
“Fair enough. What’s the point of saying it anyway. Just forget dreams like that right away.”
A playful smile crossed the face saying those words.
Soon he pulled Baek Seolheon in with the blanket and lifted him up.
“Hyung……?”
“Heave-ho, let’s sleep together in hyung’s room tonight!”
Rolled up like a mat and carried, they arrived at his room.
He laid Baek Seolheon on the bed almost like throwing him down, then lay diagonally next to him while stroking his back.
“If another nightmare comes, I’ll blow it away for you.”
“……How?”
“H-how? Hmm, well…… Ah, if you have another nightmare, think of it like watching a movie.”
“A movie……”
“Think of it as a story from a completely different world that has nothing to do with me.”
*Pat, pat.*
The slowly patting gesture felt like a heartbeat.
“Whatever happens in the dream, think that the real you is sitting on some comfortable sofa watching it. While eating popcorn or something.”
“……”
“Don’t worry. I used to have nightmares a lot when I was young too. Every time I imagined it like this, it wasn’t scary at all.”
“You too, hyung……?”
“Yeah. Plus, tonight hyung will be right next to you all night. What’s there to be scared of?”
His long fingers still meticulously traced the small forehead beaded with sweat, carefully wiping away the droplets.
“When the movie ends, should I make you something delicious?”
“Something delicious……?”
“How about French toast? You know, the one where you dip bread in egg wash, grill it golden brown, and sprinkle sugar on it at the end. Do you remember when I made it for you before when the helper auntie wasn’t there?”
“……The one with the bottom burnt black?”
“W-was it? If you didn’t like it, I can make something else……”
“I want that.”
Baek Seolheon pulled his hand from the blanket and carefully grabbed his collar.
“Make me, the toast.”
“……Got it! I’ll make as much as you want. I wonder if there’s any bread left in the fridge?”
“Just don’t burn it.”
“I, I won’t burn it this time.”
At the flustered exclamation, his stiff expression finally relaxed.
A hint of laughter gradually spread through the small breath Baek Seolheon exhaled.
‘A movie…… Right. It’s a movie.’
It’s not someone’s memory, not a world, not anything.
It’s just a movie. A boring movie.
So the self in the movie isn’t me either.
Just an actor playing the role of ‘Baek Wooheon.’
There’s no need for immersion or sympathy for a fictional role.
Just observe.
After watching another person’s tragedy that has nothing to do with me, let’s look forward to the half-burnt toast that will be waiting in the morning.
Even if I don’t know whether that morning will come after a few nights or hundreds of nights……
I’ll wait.
Because there’s no movie that never ends.
“Hyung……”
Calling him softly, I gripped his arm tightly.
As if it were my only lifeline.
“Gunho-hyung……”
Only then could Baek Seolheon fall into peaceful sleep.
There were no nightmares that night.
Hrm
Ok I feel a bit bad