Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Cha Seoha! What nerve do you have showing your face here!”

Unable to hold back his anger, Kang Min grabbed me by the collar, only for Heo Junseong and Kim Jihu to hold him back.

“Stop it. We’re right in front of Doyoung. There are people watching too...”

“I get why you came, but just leave.”

Seeing the three of them guarding the funeral to the very end filled me with relief at their friendship, and sorrow at the same time.

I couldn’t stand with them.

There was no place for me here.

Because I was the traitor.

“I’ll just pay my respects and go.”

“...”

“Please.”

Leaving the uncomfortable expressions on their faces behind, I took heavy steps toward the urn.

A photo with a familiar face came into view.

Lee Doyoung.

From the brightly smiling face of that guy, fragments of youth rose up.

Youth chose the success waiting at the end of the orange-colored path, and you stayed here.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

I offered a belated apology.

* * *

By the time I left the funeral hall and arrived home, the sun had already set.

As soon as I stepped inside, I headed straight for the bar cabinet and pulled out every bottle I had.

Wine, whiskey, rum, vodka...

Drinking without pause, I took out the frame I had carefully kept.

A photo of the five of us taken back when we were in a band.

Lee Doyoung, Heo Junseong, Kim Jihu, Kang Min.

And me.

In the old practice room in Hongdae, wearing shabby clothes, smiling brightly as if nothing in the world could be better.

We didn’t have much, but it was a time of pure happiness.

But I was the one who shattered that happiness.

There were reasons.

Grandma was sick.

I signed an unfair contract to cover the immediate surgery costs, but I never told my friends.

Pride that didn’t want pity.

A heart that didn’t want to be a burden.

And the belief that only if I left coldly would the band bring in a new vocalist and succeed.

But reality was different.

Someone waited for me, someone resented me, and the band fell apart.

In the end, our music remained somewhere between memories and recollections, and the reason I left the band no longer mattered.

Because everything was already over.

I had waited for the day when we would each succeed in our own places and smile as we reconciled, but that day never came.

Only Lee Doyoung stubbornly remained in that place, waiting for us...

Finding that guy was a stroke of misfortune.

Drip- drip-

“Damn it...”

I wiped the tears that had fallen onto the frame with my sleeve.

But that was the moment.

“Huh?”

There was nothing inside the frame.

I rubbed my eyes several times, but it was the same.

Was I too drunk?

Or just tired.

The success I chose over friendship hadn’t been all that sweet.

Thinking about how the schedules I canceled today would come flooding in like a tidal wave made my chest feel tight.

That was when a curiosity borrowed from the alcohol surfaced.

If I had achieved my current success together with the friends from that time...

Would my chest still feel this tight?

With that last thought, I seemed to have passed out drunk.

* * *

Smack!

“Cha Seoha. Is this your house’s main room or something?”

Someone hit me on the head. When I lifted my face, a middle-aged man was glaring at me.

Did I fall asleep on the filming set?

And they hit me for that?

No, that doesn’t make sense.

Is this a hidden camera?

Then another heavy palm came flying, and sleep vanished in an instant.

“Hey, you brat. Even if you’re on the sports team, do you think it’s okay to sleep openly during class?”

“...Class? Me?”

It felt like ages since I graduated, so what class was he talking about?

“Come on. Get a grip.”

The man who had been acting like a teacher let out a deep sigh and returned to the podium.

Thinking it might be a concept variety show, I looked around, but there were no cameras or staff anywhere.

Moreover, a strong sense of déjà vu hit me inside the classroom.

Even if high schools all look the same, this was way too similar to the school I used to attend, wasn’t it?

Blinking in the incomprehensible situation, someone beside me tapped my shoulder and whispered softly.

“Hey. Not fully awake yet?”

“Heo Junseong?”

“What?”

“Why do you... look younger?”

“Definitely not awake. Definitely not.”

Is this a dream?

At that moment, a familiar back of the head entered my vision, and I shot up from my seat.

Lee Doyoung.

The guy who was definitely dead was sitting right there in the classroom.

Absurd thoughts swirled in my mouth, too outrageous to say aloud, when the teacher suddenly shouted.

“Cha Seoha! Get out to the hallway! Wake up and come back, you brat!”

The quiet hallway was actually a better place to organize my thoughts.

Listening to the teacher’s faint voice continuing the lesson, I took out my smartphone.

2017.

I stared blankly at the year the phone displayed, then slapped my cheek hard.

It hurts.

“This isn’t a dream.”

I had no choice but to admit it.

I didn’t know the reason, but right now it wasn’t 2028—it was 2017.

I had returned to the past, a full 11 years ago.

Cutting through the chaos in my head, one clear thought surged forward.

I need to live a different life.

I need to do the thing I couldn’t even dare to think about freely without borrowing from alcohol.

In other words...

I need to do the band.

With my friends, once more.

* * *

Idol activities had been good, but over those long years, I could never forget the intensity of the band I first tasted.

The experience of multiple real instruments intertwining to create one piece of music that moved the hearts of countless people was what first made me feel truly alive.

This life, I will definitely do the band.

Of course, before that precious thought, one thing came first...

As soon as class ended, I stepped outside without a plan and retraced my memories. There should be the house I used to live in somewhere in this alley.

The more familiar the streets became, the faster my steps grew.

If this really was the past, the person I most wanted to see was already decided.

Ba-dump ba-dump.

At the thought of seeing that person again, my heart began to pound rapidly.

Entering the familiar gate, the half-open old door—typical of summer—came into view.

Through the gap, a familiar silhouette cooling off in the fan’s breeze was visible.

“Grandma!”

I kicked off the sneakers that strangely wouldn’t come off easily and ran to hug Grandma.

“Aigoo, our puppy’s here?”

The most precious person in the world.

More of a parent than the parents who abandoned their child and ran away.

Grandma seemed briefly taken aback by my unusual appearance, then soon began stroking my back.

Three years ago, Grandma’s illness had relapsed and she was hospitalized; in the end, she passed away last year.

But not now.

When I buried my face in her shoulder, the familiar warm scent seeped into my nose.

“Why’s our puppy like this? What happened?”

“...Nothing.”

Unlike my happy feelings, the end of my voice trembled slightly.

“Did someone bully you? Should this old lady scold them?”

It was funny.

At this point in time, I was a taekwondo athlete on the verge of becoming a national representative.

Who would bully someone like me?

In the past, I would have just smirked, but now I know.

This is a parent’s heart.

And I know the heart of a child who has lost their parents.

“Grandma, let’s go get a health checkup.”

If this was 2017, it still wasn’t too late.

No, it was even early.

If we get checkups every year starting now, we can detect cancer cells early and remove them.

“Waste of money? Don’t you know Grandma’s healthy?”

“Then I’ll earn a lot of money and pay you back.”

“That sounds a bit tempting.”

Grandma was probably thinking of after I graduate high school, but no.

I would earn money with the band as quickly as possible.

If the only goal was money, the idol path from my previous life would have been the best choice.

I left the band I was doing with my friends and achieved great success as an idol.

Group activities were successful too, but solo activities were the real deal.

But I regretted that choice for a very long time.

Popularity, high music chart rankings, album sales that soared day by day—none of it meant anything.

The fans’ affection was more than I deserved and something I was grateful for, which only made me feel even more sorry toward them.

Because the version of me they loved was an empty shell with nothing inside.

I have no intention of repeating the same mistake.

While thinking that, the phone rang noisily.

-Cha Seoha, you little bastard, where are you!

The caller was the taekwondo coach.

He seemed thoroughly angry that I had skipped training without any contact.

To the coach who showed no signs of ending his scolding, I spoke in a polite voice.

“I’m sorry, but I’m quitting.”

-You, you, you. Are you crazy? The competition is right around the corner.

In the past, I tore my cruciate ligament in that competition and suffered an injury serious enough to require surgery.

My career as an athlete ended, and I quit taekwondo too.

Of course, since I’ve returned to the past, I might not get injured this time, but 11 years had already passed since I quit taekwondo.

I had no confidence in doing well, and no lingering attachment either.

The coach, who had been reflexively pouring out nagging, calmed his excitement and lowered his voice when I showed no reaction.

-What’s going on all of a sudden?

“I’m sorry.”

-Just come tomorrow. As soon as you get to school, come straight to the gym. Got it?

After his stern warning, I eventually answered that I understood and put down the receiver.

Right. It wasn’t polite to only say it over the phone, so I should tell him in person.

“Our puppy is quitting taekwondo?”

Grandma asked with a surprised face.

“Grandma believes in me, right?”

“Of course. I believe.”

Even after I said I was quitting the taekwondo I had done my whole life, her face showed she trusted me.

There was a slight unease, but that was only natural since she was worried about my future.

“I’m going to become really amazing. Together with my friends.”

“...Is this a pyramid scheme?”

“What are you talking about.”

A hollow laugh escaped, but thinking about it, it wasn’t something to just laugh at.

If I invested Grandma’s emergency money into coins or real estate, wouldn’t I end up sitting on a pile of money?

I know the future, after all?

“Um, Grandma?”

“What?”

“You said you believe in me, so would you be interested in investing some money...?”

But after seeing Grandma’s gaze, I had no choice but to change the subject.

“Ah, just kidding!”

Thinking about it, there’s no guarantee that stocks that hit big in the past will rise this time too, right?

What if I recklessly use up all of Grandma’s money and go completely broke?

The future can change as much as it wants.

It would be better to invest with the money I earn myself.

It absolutely wasn’t because Grandma’s gaze was scary.

* * *

“Yesterday was a deviation from excessive stress. From today, rejoin training. A guy like you knows well that missing one day puts you two days behind the competition.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve made up my mind.”

The coach looked frustrated with a face that said he couldn’t understand, but there was no way I could explain everything to him.

After similar words went back and forth about fifteen times, the coach asked.

“Are you serious?”

“I’m serious. More than when I started taekwondo.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Yes.”

“What are you going to do?”

“That... you’ll see later.”

After a while of silence, the coach blurted out.

“...If you ever feel like doing it again, come to the gym.”

“Thank you for everything.”

* * *

I have confidence that if I do the band, it will go well.

I have knowledge of the future, memories of success, and experience in the entertainment industry.

Not to mention my own talent, my friends’ talents and skills were more than enough.

If I, the vocalist, hadn’t left, it was a team that would have shone sufficiently.

Currently, bands are non-mainstream in Korea, but that doesn’t mean the market ignores good music.

Moreover, bands will boom within the next 10 years.

But one problem arose.

It was a really big problem, a massive obstacle.

Just what...

‘How did these bastards end up doing a band together?’

I don’t know.