#082
Something strange was happening. Gyo-ha checked the number several times. The eleven-digit number was easier to remember than lottery numbers, so it couldn’t be that he had misremembered the phone number.
Then why was someone else using Hwi-kyung’s number?
Gyo-ha immediately started looking for a flight to Korea. There was no time to waste thinking. He knew Hwi-kyung’s home address and even the front door passcode anyway. It was much more efficient to go and see for himself rather than sitting around worrying.
Thanks to having done it once in the previous iteration, finding a direct flight to Korea wasn’t difficult. Unlike before, he sent an email to his professor saying he had to return to Korea briefly due to a family issue, and also told Amy, whom he had grown closer to, that he wouldn’t be able to attend classes for a while.
He deliberately didn’t inform his family about his entry into the country. He had learned in the fourteenth iteration that an unplanned return could cause various problems if discovered.
Ten days after the first morning of his first semester in the master’s program, Gyo-ha tidily packed up his studio and boarded a flight to Korea. This was after receiving a kind reply from his professor saying there was a system for taking leave during the semester, and to email again if it became difficult to return to the US.
Indeed, people become proficient at anything with repeated iterations. The only thing experience couldn’t resolve was his worry about Jung Hwi-kyung. Why was there still no contact from Hwi-kyung after moving to the fifteenth iteration? Gyo-ha was anxious that Hwi-kyung might be hurt or collapsed somewhere again.
He couldn’t properly remember how he had even moved to the fifteenth iteration in the first place. No matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn’t remember, which suggested that Hwi-kyung had decided to regress while Gyo-ha was unaware.
That was certainly strange. It wasn’t like Jung Hwi-kyung to force a fifteenth regression without consulting Gyo-ha first, especially knowing there was someone who would follow him back when he decided to regress.
Even if Hwi-kyung had felt the need to move to the next iteration, he would have consulted Gyo-ha first. Gyo-ha could be certain of this even though he had only known Hwi-kyung for two iterations.
Yet Hwi-kyung had chosen to regress without giving Gyo-ha any hint. It was a decision that could only be considered strange. Of course, the most bewildering thing was that Gyo-ha hadn’t been able to recall Hwi-kyung for a while after the regression.
Putting together a few facts, the conclusion was that the situation wasn’t good. Although he couldn’t know exactly what had happened, it was clear that the fifteenth iteration wasn’t proceeding in a positive direction.
Hadn’t his great-grandmother told Gyo-ha? That if they unluckily moved to the next iteration, even he would be trapped forever. Gyo-ha couldn’t fully understand those words, but he at least knew that the fifteenth iteration was unfolding differently from the others.
Throughout the flight that lasted over twelve hours, Gyo-ha thought about Hwi-kyung. His concern for him was not much different from the previous iteration. If anything, he was a bit more scared that Hwi-kyung might have been ill during the ten days Gyo-ha had forgotten about him.
Lee Gyo-ha always wished that Jung Hwi-kyung wouldn’t be sick.
He had felt that way since he first saw Hwi-kyung. Because Hwi-kyung had the right to decide on regression, Gyo-ha strongly hoped he would adapt to the current iteration and live well. When he saw Hwi-kyung insisting on going to work normally despite being diagnosed with a concussion, Gyo-ha thought that if left alone, they’d end up holding a funeral, and wished for Hwi-kyung’s health.
Even when Hwi-kyung said he couldn’t die, and even after learning that Jung Hwi-kyung was also a victim of forced regression, Gyo-ha’s concern for him remained constant.
At first, it was truly out of sympathy. Jung Hwi-kyung was unlucky, suffering despite not having committed any crimes. By that measure, Gyo-ha himself was quite unfortunate, having been dragged to graduate school more than ten times because of Hwi-kyung, but at least Gyo-ha didn’t have the condition of “must be employed before thirty.”
Gyo-ha thought that such compulsion had broken Hwi-kyung’s spirit. The expression on Hwi-kyung’s face when he grabbed Gyo-ha and asked why it was so easy was filled with desperation. The fear of a wanderer in the desert upon finding an oasis, unsure if it’s a mirage or real – that was the most intense emotion Hwi-kyung had shown Gyo-ha.
Hwi-kyung’s restrained desperation was always unfamiliar to Gyo-ha. It didn’t become familiar no matter how many times he saw it. Hwi-kyung always gave his best in every iteration, even knowing there would be a next one. Like someone hoping there would finally be an end… As if he would jump into flames immediately if told he could die.
When he heard the plea to please kill him, even Gyo-ha felt overwhelmed. He was afraid Hwi-kyung might really die. It was upsetting to see him not taking care of his body, claiming he couldn’t die, and every time Hwi-kyung wore an expression that looked like he might wear away to nothing, Gyo-ha felt scared.
He wished Jung Hwi-kyung wouldn’t disappear from this world. He hoped that even if there was an end for him, he could choose to ‘continue’. Gyo-ha wanted to live together with Hwi-kyung. He wanted them to wear nice clothes, eat delicious food, create things they liked, and find stability.
At some point, it was no longer just sympathy. Now, Gyo-ha was more concerned about Hwi-kyung being sick and anxious than about returning to the first morning of the first semester of his master’s program.
Even knowing they weren’t in any kind of relationship, he felt jealous of others who showed interest in Hwi-kyung, and when Hwi-kyung rarely smiled, Gyo-ha felt elated as if he had achieved something great.
When it came to anything related to Hwi-kyung, Gyo-ha couldn’t do things in moderation. This was despite the fact that doing things appropriately according to the situation had been what he was best at until now. Just as Hwi-kyung had changed because of Gyo-ha, Gyo-ha had no choice but to change because of Hwi-kyung.
Because Jung Hwi-kyung was not just ‘anyone’ that Lee Gyo-ha could treat casually.
The wish he had made at seven years old was half-fulfilled without him even being aware of it. Although no one had granted Gyo-ha’s wish, he, the wisher himself, had managed to fulfill his own wish.
I want to experience a destined love.
He was no longer a seven-year-old child, and he had grown enough to be able to achieve what he wanted on his own. He had become someone who could fulfill his desires without the help of anything else.
* * *
People make wishes to gods, and conversely, they make vows to humans.
This is the difference between wishes and vows.
Things that grant wishes usually make possible what is beyond human capability, but those who hear vows are far from omnipotent.
That’s why the first vows were very trivial. Unlike wishes that directly reflect human desires, vows were merely promises between people. Promising not to kill each other, not to steal property, to believe in the same thing… Vows were bound to be insignificant compared to wishes. They were just grandiose promises.
However, vows sometimes worked in a more powerful way than wishes.
I swear on my life.
People began to stake themselves on these seemingly insignificant promises. From that point on, vows took on magical effects. If their own lives weren’t enough, they offered their families, entire clans, or perhaps even things more precious as proof.
That’s why those who broke vows, like those who succeeded in having their wishes granted, often met bad ends. Those who broke the promise not to kill each other were stabbed by their followers, those who seized others’ property had to fear thieves like themselves for the rest of their lives. Endless wars broke out among people who came to believe in different things. In this way, wishes and vows had something in common in that they often led to bad results.
But some people kept their vows to the end. Even the most trivial and insignificant vows, promises that could have been easily ignored if they wanted to break them.
“Will you swear?”
It was a kind of curse. Five-year-old Jung Hwi-kyung cast a curse on seven-year-old Gyo-ha. Certain that he would be sick for life, he uttered those words hoping that this precious young master, ignorant of the ways of the world, would experience the same pain as him.
Sometimes, such words took effect even without intention.
It was difficult for a young child who had needlessly caused trouble for his mother by being sick not to resent a peer who had solved a problem with just a word, unlike himself. Five years old was old enough to understand the feeling of deprivation.
So Hwi-kyung asked Gyo-ha again.
“Are you promising? That you’ll stay with me until I get better…”
Seven-year-old Lee Gyo-ha was so foolish that he didn’t even seem to know what the word ‘vow’ meant. Hwi-kyung found it ridiculous that such an idiot was worried about him. Gyo-ha probably realized that Hwi-kyung thought he was stupid.
“I swear.”
Yet Gyo-ha said that with a smile. It was an answer given without much thought.
That vow later became a shackle binding him. Although both of them soon forgot the curse, promise, and vow of their childhood days, they came into effect again with Hwi-kyung’s first perceived regression.
The move to the fifteenth iteration wasn’t Hwi-kyung’s intention. When Hwi-kyung didn’t choose to regress voluntarily, the system window deliberately caused a bus accident. This was even worse than forced regression.
When he returned to the familiar first day of regression, Hwi-kyung quickly noticed that the fifteenth iteration was different from the others. He went to meet his grandmother as usual, but people passed by him. No one seemed to properly recognize Hwi-kyung.
Not only did the nurse he had seen for a long time fail to recognize Hwi-kyung, but even Ok-ja couldn’t perceive him. Even when he tried to grab Ok-ja or call out to her, she didn’t turn to look at him. She acted as if her beloved grandson wasn’t there, even though he was right beside her. Hwi-kyung clearly existed in that place, but no one knew he was there.
Congratulations!
That’s when a new notification window appeared before Hwi-kyung.
You can now get a better job.
You can work anywhere.
You can quit anytime.
You can do anything.
The system window reverted to its standard UI. Instead, the phrase ‘Insufficient Adequate Conditions’ disappeared. The Hamchorom Batang font no longer glitched, and the system window size didn’t randomly expand.
No one can fire you.
No colleague can betray you.
You don’t need to consider workplace relationships or social reputation.
It’s okay not to work overtime. You can rest as much as you want.
Your wish has been granted!
For the first time in the long regression, there was a loud sound of fireworks. The cheerful notification sound sounded just like excited laughter.
The price for your wish is ‘Jung Hwi-kyung’.
