Chapter 3
The house was extremely large.
That was my first thought as soon as we arrived.
My family, despite both parents working, was just a modest middle-class household with a small home containing a cramped living room and barely two bedrooms. We couldn’t even afford to buy it outright—we struggled to get it on a deposit lease. But Ji Yeohoon’s house was a massive two-story residence built on prime real estate in Seoul.
Even the garden was spacious and immaculate.
“Do you have a gardener too?”
“Garden? Yeah. A man comes once a week to take care of it.”
It was such an impressive house that I assumed they must have help for household chores too.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up today. I’m glad you arrived safely.”
“Sir, is the baby okay?”
“The surgery went well, and they’re fine. Thank you for your concern. Hyun would be grateful to know that hyung was worried about him. And we just got a call from the Esper as well. When you’re done playing and ready to go home, I’ll drive you myself, so enjoy yourselves. Make sure your friends call their parents as soon as they get inside.”
“Yes…”
As it turned out, Ji Yeohoon’s mother was an Esper, and his father was a Guide.
Since Esper and Guide manifestation genes weren’t hereditary, it was rare for a child to be an Esper even if their parents were, making this quite an unusual case.
I was trying to recall if I remembered meeting Ji Yeohoon’s Esper and Guide parents before my regression when Ji Yeohoon, having finished talking with the adults, grabbed my hand and Yoon Cheong’s hand and led us inside.
“Hyung, want to borrow my phone? Or use the landline?”
“I’ll take the phone. I want to try it.”
“I’ll use the landline.”
Though he would grow up to be some kind of solitary something-or-other, Yoon Cheong was still just an eight-year-old kid who quickly called dibs on the mobile phone.
By the time we became adults, even small children would carry smartphones, but in this regressed timeline, even adults barely knew about smartphones. Surprisingly, Ji Yeohoon’s phone was a smartphone imported from abroad.
This would be practically useless in Korea at this time since telecom companies didn’t support them well—internet barely worked, and you could hardly do anything beyond calls and texts.
In an era where just having a touch-screen phone for gaming would mark you as an early adopter, this was truly a smartphone.
“Why doesn’t this have buttons? There’s only one in the middle?”
“It’s touch-screen. You just press with your fingertip.”
Ji Yeohoon looked proud, while Yoon Cheong was fascinated.
I thought to myself that kids really do bond over the simplest things.
“Mom, I’m at a friend’s house today. I might come home a bit late.”
– Cheong?
“No, it’s Ji Yeohoon. He’s a year younger than me.”
– Ji Yeohoon? What kind of child is he?
I could hear my mother’s delighted voice through the phone.
Having just met him today, I didn’t know much, but I tried to think of what would sound like an appropriate answer for my age.
“His house is incredibly huge.”
– …Huh?
“It’s two stories. There’s even a basement. They have people who work in the house. When we’re done playing, the chauffeur will drive us home. They must be really rich.”
The only thing I could think to mention was that it seemed like a wealthy household.
Well, mom might think her son was already materialistic, but the Ji Yeohoon I knew was the famous Esper who pretended to protect me at age 23, sixteen years from now, and at 25, eighteen years from now, he was blowing up gates left and right, blaming the world for something.
Beyond that, I only knew the Ji Yeohoon who conquered all kinds of gates, appeared on broadcasts, and treated people kindly. But right now, he was just a kid who hadn’t even entered elementary school yet, flooring the accelerator just to invite a hyung he liked to his house.
Because of that, I had nothing else to explain.
Just then, Ji Yeohoon tugged at my sleeve while I was on the phone.
“Hyung, hyung. Will you stay for dinner too?”
“Dinner?”
“Yeah. Mom and Dad said they’ll be late today. I’ll be alone with my aunt and uncle, so if you’re okay with it, they said you should stay for dinner too. If they hurry, they might arrive while we’re eating. They really want to meet you. Yoon Cheong hyung’s parents already said it’s okay for him.”
“Ah… Mom, can I stay for dinner too?”
– Of course!
She sounded happy about it.
For her to respond with such an emotional voice just because I was talking normally with other kids—I really was an unfilial son.
– Make sure you tell Mom and Dad everything that happened today when you get home. Okay, Soo-young?
“Yes, I understand.”
– Love you today too, my son.
I could hear kissing sounds through the phone.
Unable to get used to my mother’s embarrassing affection, I quickly hung up after saying, “Me too.”
“Hyung, hyung, come play games with me.”
“Okay… but what game?”
“Car Rider.”
Ah, these days kindergarteners and elementary schoolers drive cars on computers.
I thought we’d go to the second floor, but the room Ji Yeohoon entered was a large master bedroom on the first floor.
It seemed his parents used the second floor and gave the first floor to their son. The room was as big as both bedrooms in our house combined. Inside was a plush bed that seemed too large for one person, a big TV, connected game consoles, and oddly enough, two computers.
Yoon Cheong’s eyes lit up as he began exploring the room, and I also looked around curiously.
Wow, why does a kid’s room have so many devices? Even the bookshelf is enormous.
Ji Yeohoon turned on both computers. Yoon Cheong quickly took a seat, and I examined the books that filled one entire wall.
“Hyung, aren’t you going to play?”
“Play with him first. I want to look at these. Can I look at these photo albums?”
“Sure. You can look at everything. The comic books are over there. There’s a Thousand Character Classic there too.”
Having someone to play with seemed important to Ji Yeohoon as he quickly sat down at the computer.
Due to my memories of living 26 years, plus the four years since coming back, the games looked too crude for me to enjoy playing right now.
But how were these little kids logging in? Aren’t accounts restricted for minors under a certain age? Maybe they were using adult accounts? I approached them while picking out a book, but my concerns were unfounded—they were both comfortably typing in their own IDs.
“You guys have accounts for this?”
“Mom registered me last time. My parents gave consent. She said I could play on the computer since I play alone.”
“Me too. I’m allowed to use the computer for an hour every day at home.”
We don’t even have a computer at home yet—lucky kids.
“Okay, go ahead,” I said, pulling out a photo album.
“Hyung, hyung, why can’t you come properly! The other players are only hitting me!”
“Why aren’t you using Angel?!”
“Did the water fairy come to you or me?!”
But it was so noisy that I couldn’t concentrate on anything—not the book, not even the photo album that contained only pictures of Ji Yeohoon’s younger days with no text.
Before my regression, when I occasionally sat in an internet café after work, I’d hear the noisy sounds of elementary school kids. That memory came flooding back vividly.
If this had been an internet café, I would have begged the staff to kick the kids out.
But this was Ji Yeohoon’s house, and I just needed to endure this moment, so I calmly put the photo album back on the shelf.
“We’re a team, you could at least use Angel!”
“I’m not teaming with hyung!”
“I’m not teaming with you either!”
The brats were sulking.
Despite their huffing and puffing, the two kids were actually pretty good at the game for their age, ranking in the upper tier among 8 players.
Since it was a 4v4 team game, they lost because the opposing team had a player who came in first, but for their age, they were quite decent. As I watched quietly, Yoon Cheong turned his head.
“Want to try?”
“No, you—”
“Yeah, hyung, play one round with me. It’s fun.”
How old am I to be playing this?
But if they’re offering me a seat, I won’t refuse.
Yoon Cheong got up, and I sat down in his place, placing my hands on the keyboard.
“Hyung, do you know how to play this?”
“More or less.”
Even though it was an old game, I remembered playing it so much in my youth before the regression that I’d skip meals for it.
I should be better than these kids at least. As the countdown sounded and the game started, I pressed the keyboard, and my car surged forward.
“Huh? Why is this speed mode?”
“It’s supposed to be item mode…”
“No, it’s speed mode.”
Ji Yeohoon looked almost ready to cry when he saw no items appearing.
He was competitive, frantically chasing after me, but how could a kid who only played item mode win in speed mode? Especially in a game that had been out for a while and was full of experienced players.
As I watched Ji Yeohoon quietly, I drifted and pulled ahead, and I could feel Yoon Cheong’s gaze on me.
Ji Yeohoon was also watching my screen while trying to keep his car moving forward on the track.
“I’ll let you win, hyung.”
I was someone who went all-in on this game in middle school.
Of course, compared to then, my hands were slower and my memory dimmer, but I still started overtaking cars one by one.
“Wow…”
It’s okay, this is the beginner zone, and we’re still in the license period.
My car, which had been running in the middle of the pack at first, had soon left all the other cars behind and widened the gap.
With the spirit of “don’t underestimate the power of an elementary school gamer,” I was the first to cross the finish line. The other cars, far behind, were racing hard to secure second place, but it seemed unlikely they’d finish within 10 seconds.
Looking at Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon, whose expressions resembled elementary school kids watching a skilled middle or high school student, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
‘Well, I don’t really know, because there hasn’t been much I couldn’t do so far.’
‘If you can’t do it, then don’t do it at all.’
Was it typical of Espers’ personalities? Even Ji Yeohoon, who was known for being kind and gentle, would occasionally make remarks that would have gotten ordinary people cursed into oblivion. As for the high-and-mighty Yoon Cheong, needless to say, if it weren’t for his abilities, he would have been labeled just as disrespectful and unemployable. Was it because they were Espers, or were they just naturally like that…?
“Hyung, are you good at other games too?”
“Not really…”
“He’s good at dictation and math too. He hasn’t gotten a single question wrong when the teacher asks.”
“Wow… Hyung, you’re amazing. Are you a genius?”
“I guess so.”
And that’s how, at the age of 8 but with 30 years of lived experience, I found myself suddenly being treated as a genius between two children.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
