#104
“The King of Trot” started as a failed program without any unexpected developments. The public opinion that mocked survival shows for touching every field, even trot music, was dominant in the early stages, just like before.
However, because BK Entertainment’s capital was invested earlier than in the fourteenth iteration, the first-place prize money increased significantly before participants were confirmed, briefly drawing attention. The program, which was previously at risk of being canceled due to lack of participants, finally grew large enough to properly broadcast the preliminaries.
“What if Kim Tae-pung doesn’t win?”
“That won’t happen.”
“How can you be so sure? Human affairs are truly unpredictable.”
“I think minor things might change, but Kim Tae-pung will definitely win.”
Hwi-kyung found it fascinating that Gyo-ha believed Kim Tae-pung would definitely win without any particular evidence. Major events often remained unchanged despite Hwi-kyung’s repeated time loops, but Kim Tae-pung’s victory in the program seemed too minor to be a fixed event, especially with so many variables.
Ok-ja’s death from stomach cancer was an unchangeable event, but shouldn’t the winner of a competition be something that could easily change if someone traveled back in time? Yet Gyo-ha claimed the opposite—that Ok-ja could be cured, and Kim Tae-pung’s victory was a fixed event.
“You know how people have destinies, right?”
That was the only answer Hwi-kyung received when he asked why. Gyo-ha kept insisting, like someone with supernatural powers, that Kim Tae-pung was destined for great success early in his career. It was the same with Ok-ja’s illness. Even though hospitals said surgery would be difficult, Gyo-ha was convinced she would recover with proper treatment.
Whenever Gyo-ha acted like this, Hwi-kyung was reminded that he came from a shaman lineage. Despite having no connection to shamanism in daily life—not even seeing ghosts—Gyo-ha occasionally had precise insights into the future.
“Still, Kim Tae-pung needs to be managed well. He might do drugs later.”
“Is that also his destiny?”
“No? I just saw it in the twelfth iteration.”
Of course, half of Gyo-ha’s foresight came from being a time-traveler. While Hwi-kyung was busy with company work and disconnected from the world, Gyo-ha paid attention to all kinds of incidents. Information that Hwi-kyung considered useless was all useful to Gyo-ha.
As a result, Gyo-ha quickly established a success story despite being a parachuted team leader. Every failing program he took on improved in ratings as if given an oxygen tank, and his company evaluation quickly improved. When results backed up his relaxed work style, the disapproving glances disappeared.
In contrast, Hwi-kyung was working several times harder than he had at International. Moving to the PR team after the sales and HR teams seemed good, but the team atmosphere didn’t match Hwi-kyung’s personality. Unlike the quiet Hwi-kyung, most team members were loud and talkative.
“Hwi-kyung, did you see the messenger yesterday? You won’t believe what Manager Seo from the legal team…”
Assistant Manager Lee, who was always telling him things he didn’t want to know, constantly reminding him to check the company messenger.
“I heard there’s a new bakery nearby. Shall we all go during lunch? Let’s eat together too.”
Manager Kim, who never gave him time alone and always demanded group activities.
“I’ll pass because I’ve gained weight recently. I’m thinking of trying intermittent fasting.”
“Come on, Se-young! What weight have you gained?”
“True, I haven’t gained weight. I just said that to hear you say it.”
And Yoon Se-young, who was friendly with everyone but maintained a strange distance, with such noticeable self-love that sometimes Hwi-kyung didn’t know how to interact with her.
Mismatched personalities with colleagues were several times more difficult than the actual work. Especially Assistant Manager Lee and Manager Kim, who always moved as a pair and kept prodding Hwi-kyung. Even an unripe persimmon wouldn’t get poked this much.
“You seem close with the team leader? You talk frequently?”
“He’s probably teaching me a lot since I’m new.”
“But the team leader hasn’t been here long either.”
“…”
“Be careful. I’m telling you this because I care, but our team leader probably…”
“Assistant Manager Lee, let’s not talk like that. Too many ears around.”
Recently, Hwi-kyung had also picked up on rumors spreading throughout the company. The main rumor was that Gyo-ha had come to BK Entertainment following his male lover.
Hwi-kyung thought the order in the rumor was reversed. To be precise, Hwi-kyung, who was Gyo-ha’s male lover, had joined BK Entertainment following Gyo-ha.
I should have been more discreet with Gyo-ha back then, even though I was drunk! Regretting it now was like crying over spilled milk. Instead of trying to clean up the spill, Hwi-kyung just waited for it to evaporate on its own.
But this wasn’t ordinary water—rather than evaporating, it kept spreading. Whenever Hwi-kyung conversed with Gyo-ha, gazes poured in from all directions. As if asking, “Are you the chairman’s son’s lover?”
It was true that he was in that kind of relationship with Gyo-ha, but he never expected to be found out so early and receive such scrutiny. Hwi-kyung tried to brush it off coolly like Gyo-ha, but being detached about matters concerning oneself wasn’t as easy as he wished.
The only consolation was news about BK International. Even without Lee Sung-ha or Jung Hwi-kyung’s involvement, BK International’s HR department had become a complete mess. A major purge had begun after Gyo-ha had dropped a few words to Jung-hye.
I wondered how my sister could be useful with such a nasty temper, but she managed to overturn an entire company department… Gyo-ha had used Jung-hye like a bulldozer to tear down the HR department. It wasn’t for Hwi-kyung’s revenge; Park Bong-joon had done more damage than expected, so they cut him off before suffering further losses.
Hwi-kyung no longer held any particular grudge against Park Bong-joon or Kang Moon-chul, but he still felt sick when thinking about Moon-chul. When Moon-chul cut Hwi-kyung off, Hwi-kyung had to indirectly experience Caesar’s feelings of betrayal by Brutus.
No matter how much corporate life was a series of betrayals, BK International’s HR department was literally a chain of betrayal. Park Bong-joon betrayed Kang Moon-chul, Kang Moon-chul betrayed Jung Hwi-kyung, and Jung Hwi-kyung betrayed Park Bong-joon. Thinking back to those days made BK Entertainment’s talkative people seem decent in comparison.
“By the way, if you have time, could you create a spreadsheet for me? I need it by the end of the month, but I’ve been busy with other work.”
“Sure. If you show me the format, I’ll take care of it.”
“Great! This is why I like you, Hwi-kyung. It’s better to have lots of work than just sitting around doing nothing, right?”
At least here they don’t give enough trust to betray…
After a few weeks of employment, Hwi-kyung became so busy during the broadcast of “The King of Trot” that he couldn’t pay attention to his team members or the company scandal.
As Gyo-ha predicted, Kim Tae-pung eventually won despite the fierce competition. He won by a narrower margin compared to other iterations, but he was still the winner.
Gyo-ha was also busy recruiting Kim Tae-pung, who had no intention of joining a large company label. As Gyo-ha and Hwi-kyung drifted apart due to work, the exaggerated scandal seemed to die down.
However, just as Hwi-kyung was relieved to have weathered the company scandal, a problem he hadn’t properly prepared for struck him.
“Grandmother…”
“Why do you look like you’re dying when I’m the sick one?”
Ok-ja’s health had deteriorated even before Kim Tae-pung’s concert planning began.
* * *
Hwi-kyung had already experienced Ok-ja’s death multiple times. With late-stage stomach cancer and being over eighty, Ok-ja never lived long. At most, she lived five years from the starting point of the time loop, and at the shortest, Hwi-kyung had to hold her funeral after just a few months.
In some iterations, Hwi-kyung was forced back in time before Ok-ja died, but ultimately, his grandmother’s death was an unavoidable fixed event for him.
Moving her to a better hospital and trying various cancer treatments never resulted in Ok-ja’s complete recovery. She was too old for forced surgery, and doctors didn’t recommend it because she might not wake up from anesthesia.
Death from aging and disease is unavoidable. Hwi-kyung knew this fact but couldn’t become detached from Ok-ja’s death. It was the same no matter how many times his grandmother died. If Ok-ja could live even one more day in good health, Hwi-kyung was willing to give up his own lifespan for her.
The problem was that Hwi-kyung had no lifespan to give, having died and come back to life himself. Moreover, the system window had already granted one of Hwi-kyung’s many wishes—”I want to get a good job”—so there would be no miracle of Ok-ja’s stomach cancer suddenly being cured.
“Wouldn’t it be better to do the surgery right away?”
“She might not wake up from the anesthesia. And it’s difficult to get surgery appointments at major hospitals.”
“I can make the appointment. That’s what I’m here for.”
“…But what if she doesn’t wake up from the anesthesia? We can’t even go back in time anymore.”
Hard company life was bearable. For Hwi-kyung, repeatedly experiencing Ok-ja’s death was more painful than going through multiple job searches due to forced time travel.
For the first time, he missed the system window. Now, even if Ok-ja couldn’t recover, there was no way to turn back time. Turning back time to resurrect someone was beyond what a mere human could do.
“It’s not like this is the first time, but I’m still so scared.”
Hwi-kyung covered his eyes with one hand. Although no tears fell, he was genuinely afraid. It wasn’t easy to decide whether to proceed with the surgery despite the risk that she might not wake up, or to follow Ok-ja’s wishes to live out her remaining days as is.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
