#116
Time passed as quickly as light. While each minute and second of work hours dragged slowly, before one realized it, a month had flown by.
Spending one-third of each day confined to the office had clearly distorted one’s sense of time. Otherwise, how could Hwi-kyung have reached his third year at BK Entertainment in the blink of an eye?
“To think Hwi-kyung is already an assistant manager. It feels surreal.”
At BK International, Hwi-kyung had become an assistant manager in his first year, so considering the years, his promotion was late in this iteration. Se-young, who had received the assistant manager position a few months earlier, muttered while sipping her decaffeinated low-fat vanilla latte.
“I only got mine right before my fourth year, so it’s definitely good to be the chairman’s son’s lover.”
“Se-young, you’re dating a chairman’s son too.”
“My goodness, Hwi-kyung. I’ve told you we’re not dating yet.”
“…”
“We’re still in the flirtation stage.”
“…Still?”
“Such men lose their charm once they’re caught fish. You need to release them into the pond like carp and persistently raise them.”
In the past three years, many changes had occurred in Hwi-kyung’s life. Today’s world moved too quickly, with the landscape changing not just in ten years, but even within three. It would be fortunate if only the landscape changed, as there were numerous cases where the world turned upside down.
The biggest change was Ok-ja getting back on her feet. Whether it was due to the effect of all kinds of ginseng and mushrooms that Gyo-ha had procured claiming they were good for health, even the hospital recommended Ok-ja’s discharge.
Ok-ja visibly brightened at the doctor’s discharge recommendation. Though she hadn’t said anything, it seemed her hospital stay had been stifling.
The issue was where Ok-ja would stay. Since Hwi-kyung had moved out of his villa to live with Gyo-ha, there wasn’t a suitable place for Ok-ja.
It would be difficult for Ok-ja to live with them in Gyo-ha’s officetel. Though space wasn’t lacking, even Gyo-ha would find it awkward to tease Hwi-kyung in front of Ok-ja.
For this reason, Gyo-ha bought another officetel to coincide with Ok-ja’s discharge. It was an absurd splurge of money.
The surprising thing was that this extravagance was carried out with the permission of Gyo-ha’s father, Lee Baek-gyeong. Whatever Gyo-ha had said to persuade his father, the chairman even provided a professional caregiver to ensure Ok-ja could live comfortably.
For this reason, Hwi-kyung had to face Gyo-ha’s family once more. It would be shameless to refuse a request to meet after receiving so much. Just like in the fourteenth iteration, a sort of formal family meeting was quickly arranged.
However, unlike the previous iteration, Chairman Lee Baek-gyeong was exceptionally warm toward Jung Hwi-kyung. This was thanks to the mother of the three siblings, whom Hwi-kyung hadn’t met before, welcoming him with open arms.
“…You had a mother?”
“Well, since my father isn’t a hermaphrodite… I suppose I would have a mother, right?”
“I’ve never met her before…”
“My mother has a bit of wanderlust. Her hobby is world travel, so she’s not someone easy to see.”
It was only then that Hwi-kyung learned that Gyo-ha’s mother, whom he had thought was in seclusion due to some circumstances since she never showed her face anywhere, was simply someone with serious wanderlust.
The madam, who looked particularly like Gyo-ha among the three siblings, said this as soon as she saw Hwi-kyung:
“Oh, he’s perfect as a son-in-law. He looks like he has a tough life path—he’ll definitely keep our Gyo-ha in check.”
From this middle-aged woman, at least 20cm shorter than Hwi-kyung with a petite frame, emanated an aura that seemed capable of burning someone alive. Compared to her, all three siblings of the BK Group appeared weak.
Even Jung-hye, who was like a tiger, seemed like a well-behaved girl in front of the madam. Hwi-kyung felt like he was under a mental attack every time the madam laughed “ho ho ohoho” at him.
“Darling, I really like Hwi-kyung. In today’s world, someone so filial and decent is rare.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Aren’t the kids going to America anyway? Let’s just have them get married.”
“But they’re both men…”
“Darling.”
“…”
“Has there ever been a time when listening to me turned out badly? Do as I say.”
In just one meeting, Hwi-kyung realized that this ohoho-laughing madam was the invisible hand controlling the BK Group. It seemed that Chairman Lee Baek-gyeong was just a figurehead, with the shaman grandmother and this madam pulling the strings of the company.
Anyway, thanks to the madam’s “permission,” Hwi-kyung received official recognition of his relationship from Gyo-ha’s family. They would have dated even without approval, but now they truly promised a future together.
Even Jung-hye, who had said male in-laws weren’t needed as they didn’t help with company marketing, readily accepted Hwi-kyung as family once her mother gave permission. Sung-ha also appeared to have many complaints, but he couldn’t act out in front of his mother due to her overwhelming presence.
The timing of their marriage was set for after Gyo-ha’s graduation from graduate school in America. It was a quick development, as fast as cooking beans in lightning.
“Your mother… how should I put it, she’s really magnanimous…”
“She has quite a presence, right? Actually, I’m sometimes intimidated by my mom too.”
“Even you?”
“Of course. She’s milder now, but when I was young, she was really scary.”
This is considered mild? Faced with a mother-in-law overflowing with masculine energy, Hwi-kyung was at a loss for words. He had thought Gyo-ha was quite forceful, but seeing his mother who was even more so, Gyo-ha’s assertiveness seemed fake in comparison.
In any case, with the family’s permission, Gyo-ha’s move to America was prepared earlier than expected. Over the past three years, BK Entertainment had swallowed up other small and medium-sized entertainment companies one by one, significantly expanding its size.
Growth itself was smooth since few entertainment companies had large corporate parent companies. Though they couldn’t nurture idol groups well, they were good at developing actors and models, and as Korean dramas began to be exported overseas with the development of OTT services, the overseas branches also rapidly expanded.
In reality, Gyo-ha had just taken advantage of his time-traveler knowledge to preemptively secure information for success, but only Hwi-kyung, a fellow time-traveler, knew this fact.
After all, it was just a 10-year information advantage. Gyo-ha said they needed to do everything they could with this opportunity. No one knew what would happen in the future after the endpoint of the twelfth iteration, which had lasted the longest.
However, the two of them were no longer very afraid of the uncertain future. Gyo-ha was originally not afraid of much, and Hwi-kyung’s anxiety symptoms had greatly improved after adopting Gyo-ha’s thoughtlessness.
Moreover, “knowing the future” was something no time-traveler could guarantee. Despite going through so many iterations, Hwi-kyung didn’t know much about the future outside his interests. The same was true for Gyo-ha. The future he knew was limited to major events covered in the news.
Some might argue that knowing that much is knowing everything. Unfortunately, however, even time-travelers couldn’t accurately predict their own futures. Like a monk unable to shave his own head, when a person who returns to the past makes different choices, even minor flows change.
So every iteration flowed in new ways. Even when repeating the same actions, unknown people would appear, and things thought to be fully understood would always blindside in novel ways.
Even when flowing toward a single event, the process frequently differed. Being born human, anxiety about the unknown future was inevitable.
“You’re studying English again? Someone with more than five English certificates?”
“Those all have a two-year validity period and have expired.”
“You’re not planning to get them all again, are you?”
“Since I’ll be reassigned soon, of course I need to get new ones.”
“…”
“You should get some certificates too while you have the chance.”
“This is a certificate addiction…”
From the moment the American branch assignment was scheduled, Hwi-kyung once again immersed himself in obtaining English certificates. All the certificates he had acquired to enter BK Entertainment had expired. English certificates at least had a two-year validity period, but HSK was only valid for one year, so everything needed to be renewed.
It takes ten years for mountains and rivers to change, but certificates need to be renewed every two years… Hwi-kyung thought this was truly unfair. But regardless of that thought, his body diligently continued studying for the certificates.
“You’re already good at English without those.”
“My speaking isn’t good, so I need to memorize for OPIc.”
“Isn’t that good enough?”
“I need to learn business English, not just everyday conversation…”
Though his anxiety about the future had decreased, Hwi-kyung was still thorough in preparing for it. His overthinking was mild compared to before, but it hadn’t completely disappeared.
Gyo-ha often closely followed behind Hwi-kyung, frequently disturbing his studies. In his view, Hwi-kyung was someone whose worries were his worry. As long as they could communicate well, why obsess over idiomatic expressions and natural terminology usage?
“You’re disrupting my studies again… I’ll watch a movie with you after I finish this.”
“You said that yesterday too, but you just ended up shadowing the TV series we watched…”
“Isn’t it good to watch dramas and study English at the same time?”
Faced with such overwhelming diligence, Gyo-ha secretly wiped away tears. Even after the system window disappeared, Hwi-kyung lived earnestly. His self-discipline to avoid falling behind was always shocking to see.
Gyo-ha reached out and tightly embraced Hwi-kyung’s waist. He had let it go yesterday, but today he couldn’t hold back any longer. It was Gyo-ha’s mission to interrupt Hwi-kyung, who would only study if left alone, and force him to rest.
When lips touched his nape, Hwi-kyung couldn’t help but burst into laughter from the ticklish sensation. Hwi-kyung laughed more easily than before. It was hard to believe he was the same person who could only make the default office worker expression of no expression—his emotional expressions had become much more diverse.
Originally, living is harder than dying. Work to make a living is difficult, wages always feel insufficient, and people frequently betray others.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for granting my wish.”
But does that mean the world is truly only bad? Some achievements bring joy, and sometimes people willingly save others, don’t they?
Not many people can give the right answer to that question. Finding the correct answer in a paradox is a very difficult task.
However, at the very least, Hwi-kyung had become able to find second-best happiness in a world at its worst. That was a very ordinary and remarkable development.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
