#063
Kim Tae-pung, who rose to stardom through a program called
Moreover, he was quite cautious, unlike someone who had suddenly become successful. It was rare to find someone who didn’t show off despite riding on popularity. Kim Tae-pung rarely appeared on variety shows. Nor did he show his face on YouTube.
He only appeared once or twice on talk-based variety shows with decent ratings, and after that, he continued his activities focusing mainly on album work and concerts. It was a schedule composition that would be difficult to attempt recklessly without the star power of someone like Kim Tae-pung.
No matter how successful
So, the contestants who appeared on
But Kim Tae-pung was different. Even long after
“Actually, that’s not entirely a good thing.”
“The stronger the positive image, the more people try to find faults.”
“Yes. And there are few people who have no problems when you dig deep.”
“Still, Kim Tae-pung’s record is relatively clean. He doesn’t have any military service issues either.”
“That’s true for now.”
“What?”
“Even rivers and mountains change in ten years, how can a person remain unchanged?”
Kim Tae-pung was now under BK Entertainment. It was Lee Gyo-ha who visited him three times and brought him to the company when he had no intention of finding a separate agency.
While it’s true that he recruited Kim Tae-pung for Hwi-kyung and Ok-ja, Gyo-ha was also interested in Kim Tae-pung as a person. During the repeated regressions, Kim Tae-pung was the only one who ‘always’ won in survival programs.
Unlike Jung Hwi-kyung, who only watched the trot programs his grandmother watched, Lee Gyo-ha tended to watch various broadcasts. Some he watched out of personal interest, and many he checked for business reasons.
Survival programs, which became popular in the 21st century, were the format he encountered most frequently. The aspect of survival programs where usually only one person wins could achieve average success if well-structured.
So, during this period, survival programs were pouring out to the point where viewers were getting tired of them. Even Gyo-ha hadn’t watched all those survival programs during his fourteen regressions. There wasn’t enough time to keep up with all of them.
But there was something he could tell just by consistently checking a few. Hwi-kyung seemed to think that fixed events would inevitably occur because he only watched the same things every time, but from Gyo-ha’s perspective, small things were constantly changing.
Even without his involvement through BK Entertainment, the rankings below Kim Tae-pung changed back and forth every time. While Kim Tae-pung was always first, second place had changed two or three times in previous cycles.
But Hwi-kyung probably didn’t care about anyone except Kim Tae-pung, whom Ok-ja liked. It was obvious he wouldn’t have paid attention to the rankings of other participants.
The changes were even more pronounced in other survival programs. While the top ranks didn’t change much, it was common for major upheavals to occur in the lower ranks. Not only did the overall rankings change, but the winners also frequently switched.
Hwi-kyung didn’t have as broad a view as Gyo-ha. Jung Hwi-kyung’s life was mortgaged to work and study, neglecting leisure. If Hwi-kyung had kept up with variety programs instead of just news, he would have quickly noticed that the cast composition changed with each cycle.
There are no fixed events. Embezzlement cases and sexual harassers being reported happen because they’re trash who can’t make different choices. It was the same with HSK and TOEIC exam questions always being the same. The question papers were probably already out before Hwi-kyung regressed.
Gyo-ha thought that new possibilities opened up with each different cycle.
Of course, as Hwi-kyung thought, there were things that couldn’t be changed no matter how hard one tried. For example, the news content that flowed on the first day he opened his eyes in the American studio was always the same. Gyo-ha could even mimic the anchor’s intonation exactly. Such things didn’t change easily, like test questions right after regression.
Grammatically speaking, it was an event that should be written in past perfect tense. It was something that had been ongoing or concluded before the point of regression.
Moreover, even when a new cycle started, people without memories mostly showed similar behavior patterns. Jung-hye, who frequently asked Gyo-ha if he was doing drugs, was a typical example.
It’s harder than you might think to lead people who behave similarly to a different development. Gyo-ha felt this difficulty acutely while working as a model in America.
While Hwi-kyung mostly didn’t know because he restarted at different companies, Gyo-ha had experienced the same graduate school and agency about ten times each. Even if a new cycle started, people repeated the same mistakes with a 90% probability unless they had memories of the previous cycle.
But Lee Gyo-ha focused on the 10%, not the 90%. With a very small probability, some people made different choices even without memories of the past cycle. There were beings who overcame the past perfect tense.
If there are people who make different choices without the intervention of a regressor, couldn’t anything be changed if a regressor directly intervenes? Unlike Hwi-kyung, who believed that fixed events usually occur, Gyo-ha paid attention to very small possibilities.
If it’s a regression that’s outside of rules and laws anyway, couldn’t they even save an old person dying of stomach cancer?
“Let’s assign another manager to Kim Tae-pung.”
“He’s not an idol, is there a need for two managers?”
“You never know, right? A few years down the line, he might suddenly have different thoughts.”
“…”
“People who live like model students are often easily tempted. There’s no harm in being careful.”
After his grandmother’s funeral, Jung Hwi-kyung doesn’t pay attention to Kim Tae-pung. So Hwi-kyung probably doesn’t know that Kim Tae-pung will be arrested for drug issues within 10 years. Jung Hwi-kyung doesn’t read any entertainment news articles at all!
Gyo-ha decided to fix Kim Tae-pung’s future first. That way, Hwi-kyung’s grandmother could continue to like Kim Tae-pung for a long time with a happy heart.
While Hwi-kyung seemed to have judged that he couldn’t change the future where his grandmother dies of stomach cancer, Gyo-ha had a different opinion. Gyo-ha was rather curious about why Hwi-kyung was so certain it was impossible.
He remembered Hwi-kyung grabbing him as if possessed and asking how everything could be so easy. Gyo-ha wanted to ask in return. What’s so difficult for you?
How much does that opaque window block your view, that you get sick and cry so often…
* * *
When Hwi-kyung presented the Kim Tae-pung concert tickets, Ok-ja’s eyes widened like lanterns.
“How did you get these?”
“Someone I know got them for me.”
“That young man from before?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my, Hwi-kyung, you went through all that trouble in your early years to date a rich person.”
“I told you, it’s not like that.”
“What do you mean it’s not? This old lady has no prejudice about such things.”
“It’s good that you have no prejudice, but… Anyway, we’re not dating.”
“Hmph.”
Ok-ja, who had received the tickets, jumped around the hospital room in excitement. It had been a long time since his grandmother had been this happy, so Hwi-kyung couldn’t help but smile.
“Do you like Kim Tae-pung that much?”
“Of course. What old person doesn’t like Kim Tae-pung?”
“More than me?”
“Not that much. In my eyes, our puppy is the cutest.”
Ok-ja hugged Hwi-kyung tightly. Just from that bit of jumping around, Ok-ja had a faint smell of sweat. The unique musty smell of the elderly and the dry clothes scent from the hospital gown calmed Hwi-kyung.
When he was embraced by Ok-ja like this, Hwi-kyung could barely maintain his sanity. Even when he wanted to give up everything, thinking of Ok-ja calmed his heart.
Before Gyo-ha appeared, Ok-ja was the only one who supported Hwi-kyung. If Ok-ja hadn’t died repeatedly, Hwi-kyung would have lived a mess, repeating regressions in despair.
“Hwi-kyung.”
“Yes?”
“Are you in touch with your mother?”
“…No.”
“You still can’t contact her? What on earth is Ji-ae doing with her life?”
So no other family was needed.
Hwi-kyung ignored his mother’s name coming from Ok-ja’s mouth. For him, Ok-ja was now his only family. His mother was a non-existent person, and his father was someone he couldn’t associate with.
Despite this, Ok-ja asked Hwi-kyung in this way if he was in contact with his mother. The mood that had been elevated thanks to the Kim Tae-pung concert tickets was instantly plunged into the mud.
“I don’t… really want to contact Mom again.”
Hwi-kyung’s mother, Ji-ae, probably wouldn’t want to contact her son either. When he contacted her asking for help because the hospital bills were insufficient, Ji-ae pushed Hwi-kyung away as if she had no choice. I’m sorry to you. But I can’t help you anymore…
That was the last time. Hwi-kyung didn’t contact Ji-ae after that. He could forgive her for abandoning him, but he couldn’t forgive her for turning her back on the sick Ok-ja.
As soon as Hwi-kyung became an adult, Ji-ae cut off all support, seemingly finding it so enjoyable to leave Korea and wander around continuously. She was better than his father who had formed a new family pretending Hwi-kyung didn’t exist, but Hwi-kyung didn’t think his mother was a good person.
“Don’t hate her too much. Your mother must have had her reasons.”
“…”
“If I die, try contacting her once.”
“She probably won’t answer even if I contact her.”
“How do you know that?”
Because I’ve tried it. Hwi-kyung swallowed those words. The impression of the middle-aged woman muttering “I’m sorry to you” now only vaguely came to mind.
His mother had never come to his grandmother’s funeral. Hwi-kyung clenched his fist tightly so that Ok-ja couldn’t see.
“Ji-ae loved you so much.”
How can that be called love? Hwi-kyung lowered his gaze to avoid refuting Ok-ja that such a thing wasn’t love. He had clenched his fist so tightly that his short nails were digging into his palm.
But this minor pain didn’t even hurt. His palm stung as blood slowly seeped out, but it wasn’t unbearable.
Would you like to regress?
The system window popped up suddenly, blocking Ok-ja’s face. It had been a while since such a window appeared outside of work. Hwi-kyung fumbled with his uninjured hand to turn off the system window.
