SDM 54
by Soraiip“It’s funny to ask this now, but why did you come to my house?”
“…It was the only place I could think of.”
Seong-woon responded casually while trying to lower his shoulders that kept rising due to nervousness. He wondered why question it now, right before a very important test that would determine whether he’d maintain his current physical condition or return to the miserable state he was in at first.
“Anyway, when you suddenly left home, this place was the one that came to your mind, right?”
“I… guess so?”
It was more because of that ‘wish’ of Ryu Chae-yoon’s, but if it wasn’t for that… wouldn’t he have gone to a motel that didn’t check IDs?
But Seong-woon didn’t want to ruin Sang-hyun’s excitement, so he held back his tongue. After all, he did end up at Baek Sang-hyun’s house and was still causing him trouble.
“Your manager must be cursing me right now.”
“Probably.”
When the manager met Seong-woon again, after he had run away, he was nearly in tears. He pretended something was in his eye and wiped it with his sleeve, but Seong-woon, with his keen intuition, knew immediately that he had cried a bit.
Since then, he became even more overprotective, and now he must be dying since he couldn’t express it. He could at least pour out his nagging and worry when taking Seong-woon to and from school and the hospital before, but today Seong-woon said he’d ride in Baek Sang-hyun’s car, so he could vividly imagine how upset the manager must be.
“Everyone’s overprotective. I wish they wouldn’t be so attached to me anymore.”
“They probably enjoy it.”
“…You think so?”
He had thought they were doing it because they had to, since he was sick and vulnerable. The 12-year elder brother and sister who had to play with their youngest sibling who couldn’t even go to school and had no friends, the overly attached second brother, the oldest brother who could barely touch him for fear of hurting his precious sibling, parents who were always apologetic for everything…
“At least I do it because I want to.”
“I… see.”
Unable to even turn his head towards Baek Sang-hyun, Seong-woon kept his nose buried in the study notes. Even that was starting to make him feel carsick.
Seong-woon took his eyes off the small writing and looked out the window. It was winter at its peak, and the trees were all bare. When he first woke up in this body, it was midsummer… Now it’s already winter, and he doesn’t know what will happen anymore.
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you always so… direct?”
“About what?”
“You know… saying things like you like me, that kind of thing…”
“I haven’t said it that much, though?”
Sang-hyun turned to look at Seong-woon as they stopped at a red light. There was a hint of what seemed like unjust resentment, making Seong-woon wonder if he had said something wrong.
“I’ve only said it once out of ten times I could have.”
“…I see.”
With truly nothing else to say, Seong-woon gave a stupid response and hid his face behind his notebook. A warmth crept up from his chest and wrapped around his neck. The knit sweater, which was already warm enough, felt hotter.
“And if you ask ‘always,’ I have nothing to say.”
“…Why?”
“It’s the first time, so how would I know if it’s ‘always’ like this?”
“You’re lying, right?”
“About what?”
“You must have had girlfriends or…”
‘Or boyfriends? Well, whatever.’
“…lovers before.”
“I didn’t.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why’… How can I date someone else when I’ve been in love with the same person for over 10 years?”
“…We’ve been together for less than 6 months, you know.”
“Well, let’s just say that then.”
Seong-woon pressed his lips together and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know how to react whenever Baek Sang-hyun casually implied there was someone else.
‘Does he not realize how crazy this sounds? But why is he so sure about it?’
“By the way, is the Accounting Principles professor someone who can be blackmailed?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I was thinking of trying to blackmail for a better grade using power and money…”
“I told you, you can get a B0.”
“I don’t think I can.”
‘I’m trash…’ Seong-woon shrank more and more as they got closer to school. No matter how he thought about it, how did getting a good grade in this course, though B0 could hardly be considered a good grade, have anything to do with Ryu Chae-yoon’s wish or affect that soul thing?
“What’s wrong?”
“…It’s nothing.”
‘Was it just to create a connection with Baek Sang-hyun? Is this karma thing really working properly?’
— Karma is working perfectly!
‘Don’t just pop up suddenly. I didn’t even call you.’
Seong-woon snapped at C1012 and got out of the car.
Now that both they and others were used to seeing them together on campus, it had become a bit easier to walk around.
Ignoring Hyeong-seok, who had gotten out of the car behind him and was looking at him like a mother bird who had lost her baby chick, Seong-woon clenched his fist, determined to complete what seemed to be the most important quest.
It was time to test the limits of his brain.
* * *
Since Accounting Principles was the last exam, Seong-woon gave it his all and then slept for a whole day. He had used up all his energy staying up all night solving and memorizing past exam questions.
With nearly 200 exam papers to grade, it was unclear how many teaching assistants were involved, but the scores and expected grades came out late the next afternoon. Seong-woon checked the message late because he had been sleeping.
02-xxxx-xxxx
[Web Notification]
Ryu Chae-yoon’s final exam score is 83 points. Your grade for Accounting Principles this semester is B+. Please send any grade appeals to accounting@knu.ac.kr by tomorrow.
“B… B plus…!”
He did it! This was more joyful than any other quest. Dopamine rushed through his body, instantly waking up his drowsy mind. Seong-woon jumped up from the sofa and unconsciously raised his hands high.
[Congratulations!
You have successfully completed the quest.
Reward: Stamina boost and partial recovery from illness.
The quest completion notification came, but as usual, there was no noticeable change. At first, there was definitely a feeling of recovery… Is this not actually giving rewards, but just the soul merging and attaching well to the body, causing it to recover?
Seong-woon waited for C1012’s answer, but it didn’t appear when needed, just as usual. Or was it hiding because it was awkward and difficult to answer? He rubbed his furrowed brow smooth and got up, stretching his body.
To think one all-nighter could have such an impact. It reminded him of his previously quite robust body. …Of course, now that he knew that was the body that the former handler Yoon Gwan-wi had created and played with – what on earth did he do with it? It’s scary to imagine and felt a bit awkward to miss it now.
As time passed after completing the quest, Seong-woon found himself adapting well to Ryu Chae-yoon’s life. The speed of adaptation felt so fast it was almost strange, making him try to recall his former self, Jin Seong-woon.
But he couldn’t do that for long. Just thinking about Jin Seong-woon’s life made his left wrist ache.
When you’re stuck in a quagmire, you don’t properly realize your situation, but once you get out, you understand how dark, deep, and dirty the quagmire was. That’s what Jin Seong-woon’s life had been like.
Just as he was about to change clothes, his phone started ringing. Hyeong-seok had finally come to do his proper job as a manager.
— Young master.
“Yes, I’ll change and come down.”
He briefly searched for words to comfort the manager who blamed himself for everything – Seong-woon’s seizure that day, his sudden escape, and the fact that he was staying in this house – but at this point, anything he said would seem a bit ridiculous.
Seong-woon decided to treat him as if nothing had happened, changed into warm clothes, and went downstairs.
“…What’s that?”
“Chairman Choi prepared it for you.”
“The padded jacket?”
“Yes. Not just for you, but for the entire ‘Orbit Collision’ production team.”
“I see…”
It seemed his mother had followed through on her promise to have clothes made. Seong-woon took off the black padded jacket he was wearing and put on the new white one. As he zipped it up and put his hands in the pockets, he felt something rustling.
Our youngest son, keep yourself warm~ Mom loves you so much!
Dad loves you, too!
Me too!
Baek Sang-hyun, that bastard, come home soon.
Chae-yoon, let’s live with your brother! Okay? Love you!!
Live with me, not Ryu Ho-yoon.
It was a note written by his family members. Seong-woon stared at it for a long time, then carefully smoothed it out and tucked it into the first page of his script book.
“We’ll be late.”
“Yes, I’ll drive quickly.”
Sitting in the back seat, Seong-woon quietly looked out the window. Was he really merging souls with Ryu Chae-yoon? The love Ryu Chae-yoon received no longer felt enviable, but as if it were his own.
He didn’t envy or jealously watch the love others received, holding back his emotions. Instead, he felt moved by their love, happy, and teared up…
Seong-woon looked at the sky where the sunset was starting to appear, then shifted his gaze beyond. The deep, wide Han River flowed beside the car as it sped along Olympic-daero. The sunset scattered over it like glittering jewels.
‘If I die, I won’t be able to see things like this anymore, right? Given that there’s something called the Reincarnation Management Committee, I suppose I’d be reborn… but this life will never come again.’
Fiddling with the smartwatch covering his left wrist, Seong-woon closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them again.
“Would you like a blanket?”
“The jacket is warm enough, thanks.”
‘It’s not just warm, it was boiling…’ Seong-woon found he simply couldn’t take Ryu Chae-yoon away from this family. Ryu Chae-yoon was 7% of his soul, and they loved him so much it hurt.
— Are you on your way?
“…Yes.”
— …What’s wrong?
“Nothing…”
— That’s not true. Have you been crying?
“No.”
— Hmm…
“Aren’t you filming?”
“I’ll do it when you come. Everyone finished early since they didn’t do any NG takes.”
He didn’t cry, but his eyes were a bit red. Seong-woon briefly checked his face in the mirror before slumping back in his seat.
“Mother gave me a padded jacket.”
“Yes, I received one too.”
“Even if you tell her I’m grateful… your family must hate me now, right?”
“Well…”
To be honest, Ryu Chang-yoon really disliked him. But he wasn’t sure about the other family members… it’s not easy to dislike Baek Sang-hyun.
“Did you bring the thermos with barley tea?”
“Ah, right.”
This morning, Sang-hyun told him to bring barley tea to drink on set. Although the filming location was quite nice, there weren’t any suitable drinks considering Seong-woon’s chronic condition.
There was only coffee, green tea, and water, but he couldn’t drink coffee or green tea, and the cold water was hard to swallow. Also, whether Ryu Chae-yoon’s tongue was sensitive or not, for some reason, it was difficult to swallow heated tap water, so hot water was out too.
“Hmm…”
“We’ll just finish filming quickly, right?”
“We have to shoot all night.”
“I’ll go buy some tea bags at least.”
“Then, while you’re filming with sunbae Song Ji-gwang, I can make some barley tea.”
It was a bit ridiculous that the lead actor would do that when there was a manager. As Seong-woon laughed briefly for the first time in a long while, a slightly relieved voice was heard from the other end of the phone.
“You’re finally laughing?”
Baek Sang-hyun’s heart is also very warm. Seong-woon felt hot inside his padded jacket and unconsciously unzipped it.
“Come carefully. Be prepared, the director might start complaining as soon as you arrive.”
“Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“Yes.”
“What, what is it?”
“sunbae Song Ji-gwang is completely pissed off. The director kept saying, ‘Act more like Chae-yoon!’ He’s sick of hearing that all week.”
“…”
‘Is Director Lee Jun-ho a bit crazy?’
Of course, Seong-woon’s career was longer than Song Ji-gwang’s.
“So will I be disliked when I get to the set?”
“No way. Everyone’s in a good mood after receiving the jackets, so don’t worry.”
“…”
“I was just kidding.”
While talking nonsense, the car steadily progressed and arrived in front of a police station. Today they’ll shoot all the outdoor scenes at the police station, and tomorrow they’ll shoot all the indoor scenes on the set.
“I’ve arrived.”
“I see.”
Baek Sang-hyun, dressed more coldly and sharply than anyone, waved his hand while exhaling white breath. Seong-woon couldn’t help but smile brightly; it was so welcoming.