Returning to Home

Two days later;

Bumin Medical center, Seoul;

In one of the private wards, Jun was leaning on a Gatch bed, listening to his mom with a smile, however in actuality, lost in thoughts, trying to figure out these new feelings towards his mother and sister when they were supposed to be nobody to him.

'Is this how one feels when they have a family?'

Unconsciously, as he touched his heart, a worried look appeared on his mother. "Jun, are you alright?"

As his senses returned to the earth, Jun shook his head with a smile, and replied in a hoarse voice, "it's nothing mom. I'm just happy to be alive… Huh?"

Suddenly, his facial expression changed to that of a frown, and went into thoughts again, 'What's this? I want to say I'm fine but the wrong words escaped my mouth? Really strange…'

Seeing the worried look on his mother's face, Jun quickly masked his expression, before asking, "by the way, mom. Where's our little tofu? I haven't seen her since yesterday morning. Is she busy with school?"

Once again, as soon as he spoke the words, Jun fell into thoughts, 'again? I want to say Dahyun but her nickname escaped my mouth. Moreover, why does it feel so natural?'

Meanwhile, hesitation filled his mother's face as soon as she heard the question.

"What happened, mom?" asked Jun curiously, looking at her expression.

Taking a deep breath, she replied, "Well, she followed your footsteps, and became an idol."

'Not surprising. It's obvious that Dahyun became an Idol. But, since groups like Twice doesn't exist here, I wonder, what is the group's name.' Jun nodded without a change in his expression and then asked his mother about her group name, to which she dodged the question with, "it's better if you ask it yourself."

Upon hearing her response, Jun didn't ask further and started to ask about the outside world in the past four years to understand how much it is different from his past world.

As they were in the middle of a discussion, all of a sudden, the door was opened without any warning, and Jun saw a familiar yet unfamiliar beautiful lady, entering the room.

She bowed and greeted his mother first before turning her head towards him while tears started forming in her eyes.

'Jeon Somi? What's she doing here? Did mom know her or something?' Jun's expression froze for a couple of seconds as he was taken aback to see a second famous idol from his past life, at a close distance.

But, then, as his attention fell on her face, Jun thought, 'there's no face mask on her, or in her hands, which indicates, she isn't an idol, yet. Maybe, she hasn't debuted yet… But, that isn't the issue.

The problem is that I don't have memories of her. Then, why does it feel as if I knew her, personally? Not to mention, that look on her face…'

"Who are you?" asked Sa-Eun.

"Ah! My name is Jeon Somi, and I'm Jun's…" Holding back her tears, she started at Jun for a couple of seconds before finishing the sentence, "friend. We are friends from middle school… I heard from Soyon-sunbae, the head nurse working here, that he woke up. So, I thought to drop by."

"Oh! You are Somi?" Sa-Eun didn't ask anything else and quickly turned her head towards Jun with a smile, "Look, Jun. Your favorite Sunbae is here to visit…"

"Eh?" A look of confusion appeared on Jun, 'Sunbae? But, I never saw her though. What is mom, saying?'

Right then, the door was once again opened, and a nurse entered with a Resident to check his vitals one last time before informing him that he will be transferred to a rehab center.

One month later;

A cab stopped before an apartment, and the family of three stepped outside.

Looking at this unfamiliar three-bedroom apartment, which is in the middle of the city, Jun went through his memories.

'Hmm, where are we?' Realizing that he was unfamiliar with the building as well as the surroundings, Jun then asked, "Mom, what happened to our old house?"

"Since Dahyun is a popular Kpop idol now, we can't live there, anymore. So, I sold it and bought this one. Your grandfather helped us with it," answered his mom.

Taking a look at his pretty sister, who unmasked herself as soon as they entered the building, Jun asked, "Dahyun-ah, I forgot to ask before. Which agency did you join, by the way?"

Just like how his mother behaved, a month ago, Jun also saw hesitation on her face.

"What happened? Is it a small company or something?"

Dahyun shook her head, "no, it isn't. On the contrary, it's a famous one."

"Then, what's the problem?" asked Jun.

A sigh escaped from her before she looked away and answered in a low tone, "ZC. I'm in a idol group called Sparkle. We just debuted a year ago. Sorry, Oppa. I..."

"What are you sorry for?" Jun quickly interrupted her with a smile after realizing the reason behind their hesitation. "It's ZC, one of the top entertainment agencies in the entire country. You should say with a pride, instead."

"But, aren't you angry? I joined the same agency that fired you," asked Dahyun, looking into his eyes.

Jun answered while shrugging his shoulders, "Well, not really. It's obvious that my contract will be terminated since I got into an accident."

"But..." Just as Dahyun was about to say something, Jun raised his hands and pinched her cheeks with a smile as if it's natural, while feeling shocked inside by his very own actions, "no need to think much of it. Don't worry. This little setback won't able to stop me."

While his sister's cheeks turned red and tried to swat away his arm, his mother, on the other hand, sighed inside as she knew the world of Kpop is cruel. Once you fall back, it's very hard to rise.

Two months later;

At dawn, Sung-Jun, who was drenched in sweat, stopped running and sat down at a public bench, while taking deep breaths. Then he spoke in his mind, "Aria, show me the Mission progress."

A holographic screen appeared before him.

Mission: Run for at least a total of 10 km

Reward: 0.1 point increase in strength

Failure: 0.1 point decrease in strength

Mission Progress: 79.3%"

Looking at the status, Jun mumbled, "so, 2.1 km more. Damn this daily mission is f**k**g hard… What sort of system punishes their user for not finishing a daily mission? It's not even a Main mission…

That little girl looks like a fairy but a devil in disguise…"