I smell oil.
It’s a scent I used to smell often when I was young.
The solvent used for dry cleaning. Solvents with a low price have a strong petroleum smell.
In the small laundry shop of about ten pyeong, the smell was so intense that even after decades, it was vividly etched in my memory.
Moreover, isn’t this the same smell that lingers in my nose even in the moment of death?
However, the smell that I used to hate so much as a child, I now find myself yearning for.
There was no pain in death. I just felt sorry for the subway driver. I hoped he wouldn’t feel guilty.
The regret that pierced through my ended life was that I couldn’t see my parents.
I was so cruel to the country folk who lived their whole lives looking only at their son. Despite that, death came peacefully to me.
It was as if I was lying on a soft bed.
At that moment.
“Hyun, you need to get up!”
Along with a mysterious voice.
A cold wind hit my face. I cautiously opened my eyes halfway.
The incandescent light was dazzling, and I saw wallpaper that had turned yellow like ginkgo leaves. The smell of oil belatedly hit my nose with the wind.
I turned my head to confirm the owner of the voice and widened my eyes.
Ah, ah…
The white hair had turned dark again, and the face that was full of wrinkles was as beautiful as a young maiden’s. Not even a single age spot could be seen.
The face I missed so much. Although it was from decades ago.
I felt tears streaming endlessly. It must be a flashback at the end of death, but I couldn’t believe how hot my tears felt.
Just once.
If only I could hug her just once.
It was at that moment.
“Son, is something wrong?”
Mother looked at me with wide eyes and patted me gently. Then her warm hand stroked my head.
My tears soaked the blanket, and my chest pounded fiercely.
I had lived a life of unfilial behavior. I never imagined I would meet my mother at the end of death.
I hugged my mother with all my might, crying like a baby again.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry, Mother.
Those words kept lingering in my mouth.
I returned to the past.
It took me a week to accept that I had returned to the past.
It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, but it’s not a fictional memory. Everything was vivid and full of life.
Cherry blossoms, signaling the beginning of spring, were in full bloom, brightening my eyes.
It was ironic. To have returned to the time I missed the most at the end of death.
“Thank you.”
I said, looking at the sky.
My life was full of regrets. I thought it was a successful life, but after stripping away the vanity, it was a more futile life than anyone else’s.
I will never regret it again.
I vowed and vowed again that I would not waste the gift given by someone in the sky.
A nameless bird that was flying across the sky made a large circle, as if responding to my vow.
“Kang Hyun, come get your midterm exam results.”
A teacher with short sporty hair and a square jaw called out. He had a stern impression that matched his name, Kang Bongdu. I stood up, adjusting my cumbersome school uniform.
Despite his large build, he had a broad heart. It wasn’t just Kang Hyun’s situation. It had been less than three months since we moved up to middle school. Most of the students chose larger uniforms, thinking about the future.
“Hey, you should study harder from now on.”
Kang Bongdu clicked his tongue as he handed over the report card. Kang Hyun received it with a blank expression.
The report card was not good, enough to make the nickname “hard-nosed” from my past life seem meaningless. Anyone who didn’t know better would think I was an athlete.
‘Tsk.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly, just like my homeroom teacher.
The turning point for me to become obsessed with studying was in the second year of middle school. It was clear that I was still at a stage where I was far from studying, but I still didn’t feel entirely comfortable.
At one time, even prodigies who were said to be extraordinary acknowledged me, Kang Hyun, as a hard-nosed person.
Although a week had passed since I returned to the past, I was still not used to this poor report card more than my smaller frame.
“Hyun, why don’t you join our club?”
It was a boy with baby fat still on his face. Kang Hyun checked the boy’s name on his name tag.
‘Kim Daewoo,’ a friend I used to hang out with quite a lot during elementary school. In Kang Hyun’s life, which didn’t have good human relationships, he was the only one who established himself as a friend.
Of course, that also faded with time.
“Hey, are you mad because I didn’t lend you my game console?”
“What?”
“You haven’t come to our class once in a week. I told you then, it’s not my game console, it’s my cousin’s, so I couldn’t lend it to you…”
Kim Daewoo looked quite aggrieved. It seemed there had been some trouble with my past self. I hadn’t looked for him for a week.
“I’m not mad.”
“Then, join our club!”
“Club?”
Kim Daewoo quickly smiled and nodded his head.
The younger you are, the faster your emotions change. Especially if it’s something you like.
I chuckled at the sight of him nodding his head so vigorously that his chubby cheeks jiggled.
“Classic!”
Kim Daewoo proudly said the name of the club. As the name suggests, it was a music-related club. Come to think of it.
“Hyun, you played the violin when you were in elementary school!”
I remembered. I had learned the violin by chance after taking after-school lessons in elementary school.
Mother was very happy. She said it was her childhood dream to be a violinist.
But it didn’t last long. I liked music, but I wasn’t talented. Besides, we couldn’t afford music lessons.
“No, thanks.”
I shook my head. This life was like getting a second chance. I couldn’t waste time doing music, which I had no talent for.
“Then let’s go to the arcade after school!”
Come to think of it,
I used to frequent the arcade a lot around the first year of middle school. With Kim Daewoo, too. Back then, I was crazy about the arcade, but now it’s different. My body might be young, but my mind was that of a seasoned middle-aged man.
“No, thanks.”
“What? Are you really Kang Hyun I know…?”
Kim Daewoo squinted and looked at Kang Hyun.
Kang Hyun had changed a lot in the past few days. His behavior and even his tone were excessively mature compared to a week ago, and his gaze had changed. It was like an uncle looking at his nephew.
“Then what are you going to do!”
At Kim Daewoo’s angry question, I thought of the report card. Even though it was just a middle school midterm exam.
The results that scratched my pride, which used to be called a hard-nosed person.
The saving grace was that the first-year middle school grades didn’t affect high school selection.
I answered briefly.
“Study.”
“Son, take it easy.”
Mother, Mrs. Kang Hyunja, looked worried.
Her son’s appearance had changed too much in the past few weeks.
A son who used to frequent the arcade as if it were his own home.
A son who used to hate the laundry shop with a small room attached, saying it smelled like oil.
But within just a few days, the image of a child had almost disappeared. His tone and actions had become mature.
He even ran around the neighborhood with his small body, collecting laundry, worried that his parents might struggle.
And it didn’t end there. After dinner, he would sit at the small desk and not think about getting up.
For hours already, he was clinging to his study guide and not moving from his spot.
Mrs. Kang Hyunja’s face was full of complex emotions.
“Dear, did you secretly feed Hyun something strange?”
“What are you talking about?”
“No, I mean, I’ve never seen Hyun study like that in my life.”
“Oh, you.”
Father and mother were close. Father was not the stern figure I remembered. He joked a lot and loved hiking with his son more than anything.
It seemed that his stern demeanor in the past was because of me. My heart ached for no reason.
“Hyun, it’s time to sleep now.”
“Okay, Father.”
“Oh my, our Hyun is even calling me Father now. The sun must rise in the west tomorrow. Hehehe.”
It was a small room. It was a small room that would be filled when the three of us lay down, so Father’s laughter was clearer.
Although I was too old to sleep between my parents, I felt good. The comfort was incomparable. More than when I slept in any luxurious mansion.
“Turn your test papers over, and if you get caught cheating, I’ll rip the test paper right then and there. Be ready.”
It was the day of the final exam. Kang Bongdu walked between the desks, intimidating the students as usual.
How much time had passed.
Thud.
He stopped in his tracks when he saw a student. Kang Bongdu’s square jaw twitched, and his eyes narrowed.
It had only been five minutes since the test papers were handed out. While most students were struggling with the first page, a student had already moved on to the second page. The speed at which he solved the problems made one wonder if he was even reading the questions.
‘Sigh.’
Kang Bongdu sighed inwardly when he confirmed the student’s face. It was Kang Hyun, who had ranked last in the midterm exam.
Of course, this time he must be failing miserably as well. No matter how much the first-year grades didn’t affect high school selection, could he solve the problems like that?
He wanted to scold him sharply, but he couldn’t because of the other students who were diligently solving their test papers.
Meanwhile.
‘This is easy.’
Kang Hyun was marking the correct answers. To others, it might look like he was guessing, but it was that easy.
He was someone who had reached the pinnacle of the education system in Korea. Moreover, he had passed the notoriously difficult bar exam in one go.
His concentration and perseverance were already unmatched. Middle school-level problems were no different from swimming with a safety net.
Tick-tock.
There were barely any pages left in the test paper, but the clock’s second hand was still moving. It had been less than twenty minutes since the test started, and other students were busy solving math problems.
As Kang Hyun checked the time, he turned his head and met eyes with Kang Bongdu.
What’s up?
Kang Bongdu’s eyes were blazing. It was as if he was saying, “I’ll see you after the test.”
In the past, I would have been scared and avoided the gaze of the tiger teacher, but having worked as a prosecutor for a long time, Kang Hyun was not scared. Instead, the teacher, who once seemed so mature, now looked young.
Kang Hyun roughly met Kang Bongdu’s gaze and then turned his head.
