Real Man

At that time, a signboard outside the car window caught Yoo-hyun’s attention.

The purple-lit sign spelled out the words ‘Journey Bar’ written in cursive.

Since when did this bar exist?

He passed by this area often, but this was the first time he noticed it.

After making a sudden decision, Yoo-hyun slowly spoke, “Driver Kim, let me get off here.”

“Understood, then I’ll wait here.”

“No, go home first.”

Just like this.

After instructing the driver away, Yoo-hyun got out of the car and stood in front of the bar.

He had never gone into a bar alone before.

He was even curious why he was suddenly attracted to this bar.

What he was sure of though, was that he didn’t want to go home with his current mood.

Ring.

As Yoo-hyun entered the bar, he saw the bartender sitting in a dark part of the room.

Surprisingly, he was not a young man, but an old man with a white beard.

“Please give me a strong drink.”

Out of curiosity, Yoo-hyun chose a cocktail rather than the usual whiskey. Then as instructed, the bartender immediately showed off his bartending skills.

The bartender placed the glass on the table and Yoo-hyun immediately placed it on his lips and drank. The drink had an excellent tangy taste to it.

One drink.

Two drinks.

As all the empty cups piled up, the extent of his worries only deepened further.

For 20 years, he had worked to death just to become the CEO, and now he had achieved it.

But why was it that after achieving that dream, the faces of the people he wasn’t able to take care of… just passed by in the blink of an eye?

Colleagues, friends, parents.

Yoo-hyun only pursued success and eventually achieved it by throwing everything else away.

He thought this was the life he really wanted, but it turns out… it’s not.

This is because he knew deep down that all that money and all that fame were all useless if he was left all alone.

The goal may have been achieved, but this was definitely not the life he wanted.

Perhaps everything he did was in vain because he ran in the wrong direction.

Yoo-hyun kept emptying the glasses and his face started to flush red.

As a result, his heart began fluttering wildly.

“Did I get it wrong? Was I really the one in the wrong?” 

Of course, no one answered his question.

Glug glug.

Hot alcohol seared down his esophagus and went down like fire.

Yoo-hyun had already exceeded his drinking capacity, but he had no intention of stopping.

As more alcohol went in, more questions bubbled up from inside him.

At the same time, a crack formed in the wall of his cold hardened heart, and eventually the wall began to collapse rapidly.

“Sigh…”

Regrets of the past all came flooding in.

Every single moment’s wrong choices flew by like arrows and pierced him straight to his heart.

He felt sick.

His heart hurt so much.

“If only I hadn’t…” he started to regret, with a sad expression.

Without a word, the old bartender placed a new cocktail in front of Yoo-hyun.

“Oh? Free? Hiccup. Thank you. I’m just craving alcohol today.”

“This will help.”

Yoo-hyun raised his head at the old bartender’s low voice.

After uttering such vague words, the old bartender kept staring at Yoo-hyun.

It was a burdensome stare, but Yoo-hyun felt that it wasn’t so bad to have someone with him at that moment.

After shrugging, Yoo-hyun raised his glass, “Yes, yes. I hope so. Thank you. Cheers.”

Yoo-hyun made a toast in the air and immediately emptied the glass.

However,

His head began to throb.

Soon after, his eyesight became blurry and he was getting dizzy.

He felt like he was losing his mind.

That was his last memory.

***

Crash.

“Ugh,” Yoo-hyun groaned at the pain he felt on his back.

Then, he suddenly felt his throat tightening and his body was lifted up.

“Hey! You punk! You’re not going to apologize?”

“Cough, cough.”

Yoo-hyun instinctively held the hand holding his neck and choked out a breath.

Upon slowly lifting his closed eyelids, he saw a man with a fierce expression in front of him.

The gold-plated molars that could be seen whenever the man spoke looked very intimidating.

“What is this…”

“Hey! You pushed our Chan-yeong. Can’t you see that?”

Following the man’s gaze, he saw a young man with casts on both feet who was sitting on the floor near an upturned wheelchair.

“Oh, my. What should I do if his legs start hurting? Everyone! This person pushed our sick Chan-yeong!”

Next to him, a young woman was shrieking while holding up the young man who fell.

It seems the wheelchair rolled off the stairs.

Before long, people gathered around Yoo-hyun.

The situation seemed to elude Yoo-hyun.

‘What the hell happened?’

Something was definitely wrong.

A while ago, he was just drinking at the bar.

Was he so drunk that he lost his memory for a moment?

Whatever it was, it was certain that he needed to rectify this situation immediately.

“Hey, let’s just talk about this.”

Bam!

“Cough. Cough.”

The man growled at Yoo-hyun, who was coughing incessantly.

“What are you going to do? What does our Chan-yeong want to do?”

“…”

Yoo-hyun leaned on his side and grabbed his neck while assessing the situation around him.

The men threatening Yoo-hyun were all in their late 20s and there were a lot of them.

“Sister, it hurts so much. Ugh…”

“Chan-yeong, what should we do? Brother, I think Chan-yeong hurt his leg seriously. If it’s like this, he will have to get a surgery.”

Yoo-hyun turned to look at the side and saw the woman in her early 20s making a fuss next to the young man with a cast.

She was also staring fiercely at Yoo-hyun.

He had a bad feeling about this.

Somehow, this situation seemed very familiar.

The memory was so vivid.

And because it was a strong memory, he remembered each and every detail clearly.

The appearance, voice, and even the name they used to call each other.

All of what he remembered was consistent with the current situation.

While Yoo-hyun was contemplating this phenomenon, the man raised his chin as if he were trying to show confidence.

For a moment, Yoo-hyun recalled the words that should come next.

And then he heard exactly the same words.

“Do you know how much Chan-yeong’s surgery will cost? Why did you push him?”

“…”

As expected, Yoo-hyun was right.

What situation was this?

Confusion engulfed his mind.

Is this déjà vu?

It was a situation he didn’t even believe could exist.

However,

A thought flashed through Yoo-hyun’s mind in an instant.

‘The Accident Con Artists?’

A memory that was buried in his mind a long time ago suddenly surfaced through his mind.

But then again.

What if this was the same situation?

It was nice to be in a dream and not in reality.

He wanted to put to practice all those words and actions he wished he had done countless times before.

He just wanted to clear his conscience.

And this was the moment to do so.

A man pointed at the silent Yoo-hyun.

“Semi-ya, hurry up and call the police. By the looks of it, this kid has a bad attitude.”

“Brother, right now, Chan-yeong’s surgery costs are more important than that.”

“Then, what do you want me to do?”

“He should be held accountable somehow.”

The woman stopped the man and drove Yoo-hyun away.

‘What’s this?’

After watching the two of them, Yoo-hyun snorted.

Now that he looked more closely, their acting was incredibly awkward.

What if his hunch was right?

There was only one conclusion.

‘They’re playing.’

As expected, all they wanted was money.

At the same time, Yoo-hyun asked out loud, “How much do you need?”

“What? Where the hell is that little bastard?”

“Don’t be rude calling me that. I will give you money.”

The man who looked at Yoo-hyun, suddenly changed his expression and opened his palms.

“500,000 won.”

Only?

Yoo-hyun’s daily wage was more than 500,000.

However, even this number was the same as what he remembered 20 years ago.

Whether it was déjà vu or not, this was definitely too exact.

Yoo-hyun grinned at his absurd thought and nodded his head, “I’ll give it to you. Hold on.”

Under the piercing gazes of all those gathered, Yoo-hyun put his hand in his pocket.

He quickly grabbed something thick.

Yoo-hyun, who tilted his head at the unfamiliar feeling, was at a loss for words the moment he saw the cell phone spread out in front of him.

“…”

A flip phone.

It was a design he had only seen when he was in college.

Then he looked around and realized that his surroundings seemed unfamiliar.

It should be Seoul, but this wasn’t what he remembered.

There should have been a restaurant over at that side, and where there should have been a tall building was now an empty lot.

Then upon observing people’s clothes, passing cars, and even laptops displayed on the windows…

Everything is similar to his past memories.

“What are you doing?!”

“Just a second.”

After reaching out a hand to the man who was about to burst out and attack him, Yoo-hyun slowly opened the flip phone.

May 29 12:29

The date is the same. However…

‘2007?’

Something is wrong.

Even if he rubbed his eyes again and again, why is it 2007?

-Congratulations on passing the final document screening of Hansung Electronics.

(T/N: It’s like an initial screening for all applicants. One needs to pass the document screen check first before they’re offered a slot for an interview. The check has many stages though so it’s considered the ‘final’ check.)

The moment he checked the received text messages and read that, his hand trembled.

Then he saw his long, wrinkle-free hand that he hadn’t seen for a long time.

Gulp.

Yoo-hyun swallowed.

He felt goosebumps all over his body.

He was about to go crazy.

Then he heard the other person’s voice again.

“This punk. You can’t do this. Semi-ya, quickly call the police. I’ll give you food.”

“Brother, let’s just take the money and be done with this.”

The woman who stopped the man looked at Yoo-hyun coldly.

“While I’m being nice, you should just pay for the surgery and end this. Or I’ll send you to a real prison cell.”

“Did you hear her? I’ll give you 5 seconds.”

It was at that moment when the man opened his palm.

-I’m sorry. Can you give me a discount? I’m a student, so I don’t have money.

The memories of the past that caused great trauma came to mind.

That’s why from that moment on, Yoo-hyun never interacted with others first.

He didn’t interfere with other people’s lives and drew the line between himself and others.

It goes without saying that Yoo-hyun’s tendency to become independent became stronger because of this incident.

‘It was only because of this?’

He was dumbstruck and then he laughed out loud.

At that time, he was scared and couldn’t get a grip, but now he could see more clearly.

He had to draw attention to him, no matter what.

Yoo-hyun looked at the man in front of him with a blank face.

“Report me.”

“What did you say, punk? Yeah, I got it. Go ahead, Semi.”

“Brother!”

“Then, I’ll do it myself.”

The moment Yoo-hyun picked up his cell phone, the man tried to grab him by the wrist.

“What are you doing?!”

Swish.

Yoo-hyun was surprised.

It was because his body moved more flexibly than he could imagine and so he was able to avoid being touched.

What?

There was no chance for Yoo-hyun to be surprised.

The angry man was charging through like a bull.

Dangerous!

At the same time, a warning sound rand inside Yoo-hyun’s head and he moved fast to avoid the attacker.

He still had his cell phone in his hand.

So he turned on the video and pointed the camera towards both the man and the woman.

Yoo-hyun then laughed coldly.

“Why? Is there a reason why I shouldn’t call the police? You said it was my fault.”

“You’re really dead!”

The man roughly loosened his clothes.

His blazing eyes were focused on Yoo-hyun.

The man pretended to be strong, but looking closely, he displayed signs of nervousness like rapidly blinking eyes, rough breathing, wide nostrils, and the twisting of his mouth.

It was just ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

“What? Are you going to hit me? You’re such a bully.”

“You punk!”

Yoo-hyun shouted at the people around him, while easily avoiding the charging man, “Hey everyone, did anyone see me push the guy?”

“…”

In this situation, even if he talked to a large number of people, no one would ever answer.

But it didn’t matter.

It was enough to capture this scene on camera.

It was then.

The woman said with a deadly expression, “What are you doing? How can you say that to a sick person?!”

She said those words as she looked around, conscious of other people.

Even now, Yoo-hyun continued to avoid the man who was trying to catch him.

Then he lightly touched the moving man and the man lost his balance.

Whoosh.

The man faltered with a clipped scream.

Yoo-hyun stared intently at the woman.

In a cold voice, he turned toward her and caught her flinching, “He’s in pain? I think I can just undo that cast. If you can’t, should I try?”

“What…”

“Ugh. Ugh.”

A man’s gasp was heard mixed with the woman’s bewildered voice.

The young man in a wheelchair lowered his jacket to try to hide the cast that reached up to his thighs, but it was all in vain.

Yoo-hyun’s eyes had already noticed the minute cracks in the cast on the inside of his thigh.

Perhaps it was possible to open it up.

Yoo-hyun pushed the other man away and slowly approached the woman.

“Prove it to me. Or I’ll report you.”

“…”

“You don’t think I can do it?”

After such a quick reversal, the man and the woman were left dumbfounded and kept exchanging looks countless times.