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Chapter 3
From Before the Regression
「Oh my~ I was worried about how she’d manage after that divorce, but you really shouldn’t worry about other people. She succeeded and even appeared on TV!」
「Mom, do you know her?」
「Of course I do. Remember the neighborhood we used to live in? The one you lived in when you were really little. She was famous there.」
My mother kept chattering away.
Born as the youngest of six siblings and raised like a princess in a rural village, Bangsukyoung had always loved gossip—and that naturally included neighborhood rumors.
「A rich girl running away with a poor man is only romantic in dramas. In real life, she couldn’t take it and got divorced before her child even started elementary school and went back home.」
「Mom, you were a “princess” too, weren’t you?」
「Hey~ your mom is just a fake country princess! That woman was a real one. The moment she got divorced, she rose to the top, while her ex-husband cried every day. The whole neighborhood was buzzing. They even said she wouldn’t let him see the child’s face—how cold she was.」
「Isn’t that normal though? After divorce, you’re basically strangers.」
「I don’t think she was cold at all. Yoon Ire was actually quite loyal.」
「Loyal?」
「Yeah. There was this mobile phone ad campaign back then, recruiting kids nationwide. One girl from our neighborhood met Cham-byeol’s mom there. And she remembered that her son used to be friends with that girl, so she immediately cast her in the campaign. That girl didn’t become a huge star, but she definitely made good money. People in the neighborhood said they should’ve stayed close to her.」
「So in the end, everything is connections—school ties, regional ties, blood ties… even childhood ties.」
「Exactly! That corner of the country had a hidden dragon, and nobody recognized it. What a shame.」
On the TV my mother was watching, Yoon Ire was giving her acceptance speech for a Grand Prize at the Baeksang Awards.
Film producer Yoon Ire.
Not the familiar mother of Cham-byeol from the 1990s…
But one of the most successful people in 21st-century Korea.
“Sing-a, do you want to see this? You said you like Sailor Moon, right? My uncle brought this from Japan—”
“Wow~ really?”
I responded blankly while scanning the surroundings.
This was my first time inside Choi Cham-byeol’s house.
A high-end Youngchang piano, a leather sofa covered with lace crochet, dark wooden furniture—all symbols of 1990s wealth, arranged with refined taste.
Considering this town was already one of the least developed cities among provincial regions, this level of affluence stood out even more.
If you want to understand someone, look at their home.
From this alone, it was clear that Yoon Ire was not an ordinary woman.
As for her ex-husband, I’d heard he was all talk and no substance.
According to gossip-queen mom, their divorce was nearing its final stage.
It wouldn’t be long before Yoon Ire and her son left this place.
“Sing-a, are you bored? Why aren’t you watching…?”
“Oppa Cham-byeol.”
“Yeah?”
“Is it true you’re moving?”
Choi Cham-byeol froze mid-motion.
He carefully looked at me.
“W-where did you hear that?”
“Is it true?”
“Sing-a, I—”
“It’s true…”
I lowered my head dramatically, as if deeply disappointed.
Just moments ago, I had declared “friends must like each other” and “Sing-a only has you as a friend.”
If he didn’t feel even a little guilty, then he wasn’t human.
As expected, Cham-byeol jumped up in panic.
“It’s not like I wanted to leave! I really don’t want to go! But my parents— Sing-a, are you crying?”
He started pacing anxiously, grabbing my shoulders then pulling away as if burned.
For a six- or seven-year-old boy, he was unusually gentlemanly.
“Sing-a really only has Oppa as a friend… sob!”
“S-Sing-a!!”
When I switched to a fully baby-like crying voice, it worked perfectly.
He looked completely shaken.
After a deep breath, he muttered—
“Then… should I just not go? Maybe I can find a way to stay—”
What?!
No, no, no, this is not what I wanted!
I quickly changed the subject before he could say something that would cause permanent damage in this household.
“Oppa! Where are you moving to?”
“Hmm? Ah… I heard it’s Bundang.”
“Is it a nice place?”
“I’m not sure…”
Of course it is.
At this point in time, Bundang was a planned city designed to become the “second Gangnam,” fully equipped with infrastructure.
Before the Shinbundang Line even existed, property prices were still relatively low.
And later, this area would naturally lead to investments in nearby Pangyo land.
There was a reason people said:
“Bundang is heaven below heaven.”
You couldn’t just move into Gangnam immediately.
For long-term residence and investment, Bundang was the optimal choice.
Even if we lived in a tiny apartment, we had to move there.
Staying in the provinces now would be a waste of time.
“Can Sing-a come with me too?”
I looked up with a pitiful expression.
Thinking about the 1 trillion won mission and my brain-dead future self made tears come naturally.
“Sing-a really doesn’t want to leave Oppa… If Oppa goes away, I’ll be all alone…”
Cham-byeol’s face went blank.
I may feel embarrassed saying this, but I had a naturally soft, innocent-looking face—perfect for acting weak.
Even as a child, it still worked.
Cham-byeol, who had always been alone, quickly began projecting his own loneliness onto me.
His eyes wavered.
Is he an uppercase F type or what?
I pressed further in a soft, fragile voice.
“Let’s go together~ okay? Tell your mom we should move together. You’re the smartest in our kindergarten, right?”
“Together?”
“Yeah! You’re the smartest kid, so you can do it!”
I gently slipped my fingers into his hand.
He instinctively gripped mine tightly.
I gave him my most trusting “I believe in you” eyes.
That heroic impulse kicked in.
Cham-byeol nodded firmly.
“Okay! Sing-a, just trust Oppa!”
As if I would.
No matter how immature my parents were, they would have to be insane to move just because a seven-year-old next-door boy told them to.
But it can be useful as seasoning.
In reality, our family would move to Bundang before I entered middle school.
I simply wanted to move that timeline forward.
“Kids, what are you two talking about?”
At that moment, Yoon Ire approached with a plate of snacks.
Holding one hand of Cham-byeol and stretching the other toward her, I smiled shyly.
“Auntie~ Can Sing-a call you Auntie?”
♧
Despite looking like a fragile rice cake that would fall over if tapped, Cham-byeol had a slightly obsessive personality.
He strongly disliked when his friends showed interest in anything other than him.
He had even made several kindergarten kids cry before.
So he hadn’t always been bullied.
Before I became his friend, I had seen him staring silently at kids he used to be close with.
Even when teachers tried to stop him, he wouldn’t budge.
It was a little eerie, but not enough to be dangerous.
From my 2026 perspective, it was more like mild autistic tendencies.
And children like him are usually more intelligent than their peers and deeply focused on what interests them.
They can repeat the same topic endlessly without getting bored.
This personality had frozen his social life—
But for me, it was beneficial.
I was his only friend, and his current obsession—directly or indirectly influenced by me—was:
“Seo Sing-a moving away.”
“Dad? Isn’t that Mom over there?”
“Seriously. Honey!”
My father quickened his steps.
At the apartment entrance, my mother—Bangsukyoung—turned around in surprise.
