RHCB ~ 01

Chapter – 01

“Cha Seo-ha! How dare you show your face here? Have you no shame?!”

Unable to contain his rage, Kang Min grabbed me by the collar. Heo Jun-sung and Kim Ji-hoo quickly stepped in to pull him back.

“Stop it. Not in front of Do-young. There are too many eyes here…”

“I think I know why you came, but just leave.”

Seeing the three of them fiercely guarding the funeral till the very end brought me a sense of relief, but it also tasted like bitter sorrow.

I couldn’t join them.

My place wasn’t here.

Because I was a traitor.

“I’ll just pay my respects and go.”

“……”

“Please.”

Leaving behind their visibly uncomfortable expressions, I dragged my heavy feet toward the urn.

A photo featuring a familiar face caught my eye.

Lee Do-young.

Looking at his brightly smiling face, fragments of our youth flashed through my mind.

I had chosen the success waiting at the end of that bright orange tunnel called youth, and you remained here.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

I offered my long-overdue apology.

By the time I left the funeral home and arrived home, the sun had already set.

As soon as I stepped inside, I headed straight for the bar cabinet and pulled out every bottle of alcohol I owned.

Wine, whiskey, rum, vodka…

Drinking without a pause, I pulled out a carefully preserved picture frame.

It was a photo of the five of us, taken back when we were in a band.

Lee Do-young, Heo Jun-sung, Kim Ji-hoo, Kang Min.

And me.

Dressed in shabby clothes inside a dingy practice room in Hongdae, smiling so brightly. What on earth had made us that happy?

Even though we lacked everything, those were the happiest days of my life.

But I was the one who shattered that happiness.

I had my reasons.

My grandmother was sick.

To pay for her immediate surgery, I signed an unfair contract, but I never told my friends.

It was pride; I didn’t want their pity.

It was also because I didn’t want to burden them.

And above all, I truly believed that if I cut ties and left coldly, the band would recruit a new vocalist and achieve success.

But reality was cruel.

Some waited for me, while others resented me, and the band eventually fell apart.

Just like that, our music was left drifting somewhere between a fading memory and a distant past, and the reason why I left the band no longer mattered.

Because everything was already over.

I had been waiting for the day when we would all succeed in our respective paths and reconcile with a smile, but that day never came.

Only Lee Do-young had foolishly stayed in that exact spot, waiting for the rest of us…

And what finally found him was a tragic accident.

Drip. Drip.

“Damn it…”

I wiped away the tears that fell onto the frame with my sleeve.

But right at that moment.

“Huh?”

The frame was completely empty.

I rubbed my eyes multiple times, but it remained the same.

Was I too drunk?

Or was I just exhausted?

After all, the success I chose over friendship hadn’t been entirely sweet.

My chest felt suffocatingly tight just thinking about the massive wave of canceled schedules that would come crashing down on me tomorrow because of today’s absence.

Then, fueled by the alcohol, a curious thought drifted into my mind.

What if I had achieved my current success with those guys back then?

Would my chest still feel this heavy and tight?

With that final thought, I think I drifted off into a deep, drunken sleep.

Smack!

“Cha Seo-ha. Do you think this classroom is your living room?”

Someone slapped the back of my head. I lifted my gaze to see a middle-aged man glaring down at me.

Did I fall asleep on a filming set?

But to slap me on the head for that?

No, this didn’t make any sense.

Is this a hidden camera show?

Right then, another heavy smack delivered to my back instantly drove away all remnants of sleep.

“Hey, brat. I don’t care if you’re on the sports team, how can you sleep so brazenly during class?”

“…Class? Me?”

It had been ages since I graduated from school, so what on earth was he talking about?

“Gosh. Wake up, will you?”

The man playing the teacher let out a deep sigh and walked back to the podium.

Thinking it might be a concept variety show, I scanned my surroundings, but I couldn’t spot a single camera or staff member.

Moreover, an overwhelming sense of déjà vu washed over me from inside the classroom.

No matter how similar high schools look, this place looked way too identical to the school I actually attended.

As I stood blinking in utter confusion, someone tapped my shoulder from the side and whispered softly.

“Hey. Are you still half-asleep?”

“Heo Jun-sung?”

“What?”

“Why do you… look so young?”

“Yep, you’re definitely still dreaming.”

Is this a dream?

At that moment, a very familiar back of a head caught my eye. I bolted upright from my seat.

Lee Do-young.

The guy who was definitively dead was sitting right there in the classroom, clear as day.

While absurd, unbelievable thoughts swirled through my head, the teacher suddenly barked out a shout.

“Cha Seo-ha! Get out into the hallway! Go snap out of it, you rascal!”

The quiet hallway was actually the perfect place to organize my thoughts.

Listening to the faint murmur of the teacher continuing the lesson inside, I pulled out my smartphone.

2017

I stared blankly at the year displayed on the screen, then slapped my cheek hard.

It stung.

“It’s not a dream.”

I had no choice but to accept it.

I didn’t know the reason, but right now, it wasn’t 2028. It was 2017.

I had returned a staggering 11 years into the past.

Sifting through my chaotic mind, a single, crystal-clear thought cut through the noise.

I need to live a different life.

I am going to do what I never dared to even think about without the help of alcohol.

Which means…

I am going to form a band.

With my friends, one more time.

Being an idol was great, but throughout all those long years, I could never forget the raw, electric thrill of the band I had tasted for the very first time.

The experience of various real instruments intertwining to create a single piece of music that moved the hearts of countless people—that was the first time I truly felt alive.

In this life, I am absolutely going to be in a band.

Of course, before that precious resolve could fully settle, another thought popped into my head…

The moment school ended, I rushed outside and began retracing my memories. My old house had to be somewhere along this alleyway.

The faster the streets grew familiar, the quicker my footsteps became.

If I really had returned to the past, the person I wanted to see the most was already decided.

Thump, thump.

My heart began to race at the sheer thought of seeing that person again.

Stepping through the familiar front gates, I spotted the worn-out front door, left halfway open because of the summer heat.

Through the gap, I saw a familiar silhouette enjoying the breeze from an electric fan.

“Grandma!”

Practically kicking off my sneakers, which inexplicably refused to come off easily, I ran inside and threw my arms around her.

“Oh my, look who’s here! My sweet puppy is home?”

The most precious person in the world to me.

A presence far more parental than the actual parents who had abandoned their child and run away.

Grandma stiffened slightly, caught off guard by my unusual display of affection, but soon began gently stroking my back.

Three years from now, her illness would relapse. She would be hospitalized and eventually pass away last year.

But not right now.

As I buried my face in her shoulder, her familiar, cozy scent filled my nose.

“What’s wrong with my puppy? Did something happen?”

“…No, nothing.”

Contrary to my overjoyed heart, the edge of my voice trembled slightly.

“Did someone bully you? Should Grandma go teach them a lesson?”

It was quite funny, really.

At this point in time, I was a Taekwondo athlete right on the verge of making the national team.

Who could possibly bully me?

In the past, I would have just chuckled it off, but now I knew.

I knew that this was a parent’s heart.

And I also knew the heart of a child who had lost their parent.

“Grandma, let’s go get a medical checkup.”

If this is 2017, it’s not too late.

No, in fact, it’s incredibly early.

If she gets a checkup every year starting from now, we can detect and remove any cancer cells at an early stage.

“What a waste of money. Don’t you know your Grandma is perfectly healthy?”

“Then I’ll earn tons of money and pay you back.”

“Well, now that sounds a bit tempting.”

Grandma was probably thinking about the time after I graduated from high school, but she was wrong.

I was going to make money through a band as fast as humanly possible.

If money were my sole objective, returning to my previous life as an idol would be the best option.

In my past life, I left the band I formed with my friends and achieved massive success as an idol.

The group activities were successful, but it was my solo career that truly exploded.

But I regretted that choice for a very long time.

The popularity, the high music chart rankings, the daily skyrocketing album sales—none of it meant anything.

The fans’ affection was overwhelming and something I was deeply grateful for, but that only made me feel guiltier toward them.

Because the version of me they loved was just an empty, hollow shell.

I have no intention of repeating the same mistake.

As those thoughts swirled in my head, my phone rang loudly.

— Cha Seo-ha, you little punk, where the hell are you?!

The caller was my Taekwondo coach.

He sounded absolutely furious that I had skipped training without a word.

As the coach showed no signs of stopping his tirade, I spoke up in a polite but firm voice.

“I’m sorry, but I’m quitting.”

— You, you, you… have you lost your mind? The competition is right around the corner!

In the past, I suffered a massive injury during this exact competition—a ruptured ACL that required surgery.

It ended my career as an athlete, and I quit Taekwondo.

Of course, since I had returned to the past, I might not get injured this time around. However, it had already been 11 years since I last practiced Taekwondo.

I didn’t have the confidence to do well, nor did I have any lingering attachments to it.

The coach, who had been instinctively showering me with nagging complaints, lowered his voice to a heavy tone when he received no response from my end.

— What’s suddenly going on with you?

“I’m sorry.”

— Let’s talk tomorrow for now. The moment you get to school, run straight to the gym. Got it?

Faced with his stern warning, I finally answered that I understood and hung up the phone.

Right, it’s bad manners to say something like this over the phone. Let’s tell him in person.

“My puppy is quitting Taekwondo?”

Grandma asked with a surprised look on her face.

“Grandma, you trust me, right?”

“Of course. I trust you.”

Even though I just declared I was quitting the sport I had dedicated my entire life to, her face still showed complete trust.

There was a slight hint of unease, but that was only natural since she was worried about my future.

“I’m going to become someone truly amazing. Together with my friends.”

“…Is it a pyramid scheme by any chance?”

“What are you talking about?”

A hollow laugh escaped me, but coming to think of it, it wasn’t just a laughing matter.

If I invested Grandma’s secret savings into crypto or real estate, wouldn’t we be rolling in cash?

After all, I possess knowledge of the future.

“Uh, Grandma?”

“Yes?”

“You said you trust me, right? Do you have any intention of investing some money…?”

However, looking into Grandma’s eyes, I had no choice but to quickly change the subject.

“Ah, I’m just kidding!”

When I really thought about it, there was no guarantee that the stocks or assets that boomed in the past would definitely rise this time around too.

What if I used up all of Grandma’s money and we ended up completely broke?

The future could change in any number of ways.

It would be much safer to invest using the money I earned myself.

And no, I absolutely wasn’t thinking this just because Grandma’s gaze was terrifying.

“Let’s just consider yesterday an aberration caused by severe stress. Join back in on the training starting today. You’re a guy who knows damn well that skipping a single day puts you two days behind your competitors.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve made up my mind.”

The coach looked incredibly frustrated, his face signaling that he couldn’t comprehend my decision, but I couldn’t exactly explain everything to him.

After the same exchange repeated about ten times, the coach finally asked.

“Are you serious?”

“I am serious. More serious than when I first started Taekwondo.”

“Do you even have a plan?”

“Yes.”

“What are you going to do?”

“That… you’ll see in the future.”

After a long silence, the coach tossed out a blunt remark.

“…If you ever feel like doing this again, come back to the gym whenever you want.”

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

I have absolute confidence that if I form a band, it will succeed.

I have knowledge of the future, memories of succeeding, and experience in the entertainment industry.

Not to mention my own talent, and my friends’ talent and skills were more than sufficient.

If I, the vocalist, hadn’t walked out, they were a team that was fully capable of shining bright.

Currently, bands are mainstream-adjacent or subculture in Korea, but it’s not a market that turns a blind eye to genuinely good music.

Furthermore, bands are bound to experience a massive boom within the next 10 years.

However, a single problem arose.

It was a truly massive problem, a gigantic hurdle.

How on earth…

‘How did these guys end up forming a band together in the first place?’

I had absolutely no idea.