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Chapter 1
“Cha Si-woo! Have you lost your mind?”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
A gray newspaper was thrown across the desk, landing on top of the neatly stacked documents.
On the front page was a large photo: a middle-aged woman standing proudly, while a young man with a baby face knelt in front of her, crying.
“The photo turned out great,” Si-woo said.
“Is that really what you should be saying right now?!”
Well, what else am I supposed to say here?
“Honestly, no one can beat me when it comes to photos, right?”
The perfectly framed picture made the subject stand out even more.
“Hey!”
Ah… my ears itch.
“Don’t shout. You have high blood pressure, sir. If you collapse, I’ll feel terrible.”
“You know that, and you still pulled something like this?!”
Assistant Manager Yoo’s face flushed red with layered anger as he ran a hand through his hair.
There he goes again.
Si-woo barely held back a laugh as he picked up the newspaper.
“‘The Secret Hobby of a Chaebol Chairman.’ The media really knows how to write clickbait titles.”
Yoo’s brows furrowed deeply as he stared at the headline.
He’ll get more wrinkles at this rate.
“Hey, Cha Si-woo.”
“Yes?”
“You know Chairman Geum has a bad reputation, right?”
“I do.”
“You haven’t worked in this field for just a day or two. And yet you sold photos of a VVIP to the press?”
As if VVIPs feed me.
“I took the photos. I have the right to decide what to do with them.”
Bang!
That scared me.
Yoo slammed the desk, breathing heavily.
“Have you finally gone insane?”
“The crazy one is Chairman Geum. How can someone treat a kid young enough to be his grandchild like a slave?”
“What does that have to do with you?! You were never the type to care about things like that!”
“Oh, come on. I’m very righteous.”
“Don’t make me laugh. Someone like you chose to be a paparazzi?”
“There’s no job that’s above or below others.”
“Unbelievable. You did it for money, didn’t you? How much did the media offer you?”
Quite a lot, actually.
Instead of answering, Si-woo gave a polite, professional smile.
“Even if you like money, there are people you shouldn’t mess with. You’ve seen everything in this industry. Why target a VVIP?”
“It was too much money to turn down.”
And I didn’t like what he was doing, either.
Big corporations were great prey.
The more provocative the scoop, the higher the value in paparazzi work.
Media outlets competed to buy photos, and the more famous the subject, the higher the price.
It’s extremely profitable.
When they heard it was Chairman Geum, the media offered nearly twenty times the usual rate.
High risk, high value.
Yoo let out a long sigh and rubbed his face.
“Why sell your life for money? We all work just to survive.”
“I’ve done worse things. I was fine.”
“You’ve got guts. But one day, this will get you killed.”
“I’ll live longer than you, sir.”
“There’s no order to death, idiot! Is this because of your sibling…?”
For a moment, the image of his younger sibling lying in the ICU flashed through Si-woo’s mind.
His chest tightened, and his breathing grew shallow.
Even while I’m standing here smiling, they’re suffering.
“…You know already.”
“Still, take it easy. You need to stay alive for your sibling.”
“Stop worrying about me and take care of your blood pressure.”
“You little—!”
Yoo scolded him for several more minutes before finally waving toward the door.
“Get out!”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be going.”
The moment he stepped out, the hallway was silent.
Nice and quiet.
It had already been five years since he became a paparazzi.
After a sudden accident took his parents’ lives, his sibling—eight years younger—ended up in a vegetative state.
From that moment on, his once-ordinary life completely changed.
He did anything he could to make money.
No matter how much he worked day and night, money disappeared faster than it piled up.
Hospital bills to keep someone alive were impossible to cover with an ordinary income.
When his bank account hit its limit, he became a paparazzi.
That was how he managed to pay the medical bills.
“Wow. Time really flies.”
So much happened in those five years.
Being hospitalized for malnutrition and overwork became routine.
Threats and intimidation were constant in a job dealing with celebrities.
I even got countless death threats.
He chuckled softly.
Whenever he checked his bank account afterward, it felt worth it.
As long as the pay was good, any threat was welcome.
In a world where money decides whether someone lives or dies, he would do anything to save his sibling.
My only family.
Bzz—bzz.
The strong vibration of his phone snapped him back to reality.
“What now?”
When he pulled out his phone, an unexpected name appeared.
[Minhan General Hospital]
Why is the hospital calling at this hour?
The moment he saw the name, his heart began racing.
After taking a deep breath, he answered.
“Hello?”
“This is the ICU at Minhan General Hospital. Are you the guardian of Cha Si-hyun?”
“Yes. I am.”
“Your sibling’s condition has worsened.”
“….”
No way.
His trembling hands barely held onto the phone.
“How bad… is it?”
“I’m afraid you should prepare yourself. Please come to the hospital immediately.”
Damn it.
“…I’ll be there right now!”
No matter how hard he tried, his voice shook.
“Yes. Please come to the ICU on the 9th floor.”
His hands trembled violently.
He had never once imagined a life without his sibling.
Their smiling face from childhood was still vivid in his mind.
Prepare myself? That’s impossible.
Forcing his shaking legs to move, he rushed toward the elevator.
The display showed 1.
“Damn it! Of course it’s on the first floor at a time like this!”
Every second felt like ten minutes.
He couldn’t wait.
Forget it.
He turned toward the emergency stairs.
Bang!
The heavy metal door slammed as he started running down.
His heartbeat pounded loudly in his ears.
As he ran down endless stairs, his breath grew rough and his vision blurred.
Please… let my sibling be okay.
He didn’t believe in God, but now he prayed to every god that might exist.
“I’ll believe. I’ll do whatever you want. Please…!”
Suddenly, his foot caught on the edge of the concrete stairs.
“Ah—!”
He lost his balance and fell forward.
There was nothing to grab.
A searing pain tore through his leg.
“Ugh…”
The cold air and the metallic smell of blood filled his nose.
He tried to stand, but his leg wouldn’t move.
“Damn it! I don’t have time for this!”
Clutching the railing, he forced himself up and kept running.
Finally, the number 1 appeared.
“Huff… huff…”
He burst through the emergency door into the company lobby.
I need a taxi. Now.
He pushed through people and rushed outside.
A yellow taxi with a “vacant” sign approached slowly.
“Taxi! Please!”
The driver sped up and stopped.
He jumped into the back seat.
“Sir, are you hurt? Why are you running like that?”
“Minhan General Hospital!”
“What?”
“Minhan General Hospital! As fast as possible!”
The driver’s expression hardened.
“Yes! Hold on tight. I’ll go as fast as I can.”
The taxi sped down the road.
His heart felt like it would explode.
Please… be okay. I don’t want to prepare myself.
Buildings blurred past the window.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Boom. Boom.
Everything felt unstable.
Calm down. There must be a way. There has to be hope.
He closed his eyes and tried to breathe.
Then—
Screeeech!
A piercing sound tore through the air.
Crash!
Glass shattered.
Pain exploded through his body.
“Ghk!”
The taste of blood filled his mouth.
His body felt like it was breaking apart.
As the sounds of horns and screams faded, the world turned black.
***
“Ugh… my head…”
A pounding headache woke him.
Blinking a few times, his vision cleared.
“What… is this?”
A small one-room apartment came into view.
“I was in a taxi…”
The musty smell of a semi-basement filled the air.
The cracked window taped with blue plastic, the old floor—
It was exactly the room he lived in at age twenty.
Cold air seeped through the window, fully waking him.
The sound of the crash echoed in his head.
“There was definitely… a huge accident.”
Chills ran through his body.
I clearly remember the impact. So why am I here?
Another wave of pain hit his head.
“Why am I not in a hospital?”
He brushed his bangs back.
“No matter how I look at it, this is my old place. Is this a dream?”
Ding.
A familiar notification sound rang out.
“…What the hell?!”
A translucent blue window appeared before his eyes.
“Have you regained consciousness?”
A chill ran down his spine.
He stared at the window, frozen.
“What is this? Am I hallucinating now?”
“This is not a hallucination. Cha Si-woo, you are dead.”
