← I possessed the body of the villain's father.# Translation
About thirty seconds after the alarm went off, Park Junho opened his eyes. 5:47 AM. Precise. He woke up at the same time every morning. It was as if his brain operated automatically like a clock.
He placed his hand on his chest. His heart was beating regularly. Confirmation that he was alive. It felt like a ritual repeated every day, but it was still necessary.
He turned on the bedside lamp. The apartment was quiet. It was still time for Siu to be sleeping. He had made a rule that it was okay to wake the child up until seven in the morning, but that too had been decided in his last conversation with Lee Eunmi. *Keep the child's schedule consistent.* He wasn't the type to say such things before. The Park Junho from before death had simply left the child alone.
He looked at his face reflected in the bathroom mirror. Forty-eight years old. No longer a young face. The wrinkles around his eyes had deepened. Three months since returning from the future. When would this face become familiar?
He washed his face with cold water. The morning shower could wait. He didn't have time now. He had to wake the child by 6:30, feed him breakfast by 6:45, and finish checking school supplies by 7:20. The child's departure for school was 7:30. His own departure for work was 8:00.
He returned to the bedroom. Black dress pants, white shirt. The uniform of a company employee. A necktie? Should he wear a necktie or not? Since it was Tuesday, he could probably be less concerned about his appearance... No. Consistency. It was good to maintain the same level of neatness every day.
He turned on the living room light. On the kitchen table were things he had prepared the night before. Side dishes for Siu's lunch box. Rolled egg, seasoned beans, broccoli. They just needed to be warmed in the microwave. It was efficient.
He walked down the hallway into Siu's room.
The child was covered with his blanket. One foot was sticking out, and quiet breathing sounds came from his mouth. A young face. Still. But...
Park Junho looked at the child's hands. The tips of his fingers were slightly stained black. Ink? No. Ink didn't stain like this. Black color had seeped even under the fingernails. The darkness was... gradually becoming deeper.
His chest sank.
The image he had seen from the future came to mind. Park Siu at eighteen. That figure wrapped in a black aura all over his body. That expression with black light filling even his eyes. Something that was no longer his son.
He withdrew his hand. He had decided not to touch it.
"Siu. Let's wake up."
He lowered his voice. An adult's voice. It sounded more like a manager's voice than a father's. He was aware of it himself. That it was a problem.
The child stirred. He groaned and pulled the blanket closer.
"You have to go to school."
"...I don't want to."
That was the first thing he said. Siu's voice was still clear. But there was something else mixed in. A lower, heavier register. As if two voices were coming out at the same time.
Park Junho sat down next to the bed. Slowly.
"Why don't you want to?"
"Just... I don't want to."
Siu opened his eyes. Still sleepy eyes. But there was something flickering inside them. Like smoke. Thin, black smoke was flowing and wrapping around his pupils.
Ah, it's already started.
"You have to go to school anyway. Get up."
"...Dad."
Siu reached out his hand. Those black fingers touched Park Junho's arm. It was cold. In the middle of summer, those fingers felt like winter.
"What?"
"Dad... do you like me?"
The question came suddenly. 6:20 AM. A question not on the schedule.
Park Junho looked at the child's hand. Black fingers were wrapping around his arm. Gently. But the temperature coming from that hand was not a lie.
"Of course."
A mechanical answer came out. That was the best he could do.
His phone rang. A vibration. Siu withdrew his hand.
The screen showed the name 'Lee Eunmi'. It wasn't even seven o'clock yet. It was rare for his ex-wife to call at this hour.
"Did Mom call?"
Siu's eyes widened. Suddenly clear eyes.
"Mom!"
"Get up first. Answer Mom's call."
Park Junho answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Oh, Junho? Is Siu there?"
Anxiety was evident in Lee Eunmi's voice. A different tone from usual. It seemed like something urgent was going on.
"Yes, he's waking up now."
"Siu seemed a bit strange yesterday..."
Park Junho looked at the child. Siu had already gotten out of bed and was standing next to Park Junho to hear his mother's voice. He looked like a typical ten-year-old again. But the black on his fingers remained.
"What do you mean?"
"Um... did you see the picture Siu drew for me yesterday? The picture Siu drew."
Park Junho said he didn't know. Lee Eunmi described the picture. A picture Siu had drawn at his mother's house yesterday. A cityscape drawn only with black colored pencils. But all the buildings were destroyed, and the sky was stained black. And in the center stood a person. You couldn't see their face, but a black light spread out like an aura.
"Wasn't the picture a bit... dark?"
Lee Eunmi's voice was on edge. A mother's instinct. She had sensed something from the child.
Park Junho looked at Siu. The child was listening to his mother's voice. A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Ah... it's probably just a rich imagination."
A lie flowed across his face. Lee Eunmi fell silent. He could feel her thinking about something on the other end of the line.
"Junho, is Siu's mental state okay? Is he going to school well?"
"Yes, he's doing well."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Another lie. Park Junho already knew. He had already seen it from the future. That everything starts from this point. From this moment when the child begins to change. And that he couldn't stop it either.
"I have something to give to Siu. Can you tell Dad?"
"Yes."
"Come to Mom's house on Sunday. Just the two of you. I think we need to talk about something."
The call ended.
Park Junho looked at Siu.
"Mom wants to see you on Sunday."
Siu's smile deepened. The black color was rising from his fingers to his wrists.
"Okay, Dad."
Two distinct registers were now clearly heard in the child's voice. They were no longer mixed. They were separated. One was Siu's voice, and one was not.
Park Junho stood up.
"Eat and go to school."
"Okay."
Siu followed. His fingers were still black.
The future had already begun. Park Junho knew that. And he thought this time should be different. But he still didn't know what should be different, or how it should be different.
# Translation
As I was rolling my eyes over the Excel sheet, a shoulder brushed past me.
It was Choi Do-hyun.
"Jun-ho."
His voice was light and indifferent. Park Jun-ho looked up. His boss was already passing by. Heading toward the conference room. I could only see his back.
"Quarterly report by end of this week."
That was all. Said without even turning around. Like a command thrown into the air.
Park Jun-ho looked back at the monitor.
Since returning from three months in the future, Park Jun-ho had seen Choi Do-hyun many times. No, not many times—countless times. How that man changed. When he changed.
Choi Do-hyun was one of the first humans to adapt when the 'System' arrived. Or rather, he didn't adapt—he actively embraced it. Three years later, he would become the real power holder of this company. Officially a director, but in reality, a position even the chairman couldn't touch.
And Park Jun-ho was thoroughly pushed out in that process. Even with optimization ability, even with knowledge from regression, he couldn't keep up with Choi Do-hyun's growth rate. In that future.
But now was different.
Park Jun-ho opened the quarterly report folder. It was already about 60% complete. From last night's all-nighter. After sending Si-woo to school and coming back, he'd worked until 3 AM. Just four more hours and it would be done.
"Huh? Jun-ho?"
Kang Min-jun appeared. He perched his butt on the edge of the desk.
"What are you doing?"
"Quarterly report."
"Oh, that? Why do you have so much work? Is Do-hyun always asking you to do stuff?"
Park Jun-ho didn't answer.
Kang Min-jun burst out laughing. It was a proud laugh.
"Hey, but did you see my car? I signed the contract yesterday. BMW. Even got the Fun Drive package."
"Congratulations."
"Huh? What kind of thing is that to say? You should be happy with me. Hey, working at the company is getting easier now. My body feels so much lighter since my system grade went up. You're still F-grade, right? Oh, that's right. You haven't even awakened yet?"
Park Jun-ho continued typing.
Kang Min-jun kept going.
"Seriously, I shouldn't have regressed. The future is always like this. The weak get sorted out quickly. You seem already decided, don't you? As a regular employee."
That statement was accurate. In the future, Park Jun-ho remained a regular employee. Playing the role of Choi Do-hyun's shadow, and in the end, even that was stripped away. Along with Si-woo's changes.
"But the car really is nice. The engine sound. When did you last ride in a BMW?"
"Never."
"Of course. You don't have things like that. Well, you're probably busy just taking care of your wife and kid."
Park Jun-ho's fingers stopped on the keyboard. 0.3 seconds. That was enough. Kang Min-jun didn't notice. Well, not that it mattered. In the future where the System had already arrived, Kang Min-jun held a much higher position than Park Jun-ho anyway.
"So what are you thinking about? The car, I mean. You should buy one too, right? In a world like this, what's the point of walking around broke?"
Park Jun-ho started typing again.
"Not yet."
"What do you mean 'not yet'? This is the point where the system is becoming everyday life. You need to raise your grade quickly too. Otherwise you'll really fall behind. I'm just saying, I'm saying this for your sake."
That was a lie. Kang Min-jun wasn't speaking for Park Jun-ho's sake. He was speaking to display his own superiority. Park Jun-ho had already seen it in the future. The process of Kang Min-jun becoming Choi Do-hyun's right hand. And how people knelt in that process.
"I understand."
Park Jun-ho answered.
Only then did Kang Min-jun get up from the desk.
"Well, remember when I give you a ride. What it feels like to ride in a car."
He added in a ringing voice as he left. Nearby team members looked up.
"Seriously, what a shitty world. The weak just get trampled on."
Park Jun-ho only looked at the monitor.
But something cold was flowing through a corner of his heart. Calculations. How to stop Choi Do-hyun. How to turn Kang Min-jun around. No, did he need to turn him around? Things already decided in the future.
But Si-woo?
What did Si-woo's blackening fingers have to do with this?
Park Jun-ho stopped his hands on the keyboard. Again. 0.3 seconds. This time it was longer. 0.7 seconds.
The graph on the quarterly report didn't enter his vision. What entered instead was Sunday. The Sunday when Lee Eun-mi said she had something to "give."
And those two vocal ranges he'd heard in Si-woo's voice.
Park Jun-ho started typing again.
This time he decided not to stop. He couldn't stop. The moment he stopped, that past would follow. That future. Si-woo at eighteen, walking while spewing black smoke.
Numbers filled the Excel cells one by one.
But Park Jun-ho's eyes weren't on the screen.
They were on Sunday. What that day would bring. What Lee Eun-mi said she would "give." The changes happening to Si-woo.
And that he, this time, absolutely had to stop it.
Through the external window, Seoul's gray buildings were visible. The weather was clear. But to Park Jun-ho, it looked like something black was flowing through them. Like Si-woo's fingers. Like Si-woo's eyes.
"Quarterly report, by end of this week."
Choi Do-hyun's voice still lingered in his ears.
Park Jun-ho pressed Enter.