***
“Will you get off me now?”
When I spoke while pushing her upper body away, she replied with an expression of disbelief.
“Ah, why? Are you embarrassed?”
“Still, this position is a bit… isn't it wrong?”
It was a situation where I was lying on the bed and she was mounted on top of me. I could vividly feel her lower body against my center. If anyone had seen this sight, they surely would have imagined something heated between a man and a woman.
“Whatever… How boring. But how did you do that earlier? Did you really know it was going to go up?”
“As if I’d know. I just took a guess.”
I gave a vague excuse as she climbed down from on top of me and asked.
Well, if I said I had regressed to the past, I didn't think she would believe me, and if I said I had the ability to return to one minute ago, she would believe me even less. It would be a relief if she didn't just treat me like a crazy person.
“You’re saying you’d just throw away 1 million won on a gamble?”
She looked down at me with suspicious eyes.
I was sitting on the edge of the bed and she was standing right in front of me, so her belly button piercing was clearly visible.
Could she not wear something other than a bra top? And just how short were those hot pants?
Where exactly was I supposed to look?
I spoke while slightly shifting my gaze to the side. Still, it seemed I needed to ease her suspicion at least a little.
“It’s not like that. I also did some image training while watching YouTube all night.”
“Wha—what? Image training?”
She furrowed her brow.
“Yeah. Just watching to see what happens under the premise that I bought it virtually. Even though actual money isn't involved, the effect is quite substantial.”
For her, practicing coins through imagination was something unheard of. However, now that I had said it, it sounded plausible.
Seeing her tilt her head, it seemed she was doubting whether I had been that smart.
“Why? Why are you staring?”
“Hmm… you’ve really changed since before. How should I put it? It feels like you’re living a second life.”
She spoke, narrowing her eyes.
At that moment, a flicker of alarm ran through me.
How is she this sharp?
I had to escape.
“What do you mean, second life? I should go now. I’ll stop by for a bit tomorrow.”
“Already? Have dinner before you go!”
“It’s fine. You just make sure to eat well yourself.”
I lightly waved my hand and headed toward the front door.
“What should I do with the money we earned? Should I send it to your account?”
“No. You keep it for now. Including what we earned today, what’s the total?”
“Excluding mine… exactly 4.19 million won.”
“I’m going to put that whole amount in next time. Keep a good hold of it.”
I spoke while putting on my shoes and opening the front door.
“Wow. You’ve really gone crazy.”
“Yeah. I’m crazy. Since I’m crazy, I’m going to try being properly crazy for once.”
Thud!
After closing the door, I hovered there for a moment. After confirming I heard the sound of the door being locked from the inside, I left the apartment.
After coming down from the hillside slum and catching a taxi, I pondered over the events of today and sought whether there was a more efficient method.
Of course, the current way wasn't bad. However, I was instinctively desiring constant safety and advancement.
‘Man, a real second life really is different.’
As I said, many things had changed compared to before.
A short while later.
The taxi stopped, and after getting out of the car, I entered the alleyway leading straight to my house.
Right at that moment.
Vrooooom— Screeeech!
A van that had been parked in the alleyway suddenly sped toward me and then came to a stop after passing me by a hair's breadth.
If I hadn't avoided it with my superior reflexes, it was a situation where I certainly could have been hit.
“Ah! That lunatic!”
I began walking toward the stopped van while cursing, when suddenly, guys who looked like gangsters came swarming out from inside the car.
What a… shitty situation this was.
“Ah, my neck hurts! Hey, you, come over here.”
“What happens if this bastard suddenly pops out while a car is passing by? Huh? This fucking bastard.”
They suddenly crowded around me in a swarm.
Passing by? That was ridiculous. To anyone's eyes, the car had started moving as if it had been waiting for me.
The hulks surrounded me in an instant. They grabbed me by the collar with their hands and began to shake me.
“Let’s walk properly. Hmm? You little anchovy-head-like bastard.”
One of them ruffled my hair and tapped my cheek with his palm, but I merely nodded my head without saying a word.
These bastards. They were guys I knew.
I had definitely seen them. The faces of the Yangkkaengi Gang members who were entering the motel. They were exactly the same as these guys. I didn't know my memory was this good, but I remembered them clearly.
If that was the case, it meant Yang Kyung-min had sent them to me on purpose.
Despite being held by the collar, my mind was spinning rapidly, and strangely, I wasn't scared at all. I wasn't even trembling.
However, I couldn't let it be found out here.
I performed with all my might.
“Aren't you going to answer properly?”
One of them browbeat me.
“I—I’m sorry.”
“Keke… you pathetic bastard. Hey, get lost. Just as I thought my luck was turning sour. I almost had to clean up a corpse today. Be careful. You might actually die like that.”
The bastards left in the van without lingering, as if they had finished their job.
What is this? This unpleasant feeling? Just what do they want from me? What changes by doing this?
I headed home while brushing the dust off my clothes. However, when I looked up at the second floor, the lights in the house were on.
‘I definitely turned everything off before I left.’
In that case, had my wife come?
Perhaps that was it.
As expected, when I opened the front door and went inside, my wife was sharing a conversation with a middle-aged woman.
“Oh! Jagi, you’re here? Just where have you been wandering around all day? Come over here. Let’s talk.”
She called me affectionately for once and pulled out a chair for me.
“Ah, uh, yeah…”
I entered the room while trying my best to act intimidated.
The dining table was piled high with documents, and looking closely, I could see text related to life insurance everywhere.
“Jagi-ya. Let’s take out a few insurance policies. The world is a scary place these days.”
My wife spoke affectionately with a voice mixed with aegyo.
In that instant, I felt dizzy as if lightning had struck inside my head.
Ah, fuck me.
So that’s why you called those gangster bastards? To scare me?
Ha!
I had a rough idea of why this bitch was trying to make me sign up for insurance. No, I knew for certain.
Even before the regression, I had signed up for life insurance. To be honest, I signed up because my wife told me to without giving it any thought, but back then, I had been a truly stupid bastard.
Looking at it now, to anyone's eyes, it appeared to be nothing other than an intentional attempt to scare me and then have me sign up for life insurance.
And later, she would kill me, handle it as an accidental death somehow, and collect the insurance money.
Who does this bitch think I am, some hogu… Oh, right, she does think I’m a hogu.
I must absolutely not let her find out.
It is safer for her to think of me as a hogu.
“Ah, alright.”
I spoke in a dull tone.
“Right. Good thinking. This is an unnie I know well who is a designer, and she’s really good. Let’s sign up through her.”
An unnie she knows well? Don't make me laugh. With her snake-like face, it was obvious at a glance that she was a bitch associated with the gangsters.
“Uh-huh… but…”
I looked back and forth at the two of them hesitantly and then threw out a question.
“Am I the only one signing up?”
For a moment, my wife’s eyes narrowed, then returned to normal.
“Ah! I should sign up too. Who knows—something might happen to either of us. Unnie, I’ll sign up as well.”
She spoke while forcing a smile. However, I wasn't someone who wouldn't know her inner thoughts. She would surely sign the contract now and cancel it before long. While leaving mine exactly as it is. Her trickery was plainly visible.
“Excuse me, if there’s a change in the insurance for my wife and me, you can make it so I get contacted too, right?”
“Pardon? That… it is possible, but…”
When I asked abruptly, the snake-face grew flustered.
Then, my wife suddenly glared with hawk-like eyes and pushed me.
“What? You don't trust me? Why do you need to be contacted or not? Do you want to be annoying? Really? Just sign and go clean the house. Don't be a bother.”
“Uh-huh…”
As she said, I signed the contract and stood up from my seat first. There were truly a lot of them. Just how many times did I have to sign? It seemed she had really made up her mind.
You bitch. Fine. Let’s see. Will I die first, or will you die first.
I really didn't want to go this far.
It seemed our marital relationship would only end when one of us died.
Once all the registration procedures were finished, my wife said she was going out to have tea with the snake-face and left just like that. She was probably running straight to Yang Kyung-min.
Right. I hadn't even thought she would stay at home.
I looked at the calendar in the house and immediately called Sang-nim.
“Yeah, it’s me. When was Undonghwa’s release date again? Ah, next Wednesday. Yeah. Got it.”
I hung up the phone immediately and checked the date on the calendar with a red felt-tip pen.
Undonghwa was a nickname.
His real name was Woo Do-hwa.
If Jo Sang-nim took the role of the female character ‘Swan Jun’ from the Eagle Five, Woo Do-hwa was ‘Condor Joe,’ the leader’s rival.
He was the possessor of the most mature and cold-headed personality among the members.
Originally, he almost became a world champion in mixed martial arts, but when he refused to fix a match, he was discarded and entered prison while being framed for murder. I had been waiting for his release anyway.
Now, a truly necessary task has arisen.