Life, Once Again!

After Story 9

When Maru left the café with the disposable cup, he was greeted by the sight of the man who was chasing Haneul’s back with a dumbfounded look. The man’s lips moved without producing any word a few times as though he wanted to say something.

He quietly stared at the side of the man’s face. If the man was agitated and showed any signs of rushing towards her, he was planning to stick out his leg and make him fall. If the fallen man glared at him, he would just have to tell him sorry with the gentlest smile he could muster.

His worries were for naught, however, as the man did not get agitated, nor rush toward her. He just walked to the entrance on the other side, still in a daze. Maru could hear him say ‘this isn’t right’ as he walked out.

Maru knew from this moment that the situation was over. The man seemed to have lost his will to quarrel or throw a tantrum. Maru wondered what Haneul said to him.

After seeing the man disappear, he walked over to Haneul. She was waiting in front of a spiraling fountain.

“What did you tell the kid?” he asked as he approached.

“Not much. Why do you ask?”

“He looked like he saw a ghost. He just trodded away with a pale face, and it made me want to pity him. Why didn’t you go easy on him?”

“Should I have given him a chance then?” Haneul smiled.

He laughed awkwardly. He had ticked her off by asking.

“I helped him so that he can finish his awkward first love cleanly. If it was before I regained my memories, we probably would’ve dated for a long time, even while knowing that something is wrong. Then the lid of the pot would eventually build up steam and boom!” She raised her fist above her head and opened it. “No, that might be a better outcome. There’s a possibility that we might have continued to drag things on without being able to end it. It would’ve developed into the worst possible relationship. It was a relationship where one of us, no, both of us would end up wounded.”

He stood next to her. “So it’s a good thing that you finished things off cleanly here, huh.”

“It’s the last gift I gave to my ex-boyfriend. Also hey, don’t you think you were staring at me a little too blatantly? I almost burst out laughing at the café.”

“You should’ve. If you did, that boy would’ve found out and things would have progressed into a love triangle drama.”

“Should I have done that? I guess we need a booster in our relationship too, huh.”

“You make my thoughts freeze whenever you retaliate to my jokes like that.”

“Why? Who do you think said things like this all the time? I got it all from you. Aren’t terrible jokes your specialty, Gaeul’s dad?”

“Me? My humor is one that makes the ladies smile, one that is sometimes philosophical and can be ruminated about over and over ag…. Honey, you can’t leave me here like this.”

He hurriedly chased after Haneul, who proudly left. He grabbed her hand tightly and walked side by side.

“Now that I think about it, didn’t you have a girlfriend?”

“Before I went to the military, there was someone from the same year that I had a pretty good relationship with, but she switched majors when I got back. Before that, as you know, I was in an engineering high school, so I was playing soccer all day. There are a couple of girls in the entire electronics engineering class, so how was I supposed to date anyone?”

“I got confessed to a few times though.”

“Sounds like you were popular.”

She tilted her head and fell into thought before smiling. “No, it looks like they took me lightly. During high school, I was even more introverted than now which must have produced a strange charm and made them think that they could succeed.”

“Are you boasting to me about how good your looks are?”

“Where would my looks go? During high school, I was chubbier than this, so I was quite cute. If I went back with the memories I have now, I would’ve become the queen of Myunghwa High.”

“Old lady, you watched too many dramas. No wait, maybe you did too many dramas?”

“Why? You think I can’t?”

He imagined it for a second. If she, who was more cunning than any thousand-year devious foxes, became a student again… she might actually be able to enjoy high school life while being served by everyone around her.

“That gave me the chills. You actually might be able to.”

“I was wondering why you looked like that. You actually thought about it?” She frowned. She slapped him on the back, saying that he was mischievous. Others might think that it’s a small joke being played between a pair of lovers, but her slap was spicier than most other males’. It truly hurt.

“It looks like your super strength hasn’t changed in this life either huh,” he said as he hunched his back.

The problem with her ex-boyfriend would probably never surface again. He could tell as he was a male as well. The eyes the boy showed told him that he had completely lost his fighting spirit. It was extremely rare for an animal who had gone into submission to bare its fangs again.

“It’s a bit early for dinner, so should we go watch a movie together or something?” Maru asked as he looked at the cinema opposite them.

“There’s a place I need to go.” She led the way. He didn’t ask where.

When they walked past the row of commercial buildings, her steps came to a stop. It was a supermarket.

“Instead of eating outside, let’s go grocery shopping and eat at home. We should manage our expenses from now on, just in case.”

That was a great idea. He wanted food cooked by Haneul too. Thinking about the coziness of a home meal, they went into the supermarket.

“The girl bought three whole containers of yogurt, you know? And they were 1 liter each. She should be eating proper food, but she’s going to college and doing part-time jobs while eating things like that, so it’s not strange that she doesn’t have any energy.”

Throughout the entire shopping trip, she told him about how irresponsibly her past self lived and how impulsive she was when it came to spending money. He also told her that there was a game console that he packed up at home.

“I wonder how much it would cost second-hand,” she wondered.

“I think about 400 thousand if you include the game titles.”

“400 thousand huh? I can’t grasp how much that is because my sense of money is all screwed up right now. We spent that much on a whim when we were well-off, but when we weren’t doing well, that kind of expenditure was something that would make us flinch, even if we bought it with a six-month plan,” she said, comparing the prices of different packages of bean sprouts.

This was something that occurred because the spectrum of their lives was extremely wide. Both Maru and Haneul had a variety of experiences from the bottom of society to the peak. Just the number of different jobs they did professionally amounted to hundreds, and as for their monthly income, it would range from below 100 thousand won to hundreds of millions of won. Although they were setting a base point according to this life, it would still take a few days to adapt completely.

“How much is your rent again?” Maru asked.

“250 thousand. The deposit is 20 million, so I got it pretty cheap.”

“A two-room apartment, right?”

“Yeah. How about you?”

“I’m about the same. 300 thousand and 10 million for deposit.”

“If we want to reduce our monthly expenses, living together is definitely a better option.”

“You should do as you see fit. You said you need more time, so you can decide when you’re done with that.”

She checked the expiry date on a carton of milk before turning her head around. “Hun, there’s something we forgot. We don’t have anything to say to our parents.”

“That’s true.”

They couldn’t exactly live together in secret. If they did, and their respective parents found out during their visit to give their children some food, chaos would ensue. No matter how liberal a parent might be, there was no way they would allow their child to live together with their lovers without even talking to them about it. He might be a forty-five-year-old man on the inside, but his appearance was definitely in his early 20s. His parents were paying for his rent, so he couldn’t help but be careful.

She, who continued walking after putting the milk in the cart, chuckled. “This is fun. We can think about trivial matters like this.”

“That’s true.”

A trail of carts went past her. The employees pushing the carts from the back and pulling the cart from the front asked them to give room.

“Should I quit college as well?” she asked.

“I’m quitting because I was going there without a proper aim, but didn’t you have a vision?”

“How many people around our age do you think have a vision in the first place? I’m like you. The only difference is that I am interested in baking, and I chose something similar?”

“If you want to, then you should keep going. They say there’s a best age for learning.”

“I know, but ever since my memories returned, I’ve lost interest in what I’m learning in college. It makes me think that I might be better off earning money instead.”

Was that why she was staring at the employee pushing the cart trail? He grabbed the cart that Haneul was pushing.

“It’s a man’s job to earn money.”

“Get on with the times. Also, there were more times we both earned money instead of you earning alone.”

“I’m saying that there’s no need to think about the far future right now. If there’s anything you want to do, then you should do that first.”

“You were the one who was so focused on earning money. How could you say that to me? Also, we both know how important money is, especially when Gaeul was sick. Whenever I think of those numerous moments, I feel like my heart is stopping. I can clearly remember when she was hurt more than when I was hurt.”

Her lips sealed into a straight line. He looked at her clenched hands. How could he not know how she felt? When he took the small child to the hospital and sighed in relief, he would then remember his remaining bank balance. He couldn’t begin to describe the tragic feelings he had then. Just the fact that he had placed the health of his child and money on the same scale made him stifled. At such times, he would recall the foolish times he spent in his youth, and she must know the sense of deprivation from that as well.

“Gaeul is naturally a very important child. However, you’re just as important to me as her. You told me, didn’t you? We are bound to meet our daughter one day, but that now is not the time. We will do well. We will be able to raise Gaeul in an environment that doesn’t lose to any other time. So let’s not think about too many things now. If you chase the things you want, I’m sure it’ll bring good results.”

“You know better than anyone that life isn’t so easy.”

“I do. That’s why I won’t fail. That goes for you as well. If the almighty Han Haneul slips up, how would anyone succeed? Don’t you think so?”

Maru could see strength leaving the hands tightly wrapped around the cart handle. He gently rubbed his palm against her hand after putting his arm around her shoulder, so that she could feel his warmth. Although he said that he knew everything, he could not predict what would happen in this life.

It would not be easy to win against the unease stemming from that. Precisely because of that, he was grateful that she was by his side. She was someone who supported him just by being next to him.

“We will do well.” He softly kissed her on the forehead.

“So let’s decide on the most important thing, our dinner menu. I want something spicy.”

A smile came to her stiff face.

“How about seafood stew?”

“Sounds lovely.”

He grabbed her hand and swung it back and forth like a child. Haneul told him to stop in a small voice before shaking her arm even more widely in excitement.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said.

“I’m the same,” he replied.