Chapter 3
“Snow White lived happily with the prince… The end!”
“Theee end!”
Even though she already knew all the princess stories in the world, Chaeyeon loved this time when her mother read her a fairy tale.
“Was it fun?”
“Uh-huh! Chaeyeon’s gonna live happily with Mommy too! Chaeyeon will be Mommy’s prince!”
“Chaeyeon…”
Her mother’s eyes grew teary as she looked at her.
‘So forget that jerk!’
Chaeyeon shot a glance at the couple photo of Saebyul and Mincheol hanging on the wall.
The one they took after their first kiss at Gyeongpodae… That was episode six, wasn’t it?
‘A good-for-nothing brat with just a decent exterior!’
There was a time when Chaeyeon, like other viewers, rooted for Mincheol and Saebyul.
Because when Saebyul was almost sold off to a greedy conglomerate chairman thanks to the villainous stepsiblings, Mincheol showed up like a hero and saved her.
And whenever something happened to Saebyul, he always appeared just in time to help and protect her.
‘Some people said it was cheesy, but honestly… it was cool.’
But that image of him came crashing down in the final episode. Right on the day Saebyul confirmed her pregnancy, Mincheol told her he had to leave.
He said he had an urgent matter to attend to in the U.S.
Without giving any specifics.
The drama’s ending was ridiculous enough, but he hadn’t made a single call since.
What kind of emergency could be so bad that he couldn’t even contact his wife after she gave birth?
“Our Chaeyeon, you’ve really grown up so much.”
Her mother hugged her tightly.
Then she gently stroked Chaeyeon’s small head, as if filled with affection.
“Thank you. I love you too…”
Chaeyeon slowly closed her eyes in her mother’s embrace.
Mom, I promise I’ll make you happy.
She murmured to herself, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw the familiar ceiling of Junho’s house and the morning sunlight streaming in.
‘It was a dream.’
Sighing deeply, she pushed herself up with her small body.
Her mother’s embrace had felt so real.
‘Mom’s scent… it was so nice…’
Still, she was glad to have seen her mother, even if only in a dream.
She shook her head left and right, shaking off the sadness.
Turning her gaze, she saw Junho, who had come home after finishing his night shift and was still asleep.
Fair skin, a gentle yet handsome face, a tall height of 185 centimeters, and a muscular build.
Anyone could see he was good-looking, but perhaps because the trend in this era favored actors with sharper features, Junho hadn’t been able to land any roles as an actor.
‘In the era I lived in, he’d be considered an idol visual.’
There were patches stuck here and there on Junho’s shoulders.
Because of his good physique and strength, Junho worked a physical job at a factory.
‘That’s why it’s even more heartbreaking…’
Just as she raised her tiny hand to wipe away the tears welling up in her eyes—
“Mmm… Chaeyeon, you’re up?”
Junho opened his eyes and looked at her with a sleepy expression. Because he’d just woken up, his double eyelids looked especially deep.
“Uh-huh.”
“Wait, I’ll get you food. Ouch…”
Clearly suffering from muscle pain, Junho let out a groan as he got up and began clattering around to prepare breakfast.
On his fingers were bandages from when he’d cut himself slicing radish, promising to make her radish soup.
Watching his salty, pitiful figure—as if salt were pouring everywhere—Chaeyeon thought about her mother’s insurance money.
About a year before the accident, her mother had taken out an insurance policy with Myeongil Life Insurance.
“Just in case something happens to me… our Chaeyeon would be all alone.”
Chaeyeon remembered overhearing her mother consulting with an insurance agent over the phone.
The accidental death benefit was 100 million won.
A fairly high amount compared to the average. Her mother had gone out of her way to secure a large policy, preparing for the worst.
Considering that the average price of an apartment in Seoul was over 1 billion won, it might not seem like much, but—
This was the late 1990s.
‘As far as I know, apartments that cost over 2 billion won now were only about 100 million won back then.’
It was an enormous amount of money—enough to change a person’s life.
But after her mother died, Chaeyeon didn’t tell anyone about the insurance. Naturally, because the Kang siblings would try to take it.
She hadn’t told Junho yet either. Junho was a trustworthy, good person, but he was too naive.
‘More than anything, this time period… I have to be careful.’
It was September 1997. She knew exactly what was going to happen in a few months.
So she planned to keep the insurance money saved for now.
“Chaeyeon-ah. Let’s eat!”
Chaeyeon sat across from the table Junho had set and picked up her spoon.
The nutty smell of her favorite soy sauce egg rice stimulated her senses.
Wow—as she took a bite, it was truly nutty and delicious!
She was going to get through today nice and strong too.
“Chaeyeon-ah, do you want to go out today? I’m going to meet a friend.”
Around the afternoon, Chaeyeon’s eyes sparkled at Junho’s words.
“It’s not to get a shot, is it?”
But she wasn’t a completely innocent baby, so she shot him a suspicious glance.
After all, Junho had a track record of tricking her into going to the hospital by promising to take her for cotton candy just a few days ago.
Vaccinations… really hurt.
Chuckling at her guarded, cat-with-its-hackles-up expression, Junho patted her and said,
“No, this time it’s for real.”
Just then, a beep-beep notification sounded, and Junho pulled a small object from his pants pocket.
A black device the size of a baby’s fist. Numbers appeared on the screen at the top.
Junho’s lips moved.
“8282…”
Then he held it up to show her.
“See? It means come quickly.”
‘A pager.’
A wireless device used back when even cell phones weren’t commercially available, let alone smartphones.
‘Seeing things like this really makes me feel like I’m in the ’90s.’
Even before the possession, she was born in 1994—the same age as her current self—but she’d been too young to have clear memories of the ’90s.
‘I wonder if the little-kid version of me is growing up well with her family.’
As far as she could tell, this world was identical to the real past, except with the characters and events from Love You to Death added in.
So her past self and her family should all exist too.
She was curious and missed them, but she’d have to at least reach elementary school age—old enough to ride a bus alone—before she could go see them.
‘Come to think of it, what would happen if I met the pre-possession me?’
Two of the same person! Would that be considered something like a doppelgänger?
Just as she was sinking into deep contemplation, Junho—who had dressed her in a strawberry-patterned dress—put on a white shirt and took her hand.
“Let’s go.”
Her thoughts were easily broken. Before long, she and Junho took a bus and arrived at a café—no, a coffee shop.
The menu was written in a warm, familiar font.
‘American coffee… 1,000 won.’
Junho pulled out a crisp, large 1,000-won bill from the old series and ordered. Then he sat Chaeyeon in a chair by the window.
“Our Chaeyeon likes orange juice, right?”
“Yes! I like it!”
At her sparkling-eyed reply, Junho ordered his coffee and her juice.
But speaking of which…
‘He said “come quickly,” but we got here first!’
What kind of friend is this guy? Chaeyeon looked out the window while waiting for her juice.
At the bus stop, people holding paper bus tickets stood in line, and she saw a student talking on a public phone.
The streets, devoid of people walking while looking at their phones or wearing wireless earphones, felt unfamiliar yet strangely warm.
One thing she still hadn’t gotten used to:
‘There are way too many people smoking!!’
Everyone was puffing on cigarettes on the street, and even inside this coffee shop, people were smoking.
It was a scene she couldn’t easily adapt to.
‘Ugh, could you have some consideration for a little kid?!’
She wrinkled her nose slightly, thinking.
Just then, someone cast a shadow in front of them.
“Ah, sorry. Traffic was bad, so I’m late.”
A young man as tall as Junho had bleached blond hair and was wearing wide-legged pants. The piercing in his ear caught her eye.
‘I guess he’s a hipster of this era…’
He leaned forward, looked straight at her, and said in surprise,
“What, you really became a dad? Whoa. A daughter?”
Startled, Chaeyeon looked back and forth between him and Junho, then greeted him loudly.
“Hello! I’m Gu Chaeyeon!”
She didn’t like that he was late, but she greeted him anyway for Junho’s sake.
‘But… he said I’m his daughter?’
“She’s got a clear voice too.”
The man chuckled and sat down across from them.
Then, with a face full of smiles, he shot a question at Junho.
“When did you get married? I didn’t hear anything about a wedding.”
Junho shrugged with an awkward expression. They didn’t seem like very close friends.
“It just happened. Isn’t my daughter cute?”
The man’s eyes turned back to Chaeyeon.
An admiring voice followed.
“Wow! She could be Miss Korea someday.”
“Even if I don’t eat, just looking at Chaeyeon fills me up. She’s that pretty.”
Junho said with a faint smile, stroking her head.
“But rather than Miss Korea… I hope Chaeyeon gets to do what she truly wants.”
Was that because, as Saebyul’s manager, he had seen both the light and the darkness she went through?
Suddenly, Chaeyeon’s mind became complicated.
“…”
Soon, Junho began talking with his friend.
The man seemed to have graduated from school and started a business.
He bragged that business was going quite well these days, showing off that he’d bought a new car.
‘But if you’re going to brag this much, shouldn’t you be the one paying?!’
She thought as she sipped her orange juice through a straw.
It might have been enviable, but Junho kept a gentle expression and encouraged the man, saying he was glad things were going well.
Then the man said,
“The reason I contacted you, Junho… is because I really think there’s no one else but you.”
Then, as if letting Junho in on a secret, he leaned his upper body closer and spoke in a low voice.
“I’m going to expand my business this time. Do you want to go into business with me?”
At those words, Junho’s eyes flinched.
Chaeyeon was also startled and pulled her lips away from the straw.
“It’s a big venture, so the profits will be big too. I’ll write up a profit-sharing contract. Like you said, if you want your daughter to live doing what she wants, you need to earn a lot of money, right? But I’m a little short on funds. Of course, I know your situation, so I’m not asking to borrow from you…”
Hmm.
The man whispered suggestively.
“Just stand as my guarantor.”
