Chapter 03
Oh Chanran was a truly clueless guy.
So anything that could be useful had to be used.
That was the conclusion I reached after looking through his memories.
‘Though the memories themselves have some problems.’
Oh Chanran’s memories felt like watching a film with missing frames.
The important parts were there, but they were extremely scattered.
‘Everything except the essentials seems to have been cut out, so the accuracy is pretty low.’
Digging through the unreliable memories, I first found the smartphone in his pocket.
He had been beaten badly enough to crack his head open, yet somehow the phone was still intact.
‘That’s really lucky.’
This small thing contained a huge amount of information.
With it, I could learn almost everything about Oh Chanran.
<Good thing there’s a smartphone. It fills in the gaps in your memory.>
Well, good was good.
<But Chanran, what are you doing right now?>
You’re quick to ask.
I tied a necktie while looking in the mirror.
It was the only suit I managed to find in the closet.
‘Then again, a 15-year-old usually wouldn’t wear something like this.’
But I needed clothes like this.
‘Because…’
I glanced around the room.
Oh Chanran’s room came into view.
It was spacious. Not bad at all.
Oh Chanran… why did you leave a house like this?
‘They say life gets harder once you leave home.’
Last night, I returned to Oh Chanran’s house.
The villa, located in a fairly expensive neighborhood, welcomed me with a smooth electronic sound when I entered the passcode.
‘And honestly, I was a bit shocked.’
Dust was everywhere.
The villa had been left exactly as it was when Oh Chanran and his parents left.
‘At least there was no food trash.’
If there had been, instead of dust, I would have been greeted by maggots.
So last night I spent hours cleaning.
Even if his parents abandoned the house, at least Oh Chanran’s room had to be cleaned.
After several hours of sweeping and wiping, the place looked decent.
But my stamina ran out, and I passed out as if fainting.
When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was wash up and change clothes.
Looking around again, the room looked clean.
That was the result of my cleaning last night.
‘If you want to bake bread, you start by measuring the flour.’
It was annoying, but beautiful people tend to face more hardships.
I smiled.
While vacuuming last night, I kept repeating the same decision.
‘Use everything that can be used.’
I spoke seriously to the fairy.
“Now that I think about it, isn’t this really strange, Fairy?”
<What do you mean?>
“Oh Chanran’s parents. Does it make sense for parents to suddenly abandon their kid one day?”
Why would they both leave at the same time as if they had planned it?
Was there some reason?
‘There must be. Probably a very serious one…’
But while straightening my clothes, I shook my head.
“Not my problem.”
I didn’t really want to know the complicated details.
“Besides, problems like this usually end the same way.”
<How do they usually end?>
“Money.”
I shrugged and tied my hair back.
Just doing that revealed his handsome face clearly.
It was only a temporary solution, but it looked much better.
“Married couples fight over money. Politics is about money. Wars are ultimately about money.”
So instead of worrying about the details, the important thing for me right now was money.
“Parents? Honestly, I don’t need them. I’m not really fifteen anyway. So the answer’s obvious, right? What I need is money. But as far as I know, Oh Chanran’s parents didn’t send him any after leaving.”
Worse than animals.
At least animals feed their young.
“So I was wondering what to do.”
I waved the fully charged smartphone.
“But there was something good in here.”
<What did you find?>
“A money source.”
If you don’t have parents, sometimes you have a grandfather.
“He’s the president of a major corporation’s affiliate company. I checked the address online—it’s only thirty minutes away by subway.”
That settled it.
Leaving the still dusty living room behind, I found a decent pair of shoes and put them on.
Then I stepped outside.
The sound of the front door locking echoed behind me.
I slipped the smartphone carefully into my pocket.
Did Oh Chanran know?
‘You should never leave home.’
Most teenagers don’t leave home because they want to.
But still, they shouldn’t.
For a child to earn money and survive alone, society was far too harsh.
If he continued like that, the best case would be labor exploitation.
The worst case would be forced organ donation.
Anyone who hadn’t experienced it wouldn’t understand how miserable that was.
<Speaking from experience?>
‘Yeah. Unfortunately.’
Of course, I didn’t go as far as losing my organs.
Later I paid them back tenfold.
Still, there are things in life you shouldn’t have to experience at all.
‘Just because you’re unhappy doesn’t mean you should become even more miserable. Life doesn’t just have zero—it has negatives too.’
I let out a long breath.
Well, it didn’t matter.
The one who should hear this—Oh Chanran—was already gone.
The one occupying this body now was me.
The man who had been a superstar in the past and would become one again in the future.
I chuckled and kept walking.
The breeze felt good.
My steps were light.
It was a perfect day to cause some chaos.
***
Oh Chanran’s grandfather was the president of a major corporate affiliate.
I wondered why he was still holding that position at an age when he should have already retired.
So I looked it up.
The answer came easily.
‘A relative of the chairman.’
Small company or big company, family management seemed to be the identity of Korean corporations.
The kind of place where stock prices swing because of “owner risk.”
‘Well, not my problem.’
Still, thanks to those family ties, he was still in a high position.
That made things convenient.
‘Easy to find, easy to cause trouble.’
And the higher someone stands, the easier it is to hit them when you throw something.
I entered the company building and spoke to the employee at the lobby desk.
“My name is Oh Chanran. I’m the president’s grandson.”
I said it with a cheerful smile.
The employee blinked in surprise.
I waited quietly.
There was no helping it.
That’s just how things are for handsome people.
‘Of course, this never happened in Oh Chanran’s life before.’
But from now on, it would become as common as eating.
The employee finally snapped out of it after about thirty seconds.
“Oh! Uh… yes. Please wait a moment.”
While the employee hurriedly contacted someone and received instructions, I waited calmly.
I had worried they might stop me at the entrance.
But fortunately, they let me through.
“Take the elevator on the far right and get off at the 12th floor.”
I smiled again and bowed my head slightly.
The employee’s face turned red.
A perfect finish.
‘This face really works.’
Fifteen-year-old Oh Chanran stood on the border between boy and young man.
His fresh, bright features were so striking that it was hard to believe he had lived quietly until now.
With a face like this, he should have gone viral on social media.
Why had he stayed unnoticed?
‘Humanity has always been thirsty for beauty.’
Following the directions, I got off on the 12th floor.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, I saw several secretaries in black suits.
The one who looked the most experienced spoke.
“The president will see you.”
“Thank you for guiding me.”
Once again, I smiled politely and gave a small bow.
The secretary paused for a moment after seeing me.
I noticed immediately.
‘He’s not surprised by my looks.’
It was the expression of someone who saw something strange.
He must have known the original Oh Chanran.
Well, that wasn’t surprising.
‘Secretaries usually have good memories.’
Still, it was ironic.
The first person to remember the original Oh Chanran was the president’s secretary.
‘But that’s all in the past now.’
Because I was about to meet the second person.
I entered through the door the secretary opened.
The president’s office came into view.
‘The furniture looks expensive.’
As expected from a president’s office, there were golf clubs placed on one side.
I smiled.
‘At least he’s in the office and not on a golf course.’
The president was already seated on the main sofa, waiting for me.
I bowed to him and straightened up.
Then I smiled brighter than the glass table in front of him.
“Hello, Grandpa!”
The secretary flinched.
I hurried over and sat in the nearest seat.
Since Oh Chanran rarely smiled before, my cheek muscles trembled slightly.
‘Ah, I didn’t expect that. The impact isn’t strong enough.’
The reaction I wanted didn’t appear.
But I knew something.
‘The first strike is all about momentum.’
I kept smiling anyway.
“I wanted to see you. Have you been well?”
The president said nothing.
Instead of waiting for a response, I leaned back comfortably into the sofa.
“I’ve been having a hard time. My mother suddenly went to America, and my father stopped coming home!”
I glanced at the secretary.
The secretary struggled to hide his shaken eyes and quickly stepped outside.
The door closed behind him.
I crossed my legs.
“Do you know why both of them are acting like this?”
The face of Oh Chanran’s grandfather—who oddly resembled his grandson—tightened.
But he still didn’t answer.
Silence was an answer itself.
‘So he knows the reason, but he just didn’t care about Oh Chanran.’
Not my problem.
‘Actually, that makes things easier.’
After twenty years in the entertainment industry, I knew the best way to deal with people like this.
“Grandpa.”
I winked playfully and whispered.
“To be honest, I’m not really curious. Even if I find out, it’ll just be nonsense plus nonsense. In other words, complete nonsense.”
One corner of Grandpa’s eye twitched.
“It’s like a toilet with the lid closed. If you open it, all you’ll smell is something rotten.”
Why bother confirming something disgusting with your eyes and nose?
I shrugged.
“They can live however they want. But I can’t, Grandpa!”
I bounced my shoulders dramatically.
Then I started pretending to cry like a three-year-old child.
“I don’t have any money! Neither of them give me any! Even if they want to run around having fun, shouldn’t they at least send money? Isn’t that too much? Please scold Mom and Dad for me!”
I sniffled loudly and peeked at Grandpa.
The old man didn’t move.
He just stared at me.
‘He’s definitely not ordinary.’
Even after all that provocation, he didn’t react.
Well, someone who stayed president of a major corporate affiliate until that age wouldn’t be weak.
But still—
‘If you back down here, you lose everything.’
It was time for the next step.
‘If the first strike is momentum, the next is endurance.’
I smiled with my eyes.
Because I forced my stiff facial muscles to move, the beauty mark near my eye trembled slightly.
‘Huh?’
At that moment, something hot began to rise inside me.
An uncontrollable impulse appeared.
I suddenly stood up and walked directly in front of my seated grandfather.
Only then did he finally speak.
“What are you doing?”
“Take responsibility. Otherwise…”
“Otherwise?”
“Well, I’ll do what I can.”
“And what exactly can you do?”
Wow.
Even now he didn’t budge?
Impressive.
‘But what can I do?’
I’m not easy either.
The beauty mark near my eye trembled again.
