The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 5

< Intro. A Once-in-a-Lifetime >

Sanghyun wanted to invest the money he had gathered to ensure he and Sangmi could live without financial difficulties until they finished their studies.

That was his goal.

‘Come to think of it, the stock market was generally bullish until the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008, right? Hmm, should I time it and take a short position on construction stocks in the US? They’re going to plummet like crazy…….’

*Can a minor even trade overseas futures without a guardian?*

His specific goal was to prevent the company from being bankrupted by external pressures, like before. To become an impenetrable shield for Sangmi, unaffected by external markets.

‘Become a shield? What’s next?’

At that moment, his bearable headache turned excruciating. It hurt so much that he couldn’t even groan, and cold sweat streamed down his face.

‘Is that it? Is the end goal just to make money faster, more comfortably, and in greater amounts than before? Am I going to be stuck playing with numbers in an empty CEO office with bloodshot eyes again?’

Was he doomed to repeat the same life?

*But I…….*

-I know the answer too well to bet on uncertainty.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“Uncertainty? What, are you writing lyrics? Wait, why are you sweating so much? Are you sick?”

When he snapped back to reality, class was over, and Junhyung was standing next to him.

Junhyung’s expression was full of worry.

The headache slowly receded.

‘I guess even headaches need lunch.’

Sanghyun barely managed to get up from his seat. He felt utterly drained.

“Lyrics, my ass. It’s a phrase I read in a book yesterday. What’s with the golden cross on your forehead?”

“Golden cross? What’s that?”

Junhyung had lines etched all over his forehead, looking somewhat comical, as if he had been dozing off with his forehead pressed against a book.

“Um…… just think of it as a joke from a stock trading term [a bullish pattern in stock prices].”

“What are you talking about? You crazy bastard. And your speech is weird…….”

“Let’s go eat.”

Sanghyun led Junhyung to the cafeteria, the earlier thought echoing in his mind. That’s right. He knew the future too well to gamble on uncertainty.

***

-Did school end?

-Yeah. You said you’d be done at 4 too, right?

-Yeah. Don’t eat dinner, just wait for me at home. Let’s eat together.

-Okay.

Sanghyun closed his flip phone. He still wasn’t used to the small keypad.

‘What kind of food does Sangmi like?’

Sangmi’s condition had improved slightly since the school trip, but she still seemed down, even if she tried to hide it.

It was understandable. Thinking back, he had struggled for over a year as well.

Also, her anxiety in crowded places showed no signs of improving.

‘How could I have been so blind?’

The Sanghyun of the past had been completely oblivious to Sangmi’s anxiety. He felt a surge of self-reproach for being so neglectful and indifferent to his only family.

‘I need to work hard and make up for everything.’

He needed to become stronger so that Sangmi could also escape the pain of losing their parents.

He was debating whether to buy Bossam [steamed pork belly] or Jokbal [pigs’ trotters] for Sangmi when he decided to just go home and ask her directly. At that moment, Sanghyun’s phone rang.

011-479-11XX

18 missed calls?

A number that had called him 18 times.

However, Sanghyun didn’t recognize it at all. Curious, he answered the phone.

“Hello?”

-Uh? Hello?

“Yes, speaking.”

-Is this student Lee Sanghyun’s phone?

A young woman’s voice was heard. A firm and confident voice.

“Yes, it is. Who is this?”

-I finally got through. I’m an employee of Ogyeong Group. Would it be possible to meet today?

Sanghyun sensed something odd in the woman’s introduction.

If she was from the public relations department of Ogyeong Group, she should have said so, or if she was from the secretary’s office, she should have identified herself as such. Introducing herself as just an employee of Ogyeong Group felt too informal, almost personal.

“Are you from the public relations department of Ogyeong Group? Or the secretary’s office? Are you calling about the traffic accident settlement?”

-Ah, it’s not about that, but it is related to the accident. There’s absolutely no bad intention. Would it be possible to meet?

“Right now?”

-I’m in Seoul right now. Is 10 PM too late?

Was she saying she was leaving Seoul now to come to Gwangju? Sanghyun was taken aback because he had no memory of this happening in the past.

It could be something so trivial that he didn’t remember, but was driving from Seoul to Gwangju at this hour, with all the traffic, a trivial matter?

“I’ll text you my home address. Put it in your GPS and come. Call me when you get close.”

-I’m sorry, but I don’t have a GPS in my car yet. Could you tell me the name of the neighborhood and a landmark? I know Gwangju geography to some extent.

Sanghyun realized for the first time that GPS navigation wasn’t standard in 2005.

‘No, it probably is common, but maybe this woman just didn’t install one.’

“Okay, I understand. I’ll text it to you.”

-I’ll get there as soon as possible. I’ll text you when I pass the Gwangju tollgate.

Hanging up the phone, Sanghyun went home, thinking about the past. It was 20 years ago, so his memories were hazy, but no matter how hard he tried to recall, this situation hadn’t happened.

“Am I already changing the past without doing anything?”

Even if the butterfly effect could cause a typhoon, he really hadn’t done anything significant. All that had changed was that he had come to terms with the pain of his parents’ death. And that he was being more attentive to Sangmi?

And that his headaches were getting worse.

‘Can headaches even be treated at the hospital?’

In the end, Sanghyun gave up trying to figure it out. He would find out soon enough when he met her.

He arrived home, took a shower, and was watching TV while eating dinner with Sangmi when a text message arrived.

-I think I’ll arrive at the tollgate in about 30 minutes. Yongbong-dong is where the university is, right? I can’t remember the name of the university right now, but let’s meet at the back gate of the university.

-The back gate is complicated. There’s no place to park either. Let’s meet at the main gate of Chonnam National University.

-Okay. I’ll call you when I pass the Seogwangju tollgate.

“What is it? What text message is that?”

“I have to go meet a friend for a bit.”

“It’s almost night? It’s already nine o’clock.”

“I’ll be back soon. It’s important. Sorry.”

Sanghyun sighed inwardly. He didn’t want to leave Sangmi alone in the empty house.

“Don’t you have a friend who lives nearby? I’ll give you some allowance, why don’t you go eat something delicious with your friend?”

“I just ate, why would I eat something delicious again.”

“Ah, that’s right. Sorry.”

Sanghyun stroked Sangmi’s hair, feeling guilty.

“You’re acting strange these days.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just…….”

Sangmi hesitated before finally speaking.

“You’re like…… Dad…….”

“Is it burdensome?”

“No…… it’s not that…… Oppa [older brother], I miss Dad. Sniff, I miss Mom too so much.”

In the end, Sangmi burst into tears.

Sanghyun’s heart ached as if it were being torn apart. To him, who was 38 years old, the 16-year-old Sangmi felt more like a daughter he had never had than a younger sister.

“I’m sorry. Oppa is sorry.”

“Why are you sorry…….”

*If only I had come back a month earlier. Then I could have prevented the accident. Oppa is sorry.*

Sanghyun swallowed those words.

Infected by Sangmi’s crying, Sanghyun also shed hot tears. Was the body of a boy more honest than the mind of an adult?

Sanghyun was surprised that he could cry so freely, and he held Sangmi and cried. After crying like that for a while, his emotional anxiety seemed to subside. His headache also seemed to be getting better.

‘Maybe the reason I came back to the past was my parents’ wish for me to do the things I couldn’t do for Sangmi?’

The stress from the unbelievable event of returning to the past seemed to be easing a little.

In the past, he was definitely a bad brother. He was a selfish person who only thought about his own pain without thinking about Sangmi’s pain.

When he passed the university entrance exam and moved to Seoul, he didn’t ask Sangmi’s opinion at all, even though it was an important time for her as a high school sophomore. When Sangmi gave up on going to college because of tuition worries, he didn’t have a deep conversation with her even once.

‘I’m sorry.’

Sangmi, exhausted from crying for a long time, fell asleep.

Sanghyun put Sangmi to bed and came outside. He was planning to walk slowly to the meeting place. A wind mixed with the scents of spring and summer blew through the dim night.

< Intro. A Once-in-a-Lifetime > End

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