Episode 2
In the novel, Jaeheon Lee was a villain that no one could deny.
It’s not just a story about when I entered the other world.
He was usually quite the old fart, a piece of trash who viewed people as tools rather than people.
Lee Jae-heon was already a villain enough, even though he didn’t do anything as extreme as murder.
He was a man who had no qualms about abusing his position as manager.
Because of this, the relationship with the protagonist, who was a deputy manager in the same department, was not very good.
Although he pretends not to, the main character is a very good person, so Jae-heon Lee and he have clashed many times before.
To be honest, even now that I think back on my past life, I still don’t like the main character.
To begin with, Lee Jae-heon’s previous life wasn’t a very good person.
However, Lee Jae-heon, who knew what was going to happen in the future, was willing to put aside his pride for long-term gain.
He had a reason to look good to the protagonist.
‘For now, let’s try giving an unexpected image.’
He came out dressed more casually than usual and looked around.
Jaeheon Lee found a house near his company so that he could commute to work without any difficulties, but it is generally difficult to find a house for rent in the heart of Seoul.
And the same was true for the protagonist of this world, Agent Jeong In-ho.
Of course, Lee Jae-heon didn’t know before recalling his past life, but Manager Jeong In-ho commuted to work from an area that took over an hour to reach by car.
In the novel, it is said that he chose a relatively cheap house in order to become completely independent on his own.
Anyway, the place where he lived was a shabby neighborhood that didn’t look very bustling even to Jaeheon Lee.
The only good thing is that there is a walking path, and Manager Jeong In-ho goes for a light jog here every weekend morning.
As expected of a protagonist of a cruel and 19+ rated survival story, he had basic physical strength and agility.
Lee Jae-heon thought of Deputy Jeong In-ho running towards the walking path, and then he checked the ice cream discount store among the stores lined up next to him and started walking.
The place he stopped by was next to a discount store, and next to that was a liquor store.
“Welcome.”
As we opened the rusty door and went inside, there were various types of alcohol lined up, from wine to cheongju.
While searching online, I thought about it and realized that even though it was a small store, it had a fairly substantial layout.
Of course, the quantity and quality were lower than the specialty stores I usually went to, but since my purpose wasn’t alcohol itself, it didn’t really matter.
Lee Jae-heon simply needed a plausibility to come here.
He blinked his eyes slowly and opened his mouth to speak to the store owner.
“I contacted you yesterday, but I came to look for Shaoxingju.”
“Ah, ah… It’s him.”
Shaoxing Province.
It was the name of a type of liquor often used in Chinese cuisine, also called Shaoxing Noju.
Surprisingly, distribution of alcoholic beverages in Korea was not very smooth.
Most of what can be ordered through delivery is limited to traditional liquor, and if you want to buy something more authentic, delivery is usually not possible.
In addition, Shaoxing wine was not easily available in the surrounding area compared to other liquors.
If it was alcohol such as cocktails or wine, it would have been easy to find near Lee Jae-heon’s house, but if it was alcohol that most people didn’t even know the name of, even Manager Lee Jae-heon, who was heavy-set, would have to go there himself.
He watched the owner quietly as he took out the bottle of liquor with his dry hands.
“Actually, not many people are looking for this, so we don’t have much in stock.”
“I’m not going to buy much, so it’ll be fine. One bottle will do.”
“Oh, are you going to use it for cooking?”
“It’s not that, but… I’m concerned that the display case is empty.”
That wasn’t a wrong statement.
Lee Jae-heon is a very vain person.
So he was quite particular about decorating his home, and naturally, displaying expensive or rare collections was also a hobby of his.
That’s why he naturally had a dazzling wine cellar.
But if you ask whether this is the complete truth, of course it is not.
‘It was just an excuse in the first place.’
Jaeheon Lee looked at the hands of the store owner who was diligently packaging the alcohol.
He was vain, but not a drinker.
Strictly speaking, I was not the type of person who liked company dinners where I could lead my subordinates and reaffirm my power, but rather I was not the type of person who would pour myself a drink and drink alone at home.
However, Lee Jae-heon needed to deceive the suspicious protagonist by pretending it wasn’t true.
The subordinates must have vaguely known my home address because they had tolerated my nagging so many times. Even though I didn’t know what was on the inside, there was no way that Manager Jeong In-ho, who was a sharp-tongued employee on the outside, wouldn’t have suspected me of being here.
Even before entering the other world, I was wary of stalking or any sudden misunderstandings.
That’s why Lee Jae-heon threw away the Shaoxing wine from the display case last night in order to make an excuse to come to this neighborhood.
I thought about just having a drink, but I had to drive and I thought it would be a problem if I still felt drunk.
Honestly, it doesn’t seem like a big deal by my standards, but I don’t think the main character, who secretly follows the law, would allow drunk driving.
Of course, I wonder if Manager Jeong In-ho will ever come into my house to check my display case, but details are important anyway.
If Lee Jae-heon learned anything from his past life, it was that there is nothing wrong with being thorough.
He held the paper bag the store owner had given him in one hand and checked the watch on his other hand.
‘The main character goes jogging in the morning from 9:30 to 10:30…’
And the incident that Deputy Jeong In-ho witnessed the day before he entered the other world happened while the protagonist was returning home after finishing his morning exercise.
Jae-heon Lee looked at his watch and naturally stared at the situation outside the window.
“… … .”
From a distance, a familiar silhouette came into view.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Goodbye.”
Jaeheon Lee, who gave a dry greeting as he had when he came in, left the liquor store and walked down the street.
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It was a bit of a walk from the liquor store to the ice cream discount store next door.
The protagonist, who was jogging for a while, gets closer, and a child who came out of an ice cream discount store runs towards a woman on the walking path.
Jaeheon Lee intentionally opened his eyes wide and grabbed the child by the back of his neck.
“uh?”
-Squeak, bang!
“… … .”
Just then, a black sedan passed right in front of the child.
The silence was interrupted by a loud noise that did not seem to fit with the old and peaceful neighborhood, but then a woman who appeared to be the child’s mother screamed, as if she had properly grasped the situation or something.
“… Gyaaaah!”
“Car, car accident…! Oh dear! Just now!”
“What, who died?”
Shock, amazement, horror.
As the faces seen through the gaps revealed the kind of cruel interest that anyone would have, Jaeheon Lee unconsciously covered the eyes of the child he had pulled toward him.
It was an extremely reflexive action.
Only then did the child, who seemed to have realized the situation, burst into tears and grabbed my arm.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh…!”
“… … .”
Thanks to that, the hand that had been covering my eyes became wet.
Even though I lowered my hand that had been covering my eyes due to a strange sense of discomfort and inexplicable embarrassment, the child seemed to have no intention of letting go of my arm.
Because of that, the shirt I was wearing lightly became saggy.
Jaeheon Lee looked at the woman running from the other side, feeling a strange sense of embarrassment.
“Hey, Minhong. Minhong…”
“… Take him with you.”
“Ah! Thank you. Thank you, thank you… .”
Lee Jae-heon frowned at the sight of his mother stroking her child with trembling hands and repeating the same words over and over again.
It wasn’t that I was particularly offended, but it was just that the sight of the woman speaking like that reminded me of a broken machine.
I felt like he was trying to say something else, but I didn’t want to get involved in something useless, so I just shook his hand and left.
Fortunately, the woman’s attention was quickly drawn back to her child, who seemed to be about to burst into tears.
Of course, I don’t know if this child is her son, but since the main character in the novel also considered the two to be mother and son, it didn’t seem like there would be a problem.
Above all, hasn’t he already achieved what he came here for?
“…Manager Jeong?”
“… Oh, boss.”
Lee Jae-heon took out his cell phone from his pocket and called the protagonist as if he had seen it by chance, and a smile of delight appeared on the protagonist’s previously blank face.
Lee Jae-heon, who was secretly laughing at the quick change, held out his other hand to him without revealing his twisted feelings.
It was a gesture exactly like a command given to a dog.
He continued speaking as if he was very embarrassed by the current meeting.
“Uh, uh. Okay. Just a moment.”
“Oh, yes… .”
“Does Manager Jeong live here? Yes, just stay a minute.”
I wish this stupid, repeating-it-again look would just look like he was flustered by an unexpected situation.
Lee Jae-heon thought so and called an ambulance.
There were already so many people crowded together that it seemed like they might not be able to help the person in the car, but he knew after reading the novel.
Of the few people gathered around the car that had crashed into the pole, no one helped the driver.
They would just panic and call an ambulance only after the driver stopped breathing.
Perhaps because he was the perpetrator who almost killed the child, the main character did not provide any help, but it was another matter for Jaeheon Lee, who already had a grudge, to just leave the injured person alone.
Honestly, I really didn’t want to help the driver, but I had to help him for the sake of my image.
Lee Jae-heon, who had called an ambulance, simply walked into the crowd of people and opened the car door.
‘Smells like alcohol.’
It looked like he was a drunk driver.
How brave of you to be in broad daylight like this.
Lee Jae-heon was not much different from the driver in front of him, but he suddenly thought that if he had fallen asleep after drinking Shaoxing wine yesterday, he could have been in big trouble.
In another sense, I almost aroused the protagonist’s disgust.
Jaeheon Lee, who was closely checking the condition, decided to take simple measures instead of taking the driver out.
The car was pretty dented, so I thought that if I touched it carelessly, I might just make the damage worse.
He removed the bandage on his arm that had been wrapped at the hospital yesterday, stopped the bleeding from the wound on his forehead, and then pushed his way through the crowd of people looking at me.
Since I don’t think I’ll die anyway, I think the people who came in the ambulance will take care of it from now on.
Lee Jae-heon spoke with a wrinkled face toward the protagonist who was looking at him with pitch-black eyes.
“What are you doing, Manager Jeong? You’re not moving.”
“yes yes?”
“Are you going to get involved in such a noisy matter? If you get involved, Manager Jeong, it’ll be a headache for me as the manager, so just ignore me and come quickly.”
The protagonist’s face became quite strange at those words, but Lee Jae-heon urged him on, recalling his past self as much as possible.
It was quite difficult to keep my past life’s speech from blurting out without me realizing it.
Lee Jae-heon felt the gaze of the protagonist following him from an appropriate distance and thought.
‘It might be strange.’
Judging by the way he talks, he is indeed an old-fashioned manager.
If you listen carefully to the line he just said, it sounds like he’s some trash who doesn’t care whether an accident happens or not and doesn’t want to get involved in troublesome things.
But Jae-Heon Lee was the one who saved a child who was almost hit by a car and even treated the driver who almost hit him with his car just a moment ago.
Even though the words and gestures were the same, it would have been a reaction that felt quite disparate to the protagonist who was closely observing the situation.
Even that old-fashioned manager? He’s the guy who talks nonsense like it’s nothing and who even finds it annoying when someone takes sick leave. Didn’t he save two people today?
If it doesn’t feel weird, I guess it wouldn’t be weirder.
Even if he said he wanted to improve his image, he should have done it step by step, but I felt like he was rushing things, but he couldn’t help it.
‘If not now, then there’s no chance.’
Aren’t they going to be eaten by the other world tomorrow?
If there was time, it was only today, and there was even an opportunity that was advantageous to Lee Jae-heon.
It would be a shame to miss such a great opportunity.
Jae-heon Lee, who had swallowed his feelings, opened his mouth towards the protagonist who had a dumbfounded expression.
“Yeah, right. Okay… I guess Manager Jeong lives here?”
“Right…? I thought the manager lived near the company, but why did he come all the way here…?”
“Ah, ah. I have something to do… .”
He deliberately muddled the story.
The old Lee Jae-heon would not have bothered to tell Manager Jeong that he had come all this way to fill the liquor display case.
I guess he thought that the news that a manager at a large company came all the way here to buy alcohol would be damaging to his image.
Of course, apart from that, the protagonist would have realized why he came here.
I must have fallen once while pulling the back of the child’s neck, and then I saw that he had left the alcohol in the paper bag behind because he was so out of it.
Of course, Lee Jae-heon wasn’t really out of his mind and left, but at least that’s how the protagonist saw it.
Lee Jae-heon’s face hardened for a moment as if he had just realized that he had left the alcohol behind, but then his expression softened as he looked at Manager Jeong in front of him.
Even though he had confirmed all of this, the protagonist’s foolish exterior did not break.
‘I was more scared of guys like this in my past life too.’
Lee Jae-heon clicked his tongue inwardly, but continued speaking while pretending to be his old self on the outside.
“Ahem, that, that. I know it’s a bit odd to say this, but…”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t go around telling people what I did today. Do you understand? You know it’ll be annoying if you get weird calls from drivers or parents later, right?”
“Ah… If it’s a strange contact…?”
“Why are you acting innocent? Who knows if you’ll demand compensation for the damages you caused by provoking me for no reason.”
This was also bullshit.
Of course, it was nonsense in the sense that I was not believing in the goodness of the people gathered there today, but rather that I was calmly saying things that I did not mean at all.
Compensation is a piece of shit, what good did they do?
The main character, who heard what I said, also seemed not to sympathize and his expression became strange, but Lee Jae-heon continued acting steadfastly.
If I show any doubt here, wouldn’t the timing and all the effort I put into coming this far be in vain?
Fortunately, Lee Jae-heon was quite talented at acting.
He continued, recalling his former self.
“What… No, anyway. Manager Jeong, you’re not even going to help the manager when he’s having such a hard time? It’s not that I hate Manager Jeong, it’s just that he’s not in the right position.”
“Yes, sorry.”
“If saying sorry is all that’s needed, why do we have laws? People are so cunning.”
It was the same old-fashioned nagging as usual, but unlike his shiny face from before, Manager Jeong In-ho’s expression was a little distorted.
This meant that Lee Jae-heon’s trickery had some effect.
Lee Jae-heon, who figured it out with his previous life’s insight, let out a sigh of relief.
‘Yeah, that’s right.’
I’m putting aside all my pride and acting like a clown, but if there weren’t even these small changes, it would have been quite a headache.
This time, the plan was based on the protagonist’s quick-wittedness.
Traffic accidents are more chaotic than you might think.
Most ordinary people were first confused by the loud noise they never heard before, secondly by the unreality of seeing something they had only seen on the news happening before their eyes, and thirdly by the shock of seeing the surroundings destroyed by it.
So, only someone who wasn’t right there would know that he saved the child before he was hit by a car.
It happened so quickly, and the car was destroyed right after, so it’s obvious where everyone’s attention will be drawn.
However, since the protagonist is secretly crazy, I assumed that he would be able to recognize me, so I searched for each place that appeared in the novel and made excuses to come here.
I would have been upset if I hadn’t recognized you.
Lee Jae-heon opened his mouth, clenching and unclenching his empty hands as if he regretted leaving the bottle of alcohol behind.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry for nagging you on your day off. Do you know I’m saying this with you in mind?”
“Yes, sir. I am listening to everything.”
“I’m going to work tomorrow, but I got scolded. Manager Jeong, you should be careful on your way home too…”
At this point, we’ve achieved our goal for today.
His goal today isn’t to completely pluck the wool off his opponent.
It was impossible, could easily lead to unnecessary misunderstandings, and was not something that could be done in a hurry.
In the novel, Lee Jae-heon was a villain whose death was so worthless that it was used as a joke.
Since a sudden change in personality would only heighten the other person’s wariness, Lee Jae-heon only created an opportunity for the other person to see him differently through the unexpected appearance he showed today.
Since it was something that was directly related to human life, it will give time to look back on that time in the other world as well.
As Jaeheon Lee, who had made his decision, naturally started walking, a strangely clean voice caught his attention.
“Manager.”
Lee Jae-heon blinked at the call that clearly contained some intention.
“what.”
“When did you hurt your arm?”
“… … .”
Oh, shit.
‘I forgot this.’
Yesterday was the same, today is the same, and I keep forgetting about it because I didn’t think much of it in my previous life.
Even though it would seem like a very big wound to the average person today.
So Jae-heon Lee calmly treated the driver and used the bandage wrapped around his arm.
At the time, I only thought that the bandage the doctor had wrapped yesterday could be put to good use, but the sharp-eyed protagonist must have known the meaning of the bandaged wound.
Lee Jae-heon rubbed the fingers on his injured arm without looking away from the protagonist.
“… … .”
His eyes sank into the familiar sensation.
Come to think of it, the doctor told me not to move my arm too much yesterday, but I guess I moved it around quite a bit today.
He only now became aware of the sensation of the wound opening and blood seeping through his shirt.
Lee Jae-heon, who had been thinking for a moment, answered.
“… I got scratched by a nail that was sticking out yesterday, so I went to the hospital.”
I was a little flustered, but it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t handle it.
No matter how good his eye for detail may be, the current protagonist is an ordinary person with no abilities.
In the brief moment that the bandage was removed, it would have been impossible to tell what shape the wound was.
At Lee Jae-heon’s words that the wound was caused by a nail instead of a knife, Deputy Jeong In-ho pretended to look surprised.
“Oh my, is it a nail? It would be bad if the wound gets worse.”
“That’s true… Oh, well, I guess I’m just unlucky. Yesterday and today have been just chaos.”
This was half true. The thought that he could have died without knowing anything if he had not thought about his past life completely occupied his mind, but it soon disappeared in an instant.
Lee Jae-heon sighed, rubbing his forehead with his other hand that was not bleeding.
“Anyway, Manager Jeong, you should go in too.”
“… Yes, sir. Please go in carefully.”
“… … .”
Jaeheon Lee’s gaze, who had keenly noticed the brief moment of silence, turned to my hand that had been pressing on my forehead.
That wrist, to be exact.
“…ah.”
“… … .”
“The clock is broken.”
He muttered to himself in annoyance at having been outmaneuvered by his opponent.
‘… This kid faked it… ?’
The delicately crafted watch glass was broken, as if it had been hit in some way when it fell.
It was obvious what condition his wrist was in thanks to that.
The wound on his arm wasn’t something Jeong In-ho had been aiming for.
What he wanted to check was the wound on his wrist where the watch had broken, and to see how accustomed he was to pain.
Of course, Lee Jae-heon, at least the old Lee Jae-heon, was not accustomed to pain.
Didn’t you once scream out loud because the stapler at your company was stuck wrong?
Even if the arm happened yesterday, the glass shards embedded in the wrist and nearby area were a separate matter.
Lee Jae-heon appeared to have admitted that he was accustomed to new wounds.
But only the mentally ill were accustomed to pain and hurt.
Yeah, those crazy guys that were running around in my past life.
Even in such a peaceful and quiet world, no one could know what it would mean to be accustomed to suffering.
That’s why Jeong In-ho noticed that the current Lee Jae-heon was different from before.
At least you must have felt that disconnect.
Probably in a direction that Lee Jae-heon doesn’t want.
‘I didn’t want to be thought of as someone who was used to pain… .’
It may be a misunderstanding, but I didn’t want to create an excuse for the other world to use me as labor force for no reason.
If a person who is already on bad terms is accustomed to being hurt, how can a person who is cornered not put the other person in another corner?
He was skeptical about the limits of human goodness.
Lee Jae-heon’s gaze met the other person’s pitch-black eyes.
“I was so out of it that I didn’t even realize I had a cut on my hand.”
“… … .”
“yes?”
The protagonist answered him.
“okay.”
