GALT 03

Inside the rattling bus, the hair I had styled up with wax had fallen down and was poking my eyes.

Even so, I wanted to feel the wind, so I left the bus window open and brushed my hair back with my hand.

“So this really isn’t a dream.”

After getting off the stage, I had thought it was just a good dream and sat down in a chair in front of me, waiting to wake up.

Then I dozed off for a moment. When I opened my eyes again, the man who had guided me at the entrance examination venue was standing in front of me.

“Excuse me, you have to leave immediately once the exam is over.”

After that, I finally accepted reality when I realized the dream still hadn’t ended even after leaving the Korea Arts University campus and getting on the bus.

It was unrealistic and made absolutely no sense, but all of this was real.

“So this really isn’t a dream.”

Then the performance I had just given at the examination venue had also been real.

“Could I pass this time?”

I had been able to concentrate well during the acting portion, and the interview had gone pretty well too.

Still, after actually taking the exam, I couldn’t help feeling a little nervous.

As the bus crossed Hangang Bridge, the setting sunlight was gently breaking apart over the river.

It was the same color as the wine Kim Hyung had given me.

Since I had returned to the past, that meant Kim Hyung’s claim that he had worked under the Jade Emperor was also true.

But why would someone like that live in a gosiwon?

Ah, right.

“I came down from heaven myself to observe humans from the lowest place. Hic.”

That was what Kim Hyung had said last year while drunk and lying on my bed.

“A god who has no dignity at all.”

A young man smiling faintly was reflected in the window.

My face at twenty-one, still retaining some of its youthful appearance.

My face without the scar.

“Phew…”

I had to live as a twenty-one-year-old from now on.

At least I should consider it fortunate that I had already completed my military service.

No. Let’s think positively.

I could live my life all over again.

I wasn’t particularly interested in economics, but I knew about the major stocks and investments that had shaken the world.

TesXla, AmaXon, NviXia, BitXoin…

Investing in real estate after saving up some money would also be one option.

The investment returns could be hundreds of times greater, so no matter what profession I chose, I wouldn’t have to worry about money.

I wouldn’t have to be controlled by money. I could freely do whatever I wanted.

An actor.

Even this time, the path I would choose remained unchanged.

Unlike my previous life, where I had the scar, I now knew the future as well.

This time, I was starting from a more advantageous position than anyone else.

But before beginning my life as an actor, there were some things I had to do first.

“First, I should go see my father.”

My father worked at a factory in Guro-gu, Seoul.

While I was enjoying my youth by putting on plays at university, my father was paying for the cost of that youth.

Even so, he had always supported my dream until the day he died.

“There he is.”

A middle-aged man wearing dust-covered work clothes.

His hair was soaked with sweat, and beads of sweat had gathered on the wrinkled skin beneath his safety helmet.

Even after all this time, I recognized him at a glance.

“Dad.”

My father looked at me for a moment and smiled. Then, after gently lowering the hand he had raised to greet me, he awkwardly turned around and pretended not to know me.

It had happened in an instant, but I quickly understood why.

There had once been a time when I was embarrassed by my father’s oil-stained work clothes.

I had been an immature son who pretended not to know my father when we were outside.

And because my father knew that, he pretended not to know me in public as well.

“Dad!”

The moment my father turned around, I ran to him and hugged him.

I buried myself in those familiar arms filled with the smell of dust.

“What brings you all the way here?”

“I just wanted to see you.”

It’s been ten years, Dad.

“I’ll help you with your work.”

“No, it’s fine. Just wait a little. I’ll finish cleaning up soon, and then we can go home together…”

“No. I can do this, right?”

I had worked at factories several times before, so I knew what needed to be done.

And so I began helping my father.

“Oh, come on. This one can’t be used anymore.”

My father looked at a cracked helmet and was about to put it into a sack.

“Dad, if you’re throwing this away, can I take it?”

“I don’t mind, but why?”

“I think I can use it for something.”

I opened my bag and put the helmet inside.

With this, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting a scar on my face.

“Thanks to my son, I finished the work quickly.”

My father’s hand felt quite rough as he patted my head.

It was because of the calluses scattered all over his hands.

“I’ll come help you from time to time from now on.”

“Well, look at you. You suddenly grew up after taking the exam. Did you do badly?”

“No. I think I did pretty well.”

“If it doesn’t work out, take the exam again next year. I can still support you for that.”

My father’s words brought back old memories, and my voice trembled slightly.

There had once been a time when my father couldn’t come to watch one of my university plays.

Back when I was immature, I had gotten angry at him, slammed the door, and gone inside.

“I’m sorry.”

I ignored my father’s quiet voice from outside the door and pulled the blanket over my head.

Only years later did I find out the truth.

That day, my father had been unable to come to the theater because his finger had been severed in an accident at the factory, and he had to go to the hospital.

“Even inside the ambulance taking him to the hospital, he kept saying he had to get off because he needed to go see his son’s performance. We had to work so hard to stop him.”

I heard that from an older man who had worked at the same factory as my father.

Only then did I notice the stitched scars on my father’s finger.

I also learned that whenever he shook hands with someone, he only used his left hand because of the lingering damage to his right hand.

That was when I first wondered whether I should quit acting.

I wanted to repay my father somehow, even if it was already too late.

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

Tears welled up in my eyes.

The youth I had built with my father’s blood and sweat was embarrassingly insignificant.

“It’s okay. So what if you did badly on an exam? These things happen.”

My father patted my back for a long time.

“Gijun, success isn’t what’s important. As long as you’re walking a path that makes you happy, that’s enough.”

Only then did I realize it.

The reason I wanted to shine wasn’t actually for myself.

I wanted to become someone who shone so that I could warmly illuminate the people I loved.

I raised my head and looked at my father.

His wrinkled face, darkened by years of work, with sparse stubble growing across it.

It was the face of the most dependable man in the world.

“Let’s go home, Gijun.”

As we drove home in my father’s truck, I planned what I needed to do from now on.

There were many things to take care of, including university entrance, finding an agency, taking profile photos, choosing projects, and more.

But something else was more urgent right now.

Making sure I never got the scar on my face.

This time, I won’t let that bastard do it to me.

It had happened a long time ago.

I had gone out for a walk.

While returning home through an alley, an incident occurred.

The attacker was a man in his forties who was an alcoholic. He had been swinging a knife around in the street.

I happened to be there, and for some reason, I had been brave enough to rush at him and try to take the knife away.

That was how the incident happened.

A huge scar was left on my face.

The police arrived shortly after my face was slashed, so I wasn’t injured any further.

The man was put on trial.

The prosecutor argued that the attacker should receive a heavier sentence because the attack had left a large permanent scar on my face.

The judge also said that this had to be taken into consideration.

However, the attacker received a reduced sentence because he had been heavily intoxicated, was undergoing psychiatric treatment, and had no previous criminal record.

Later, I applied for compensation as a victim of a crime, claiming a permanent disability.

But the court judged the injury to be minor because they believed it could disappear through surgery, so I received almost no compensation.

But the hospital told me something different.

“The muscles responsible for facial expressions are distributed along the area where the scar passes, so there is a possibility that you could lose the ability to make facial expressions as a side effect. And even if you undergo surgery, it will probably look similar to how it does now.”

I don’t know how many months I spent in despair after hearing that.

This time, I wouldn’t make the same mistake.

I clenched my fist tightly.

A few days after returning to the past.

“Thank you for the meal.”

After eating the doenjang stew my father had prepared, I left through the front door.

I headed toward the place where that bastard had committed his crime.

In truth, simply not going to that place today would be enough to prevent the scar from appearing on my face.

But if I did that, there was no doubt that an innocent victim would appear instead.

Someone else might end up having to live with a huge scar just like mine.

And now, I also wanted to overcome my trauma.

Part of me wanted to teach that bastard a lesson, too.

I arrived at the alley where the incident had happened.

I entered a building located on one side of the alley.

All I had to do now was wait.

People continued to come and go through the alley as usual.

Office workers returning from work, residents returning home after shopping, students chatting with their friends.

I watched them for several hours.

Then a poorly dressed man entered the alley.

Holding a bottle of soju in one hand, he looked like a drunken homeless man.

The people passing through the alley only frowned and kept their distance. They didn’t show any greater caution.

“Fuck.”

The man cursed and dropped the soju bottle he had been holding.

A gleaming blade appeared.

“Ahhhhhh!”

A woman screamed in fright.

At the sudden sound, everyone passing by turned toward the man.

“I-I’m going to kill you all.”

Only then did people realize that something was seriously wrong. They began screaming and running away.

The woman’s legs seemed to have given out, and she collapsed onto the ground, trembling in fear.

But the man continued approaching her with the knife in his hand.

The memories from long ago flashed through my mind.

Not this time.

I couldn’t let the same tragedy happen twice.

I watched the man from inside the doorway.

The staggering man passed directly in front of the door where I was hiding.

Now.

I threw my entire body weight against the door.

Bang!

The violently opening door slammed heavily into the man’s side.

Losing his balance, the man screamed and fell to the ground.

The weapon dropped from his hand.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I climbed onto the man’s back.

I pressed my knee hard against his spine while grabbing the arm he had stretched toward the knife and twisting it behind his back.

After completely pinning him down so he couldn’t move an inch, I raised my head and shouted,

“Call the police! Hurry!”