MROBW 03

Chapter 3

“Rachel! I think our son is a racing genius.”

Mom seemed to be trying to keep her voice down, but there was no hiding how excited she was.

Of course, I didn’t even need to look in a mirror to know that my expression as I listened to her was thoroughly unimpressed.

After finishing the experience race, we had come to Landbury’s employee cafeteria.

“Maybe he takes after me? Looks like he was born with a talent for cars. Is it because I showed him cars so often when he was little?”

While Mom talked on the phone, I merely sucked on my cherry ade.

Gurgle. Grrrk.

The cup of ade, which had been emptied down to nothing but ice in an instant, crumpled noisily.

Every time it did, my shoulders hunched a little farther.

It felt like the people around us kept sneaking glances at me.

…Am I just being self-conscious?

I casually rolled my eyes around, but when I made eye contact with a few people, I immediately lowered my gaze back to my drink.

Yeah.

I was definitely being overly self-conscious.

Maybe everyone was just looking at Mom.

The relationship between Mom and Mr. Blanchard had already spread around the company through word of mouth.

Katie was proof of that.

He already knew about Mom’s relationship with Mr. Blanchard…

“…”

Ah.

A man who had just walked past had stared intently at me before turning around.

I’d actually prefer it if he were looking at me because of Mom.

After all, the two of them were going to get married anyway.

That would be much better than being stared at purely because of me.

I recalled what had happened earlier.

‘Your son is a genius. You have to put him in a kart right away!’

I hadn’t even gotten out of the kart yet, and Katie had practically been breathing fire.

He’d stared at me with bloodshot eyes, and I was so scared he’d never let me leave the kart that I hurriedly scrambled out of the cockpit.

Even by the time things had progressed that far, none of the other children who had raced with me had even crossed the finish line.

‘W-Wait a second, Katie. Calm down.’

Mom had tried to calm Katie down, but it had absolutely no effect.

If anything, Katie’s eyes became even redder, as though he’d spent several nights awake solely on caffeine.

‘Calm down? Do you really think I can calm down right now? The moment he grabbed the steering wheel for the first time, he had this kind of sense! That’s impossible! He instinctively figured out, “If I do this, the car will go faster. If I do that, it’ll have less resistance,” and acted accordingly! Does that make any sense?!’

‘Yes, I know our Ian is amazing, so just calm down for now…’

‘He realized the engine had a power restriction and deliberately took the inside line to reduce resistance! Like a professional who’d driven hundreds or thousands of laps around a circuit… This kid is a future World Champion! We need to bring him to the Landbury Academy immediately…!’

He’d looked like he was about to devour Mom.

Mom still seemed somewhat dazed, as though she didn’t fully understand what was happening.

But I understood Katie’s reaction.

It didn’t make sense…

Yeah.

That wasn’t merely genius-level ability.

Like Katie said, no genius could do something like that.

This wasn’t a matter of talent or instinct.

It was something I’d learned through experience.

In short, I was actually twenty-three years old mentally, and I’d been an F1 driver, even if I’d only managed to scrape my way onto the grid.

That was the only reason I could pull off those tricks.

‘Sarah, think about this carefully. I’m sure Mr. Blanchard will love the fact that Ian likes driving karts. That man is an F1 fanatic!’

‘No, that’s why you shouldn’t talk about things like that in front of Ian… Katie, please calm down!’

‘How can I calm down?! Your son is a genius! A genius!’

Eventually, Katie had practically been charging at us in tears.

Mom had barely managed to shake him off by saying that we needed to eat.

And that was how we ended up here.

“That’s him over there…”

“That’s the kid Katie was so worked up about…”

“I heard that if they raise him properly from here, he’s practically guaranteed to have a seat already.”

Even then, Katie had chased after us all the way to the end, chanting like a prayer in front of everyone in the company.

‘Drive a kart!’

‘Your son is a genius!’

‘Ian will become a World Champion!’

Maybe that was why the witnesses had spread the rumor so quickly.

Grrrrr.

Meanwhile, my stomach kept growling noisily.

Landbury’s employee cafeteria had floor-to-ceiling windows across the front, giving it a spacious, open feeling.

I glanced outside.

The sky was already growing dark.

It was all because we’d wasted so much time dealing with Katie.

Was it really possible that dealing with him had taken longer than actually driving the kart?

And then…

“So, Coleman, about Ian. No, our son! He drove a kart today, and apparently Katie said that he…”

Mom had glanced up at the sky, then started bragging about me to someone else on the phone instead of Rachel.

Sheesh.

I had no idea why we’d been sitting in the cafeteria for an hour when we were supposedly going to go eat.

And it wasn’t like ordering cake and cookies because I was hungry once or twice was a problem.

But I was starting to want some actual food.

No.

To be precise, I wanted to get out of Landbury.

The employee cafeteria we were in was located right by the entrance to the first-floor lobby, so we had a clear view of all the employees leaving work.

Which also meant they had a clear view of me.

“…”

I’d already made eye contact with far too many people.

I pretended not to notice the gazes pouring toward me and swung my legs back and forth.

Just like an ordinary child would.

But my mind was spinning for an entirely different reason.

What did I originally do on this day?

It had been so long ago that I couldn’t remember clearly.

Still, since this had been my first kart experience even originally, I vaguely remembered the race.

I’d done pretty well back then too.

I’d actually finished first among the children.

Of course, it hadn’t been this overwhelmingly dominant.

So I hadn’t received this much praise either.

And I had only learned this time that the staff member who helped me with the experience was actually Landbury’s chief engineer.

As I racked my brain trying to recall the past, I suddenly felt a chilling gaze.

I raised my head.

And…

“…”

Standing at the entrance, staring at me with burning eyes, was Katie.

“…Mooom, when are we going to eat?”

Let’s go.

Let’s run.

Right now.

“Hmm? Oh, just a minute. Sooon, wait a little longer. They said they’ll be done soon.”

“Are you meeting someone?”

“Hm? Uh… Just eat this for now!”

Having run out of things to say, Mom pushed another cookie into my mouth.

I kept a wary eye on Katie with the cookie between my teeth.

Fortunately, it looked like he had no intention of coming inside.

He was merely glaring at me.

I breathed a sigh of relief at the thought that I wouldn’t have to repeat what had happened earlier.

As I crunched the cookie between my teeth, I thought.

But is this really possible?

I got a red flag while racing in a Grand Prix, died, and then became ten years old again?

Common sense said that was impossible.

But the important thing was that the things I remembered weren’t a dream or an illusion.

How could I be so certain?

Because the knowledge from that time was working in this reality.

“…No, actually, could this be a flashback?”

“Hm? Son, what did you just say in Korean?”

“No, nothing!”

Could this be a dream from before I died…?

I considered the possibility, but when I shook my head, the sensation of my hair brushing against my temples was far too real.

And more than anything, I had a reason why this had to be reality.

“…”

Mom looked down at me with a worried expression.

Her face was younger than the one I remembered.

It felt strange.

Things I hadn’t been able to see when I was actually ten years old were visible to me again now, and there was something nostalgic about it.

“Son?”

Mom looked at me quizzically as I stared blankly ahead with moist eyes, then suddenly startled myself and shook my head.

I gave her a bitter smile.

If this is a dream, can a dream really be this realistic?

More than anything, I wanted this incredibly realistic dream to actually be reality.

But if this happened to be the last dream I would ever have…

Why not enjoy it?

A twenty-three-year-old mind in a ten-year-old body?

Wasn’t that actually pretty damn good?

If they told me to start driving karts with all this knowledge and experience from now on, then, just as Katie had said, becoming a World Champion really wouldn’t be a dream.

“Why are you suddenly grinning, my son?”

“Hehe. I feel better now.”

Mom smiled along with me when I suddenly grinned.

Looking at her, the complicated and confused feelings in my heart gradually began to settle.

Yeah.

There was no point overthinking things.

I should just focus on what was right in front of me.

Maybe this was…

A blessing from God, who had taken pity on me after I’d spent fifteen years being bullied by the bastard who would become my older brother after Mom’s remarriage, constantly finishing second, only to eventually die during a race.

“That’s why, Ian, Mommy actually has someone she’s seeing. He’s coming soon, and we’re going to have dinner together now. I know this might be too sudden for you… Ian? Son?”

“Yes?!”

Just as I was finally getting my thoughts in order, Mom had been talking to me, watching my reaction.

And I suddenly jumped to my feet in shock.

I’d missed everything she’d said before that, but I’d heard enough to understand what she was trying to tell me.

“I know, Ian. This must be very sudden. But…”

Seeing how visibly flustered I was, Mom’s expression immediately fell.

Even so, she was about to continue explaining when—

“Sarah!”

“Ah, Arthur!”

A middle-aged man approached us.

At the same time, the gazes that had been gradually drifting away suddenly focused on us again.

They couldn’t help it.