Chapter 4

But it also made him a bit worried. The word bubble kind of came out of nowhere earlier in the day. Things could get bad for him if it cropped up in unexpected places. He knew this from his previous 45 years of experience. He shouldn’t bite off more than he could chew. “Looks like you figured it out. That’s right. The abilities could help you in life, but it could make things very complicated for you as well. Not everyone gets a happy ending after going back in time.”“What a worrying thought.”“Everything’s up to how you decide to do things. How you decide to live, and how you decide to use your abilities. Of course, it’s not like you can use your powers unlimitedly. You’ll realize it fairly quickly, but just remember that nothing is free in life.”Nothing is free. The sentence came to him quite strongly. Maru nodded. He’s realized again and again that he’s returned to the starting point. That made this first step all the more important for him.“We won’t be meeting again, not unless something bad happens.”“Is that so.”“In any case, I hope you live a fun life.”The woman started to fade away. By the time she’s almost disappeared,“I hope you make the right decision.”The woman whispered to him in a barely audible voice.Maru stared up at the ceiling for several minutes after the woman disappeared. Mom called him out from the living room to eat dinner. He could smell delicious soup outside. Doenjang soup that smelled far better than the ones in school.“Smells good,” he said, walking out of his door.“Did your taste buds change overnight? I thought you didn’t like this stuff.”“I’m a high schooler now. I’m all grown up.”“Oh, is that so, sir? You’re all grown up?” mom asked in a teasey tone. Maru just decided to sit down and start eating. It tasted familiar. Homely. Like something that just made him smile.“Oh, you’re here, Bada? Here, have some food.” mom said, as she watched Bada enter from the front door.“I’m good. It’s just doenjang soup again, isn’t it? I also had some tteokbokki with friends on the way back.”“You can’t just eat something like that as a meal.”“Ugh, mom, rice cakes are carbs too, don’t you know that?”“...Sigh.”Mom put down the bowl of rice she had been filling. Maru understood that feeling completely. Parents always wanted to see their kids eat well.“Han Bada.” Maru called out.“What?”“Eat.”Maru pulled out a chair next to him, earning him a glare from his little sister. He pointed to the chair.“Eat. At least just one bite.”Bada was a little surprised by her brother being so forceful. She sat down at the table with a little pout.“You never eat since you wanted bread all the time too.”She didn’t stop complaining until the end. Maru just found that cute, if he were being honest. Why did he stop talking with her again? Why did he stop caring for her again?‘I just didn’t really care for her, huh.’After all, he did hear about her divorce a full month after the actual event. Of course, at the time he did feel a little bit annoyed at her. Why wouldn’t she even tell family about that kind of stuff? Then again, he just didn’t give her a chance to rely on her back then. Some of the things he hadn’t noticed in high school, he picked up on now. Experience was an amazing thing.“I’ll be eating here every day from now on too, so you should eat a little bit.”“......”Bada glared at him from the side, but he just decided to ignore it. The girl really just ate a single bite before leaving.“You’re finally acting like a big brother, huh?” mom asked.“It’s nothing.”“I guess you really did grow a bit after going to high school?”Mom stared at him with a playful grin. What kind of a face would she make if she realized there was a 45 year old man inside? He didn’t want to get dragged off to the psych ward for asking the question, so he just didn’t bother.“Thank you for the meal. I’ll do the dishes.”“I’m good. Just go study. Didn’t you say you wanted to be the snake’s head or something?”Snake’s head. The word made him grin. He was reminded of the conversation he had with his mother. Instead of going to a good school to be the tail end of a dragon, he’d rather go to the engineering school to be the head of a snake.‘It was a great excuse.’In reality, he just didn’t want to study. For sure, all his memories from before high school were becoming clearer now. On the other hand, his memories of the future were getting fainter and fainter. He wondered how much things would have changed for him tomorrow morning as he walked into his room. Maru sat down on his table and turned on the computer with his toe. Habits were a scary thing.“I should play some games while I’m at it.”Though he had no idea how good he would be. Maru started playing, fully expecting to lose every single round.