Episode 8: Gaining Both Wings
Foreman Yu Ilho flinched when he heard my words. Then his expression slowly hardened, and he stared at me fixedly without saying a word.
The two of us stood facing each other in a dark alley, motionless for a time, only gazing into each other’s eyes.
How many minutes passed? Foreman Yu Ilho broke the silence and spoke first.
“When I heard your introduction earlier, I truly thought it was strange. ‘Why would such a precious person—the owner of our company—seek out an ordinary man like me, someone he’s never even met?’ But truly, I’ve just heard something I never could have imagined.”
“Foreman, the reason I sought you out is because of your family heirloom. The Manpasikjeok.”
“Throughout my life, not even once—apart from my son—have I spoken of the Manpasikjeok to anyone. Of course, even if others had heard rumors that our family possesses it, they wouldn’t readily believe it. After all, this is a story passed down in our family from father to son alone. It is not spoken of carelessly. Well, perhaps I blurted it out while drunk without realizing. But ever since my wife came back from the brink of death, I have not been completely drunk even once. Yet if you, Seho, whom I’ve only just met, know that I possess the Manpasikjeok, there is no way the me of the past met and told you. Naturally, it must have been the me of the future telling the Seho of the future. Is that not so?”
A chill ran through my entire body in that instant. The me of the future? This man clearly knew the power of the Manpasikjeok. He uttered the word “regression,” which no ordinary person could ever dare imagine, with utter composure.
“Foreman, did you know the Manpasikjeok holds such power? That is, the power of regression.”
“Hmm… So it manifested as regression for you, Seho. Do you remember the legend of the Manpasikjeok? They say that if you blow it once, the enemy army retreats, lingering illness is cured, and all the nation’s sorrows and worries are resolved. It is exactly as the legend states. The Manpasikjeok is an artifact that grants its owner’s desperate wish. Since each person’s wish differs, the form in which it is granted also differs. It is not strictly fixed as regression.”
“Did you also experience a miracle of the Manpasikjeok, Foreman? Was it not regression?”
“Neither I nor my father have ever experienced anything like regression. My father wished to save my life when I drowned and stopped breathing as a child, and I wished for my wife, who was dying of terminal cancer, to survive. And both came true. They say the Manpasikjeok grants only one wish in a lifetime. Of course, merely possessing the flute does not make everything come true; you must have a truly desperate wish.”
Ah… so it was a once-in-a-lifetime wish. I had already used my chance, so there would never be another. Then why had the Yu Ilho of before the regression given me such a precious family artifact?
“I returned today from a future eighteen years later. When I had lost the company, lost everything, and fallen into despair, what you gave me as a gift, Foreman, was none other than the Manpasikjeok. The flute sounded, and I returned to the past just like this. By my reckoning, that happened yesterday. Foreman, why did you give such a precious artifact to me, a complete stranger?”
“Hehe, if you ask about something that happened in the future, how could the present me know? Perhaps the me of that time underwent some change of heart. Hmm… Then what did the future me say?”
“Your son had immigrated to America and earnestly asked you to live with him, so after agonizing for a long time, you said you would immigrate. You said you had no relatives left in the country, but the Manpasikjeok must not leave Korea, so you were entrusting it to me, whom you respected the most.”
At those words, Foreman Yu Ilho smiled bitterly.
“As expected, it seems I failed to persuade my sons. They did not believe that flute was the Manpasikjeok. Honestly, that is only natural. Who in the twenty-first century would believe such a legend is real? I did not believe it either until my wife’s terminal cancer was cured. I thought it was my father’s bluff. Then I met a miracle. As I exchanged what I thought were final farewells with my wife, who was breathing her last, begging her not to die, please do not die, please do not leave me alone, screaming with blood frothing from my mouth—right then, that beautiful, that sorrowful sound of the flute I heard… and my wife, who fell asleep perfectly whole again, as if by a lie… I can still hear it clearly. For the rest of my life… truly, I will never forget it.”
As he continued speaking, whether because emotions were welling up, tears had already pooled in his bloodshot eyes.
“I too heard the sound of that flute right before I regressed.”
“Yes, the Manpasikjeok makes no sound no matter how much you blow it normally. When there is a truly desperate wish, once in a lifetime, it sounds on its own, crying out. Since that day, I swore to live my whole life for my wife.”
“Then what of your sons?”
“I have two sons, and both studied very well. Though I could not offer much support since I know so little, they studied on their own, earned scholarships on their own, went to study in America, and not long ago settled into good jobs there. They even welcomed American daughters-in-law. I begged them to return to Korea. The Manpasikjeok is just an ordinary flute if it leaves Korea, so I could not pass it down to children living in America. But both refused, saying they preferred living in America. And it seems the same held true even in the future.”
Ah… so that was how it was. If Foreman Yu Ilho’s sons had stayed in Korea, this opportunity would never have come to me. It truly was a blessing from heaven.
“Being able to return like this and gain another chance is all thanks to you, Foreman. Thank you so much. I will surely repay you.”
“There is no need for repayment. It is merely the will of heaven. By the way, what on earth happened in the future? For you, Seho, the successor of our company, to have lost everything… Did the company go bankrupt? Korea Line is not a company that could possibly collapse in a mere eighteen years… I would not give the Manpasikjeok to just anyone, so the fact that I handed it to the future you must mean it was not your fault. Just what happened?”
My chest suddenly tightened and I choked up, tears flowing. I had thought I could never tell anyone— that I had returned from the future, how Yi Seongho destroyed the company, how Korea Line collapsed, and what state of mind I had lived in. But now I had found someone to whom I could openly unburden the story of the future. How joyous a thing was this? I could not even reveal this to Manager Gim Yunsik.
“President Yi Seongho recklessly pursued mergers and acquisitions, causing debts to pile up endlessly until the company collapsed, unable to stop them. He also committed embezzlement and breach of trust. To take responsibility for the company’s sale, I gave up all my shares.”
“Ah… so such a thing happened. President Yi Seongho, I would not have thought… Truly, one may know ten ri of water, but one cannot know one ri of a man’s heart.”
“Foreman, will you not help me from now on? To stand against President Yi Seongho and raise the company into the world’s greatest enterprise, I need people who will help me.”
“Ah… so that is why you recruited Yunsik?”
“Yes, Manager Gim Yunsik was my chief secretary in the future. We got along very well. And fortunately, this time he has agreed to become my right-hand man.”
“Yunsik is a truly smart and well-educated friend. His character is upright as well. He will be a great help. But I am uneducated, and all I know is the craft I have done my entire life. I will not be of much help in running a corporation.”
“What I need most is simply someone I can trust with certainty. Manager Gim Yunsik, whom I personally knew in the future, and you, Foreman, who know that I regressed from the future. There is no one in the company I can trust more certainly than the two of you. To save the company, I must stop President Yi Seongho’s tyranny, but his influence within the company is too great right now, and it is too hard for me to face him alone. If we cannot stop Yi Seongho by 2007 and 2008, no matter how hard I try, the company will collapse. Please help me for the sake of the company.”
“If you say so… I do not know how much help I can be, but I will do everything within my power to assist.”
“Truly… thank you so much, Foreman.”
At last, I had obtained Foreman Yu Ilho’s support as well.
Foreman Yu Ilho, who had hesitated briefly, cautiously asked me,
“Might I… ask just one thing?”
“Of course, you may ask me anything.”
“When I chose to immigrate in the future, do you happen to know what became of my wife? Did I mention that?”
“Ah… at that time, you said you had sent your wife off first one year prior—that is, in 2021.”
At those words, Foreman Yu Ilho closed his eyes for a moment, seeming overcome, then opened them again shortly after.
“In the end, my wife leaves before me. We had firmly vowed to die together when the time came… She exercised diligently and received annual health checkups; how did she pass so early…”
Since it was 2021, she would not have been past seventy; that was rather early. Could it have been because of corona?
“Starting in 2020, an unidentified coronavirus called COVID-19 sweeps across the world. Even until 2022, when I regressed, it had not been completely contained. Truly, many people were infected and lost their lives. Especially the elderly were very vulnerable, perhaps due to weak immunity. A vaccine was finally developed later on, but it was not perfect. The vaccine did not completely prevent infection, and there were so many mutations… I cannot be certain if she passed from corona, but it seems possible.”
“Such a thing occurs in the future, then. A virus that sweeps across the entire world—truly unimaginable from our present standpoint. I see… if that is the case, then no matter how diligently one exercises or how regularly one gets checkups, there would have been no helping it.”
Ah… I see… In that instant, I came to reflect. All my plans after regressing had been solely focused on making money to grow Korea Line. Even as 2020 approached, surely I would only invest in vaccine and pharmaceutical companies for the sake of profit.
It was still a story of the distant future, but when that time approached, instead of money, let me prepare to save lives.
Rather than simply buying stocks in Moderna and BioNTech to turn a profit, let me invest in or acquire related technologies in advance and contribute, even if only a little, so that vaccines could be developed faster.
If vaccines were supplied even a few months sooner and in sufficient quantities, they would help many people.
Then the money would naturally follow. Or not. I made that vow to myself.
“I will inquire into related companies and technologies and ensure that vaccines and treatment technologies are developed before the pandemic arrives in the future. I do not know about other reasons, but at the very least, I will make sure you do not pass from corona.”
“Thank you so much for your concern. When I return home today, I must tell my wife I love her more often. She is such a precious person to me. We will only have a mere seventeen more years together. Ah, quite a bit of time has passed. Yunsik must have been waiting a long time; let us go in and have a drink.”
Foreman Yu Ilho took my hand and led me inside. At our table, Manager Gim Yunsik sat quietly waiting for us, with completely cooled meat before him.
“Boss, did your talk go well?”
“That’s right, Yunsik, you said you’d become the next Chairman’s right arm, didn’t you? Then our Yunsik is confirmed as the next president of Korea Line? Today, you are treating us.”
“Yes, although you do not hold any position in the group yet, I have decided to serve you as Chairman when we are alone. In my view, the future of Korea Line depends solely on Chairman Im Seho. Not President Yi Seongho.”
“Foreman, merely becoming the president of Korea Line should not be the goal. I am going to build a massive group that commands the world. Korea Line will become the foundation of that group, but there will be much more to do within a larger company. Manager Gim, you must become the vice chairman of that massive group. Foreman, you must never forget that you agreed to lend me a hand by my side.”
“Haha, a massive group that commands the world… I believe it is possible, though I do not know how long it will take. I am of advanced age, so I do not know how long or how much help I can be, but I will do everything within my power as long as my strength lasts. By the way, I do not know how I should address you from now on. Haha.”
“Then until I officially ascend to the chairman’s seat later, let us all uniformly address me as Director. I am thinking of creating an investment company soon and handing out business cards with the title of Director. Now, to the rise of Korea Line—”
“Cheers—”
[Clink~]
Ah… on the first day of my regression, I had finally obtained both my right arm and my left arm, grown both wings, and completed my preparations to soar.
Perhaps because the most important matters had all been resolved well, today’s soju tasted truly, incredibly sweet.
I’ll leave tomorrow’s matters to tomorrow’s me. For today, cheers to today’s me who worked hard—