The Malicious Member Has Returned! Chapter 240
* * *
On the morning of the last day of the year, the Kim household scene was as warm as ever.
"So you're meeting a friend and coming in by 8?"
"Yeah. Just a quick face-to-face."
"This time, keep the time! Ugh, whenever I think about two years ago when you, Bomi, said you'd come at 7 and then showed up at 11..."
"Ah, Mom. Let's bury the past. Okay?"
"Bury what? I'm taking it to my grave, sis."
"Hey, Kim Nari!"
"Kids, don't fight at the dinner table."
The sound of cheerful chattering, the bubbling stew in the pot, the TV tilted slightly toward the kitchen broadcasting the morning news as if to show what a normal family breakfast is like.
"Oh, oh. Honey, honey. Our son is on."
"Oh my! That's right. He dyed his hair again, that kid. Bomi, did you give Yong the supplements Mom asked you to pass on?"
"Yeah. That time Nari was too busy watching her idol, so I took care of it."
"No, unnie was totally out of it when she saw Choi Ga-on too! And the reason Kim Chunyong gave us the VIP tickets in the first place was to apologize for not giving unnie the Choi Ga-on album on time before."
"Shut up, you brat."
"Ow!"
"Bomi! Stop bullying your sister!"
Even though the person appearing on TV was a member of their family, their warmth didn't fade or diminish in the slightest.
"Amazing... Bomi, Nari. How does it look to you? Is he good? I still don't really get this kind of thing."
"Well, Kim Chunyong? ...
He's not bad. He's... pretty good."
"Though I'm dying for Siwoo... the dance, well, Kim Chunyong dances well."
"I see. Huh."
"Dad, some customers at the butcher shop are fans of Chunyong. Isn't that amazing? Having an idol son comes in handy sometimes."
If anything, their bond might have grown even stronger.
Though they seemed busy squabbling whenever they met, surprisingly, all five members of the Kim family were quite close.
When they see each other, they want to tease.
When they don't see each other, they worry a bit.
And still, they think, 'But we're family.'
You could say it's the kind of relationship you'd find in any fiction.
"I guess our son won't be able to make it? He has to prepare for other stages too."
"Yeah. He said he'll come the day after tomorrow or so."
"Okay. Then don't buy too much chicken. How about braised pig's trotters or bossam..."
Like that, as they were steadily making plans from the morning to wrap up the last day of the year happily together.
- "...
Now on to the next news."
On the TV screen, which had been showing glamorous celebrities, a cold photo of an accident scene and the announcer's solemn face appeared.
Without even catching her breath properly, the announcer quickly and swiftly delivered news that could ruin the year-end mood.
- "At 4 a.m. this morning, an airport bus heading from Seoul to Incheon Airport overturned on Yeongjong Bridge. One driver was killed, and 21 passengers on board sustained minor injuries, resulting in casualties. According to fire authorities..."
The airport bus on the TV screen was in a miserable state.
The driver's compartment was completely crushed against the guardrail near Yeongjong Bridge, and the vehicle was flipped over.
It looked as if, had things gone just a little worse, something terrible could have happened to everyone on board.
"Oh my god..."
"Gasp, oh no."
At the cold accident news that came on what should have been a happy and warm year-end, the Kim family also felt unsettled and uneasy.
"...
Tch. The last day of the year, this is really unfortunate."
"I know, right. Ugh, and there's a fatality."
"Still, the other passengers aside from the driver only had minor injuries, so... maybe it's a blessing in disguise."
"Nari! You shouldn't say things like that! What blessing is there in an accident?"
"No, I mean, you know what I meant. I'm saying it could have been worse."
"Honey, don't be too hard on her. Nari will learn as she grows up."
Soothing the mother scolding the youngest daughter, the father lifted the mood from the somber breakfast atmosphere.
"The passengers were probably fine because they were wearing their seatbelts. So you two, when you go out, make sure you buckle up. Got it?"
"Ah, honestly though, it's so uncomfortable..."
"Tch, Kim Nari."
"Okay, okay!"
Their meal resumed, and as time passed, the story about the airport bus accident slowly faded from their minds.
"Then... definitely pig's trotters? Spicy trotters?"
"Half and half."
"Ah, Dad is the only one who just eats pig's trotters! If only Kim Chunyong were here..."
"Would things change if he came? He eats like a mouse anyway because he's on a diet."
After all, it's the year-end, a time that should only be joyful and warm, not for holding onto such sad and gloomy events.
"We'll have to order Chunyong's food separately. He's an idol who even won a Rookie of the Year award, so shouldn't that much be okay?"
"Mom, what about me? Me?"
"Okay. Our Nari too."
Because it's a day that coincides with the happy occasion of one precious family member.
There was no anxiety like, 'Could that have been us?' in their minds at all.
We never went on overseas trips, and we had no reason to take an airport bus anyway.
With that thought, with that feeling.
Of course...
"...
Yongyong hyung. You didn't drink last night, did you? Why is your face the palest of all?"
"Chunyong, did you not sleep?"
"Ah, it's nothing. Just a little. ...
I was too excited."
"Hmm, okay. You said you're dropping by the company later, right? On your way, stop by a pharmacy and get yourself a fatigue recovery drink or something."
"Yes, yes. I'll get hangover cures for you guys too. Jaeha hyung, your face is a mess too..."
The second son, who hadn't been at that breakfast table, had slightly different thoughts.
* * *
Kim Chunyong's steps as he walked along, donning a mask and hat one by one, were very heavy.
Before he could properly savor the joy of winning the Rookie of the Year award, he had witnessed a shocking fact.
'...
It was the same person.'
Early yesterday morning, the airport limousine rollover accident on Yeongjong Bridge.
That was enough to overturn all of Kim Chunyong's thoughts.
Kim Chunyong vividly remembered the number of the airport limousine he had ridden at that time, the driver's face, and the personal details including his name.
He had seen and heard them countless times while taking up the accident fault and issues with the limousine company.
Ingukdae Hospital: Jeong Haebeom>
So seeing the short name of the deceased posted under the breaking news, he couldn't not know that the driver from back then was this driver who had now died.
'The CAMM awards where Arrowz won Rookie of the Year haven't even been held yet, but the accident has already happened. What on earth...'
Half relief that the worry hadn't repeated for his own family.
And half bewilderment that the same incident happened again at a different time, on a different day.
On top of that, a slight worry: So, is my family safe now?
"...
Hoo."
For now, Kim Chunyong couldn't grasp exactly how this was unfolding either.
Because the very person who had told him, 'Your accident is connected to other guys,' was much more flustered than Kim Chunyong.
- X: Whwhwhwhat?
- X: No wtf wait...
- X: This doesn't make any sense
- X: No lolol this is something that can't happen, you know?
- X: Just wait
- X: No! I'm saying this can't happen wtf how the hell did this happen
As soon as Kim Chunyong asked, X, who had flooded the chat with [?????]
and [wtf]
, soon went absent from the chat with a menacing atmosphere.
- X: I'll go to HR
- X: Gonna go raise hell and come back
Leaving behind messages that Kim Chunyong, who had only lived as an idol and knew nothing about company life, couldn't understand.
'...
Judging by the nuance, it seems like X didn't expect this either.'
If he thought about it carefully, even though Kim Chunyong's brain may have been a little melted by alcohol, he could notice something was strange.
If Kim Chunyong had truly simply returned to the past, then past events that he hadn't interfered with should repeat just as they were.
Because when you roll a snowball, the snow that eventually joins it is snow heading in the same direction.
As proof of that, until now, most things Kim Chunyong hadn't directly reached out to have been exactly the same as the past.
The issues that popped up day by day, people's reactions, even the weather.
But, this accident?
How on earth should this be explained?
The suspicious circumstances weren't limited to this.
'Now that I think about it... isn't the fake Hyojae hyung weird too? Originally, he was just my drinking buddy.'
Just because someone returned from the future to the past, the person inside Lee Hyojae changed?
Anyone who heard that would scoff, saying isn't that excessive self-importance?
'Anyway, I can tell that things aren't normal now.'
His faintly trembling fingers pressed firmly on the corners of his tired eyes.
He hadn't even been told clearly what this time's objective was, yet an unexpected issue cropped up first.
It was only natural for anxiety to grow larger.
"Hoo..."
A low sigh escaped, and Kim Chunyong, who had stopped walking, abruptly pressed both his cheeks with his hands, as if trying to crank up his currently absent-minded state.
As if saying, nothing will change if I stop here.
"Ah, you're here... Chunyong-ssi?"
That sight was caught in full by the capable manager Yu Hobin, who had come to pick up Kim Chunyong near the AG company building, and it made him quite flustered as well.
After all, when an idol who's even won a Rookie award is wrestling with his own face in the middle of the street...
It's kind of funny, isn't it?
"Ah, Hobin hyung."
But Kim Chunyong, as if his head had finally cleared, greeted Yu Hobin with a pat on the shoulder.
In reality, he did feel somewhat better.
'First, that's something to deal with once X returns. Right now... I need to clear up other things first.'
Nodding his head lightly for a moment, Kim Chunyong opened his mouth with a resolute expression and a serious voice.
"...
Let's go now."
"Ah, yes, sir. But... will you be all right? I could go in with you."
"No, I think it's better if I go alone."
Passing through the company gate as if flowing naturally, and boarding the elevator, their voices gradually lowered.
After all, it was because of who Kim Chunyong was going to meet.
"...
If anything happens, tell me right away. I'll wait outside."
"Yes."
Nodding briefly, Kim Chunyong took a light breath as he looked at the firmly closed office door.
The reason Kim Chunyong came to the AG company building early in the afternoon.
The reason he was nervously opening this office door that clicked low...
To meet the person who could decide whether or not he would appear on the survival program he was unwillingly cast on.
It went without saying who that person was.
"Didn't your manager tell you to request an interview a week in advance?"
"...
Haha. Hello."
"Tsk, come in and sit."
The middle-aged man sitting opposite Kim Chunyong crossed his legs.
The office, which previously always faintly smelled of cigarette smoke, had a window slightly ajar letting in the winter wind, adding to the man's oppressive aura.
"...
If you have something to say, say it."
Shin Kiho, the arrogant and overbearing power in AG, spoke lowly, and Kim Chunyong slowly leaned his body forward.
Right now, Kim Chunyong was without the increased stats X had raised, without the guidebook rewards, and even without any skills.
"I... well then..."
"Just the key point."
"Ah, yes. I'd like to refuse the mentor position for the survival program that's come to me."
"...
Explain properly from the beginning."
From now on, he had to be cautious with every word that left his mouth.