...

...

...

There was a sound of an impatient male voice.

Another young voice immediately cried out in reply.

The first voice grew more and more impatient,

The familiar conversation echoed in his ears once again. Gukk listened in a daze, habitually trying to wave his hand to dispel it, but his arms were weak and his body was filled with a sense of emptiness after getting high. Gukk tried to open his eyes but they seemed to be covered with something, and he could not open them. Gukk struggled to get up but his body was not controlled by his brain and did not respond in any way. After struggling for a long time, a thought flashed through Gukk’s mind,

“Where am I?” This question was like a bolt of lightning splitting the murkiness in Gukk’s mind, and Gukk came to his senses almost instantly. His eyes snapped open, and he was confronted with a magnificent, cumbersome crystal lamp above his head, the blinding light shining straight into his eyes. Gukk instinctively tried to raise his hand to shield himself from the light, but his body’s weakness prevented him from doing so. Gukk closed his eyes again, and everything returned to the previous darkness.

This time, his senses were extraordinarily clear, and the feeling of emptiness and powerlessness was like a tidal wave surging through his entire body.

Gukk tentatively tried to move but stopped when he heard a sweet m*an, accompanied by the man’s ragged breath.

The corners of Gukk’s mouth slowly curled up in a mocking smile.

Sure enough, it was this dream again, this dream that had haunted him for ten years. With a flash of self-deprecation, Gukk gave up struggling and gradually adjusted to the blinding light. Anyway, it was a dream, it didn’t make any difference whether he could move or not.

Gukk stared at the crystal lamp above his head in boredom. Every time his dream started with him opening his eyes. Naturally, the first thing he saw each time was the lamp, magnificent to the extreme. And then what? Gukk tilted his head. What’s next?

A greasy voice begged.

A sneer appeared on Gukk’s face. It was so boring.

For ten years he kept repeating this dream; everything in the dream was deeply imprinted in his mind and he knew the follow up like the back of his hand.

Next, it was time for Yeongno to speak. Sure enough, the first male voice said,

The long, drawn out m*ans were interspersed with the man’s heavy breathing, and after a few violent thumps, the room began to quiet down.

The sneer on Gukk ’s face faded away, a gloomy look faintly appearing in its stead.

This next conversation, which he could practically recite backwards, was the dialogue that completely enraged the young Gukk and changed his fate.

The man said carelessly

There was a hint of amusement in the man’s words.

Gukk closed his eyes as the flames of anger in his heart rose again. He was the rightful third young master of the Song family, but because his father disliked him, he was treated coldly and ostracised and even the things that belonged to him were coveted by Song Ryujin, his father’s illegitimate son.

Recalling his childhood experience, Gukk clenched his fists fiercely.

If he hadn’t clearly known that he was in a dream now, he wouldn’t be able to resist going out and beating the two of them up.

In his current state of mind, he was still furious, let alone his younger self back then. It was because of these words that, in a fit of rage, he recklessly drove his car into Yeongno and Ryujin in the early morning of the next day. As a result, Ryujin was unharmed, just having some scratches, but Yeongno’s legs were crushed and he was never able to walk again. The incident caused a stir in city S. He was arrested on the spot and barely reacted before he was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder. After sobering up, he couldn’t accept the fact that he was going to stay in prison for the rest of his life, so he gave up his self-esteem and begged his father to save him. At the time of the incident, he had taken a large amount of hallucinogenic drugs and had no control over his behavior. He hoped his father would use it to help him file an appeal. But no matter how much he begged, all he got was a cold look from his father. In the end he simply never saw his father again, left with the lawyer’s words,

Once again, a sneer appeared on Gukk’s face; indeed, he did well by himself.

Han Yeongno was the only male heir of the Han family. Hit by Gukk’s car, he was incapacitated for the rest of his life, so it was natural the Han family hated Jun-gukk to the bone… not to mention the fact that he had hurt his father’s favorite illegitimate son.

Gukk no longer wanted to remember how he survived the first three years in prison. Without the protection of the Song family and with the Han family’s hatred for him, if he hadn’t put his life on the line to secure his place in prison, he wouldn’t have survived the next few years. After all, he was not afraid of death, but others were, weren’t they? Even if the Han family offered more money, a man had to live to spend it.

Gukk coolly hooked the corners of his mouth as he went down the memory lane, but in the next moment his eyes snapped open wide.

No, shouldn’t he be dead already?

Gukk stared at the crystal lamp above his head. The scene of him falling to the ground and closing his eyes flashed through his mind again and again. The riot during the factory labor hours, the knife that stabbed him, the helpless feeling of his blood flowing out, Jung Hoseok who was protecting him in the chaos and the sneering face of his murderer who saw him finally going down.

Gukk closed his eyes fiercely and opened them once more.

There was still thev dazzling light, his body still felt weak and another gasp reached his ears.

A trace of disbelief flashed in Gukk’s eyes, and then he began to struggle with all his might.

As if he was let out of confinement, Gukk clearly felt his strength begin to return and the sense of powerlessness in his body was subsiding.

Struggling, Gukk lifted his hand and viciously pinched his leg. A sharp pain that came made Gukk freeze in shock. There was a feeling! He actually felt something! How could he feel anything in a dream? What’s more, wasn’t he already dead?

Countless thoughts surged in waves, and Gukk dumbly reached out and pinched his leg once again, still in pain.

A look of disbelief appeared on Gukk’s face; it was not an illusion, he really felt it.

The groans and chants in his ears were unmistakably clear, and Gukk listened to them as if he was listening to a fairy’s voice.

Slowly, a look of ecstasy appeared on Gukk’s face. This was not a dream?!. He was back.! He was really back.!!

After the initial ecstasy, Gukk quickly calmed down.

No matter why he died and why he was reborn, this time he had to do right by himself.

The m*aning and groaning continued, and it looked like it wouldn’t stop for a while.

Gukk lay there, moving his body carefully on the soft carpet, not making a single sound.

The place where Gukk was lying was in the corner, and in front of Gukk, there was a set of huge European-style palace sofas, hiding Gukk’s entire figure safely.

Gukk’s fingers accidentally brushed over his pocket, and a certain metallic texture under his touch caught his attention.

A thought flashed through Gukk’s mind as he remembered the mobile phone he had with him, and a strange smile appeared on his face.

After a while, the shaking of the king-size bed stopped once more, and a few grumpy knocks sounded outside the room.

(na-han sa-ram – an arrogant way to say “I”)

The sound of dressing, the sound of greetings from inside and outside the room, Ryujin ’s slightly ingratiating laughter, until the door was closed, and all sounds were isolated.

Gukk slowly sat up holding onto the sofa, glanced at the crumpled king-size bed, lowered his head and clicked on the video that he had just recorded on his phone.

The corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

...

...

TBC