Inca retribution and karma, was it not said?
The karma of 17-year-old Cheon Byeong-ho, who lived with a “bring it on” mindset, has been passed down to 57-year-old Professor Cheon Kyu-jin after 40 years.
Bang bang bang bang-!
“Open the door, Cheon Saetbyeol! I’ll give you five seconds; hurry up!”
“No! If I open it, you’ll hit me!”
In his 20s, he burned all his life’s essence, lost a whole decade in his 30s, and was consumed by work in his 40s.
And the word that summed up 50-year-old Cheon Kyu-jin was ‘barrenness.’
His colleagues, graduate students, just engaged in superficial conversations confined to the social roles they were assigned, with no genuine human connections.
Upon returning home and opening the entrance door,
Cheon Kyu-jin despised the pitch-black darkness reflecting on the floor.
No matter how hard he cranked up the boiler, it could never replace the warmth of a person.
“Because of you, I lost a whole page! Do you know how long it’ll take to redraw this circuit?”
“Why blame me? You should have saved your work properly back then!”
Living a life that felt like an endless wheel of consuming nutrients and commuting day after day had worn him out.
He deeply empathized with the saying “living on death’s doorstep.”
However, from the moment he met Na-me, Cheon Kyu-jin’s life took a complete turn of 180 degrees.
He now had a child who greeted him cheerfully when he returned home.
The trivialities of daily life gained significant meaning because of her.
Since Cheon Saetbyeol joined the family, vitality began to return to the house.
“Open up!”
“No!”
It was hard to believe that this home used to be as quiet as a mouse.
The piercing noise made by the girls echoed incessantly in his ears.
He had proudly claimed to possess two bundles of overflowing happiness, yet for some reason, Cheon Kyu-jin felt a throbbing headache.
Crack-!
The doorknob of Saetbyeol’s room broke, sending Na-me sprawling backward.
Na-me, having landed on her backside, glared fiercely with eyes like a tiger.
Watching the scuffle from the living room, Professor Cheon finally squeezed his eyes shut.
The firmly closed door creaked open.
Through the gap, Saetbyeol peeked out with a bewildered expression.
“How did you break through a door that was magically sealed? This isn’t right…!”
“You just wait right there!”
Ahhh… Kyaaaaaah! Cheon Saetbyeol, save me! Na-me’s daddy!
In a house that was far from spacious, Na-me sprinted at full speed.
Thump thump thump thump-
There were no residents in the basement apartment below, but with this much vibration, the neighbors upstairs and next door were bound to come knocking.
A door with no lock was utterly useless in front of Na-me.
The sounds of items falling, glass shattering, and a pig’s squeal formed a three-part harmony.
Unable to bear the tyranny any longer, Professor Cheon summoned his daughters in a grave voice.
“Cheon Saetbyeol, NoName. Stop fighting and come here.”
Eventually, Na-me dragged Saetbyeol out by the neck.
Cheon Kyu-jin’s headache grew worse.
“What’s that on your face, Na-me…?”
Upon seeing the scribbles on Na-me’s face, the professor asked.
Each cheek bore three black lines, resembling cat whiskers.
On her forehead, the word ‘Demon King’ was scrawled in neat Korean characters.
“She drew on my face while I was asleep because I was tired!”
Na-me puffed her cheeks out as she complained.
“So, Dad, can you please keep her from entering my room?”
“Couldn’t you just have erased it easily with magic, sis? Was it worth smashing my doorknob to chase after you?”
“You made a whole page of my thesis fly away when you unplugged my circuit carelessly!”
“That wasn’t on purpose! I just wanted to borrow the curling iron from your room. I even apologized!”
“If apologies solved everything, then why do we need laws and fists?”
“Both of you stop!”
Gasp.
“…”
This wasn’t the first time this happened.
As the two girls spent more time together, the frequency of their bickering had doubled.
Na-me and Saetbyeol, accustomed to this, knelt down and raised their hands high.
Ego-go…
During this, Professor Cheon was picking up the broken doorknob pieces scattered on the living room floor.
He placed what was once a ‘doorknob’ down and stood before the girls.
Then, he suddenly bowed deeply.
“Papa!”
“Dad!”
“I’m really sorry. Do I need to ask so politely for you two to stop fighting?”
““We’re sorry…””
The commotion settled down as Professor Cheon began to mediate.
“Saetbyeol. Why have you been so eager to torment Na-me lately? Isn’t she troubled enough?”
“I just wanted to play together more… I’m sorry. I won’t mess around anymore.”
“Na-me too. Even if you’re angry, is it right to throw punches first? Didn’t Dad always say to solve things with words, not fists?”
“He did.”
“What’s happening right now then?”
“I’m ashamed. I’m sorry.”
The parenting burden that came in the late 50s added more wrinkles to Professor Cheon’s forehead.
That said, he definitely didn’t miss his previous life.
Yet sometimes, just sometimes, he might wish for peaceful and tranquil times.
The father of the two girls turned his back, casting a forlorn glance toward his study.
*
Since revealing my past life, Saetbyeol had become relentless with her pranks.
I nestled in Saetbyeol’s arms with my laptop, beginning to draft my thesis.
It was a suitable compromise made under the promise that she wouldn’t prank me anymore today.
Instead, Saetbyeol would play with my hair and occasionally nudge my ears, yet she didn’t cross the line.
Jumble jumble-
“Sis, Dad seems really mad.”
“Yeah.”
“Shouldn’t we do something for him? I have a great idea—”
“Just let me finish this!”
“Wow, sis, you are such a devoted daughter! You can still focus on your thesis amidst all this!”
Who caused this mess, anyway?
I was about to smack the annoying Saetbyeol on the thigh but recalled Dad’s instructions, stopping just in time.
Tap-
My lost hand stopped at a light touch on the plump thigh peeking out from the dolphin shorts.
“Hmm?”
“But Saetbyeol, I have something I’m curious about.”
“Yeah?”
“Aren’t you scared of me?”
Remembering my past life wasn’t exactly pleasant,
I hadn’t gone into detail about the life I had led.
I only briefly mentioned major events like being persecuted in the Imperial Palace, being falsely accused of coup plotting, exile, disasters, and wars.
Today, she seemed fixated on the ‘Demon King’ topic and was teasing me fiercely.
There was no response.
‘As expected, she must have thought of me as difficult to approach… and rightly so.’
Perhaps she was trying hard to get along with me by teasing.
When I raised my head to check her expression,
“Pffft…!”
“Huh?”
Cheon Saetbyeol was puffing her cheeks to the max, desperately trying to stifle her laughter.
“Puhahahaha! Hahaha it’s so funny it hurts! Ugh, you’re trying to kill me with laughter, sis!”
“Ew, you just spit… This is kinda unpleasant.”
“Think about sis’s log-like figure. I can guarantee no one’s scared of you.”
“Like as if! Lately, everyone’s pointing fingers at me from the school videos they’ve seen.”
“Yeah, it’s not that no one is, but it’s not as horrible as you think. So don’t worry so much!”
Saetbyeol laughed innocently.
Now that the atmosphere had lightened up, should I bring it up?
Carefully intertwining our fingers, I said,
“I’ve killed people.”
The smile on Saetbyeol’s face vanished instantly.
“I’ve killed people in my past life. Not just one, but several. Most likely, many of them had families waiting for them—parents, wives, children…”
“I don’t care. As long as they’re not people, I’ve killed too.”
“They were just NPCs in a game world. People don’t just turn to light or dust when stabbed.”
“Just a handful of people.”
“It’s not just a handful.”
“Are there a hundred people?”
“More than a hundred.”
“Thousand?”
“Probably… more than that.”
We both fell silent for a while.
Saetbyeol suddenly tightened her grip on our interlaced fingers.
With a face that looked like she was about to burst into tears, she asked,
“Was there even one person out of them who tried to kill you…?”
Each word she struggled to utter was imbued with a sense of sadness for some reason.
I shook my head.
“None. Nope…”
“See! Na-me isn’t that kind of person! She’s just teasing people! Hic…!”
“Why are you crying? No, seriously?”
I genuinely didn’t understand the reason.
“I don’t know! You keep talking about serious stuff and ruining the atmosphere!”
This sensitive little cat wiped her eyes with my sleeve, which was now damp with tears.
She’s such a strange kid.
Still, thanks to her, I felt a warm sense of relief rising in my heart.
I closed my laptop and, like an excited child, waved my hands in the air as I said,
“Now, let’s discuss how to cheer Dad up!”
*
Contrasting my bold declaration, I had no confidence in Saetbyeol’s plan.
“I can’t dance. Can I back out now?”
“Pfft! It’s ridiculous to say you can’t when you managed to dance that weird spastic dance! Just shut up and follow me.”
Saetbyeol brought out a pair of polka-dotted baggy pants of questionable origin.
The ridiculous outfit was already incredibly burdensome, and now she wanted me to wear ridiculous glasses too.
“Choose between these pixelated 2D glasses or these alien glasses.”
Both options were bizarre. Why do hipsters buy this stuff? Why do they sell it?
Neither the supply nor demand made sense to me.
“2D pixel-”
“No, you’ll wear the green alien glasses! It suits you so well; pull those pants all the way up. Did you grab the money shooting gun? Let’s go!”
[Vtube Playlist: Funkytown]
We entered the study with a song released before Dad was even born.
According to Saetbyeol, this song was also a global hit in the 20s.
Dad was utterly taken aback upon seeing us.
There can hardly be a greater humiliation.
“Remember, when the second lyric comes after the instrumental, you shoot the money gun, right?”
“Everyone can hear it…!”
“So what? Hah!”
Professor Cheon pulled his chair closer and put on the glasses.
“Wow, what is this, kids?”
He seemed to have a rough idea of what we were planning.
Every time I became aware of his gaze, waves of embarrassment washed over me.
Swaying my neck to the disco punk beat, I prepared to dance.
Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam~
The dance consisted merely of shaking my hands and swaying my hips left and right.
The simplest sword technique of the Imperial Palace Swordsmanship was probably harder than this.
By the time the first lyric passed, my face was about to explode.
Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam~
The instrumental that seemed like it would never end finally concluded and the second lyric returned.
Following our promise with Saetbyeol, we scattered bundles of 50,000 and 100,000 won bills on either side of Professor Cheon.
“Wow! Money! Dad, we really love you!”
“Dad, love…!”
“Dad says he can’t hear well!”
“Dad, I love you!”
There’s something so embarrassing about saying “I love you.”
It’s a fact I’ll never understand, no matter how many lives I live.
Once the song ended, Dad smiled broadly, ruffling our hair.
“I love you all too. And sorry for scolding you earlier, Na-me.”
“It’s okay. I fully acknowledge what I did wrong.”
“Dad messed up more. Our Na-me was peacefully snoozing while you were drawing on her face.”
“Y-Yes? That was Cheon Saetbyeol…”
I turned to look at Saetbyeol.
She shook her head vigorously, denying that she had done it.
For reference, Cheon Saetbyeol had atrocious handwriting.
‘Could it be that neat and precise writing…?’
Professor Cheon’s last words hammered it home.
“Still, since I apologized to Na-me early on, could you forgive me?”
[Really, I’m sorry. Do I need to ask so politely for you two to stop fighting?]
The two scenes overlapped, and I felt a deep sense of betrayal.
When he bowed to us, he had genuinely apologized to me.
Then does that mean this event was also something planned alongside Cheon Saetbyeol?
The two humans pointed at the hidden camera they had snuck into the shelf, both laughing heartily.
“Our Na-me wants to be a Demon King when she grows up!”
“It’s good to have big dreams. Dad will always support you, Na-me.”
Saetbyeol shouted teasingly, while Dad raised his lips in a broad smile.
Not Dad, I had revisited him as Professor Cheon Kyu-jin.
“Professor Cheon Kyu-jin, thank you for raising me all this time.”
Without looking back, I dashed to the bathroom.
“Na-me! No, don’t, Na-me!”
Nevertheless… I should tell him I love him more often from now on.
The echo of the word love still lingered faintly on my lips.
