Report
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Griffin Scans
Translator – Hero of death
Proofreader – Sleepyhead
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Chapter 7- Embarrassing Moment
Everyone has at least one toy from their childhood that they remember vividly, even after many years.
For Yoon Tae-jun, that toy was a large robot his father bought him—his very first toy. Though the details were now blurry, he distinctly recalled it having horns on either side of its head and being quite big. And the place where that precious robot had been shattered right before his eyes...
“It should be around here…”
Yoon Tae-jun stood in front of an empty lot near the house, waiting for someone to appear.
How long had he been waiting? Just as he started to doubt whether he had the date wrong, he heard the sound of a child crying and a dog barking in the distance.
“Waaahhh~”
“Woof woof!!!”
There they are...
With a faint smile, Tae-jun stood up and tapped the concrete with the toe of his tightly-laced military boots.
He hadn’t taken off the uncomfortable boots for this very moment.
The child’s crying grew louder, and the sound of running footsteps echoed closer.
“Uwaaahh!!”
“Woof woof!!”
The moment the child, clutching a large robot, tripped over a rock and fell—
Tae-jun sprinted forward and delivered a powerful kick to the massive dog chasing the boy.
Thwack!!
Yelp!!
The rabid dog, foaming at the mouth and chasing the child like a maniac, flew into a pile of trash from Tae-jun’s kick. The dog was so big that, had he not tightened his boot laces and secured his ankles, it might’ve been his own bones that snapped.
But at that moment, Tae-jun had only one thought in his head:
I got my revenge!!
The stunned dog staggered, then curled its tail and backed away the moment it met Tae-jun’s eyes.
“Waaahh! Mom~!!”
The boy, still on the ground, was sobbing uncontrollably. Sure enough, his scraped knees and hands were bleeding.
Tae-jun helped the child to his feet and brushed off the dirt on his clothes.
“You’re okay, you’re okay. That bad dog’s gone now. Don’t worry.”
Just then, a woman’s scream came from behind the boy.
“Tae-jun!”
She had sprinted up the steep hill and immediately knelt to check her son’s injuries, dusting off his dirty clothes.
“How many times did I tell you to stay close to me?!”
Seeing her child bleeding must’ve been heartbreaking.
Standing a step back, Tae-jun’s eyes welled up as he looked at the young woman—his own mother in her youth.
Not wanting to be caught getting emotional, Tae-jun picked up the robot toy that had rolled away.
Wow… it’s been ages. But… was it always this plain-looking? I remember it being cooler.
He inspected the robot that had once been his, then returned it to the crying child.
“Thank you. I don’t know how to repay you…”
Finally meeting Tae-jun’s eyes, the young woman bowed repeatedly in gratitude.
“No need for that. As long as the kid’s okay, that’s all that matters.”
“Thank you. Really, thank you. Tae-jun, say thank you to the man.”
“Tank yuuu…”
Still sniffling in his mother’s arms, the boy bowed deeply to Tae-jun. Tae-jun smiled and gently ruffled his hair.
“Your name’s Tae-jun too? Mine is Yoon Tae-jun.”
The woman looked surprised.
“Oh my? You even have the same last name. My son’s name is Yoon Tae-jun too.”
“Really? Well, what a funny coincidence. Haha~”
With an awkward chuckle and avoiding her gaze, Tae-jun slowly rose to his feet.
He feared if he kept staring at his young mother any longer, he might actually cry. Crying in front of strangers would only make him look weird.
Sometimes it’s best to disappear before emotions get the better of you.
But just then, the woman called out to him.
“Excuse me!”
“Yes?”
“It doesn’t feel right to just let you go like this. Could I get your contact number, maybe…?”
“My contact number?”
But Tae-jun had just signed his lease an hour ago—he didn’t even have a phone number yet.
Scratching his cheek in embarrassment, he pointed toward the rooftop room of the nearby duplex.
“I’m staying up there, in the rooftop room next to the empty lot. Just moved in today, so I don’t have a number yet.”
“Oh, I see. You just moved in?”
“Yes, something like that.”
“Well, I’ll drop by later with something to eat. Our house is nearby too.”
Tae-jun almost replied, Yeah, I know.
But he held it in.
“Mom, I’m bleeding…”
Seeing the blood dripping from the boy’s hand again, the woman gave Tae-jun one more thank-you and hurried off with her son.
With everything going as planned and no major issues, Tae-jun went to home feeling lighthearted.
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Back at home, Tae-jun stripped off his stuffy uniform and sat in his underwear. As he reached for his heavy duffel bag, he noticed something on his thigh.
“Huh? What the—? The scar’s gone?”
The scar from when he was bitten by that crazy dog at five years old had vanished, replaced with smooth, baby-like skin.
No way… did the scar disappear because I beat that mutt today? Or is it because I got a new body, like with the cigarette thing…?
To be sure, he checked another scar—a small one from cutting himself while carving rubber stamps as a kid.
That one was still faintly there.
Then it’s the first one.
Makes sense since I only started smoking after joining the army anyway.
As he idly inspected his body, his eyes returned to the duffel bag.
“Seriously, what the hell is in this thing that makes it so heavy?’”
Anyone who's been in the military would know—duffel bags are black holes. Unless you dump them out all at once, you’ll never find what’s inside.
Finally, Tae-jun flipped it over and emptied the contents.
Clothes and familiar tools from his old workshop—nippers, screwdrivers, an air compressor, painting gear, and then—
“Huh? Feels like there’s still something inside.”
It was heavy—probably what made the whole bag feel like a sandbag.
Tae-jun gripped the fabric and gave it a good shake.
CLANG~!! CLANG~!! CLUNK~!! ROLL...
“AAARGHH!!!”
A solid lump of metal slammed into his big toe. The pain shot from his foot to his skull.
Groaning, he collapsed to the floor, clutching his foot.
“Oww! Owww!!”
As tears pricked his eyes, he finally got a good look at the object.
It was a brass container, about the size of a grown man’s forearm.
“The hell?! Why was something this heavy in there? Damn it!”
Crawling over, he picked it up. It seemed ordinary—just a solid, well-crafted vessel.
“A chamber pot?”
It was thick and sturdy. He knocked on it, flipped it upside down, anything he could think of. But nothing happened. It was just… a container.
“Hmm… Why would this…?”
Too tall for a chamber pot. More like a storage vessel. Big enough to fit a human head...
“A human head? Nah. Come on…”
Feeling ridiculous but curious, Tae-jun glanced around.
No one to judge him here, anyway.
Like a child, he turned the container upside down and placed it over his head.
Maybe—just maybe—something like a virtual reality screen would light up inside?
Of course, it was pitch black. Not even a glimmer of light.
“Of course…”
If anything, they should’ve included a game console that spits out money like those web novel MCs get.
Chuckling to himself, he tried to lift the container off his head but stopped.
“Wait. It’s stuck!?”
Yup. The rim had caught on his jaw and wouldn’t budge.
“Uuugh! UGGHHH!!!”
He tried yanking it off, shoulders straining, but it wouldn’t move.
‘What do I do?!’
As he flailed blindly, he tripped on some clothes and rolled across the floor.
“Knock knock…”
“Who’s there?!”
“I’m the landlady’s daughter. Mom said you probably don’t have side dishes, so I brought some rice and food…”
The girl’s voice at the door startled him.
“Ah, uh… Just a sec!”
Panicked and unable to see, Tae-jun stumbled toward the door—only to trip again.
Thud! Crash!
“Um… are you okay in there?” the girl asked cautiously.
“J-Just a minute! I’ll be right out!”
He finally found the handle and swung the door open—
“Kyaaahhhh!! A Ghost!!”
“Wait! I’m not a ghost!!”
“Then what are you!?”
“Um… I… uh…”
“Are you pranking me or something!?”
“No! I swear! Ugh… This thing—it’s stuck!”
“…Why were you wearing that?”
“I just… wondered if my head would fit inside…”
“….”
“…I’m not crazy.”
“Uh-huh?”
“I know this is super awkward for a first meeting, but… could you… maybe…”
“Help you?”
“Y-Yes…”
With the help of a girl he didn’t even know by face, Tae-jun managed to escape his humiliating predicament. But even after taking off the pot, he couldn’t lift his head out of embarrassment or because of the throbbing pain in his chin and jaw.
“Here. It’s our dinner, but we saved some before eating. It’s clean.”
“Thank you…”
Still too ashamed to meet her eyes, he accepted the bag and bowed slightly before retreating into his room.
“Ughhhhhh! So Embarrassing!!!”
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Hearing his anguished wail behind her, the girl couldn’t help but chuckle. She stepped into her house on the third floor.
“Sweetie? Everything okay? I thought I heard someone scream.”
“Mom. That guy who moved into the rooftop room? I think he’s a bit… off.”
“What? I thought he was tall and super handsome?”
“Can’t say. I didn’t even see his face.”
“Huh? But you just dropped off the food, right?”
“Yeah, and he came out with a giant pot on his head. I thought he was a ghost or something.”
“Aw, poor guy. Maybe he’s just shy.”
“…No. That’s not what it felt like.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. He seemed… genuinely strange. Like, mentally unstable strange.”
“Hey! Watch your mouth, young lady. Don’t say crazy.”
“Then what do I say?”
“‘Someone who’s not in their right mind.’”
“…Fine. Yeah. He seemed like someone who’s not in his right mind.”
“Well, he's only here for three months. Just bear with it, okay? Let’s see how it goes…”
“Hmm~ Alright. Now get inside and study. You're going to college the year after next, remember?”
“Ugh, seriously. It’s always study, study. I’m so sick of it I could die.”
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“This is delicious…”
Pink sausages coated in egg, served with a small dish of ketchup.
Thin omelette slices made from the leftover egg batter.
A few pieces of kimchi. Crispy, roasted seaweed.
Fluffy, tightly packed white rice and a bowl of pumpkin doenjang-guk (soybean paste soup), so full it spilled down from the lid.
With a mouthful of white rice and a bit of side dish, Tae-jun felt a sting in the tip of his nose.
Wiping his reddened nose from holding back his emotions, he let the warm soup flow into his mouth, feeling it soothe him from the inside out.
“It’s really good.”
With every spoonful that went down his throat, a deep, warm comfort seemed to well up from the bottom of his chest.
A meal prepared by someone—for him.
Something he hadn’t felt in what seemed like forever.
A real home-cooked meal.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor of a cramped room—no TV, no radio, not even a single book and eating without a proper table, he never imagined food could taste this good.
June 12th, 1985.
Yoon Tae-jun had returned to the long-lost past.
~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter End~~~~~~~~~~
