NOVEL NEXT Chapter 288
* * *
After school, I walked hand in hand with Ozworld along a path where cherry blossoms fluttered down. I didn’t want to go home. I could go to Ozworld’s house to study together, but I didn’t feel like it. Noticing I wasn’t in a good mood, Ozworld suggested we take a walk since the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, hoping to lift my spirits.
Honestly, there was nothing new to be disappointed about with my mom. She had always been that way: a selfish materialist who prioritized her life over her child’s, sensitive to appearances.
Before my regression, I was a complete mess compared to now. I would cut my hair with kitchen scissors because it annoyed me, wore clothes like rags, dragged my shoes without wearing them properly, and always had a dark expression. But now, I maintained a neat appearance, thanks to Ozworld, who occasionally took me to the shop for grooming. My improved appearance probably made my mother see new value in me, as she cared so much about looks.
If this were before my regression, I would have been happy even with this kind of attention.
Thinking that made me feel bitter.
“Are you still in a bad mood?” Ozworld asked in a gentle voice, stroking me as I leaned on his arm.
That’s why I easily got upset. In the past, I would have brushed it off or been happy about it, but now I found myself suddenly disappointed and wanting to complain, all because of Ozworld.
“You make me get a bad habit.”
“That’s an interesting statement. How so?”
“Because of you, I became spoiled.”
Ozworld burst into laughter. “Did I? That’s a good thing to hear. I wish you would be even more spoiled.”
I didn’t like that.
What if you get tired of me and leave?
I held his hand tighter in silent anxiety, and Ozworld hugged me, patting my back.
“If something happens, just tell me. I’ll take care of it all.”
I liked hearing those words, but I still retorted gruffly. “Don’t be so arrogant, Fool. You can’t solve everything just because you’re rich.”
“It’s okay. I’ll handle it somehow, so just tell me, Jiwoo. Don’t try to solve it on your own.”
Ozworld, despite being my age, often acted like he was a mature adult.
It’s ridiculous. I’m a regressor, you know. I’m actually way older than him.
“…Alright.”
But in reality, he was reliable.
My first life was so exhausting that it felt like God took pity on me and gave me a cheat key named Ozworld. Or maybe Ozworld was something beyond human, directly intervening in my life.
“Are you hiding anything from me?”
I often thought that Ozworld might be an alien. That fact hadn’t been an issue while we were friends. But now it was different.
“Like what?”
“…Just anything. You’re not the type to keep in touch often.”
Ozworld then chuckled. “If you’re curious about what I do, you can come to my house.”
“But we can’t be together until night.”
“
Hmm
…”
Still, I didn’t have the courage to ask outright about his identity. What if he returned to his home planet if I discovered his identity? He might be undercover on Earth.
Right. Come to think of it, he was suspicious from the beginning.
Does it make sense for someone to look like that and be human? If he were of a different species, his appearance would make sense…
“Jiwoo, should we live together?”
The unexpected words made my mind freeze.
“You don’t want to live there, right? Live with me.”
“You know we’re minors, right…?”
“So what? I plan to keep living with you.”
What is this? Out of nowhere? Is he proposing?
I quickly checked my phone.
[Ozworld Holton]
[Likeability: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🤍]
Ozworld’s likeability wasn’t entirely filled yet.
At that moment, Ozworld pulled out an envelope from his bag and handed it to me. I checked the contents, wondering what it was, and found records of my biological father’s whereabouts and current situation.
“You said you wanted to live as Shin Jiwoo, not Chae Jiwoo.”
“I… did.”
Although changing my surname was a complicated process, it was possible with my biological father’s consent. Even in my memories before I regressed, I managed to contact my biological father and asked him to agree to the name change. He agreed on the condition that I never seek him out again.
Ozworld tilted his head and asked. “What do you think?”
I thought it was something I would have to do eventually, but it was earlier than I had expected. Anyway, my current situation wasn’t so bad that I had to force such an action. I didn’t want to seem like a peculiar and strange person who was eager to change my surname and leave home.
“I’m still a minor.”
Once I became an adult and entered college, I’d have a natural excuse to leave home. It wouldn’t be too late to sever all ties then.
Ozworld reluctantly agreed though he wasn’t satisfied.
I looked at the documents in my hand before putting them in my bag. “I’ll take these with me.”
Even though I wasn’t planning to change my surname or leave home immediately, it felt strange to realize that all the things I was once pushed to do in the past were now ‘choices.’ The documents didn’t hold any power, but the fact that I could become Shin Jiwoo at any time made me feel invincible.
“Thank you.”
The gloomy mood that had followed me all day suddenly cleared up.
* * *
When the cherry blossoms had fallen and fresh green leaves appeared, I studied for midterms at Ozworld’s house, as usual. I have a goal now. I wanted to enter the same university as Ozworld with grades that matched his. Although the goal was much higher than in my previous life, it seemed achievable thanks to the tutor Ozworld had found, who was incredibly competent.
I’m getting a lot of help in various ways.
Whenever I felt overwhelmed by the thought of being so reliant, Ozworld would say he would adjust to my school. I would get mad and tell him not to say such ridiculous things. Why would someone with grades that are good enough to enter the best university apply to a lower one?
Thanks to his full support, I was studying harder than I had in my first life.
While I was studying like crazy today, I suddenly got a message from my mom telling me to come home immediately. Something seemed to have happened. Ozworld offered to wait outside.
“Why do that? It’s raining; just stay home.”
I insisted that he shouldn’t come out, pretending it was no big deal. Even though he had already seen me at my worst multiple times, I still didn’t want to show him that I was the black sheep of the family.
The atmosphere at home has been off lately.
At some point, I used my tutoring as an excuse to stay at Ozworld’s until evening, have dinner there, and return home. I barely saw my family. Despite that, I sensed a strangely bad vibe, and it seemed to be related to me.
As I opened the front door and thought of heading to my room first, I stopped and greeted when I entered the lounge.
“I’m home.”
Mom and my stepfather were sitting on the lounge sofa, their expressions icy. My stepfather looked at me with clear anger in his eyes.
“Jiwoo, can you play the piano?”
If it was about the piano, it had to be related to Chae Bohyeon.
“Yes.”
Since I couldn’t lie, I answered truthfully, and my stepfather reacted displeased as if he couldn’t believe it.
“You sure know how to do a lot, Jiwoo.”
Mom glanced at my stepfather’s expression and then rebuked me with a sharper look.
“Don’t you know Bohyeon is going through a sensitive time? What did you do in front of your brother that made him unable to touch the piano keys?”
“Why is that my fault?”
“You’re saying it’s not your fault? As a sister, you don’t think to help your brother, and instead, you disrupt the family atmosphere by going next door every day, and you say that?”
My stepfather stopped my mom and gestured at me. “Come here and sit down first.”
It seemed that the real issue wasn’t to scold me but something else.
When I sat down on the sofa, my stepfather handed me a white envelope from the table. “I’ll be honest. Jiwoo, you’re smart and talented, and it’s causing your siblings to lose confidence. I’m not saying you should hide your talents.”
Before he finished speaking, I had a feeling I knew what was inside that envelope.
“I’ve mentioned it before, but you shouldn’t stay in Korea. Study abroad. It’s a better choice for you.”
“So you’re saying I’m a nuisance, so you’re kicking me out of the house.” A sarcastic smile crept onto my face. “But why do I have to go abroad? If it’s hard to accommodate me, I’ll live on my own.”
“I don’t understand. We’re offering full support for you to attend a much better university abroad, yet you’re insisting on staying. Is it because of Ozworld?”
Ozworld was mentioned again. My mom and my stepfather both constantly brought up Ozworld, revealing what part of it they were concerned about.
“I’m planning to talk to Mr. Holton as well. It’s inappropriate for you and Ozworld, as minors, to have an unseemly relationship, and parental intervention is necessary.”
“Inappropriate?”
“So you’re saying it’s appropriate for you to come and go every day to a boy’s house who lives alone?”
“How is studying at a childhood friend’s house less appropriate than Umi and Bohyeon causing trouble by drinking outside?”
Everything I said in a fit of anger was pointless. My stepfather didn’t truly think I was the problem. He just needed a justification and was determined to send me away for whatever reason.
With a cold expression, he called the staff. “Bring Jiwoo’s luggage.”
A young woman in a suit and my stepfather’s secretary approached with a suitcase.
My stepfather then spoke. “She will be your personal secretary starting today. Ms. Kang will take all your luggage to the airport, and there will be staff to assist you at your destination, so don’t worry.”
With a stiff face, I opened the envelope on the table and checked the ticket. It was a plane ticket for a flight departing in just five hours. I let out a bitter laugh in disbelief. Then, overcome with uncontrollable anger, I shouted. “Who do you think you are to send me overseas like this? This is clearly domestic violence! And make sure you properly educate your kids before blaming others!”
My stepfather gestured with a displeased look, and the staff immediately grabbed me by the arms and started dragging me out.
“Don’t touch me—!”
At that moment, everything except me started floating. Even the people.