NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1
It’s been 4 years since I was born a girl.
I’ve turned 5.
It seems like this isn’t the Earth of my past life but a parallel world.
The historical framework is similar, but I confirmed the differences in the details through reading history books.
“Has our princess woken up?”
“Yeah.”
At first, I tried really hard to ignore being called a princess, but since Mom and Dad always call me that, I’ve somewhat accepted it.
“Dad already went to work. Our princess needs to eat too, right?”
“What’s for breakfast today?”
“Omurice~”
Even though I try to sit on the dining chair to eat, my short height makes it quite the struggle. Instead of helping me up, Mom just finds it adorable and takes pictures. Watching her, I sigh and say,
“Just sit me down already.”
“Wait a moment, I just need to take a photo for my social media.”
Mom smiles like it’s the cutest thing ever and finally picks me up and sits me in the chair after taking all her photos.
I try to eat, but just the weight of Mom’s gaze and the constant photo-taking each time I take a spoonful makes me feel like I might choke.
Every meal feels like this; it’s exhausting.
“Stop taking pictures.”
“Who does our daughter take after being so pretty?”
“Ugh…”
“Our princess, why are you sulking again? Mommy is sad. Boo-hoo.”
Mom pretends to be hurt, crying exaggeratedly.
“Sigh, I guess I’m pretty because I take after you, Mom.”
“Oh my, really? Hehe.”
Only then does Mom chuckle and start feeding me.
It’s clear that both Mom and Dad are beautiful people, and I was blessed to be born pretty too. I’m way prettier than any beautiful babies I saw in my past life, so even though I was born a girl, I’m happy about being born beautiful.
“Mom, I want to learn the piano.”
“The piano?”
When I was reborn, the first thought that came to me wasn’t about my gender.
It was about all the regrets I had in my past life—my biggest goal now is not to have any regrets anymore.
And the last thought before I died was to become a perfect person that others would envy.
One of those things was being good at handling instruments.
How many times did I think it was cool to see kids who were proficient at instruments during school?
When I turned 20, I thought about learning an instrument, but with work, I didn’t even have a chance to look at sheet music.
Actually, I thought it wasn’t too late even then, but it felt that way.
“Okay.”
“You’re too young to go to a music academy… Hmm… Should I look for a tutor?”
Luckily, Dad works in a big company, so we aren’t short on money. It seems like there won’t be any difficulties in learning.
“So, you can start piano lessons next week, but today, we need to go out for some fun with Mom, alright?”
“Today, I have to go out with Mom, okay?”
I don’t really want to go out with Mom, but I reluctantly say okay.
“Alright, got it.”
I need to finish my meal and prepare to go out. The reason I dislike going out with my mom is, first, she insists on making me take a bath.
It would be fine if it were just a bath, but even during that, her teasing doesn’t stop.
Those hands that love to mess with me.
Secondly, after the bath comes the fashion show with Mom.
“Should I dress our princess in this or that?”
It’s a never-ending cycle of putting clothes on and taking them off.
At first, I expressed that I didn’t like the cute outfits, but now I’ve resigned myself to wearing whatever she gives me.
“Our princess looks pretty in anything, it’s hard to choose.”
After an hour-long fashion show, I finally end up in a pink t-shirt and denim overalls with a headband, so I guess Mom is done getting ready.
Finally, we’re going out.
“Where to today?”
“Today, I’m going to meet a friend of mine who just moved nearby. She’s been friends with me since high school, so you have to greet her politely, understood?”
“Got it.”
“Oh, by the way, your friend from my circle has a friend who’s the same age as you. Make sure to get along?”
“Yeah.”
As I sit in the car, I look at the view outside, which reminds me so much of the streets from my past life.
If I had to say, it feels like the early 2010s.
When we arrive at my mom’s friend’s house, it’s clearly an expensive-looking standalone house.
A standalone house in Seoul, wow.
When the doorbell rings, a woman who seems to be Mom’s friend comes out.
Like calls to like—Mom’s friend is pretty too.
“Joo-hee, you’re here?”
“Min-ha! It’s been ages.”
“Hello.”
When I greet her, she looks at me in surprise, her eyes widening as if she’s about to hug me.
Feeling annoyed, I hide behind Mom.
“What’s with this doll? She’s even prettier in real life. Crazy!”
“My kid takes after me, so she’s pretty. Hehe.”
“Just let me hug her once!”
“My kid hates to be hugged and doesn’t even let her dad hug her.”
“Aww… Yeah, but you’ve worked hard to come, so come on in!”
Inside the house, it’s obviously a wealthy home.
“How can she be so cute? She looks even more like a doll than in pictures.”
“Like mother, like daughter, but our daughter is too cute, charming, pretty, fairy-like, and angelic, right?”
Sure, if it’s the first time seeing me, they might react like that, but my mom’s exaggerations have never stopped since I was born.
“Do you want to be my daughter? Do-hee? I’ll raise you beautifully.”
Oh, by the way, my name in this life is Lee Do-hee.
It’s created by taking the ‘hee’ from Mom’s name, Kwon Joo-hee, and the ‘do’ from Dad’s name, Lee Do-hyuck.
“I don’t want to.”
“Our daughter only has eyes for her mom, so that’s not happening!”
“No way.”
“Hey, then I guess I have to make you my daughter-in-law? Auntie also has a son who’s your age. Should I wake him up and bring him here?”
Then she went off to get her son, who was apparently sleeping.
‘Daughter-in-law? Even if I accept being a girl, I’m not marrying a guy.’
“I’m a girl, so I can accept that, but I won’t marry a guy.”
The boy that Min-ha’s aunt brought looked handsome even at just 4 years old, taking after mom.
“I should’ve been born as a good-looking guy like that kid; I look like a parasitic husband. Sigh.”
“This is our son Baek-hwi. Baek-hwi, you should say hello to Do-hee!”
“Hello…”
The little boy keeps glancing at me shyly.
“Isn’t he really pretty? We have to fool him into becoming mom’s daughter-in-law!”
“Yeah!”
“Who says he can just be a daughter-in-law?”
“I’ll live with Mom forever.”
“Gasp! My daughter said something like this; I’m so touched, sniff sniff.”
“Nope, I’ll live alone forever.”
“Aww, why~ our princess is going to live with mom forever~”
Pushing away my clingy mom, I went into the little boy’s room and told him:
“I’m going to sleep, so you play by yourself.”
“Okay…”
Seeing the little boy’s sad face makes me feel unnecessarily guilty.
As an experienced life senior, I should give him some advice.
“Hey, little guy.”
“I’m not little! I’m Baek-hwi.”
“Fine, alright. What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Then the little boy looked at me strangely, blushing.
“Um… I want to get married.”
“Sigh, this guy’s going to make many girls cry; why is he looking at me?”
I stretched his cheeks and told him:
“Hey, I’ll give you life-changing advice, so remember this: First, you have to look cool. It’s not just about external looks; you need to find what you want to do and become a national representative in that field, got it? Don’t regret it later for not working hard, remember.”
Even though I’m just talking to a little kid who won’t understand, I wish I had been born a man and lived as an alpha male, sigh.
“While you’re at it, studying is basic. It’s good to know a few foreign languages, and you should be good at playing an instrument. Also, work hard on sports and take care of your body so that later you can marry the girl you want. Understand? Answer me if you do.”
“Okay… I’ll try hard.”
Even though he’s just a 5-year-old kid born into a wealthy family and looking handsome, I feel a twinge of jealousy.
And yet, feeling jealous of a little kid…
“Sigh, I’m going to sleep now, so leave me alone.”
Then I casually lay down on the couch and fell asleep.
When I opened my eyes, I was already in the car heading home.
“Is our Do-hee awake? Let’s hurry home; Dad is waiting.”
“Yeah, why didn’t you wake me up on the way home?”
“How could I wake up our princess while she was sleeping? Mom carried you without waking you. Did you have fun with Hwi?”
“Yeah, I gave him life-changing advice.”
Then Mom gave me a puzzled look from the backseat.
“Dad will be home soon, so hurry up and let’s eat.”
“Okay.”
When we arrived home, Dad’s shoes were already there, so he must have come back after finishing work.
“Did our daughter come home~?”
“Did you come~?”
Dad runs to the entrance with a bright smile and hugs me.
“Let go, it hurts.”
“Aww, Daddy, give me a kiss.”
Dad clings on endlessly. If he doesn’t give me a kiss now, he’ll hold on until the end—it gets so annoying. Let’s just give a quick peck…
“Mwah, done? Now let go quickly.”
Only then does Dad finally let go.
Now it’s Mom hugging me.
“Why doesn’t Mom do it? Hurry up, Mom, do it!”
Sigh, even though my body is 5, my mind is in my 30s—this is just a hassle.
“Mwah. Now let go quickly.”
Now Mom and Dad are kissing each other while letting me go. It’s nice that they’re all lovey-dovey, but I wish they’d do that far away.
“Daughter, hurry and wash your hands, wipe your feet, and eat!”
“Okay, I got it, I’ll wash by myself.”
But Dad picks me up and insists on washing me. Ugh, let me go.
I escape Dad’s annoying touch and watch YouTube before eating.
This is a rare moment for me to enjoy in peace.
First up is the stories of successful people.
No matter whether it’s finance, management, stocks, entertainment, or sports, they all have one thing in common.
They’ve been doing something consistently since at least their teenage years.
Even Warren Buffett studied stocks and invested since he was 11, right?
Listening to their stories makes me envious.
In this life, I won’t have regrets from my past life again.
First, it starts with self-management.
Finding what I want to do comes second.
After somewhat finishing the video, I head to the dining table because dinner is ready.
sigh Mom is at it again, taking pictures before I sit down at the table.
“Hurry up and upload it, it’s annoying.”
“Got it~ our little princess, heh.”
Once I sit at the table, I see what’s on the menu.
Spicy stir-fried chicken, spinach salad, and white rice.
“Mom, starting tomorrow, I want brown rice. Brown rice helps you grow taller.”
“I need to be tall so I won’t get left behind by guys—I need to be over 170cm…”
“Oh, our daughter is looking for brown rice? Got it~ now let’s eat quickly.”
Even while we eat, I ignore Mom’s playful attempts and scarf down my food before dashing to my room.
Once in my room, I close the door and focus on the studies I need for school in the future.
My goal is to be among the top 10 in my class from elementary school to high school.
After studying, it’s workout time.
Jump rope to grow taller and stretching to shape my body.
Ever since I learned how to manage my body, it’s become a routine after eating and before bed.
Once I finish exercising, I wash up courtesy of Mom’s annoying prodding, then head to bed.
It’s a bit of a hassle, but if I keep at it, I’ll surely be rewarded someday.
Starting next week, I’ll be learning an instrument too…
Time to sleep, gotta sleep early to grow taller!