The Regressed Vault Keeper Took It All

Chapter 2: I Returned Here Again

I left my sick younger brother alone in the narrow alley and moved my steps.

I pushed the rushing guilt behind me and quickened my pace.

Min-soo’s coughing still lingered in my ears, but I had no choice if I wanted to survive.

The blade-like chill of January stung my cheeks, yet the marketplace burned hot with people’s energy.

It was a strange space where cold and warmth coexisted.

The loud cries of the vendors tore through the winter air.

“Aigoo, ma’am! Fresh radishes came in today. One bundle for 15 hwan, but if you buy two, I’ll give them for 25!”

“15 hwan? Last year it wasn’t even 10. Just because the year changed, why is it so expensive?”

“Aigoo, don’t even mention it. Do you know how hard farming is these days? I’m only giving you this cheap because you’re a regular. Go somewhere else—there it’ll go way over 20.”

“Eh, still too expensive. Give me three bundles for 20 and I’ll buy.”

“Aigoo, that’s too much! Then 28. I can’t cut more than that!”

“Fine, fine. But throw in some scallions, too.”

In every narrow alley, all sorts of goods were precariously displayed, and the heated voices of bargaining filled my ears.

‘15 hwan’, ‘20 hwan’… Those currency units sounded strange yet familiar in my ears.

I groped at the fraying thread of faint memories and stepped deeper into the market.

The growl from Min-soo’s stomach circled my ears like a ghost.

Around me, beggars in worn-out clothes stretched out their hands, shadows begging for alms.

But I chose a different path instead of the humiliation of begging.

The sweet aroma rising from freshly baked bread teased my nose and pulled me forward.

I scanned the surroundings with hawk-like eyes, waiting for the perfect moment like a predator stalking prey.

“Freshly baked red bean bread today! Get your warm bread here!”

“How much?”

The baker’s gaze shifted to another customer, and in that fleeting instant, my body had already moved like a leopard that had long been waiting for its prey.

I dashed like lightning and snatched two red bean breads from the display.

The hot warmth burned through my palms.

As I turned to escape—

“You brat!”

I heard the baker’s shout and bolted.

The warm bread was still clutched in my hands.

“You bastard! Stop!”

I ignored his cry and ducked into the market’s alleys.

Even though so much time had passed, the layout of Cheongnyangni Market came to me as naturally as if it were yesterday.

“Over here! Sir! That beggar kid!”

The sound of someone pointing me out pierced my ears.

Without time to catch my breath, I swerved into another alley.

As I weaved through the cramped alleys, my whole body shivered with a forgotten thrill.

The limping legs that had suffered from worn-out joints, the aged body that once struggled even to breathe—gone.

Now, youth surged within me.

How long did I run? The baker’s furious footsteps grew faint and eventually vanished.

After wandering through the maze of alleys for a while, I finally reached the shaded alley where Min-soo waited.

“Cough, cough.”

Min-soo’s frail cough broke the silence.

The sound clawed at my heart, leaving me in pain.

Perhaps hearing my steps, the small face that had been staring at the ground slowly lifted.

Min-soo looked at me with eyes full of hope.

“Hyung!”

He tried to stand, his eyes glowing with joy, but staggered like a paper doll.

His body seemed light enough to be blown away by the faintest breeze.

I rushed forward and grabbed his small shoulders, pushing him back down to sit.

“Stay seated. And here.”

I handed him the two red bean breads clutched in my hands.

“Huh?”

“Eat. You’re hungry, right?”

Min-soo’s eyes widened as he held the bread.

He glanced between the warm bread and my face, his expression torn between hesitation and longing.

“What about you, hyung?”

“I already ate. You eat them all.”

In truth, my stomach burned with hunger.

The smell of the bread made my mouth water, but when I saw Min-soo’s pale, sickly face, I knew I had to endure.

Right now, Min-soo needed nourishment more desperately than I did.

I could bear hunger—but his sickness could not wait.

“You’re lying!”

“I really did eat. Hurry up. Before someone comes.”

“……”

Min-soo’s silence weighed heavy in the air.

“Hurry!”

At my shout, Min-soo hesitantly bit into one.

His eyes widened.

“Hyung! This is really good.”

Just from a single bite of red bean bread, his face lit up with pure joy, as though heaven’s gates had opened.

His expression made me smile without thinking.

For that brief moment, the misery around us scattered like mist.

“Yeah. Eat a lot.”

I gently brushed Min-soo’s rough hair and began to sort out the chaos in my head.

‘This isn’t a dream. For some reason, I’ve come back here.’

Every sensation was too vivid.

It wasn’t a dream.

This was a second chance.

‘How is this possible?’

I died.

Bitten by the very dog I raised.

The memory made my teeth grind unconsciously.

“Hyung?”

Min-soo, startled by the sound, called me while chewing his bread.

“It’s nothing. Eat.”

I gathered my thoughts again.

‘I don’t know why, but I was given a second chance.’

Min-soo finished one bread and hesitated as he looked at the other.

‘This time, I’ll protect you.’

I would save Min-soo.

And then I would find the one who killed me.

I had worked like a dog for decades, yet in the end, I was brutally killed.

‘I wasn’t greedy.’

All I wanted was to protect what was mine.

But they had snatched away the empire I built with my own blood and sweat in an instant.

As though I had been nothing more than their possession my whole life.

Maybe my beginning was wrong.

But in the end, I had achieved everything with my own hands.

Yet they took it all away, and even my life.

‘I’m no longer their servant. Everything will be mine.’

The face of the old man who must have ordered my death surfaced in my mind.

He would be young now.

‘And most likely with the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.’

He had been at the center of power, the one who entrusted me with his hidden assets.

‘Jeong Tae-soo.’

I repeated the name in my mind.

‘The one who ordered my death. Jeong Tae-soo. He’s with the KCIA right now.’

I knew.

His empire was only just beginning.

‘This time will be different. I’ll rise from failure. I’ll swallow everything they have. This isn’t just revenge. This is a war to reclaim my life. And this time, I will win. Without fail.’

As I closed my eyes in thought, Min-soo called out.

“Hyung.”

When I opened them, Min-soo was offering me the leftover bread.

“Hyung, eat. I’m full.”

I laughed.

Yes, Min-soo was always this soft-hearted and kind.

“You’re not full. Keep eating.”

“But still…”

“I’m really not hungry. Eat before it gets cold.”

When I patted his head again, sadness filled Min-soo’s eyes.

He must have noticed the scars left on my hands.

He opened his mouth to say something, but another fit of harsh coughing came out instead.

“Hurts a lot, doesn’t it?”

“N-no.”

Tuberculosis? Pneumonia? Without treatment, he could die.

Here in Korea, those were death sentences.

‘I need a way.’

I had to save Min-soo.

But I had no money.

What could I possibly do?

“Hyung.”

“Eat. Someone’s coming.”

I urged Min-soo, who still held the bread.

But he didn’t eat right away.

I sighed.

“I’m not going to eat it. Do what you want with it—throw it away or not.”

My mind spun quickly.

And then, a girl came to mind.

The child who once wandered the streets with us.

“Min-soo.”

“Huh?”

Min-soo, who was still hesitating with the bread, answered my call.

“Do you remember Kamangi?”

“Kamangi?”

His reaction was strange.

His eyes looked as though he were hiding something.

“Yeah. Do you know where she is?”

Instead of answering right away, Min-soo avoided my gaze.

“Baek Min-soo!”

At my stern shout, Min-soo flinched.

“I need to meet her. Do you know where she is?”

After hesitating for a long while, Min-soo gave a small nod.

“Let’s go.”

I stood up and pulled Min-soo up with me.

He was still holding the red bean bread.

“Now? Shouldn’t we beg for something to bring back first…”

“That’s not for you to worry about. Just come.”

I hurried him along.

Kamangi—she was the one who would become our lifeline.

No, she would be the key to saving Min-soo.

Min-soo led the way.

After walking for a long while, we arrived at Cheonggyecheon.

Instead of heading toward the beggars’ den where we used to stay, he walked in the opposite direction.

“How much farther?”

“About ten minutes? I don’t know exactly.”

“How do you know? You’ve been there?”

“No. Kamangi said if we wanted to find her, we should come here. She told me not to tell you.”

Only then did I understand why Min-soo had been acting so secretive.

And why she had left us.

Back then, even looking after Min-soo was overwhelming for me.

For us, wandering the streets, she had been a burden.

But Kamangi was a sharp girl.

One day, she left on her own.

The shantytown was a maze built out of the will to survive.

Rusty cans, torn tents, abandoned boxes had all been given the name “home.” They stretched endlessly along the water’s edge.

It looked like a beehive.

But instead of honey, it was filled with sighs and tears.

“Here.”

Min-soo pointed under a bridge, and we went down together.

The shantytown was no different from the beggars’ den.

Anywhere people lived, it was the same.

Narrow alleys bustled with people.

Children’s voices, women’s chatter echoed.

“Where did she say she’d be?”

Min-soo glanced around, then pointed in one direction.

“She said over this way.”

We went deeper into the alley.

The wary gazes of the people there followed us.

I lowered my voice and asked Min-soo,

“No men here?”

Only women and children.

Min-soo nodded.

“That’s why she came here.”

In an age where no one could protect you, maybe this was the only refuge she could find.

“There!”

Min-soo suddenly pointed and shouted.

I followed his finger.

In front of a shabby wooden shack, a girl was drawing water with a rusty bucket.

Black hair, sun-darkened skin.

The nickname “Kamangi” suited her perfectly.

Even in the harsh shantytown, Kamangi radiated life.

“Kamangi!”

Before I could stop him, Min-soo ran toward her.

The girl looked up.

Surprise flickered across her face, then a smile spread.

“Min-soo! How did you get here?”

Then her eyes turned toward me.

“Min-woo oppa too…”

She gave a small bow of her head in greeting.

Around her neck hung a necklace.

As I looked at it, a thought came to me.

‘This girl’s identity…’

Kamangi might have seemed like any other war orphan, but she carried a secret.

A secret even she didn’t know.

That small stone looked ordinary, but it was the only thing that guaranteed her true identity.

Even while wandering the streets, Kamangi had treasured it like a jewel.

‘Why do you treat that stone like it’s so precious?’

I once asked her.

She shook her head and answered casually.

‘I don’t know. Just… when I stroke it, I feel calm.’

Back then, I let it pass with a simple nod.

But now, I knew.

The real value of that stone.

And how important it would be to my plan.

I asked calmly,

“Have you been well?”

Kamangi nodded.

“The older girls here take care of me. How about you, oppa?”

Her eyes, along with Min-soo’s, turned to me.

I stayed silent for a moment, then said,

“We’re managing. By the way, is your cough still bad these days?”

“Yes… Min-soo too, right?”

“Same as always. But it’ll get better soon. I’ll find a way.”

As I spoke, my focus returned to the stone hanging from her neck.

Sensing my gaze, Kamangi instinctively raised her hand to cover it.

“Kamangi.”

“Yes?”

“Can I see that for a moment?”

“This?”

She clutched the stone protectively, her eyes wary.

I nodded.

“I really need it.”

She didn’t immediately say she would give it.

Of course.

She would never hand over something so precious so easily.

But I didn’t falter.

I stayed calm and tried to persuade her.

“I’ll return it later. This will be good for you too.”

“But…”

“Trust me. No, if you can’t trust me, trust Min-soo.”

Kamangi glanced at Min-soo with worried eyes.

When he nodded, the stiffness in her shoulders eased a little.

After hesitating, she finally unfastened the necklace.

As if handing me her very soul, she held it out.

Even in that simple act, I could feel her struggle.

“You must return it.”

“I will. Kamangi, can you take care of Min-soo for today?”

“Min-soo? But…”

I already knew this was a place where only women lived.

“Just for today. Please, just take care of him for one day.”

“…Wait a moment.”

Kamangi ran toward the women who had been watching us.

A short while later, she returned.

“Just today. It was hard to get their permission.”

“Thank you. I’m counting on you.”

“Min-soo, come here.”

“Hyung…”

Min-soo looked at me uneasily.

Did he think I was abandoning him?

The fear in his eyes pierced my chest.

I patted his head and spoke as gently as I could.

“Min-soo. The only time I’d ever abandon you is when I die. So just stay here for today.”

“…Okay.”

I watched Kamangi lead Min-soo away until they disappeared from sight.

Then I turned.

‘Time to go.’

This necklace—whether it was treasure or worthless junk—

I would find out once I met that man.