Three weeks later;
"Dahyun-ah, come out. Lunch is ready." Jun knocked on the door continuously until it was opened and his sister came out with a moody expression.
"Come, let's eat together." He dragged her to the dining table and served the dishes for her.
As she took a bite of chikin (Korean fried chicken), the flavor hit her tongue and her mood improved a little bit.
Jun was eating the food along with her. He asked, "So, when is Manager Do arriving to pick you up?"
"4," she slowly replied.
"You don't look like mentally ready. Are you sure you don't want to take more days of break?" He asked her.
"No, it's alright. Once I get back to work, I'll probably get better." She replied with no so enthusiastic tone.
"I see." Jun nodded and went silent. He doesn't know what else to talk about.
After a brief silence, Dahyun slowly asked him, "Oppa, what about you?"
"I told you already. I quit this entertainment business. I didn't finish high school. So, I guess I will work at the store while preparing Geom-jeong-go-shi (GED)."
An hour later, Jun was keeping her luggage in a vehicle.
"Oppa, I'll surely visit you whenever I have the time. Look after yourself," Dahyun said as she gave him a hug. Patting her back, Jun replied, "I should be the one telling you that. Don't overwork yourself and get sick. Health is more important. More than physical health, mental health is even more important for an idol. And make sure to take vitamins regularly."
Dahyun get into the vehicle and Jun waved his hand to say goodbye to her.
As the vehicle left, Jun let out a sigh and returned to the apartment. He sat in the living room while staring at the photo frame on the wall. It was a picture from a few years ago.
"Mother." He whispered to himself as he went down into a memory lane. Tears formed in his eyes as he apologized. "I'm sorry for not being a filial son."
Nearly three weeks ago, his mother suffered a heart attack and passed away. According to the doctors, it was her second stroke and she couldn't survive this time.
Jun felt devastated when he heard the details from Dahyun.
The first time his mother got a heart attack was just a few days after he met with an accident and went into a vegetative state.
Jun didn't know why the second stroke happened for no reason.
The first time it happened, it wasn't his fault but the second stroke that took his mother's life, he thought that it was on him or more like his obsession with his dream of becoming an idol.
Jun felt like he abandoned his mother to chase after his dream. Now that his mother is gone, Jun deeply felt guilty. In his eyes, his kpop dream doesn't appear to be worth, it anymore.
While half of his guilt's source was the will of the previous owner of the body, the other half was Jun's own feelings. He was an orphan in his previous life and didn't have any family.
From the bottom of his heart, he always felt happy whenever Dahyun addresses him as Oppa (brother) and Saeun addressed him as a son. Combined with how his life was going on, Jun felt like this new life is the compensation he received from God for the painful life he led in his previous life.
But, now, his mother was taken away from him and he didn't even properly get to spend time with her. As for his sister, Dahyun will be busy with idol activities and probably wouldn't have time for him in the future, either. So, once again, he felt like he returned to his orphan life.
Jun doesn't have any idea about his future and isn't ready to step inside the world of kpop.
Two days after Dahyun returned to her agency, Jun finally decided to reopen the store.
As he entered the store, he saw it was full of dust. Thankfully, no one broke in, during this time.
At first, he thought of calling the cleaning company to clean everything but then, he decided to clean it alone, considering that he now had to be frugal and save money for his future and also Dahyun's, in case her popularity wane away and she retires. After all, an idol's career only spans for a few years. Not to mention, there's also Dahyun's marriage. Now that their mother was no more, he need to take care of everything in her place.
As he was cleaning the floor, Jun's eyes shifted towards the reception desk. He could see his mother working there with a smile. He shook his head and continued his work.
It took an entire three hours to finish everything. He then proceeded to arrange the albums and instruments.
*buzz* Buzz*
In the middle of the work, the mobile phone in his pocket vibrated four to five times before he lifted the call, "Hello."
"Jun-ah." A familiar voice was heard.
"YG-nim." Jun sounded a bit annoyed as he knew what this man going to say. This was already the fourth call in the past three weeks and every time, it was about the same topic.
"Yes, it's me. Are you at home?" YG asked him.
"Thank you, I'm doing fine. And no, I was at the store. My sister left for the agency. So, I decided to reopen." Jun replied in a straight tone, implying that he won't agree to whatever YG is about to ask.
"What about you?" YG didn't mind it and came to the point. "You really don't wish to consider it again? A person of your talent is extremely rare in the music world. With my influence, I can only hold the company's decision for one more week. If you miss this golden opportunity, all of your hard work will go to waste."
"I lost my motivation, YG-nim. There's no reason left for me to become an idol. This is my final decision" Jun gave another straightforward reply, hoping that YG will give up on recruiting him.
"Life is all about moving on. Even your mother wouldn't want this." As YG tried to convince him for one last time, Jun got irritated and cut the call. It was indeed a rude thing to do but for Jun's peace, it was necessary for his opinion.
As he cut the call, he continued to arrange the albums but then, anger and frustration enveloped him as YG's words echoed in his head and he threw them down.
Moving on… moving on… moving on… everyone these days advising me the same. Do they think I'm a protagonist in some drama where I will move on, after the very next day of the funeral?"
Jun was talking about
He took a seat and rests his head on the table to calm down.
It was right then, the system, which was silent for almost three weeks, sent a strange notification.
*Ding! Hidden event triggered. You unlocked a video message from the future yourself.
"Huh!"
Before he understood the meaning behind the notification, a holographic screen appeared in front of him, playing a video.
In the video, there's a man with green eyes was sitting on a gaming chair. He looks like he is in his late twenties, although his real age might be even older.
Crossing his legs on the knee, the man in the video leaned back and took a sip of coffee, "Well, I don't think we need any introductions but for your curiosity, let me introduce myself. I'm Han Sung Jun and I'm your older self, 24 years from the future."
Jun rubbed his eyes and pinched his cheek. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The man in the video let out a laugh, "I bet you must have been shocked, right?"
Jun was stupefied.