Chapter 2

Please look at me one more time -1-

#

“Director, to be honest, as a parent, I am worried. I’ve been praising him for being so talented, but is the major league an easy place? However, as a parent, isn’t it true that we can do nothing but believe in and support our children?”

The father, with a young face, spoke with a determined expression.

Am I still half-asleep?

It’s too vivid to be a dream.

Looking around, I noticed a ring on my finger.

Could it be? Did I really travel back in time?

I remember the ring was originally silver.

But the ring on my finger now was completely blackened.

I’ve heard that everything in a dream is seen in black and white. Whether this is a dream or not, I opened my mouth as if under a spell.

“...Father, wait a moment.”

“Hm?”

Looking back, around this time, I was receiving considerable attention in the major league.

The previous season was called the ‘Gang Geon-woo season’ by baseball fans. Three teams at the bottom of the league were fiercely competing for the last place, and it’s unclear if they were really trying to draft me.

“I want to hear more from the director.”

I strongly argued that I didn’t need to stay in Korea, and after a long conversation with my parents, I decided to go to the major league.

Father might have felt betrayed.

On the other hand, Director Park Jun-ki of Oceans looked delighted.

“Geon-woo, you...”

“Father! I’ll do everything I can to help him go abroad through the posting system, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll help him as a free agent!”

I don’t need to risk my life.

“I’ll bring in famous instructors from abroad for both the pitching and batting departments. Please trust me, Father!”

He boasted that he would prepare the highest signing bonus for a rookie.

But I don’t really need that.

If this isn’t a dream, that is.

I’ve already been at the top, and while money is nice, I don’t need to be obsessed with it.

I don’t even remember how much I earned.

I was rich, but I lost almost everything when I got into business.

“I’ll think about it more. I’ll contact you again.”

The director kept talking about the best treatment until he left, my mother said it wasn’t bad to play in Korea, and my father treated me like a traitor.

“Hey, Gang Geon-woo. Did you suddenly change your mind?”

“Wait a moment. I have something urgent to do, but I’ll talk to you again when I come back.”

“Hey! Gang Geon-woo!”

“Son, be careful.”

I have something urgent to do.

I need to meet Yoo Ri right away.

#

I ran out of the house and called her from the slightly musty-smelling apartment stairs, telling her to come out immediately. Yoo Ri lives in the apartment below us.

It was hard to believe this was a dream. When I hit my arm, I felt pain. Of course, that doesn’t mean I easily believe I’ve traveled back in time, but if it’s real...

“Hey, our Geon-woo. Did you miss me? Your voice sounds a bit urgent?”

My ex-girlfriend, or rather, my ex-wife... but since I’ve traveled back in time, should I call her my current girlfriend?

She’s two years older than me, but since I’m back in my senior year of high school, Yoo Ri is now 21.

Yoo Ri, my childhood friend and the older sister who lives downstairs, said as she climbed the stairs.

I was momentarily speechless.

I had a lot to say and a lot to ask.

But those memories were all mine alone.

Should I tell her that we got married, divorced, and that I traveled back in time because of the ring?

I can’t say that.

“...I missed you.”

I said it without thinking. Yoo Ri, who had just asked if I missed her, looked surprised.

“...What?”

I was quite a stern boyfriend and husband.

In fact, I kept regretting it even after the divorce.

It might have been my pride. Damn, let’s be honest.

I just thought Yoo Ri would always be by my side. That was a delusion, and I genuinely missed her.

“I really missed you.”

Yoo Ri, standing halfway up the stairs, looked back and forth between our apartment and hers, then said in a flustered voice.

“Did you eat something bad?”

We’ve been close since we were kids, and even though she’s two years older, we’ve always been like friends.

But it feels good to say what I really wanted to say. Maybe I said it because I thought it was a dream.

“Didn’t you see me this morning?”

Did I?

But this is the first time I’ve seen her in years.

To be precise, it’s been 20 years since I last saw 21-year-old Yoo Ri.

“No, um. Still. Ah. I have one question...”

Anyway, there was one thing I had to confirm.

If this isn’t a dream, I’ll make up for my mistakes.

But I had to ask where she bought the ring and what it was, so I showed her the ring.

“Huh? Hey! Gang Geon-woo!”

“...What?”

“Isn’t this the ring I gave you?”

“Yeah. I have a question about...”

“You messed it up already after I gave it to you as a birthday gift?”

“No, wait, where did you buy this...”

“Aha. You already forgot where you got it?”

...

It seems...

“Hey, Gang Geon-woo! How did you...”

“Yoo Ri, please look at me one more time.”

“...Huh?”

I flinched for a moment, worried that I might travel back in time again.

But since nothing happened, it seems to be a one-time thing. Should I be relieved?

“...What? Say it again.”

By the way, I remember she always refused to be called ‘sister’ even when I asked her to.

Hmm.

Seeing the young Yoo Ri, who would quickly calm down after getting angry, made my heart soften.

She’s cute.

“...Hey!”

When I hugged her without a word, Yoo Ri grumbled about what her dad would think but calmed down.

I don’t know.

Is coming back to the past and starting over again just my selfish desire?

Am I doing what I want without considering Yoo Ri’s feelings?

I took a deep breath. A tickling scent lingered in my nose.

“What if...”

“...What if what?”

“What if we got married.”

“Ha. Gang Geon-woo. You’re joking.”

“Let’s say we did.”

“You said you were going to America. So...”

“I’m not going.”

“Huh?”

“Where would I go without you?”

“Eh, what? What did you say?”

“No. I mean. Let’s talk about that later. Let’s say we got married.”

“...So?”

“But I made a mistake and we got divorced.”

“Hey, Gang Geon-woo...”

“Will you look at me one more time?”

“Did you eat something bad?”

Yoo Ri looked at me strangely, not answering my last question, and sighed deeply.

“What mistake led to the divorce? Did you cheat?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“Then I’ll look at you once. This sister has a heart as wide as the Pacific Ocean.”

I smiled. It wasn’t a lie.

This time...

I won’t make any mistakes.

“I’m sorry.”

“...I don’t think I can. Tell me what you did wrong quickly. It seems like you did something really big and are trying to cover it up, but do I look that easy to fool?”

“Thank you.”

“Ah, don’t make me angry and tell me quickly...”

“I love you.”

Yoo Ri’s face turned red, and she said, “Ha, ha, ha, you, really,” and turned around.

“I’m going to eat. Remember, I’m only looking at you once.”

My heart was uneasy but also relieved.

I clearly saw her lips curl up slightly as she turned around.

“Hey, Gang Geon-woo!”

“Yeah.”

“Ah, something’s off. You’re not usually this obedient...”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Alright. I’m going to eat. Even if I miss you, I’ll wait.”

Yoo Ri went into her apartment, and I stood there for a while.

Until my father came to get me.

“Hey, Gang Geon-woo!”

In this short time of traveling back to the past, the most common phrase I heard was “Hey, Gang Geon-woo.”

“Father.”

“What!”

“Do you dislike Oceans?”

Father is a fan of the Changwon Pirates.

He used to be an Oceans fan, but he stopped watching baseball for a while due to high blood pressure caused by Oceans, and one day suddenly bought a Pirates uniform.

“Geon-woo.”

“Yes.”

“That team... No, rather, what happened to the kid who said he was going to the majors a few minutes ago?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“For being so fickle.”

Was going to the major league a mistake?

Maybe. But I made that decision based on what I know now.

“No, it’s not that... Just my mind changed suddenly.”

“A little. And Father.”

“What?”

“It’s good to see you.”

As I said that and hugged my father with both arms, he looked doubtful.

“Did the soup go bad this morning...”

Both Yoo Ri and Father are treating me strangely.

Is it just my imagination?

#

As the day came to an end, my head became even more complicated.

I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. Is it possible to travel back in time?

Is this ring a time machine?

But one thing I learned from baseball is to focus on what I can do, not what I can’t.

This means I’ve given up on figuring out the reason or the principle behind this. I have no talent for anything other than baseball.

I just need to confirm one thing.

That this is not a dream.

Pinching my arm didn’t make it feel like a dream, and everything seemed too real.

I tried to calm my nerves, put on the ring, and lay down on the bed.

I thought that if I was still 19 when I woke up, I could believe this wasn’t a dream.

I tossed and turned for a while, unable to sleep easily because I hoped this wasn’t a dream.

I eventually fell asleep and had a dream about Yoo Ri again.

“Still, I can’t just look at you with my bare eyes.”

“What?”

“I’ll look at you if you grant me three wishes. This is the power of an older sister, young Gang Geon-woo. Got it? Huh?”

I’m not a genie, and three wishes?

Anyway, when I woke up.

I was still 19, I had a message from Yoo Ri on my smartphone, and my mother woke me up to eat.

The only difference was that the ring had turned silver again.

And three black circles were engraved on the ring.

Is this some kind of wish gauge?

Anyway.

I think I have indeed regressed to the past.