At twelve, Woo-jin didn’t have many friends.

Perhaps it was because he matured quickly after losing his father at the age of eight.

He was more serious and less talkative than children his age, with a relatively introverted personality.

But for Woo-jin, there was one ‘special’ friend who was much older than him.

“Oh, ahjeussi! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, it’s Woo-jin. I was taking a walk as usual.”

A peculiar man, always clad in scruffy work clothes with an overgrown beard, wandering around the neighborhood alleys.

Even Woo-jin didn’t meet him often, but this man was undoubtedly Woo-jin’s favorite friend.

Whenever he met the ahjeussi, Woo-jin could hear fascinating and entertaining stories.

“Back in my day…”

“That’s boring, ahjeussi.”

“…”

However, setting aside such reasons, the biggest reason Woo-jin liked him was that they shared a common interest.

The man, whose name was Im Hak-Chul, shared the same dream as Woo-jin.

“Ahjeussi’s dream was to build the most amazing house in the world.”

“Wow…! Me too! That’s my dream too!”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes!”

Hak-Chul was an architectural designer.

According to him, he wasn’t a particularly famous designer.

But still, he was a fairly skilled and experienced one—a brilliant designer.

At least, that’s how young Woo-jin saw him.

“I envy you, ahjeussi.”

“Hmm…? Why’s that?”

“You’re an architectural designer!”

“Well, that’s true, I suppose.”

“My dream is to become a great architectural designer.”

“Ah, I see.”

“You’ve already achieved the dream I have, so I envy you, ahjeussi.”

Woo-jin sincerely envied Im Hak-Chul, the architectural designer.

But every time Woo-jin said something like that, Hak-Chul would shake his head and give a bittersweet smile.

“That’s not true, Woo-jin. In fact, I envy you instead.”

“Why?”

“I’m someone who can no longer dream.”

“…Huh?”

“My limits are as a designer for an unremarkable architectural office… But you, Woo-jin, can dream bigger dreams.”

“Why not? Aren’t you going to become the world’s best designer?”

“Ha, haha.”

Whenever such conversations happened, Hak-Chul would no longer answer.

Instead, he’d share his own stories, almost as if he were confessing them.

“There was a time I designed a 30-story building…”

“Wow!”

“It was absolutely boring.”

“Ugh. Why?”

“In Korea, it’s nearly impossible to build anything that’s not a rectangular box. Oh, and don’t think that going abroad would make it any better. To be honest, I don’t know much about overseas either.”

Im Hak-Chul, who always shared amusing stories with Woo-jin, would disappear somewhere after an hour each time.

“See you next time, Woo-jin.”

“Can’t you stay a little longer?”

“Sorry, but I’m busier than I look.”

“Ugh… Then I guess I have no choice.”

And one day, while chatting with Woo-jin in the neighborhood, Hak-Chul had this conversation with him:

“Woo-jin.”

“Yes?”

“I hope you don’t lose that dream of yours, even thirty years from now.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. That’s not going to happen.”

“Really?”

“I’m definitely going to succeed and become a world-famous architectural designer.”

“Haha.”

“Just wait and see, ahjeussi. When I grow up… I’ll build something taller and more amazing than the 63 Building!”

Woo-jin still remembered the smile the ahjeussi showed him that day.

It was the kind of smile Woo-jin had never seen on any adult before—bright and carefree.

“Ahjeussi truly believes that you’ll become such a world-class designer.”

“R-really?!”

“As long as you don’t lose the dream you have now, that is.”

Woo-jin thought that single sentence from Hak-Chul became the anchor that kept him from losing his dream and passion all this time.

And now, thirty years later,

Woo-jin could vividly remember the last words the ahjeussi left him with:

[Don’t lose your dream, Woo-jin.]

[If, thirty years from now, you’re still chasing the same dream… This ahjeussi will give you a very special gift.]

“Ahjeussi…”

Woo-jin now understood.

The ‘special’ friend he had made thirty years ago was no ordinary man.

Buzz—

The headache pounding in his skull as if it would burst began to fade, and his dizzy mind gradually cleared.

As the blinding white light in Woo-jin’s vision dimmed, his surroundings slowly returned to clarity.

‘What’s going on?’

Woo-jin slowly opened his eyes.

And the first thing he saw was…

[February 15, 2010.]

A calendar from exactly twenty years ago.

---

As people live their lives, everyone has probably entertained similar thoughts at least once:

‘If only I could go back ten years… I could live such an incredible life.’

‘If I could just memorize the answer sheet and go back to the day before the college entrance exam, how amazing would that be?’

‘Who needs that? Just memorizing the winning lotto numbers and traveling back in time would set life straight.’

But almost everyone who entertains such thoughts knows very well that such a thing could never happen.

And so, they leave it as a happy fantasy.

No one actually goes around memorizing past lotto numbers or test answers.

And Seo Woo-jin was no different—he was a perfectly ordinary person in that regard.

‘Sigh. If only I had known…’

It had been a day no different from any other.

There had been slightly more frustrating tasks at work than usual, and after clocking out, he had gone somewhere slightly out of the ordinary.

It was just that.

He had simply sought out happy memories from long ago to ease his stifled heart.

And yet, such a miraculous event unfolded before Woo-Jin’s very eyes.

‘Is this a dream? It doesn’t seem like one, but…’

As Woo-Jin looked around, a smile unknowingly spread across his lips.

‘At least it doesn’t seem like the kind of dream I’d wake up from easily. That’s a relief.’

There wasn’t even a need to confirm whether the world in front of him was truly 2010.

The space where Woo-Jin now opened his eyes and the circumstances before him clearly proved the date to be February 15, 2010.

“Sergeant Seo Woo-Jin, it’s about time for you to get changed, don’t you think?”

Today was Woo-Jin’s discharge day.

It was one of the happiest days in Woo-Jin’s life—a day he remembered clearly, even 20 years later—despite having passed the age of 40 without even getting married.

The sunlight marking the morning of that day poured through the dormitory window, making the passage of 20 years feel meaningless.

‘Who would’ve thought I’d experience my discharge twice in one lifetime?’

In truth, experiencing two discharges was something any South Korean man would raise their hands in protest against.

Unless under unique circumstances like Woo-Jin’s, living through military service twice was essentially the same as serving two terms.

But since he was merely experiencing the discharge day again, Woo-Jin could laugh without worry.

“Ha, haha.”

“Why are you so relaxed, Sergeant Seo?”

Kim Seong-Gwan, who had been Woo-Jin’s junior during service, met Woo-Jin’s gaze. Reflexively, Woo-Jin repeated the exact same line from 20 years ago.

“What’s the rush?”

Seong-Gwan replied with the same words Woo-Jin remembered, down to the very syllable.

“If it were me, I’d report in and dash out even a tenth of a second earlier.”

“Haha.”

Fully awakened from his foggy state, Woo-Jin could feel his heart burn with passion for the first time in a long while.

Although he hadn’t achieved his dream of becoming an architectural designer in his previous life, Woo-Jin prided himself on living his 40 years with utmost effort.

Now that such a golden opportunity had been granted to him, he was confident he could make it happen this time.

“By the way, I told you to drop the formalities already, Seong-Gwan hyung.”

“No way.”

“Why not?”

“If I start dropping honorifics now, it’ll feel like you’ve already become a civilian.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“To be honest, I don’t want to discharge you even a tenth of a second earlier.”

Woo-Jin smirked at Seong-Gwan’s sly response.

Seong-Gwan, one year older than Woo-Jin, was his junior in military rank yet had been the most loyal subordinate to him.

Woo-Jin wanted to stay close to Seong-Gwan, just like in his past life.

He knew Seong-Gwan had a lovely younger sister and that he could attend the same university as her.

But, of course, there were no ulterior motives behind it.

“Be sure to keep in touch after discharge, hyung.”

“Discharge first before talking about that, Sergeant Seo.”

“Ha, haha.”

And so, Woo-Jin safely discharged and reentered civilian life.

“Loyalty! Sergeant Seo Woo-Jin, hereby discharged from military service! Reporting!”

Thus began Woo-Jin’s second life.

---

There were several reasons Woo-Jin hadn’t become a designer in his previous life.

But the most critical reason was his educational background.

Growing up under his mother’s care in difficult circumstances, Woo-Jin’s family couldn’t afford much.

Despite his mother’s objections, he had chosen not to go to university.

This was despite having already received early admission to one of Korea’s most prestigious design schools.

His mother had urged him to take out student loans, promising she would repay them herself.

However, Woo-Jin, who had matured early for his age, didn’t want to burden his mother further.

‘Back then, the mere thought of being in debt, even by a few million won, was unbearable.’

Initially, he postponed admission to save on tuition fees and joined the military instead.

After discharge, he moved from one architectural firm to another, working on construction sites to earn money.

While the term “architectural firm” sounded respectable, it was essentially no different from working on construction sites.

As time went on, the idea of attending university gradually slipped further away.

That was Woo-Jin’s greatest regret and frustration in his previous life.

He hadn’t realized it in his youth, but in Korean society, one’s educational background carried far more weight than he had imagined.

‘Debt can be an asset too… Why didn’t I understand that back then?’

So, the very first thing Woo-Jin did after returning home from discharge was to share his change of heart with his mother.

“Mother, I… I’m going to college.”

“Really, Woo-Jin?”

“Yes. I’ve thought about it a lot during my military service… and I realized you were right.”

Hearing Woo-Jin’s words, his mother’s tears began to fall silently.

Seeing his mother’s tears, Woo-Jin couldn’t help but feel a lump rise in his throat.

“You made the right decision, Woo-Jin. Truly, you did.”

To hide his emotions, Woo-Jin pressed his voice down.

“But, Mother.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll handle the student loans myself, no matter what.”

“It’s alright. I can take care of at least that much for you.”

“No. This is the one thing I can’t compromise on.”

Hearing her son’s firm tone, something she had never heard before, his mother fell silent for a moment.

After a brief pause, she gently embraced her now-grown son.

“Thank you, my dear son.”

And so, on the very day he returned, Woo-Jin resolved the greatest regret that had weighed on his heart.

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