I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan

Episode 62

Seung-hyun and Jae-young were living their usual lives, no different from before. No, rather, it seemed like they had become even more comfortable with each other than before.

In the meantime, the season had passed the beginning of winter and the coldest time of the year was approaching.

“Ugh, the weather is very cold.”

“Because it’s winter. At times like this, it’s best to stay still inside without going out.”

Jae-young came inside shivering from the cold outside. The heating must have been turned up so high that as soon as he came in, the air felt suffocating, so he had to take off not only his outerwear but also the sweater he was wearing over his shirt.

“But this house feels like summer.”

“…I hate the cold.”

What a great life, not having to bundle up and hide under a heated floor to save on heating bills. Seung-hyun, wearing thin clothes, sipped the coffee he was holding awkwardly.

“It’s definitely better than catching a cold. You did well.”

Jae-young, who familiarly organized and hung up the clothes he had taken off, approached the sofa where Seung-hyun was sitting. His hands were a bit cold as if he had been outside for a long time.

“Did you walk here?”

“No, I just stopped by my parents’ house and said I’d do something for a bit before coming. They’re making me do something they could have someone else do.”

Jae-young bluffed and tapped his own shoulders as if massaging them. The more he saw, the more it seemed like a harmonious family.

“They probably called you that way because they wanted to see you.”

“Rather than that… it’s probably because they’re curious about something.”

The incident that occurred during Mrs. Ju’s shopping the other day had already become a rumor among the family. The story that Jae-young and Seung-hyun seemed to be closer than expected.

His brothers were pestering him side by side, asking if he suddenly became interested in management, and even when he said no, they were looking at him with eyes full of suspicion. Annoying things were piling up.

‘If you’re interested, say it outright. Don’t scheme behind my back like a coward.’

‘If you’re going to say nonsense, I’m leaving.’

He would have let that slide as it was half-jokingly, but what happened after was the problem.

‘Can’t you introduce him to us too?’

‘What are you going to do with someone who resigned?’

‘You must have gotten quite close. Still, can’t you tell us about it?’

How could there be no one who spoke differently? Jae-young, who had half-ignored them and finished the task he was asked to do, left as if running away.

“What are they so curious about?”

“It’s something trivial, so you don’t need to worry about it. Rather than that, we should do something on a day like this.”

Jae-young looked at Seung-hyun with eyes that said let’s go outside. Seung-hyun looked troubled and pondered.

‘It’s a bit hard to refuse when you look at me like that…’

In fact, he had no desire to go outside at all. He was already sensitive to the cold, but whether it was because ‘Han Seung-hyun’s’ body hated the cold more or because his health wasn’t good, the cold felt particularly piercing.

Since there was nothing he absolutely had to go out for anyway, he had decided to spend the winter only at home. It hadn’t been that long since he made that resolution.

“They say it’s likely to be a white Christmas this year. I like the thought of snow piling up.”

“…Isn’t snow the prettiest when viewed from home?”

“You have no sense of romance, Seung-hyun.”

Seung-hyun made a displeased face at Jae-young, who seemed to have some kind of fantasy about snow. To Seung-hyun, snow was literally just pretty garbage.

‘Romance or whatever… When I have to leave early in the morning and the traffic is jammed because of snow, or when I’m busy and think about clearing the snow piled up in front of the store, it’s only terrible.’

Moreover, when it snows, you can’t see well in front, and the floor becomes a mess every time a customer comes in. Seung-hyun frowned as he thought realistically.

“I don’t really like snow.”

At Seung-hyun’s words, Jae-young looked a little sullen. He’s not even a child. What’s so great about snow? If it were someone else, Seung-hyun would have said something like, ‘You don’t know anything,’ but he couldn’t do that to Jae-young.

“What’s so bad about snow? You can feel the passage of time. Isn’t it atmospheric?”

Is this the difference between someone who grew up well-off? Come to think of it, where would Jae-young have cleared snow? Even if the car was stuck because of snow, he probably never felt uncomfortable because he had no urgent business.

“…So what do you want to do?”

Well, now there’s no need to clear snow, so it might not be like that. Seung-hyun reluctantly asked. Jae-young lifted his head as if he had never looked sullen and said,

“In winter, it’s skiing, of course.”

“…I don’t know how to ski.”

“No one is good at it from the beginning. Everyone learns and grows while doing it.”

“I hate crowded places.”

“Why would it be crowded?”

Jae-young said with a genuinely puzzled look on his face. It seemed he was thinking of a different level of place than what Seung-hyun had in mind.

“The place I originally thought of isn’t crowded either, but… if you don’t like running into other people, there are places you can rent privately too.”

“…Where are you trying to go?”

“Europe would be nice. Or North America is good too.”

It was a much larger scale than he had thought. Seung-hyun shook his head.

“I have no plans to go abroad for the time being.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to be on a plane for a long time.”

In fact, he had never been on a plane before. Even if his body had a hard time enduring long-distance flights, he did want to try a short-distance flight.

However, the places Jae-young wanted to go all required flights of over ten hours. No matter how he thought about it, it was too much.

“You must like skiing.”

“Whether it’s skiing or snowboarding, well… I like any kind of light exercise I can do.”

It was a fitting hobby. Come to think of it, that body doesn’t seem to come about naturally.

‘That’s a bit… I might want to see that.’

He had no desire to ski himself, but he was a little curious to see Jae-young skiing or snowboarding. However, he soon became convinced it was too much.

“I’m not going. I’d rather you suggest going somewhere else. If we’re going, let’s go somewhere close.”

This was quite a compromise on his part. At Seung-hyun’s words, Jae-young became lost in thought.

“Hmm, somewhere close…”

December. In fact, no matter where they went, it would inevitably be crowded. Since Christmas was not far off, it seemed most places would probably be fully booked.

Wouldn’t it be hard to travel? So he wished he would just let him stay home quietly. Seung-hyun said, hiding his ulterior motive,

“Well, it’s not like we absolutely have to go…”

“There is one place that comes to mind when it comes to a snowy place nearby.”

Jae-young looked like he had a good idea.

“Shall we go to Sapporo?”

He didn’t know much about foreign countries, but he knew it was a city famous for snow. It’s not far, so that much should be fine. Seung-hyun nodded.

“Okay.”

At the thoughtless answer, Jae-young’s expression became a bit subtle. What, is this not it? Seung-hyun tilted his head and said,

“Or somewhere else too…”

“No. No, it’s not that. It would be nice and atmospheric.”

Why is he talking like it’s someone else’s idea when he suggested going? Not understanding Jae-young’s attitude, Seung-hyun tilted his head.

“It’s nothing.”

“But I don’t know if we can go right away. Isn’t it a time when there are a lot of people? It seems it won’t be easy to set a schedule.”

“Why worry about that?”

Jae-young said with a look that said he didn’t understand. Isn’t it usually hard to get plane tickets around the end of the year because everyone is going on overseas trips or whatnot? Jae-young said to Seung-hyun, who was thinking in a very ordinary way,

“We can’t use a private jet, but… it’s only economy seats that have no availability.”

“Ah.”

Seung-hyun made a stupid face. I was worrying too realistically. If you have money, you can do anything in a capitalist society.

“Come to think of it, you’ve never booked anything yourself, have you, Seung-hyun?”

Fortunately, Jae-young seemed to think Seung-hyun’s current attitude was because he didn’t know much about the world.

‘Well… to Jae-young, that would be realistic thinking.’

“You don’t have any particular schedule, right?”

“I have no one to meet and no reason to have appointments.”

“Then I’ll book the tickets. Your passport is in your room, right?”

How did he know that too? Seung-hyun nodded with a displeased look on his face. He had a thought that it was definitely his house, but somehow Jae-young seemed to know more about this house.

“Ah, the ticket cost…”

“How much could it be? Just let me pay for it.”

Jae-young sat Seung-hyun back down on the sofa and went into the room to find his passport. An overseas trip during the snowy season. In fact, it seemed tiring and he just wanted to stay home, but seeing Jae-young already excited, it seemed he was getting a little excited too.

Because it was the end of the year, Jae-young also ended up being called here and there, so the actual travel dates were set for two weeks later. It was a trip that would take place almost as soon as the new year began.

And Jae-young wasn’t the only one who ended up being called to bothersome gatherings to mark the end of the year.

A few days after deciding to go on the trip, Seung-hyun, who had been living a peaceful life, sighed at a message from an unpleasant person.