By Zephyria 
August.
Jae-gyeom was spending his days more breathlessly than ever before.
On weekdays, he shut himself away at his desk, immersing himself fiercely in his studies for the elementary school equivalency exam. On weekends, driven by the single-minded determination to gift Yoon Tae-hee a seven-million-won ring, he went to work at ‘Jeong Deok-cheol’s King Tonkatsu,’ where he worked his fingers to the bone shredding cabbage and mincing meat. In the midst of all this, according to the conditions set by Yoon Tae-hee, he spent two or three days a week staying at High Felice, spending time focusing on one another.
As he began living between two homes—High Felice and the house in Gugi-dong—he worried that Jeong-ju and Yu Nam-saeng might feel secretly slighted, but fortunately, the two didn’t seem to mind much. Even when he stayed alone with Tae-hee, it didn’t mean he was completely cut off from his family during that time. Occasionally, he would head over to the Gugi-dong house to have meals or go on outings, spending time with everyone together.
It was a packed schedule without a single day wasted, but they were satisfying days. Life at High Felice, filled with Yoon Tae-hee’s persistent attention(?) and love, served as a refreshing break from daily life, and while the weekend part-time job was physically grueling, his heart felt wealthy every time he looked at the funds accumulating day by day.
And so, time flew by like an arrow…
The day of the exam. Finally, the morning of the decisive battle.
“My Lord, you have worked so hard all this time, so you will surely place first in the royal examination!”
Yu Nam-saeng, who came gliding over on a skateboard, fluttered his small feet as he cheered him on.
“Hey, what do you mean ‘place first in the royal examination’? It’s just an elementary school equivalency exam.”
It was just as Jae-gyeom was scratching his chin indifferently. Jeong-ju approached with a heavy gait, carrying a large bag.
“Jae-gyeom. Take this with you to eat during lunch.”
What Jeong-ju, who had been bustling about since early morning, handed over was a lunchbox consisting of a three-tier container. Jae-gyeom opened the lid. The first tier contained plain rice and braised short ribs; the second tier had fried tofu rice balls and sausages cut prettily into octopus shapes; and the third tier was packed with seasonal fruits. Even at a glance, it was a lunchbox filled with devotion. There was even a message written on top of the rice using seaweed flakes that read, ‘Ace the Exam.’
“Geez. You guys… do you think I’m going to take the civil service exam?”
He couldn’t understand why everyone was making such a fuss. It was just one exam, what was the big deal… Thinking this, Jae-gyeom clicked his tongue and began to put on his shoes with a lukewarm expression.
Then, Jeong-ju called out to him in panic.
“Wait, wait a second. Jae-gyeom. Are you going like that?”
“Huh? Why?”
“You’re not wearing pants. And your socks are on backward.”
“…”
With an expressionless face, Jae-gyeom scratched his cheek vigorously.
I almost went in my underwear…
One way or another, the person taking the exam was just as nervous.
After putting on his pants and wearing his socks properly, Jae-gyeom left the house with Yoon Tae-hee.
They arrived in front of the middle school, the exam venue, in Yoon Tae-hee’s car. The front of the school was crowded with numerous examinees and their families. Yoon Tae-hee tenderly straightened Jae-gyeom’s collar and said,
“Don’t be nervous. If a question comes up that you don’t know, just pick number 3.”
“Got it.”
Holding his lunchbox and admission ticket, Jae-gyeom walked bravely through the school gates. Standing tall amidst the crowd, Yoon Tae-hee did not take his eyes off him until Jae-gyeom’s back completely disappeared from sight.
And so, at 3 PM.
Returning home after finishing the exam, Jae-gyeom headed straight to his room without even washing up.
After locking the door, Jae-gyeom sat solemnly at his desk and began the preliminary grading. He opened the answer key posted online and, with trembling hands, compared it to the answers he had written on the test paper.
Korean, Math, Social Studies, Science, Ethics, and finally English, which had been the greatest obstacle. Correct. Incorrect. Incorrect. Correct. Incorrect. Incorrect. Correct… As he graded with a red colored pencil, red rain poured down across the test paper.
At that time, the family members were pacing the living room, waiting for Jae-gyeom’s results. Jeong-ju bit his nails, staring intently at Jae-gyeom’s door.
“Sigh, why isn’t he coming out…”
While Jeong-ju was fidgeting, Yoon Tae-hee was also pacing the living room with his arms crossed. His expression was calm, but the fingers tapping his crossed elbows were somewhat impatient.
Then, with a click, the tightly closed door opened.
In an instant, a heavy silence settled over the living room. This was because Jae-gyeom walked out slowly with an expressionless face, holding the graded test paper in his hand. The family members swallowed hard, waiting for Jae-gyeom to speak.
“…”
After catching his breath for a moment, Jae-gyeom spoke with his head bowed low and his shoulders shaking.
“I passed… I passed…!”
Simultaneously, the living room, which had been as quiet as a grave, was engulfed in cheers.
Anyone listening would have thought a winning goal had been scored in a World Cup final…
“Waaaaah! Well done! Well done, Kim Jae-gyeom!”
With a shout, Jeong-ju rushed in with open arms, hugging Jae-gyeom tightly and jumping up and down, while Yu Nam-saeng leaped off his board and clung to Jae-gyeom’s ankle. Yoon Tae-hee, who let out a sigh of relief, also smiled broadly and lightly wrapped an arm around Jae-gyeom’s shoulder.
“You worked hard.”
It was a comfortable score, well over an average of 70 across all subjects. Even English, where he had expected to barely scrape by, resulted in a stable score thanks to Yoon Tae-hee’s devoted personalized tutoring and academy classes.
Finally, he was liberated from that tedious studying!
Like someone who had scored the winning goal, Jae-gyeom fell to his knees and spread his arms wide. He had never been this excited, thrilled, and happy. For the first time in his life, a sense of achievement and a feeling of euphoria washed over him with pride.
I, of all people, have climbed the great mountain of passing the elementary school equivalency exam!
Now, all that remained was to save up for the ring by frying tonkatsu at Jeong Deok-cheol’s shop every weekend, and playing excitedly every weekday. Since there was about a month left until he entered the office in September, he was a free man until then. The freedom and rest earned after achievement felt as sweet as honey.
It felt as though the sense of valuing the time given to him—something he had unconsciously forgotten while living an immortal life—had finally returned.
The next day, it was when Jae-gyeom, who had slept in late for the first time in a while, opened his eyes blearily.
How long had it been since he woke up without an alarm? It was a refreshing and crisp start.
Rubbing his eyes, Jae-gyeom scratched his bedhead and sat up. However, there was something on the bedside table that hadn’t been there before. It was a bouquet of yellow freesias.
With a bewildered face, Jae-gyeom picked up the bouquet.
Where did these flowers come from? Is it a gift to celebrate passing?
It was obvious who had placed the flowers by his bedside while he slept. With a half-awake face, Jae-gyeom instinctively brought the bouquet to his nose. Just as he was sniffing the fresh and fragrant scent of the flowers, something dropped out from the bouquet. Jae-gyeom leaned over and picked up what had fallen at his feet.
Tucked into the bouquet were a small plastic card with a hologram and a single postcard.
Jae-gyeom picked up the plastic card and examined it. The hologram made it sparkle like a rainbow whenever he changed the angle, which was pretty. Jae-gyeom read the letters engraved on the card aloud.
“Resident Registration Card. Kim, Jae, Gyeom…”
The identity of the small plastic card was a resident registration card.
Come to think of it, he belatedly remembered that Yoon Tae-hee had mentioned reorganizing his identity documents a while ago. This registration card was the result. After putting their heads together to worry about what age to set, they had decided to start from twenty. Since he now had a body that could age normally, and being a teenager like before would have various restrictions for living in modern society, it would be much more convenient to start with the status of an adult.
Jae-gyeom looked closely at the registration card.
In the ID photo, Jae-gyeom had a very awkward expression with a faint smile. He had wondered why he was suddenly told to go to a photo studio and take a picture, and it seemed it was because a photo was needed for the registration card. Next to the photo, the name Kim Jae-gyeom was written in Hangul, and the Hanja name was also listed alongside it.
Not ‘Jae’ for disaster (災) and ‘Gyeom’ for pliers (鉗), but ‘Jae’ for talent (才) and ‘Gyeom’ for a small, high mountain (岒).
The Hanja previously registered for administrative purposes had been arbitrarily chosen by Jeong-ju, using ‘Jae’ for prime minister (宰) and ‘Gyeom’ for humble (謙). However, the newly registered Hanja notation was one that Jae-gyeom had chosen himself.
In truth, if it were up to his heart, he wanted to translate the original meaning of his name and use ‘Jae’ for disaster and ‘Gyeom’ for pliers. Regardless of the meaning, it was because it was what Myo-jeong had left him. This name itself was a trace and a legacy that Myo-jeong had lived in this world. It was a terrifying name, but it was like a token of the love he had received.
However, due to the opposition of Jeong-ju and Yoon Tae-hee, that plan had to be scrapped. It was for practical reasons. Using such ominous Hanja for a person’s name would be unheard of in modern society.
So, in the end, he decided to choose new Hanja. Although it was just for administrative registration, it was Hanja he would continue to use while living in the world, so he chose quite carefully with a dictionary open.
The last character was what Jae-gyeom agonized over in particular.
‘Gyeom’ (岒), a combination of the character for mountain (山) and the character for now (今).
Within this name, ‘Mesani’ exists, and there is the ‘now’ that is neither past nor future…
Clutching the registration card tightly in his hand, Jae-gyeom looked at the postcard Yoon Tae-hee had left.
‘Congratulations on the first day of being twenty.’
Looking at the neatly written handwriting, Jae-gyeom let out a small laugh without realizing it.
“So I’m starting from twenty?”
Amidst the pouring sunlight, the fully grown boy yawned.