1: Chapter 1 That Girl

December 21, 2012.

The Peninsula, Busan.

Liu Zijun, dressed in a black suit with a black overcoat, stood outside the funeral hall.

He looked at the sky where light snow was falling, touched the white paper bag in his coat, and sighed softly.

He looked up at the electronic screen at the entrance of the funeral hall, which displayed a piercing name: The Deceased — Choi Soo-myung.

Choi Soo-myung.

These three words were like a sharp knife, stabbing deeply into Liu Zijun's heart.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the cold air, trying to suppress the churning thoughts in his chest.

He had returned, but Choi Soo-myung, who should have been alive at this time, was still dead.

He possessed memories of his past life.

Carrying the memory of witnessing Choi Soo-myung being pierced through the chest by a bullet while shielding him, Liu Zijun was reborn.

Reborn into the year 2012.

In his past life, Choi Soo-myung was known as the notoriously fierce Xiu in the entire underworld, and he was also a comrade-in-arms who had shared life and death with him.

But in this life, Choi Soo-myung did not die on a battlefield amidst a hail of bullets; instead, he never woke up after a car accident.

Irony, what a great irony.

Without further delay, he straightened his collar and resolutely walked into the funeral hall.

He had flown specifically from China to see Choi Soo-myung off on his final journey in this life.

Inside the memorial hall, white chrysanthemums filled every corner, and the low, mournful music was so oppressive it made it hard to breathe.

Mourners dressed in solemn black clothes spoke in low voices, their faces wearing expressions of grief, whether genuine or feigned.

Seeing someone from the host family looking at him with unfamiliarity, Liu Zijun nodded and said, "I am a friend of Soo-myung."

At the visitor registry, he wrote down his name vertically!

These were all customs he had researched online to avoid being disrespectful.

Liu Zijun's gaze moved past the crowd and immediately fixed on the black-and-white funeral portrait in the center of the hall.

In the photo, Choi Soo-myung was smiling as brightly as ever, showing a set of pearly white teeth, his eyes bright as if filled with starlight.

That was how he looked at twenty—unruly and full of vigor.

This kid was actually quite handsome when he was young.

"Soo-myung..."

A heart-wrenching cry came from beside the portrait.

Liu Zijun turned his head and saw a middle-aged couple on the verge of collapse.

They were Choi Soo-myung's parents: his father, Choi Min-ho, and his mother, Kim Hye-sun.

Choi Min-ho was a typical man of The Peninsula. At this moment, his back was hunched, and his hair was streaked with gray; he looked utterly despondent due to his son's passing.

He gritted his teeth, trying his best to remain calm, but his slightly trembling shoulders showed he wasn't that strong.

Meanwhile, Kim Hye-sun had long since been choked with sobs. Supported by her husband, she was almost collapsing to the floor.

She stroked her son's portrait over and over, murmuring, "How could this happen? Didn't you promise to come back? My Soo-myung..."

Liu Zijun's heart also wavered slightly, feeling a sense of distress.

He stepped forward to Choi Min-ho and Kim Hye-sun, bowed deeply, and said in somewhat rusty Korean language, "Uncle, Auntie, please accept my condolences."

His voice was a bit hoarse, yet it carried a steadiness that surpassed his current age.

Choi Min-ho raised his clouded eyes and looked at him for a long time without recognizing him, unable to help asking, "And you are?"

Liu Zijun bowed again and said, "Uncle! My name is Liu Zijun, I'm a good friend of Soo-myung."

Hearing Liu Zijun's less-than-fluent Korean language, Choi Min-ho was a bit curious about when his son had made such a friend.

However, having not slept for two or three days and knowing nothing about Liu Zijun, he simply bowed back and offered his thanks.

Then he lightly patted his shoulder, sighed, and with eyes full of endless sorrow, said, "Go on, go over there and have a simple meal. Don't stay here to keep us two old folks company."

Liu Zijun nodded, bowed once more, took one last look at Choi Soo-myung's photo, and then turned to leave.

He walked to a corner and ate the food from The Peninsula in his bowl, his eyes beginning to search the entire memorial hall.

He was looking for two people, one of whom was the girl Choi Soo-myung wanted to protect with his life in both his past and present lives.

He found her quickly.

In an inconspicuous corner of the hall, a girl wearing a mask sat alone, tightly clutching a pillow.

With her head down, the short-haired girl buried her face deep in the crook of her arm, her expression invisible.

The girl wore simple black winter clothes, her slender shoulders twitching slightly as if she were weeping silently.

She was like a butterfly drenched by a rainstorm, so fragile she seemed as if she would break at a touch.

Choi Sulli.

Formerly known as Choi Jin-ri.

Liu Zijun's heart sank abruptly.

It was her.

Choi Soo-myung's younger cousin, whom he had protected since they were children.

In his past life, because of this girl's suicide, Choi Soo-myung had been extremely despondent and irritable during that period.

Finally, during a mission, he died before Liu Zijun while trying to block a bullet for him.

Even though he blocked the bullet like that, Liu Zijun had still died.

Liu Zijun had heard him mention this girl, saying she was "a child like an angel who needed to be treated with tenderness by the whole world, and he would always be on her side."

Watching Choi Sulli stand up and walk to Kim Hye-sun's side, Liu Zijun sighed inwardly, thinking that this girl truly was like an angel.

She truly lived up to the title of Human Peach.

How rocky her future path would be, eventually choosing the most resolute way to end her young life amidst endless cyberbullying and mental torture.

In his past life, Choi Soo-myung was mostly abroad, and the sister he most wanted to protect would still walk into the abyss step by step just like in the past life if no one looked after her in this life.

Wasn't this just another kind of tragedy?

Liu Zijun's fist quietly clenched.

When Choi Soo-myung was in Afghanistan in his past life, he had told him seriously that if he died, he hoped he could help take care of this girl.

Because he was the only child in his family, and although this cute little girl was only his cousin, in his eyes, she was like a biological sister.

However, in his past life, before Choi Soo-myung had the chance to protect her, and because he was abroad, he hadn't expected her to pass away before him.

Looking at Choi Sulli's somewhat frail back, an incredibly firm thought took root in his heart.

In this life, since Choi Soo-myung couldn't protect you, I will.

Just then, a small commotion occurred at the entrance of the memorial hall.

Liu Zijun instinctively looked over and saw a girl, also dressed in black and wearing a mask and hat, walking in led by a Manager.

Her appearance added a subtle atmosphere to the already oppressive air.

After the girl entered, she took off her mask, revealing a beautiful and gentle face.

Her eyes were red and swollen, clearly having just cried, but she still tried her best to maintain her composure.

It was Park Soyeon.

Park Soyeon of T-ara.

This was Choi Soo-myung's first love.

But Choi Soo-myung later enlisted and then went abroad, so the two ultimately failed to stay together.

This girl also became a trainee, almost debuting in Girls Generation, but in a twist of fate, she finally debuted as a member of T-ara in 2009.