Theatrical Regression Life

* * *

Despite the sudden blow to the back of his head and the unexpected attack on his character, Lee Jaehun couldn’t quite regain his composure… But still, he remained somewhat rational.

Well, rational enough not to completely lose it and block his own path.

‘I almost messed up big time.’

He silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Even after waking up from the disturbingly vivid dream influenced by the otherworld, Lee Jaehun couldn’t quite gather his thoughts for a while. One wrong move, and he could have fallen into despair.

‘Losing my mind in front of a terminally ill patient… That would’ve been a real crazy move.’

You see, just with a few words from Lee Jaehun, I could already feel him staring at me with those cold, dark eyes.

“….”

What a creepy guy.

He knew just how suspicious the protagonist, Jung Inho, could be.

Sometimes it worked out well, and sometimes it didn’t, but one thing was for sure: those suspicions were the very abilities of that creepy guy. Especially in a world where the mind took precedence.

Already being a suspicious character due to his habit of throwing out breadcrumbs without ever following up on them, Lee Jaehun couldn’t afford to inadvertently cause chaos like he just did moments ago. It wasn’t a wise move.

‘Unless I want that creepy guy to dig up my past life, that is.’

Jung Inho never stopped observing Lee Jaehun.

‘…I really want to smack him on the back of the head.’

Truth be told, he was annoyed.

“That, that, that creepy guy, daring to doubt anyone to their face.”

If the heavens-sent manager were alive and kicking, he’d probably be groveling and saying, ‘Oh, thank you very much’, without a clue about anything.

But cursing was just a momentary thing for Lee Jaehun; he swallowed his irritation and thoughts for the time being.

‘…Of course, I understand… It’s a prudent judgment, but…’

Even if Lee Jaehun, the director who wouldn’t be surprised if he turned up dead overnight, had returned with his limbs intact, Jung Inho, who was currently in a position to lead the group, would have had to suspect him. Even if it were the director Lee Jaehun himself, he was a suspicious person through and through.

‘I’ve been gradually relinquishing control to prepare for times like this.’

For some reason, the doctor among the group, who should have been the most level-headed, was passive, and Lee Jaehun was half-dead. At the very least, he needed to maintain his composure as much as the protagonist.

But logic and emotion were diametrically opposed concepts, and while one could understand the other, full empathy was impossible.

“Team Leader Kang is unexpectedly good with a hammer. It’d be nice if you could join us when we go to the lake this time.”

“I, I’m okay with that. Of course, I might not be very good at it, but still…”

“It’s reassuring to have you with us, thank you. You always lead by example.”

“…Ugh.”

As someone who inherently lacked empathy, Lee Jaehun found the protagonist’s behavior simply chilling and creepy.

“Director, did you call for me?”

“No… Just stay as you are. Always happy, sticking out your tongue and being sweet.”

“Oh, okay.”

He’s answering again.

Not that he could get angry about it, but still.

‘…Guess I should start sorting out the breadcrumbs I’ve thrown out.’

Lee Jaehun inwardly nodded.

He knew well that getting swept up in such emotions would only worsen the situation. Quietly, he planned to address the things that had gone awry during his absence.

Breaking the brief silence, Team Leader Kang, who had been sitting by the campfire, awkwardly spoke up.

“Um… Are you okay? If you’re still bleeding, you should rest more… Should I fetch some straw? You could use it like a bed…”

It must have been quite a shock for these chicks to realize that blood could come out of a person’s mouth. Judging by Lee Jaehun and the doctor’s reactions, it seemed they were still keeping an eye on them.

Feeling like he needed to clear up any misunderstandings, he spoke up at this point.

“Anyone would think I’ve spilled a bucket of blood. It’s just a nosebleed. Keep your expression in check, there’s no need to make a fuss when nothing’s seriously wrong.”

“….”

“And as for resting… We should go fetch water before it gets dark. If you’re feeling up to it, gather some firewood or something.”

“Huh? Director, it hasn’t been that long since you woke up from vomiting blood, and now you’re talking about…?”

“Spluttering, not vomiting. It’s not like anyone died, so why all the fuss?”

Though Kang Mina responded with an unusually disgruntled expression to his words, Lee Jaehun pretended not to notice. Since things had already turned out this way, it wouldn’t hurt to properly assess the situation.

With a subtle expression caught between pity and frustration, he turned to face Yoon Garam, who was looking at him.

“So… where exactly are we? And how far is the lake from here?”

“…The original lake is quite far. The closest one is a small lake… In terms of the entire park, it’s almost in the middle. Oh, or slightly below it?”

“Hmm.”

Lee Jaehun let out a light sigh with an expressionless face.

Whether it was because he was worried about the chicks or because his judgment had been affected by the otherworld, he didn’t know, but being in the middle… That could be a problem if things went awry.

‘Of course, from my perspective, as someone who needs to organize the situation and proceed with work, it’s actually a good thing…’

As expected, unease permeated the team.

From the siblings who were sparing with their words despite not being intimidated at all, to Yoon Garam, who seemed increasingly mesmerized by a particular tree, the unsettling feeling that something was off with the group slowly became palpable, sending shivers down his spine.

Lee Jaehun knew he had to untangle the tangled situation one by one. Even if it meant going to the hospital for proper treatment someday.

“For now…”

What mattered most was reassuring the anxious team amidst Lee Jaehun’s unexpected silence.

Consciously, he drew a hint of awkwardness on his face. Glancing at the group discreetly, he then asked in a gruff but cautious tone.

“…Who moved me?”

“Uh, Yeonseok did. He said he would do it himself…”

“Is that so?”

Lee Jaehun furrowed his brow in a mixture of discomfort and apology, rather than outright displeasure. Shifting his gaze as if to not betray any hint of embarrassment due to his pride, he subtly conveyed a sense of unease.

Suddenly called out, Noh Yeonseok still looked pale as he glanced at Director Lee Jaehun, and in response, Lee Jaehun let out a soft sigh. He could sense the intern’s shoulders tensing.

Just before the other party could feel more anxious, Lee Jaehun spoke up.

“…Thank you.”

“…Y-yes?”

“Thank you.”

Then he clicked his tongue softly.

Given Director Lee Jaehun’s personality, there was no need to prolong the atmosphere even if he expressed gratitude to the intern.

Lee Jaehun changed the subject as if to avoid dwelling on it unnecessarily.

“But why does he look like that? Did he starve the intern during dinner?”

“What? No, that’s not true! Well, um, he wasn’t feeling well so he couldn’t eat much…”

“He starved you then. What was Team Leader Kang doing instead of taking care of him?”

He teased Team Leader Kang Mina, and Noh Yeonseok, reacted exactly as expected. He was taken aback, shaking his head frantically.

“Oh, no, no! Team Leader Kang took good care of me, but I…!”

“Okay, okay, I get it. Geez, can’t I even joke around?”

“Um… I-I’m sorry… I mean, uh…?”

With that, the intern’s face turned bright red, but he couldn’t help peeking at Team Leader Kang Mina’s reaction. Like a guilty puppy causing trouble and then looking to its owner for approval.

Lee Jaehun had to put in a lot of effort to not grimace.

‘I should probably tone down the teasing a bit.’

It was a well-known fact within the planning team that the intern Noh Yeonseok, harbored a crush on Team Leader Kang Mina, to some extent, unless one was particularly clueless. Even in the current mentally taxing situation, it was clear that he wasn’t paying attention to Team Leader Kang’s cues. That’s how people become smitten.

‘So that’s why he was brought along.’

Even if he jokingly criticized her, the intern, who was already flustered enough, would vehemently deny it. Later, he would feel extremely embarrassed for making a fuss for no reason, but he couldn’t help but wonder how Team Leader Kang Mina perceived his reaction.

They say love has no cure, but conversely, that also means there’s no effective mental remedy. The deeper the love, the more trivial such situations would seem like mere obstacles to overcome together.

Of course, if it wasn’t that deep, it might have the opposite effect, but who knows?

“Team Leader Kang, if you were uncomfortable, I’m really sorry…”

“No, don’t apologize for something like this. It was just the director joking around.”

“Uh… okay.”

Lee Jaehun blinked as if to suppress a smile.

‘Since it’s a matter of life and death, it must be pretty serious.’

Before returning, before Lee Jaehun died from the green algae monster. The first one to die after Team Leader Kang Mina was Noh Yeonseok.

He was somewhat distant from Team Leader Kang, and although he could have run away since the monster was slow, his body was impaled on a tree in a gruesome state.

‘It probably means the monster sensed the hostility from the prey and attacked.’

Thanks to the intern who turned his attention to the monster after Kang Mina’s death, he ended up dying in a way that didn’t mean he was being targeted specifically.

The joke, albeit not really a joke, from Lee Jaehun aimed at this point seemed to have put some color back into Noh Yeonseok’s face, while Kang Mina looked slightly embarrassed.

‘I hope it didn’t upset him.’

He inwardly clicked his tongue.

Given the age and rank differences between them as an intern affiliated with the university, if the situation were different, they might have confessed their feelings several times by now. The fact that the overall atmosphere of the group became more lively due to the strange dynamics between the two couldn’t be denied.

He slowly scanned the group, analyzing their demeanor.

‘At least we’ve managed to dispel the atmosphere of impending doom.’

It was a fact he didn’t need to see to know that the group’s mood had plummeted vertically after Lee Jaehun was taken away.

In fact, he had lost consciousness not long after returning alive, so it wasn’t surprising that the atmosphere had been tense until now.

‘At least it’s loosened up now.’

It was fortunate, but…

“…”

Actually, by this point, it was about time he started talking about Lee Jaehun’s own story.

How he was lured by the green algae monster, what happened, how he managed to come back alive, and how the rest of the group was faring. To efficiently plan, it was time to share information with each other, even now.

“Wow… I heard rumors about you two having a thing, but wow.”

“Yeonhee-ssi, it’s not like that with Yeonseok…”

“…Where would we have a thing? If I asked him to print something, he’d turn as red as a beet…”

“Oh, Director…!”

The intern’s voice cracked at Lee Jaehun’s words.

If this were the office, he would have scolded them for daring to address such a high-ranking director so casually, but considering his sacrifice had improved the mood, he decided to let it slide this time.

He looked at Kwon Yeonhee, who was blushing, and the intern suffering because of her.

‘Maybe it’s not the right time to bring it up now.’

It seemed unnecessary to dampen the mood he had just lightened.

As he looked at the excited group, Lee Jaehun, who had always kept a subtle distance at the office, felt a strange sensation.

In truth, Lee Jaehun’s move was quite impolite. Unless they were very close colleagues at work, there was no way an old-fashioned director like him would have built such camaraderie. For a superior who usually kept his distance to gossip about his subordinate’s love life was not the most polite behavior. It was a sight that could only be seen because this wasn’t the real world, and because Lee Jaehun didn’t act like he usually did in novels.

To be honest, it was fortunate that they had built enough intimacy where bringing up someone else’s love life wasn’t considered rude.

‘If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t be able to lighten the mood like this.’

Amidst the light chaos, Kang Mina spoke to Lee Jaehun with an awkward voice.

“…Don’t tease the intern too much, Director…”

“What did I do?”

Lee Jaehun raised the corner of his mouth mockingly. It was partly to lighten the mood, but the current situation of writing a romance novel with inexperienced chicks was also amusing.

Of course, it was quite thrilling to see Kang Mina, who should have died at the company, acting like this here…

“…”

Well, she had already died once.

He hurriedly recalled the deaths of the two subordinate employees he had confirmed.

Witnessing the death of someone you know wasn’t particularly remarkable, at least not for the reincarnated Lee Jaehun. Of course, there was the difference that in the world of reincarnation, even if you died, you would come back to life.

‘So….’

Lee Jaehun turned his gaze towards the protagonist.

“Well, why are you looking at me like that?”

“…I apologize.”

“…Are you feeling unwell, Deputy Jung?”

He consciously injected a rough tone of concern, and Jung Inho’s expression twisted strangely as if sensing it. It seemed quite poignant that the person he had suspected knew nothing and was worried about him.

On top of that, the breadcrumbs Lee Jaehun had been dropping all along would have been a big confusion for the protagonist.

“If you’re not feeling well, just say so.”

“…It’s not something you need to worry about, Director.”

“Why keep bickering?”

He chuckled inwardly while disrupting the conversation.

“I have to tidy up those breadcrumbs.”

Probably by the end of today, Lee Jaehun would be able to tidy up the breadcrumbs he had sprinkled earlier, meaning the subplot. Lee Jaehun was, in setting, a survivor from the other world. Since there was no way Dr. Ha Sungyoon and the protagonist hadn’t shared their opinions so far, all he had to do was pick up where they left off yesterday and resolve that subplot.

Then, all the survival abilities and abnormal signs he exhibited afterward would be overshadowed by the title of ‘survivor from the other world,’ adding more coherence to Lee Jaehun’s future actions.

But…

‘That alone isn’t enough.’

We also need to use the content from before the regression.

“I’ll take a break on my own, no need for Deputy Jung to rush me, okay?”

“I don’t particularly… trust it. Your words to Kang Mina just now, and how clueless you seem to be about it, Director.”

“Do you think I’m that easygoing? I can’t just cut that off now, really.”

“Don’t beat around the bush, Director. Without a mirror, I can’t show you how you look, but are you really okay? You said you’ll die soon?”

“Daring to argue with me?”

He smirked lightly.

All the information he had gathered while dying would be wasted if he couldn’t use it because of this unwanted image management. Even though the setting didn’t allow him to remember the events before regression, Lee Jaehun still wanted to use the information from before his death.

But for that to happen, Lee Jaehun had to tidy up the breadcrumbs that were currently occupying the protagonist’s mind.

‘For the fabricated image to settle even a bit and then unravel the next breadcrumb… And to use that as a basis for utilizing information from before regression.’

There was always an appropriate timing for all the secretive stories of the world to be revealed.

“…Anyway, it seems like we should start moving.”

Lee Jaehun turned his gaze away from the protagonist and looked up at the sky.

To give a bit more coherence to his future self, he swallowed his words.

* * *