S-Class Small Business Owner - Episode 2

Drip

The IV fluid trickled down through the narrow plastic tube.

The IV line inserted into my pale hand, the stiff hospital gown, even the black hair swaying around my chest – all familiar yet strange.

Long story short, just like the day I was possessed, I had suddenly returned to my original world.

Looking at my face in the hand mirror on the hospital drawer, I saw not the graceful beauty with wavy silver hair and warm green eyes, but a pale woman with black hair and sharp features.

“…Ah, Kim Yoo-jung.”

Before I could process any feelings about seeing myself after so long, the hospital door burst open with a bang.

A woman rushed in, sobbing loudly.

“That’s why I told you not to date that bastard!”

She grabbed my shoulders and shook me, saying I deserved better than hanging onto such a guy and she’d introduce me to someone else, begging me to stop.

‘I think I’m going to throw up.’

Knowing this wouldn’t end well for either of us, I quickly grabbed her arms.

“Wait, wait. Ah, stop!!”

“Huh, what?”

“Stop shaking me! I’m already dizzy and I’m going to throw up. Here, look at me and breathe. One-two, one-two.”

“Uh, oh? Um? Hoo, ha. Hoo, ha.”

“Good, you seem calmer now. So who are you?”

Dyed brown hair, pearl earrings, coral eye makeup, and a crisp business suit – she looked to be in her twenties.

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t recognize her face.

Who was she?

My confusion must have shown, as the woman’s expression crumpled again.

“Why, what’s wrong, Yoo-jung… Is this because I told you to break up with Ham Si-hyuk?”

With tears in her eyes, she continued stammering.

“But Yoo-jung, that bastard Ham Si-hyuk promised he wouldn’t see anyone else, then brought another woman home! You’re not thinking of forgiving him again, are you?!”

“What? Forgive?”

“You absolutely can’t! I’ll introduce you to someone else instead. Okay? There are plenty of guys in their early twenties, why would you settle for someone like him!”

“Early twenties? Young?”

At those words, I carefully touched my face.

The reflection I’d seen in the mirror earlier showed a thinner, more mature version of myself compared to my memories.

But since it had been so long ago, my memory could be wrong, or I might have lost weight while sleeping during my time in the other world, so I hadn’t paid much attention.

However, hearing the woman’s words now made me think again.

What if that wasn’t it? What if during the seven years I spent in that world, seven years had also passed here in this reality?

In that case…

“Yoo-jung?”

‘Who had been controlling my body for these seven years in my place?’

* * *

Usually in possession novels, when the protagonist returns to their original world, either time has stopped, or only a very short time has passed.

That’s why I’d assumed everything would be the same.

“So… you’re saying I dated this guy Ham Si-hyuk? And took him back five times when he cheated and said he was sorry?”

“Um… More importantly, Yoo-jung. Are you sure we shouldn’t call the doctor? What if there’s something seriously wrong with your head?”

“I’m fine, just keep talking. Everything feels familiar yet unfamiliar.”

I held my forehead and nodded.

Comparing the situation this woman described and Amelia’s reputation I’d heard about in that world, it seemed the one who’d been in my body for seven years was indeed Amelia Campbell.

Just as I had lived as Amelia for seven years, perhaps she had lived as Kim Yoo-jung. Stories about body swaps were common after all…

‘Let’s believe that.’

Whatever the truth, it was better for my mental health to think that way. Any other possibility was not only unimaginable but downright creepy.

Anyway, Amelia (presumably) seemed to have tried adapting to her changed environment just as I had.

“But you, you’ve had this before.”

Even this woman standing before me with such a worried expression was a connection Amelia had made.

“I heard you’ve had memory confusion occasionally since that incident. Let’s get you checked out, okay?”

By ‘that incident,’ did she mean when I collapsed in the subway? Ah, she must have needed an excuse for the sudden personality change.

As I silently searched through past memories, the woman watched me with anxious eyes.

Her name was Han Se-young. She said she worked at some center and had taken a half day off because of me.

She said we went to the same high school, but since I couldn’t remember her, she must have met Amelia after she possessed my body.

‘Then what happened to Oh Min-ah?’

Had they lost touch? I suddenly wondered about my close friend from high school.

“No, I’m fine. But is it okay for you to take a half day off because of me?”

“Yeah. Since I’m a guide, it’s easier to take time off for health issues compared to regular companies. I just told a little white lie about being sick.”

‘So, the tourism industry is lenient with time off. That’s unexpected.’

“Ah, is my home still in the same place as high school? Is my family healthy? At twenty-four, I should have graduated college… Do I have a job? Or am I job hunting? Oh, did I take a break from school?”

I muttered without pause. The longer I spoke, the paler Se-young’s face became, but I had no time to worry about that.

Think about it. Seven years.

I might look crazy to Se-young, but updating my information was more important than reassuring her.

Besides, it would be impossible to pretend to be Amelia, whom I’d never even met.

“Yoo, Yoo-jung…”

Se-young, pale as if she’d seen a ghost, anxiously rolled her eyes before speaking with difficulty. And at her next words, I drew in a sharp breath, my face becoming even paler than hers.

“…What? I didn’t go to college?”

First off, Kim Yoo-jung hadn’t even entered college, let alone graduated.

Of course, I didn’t expect Amelia to do what I would have done.

If she was in the same situation as me, she would have had to learn the alphabet from scratch, so there’s no way she could have prepared for college entrance right away.

But my family believed that going to college was absolutely necessary, no matter where.

So I thought they would have sent me somewhere, either by lowering expectations or having me try again…

“Self-employed? Running a flower shop? Me?”

And apparently I was running a flower shop when I barely knew flower names, let alone their meanings.

It was the moment my life philosophy of becoming a salaried worker – just another cog in society’s machine rather than running a business – crumbled.

“And I lent money to my ex-boyfriend? Five million won? Without even a promissory note??”

Well, at least I hadn’t cosigned any loans, if that was any consolation.

Everything was shocking, but this was the most shocking of all:

“My parents… moved to the countryside?”

My home was gone.

* * *

Returning to reality after seven years, the academic background I’d worked so hard to build since childhood had turned to bubbles.

I’d gotten a job right after high school but quit soon after.

After that, I’d bounced between part-time jobs before starting to run a flower shop, so even my work experience was disconnected.

Plus, I’d lent five million won without a promissory note to an ex-boyfriend who was presumably garbage.

Thanks to all this, my only assets were a loan that needed to be repaid, a small flower shop bought with that loan, and a studio apartment.

“This must be a dream…”

It had to be a horrible nightmare.

When it exceeded my capacity to accept, I couldn’t even feel angry anymore. As I stared blankly at the floor, not knowing what to do, the hospital door opened and this time a man entered.

“Ms. Yoo-jung!”

“Ah, Mr. Hyun-woo. The situation isn’t good right now, so let’s handle the discharge paperwork and talk at Yoo-jung’s place first. I’ll explain everything.”

Se-young, who seemed to know the man, spoke first.

The man’s expression relaxed somewhat upon seeing her, but when he looked at me, his expression turned to one of concern.

“That’s not possible. I’m not sure if I should tell you this now, but… Ms. Yoo-jung’s house has collapsed.”

‘What?’

“What? What do you mean all of a sudden?”

Se-young asked on my behalf. The man hesitated for a long while at her question.

He glanced at me nervously, seemingly worried that I, already looking frail, might collapse again.

“It’s okay, go ahead and tell me.”

When I urged him with a composed face, the man carefully opened his mouth.

“Well… there was a high-level Esper’s rampage near Ms. Yoo-jung’s place, and the aftermath caused her house to collapse.”

What’s an Esper? Is it some kind of typhoon name?

Unless an elephant appeared on the road, why would a perfectly fine house collapse?

At the news that what little assets I had were now gone, I quietly grabbed the back of my neck. And then I fell backward.

“Yoo-jung!!”