AOA 2

Prerequisite

“Gasp!”

My body jolted like I was having a seizure, and my eyes flew open. I shot up in bed, breathless.

A rush of information came crashing into my head all at once. Judging by the sunlight filtering through the blackout curtains, it was morning. Last night, Jeong Guhyeon had poured alcohol and drug into my mouth.

The shock was like being electrocuted, I couldn’t breathe.

I… didn’t die?

I was sure I’d be killed.

Taking strong medication with alcohol was one of the most well-known ways to commit suicide. Jeong Guhyeon had tried to kill me and make it look like I’d done it myself.

A chill ran down my spine at the sheer malice of it. It was hard to believe someone would try to kill me out of a childish grudge over losing our parents’ attention and out of greed for money.

I already knew from experience that telling anyone, or even going to the police, wouldn’t help. I’d only be accused of staging a suicide attempt and blaming it on someone else.

And more than anything, Jeong Guhyeon wasn’t the type to give up after one try. He might even go for something more direct next time.

“I have to run.”

There weren’t many places I could go. The best option was to seek protection from the chairman of Daesong Group. He wanted a male alpha child with his bloodline, so at the very least, he’d protect me until I gave birth. Even Jeong Guhyeon wouldn’t be able to do much in front of the Daesong name.

I had just reached that conclusion and was fumbling to find my phone when I noticed something was off. The room… was different from yesterday.

The lamp beside the bed had changed. So had the painting on the wall behind it. Even the rug was different.

But somehow, it all looked familiar.

Even the phone beside my pillow was a different model. The clothes I had on weren’t a knit top—they were pajamas.

As I froze in place with a creeping sense of dread, something else caught my eye: an English textbook on the floor beside the nightstand.

When I changed my name from Eunho to Minchae and faked my academic background, I focused on learning English conversation. My biological father insisted I at least have basic English skills, so there was a time I spent entire days doing nothing but studying English.

Thanks to that, I could now hold a basic conversation in English. Which meant there was no reason for a beginner-level textbook to be here.

I felt like I was on the verge of remembering something, but my mind wasn’t working right. With trembling hands, I grabbed the phone and checked the date.

“…Huh?”

The date on the screen didn’t match what I remembered. It wasn’t just a day or two off. It was two years ago. It wasn’t winter—it was autumn.

I slapped the back of my hand, thinking I must be dreaming. The sharp pain that shot through me cleared my mind in an instant.

“…Is this what I think it is?”

A regression, just like in a webtoon.

Dimension travel, possession, reincarnation, regression—they were all standard tropes. I used to laugh and enjoy them, but now that it was happening to me, it didn’t feel real at all.

I didn’t spend long wondering why I’d regressed.

This was a chance.

I wasn’t married yet. There was still time to change so much.

“…But.”

My heart pounded with overwhelming hope, but I quickly realized I couldn’t just run away.

If I bailed on the engagement and fled, I wouldn’t be able to save my younger sibling.

Around this time, my biological father had helped arrange surgery during the previous summer. There was still drug therapy ongoing, and another two surgeries scheduled for next spring and winter. If the treatments stopped now, the one we’d already done would be meaningless. I couldn’t gamble with my sibling’s life.

I was cornered.

But if nothing else, I had to avoid the ending where I got killed.

A hot lump rose in my throat, like a burning stone was lodged there.

Rage and injustice surged through me. I wanted revenge.

I had no idea what exactly to do or how to go about it.

But I knew what I needed most right now.

Money.

I was forced into an arranged marriage because I didn’t have money. And I died miserably because of it. So money was the key. If I had enough to pay for my sibling’s treatment, I wouldn’t need to listen to my biological father.

“Should’ve memorized some lotto numbers.”

I wasn’t particularly smart. And for most of the two years I was married, I hadn’t even been in my right mind, so memorizing lotto numbers hadn’t even crossed my mind.

I was still racking my brain about how to make money when someone knocked on the door.

“Minchae, are you up?”

That’s when I realized I’d been standing frozen at the edge of the bed like a statue.

“Ah, yes.”

The door opened, and in walked one of the housekeepers from my biological father’s home. I couldn’t quite remember her name, but she used to be called Jeju-daek¹ “제주댁” (jeju-daek) is used as a respectful or slightly old-fashioned way to refer to a woman from Jeju Island.. I wouldn’t see her in this house two years later—she’d had to return to her hometown for personal reasons.

Seeing the tall, sturdy woman made it sink in: I really was back in the past. It was even a little comforting. She was the only person in this house who treated me like a normal person.

“Today’s the day of your matchmaking date. The chairman told me to check if you were awake. You must be feeling better—you look much better than yesterday.”

“Ah…”

“Breakfast is soon. Wash up and come down.”

“…Got it.”

I barely managed a reply. The moment she shut the door behind her, I collapsed onto the bed.

So today was that day.

I combed through my memories from two years ago. The meeting wasn’t so much a date as it was an interview. I hadn’t made any mistakes, but I’d been so nervous I’d gotten indigestion. I remembered throwing up everything I ate, then spending days sick even after taking medicine.

If I caused a scene at the meeting today, the engagement would probably fall through. But my biological father would just sell me off to someone else for a good price.

Unless I died first.

The thought was so extreme, I scrubbed my face with both hands. I had memories of the future. That meant I had to find a way, no matter what.

“Be on your best behavior in front of Vice Chairman Baek. Don’t act like someone with no upbringing. The more money rules the world, the more important it is to carry yourself properly. No matter how much you bury yourself in wealth, if your manners are crude, you’ll just be laughed at.”

We were on our way to the matchmaking date. A black sedan was crossing the streets at dusk, and my biological father, sitting beside me, was spewing his usual stream of “advice.”

I wanted to tell him to stop spouting nonsense, but I held back and just laughed bitterly to myself. You’re one to talk, like you’ve ever carried yourself properly.

His name was Jeong Suchan. He looked like a fussy, irritable foreman, and from the moment we met, he wouldn’t shut up about how prestigious the Jeong family was.

He constantly boasted about our family’s lineage of scholars and educators, saying honor and dignity were everything. He’d cluck his tongue at how money ruled the world these days.

But I figured out pretty quickly that he only said that because he didn’t have as much money as he wanted.

Despite what he said, the family actually had quite a bit of money. They ran a private school foundation and owned plenty of land and buildings. But Jeong Suchan had sunk a ton of money into an educational business for children, which had flopped halfway. Even after pouring in a fortune, the business went nowhere.

He puffed up his pride only in front of people weaker than him. In the face of real power or wealth, he bent over backwards. I could already picture him fawning over the vice chairman of Daesong Group at the meeting like a snake in the grass.

Just thinking about what was to come made me want to sigh. My father, and the chaebols, operated on standards that were completely different from normal people’s. Remembering what happened after the marriage gave me a headache.

“Be careful. At least you don’t talk much, that’s a relief. But your manners are rough. You’re slow to correct yourself. Who would’ve thought it’d take that long to teach you how to use cutlery? Tsk. Even if you didn’t go to college, you should still have some basic sense. Put in more effort. If you can’t even say a word in English, you won’t just be embarrassing yourself, you’ll be embarrassing me.”

At the sound of his tongue clicking, I didn’t respond, just bowed my head. In the past, I would’ve pretended not to hear it but still gotten hurt. Now, my mind was cold and sharp.

Whenever he talked about “carrying yourself properly,” it was always laced with thorns. His tone was soft, but everything that came out of his mouth was laced with contempt. And it wasn’t just him, my stepmother and half-brother were exactly the same.

I felt sick.

The driver was excellent, but whether it was nerves or something else, my stomach churned.

I hadn’t realized before how bad I was with stress. Maybe it was because I’d regressed. Even if this was a second chance, going through it with a clear mind was hell.

I didn’t want to throw up and ruin my outfit. With the way my father was, he’d just force me to change into something else and still drag me to the meeting. Then he’d chew me out the whole way home. Better to hold it in.

I focused on my breathing while listening to his nagging. Eventually, the sedan arrived at the meeting location, a private restaurant on the outskirts of Seoul. It had no sign out front and was famous even before my regression for its beautiful garden.

The sun had already set, so the autumn foliage wasn’t clearly visible, but the interior and exterior were still elegant and tasteful.

The nausea only got worse as I stepped out of the car and walked toward the entrance. In the end, I couldn’t hold it in and called out to my father.

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  “제주댁” (jeju-daek) is used as a respectful or slightly old-fashioned way to refer to a woman from Jeju Island.