The Way to Save the Crazy Returnees Chapter 74 - The Butterfly Effect (1)

 

 

The building that had once been half-destroyed by Lee Man-deuk and Ji Geon-hyuk had been restored—cleaner than ever.

 

And it wasn’t the AMA who had done it. It was me. I had personally made a substantial donation to the organization running the free soup kitchen.

 

Still, even though the facilities were impressive enough to rival Cheongmyeong High School’s cafeteria, my attention barely lingered. I was heading straight for Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk.

 

—or at least, I was about to.

 

“Stay where you are.”

 

Han Yeong-won stopped me.

 

I glanced over and saw Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk talking to a scruffy-looking man—but it wasn’t really a conversation.

 

“Didn’t I tell you to bring money next time you came?! I said to pester your older brother to bring money! Do my words sound like a joke to you!?”

 

The man’s fury poured out in a one-sided rant, and the children hung their heads. Then, in a flash, he raised his hand—as if about to strike them. I moved instinctively.

 

It wasn’t because of my promise to Lee Man-deuk. Anyone would react the same way if they saw an adult threatening kids just entering high school. But someone moved even faster than me.

 

“Have you lost your mind?”

 

Han Yeong-won. She had grabbed the man’s wrist with a vice-like grip.

 

“W-What the hell? Let go! I said let go!!”

 

“You’re noisy.”

 

“Aaagh!”

 

The man screamed, likely feeling the full force of his wrist being crushed.

 

“D-Deok-sun! Soon-deuk!”

 

He called to the children, panic-stricken, as if begging for his life.

 

‘How does he know the names Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk?’

 

I furrowed my brow. Han Yeong-won spoke again.

 

“Even beggars from the Beggars’ Sect should at least know their duties as parents. Apparently, that’s too much to ask.”

 

…Parents?

 

I turned to the man Han Yeong-won was holding.

 

“Lee Deok-sun! Lee Soon-deuk! What are you doing?! This crazy bitch is trying to hurt your dad! Stop her!!”

 

Dad.

 

The word made my heart sink. So this man really was Lee Man-deuk’s father.

 

He was alive?

 

I’d never seen him during any of my encounters with Lee Man-deuk. Thinking back, I also hadn’t known that Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk volunteered here.

 

When my connection with Lee Man-deuk had first formed, his younger siblings had no involvement in volunteer work. But this time was different.

 

I’d met Lee Man-deuk earlier than expected, and because of that, I became aware of a variable named Ji Geon-hyuk.

 

To confirm that variable, I had gone to the area near Seoul Station sooner than usual—and that’s when I encountered Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk.

 

‘The kids said it was for volunteer credits, but…’

 

Now, looking back, several things didn’t add up. Most notably, Lee Man-deuk had forbidden them from volunteering here—yet they kept coming.

 

They must have already completed their volunteer-hour requirements. It seemed far more likely that the children were coming just to see their father. What was strange was that I had never seen a case like this before, not even by the 365th regression.

 

Why was that?

 

“Lee Deok-sun! Lee Soon-deuk!”

 

A furious voice snapped me out of my thoughts. The man Han Yeong-won was holding now shouted at the children, eyes bloodshot.

 

“You ungrateful brats! Don’t you know the debt you owe for being born?!”

 

“Oh? Can a man give birth to children now?” Han Yeong-won retorted.

 

“What the hell is this crazy bitch saying?!”

 

Realizing there was no point in reasoning with Han Yeong-won, the man shouted at the children again.

 

“Lee Deok-sun! Lee Soon-deuk!”

 

The children froze, unsure what to do.

 

I had assumed they wouldn’t have many good memories of their parents.

 

‘Guess I was wrong.’

 

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be standing there, fidgeting in place, worried about the father who had just tried to hit them.

 

“Hey, you little shits!!”

 

The man’s rage-filled roar made the children flinch. At that moment, Han Yeong-won twisted his arm with a vicious, contorted expression.

 

“Gaaagh!”

 

As he screamed, Han Yeong-won spoke, her voice cutting through it.

 

“There are five rules established by this sect.”

 

By “this sect,” she clearly meant the Demonic Sect.

 

“First, be loyal to the Sect Leader.”

 

Second.

 

“Do not betray the Sect Leader.”

 

Third.

 

“Do not offer children to the Sect Leader. And fourth—children must not disrespect their parents.”

 

And finally, the fifth.

 

“Parents must not mistreat their children.”

 

Perhaps it was the murderous intent in her voice, but—

 

“U-Ugh…”

 

The man began trembling. Then, Han Yeong-won, her voice faintly amused, addressed him:

 

“You wretched thing, lower than vermin! Tell me—why should I let you live after breaking the fifth commandment?”

 

“A-Ah, I… Ugh!”

 

He looked like he might stop breathing at any moment, consumed by sheer fear. I could tell this could easily end in death, so I stepped in quickly.

 

“Ms. Han Yeong-won, please calm down.”

 

“Are you defending something lower than vermin?”

 

“Of course not.”

 

I was curious about how Lee Man-deuk’s father had ended up homeless—but that was all.

 

“Then what?”

 

“Deok-sun and Soon-deuk are here.”

 

Han Yeong-won glanced at the children frozen in fear, then her expression fell, as if the wind had been knocked out of her. Without warning, she tossed their father aside—right onto the table where the homeless people were eating.

 

“Dad!”

 

Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk screamed in shock.

 

“Hoh. To think they’d worry about something like that and still call him father. Hard to believe they’re really his blood relatives,” Han Yeong-won muttered.

 

The children couldn’t say a word.

 

“Deok-sun. Soon-deuk. Let’s go.”

 

The kids hesitated at the hand I held out.

 

“Come on.”

 

Finally, Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk nodded. That’s when their father started screaming like a madman.

 

“Where do you think you’re taking them?!”

 

The children shrank back in fear as he shouted, directing his rage toward them—or rather, toward me.

 

“Thief! Thief! That bastard is trying to take my kids!”

 

His voice carried so loudly that everyone nearby could hear it. People covered their ears and frowned—but ironically, no one came to help him. The homeless onlookers shot him cold looks, picked up their trays, and walked away.

 

A man who would hit his own children would never earn anyone’s goodwill.

 

“Thief!!”

 

“Mr. Lee Cheol-jin! Please calm down!”

 

One volunteer hurriedly tried to intervene. Taking advantage of the distraction, I gathered the children and left the soup kitchen.

 

Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk kept glancing back at their father, lingering attachments clear, but eventually, they followed me. That’s how we left the soup kitchen.

 

“Thief!!” their father continued to shout in a fit of rage.

 

***

 

“You’re back? What about the kids? How’s your wrist?”

 

Seo Do-hwan asked urgently as soon as we entered the house.

 

“Deok-sun and Soon-deuk are right behind me. And my wrist still hurts.”

 

“You’ve got a cast on! I told you I’d go pick up the kids! Why do you insist on moving around when you’re injured?!”

 

Like someone caught in the wrong, Seo Do-hwan snapped.

 

“Boss, you didn’t use your left hand the whole time… did you?”

 

I’m right-handed, so that normally wouldn’t happen.

 

“And if I did?”

 

“Hey! What if it doesn’t heal properly?!”

 

“Then I should make you do everything I say.”

 

Seo Do-hwan stared at me in disbelief as Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk timidly stepped inside.

 

“Hello, Do-hwan oppa.”

 

“Hello, Do-hwan hyung.”

 

Seo Do-hwan scratched his head, trying not to show anger in front of the kids.

 

“Hey, Lee Yoo-seong! Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk are here!”

 

“I’m here too, you know.”

 

“So what?”

 

As Seo Do-hwan snapped at Han Yeong-won, Lee Yoo-seong came running out.

 

“Deok-sun! Soon-deuk! Where did you go?! I told you to wait outside!”

 

“…Sorry.”

 

The children bit their lips and apologized quietly.

 

“Alright, let’s go inside and talk.”

 

They nodded silently.

 

Since our main house had been wrecked during Seo Do-hwan and Han Yeong-won’s fight, we moved to the annex. I didn’t want to ask the kids about their father in the middle of all that chaos.

 

First, I needed to confirm something.

 

“Deok-sun, Soon-deuk. The man who threatened you at the soup kitchen… was he really your father?”

 

“Can’t you tell just by looking, you piece of shit? That crazy bastard is their father,” Han Yeong-won cut in.

 

“I wasn’t asking you, Ms. Han Yeong-won.”

 

“I even explained it nicely, and you’re still complaining.”

 

Ignoring her, I turned back to the kids.

 

“Deok-sun. Soon-deuk.”

 

“Yes,” they answered.

 

Lee Deok-sun spoke first.

 

“He really is our dad.”

 

Lee Soon-deuk added,

 

“And our mother is also there.”

 

“…Your mother too?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The children nodded and began explaining how they came to meet their parents.

 

Their first trip to the soup kitchen near Seoul Station had been just to complete school volunteer hours. That was supposed to be a one-time thing.

 

“D-Deok-sun! Soon-deuk!!”

 

Everything changed when they ran into their mother—whom they’d been separated from since they were little, their memories of her faint.

 

“It’s Mom! Mom! My daughter! My son!”

 

Anyone could tell she was unhinged. Their mother looked exactly like that. To be fair, most of the homeless people at the free soup kitchen didn’t look much different from her.

 

That’s why, when Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk first saw her, they were wary. But this woman, dressed in rags, knew their names—and more than that—

 

“What about Man-deuk? Your hyung—your oppa—where is he? Where’s our Man-deuk? Why isn’t he here?”

 

She knew about Lee Man-deuk. The children had no choice but to accept it—the woman spreading her arms toward them was their mother, separated from them when they were very young.

 

Meeting their father happened after that. Somehow, he recognized them immediately as well.

 

“Why? Are you laughing at me? Do you think it’s funny that your father ended up like this? Huh?!”

 

Unlike their mother, he didn’t welcome them—but that was fine.

 

From then on, Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk began volunteering regularly at the soup kitchen. They faced plenty of difficulties, including fights breaking out among the homeless, but they never gave up. Being able to see their parents—even if both of them seemed mentally unstable—was enough for them.

 

“But we couldn’t tell our oppa.”

 

“If our hyung found out, he’d definitely kill Mom and Dad without leaving a trace.”

 

“We didn’t want that.”

 

The children spoke in low, trembling voices.

 

“Please keep it a secret from our oppa.”

 

“We’re begging you.”

 

As they bowed deeply, their desperation was unmistakable. I looked at Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk in silence, then called for a housekeeper.

 

“Please show the children to their rooms.”

 

“Yes, young master.”

 

Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk hesitated for a moment before standing.

 

“Get some rest for now.”

 

After a brief pause, the children nodded.

 

The moment they left with the housekeeper, Seo Do-hwan asked sharply,

 

“Did Lee Man-deuk’s parents abandon the kids?”

 

“They didn’t abandon them. They left them at an orphanage.”

 

“That’s the same thing.”

 

He wasn’t wrong. After leaving their children there, Lee Man-deuk’s parents had never once gone back to see them.

 

“So… did they come looking for the kids now?”

 

“Not exactly.”

 

“Don’t tell me they showed up for money.”

 

“Why do you think that?”

 

“I’ve seen plenty of people like that!”

 

Seo Do-hwan snapped.

 

“They dump their kids at an orphanage like they never existed, then show up like ghosts just to pocket government support money!”

 

He was seething.

 

“So? Is it really about money?”

 

If I said yes, it looked like he might kill them on Lee Man-deuk’s behalf, so I answered carefully.

 

“It’s not about money, so calm down. You heard what the kids said—they met by chance.”

 

“It still might not have been a coincidence.”

 

Seo Do-hwan pouted.

 

“Right, Lee Yoo-seong?”

 

“I’m not sure.”

 

“You’re supposed to say yes at times like this!”

 

Seo Do-hwan flicked Lee Yoo-seong on the forehead.

 

“Ah!”

 

Lee Yoo-seong winced, clutching his head.

 

Thanks to Han Yeong-won restoring all his strength, Seo Do-hwan was now perfectly capable of flicking Lee Yoo-seong’s forehead as much as he pleased.

 

He really was childish.

 

‘And yet my insides are burning.’

 

After hearing about Lee Man-deuk’s parents—who had never once appeared in all 365 regressions—I couldn’t help it.

 

‘What should I do?’

 

That was when—

 

“You piece of shit. That piece of vermin isn’t worth thinking about.”

 

“You mean Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk’s father?”

 

“I don’t care about the kids. I’m talking about the man who caused a scene.”

 

Han Yeong-won smiled faintly.

 

“He’s going to die soon anyway.”