The Return to Youth

The blaring sound of an alarm startled Ji-eun Kang awake. Her head ached, her thoughts muddled as she squinted at the bright light streaming through unfamiliar curtains. Curtains? She didn’t remember having curtains this plain.

Groaning, Ji-eun sat up in bed, rubbing her temples. Something was wrong. The luxurious penthouse she had grown accustomed to over the years was gone, replaced by a modestly decorated room that seemed eerily familiar. Her heart pounded as she scanned her surroundings—a small desk covered in textbooks, a framed picture of her younger self with her parents on the nightstand, and a uniform hanging neatly on the closet door.

The uniform.

Her breath hitched. She scrambled out of bed and rushed to the mirror above the desk. What she saw sent her reeling. The face staring back wasn’t the composed, mature woman she had become. It was her 17-year-old self—rounder cheeks, unblemished skin, and wide, confused eyes.

“This… This can’t be real,” she whispered, clutching the edge of the desk to steady herself.

The memories of the previous night were still vivid. She had been sitting alone in her grand apartment, nursing a glass of wine, thinking about the one person she could never quite forget—Jae-min Yoo. His name alone made her chest tighten with regret. She had pushed him away, dismissed his feelings, and ignored his worth. Now, at 34, she understood how much she had lost.

But this? This was impossible. Somehow, she was back in high school.

---

Ji-eun’s panic was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door.

“Ji-eun! You’re going to be late!” her mother’s voice called from the hallway.

Her mother. Ji-eun hadn’t heard that voice in over a decade. Tears pricked her eyes as she opened the door, finding her younger-looking mother standing there with an exasperated expression.

“What’s wrong with you this morning? You’re usually up by now,” her mother said, frowning.

“I… I’m fine,” Ji-eun stammered, her voice trembling. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

Her mother gave her a skeptical look but nodded before heading downstairs. Ji-eun closed the door and leaned against it, her heart racing. This wasn’t a dream. It was real. Somehow, she had been given a second chance.

---

By the time she arrived at school, Ji-eun had managed to steady herself, though her mind was still spinning. The hallways buzzed with chatter, students hurrying to their classes. It was all so familiar—the pristine uniforms, the scent of freshly waxed floors, the cliques of teenagers laughing and gossiping.

She made her way to her classroom, her pulse quickening as she stepped inside. Her classmates looked exactly as she remembered, their faces frozen in time. Then her eyes landed on him.

Jae-min Yoo sat in the back row, his head bent over a notebook. His glasses slid down his nose as he scribbled something, oblivious to the world around him. He looked just as he had in high school—thin, with slightly unkempt hair and a quiet, studious demeanor.

Ji-eun’s chest tightened. Seeing him again, this version of him, was overwhelming. She remembered how he used to look at her back then, his gaze filled with admiration and a touch of longing. But she had never given him a second thought.

“Ji-eun, are you okay?”

The voice of her best friend, Soo-jin, pulled her out of her thoughts. Ji-eun forced a smile and nodded, taking her seat by the window. But she couldn’t stop glancing at Jae-min, who seemed entirely unaware of her presence.

---

The day passed in a blur. Ji-eun struggled to focus in class, her mind racing with questions. Why had she been sent back? Was this some cosmic punishment or a rare opportunity to fix her mistakes?

By lunchtime, she decided to approach Jae-min. She found him sitting alone in the library, a sandwich in one hand and a book in the other. It was a sight that tugged at her heart.

“Jae-min,” she said softly, stepping up to his table.

He looked up, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. “Ji-eun? What are you doing here?”

“I just… wanted to say hi,” she replied, feeling uncharacteristically nervous.

Jae-min blinked, clearly caught off guard. “Hi,” he said cautiously, his tone polite but distant.

Ji-eun hesitated. She had no idea how to bridge the gap between them, not when she had spent so much of their past ignoring him. But she had to try.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” she asked.

Jae-min hesitated before nodding. Ji-eun took a seat across from him, her heart pounding. She glanced at the book he was reading—an old, dog-eared novel about perseverance and hope.

“You always liked reading, didn’t you?” she said, attempting to start a conversation.

Jae-min gave her a curious look. “I guess,” he said, his tone wary. “Why do you care?”

The question stung, but Ji-eun couldn’t blame him. She had never cared before. She had dismissed him as unimportant, a nobody. But now, sitting across from him, she saw him differently. He wasn’t just a boy with unpolished manners and second-hand clothes. He was someone who had once loved her wholeheartedly, someone she had taken for granted.

“I guess I never got to know you,” she said, her voice soft. “I’d like to change that.”

Jae-min stared at her, his expression unreadable. For a moment, Ji-eun thought he might reject her. But then he nodded, a small, cautious smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Okay,” he said.

It was a start.

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