Chapter Text
Daniel Park used to believe he was taking down the Four Crews for justice.
But, really, what was justice?
He was no hero, not like Vasco.
He wasn’t after some grand revenge, like Jake Kim.
He wasn’t even doing it to protect his loved ones, like Eli Jang.
No, at some point along the road he started to love the thrill of the fight. The adrenaline. The feeling of being powerful enough that people would be afraid to stand in his way.
After all, didn’t Vasco say the truth? A true hero wouldn’t let their friend fight. If he really wanted to protect them, he should’ve been strong enough that they never would even have to lift a finger.
And Jay. He hated fighting. He decided to throw away his comfortable life to help Allied, only to… only for that damned second body of his to take him down without Jay even being able to lift a finger.
And what about all those people who had their lives taken or ruined because he decided to get involved? Olly Wang, Jichang Kwak, Bakgu Noh… Jiho.
Wasn’t the whole point of becoming strong to make others stop bullying the weak? When had he gotten so mixed up in crews that he forgot how he vowed to be less self-centered in order to never make his mother cry again.
Ah…
“Mom,” he coughed out. Blood curdled on his lip. “Tell my mom… ”
A shadow fell over his face. Dark hair, wet from the rain, framed a blurry face. But Daniel didn’t need to see to know who it was.
“What was it that Gun used to say? He only granted wishes to dead people?”
Daniel coughed again. His fingers twitched, broken beyond repair. Not that he would even have the chance to try and repair them.
“What should I take from you, I wonder? An eye? Well, I guess I’ll get to decide in a moment.”
“Tell my mom… ” He had to finish the sentence. But what right did he have to say one last thing to his mother? The woman who bore him, who put up with his pathetic behavior, who worked her ass off just to provide for him, who never accepted the money he gave her…
“Thank you, Daniel Park. It really was the best fight of my life.”
What could he say to his mother, who already became a widow at such a young age? Who would now, truly, be alone.
“Tell my mom… ” A tear escaped from his eye, mixing with the rain and blood. “Please. Tell her that… that her pathetic son is sorry.” He couldn’t even muster up the strength to see whether the man above him agreed.
And with that, Daniel Park died.
The first few weeks of switching bodies were disorienting. Even knowing he was going to switch, being awake for essentially twenty-fours hour every single day took some getting used to. Even later on Daniel sometimes struggled to perfectly switch over. And once his original body had become just as experienced as his second one, it became harder and harder to differentiate between the two.
This was nothing like switching bodies.
It was a bit like violently awakening from a cold, sweaty nightmare, where even when you knew your eyes were open you still couldn’t see anything.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Daniel grasped at the air, chest heaving. He looked around at a dark and blurry room, with only a red light illuminating its interior.
Even though he knew even a second of hesitation could cost him his life, it was as though his body was on fire and unwilling to listen to its brain.
He coughed wetly, scrunching his tank top against the left side of his chest chest.
“Daniel?”
That voice.
He turned to his right, where a warm light suddenly appeared in the gap between a shabby door and a dirty floor. A shadow obstructed part of the light.
“Are you okay, sweetie? Did you have a nightmare?”
“Don’t — ” he coughed again, “Don’t come in, Mom!” The oxygen in his lungs felt like liquid lava, but he couldn’t allow his mother to see him like this.
“Daniel? You don’t have to be embarrassed. I can — ”
“I’m, I’m fine, Mom. Really,” he said.
“Alright, dear. Just… know you can come to me if you need anything.” After a moment, the shadow left, and the lights switched back off.
Daniel licked his lips, the coughing finally subsiding. He looked around at the room he was in, with its dilapidated walls, embarrassing posters, and heaps of trash, squinting his eyes at the familiar sight.
Wait. Squinting?
Daniel rubbed his eyes, but his vision didn’t get any clearer. He leaped onto his feet, twisting around in search of glasses that he hadn’t worn in years. His hands came out to feel around, only to fall inches short from the ground, as though he had lost inches off of his arm’s length.
Daniel brought his hands closer to his face. They were thick, chubby, and soft. The hands of someone who had never thrown a real punch in their lives.
He looked down at his body. He couldn’t see his toes.
Finally, he reached up to grab at the chain hanging from the ceiling. The lightbulb flickered on. He turned to his left, where he knew a full-length mirror resided.
Daniel was back in his true original body.
-
Traveling back in time might’ve been stranger if not for the fact that Daniel was used to having two bodies.
Apparently, he was in the summer before his first-year of high school. It seems he hadn’t remembered to turn his alarm clock off and so it woke him up in time for classes he (luckily) didn’t have to attend.
The first few days were strange, to say the least. While switching between the two bodies was never difficult, it had been years since he had to deal with a body that wasn’t in perfect condition. He kept reaching for things that were further away than he could grab or tripping over feet that refused to cooperate. When he went to bed that first night, he almost expected to wake up in his second body.
But living back at home with his mother was an unparalleled experience. After his “nightmare,” she had made sure to ply him with some homemade food that he knew they couldn’t afford at the moment. His strange behavior these last few days certainly hadn’t helped. She seemed tempted to stay back at home to take care of him, but Daniel managed to shoo her off to work. At night, they ate together at the table, talking amicably in a way that they hadn’t been able to when he was actually that age.
God. He must have been so horrible, for his own mother to be so astounded that he wanted to spend dinner together.
After a week of acclimating back to his old life, Daniel was ready to throw it all away. The Four Crews, Charles Choi, the pre- and first-generations, James Lee… The only thing tying him to them in this life was his uncle, Jinyoung Park, but seeing as the man was crazy it would’ve been all but impossible to trace them together.
Was it selfish of him to hide away in his mother’s home, eating her food and happily going about his life?
“What are you talking about, Daniel? Hiding away? What are you hiding from?” his mother asked, setting her chopsticks down. Her face was scrunched up in concern.
“I mean… ” Daniel pushed a noodle around his plate. “Theoretically, Mom. If I knew that there were bad things happening and that I could help stop them but in the process, I’d put myself and people who otherwise wouldn’t be involved in danger, would it be… selfish? To not do anything?”
His mother frowned. “Is someone bullying you?” Daniel’s mouth flew open.
“No!” Well, actually, yes, I guess. “I just mean… ” He shoved a noodle into his mouth, chewing. His mother observed him, as though searching for the truthfulness.
“Well. I didn’t raise you to look the other way when bad things happened, did I?” She picked her chopsticks back up, taking a small bite. “Your father was just like that. Always going off and getting into trouble. But… I always knew it was for good reason. It’s why I never objected, even if I wanted to. How could I, when he was making the world a better place?”
Daniel’s eyes widened. His father had always been an unspoken off-limits topic between them. Even at Daniel’s worst, he had never brought up his father. The closest they had ever gotten in his last life was when he was investigating his relation to Jinyoung Park.
They kept eating in silence. His mother seemed to sense that he was honestly searching for something.
As they finished watching the dishes, something that Daniel hadn’t helped with before, he turned to his mother.
“Mom. I lied before. I am being bullied,” he said.
His mother paused before smiling sadly. As expected, she had already known.
“Oh, Daniel,” she said. “I — ”
“I’m going to start a part-time job to save up to transfer to another school,” he said. “I know… I know I haven’t been a good son, until now.”
“Daniel, no, it’s all your mother’s — ”
“No, Mom. You’re… ” Daniel bit his lip, tears threatening to spill out.
Had he ever said this to his mother? Or had he only kept it in his heart, too embarrassed to say it?
“You’re the best mother in the world. It’s your pathetic son who can’t do anything right.”
“Oh, Daniel,” Her arms came up to wrap around him, clutching him like her life depended on it. “Don’t cry, Daniel.”
“I — ” I won’t, he was going to say, but his words got choked up. Tears fell down onto his mother’s shoulder. “I love you, Mom. So much. And — and I didn’t say it enough.”
His mother’s hand came up to pet Daniel’s hair, her other hand rubbing circles into his back. “Sh. It’s okay. You’re saying it now, aren’t you? I love you too.”
How did you react, when you found out your only son had died? What was the cover-up story that they used? Did you know the truth? You always knew me better than I gave you credit for.
Daniel sobbed into his mother’s arms for what felt like hours. At some point he was just clutching at her, chest heaving, his eyes too tired to produce any more tears. But not even once did his mother let go.
At first, Daniel was going to follow the same path he did before, but instead of relying on his mother for expenses he would begin working right away to ease at least a little bit of his burdens. in an old unused notebook he started to write out all he could remember of the events leading up to his death.
- Travel to Seoul to attend Jaewon High and gain second body
- Remeet all my friends, solve all the problems that arise (Help out Duke before things get bad.) (Save Jiho)
- Prevent Johan from disappearing
- Save Olly Wang
The only problem was, as he went further and further down the timeline he had problems remembering everything he had done. Even worse than that, if he went and changed things (like Olly’s death), then what would happen after that point? Or if he didn’t try and change things, then wouldn’t he just be wilfully letting people suffer?
So many of the events that unfolded in his past happened due to outside influence. Looking back on it, he didn’t even know the reason why half of the people who appeared showed up when they did. Who knows, maybe him not getting a haircut that first day in Seoul would result in the whole timeline shifting.
While Daniel certainly wasn’t dumb, he wasn’t some strategic planner like Jace or Eugene. No, his power had always been in his fists. Or, for those first couple of years, his second body’s fists.
And so, Daniel began to train.
So much could be prevented if he had just started training his original body in the first place. All that time his second body spent incapacitated was wasted on Daniel trying to improve his original body. And so, if he just began with a perfect original body, he could spend 24/7 working towards his goals.
So, for the five remaining weeks of summer vacation, in between his part-time job as a deliveryman, Daniel trained every day. He started with Vasco’s workout routine, to reacclimate his body to the strenuous conditions it would soon undergo. After two weeks of that, he moved on to Sophia’s training regime, supplementing her weight with that of a few boulders. And with just one week remaining, he started to train his body’s ultra-instinct. After all, there was only so much non-combat-oriented training he could do.
While his mind may remember all the forms he’d seen in the past, it was likely that the same thing that happened the last time he tried to replicate in his original body would occur. This body simply lacked true combat experience.
And so, his mother helped him move into the same old shack he lived in for years. He bid her a much more tearful goodbye than last time, promising to call every day.
He considered going out and walking about Seoul. Hadn’t he met Zack and Mira for the first time, just a few hours after his move? In this new and improved body it was unlikely that their first meeting would be so disastrous. And besides, Daniel wasn’t sure he’d find it in himself to be anything other than extreme sadness to see the two of them. Were they even dating at this point?
Instead, Daniel decided to go out and find the same part-time convenience store job he had last cycle. It certainly would be helpful to have some extra pocket change, and he might even become an online model just for the high commission rate.
He ended up getting hired right on the spot, with his manager a lot more wary of him this time around.
“You’re not just pulling this old man’s leg are you, young man? You’ll show up to your shifts and not slack off, right?”
“Of course, Sir. I wouldn’t dare!”
“Right. Just checking. Kids these days, looking all different… Well, it’s none of my business, I guess.”
With that taken care of, he went out to walk along the riverside as the sun began to set. He could feel his eyes getting droopy. That was another new thing: he hadn’t felt true exhaustion, other than post-battle fatigue, in years.
Laying down onto his bed, with the promise of what was to come, he went off into a peaceful sleep. He woke up that morning, refreshed. Standing up, he turned to his full-length mirror.
He paused. His face stared back at him. He looked down. He was still in his original body.
“Fuck.”
After countless attempts to summon his second body, it seemed like it simply wasn’t going to happen. Whether he passed out from exhaustion, from sleeping pills, or with a wish on his tongue, he still woke up in the same body.
Before Daniel knew it, it was already the beginning of the new school year, and for the second time he’d be attending J-High as a student, only in his original body.
“Woah… Who’s that hottie?”
“Was there someone like that who went to our middle school?”
“A ten out of ten, for real!”
“Should I go and get those digits?”
Daniel made his way through the crowd of new students. Around the school were various informational signs for the incoming freshman to find their classrooms, but he paid no mind to them. He knew exactly where he was going.
It had been years since he stepped foot into J-High’s fashion department. By his senior year, he was almost expelled from school due to absences, and even then he had to make up some excuse about a terminally ill relative he was looking after. By the time he graduated he was more concerned with crews than school.
Daniel stopped just a few feet before his classroom. Inside he could hear the classmates he hadn’t seen in forever joking around.
He took a deep breath, steeling himself. He couldn’t go and start bawling in front of his not-quite-yet-friends.
It had been right inside that classroom that his new life started. And it would be that way once again.
He reached out a hand to open the door, but a thick arm came out to grasp the handle before he could.
“Uh.”
He followed the hand upward, finally meeting the eyes of…
Well. Daniel couldn’t quite remember his name, but he was about 75% sure that they were in class together.
“Hey,” the other boy said. “Let me get that for you.” He coughed, and his cheeks were flushed red for some reason.
Did he have a cold or something? Well, I won’t object to him opening the door for me, I guess.
“Thanks,” Daniel said. The other boy coughed again, grinning widely. He opened the door to their classroom.
“Sure thing. F-feel free to ask me to open any other doors you may need.”
“Right… ” For some reason, Daniel felt like he wasn’t understanding what the other was saying. Nonetheless, he stepped into the room.
He looked out at the other students, all of whom turned to stare at his entrance. Time seemed to still for the other students as Daniel made his way to the same seat he sat at for his three years at J-High, right next to Zack.
(Even five years after gaining his new body, Daniel could never quite pick up on when people were checking him out.)
He sat down in his seat, his legs just barely touching the ground. His body hadn’t quite undergone the growth spurt it did under Gun’s teaching yet. As of right now, he was around 5’3”, although he hoped that he would grow a little bit more in the next year. It was inconvenient being so short again.
He started to idly play on his phone, his legs thumping up and down in anticipation of meeting his old (new?) friends again. He had been practicing in the mirror for weeks to school his face into some semblance of vague interest rather than the mixture of despair and elation that he was truly feeling.
I should approach them naturally. They would be freaked out if some random classmate came up to them and started to go on and on about wanting to be friends, right?
Aside from that, I should try and connect with… with Jiho. But I shouldn’t get too close. It was my fault he got so caught up in everything, after all.
I won’t let it happen again, Jiho. I promised I would try and understand.
Lost in thought, he only looked up from his phone when a shadow fell over his screen. Feeling deja vu from the doorway, he looked up, coming face-to-face with… yet another boy who looked familiar but Daniel couldn’t for the life of him remember the name of.
“Hey,” the boy said. “You’re new to our school, right? I didn’t see you around during middle school.”
“That’s right,” Daniel said.
“Cool, cool,” he said. “Well, I just wanted to say that I wouldn’t mind showing a cutie like you around our school.”
?
“Sorry?” he asked. The other boy scratched the back of his head, face quickly turning crimson.
“I’m sort-of, kind-of a big deal around here, so you wouldn’t have to worry about anyone messing with you,” he continued. “You can just sit back and let your oppa do all the work.”
Oppa?
Daniel felt a chill go down his back. There was definitely some kind of misunderstanding happening right now.
“Look, I think you have the wrong idea — ”
“Awe, no need to be shy. Look, why don’t we go and check out my own private little — ” A strong hand landed on his shoulder, cutting him off. The flirtatious boy stiffened.
“She’s not interested, asshole, so go swing your dick somewhere else.” The boy in front of Daniel looked between him and the newcomer.
Daniel’s eyes widened.
Behind the boy stood Zack Lee in all his freshman-year glory. The flirtatious boy quickly eked out and apology and fled. Zack huffed in distaste, wiping off his hand on his trousers before settling down into the seat beside Daniel. Zack propped his head up on his left hand, face turning to his right.
“Hey, if that idiot bothers you feel free to talk to me,” he said.
Huh… Daniel thought. He’s being a lot nicer than I remember.
He followed where Zack’s eyes were trailing and, sure enough, Mira Kim was sitting in her seat, talking to some of their classmates. If Daniel squinted he could almost see a tail wagging behind Zack, like a dog awaiting praise.
You never change, Zack.
Daniel hid a small smile behind his hand.
Maybe this won’t be as hard as I thought. But it seems like Zack and that other boy had the wrong idea about my gender.
Eh, I’m sure they’ll realize soon enough. I’m wearing pants, after all.
Satisfied, Daniel went back to scrolling on his phone, but he snuck quite a few glances at Zack’s figure beside him. He had to bite his lip quite a few times to stop himself from giggling. It had been awhile since he’d seen how openly infatuated Zack was with Mira, after all.
Sitting a few seats in front of Daniel, with his eyes obscured by bleached blond bangs and head propped up on a Chrome Hearts-covered hand, Jay Hong frowned.