A person's fate is a funny thing, isn't it? Who would've thought I'd be playing the part of a gang boss at this age? I never intended to follow my old man. I grew up seeing exactly how he lived his whole life, so why the hell would I follow that path?

But things don't always go the way you want, do they? After he died, all that was left was debt, enemies, and a crumbling organization. It's hilarious. The thing I tried to throw away my whole life, I ended up picking back up. No money, no people, and hardly anyone I could trust.

Still, I somehow held on and made it this far. People call it a 'comeback.' Saying a guy who fell once has risen again. Well, it sounds nice. But in my opinion, it's nothing special. I just didn't die and held out. Same for me, and same for the Namhang Association.

And same for that kid.

I really raised someone the wrong way. I mean, I really messed up, didn't I? She's smart. She does her job incredibly well. She's quick-witted, and when trouble starts, she's the first to move.

But she doesn't listen. That's the biggest problem. If I tell her not to do it, she does it. If I tell her not to go, she crawls there. If it looks dangerous, she just dives in with a smile. She's a strange one. If it were anyone else, I would've kicked them out long ago. But I just can't do that.

How old was she when I first saw her? A tiny little thing who'd run away from an orphanage and was crouching on the street, suddenly grabbing onto my sleeve as I walked by.

What did she even know? Asking me to take her with me. She was so bold. Back then, I just thought I'd picked up a nuisance. Even when I pushed her away, she followed. Even when I ignored her, she followed.

In the end, I lost. I fed her a meal, gave her a place to sleep, and slowly started teaching her the work. How many years has it been already? It's been a long time. In that time, Namhang fell once more, I hit rock bottom several times, and she cheated death more than a few times too.

Yet, we're both still here. So maybe this is what people mean by a comeback. Just because you fell once doesn't mean it's over. You just have to get back up. The problem is...

My kid gets back up a little too well. Even when she looks like she's gonna die, she pops right back up and causes more trouble. Good grief. I'm not gonna live long because of that girl.