# Chapter 39
It was so shocking that I couldn’t help but be astonished no matter how many times I looked.
“So, you two have known each other for a while. Haha.”
Thankfully, I’ve been trained in maintaining my facial expressions thanks to my many service industry part-time jobs. I tried my best not to show my surprise to avoid being disrespectful to Jeongmun.
“When I was in fourth grade, my mother worked at Noona’s house. Noona’s parents were accommodating, so I often went over to play. That’s when I met Hanyoung Noona, who took care of young me in many ways. She even taught me judo personally.”
Huh? Has Jeongmun always been this talkative?
Jeongmun, who was usually a man of few words, was rambling on his own. His voice was slightly elevated, clearly different from his usual demeanor.
“She’s cool now, but Noona was really cool back then too.”
Reminiscing about the Director from the past, Jeongmun stared into space and blushed shyly. The corners of his mouth, which usually formed a straight line, were curiously turned upward. The moment I saw that expression, an intuition struck me.
Ah. Jeongmun likes the Director.
Seeing his expressionless, rigid face turn tomato red as soon as the Director was mentioned, my guess didn’t seem so far-fetched.
“When did you meet Heerim? Did all three of you know each other since you were young?”
Somehow feeling my own face tingling with embarrassment, I quickly changed the subject. Since the Director and Jeongmun’s relationship went way back, I thought perhaps Heerim was part of that history too. But Jeongmun shook his head.
“I met Heerim when he was 17.”
“Oh? That’s more recent than I thought.”
With Heerim currently being 22, it meant Jeongmun had met him just 5 years ago.
“Somehow the three of us ended up here.”
Since I didn’t know much about Heerim, I waited with an interested expression for Jeongmun to continue. However, instead of telling me more about Heerim, he suddenly asked me an unexpected question.
“By the way, Jaeo. Did you perhaps have a fight with Heerim?”
“What? No?”
I denied it immediately. I had decided to maintain a business-like relationship with him, but we hadn’t fought. He probably misunderstood because I hadn’t engaged in personal conversations with Heerim for the past few days and had been treating him in a formal manner.
Jeongmun thought about something for a moment, then carefully spoke.
“Heerim relies on you a lot and likes you.”
I almost burst into laughter at Jeongmun’s serious statement.
“This guy who supposedly likes me, why would he…”
He doesn’t trust me.
I trailed off, swallowing what I really wanted to say. The more I mulled over Heerim’s actions, the more I felt like a fool.
“I’ll guide him so that Heerim doesn’t have any problems. Don’t worry.”
I smiled calmly and answered appropriately.
Knock knock knock knock.
Not long after, someone knocked on the office door. From the careless, frivolous knocking sound, it was definitely Son Jaeyeon.
“That must be your sister. I’ll go check.”
After straightening the cushions that were casually placed on the sofa, I went to the door.
“Hi! Brother!”
“You…”
When I opened the door, Jaeyeon was standing there as expected. At her cheerful greeting, I deliberately put on a stern face and scolded her.
“Sigh. Even if we’re family, you shouldn’t just show up at someone else’s workplace like this.”
“I didn’t just show up for no reason.”
Jaeyeon pushed me aside as I stood in the doorway and entered the office. I watched nervously as she looked around the office with tension. If she had seen my business card, she would roughly know what this place was, but I was worried she might cause a scene.
A few years ago, I had worked as a short-term laborer at a construction site, and maybe because I looked young and vulnerable, they withheld part of my daily wages. It wasn’t a lot of money, and the labor foreman had a reputation for being an ex-gangster, so I didn’t say anything. But when Jaeyeon found out, she didn’t just let it slide.
I still got goosebumps all over my body whenever I recalled that day.
It was early morning when I finished my night shift at the convenience store and was heading home. With my mind full of thoughts about going home, showering, and sleeping, my phone rang in my pocket. It was a call from Mr. Kang, with whom I had worked a few days before.
“Hello?”
“Jaeo! Where are you now? It’s an emergency!”
“Huh? What’s wrong…”
“Your sister is tearing up the office right now!”
“…?”
“Are you listening?! Your sister is… anyway, come here quickly!”
“…What?!”
Unable to understand what he was saying right away, I let out a scream after a delayed moment and hung up.
I don’t know how I made it to the labor office after that. The previous evening, I had lamented to Jaeyeon about the construction work and the unpaid wages. She just nodded quietly as she listened. So I didn’t think much of it, but I had no idea this girl would skip school in the morning and storm into the office.
In my urgency, I scraped together what little money I had and took a taxi to the labor office.
“Give back my brother’s money that you stole! You scammers!”
“Son Jaeyeon—!”
The scene inside the office was quite a spectacle. I grabbed Jaeyeon, who was thrashing about on the desk, with a pale face.
“Son Jaeyeon! Are you crazy?!”
“Ah! Let me go!”
Jaeyeon, still not calmed down, snorted and struggled. It was incomprehensible how such strength came from her small frame. I knew she had a strong personality, but I didn’t think she’d cause such a scene among intimidating-looking men. The men seemed to be seeing this for the first time too, as they just stared blankly at the young student in uniform making a scene.
“Who’s the boss here?! Bring out the boss!”
“Hey! Son Jaeyeon!”
“Son Jaeo, are you an idiot?! Why are you just letting them steal your money? If you’re going to be quiet, then stay quiet till the end. I’ll get it back for you.”
With those words, Jaeyeon pushed me aside and eventually found the foreman. The foreman, who always had curse words on his lips at the worksite, seemed bewildered by Jaeyeon’s reckless audacity.
In the end, Jaeyeon got back the money I had been cheated out of. Of course, I was never able to work through that labor office again after that day.
Surely she wouldn’t do something like that again…
With an uneasy heart, I followed Jaeyeon as she looked around the office. Jeongmun, who had been standing awkwardly, bowed his head in greeting when he saw Jaeyeon. Jaeyeon stared at Jeongmun’s face for a moment, then suddenly turned toward me. Instinctively, I flinched and hunched my shoulders.
“Where’s that pretty guy?”
“Huh?”
“The guy who came with you to catch the Sea Squirt Man last time. Why isn’t he here?”
“Don’t tell me you came all the way here to see Heerim?”
“Well, among other things.”
I felt like I had aged ten years as I straightened my hunched shoulders and ran my hand over my face. It was ridiculous that Jaeyeon had barged in here looking for Heerim, but at least it was better than her causing a scene about the company being suspicious. As I was about to kick her out once she had finished looking around the office, Jaeyeon addressed Jeongmun.
“Hello. I’m Son Jaeo the part-timer’s sister. May I sit here?”
“Ah, yes. Please.”
Having received permission to sit on the sofa, Jaeyeon, for some reason, sat down with a serious expression. Because of that, I ended up sitting down across from her.
“Brother.”
When I just stared blankly, Jaeyeon wrinkled the bridge of her nose and made a surly expression.
“Shouldn’t you offer your guest something to drink?”
“What guest are you? Stop bothering me and go home.”
“I am a guest.”
Jaeyeon turned her head abruptly to look at Jeongmun instead of me and continued.
“I came here to make a request.”
***
“Kyaaaaah!”
“What do we doooo! Kyaaah!”
Screams could be heard from all around. You might think some accident had happened, but that wasn’t it. These were shouts of joy from people overwhelmed with happiness. Currently, Jeongmun and I were surrounded by numerous women and on the verge of losing consciousness.
This place was a stadium where various sports competitions were held. A large stage had been set up in the baseball field where this season’s games should have been held, and banners with various idol group names were hanging in the spectator seats.
The reason I, someone who didn’t know anything about idols, was here holding a glowing lightstick was all because of Son Jaeyeon.
“What? What kind of request?”
“Could you go to Yujeong Stadium at seven tonight instead of me?”
“Why there all of a sudden?”
I frowned and asked back, wondering what this sudden request was about. Jaeyeon scratched her cheek with an embarrassed face.
“There’s a K-pop festival there, and I got two tickets. Could you go and take some pictures of my babies for me?”
“Why don’t you go yourself? You have the tickets.”
“I failed my mock exam and have to attend a special class study session later, so I have to go back to school.”
“A girl who sneaks over school walls can’t skip that?”
“Well, when you put it that way, I have no comeback… But failing the mock exam was a bit shocking, so my conscience won’t let me go have fun. But today’s stage is the last activity for this album. Come on, brother, please. Just go and take some pictures for me. These guys are a failing idol group, so there aren’t even fan photographers to take pictures. Can’t you grant a high school senior’s wish just once?”
“…”
“Oh, and I get a family discount on the request fee, right?”
What kind of reaction was I supposed to have to this? I was embarrassed for having shown Jeongmun a sister who suddenly came to her brother’s workplace asking him to take pictures of her favorite celebrities.
“Hey, Son Jaeyeon. Just go. I’m sorry. My sister is still immature…”
“I understand because I have a younger sibling too.”
Jeongmun comforted me as I couldn’t lift my face due to embarrassment. As expected, Jeongmun was the kindest person at the Earth Peace Research Institute.
“Son Jaeyeon, you should quickly…”
Just as I was about to stand up, thinking I needed to force Jaeyeon out before I got any more embarrassed, Jeongmun looked at Jaeyeon with a serious expression, his eyes shining.
“So, your sister, what’s the name of the group we need to photograph?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
