“What I want to eat is your company, but what that ahjussi wants to eat is your asshole. Be careful.”
Yeon Cheonguk shot back with a pathetic expression.
“Do you have a hobby of sowing discord? He’s a grateful sunbae who connected me to an agency.”
“I’m saying he wants to connect not just the agency but your bodies too?”
“Haah… What are you even saying. Shut up, really.”
“I can tell just by looking at his eyes. He’s a pervert, that one.”
“Shit, what did you…!”
At Hwang Jegu’s continued nonsense, Yeon Cheonguk ultimately failed to hold back his laughter.
Sigh, he had to admit it.
Even though everyone around him was trying to separate them and he knew he shouldn’t meet Hwang Jegu,
hanging out with him was the most fun.
If he could just cover up and move past that summer kiss, it really was true. Time spent with him was more fun than with anyone else.
‘Haah… Seriously, it’s a problem, Yeon Cheonguk. Being vulnerable to stimulation.’
The walk down after singing three English numbers from <Moulin Rouge> and <Les Misérables> was refreshing. It was a pleasant heat. The humid wind cooled the sweat on his forehead.
He bit into a frozen yogurt and checked his watch.
10:07:09.
Hwang Jegu sent Yeon Cheonguk back before ten o’clock. It was the time when most ordinary high school students would finish night self-study sessions or study rooms. It was probably because the core of his money-making activities started from this time.
He felt especially dazed today.
Was it the aftermath of watching the auditions, or was he just soaking in the romance of the summer night today?
Climbing the stairs of the multi-family housing, he checked his watch once more.
It was passing 11:07:09.
The same as when he’d looked at the watch before. 7 minutes 9 seconds.
It was the moment he narrowed his brow at the strange feeling. The front door opened from inside and his body swayed violently.
“Ugh!”
“Oh my!”
Flailing at the force that suddenly flew at him and pushed his neck, Yeon Cheonguk belatedly realized it was his father’s hand.
“You went to a birthday party? That, that gangster bastard’s party? …You inhuman child!”
From the report card held in his mother’s hand, he could guess there had already been a scene. To know so precisely it was a birthday party—who on earth tipped them off and how? Rather than despair that what would burst had burst, doubt came first.
“You used the money I gave you for private tutoring to hang around nightclubs and bars?”
“……”
“You… Yeon Cheonguk, you, you’re not my child. Not content with lying, you hang around with human trash singing songs? Do you know how… how I’m being a father to you guys!”
Father was clearly drunk. In front of father who was bulging his veins and vomiting his resentment, Yeon Cheonguk quietly bit his lower lip.
“Get out. Don’t come into this house starting today. An inhuman child has no right to live comfortably under his parents!”
“Honey….”
“You too! You let the kid get to this state? Going around late every night being buddy-buddy with that gangster bastard—is that a human? Is it human?!”
Yeon Cheonguk, who’d been silently holding back his words, finally exploded.
“That gangster bastard saved you, Dad. I never asked for tutoring money. In the desk drawer, there’s a million won. Take it.”
“You…!”
Something struck his cheekbone hard and fell. It was a work boot covered in dirt. Mother covered her face saying “Oh my, oh my” and slid down the wall to sit. Shouting echoed loudly in the old multi-family housing corridor.
For an instant, his stuffy head became clear.
That was right. This was never a place for Yeon Cheonguk from the beginning.
From the earliest memories he could recall, it had never been a place where he could exist comfortably.
Suddenly everything became easy. It felt like he was finally free from all shackles and comparisons.
“Why should I have kept it secret from my family that I’m preparing to debut as a singer?”
“Shut your mouth!”
“Cheonguk-ah, just say you were wrong. Cheonguk-ah, beg. If you beg….”
“No, I didn’t want to come in here either.”
Yeon Cheonguk continued with an indifferent face. As he let out all the words that had piled up, it felt refreshingly clear inside.
“Yes. This family doesn’t seem like a place for me. A place where no one cares what I want to do, what makes me happy!”
Father laughed loudly. With a face that had aged and collapsed as if showing his suddenly fallen social status, he said this.
“I too didn’t do what I wanted to do or what made me happy while raising you.”
“……”
“If I’d known the result would be such a failure, I would have quit long ago. I didn’t know you’d grow up to be a human who can’t even do your part.”
Yeon Cheonguk ended up uttering a sharp criticism.
“Right. It’s funny hearing the word ‘failure’ from a failure.”
“……”
He turned around and left through the communal entrance.
Creak. A long noise rang out from the unoiled hinges.
Regret came as fast as lightning.
He hadn’t wanted to inflict even this wound. He resented where those words that just left his mouth had come from.
The blade he’d just spat at his father was now stabbing his own chest in return.
What accompanied Yeon Cheonguk as he walked endlessly were cicada sounds and tears flowing down his cheeks.
***
Manager Kim washed the chicken feet dish he’d eaten as a late-night snack. When Yeon Cheonguk offered to do it, he told him to follow instructions and rest comfortably, so he sat uncomfortably on the sofa and waited.
Yeon Cheonguk, who’d been wandering the streets, ultimately called Manager Kim. He couldn’t tell Hwang Jegu about this situation. He would definitely ask why he was kicked out, and he didn’t want things to become difficult for both of them. With Manager Kim being the only one he could rely on immediately, he called shamelessly.
“I’m sorry. If you let me stay just one night, I’ll repay the debt.”
“Why would they kick out such a kind and sincere future grand prize singer?”
Yeon Cheonguk kept quiet about the reason for running away even to Manager Kim. The moment Hwang Jegu’s name came out, there’d be nothing to gain, so it was better to act troubled. Fortunately, the manager didn’t ask further about the reason.
“It’s fine, don’t talk about it if it’s uncomfortable. First get some good rest, sleep, and then think.”
“Thank you, sunbae! Thank you, thank you, super thank you.”
“If you’re grateful, give me some lip service.”
“Lip service?”
“This.”
The manager pointed at his mouth.
Ah, a song? He must be joking.
When Yeon Cheonguk laughed weakly, the manager waved his hand saying it was a joke. The manager who finished washing dishes and came to the sofa turned on the HDTV. Since it was dawn, documentaries like ‘Late Night Special’ were airing on public broadcast. Manager Kim, who switched to cable TV and put on a foreign movie, asked casually.
“But you really went to distribute flyers today, right?”
“…Yes?”
“It didn’t seem like it.”
What was this about now—when he turned around, the manager kept his eyes fixed on the TV and added casually.
“You looked way too excited for going to a part-time job?”
“……”
“Hahaha, you did. When you left I thought you were running the 100-meter dash. You rushed out so quickly.”
They say you can’t spit on a smiling face—when the manager smiled brightly, the desire to confront him faded, but the chilly feeling remained.
After that, the two watched movies and chatted about trivial things. About 20 minutes later, when he was starting to worry about his parents, Kim sunbae opened his mouth.
“Do you know the concept of synchronicity?”
“No.”
“It’s like this. When I want something, sometimes the world follows that heart and gifts coincidences. For example, you desperately wanted to see someone and an opportunity to sit with that person arises, or an item you wanted to buy is coincidentally on sale. If you just practice catching such luck, you can discover synchronicity in various parts of life.”
It sounded like empty talk, but it seemed impressive when the manager said it. Out of courtesy, when he let out an “ooh” of admiration, the manager playfully tapped Yeon Cheonguk’s nose bridge.
“Wasn’t today’s event like that too? Maybe because your desire to sing was so great, the world gave you an opportunity to go to the right place. So you could focus on your debut while staying with me?”
He had absolutely no intention of continuing to impose. Since the atmosphere was flowing toward staying here for the time being, he tried to express his refusal. But Manager Kim added a question first.
“It’s okay, right?”
“What is?”
“Preparing for your debut with me these days. You’re happy, right?”
“……”
It was when Yeon Cheonguk felt repulsion at words strangely out of place with the situation. Vibration rang out from the manager’s cell phone.
The manager who opened the folder shook his head.
“Looks like they’re calling everywhere saying you haven’t come home.”
The saved name on the screen the manager held out was ‘Dongdaemun Police Station Violent Crimes Investigation Unit 1 Detective Lee-nim.’ The manager who briefly greeted the detective switched to Yeon Cheonguk.
“Yes.”
– Go home, you brat.
“Detective-nim, please sleep.”
– This little shit. Are you trying to add another tale of running away? Just say ‘Father, I was wrong’ and go in.
“I don’t want to. And I have a place to stay.”
Wait.
Even in his exhaustion, Yeon Cheonguk sensed something suspicious.
“But, detective-nim, you’re not even in charge of the juvenile division anymore, so why are you concerned with my family’s affairs?”
– I called your father! Because of that Jegu bastard, I got to know your father briefly too….
The manager suddenly snatched the cell phone from Yeon Cheonguk’s hand. Yeon Cheonguk felt that strange feeling again from the manager who acted brazenly saying he’d hang up appropriately.
Suspicion bloomed.
How did the story that Yeon Cheonguk and Hwang Jegu still had a friendship reach the detective’s ears…?
The thought soon led to an absurd inference. Had he ever held such a strong intuition and conviction in his life? With surprising certainty, the conviction pointed to one person.
The next day, Yeon Cheonguk secretly left the house while the manager was taking a morning shower. He expressed gratitude for staying one night with 30 rolls of toilet paper and a bundle of canned peach preserves.
He immediately headed to Dongdaemun Police Station. When Yeon Cheonguk opened the door and entered, the detective ahjussi stood up from his seat noisily.
“Runaway boy! Did you come to apologize on your own, huh?”
“I have something to ask.”
The detective and Yeon Cheonguk stood in front of the break room vending machine. The detective took out a milk coffee, handed it over, and launched into nagging.
“Hey. Don’t go around whispering just anywhere, you. When I heard you on the phone yesterday, your voice was voice-actor level. That’s why girls swarm around you and you can’t study. Hand over your cell phone!”
“I don’t have a phone.”
“Don’t have one? Right, you shouldn’t have a cell phone, kid.”
Yeon Cheonguk downed the vending machine coffee in one gulp as a sign he didn’t intend to talk long. And he immediately got to the point.
“How long have you been watching Hwang Jegu and me?”
“Actually, since last year Jegu pulled his feet out of the butcher shop and seemed like he was trying to catch a job through some service work, so I’ve been watching all along.”
Even so, would a violent crimes investigator have enough time to tail kids? Suspicion deepened further.
“It’s not like we committed any violent crimes, so why on earth? Last year too.”
“Last year? What happened last year? Ah, your father at Kangwon Land?”
“No, the person who snitched to our Canmoa manager that I was working at Jegu’s butcher shop. Wasn’t that you, detective-nim?”
“Tsk! Snitched, this kid!”
The detective jokingly put Yeon Cheonguk in a headlock. Even though it was light, he thought he’d die from pain. Releasing him right away, the detective who ruffled Yeon Cheonguk’s hair asked.
“But what did I snitch about?”
“Last year. When Hwang Jegu was in Gangwon-do and I briefly watched Jegu’s butcher shop. Wasn’t it you who told, detective-nim?”
“What? To who? What are you talking about?”
“To our manager! That I was at Jegu’s butcher shop! You said detective-nim told him!”
“You keep saying manager, manager—which manager are you talking about?”
“Haah! The Canmoa Kyunghee University branch manager!”
“Ah, right, right. That young bachelor, he was the fruit juice shop manager.”
When he pounded his chest and nodded, the detective shrugged.
“Other than Jegu smashing the shop while fighting with the kkakdugis back then, I didn’t talk more with that manager.”
“……What?”
“I’m just now hearing for the first time that you watched Jegu’s butcher shop last year.”
What? The story was way off. Back then, the manager came directly to the butcher shop and took Yeon Cheonguk to the recording studio….
He said the detective told him Yeon Cheonguk’s whereabouts.
And there he threatened that he couldn’t debut if he kept associating with Hwang Jegu.
Manager Kim’s good-natured smile flickered before his eyes.
His always kind and considerate tone and the kindness that sometimes even felt artificial.
“You came here to talk about this nonsense? You came at a good time. I’ll take you home, so come here.”
“Wait!”
He shook off the detective who was pretending to handcuff Yeon Cheonguk. Yeon Cheonguk was serious.
The lid that had covered secrets for so long was about to be peeled off.
No way. No way.
“That I went to watch the open auditions with Hwang Jegu who was in the middle of a birthday party yesterday. That I was with him yesterday. How did you know that…?”
The scattered puzzle pieces began to fit together.
Last year, if he’d pulled out Yeon Cheonguk who’d gotten close to Hwang Jegu and separated them with the threat that it would interfere with his debut.
If he’d reported yesterday’s events to separate the two again through shock therapy after they’d gotten close again this year….
All the puzzle pieces fit.
The detective answered in a plain tone.
“Right, yesterday there was a call from that young manager’s number.”
“……”
“Saying Cheonguk was hanging around with that Hwang gangster again. That he witnessed it directly. Taking a taxi somewhere.”
Finally revealing his true identity.
The black face behind the smile that Yeon Cheonguk had been completely oblivious to all this time…….
