Episode 164. Side Story. A Certain February 14th
Hanpyeong Industries' official closing time was six o'clock. Gim Iwol's evening appointment had been at six-thirty.
And the current time was… seven o'clock.
"Chief Gim, aren't you heading home? I heard today's your birthday!"
Chief Hwang, likewise unable to go home, looked after Gim Iwol with a serious expression.
I know, right. But this isn't exactly a company that lets you leave on time just because it's your birthday.
Gim Iwol thought to himself. He didn't let it show.
A message notification popped up on one of Gim Iwol's dual monitors.
He had locked the preview, so the contents weren't visible, but he could tell just from the sender.
'Nuna must be furious.'
She'd have pushed through the subway from hell all the way to Gangnam to buy her younger brother dinner, only to be left waiting for a whole hour. No crime was greater than this.
Only after skimming through all the data that Team Leader Nam had dumped on him to check over before leaving could Gim Iwol check his nuna's messages.
Nuna
[What?]
[I feel like I've been waiting at minus two degrees for forty minutes]
[Don't tell me this is some new technique to piss people off?]
Me
[Sorry, work isn't done yet.]
[Are you outside?]
[I'll send you a gifticon, so go wait in a café or something.]
Nuna
[This company is fucking trash]
[Don't worry, I'm grabbing dolls at the Mine Friends Shop]
Even so, nuna didn't ask when he thought he'd be done. It was because she had heard from Gim Iwol several times about his irregular hours.
Me
[I'm heading out now]
After sending a brief reply, Gim Iwol grabbed his outerwear. His steps grew brisk.
* * *
Wednesday night in Gangnam was impossibly congested. No matter where you went, there were people, and the streets lined with restaurants and bars were even worse.
A place that was packed on weekends for being the weekend, and packed on weekdays for being weekdays.
Gim Iwol drifted along with the crowd and arrived in front of the store where nuna was.
Nuna, who had come out after getting his message, was holding a white shopping bag.
"Did you buy a doll?"
"No, this is something else."
"Why, when you said you were grabbing dolls?"
"The house is cramped; there's nowhere to put them."
Then nuna checked her phone. She seemed to be looking at a map app.
Hadn't they said they'd eat pasta? It was a compromise between Gim Iwol, who liked noodle dishes, and nuna, who liked Western food.
Nuna took Gim Iwol and walked another ten minutes or so. When the cold wind had left his face stinging, they arrived at a Western restaurant with warm yellow lights hanging in a row on the wall.
Saying she had made a reservation through the app, nuna held her phone screen out to the staff at the host stand. The staff member who checked the name guided the two to a table inside.
"You even made a reservation?"
"If it weren't for eating dinner in Gangnam, I wouldn't have gone this far."
Gim Iwol's nuna had a peculiar way of speaking. She could have just said, "I made a reservation because it looked crowded." If that was nuna's habit, then it was her habit.
While Gim Iwol filled his glass with water and set his knife and fork, nuna unwound her scarf and set it on the seat beside her.
And she handed Gim Iwol the shopping bag she had been carrying until just then.
"Here."
"What's this?"
"Birthday present."
Gim Iwol's eyes went round.
And before he even opened the shopping bag, his eyes met with the celebrity printed on one side of it.
"Ah…."
"Why are you making a face before even looking? Is someone's sincerity funny to you?"
"No, it's not that."
A handsome man was posing, wearing a new sports T-shirt.
It was a face Gim Iwol knew.
"It's a face I see often at work these days. I was just a bit flustered."
"Does your company even use models?"
"Not exactly… And this person is an idol."
Still, it was polite to show immediate appreciation for a received gift. Gim Iwol opened the shopping bag and took out the vinyl-wrapped clothes.
It was from the same line as what the idol printed on the bag was wearing, just in a different color.
"You bought workout clothes?"
"Didn't you say… you do home workouts?"
"I did."
"Wear it when you exercise."
Nuna took a long sip of the ade that had come out first. Ice clinked inside the grapefruit ade glass.
"We said we'd call it even with just a meal."
"It was on sale, so I bought it while I was at it."
"The product the promotional model is wearing was on sale?"
"Ugh, you nitpick disgustingly."
Nuna stabbed the ice with her straw. It meant she was displeased. At times like this, the younger brother had nothing to gain by running his mouth carelessly.
"Thanks. I'll wear it well."
"Sure."
There was still some time before the food came out. Gim Iwol and nuna talked about their respective companies but soon dropped the subject. The more they talked, the more tired they became.
The subject shifted elsewhere.
"Nuna, aren't you interested in celebrities?"
"Me? I only know a few actors, that's all."
"Really?"
"You probably know more celebrities than me. You knew that guy earlier too."
As she spoke, nuna pointed at the shopping bag.
"I know this kid because he's the idol that my team leader's daughter likes."
"How do you know that?"
"She sometimes asks me to find photos and stuff for her."
It wasn't enough to interfere with work, so she had been finding them when she had time, but searching diligently for photos of a male idol she didn't know was hardly enjoyable.
"What's his name?"
"They say it's Jeho. From a group called Spark."
"If it's Spark, isn't that the one with I Cheonghyeon?"
"Yeah."
Even nuna, who had no interest in the entertainment industry, seemed to know I Cheonghyeon.
"He's really handsome. Isn't he like the representative visual of male idols right now?"
"He is. Even I get surprised sometimes when I'm looking for photos."
Nuna took out her phone. Now that they were on the topic, she figured she might as well see who else was in the group.
"Jeho is the eldest. Hey, he's the same age as you."
"Right? He really doesn't look it, does he?"
"Hmm, I don't know."
Nuna made an inscrutable reaction and tapped on Choe Jeho's profile.
The face of a handsome man with bold, clear features that Gim Iwol had seen yesterday as well was enlarged.
"He's handsome. His position is… Center? He's a hundred eighty-seven centimeters? He deserves to be center."
"He looks huge in fan cams."
"You've watched his fan cams too?"
"...Somehow ended up that way."
"You're basically a male fan now."
"Don't say that, I feel like I might cry."
Even as he made excuses, Gim Iwol only wished for his task of collecting data on Choe Jeho to end as soon as possible.
"The eldest isn't the leader? That's unusual. This one has a cute look."
"Still, he has his diligent side. He's good with words too."
"He looks like it. Just like a class president."
Nuna nodded.
"But with Jeho above him, can this dongsaeng even stand out?"
Nuna seemed genuinely worried about Jeong Seongbin, who held a key position. It was a completely different attitude from when she had been praising Choe Jeho's visuals.
Just as it was time to look at Bak Juu's profile, their ordered pasta arrived. In front of nuna, a cream risotto; in front of Gim Iwol, a basil pasta.
Seeing even a thin-crust pizza being set down, Gim Iwol asked.
"Why did you order so much?"
"Hey, this is basically the standard amount for others."
"Then let's split the bill."
"Who talks about splitting the bill before even eating? You're ruining my appetite."
Perhaps enjoying her Spark exploration, nuna didn't stop browsing profiles as she ate her risotto.
"Juu…? I've never heard of this one. Since he's the main vocalist, I guess he sings well. But wasn't that Seongbin kid earlier also a main vocalist?"
"Their tones are a bit different. Juu is sharper."
"No matter how I look at it, this Cheonghyeon is the most handsome. Why isn't he the center?"
"But then again, when you watch the stage, Jeho really stands out."
"This Giyeon leaves quite the impression too. Totally youngest-on-top vibes."
"He only looks like that; he's actually very respectful to the members. The kid must be nice."
There, Gim Iwol added comments one by one. He had no idea why he was chiming in so much over idol talk.
'I never knew the day would come when I'd chat about this kind of topic with nuna.'
Gim Iwol recalled last year's birthday of nuna.
At that time, Gim Iwol had been in his graduating class. Nuna was gaunt. It was a summer where the sweltering heat seemed to beat down on nuna alone.
'If the circumstances had allowed, I would have told you to defer graduation.'
With a blank face, nuna had said that.
That it felt like a day of eternal rest would never come, that she never knew college breaks would be the last vacation of her life.
It was both a lament and sympathy. She said it because she knew what kind of life he, who dreamed of graduating on schedule and getting a job right away, would live.
'I have to do my part now.'
It had been a given. And Gim Iwol had kept his goals.
Whether his classmates got into big companies by preparing for difficult exams or became civil servants, Gim Iwol entered a decent company that didn't demand much of him and earned enough money.
And now, half a year later, both nuna and Gim Iwol himself had become a bit more comfortable. Just that was enough for Gim Iwol to be satisfied.
Perhaps that was why he had played along so nonchalantly with idol talk that reminded him of his team leader's face the moment he saw it.
Dinner was delicious. The restaurant was warm, and pleasant classical music played.
When Gim Iwol finished his share of pasta cleanly and picked up his coat and bag, nuna was already at the counter with the check.
Outside the restaurant, a biting wind blew.
"I said let's split it."
"You can buy me a meal on my birthday. Omakase."
"I'm going off the grid from July, so keep that in mind."
It was a weekday evening. The two had to return home and prepare for tomorrow's work.
It was time to part.
"Hey."
Nuna called out to stop Gim Iwol.
"If the company seems to be making you do weird things, just get out. Don't stick it out foolishly."
"But don't I have to fill two years to be able to switch jobs?"
"You think doing something stupid at a trash company for two years will get you anything but another trash company?"
Nuna was feigning seriousness. Gim Iwol smiled faintly.
"It's not that bad yet. I'll think about it until I've built up some experience."
"Do as you please."
Nuna answered with a snort. It meant, "As if you'd know." Gim Iwol's nuna sometimes doubted her younger brother's judgment. As she did now.
"Don't suffer for nothing. Got it?"
The moment she finished speaking, nuna disappeared.
Whether she had gone down to the subway turnstiles, taken a taxi, or entered a bus stop, he couldn't tell.
Gim Iwol was left alone in the downtown city.
And he woke from the dream.
It was something from long ago.
Gim Iwol remained in an unfamiliar lodging.
If he turned his head, Choe Jeho—who had been on the shopping bag—was beside him, and from above, I Cheonghyeon popped out and offered a morning greeting.
"...What day is it today?"
Gim Iwol asked. Perhaps because it was winter. His throat was dry.
I Cheonghyeon thought for a moment then answered.
"The fourteenth. Oh, Valentine's Day!"
There was no longer anyone who knew that February 14th was Gim Iwol's birthday.
Though he had never in his life found that fact bitter, today his body felt unusually cold.
'Practice, I should go.'
Gim Iwol, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed, stood up.
It was time to work hard.