The Next Morning
“Dohee~ Get up quickly~ You have to go to school.”
I barely managed to get up at Mom’s call.
Back when I wasn’t a trainee, I could wake up feeling refreshed as soon as I heard my alarm, but now I was so tired I couldn’t even open my eyes when it rang.
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and went to the bathroom to wash my face. When I came out, Doa was already sitting at the table and eating.
“Unni, hurry up and eat.”
“Okay. I’ll just get dressed and come out.”
Ever since Doa started elementary school, I had been going to school with her.
I roughly picked out a white T-shirt and jeans from the closet and put them on.
The mornings were still chilly, so I should wear a cardigan too.
As soon as I sat at the table, Mom placed rice and soup in front of me.
“Eat up.”
“I won’t be late even if I take my time. We have plenty of time.”
“You say that every day, and then you’re late by five minutes.”
“I’m not late because I leave late.”
“Then why are you late?”
“Because I want to be late.”
Mom looked at me as though I was spouting nonsense again.
Ah… I don’t want to go to school.
I roughly mixed my rice into the soup and left the house with Doa.
“We’re leaving~”
“See you later~”
“Okay, you two have a good day. Watch out for cars!”
“Mom, do you have to come pick me up tonight?”
“That depends on how you behave~”
“Your daughter is scared of the dark roads at night~ You have to come~”
She’d come pick me up today, right?
The only good thing about attending school was the walk there.
I got to hold cute little Doa’s hand tightly and walk to school with her every day.
The flowers along the way were pretty.
“Doa, stand in front of those flowers over there. I’ll take a picture of you.”
“Unni, we’re going to be late again.”
“I’m keeping exact track of the time, so it’s fine. Come on, stand there quickly.”
In the end, Doa stood in front of the flowers.
Although she pretended not to like it, Doa struck a pose.
I took a whole bunch of pictures.
“Oh my, who did our pretty girl take after to be this beautiful?”
“Unni.”
“Correct!”
“Unni, we have to go now. We’re late.”
“Okay~”
Our house was close to the school anyway, so it only took five minutes to get there.
“Unni!”
“Hmm?”
“That’s you!”
I looked where Dohee was pointing and saw a banner hanging over the school’s main entrance. It hadn’t been there yesterday.
‘Congratulations to Fifth-Grade Class 4’s Lee Dohee for winning the Grand Prize in the Elementary School Piano Division of the Student Music Association Competition!’
What was this?
How on earth had the school found out that I had won the competition?
I had been keeping it a secret.
First, I took Doa to her classroom, then went into my own.
The moment I entered, all the kids looked at me.
Had they seen the banner too?
This was exactly why I hadn’t wanted the school to find out.
Even though I enjoyed attention, I didn’t want the attention of elementary school students.
Among the children staring at me, Sujin came over and spoke to me.
“Dohee, how could you hide this even from me?”
She’d seen the banner too.
“Hide what…?”
“You always went somewhere after school.”
After school?
“Huh?”
“You were playing the piano.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s right.”
For a moment, I thought word had gotten out that I was an idol trainee too. Phew.
“You could’ve told me.”
“Sorry. I’ll tell you next time.”
I barely managed to soothe Sujin, who clung to me and whined, before getting her off me.
Whew… It was hard just to sit down.
I was twice as tired as usual, starting from the morning.
I should put my head down on my desk until the teacher came.
However, apparently they had no intention of letting me rest, because an announcement came through the speaker on the ceiling.
—Lee Dohee of Fifth-Grade Class 4, please come to the broadcasting room.—
Ah.
What now?
When I had no choice but to go to the broadcasting room, I found the broadcasting club members there, along with one of the teachers in charge of the club, whom I occasionally ran into in the hallway.
“Dohee, you’re here?”
“Yes, hello, Teacher.”
“So, Dohee, I heard you won the Grand Prize at the piano competition?”
“Ah… Yes. I was lucky.”
“I thought it was amazing that Dohee was pretty and good at studying, but you’re also incredibly good at piano?”
“Ha-ha… Thank you.”
“Your parents must be very proud.”
Mom had been sulking just yesterday and hadn’t even come to pick me up from the company.
“Ha-ha… Yes, I suppose so.”
“Anyway, the principal will be here soon to broadcast the award ceremony, so you just need to accept the award and go.”
“Yes.”
.
.
“Fifth-Grade Class 4 student Lee Dohee is being presented with this certificate for bringing honor to the school by winning the Grand Prize at the Student Music Association Competition.”
“Thank you.”
Whew, it was finally over.
Now I could go rest.
“Student Dohee?”
“Yes?”
“Would you come with me to the principal’s office for a moment?”
“Ah, yes…”
Once again, I had no choice but to be dragged to the principal’s office.
“Sit here.”
“Yes.”
“So, it turns out this isn’t the first time Dohee has won a piano competition?”
“Ah, yes…”
How did they really find out?
“It’s something to be proud of. Why didn’t you tell the school?”
Because I knew you’d make a nuisance of yourself like this if I did…
“Ah… I was embarrassed to announce it. Ha-ha…”
“What is there to be embarrassed about? If that reporter hadn’t told us, we never would have known.”
“What? A reporter?”
“Yes. They’re coming to interview you soon.”
“What?”
How had the reporter found out about my school?
Whenever I was interviewed as a competition winner, I never revealed my school in order to protect my identity, and I always asked the reporters not to upload any pictures of me, citing my right to protect my likeness.
It was the same with social media.
The last post Mom had uploaded about me had been when I was eight.
Not only had the account been made private after I became a trainee, but even before that, there hadn’t been any posts that could have revealed my identity.
A short while later, a woman who looked to be in her mid-to-late thirties entered.
The principal stood up and greeted her warmly.
“Welcome, Reporter.”
“Hello, Principal.”
“Dohee, this is the reporter. Say hello.”
This was ridiculous.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Dohee. Shall we begin the interview?”
The reporter was asking the principal if she could interview me.
What about my permission, the person involved?
I had no intention of doing this.
Whew… Fine.
Let’s think of it positively.
Once I became a celebrity, there would be plenty of people even worse than her.
I’d consider this practice.
Yes… Something good would come of it.
“First, I’d like to ask the principal. What kind of student is Dohee normally?”
“Dohee has been famous throughout the school as a prodigy who has never once lost her place as the top student in the entire school since enrolling.”
That was true.
I had studied elementary-school subjects that I had no need to study just so I could hear things like that.
“Really? Then does she have any problems when it comes to her character?”
Her tone made it sound as though she was hoping I did have some character flaws.
“Of course not. All her friends like her, and the teachers have nothing but praise for her.”
“I see. Then I’ll ask Dohee a few questions now. You can answer comfortably.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve won the Grand Prize fourteen times in a row. Why haven’t you entered any overseas competitions?”
“I don’t think I’m good enough to enter overseas competitions yet.”
“Then why do you turn down famous piano professors who offer to teach you? If your skills aren’t sufficient, shouldn’t you learn from them?”
“I have personal reasons.”
“Could you tell us what they are?”
“I’m sorry, but they’re personal reasons.”
“I’m asking what those personal reasons are.”
She was seriously fucking rude.
I had already assumed she wasn’t a normal person after she tracked down the school I’d deliberately kept secret, but I hadn’t expected her to be this pushy just because I was young.
Now that I’d experienced it firsthand, I understood.
No wonder people called them gutter journalists.
I stood up and spoke.
“Reporter, it’s something so embarrassing that I don’t want to discuss it here. Could we step outside and talk privately?”
“Sure. If that’s all it is.”
Every single thing she said was rude.
The reporter and I went out into the hallway.
“Fine. Tell me now. What is it?”
“I’m not going to do the interview.”
“What?”
“You’re being too rude, so I can’t do it.”
“I’m not some old lady, and if you keep acting like this, you’re the only one who’ll lose out.”
She was making an empty threat.
I simply kept quiet, took out my phone, and called Manager Jeong.
—Yeah, Dohee. What is it?—
I explained the situation to the manager.
—Good job calling me, Dohee. Can you put that reporter on the phone?—
“Yes, Manager.”
I handed my phone to the reporter.
“Here, talk to him.”
The reporter spoke with the manager for a while, then her face turned red.
Eventually, she shoved the phone back at me, glared at me, and left.
Good grief.
“Manager, the reporter left.”
—Yeah. She belonged to some third-rate yellow press outlet that hardly deserved to be called a news organization.—
“Oh, I see.”
No wonder I hadn’t wanted anything to do with her.
“Thank you, Manager.”
—There’s no need to thank me. The company exists to protect you kids. Next time, call me before agreeing to an interview, understood?—
“Yes. Thank you.”
—I didn’t train you for situations like this because I thought nothing like this would happen to a trainee. That was my mistake. Come to the company today and we’ll talk.—
“Yes, Manager. Thank you.”
—All right. Pay attention in class.—
“Yes, sir.”
I went back into the principal’s office and spoke to him.
“Principal, the reporter suddenly left.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m not sure. Something must have happened.”
“Hah… What an ill-mannered person. Dohee, you can go back to your classroom now.”
“Yes.”
Of course, once I returned to class, I didn’t get to rest. I was tormented by my homeroom teacher and the elementary school kids alike.
.
.
.
Three Days Later, Sunday
I was getting ready to go out and play with Uah Unni, as promised.
Since we were going out to have fun anyway, I should dress up nicely.
“Mom, how many degrees is it today?”
“It’s warm outside. Twenty-two degrees.”
The weather was quite warm today.
I put on denim shorts and tucked in a yellow shirt.
What if I wore white sneakers with this?
I looked at myself in the full-length mirror.
Wow, now this was a spring outfit.
“Mom, how do I look?”
“Pretty, pretty.”
“That answer lacks sincerity, Mom.”
“You look incredibly pretty, Dohee~ Now hurry up and go. Uah must be waiting.”
“Yeah~ I’m off~”
I was meeting my sister on Daehangno near the company.
We’d meet up, eat, go to a café, walk around the streets, then finish off with a trip to karaoke. That was probably it.
It felt nice and warm outside.
With the pleasant weather and an upbeat song playing through my earphones, my body naturally started to sway along.