Episode 3) #1. I Want to Dream
The girls occupying one of the tables put their heads together and whispered among themselves. I couldn’t make out what they were saying. But they kept sneaking glances in my direction.
“My goodness, whose son is he to be so handsome? Just look at that fair skin.”
An auntie who had been slicing sundae stopped to offer her praise. The woman beside her, stirring the tteokbokki, joined in.
“At first, I thought a celebrity had come in. Looking at your uniform, you’re a student at Daehan High, right? This is your first time at our shop, isn’t it? If a student as handsome as you had come here before, there’s no way I would’ve forgotten your face.”
‘Whoa…’
I had come to this shop countless times, yet they were treating me like a first-time customer. A complicated mix of emotions surged through me. I was happy, but there was also a bitter taste to it.
Reluctantly, I nodded with a smile.
“Yes, I… guess so.”
“Here, your tteokbokki. Eat plenty, student, and come again.”
When I received the cup, I saw that it was packed full of tteokbokki and fish cakes. They had really given me a lot.
‘The way they treat me is completely different from before. Do all handsome guys live like this?’
Just because my appearance had changed, Yeonho’s entire world had been turned upside down.
“Thank you for the meal.”
I speared a steaming rice cake with a toothpick and popped it into my mouth. Warmth spread through my mouth. Then, as I was about to stick the toothpick into a fish cake, someone’s voice flew at me from behind.
“Ex-excuse me.”
I turned my head and saw a female student looking at me while fidgeting with her hands. She was a cute girl with a bob haircut and round eyes.
“Yes? Me?”
It was a situation Yeonho had experienced for the first time in his life, and his eyes widened. His entire body seemed to stiffen with tension. But Yeonho wasn’t the only one feeling nervous.
“Um, excuse me, so…”
The girl looked away, her face turning red. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and hurriedly spoke, as if she had finally made up her mind.
“Could you give me your number?”
“……”
What was going on?
“Uh, my number is…”
Far too flustered to think things through, I obediently recited my number. The girl, who had bravely gotten his number, quickly ran back and sat down.
“Ooh, Jeong Minji.”
“Wow, no way. You really did it!”
“You’re actually going to contact him?”
“Say something that makes sense. If you’re not going to contact him, why would you get his number?”
The girls at the table whispered among themselves, glancing back and forth between Jeong Minji and Yeonho.
Yeonho found it unbearably overwhelming.
In the end, not knowing what else to do, he simply left the shop.
‘Does life get harder once you become handsome?’
And yet, a smile hung on Yeonho’s lips as he tilted his head.
This feeling wasn’t bad!
* * *
The tteokbokki and fish cakes in the cup disappeared in no time. By the time his satisfying snack was over, the old villa slowly came into view.
‘What am I going to tell Mom?’
Yeonho had to stop walking for a moment as he stared at the house perched on the distant hillside. He needed to come up with a plausible explanation for his changed appearance before going inside.
After muttering to himself for a while and sorting out his thoughts, Yeonho started walking again. But when he stepped through the entrance, his mother’s shoes were nowhere to be seen.
“Oppa, you’re home?”
Yeona greeted him, waving her small hand still clutching a pencil.
“Are you studying?”
“Mm-hmm. I was studying really hard!”
Her chubby cheeks were filled with pride. Then Yeona put her head back down on the table and devoted herself to her studies.
‘That’s my little sister?’
They were too different. Yeonho had always been terrible at studying. His little sister, on the other hand, said she found it fun.
Maybe it was because she was still young, but Yeonho had found studying difficult ever since elementary school. His sister seemed unusual to him.
Yeonho sat down on the floor and stared at her.
“Isn’t studying difficult?”
Yeona blinked as she paused halfway through solving a problem.
“It’s difficult.”
“Hmm. Doesn’t studying wear you out? I mean, you’re always studying whenever I see you, so I was wondering if it might be too hard for an eight-year-old.”
“You have to study hard so you can pay taxes later. They say you can buy a house, too.”
“Huh?”
Could words like that really come from such a small child’s head?
For a moment, Yeonho’s gaze went blank.
“Mom works hard earning money all by herself. When I grow up, I’m going to earn money for her instead. That’s why I have to study hard. They say if you study well, you can make lots of money.”
Scratch, scratch.
For a while, the sound of the pencil alone filled the room. Yeona diligently worked through her problems, while Yeonho curled up and buried his face in his knees.
‘Even that little thing thinks about Mom…’
Anxiety and unease suddenly came rushing in.
Could he really succeed in society just because he had become reasonably good-looking? Could he succeed as a celebrity?
In an industry where even beautiful and handsome people couldn’t guarantee their own survival, how far could he possibly go?
Was he indulging in an extravagant dream while leaving his hardworking mother to struggle? Various thoughts churned through his mind.
But then, the man’s words suddenly flashed through his head.
「Don’t forget. The moment you let go of that pure heart and passion, precious as a jewel, your good fortune will come to an end.」
Right! What else could that mean?
It meant that if he strayed down a side road, his luck would be taken away!
So he shouldn’t think of anything else. He shouldn’t give up on his dream.
If he didn’t pursue the path of becoming a celebrity, ugliness would make its comeback.
Another thought occurred to Yeonho as well.
Since he had finally shed the label of being ugly, he might as well work hard and become someone who earned plenty of money. He would become a top star and make his mother’s difficult life comfortable!
Only then did Yeonho lift his face from his knees. With a newly resolute expression, he pulled a script from his schoolbag. It was worn and ragged from being handled so often. He opened it and savored the lines in a quiet voice.
He had memorized every scene and every line in the script. His memorization was perfect, but he still didn’t understand the role of Duho, the part he was supposed to play, well enough.
‘Duho is such a pathetic loser. He barely has any lines, either.’
Still, if Teacher Shin from the drama club saw his changed appearance, perhaps she might switch him to a role with more importance. Clinging to that hope, he was meticulously memorizing the lines for every part.
Whoosh, click!
“Oh, my puppy. Were you studying again?”
The moment Mom entered through the front door, Yeona tossed aside her pencil and scampered over to her.
“Mooommy!”
“Mom went grocery shopping to make something delicious for my daughter.”
Yeona nestled into her mother’s arms and rubbed herself against her like a puppy before finally pulling away. But Yeonho felt anything but calm as he watched them. His heartbeat was running wild at full speed.
Before long, his mother’s gaze turned toward her eldest son.
“…Son?”