Transfer Market (1)
Transfer Market (1)
081
After the one-night stay at Paradise City, the Olympic delegation disbanded.
Officially, the disbandment ceremony ended yesterday, but today was when the players and coaching staff actually said their goodbyes.
Those who were staying stayed, those who were leaving left, the long Olympic team dissolved, and my family also exchanged farewells.
"I should go over, clean up your room a bit, and make you some food."
"Ayy~ I told you it's fine, Mom. I'm transferring soon anyway. I won't be in my studio apartment for long, so it's fine, it's fine."
"Is transferring that easy? Still, you never know how long you'll be staying, and you need a woman's touch to make it look like a place where a person actually lives."
That's right.
This is my mom.
I glanced at Yoon Da-ye, anticipating Mom's reaction.
She had a thoughtful expression.
"Ahem. It's fine. Well~ my girlfriend Ha-rin will help me."
"H-huh? That young lady?"
"Yeah. My g.irl.fri.end Oh Ha-rin will help me clean my st.udio.ap.artment~ do my laundry~ and cook for me~ she'll do all that."
"Oh my~ that won't do! What era do you think this is, working your girlfriend like that! Besides, that young lady seems like a snob, so she probably can't even do housework... Ahem."
True. Just looking at our Ha-rin, she seems like a rich girl who can't do a lick of housework.
...But it's true.
Except for cooking, which is her hobby, Oh Ha-rin is disastrously bad at housework.
Even with cooking, she only does what she's practiced as a hobby; she's a very contradictory woman who can make pasta well but can't boil instant ramen.
But that's also our Ha-rin's charm.
It's fun to tease her, saying, "You can't even boil ramen!"
"It's okay. Ha-rin might be bad at housework, but won't she get better if we do it together, all lovey-dovey?"
"Ugh, this kid really. You have no shame saying that in front of your mother."
Is she still thinking about it?
I glanced at Yoon Da-ye, and it looked like she was still pondering.
Hmm... That's strange. The noonas were definitely confident earlier that she would '100% fall for it'.
"Ahem. Still, I am a little worried. Ha-rin and I are both bad at housework, right? It would be nice if someone skilled could help out."
"Right? Then Mom will go down and—"
"Ahey~ No way. How could I make Mom come all the way down there? No, no. I'm not that kind of unfilial son. Ah~ I wish someone skilled at housework could help out~"
"Mother. I will go."
"H-huh? You, Da-ye?"
Wow~ I'm impressed by her acting skills, which are good enough to put an actor to shame.
Look at Yoon Da-ye falling for this meticulous plan and superb acting.
The plan was simple.
Whether Yoon Da-ye likes me, is obsessed with me, or just thinks I'm a waste to let go, it's a fact that she's obsessed with me.
To exploit that, I asked Heeyeon Noona and Reporter Noona to gently provoke her.
The method was, well... how lovey-dovey Oh Ha-rin and I are. And conversely, how disastrous our domestic skills are.
It was a simple plan to let Yoon Da-ye, who has been doing all the housework since she was young and has strong life skills, appeal with her feminine side.
If, unexpectedly, Yoon Da-ye's interest or obsession with me was low, or if she didn't react to this level of stimulation, then it couldn't be helped.
But Yoon Da-ye reacted.
And more intensely than I thought.
"No. Da-ye must have a lot to do, I should go."
"It's okay, Mother. I'll go, clean up the room a bit, and have a chat with Min-jun for the first time in a while. Right, Min-jun?"
As we headed to the parking lot, I interlaced my fingers with Oh Ha-rin's to show off, and Yoon Da-ye, who was quietly following behind, let out a cough as if uncomfortable.
"Why? Do you want to hold hands too?"
"I don't need to."
Seeing someone who is usually easygoing react so prickly, she must be quite annoyed.
Seeing my own car parked nicely in the lot, a bucket list item I'd wanted to do with Yoon Da-ye for a long time came to mind.
"Hey. Get in."
"......??"
Yoon Da-ye's puzzled expression changed the moment I opened the door to the Mercedes CLS.
"Hey! Where did you get this?"
"Where did I get it? Ha-rin gave it to me."
"...Wha?"
It's a car that looks expensive at a glance.
From the grille that highlights the unique Mercedes design to the signature three-pointed star logo, and the sporty exterior unique to frameless doors.
It's no wonder that poor Yoon Da-ye is shocked.
"Oppa is at this level, Da-ye. Get in quickly."
Hmph, I smiled chicly and opened the passenger door for her.
She hesitated, then sat down demurely. I closed the door and shoved myself into the backseat.
"......??"
"Why?"
"Why are you there..."
Yoon Da-ye's gaze, which had been looking back in confusion, turned to Oh Ha-rin sitting in the driver's seat.
"Ah, I wasn't lying, it is true that I received it as a gift from Ha-rin. But I don't have a license yet, so Ha-rin will be driving... What, why? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...It's nothing."
After that, until we arrived home, Oh Ha-rin in the driver's seat and Yoon Da-ye in the passenger seat didn't exchange a single word.
"We're here. Get out."
"Wait."
We arrived at the officetel I had missed, and as I got out of the car, Yoon Da-ye, who had been staring out the window from the passenger seat, looked around.
"Why?"
"Where is this? This isn't your studio apartment."
"How do you know it's not my studio apartment when you've never been there?"
"......."
She's suspiciously avoiding my gaze.
"It's fine, so get out. I live here."
"What? What is that supposed to mean?"
"What do you mean, what? It means I'm living together with Ha-rin."
"......Liv, ing together?"
Yoon Da-ye, who was looking back and forth between me and Oh Ha-rin with movements that made it seem like you could hear a kki-gi-gik sound effect like a broken robot, nodded unnaturally.
"Yeah. Living together. Yup."
Yoon Da-ye, who had been following silently while carrying her luggage, opened her mouth again only after we arrived in front of the door.
"Why is there only one door here?"
The top floor of a building with the modern and clean atmosphere unique to a newly built officetel.
It was a space where only one door stood alone at the main entrance when the elevator opened.
"Because it's a Penthouse. Don't you know what a Penthouse is?"
"Pent...house?"
Oh. I saw that on the internet.
Whenever I see broken cat memes, they always move like that.
"Come in."
She went in chicly first, without the slightest interest in Yoon Da-ye's broken cat cosplay.
"Use any room. Except for the room over there."
The living room of the penthouse, which, with a little exaggeration, is as wide as a playground.
Yoon Da-ye was staring blankly around the penthouse without even taking off her shoes.
"What are you doing? Go in."
"What on earth have I been doing until now..."
"Yoon Da-ye?"
"...Ah. Sorry. What?"
Her expression was as easygoing as usual, but somehow there was a gloomy air about her.
Yoon Da-ye, who had been hesitating, pulled her carrier inside.
"...It's clean."
"Yeah. A housekeeper comes twice a week."
"Housekeeper...?"
Oh Ha-rin, who had taken off her outer garment and hung it carelessly on a nearby chair, flopped onto the sofa and kicked her feet aimlessly in the air.
Yoon Da-ye, who had been watching that for a moment, turned to look at me.
"Give me your carrier, I'll unpack it for you. Where is your room?"
"Ah. My room is across that way—"
"Leave that too. The housekeeper will unpack it."
"Then what is this. Why on earth did you bring me all the way here..."
Yoon Da-ye couldn't continue her sentence and inhaled unnaturally, heup. Then a short sigh.
"I'm tired, so I'm going to rest for a bit. Can I use this room?"
"Do whatever you want. Ah, Min-jun. You come here for a second."
Just as I was about to follow her because she looked so unwell, Oh Ha-rin called me, taking out a tablet PC.
I hesitated for a moment, then approached, and she sat me down next to her and manipulated the tablet to show me something.
"The Olympic closing ceremony was yesterday, but soccer ended long before that, right? Clubs are moving quite quickly. There aren't any clubs that have officially made a contract offer yet, but this is a list of clubs that have expressed interest in you or have contacted us unofficially."
The names of numerous clubs written on the tablet PC.
There were famous clubs I knew, and clubs I had never heard of.
"Is this all?"
"Yeah. Quite a lot, right? It will increase as time goes by. Where do you want to go?"
"Hmm... where would be good."
I was lost in happy contemplation when the door suddenly opened and Yoon Da-ye came out.
"What are you doing right now."
"Huh? Choosing a club to transfer to?"
"Are you crazy? You're discussing something like that with this woman right now? No, in the first place, who is this woman to manage something like this? This is something your agent or representative should be managing."
Yoon Da-ye's appearance, firing away with a fierce expression unlike her usual self, was unfamiliar.
However, Oh Ha-rin said with a nonchalant expression.
"I am the agent and representative."
"What is that...!"
She tried to raise her voice, then took a deep breath,
"This isn't a joke. It's not kids playing house."
She said with a firm expression that is rarely seen.
"It's not a joke?"
"Who on earth are you!"
"Me? I'm the CEO of the MH Agency that Hong Min-jun is affiliated with, and Hong Min-jun's sole representative?"
"...What?"
I nodded awkwardly at the gaze looking at me.
Because it's true that I joined the agency Oh Ha-rin created right before participating in the Olympics, and it's true that I signed the sole representative contract.
...Thinking about it now, I wonder if I was crazy.
What on earth was I thinking back then?
"Hong Min-jun!! Why on earth... why did you do such an important thing on your own without saying anything—"
"Sit."
"What?"
"I said sit. I know what you're worried about, but it's not like that, so sit."
Yoon Da-ye, who had been glaring at Oh Ha-rin, who was looking up languidly, bit her lip and sat opposite her.
"Explain."
"As you just heard, I am the CEO of the agency Hong Min-jun is affiliated with and his sole representative. I have no intention of playing around with money like you're worried about. It's not a company I made to make money in the first place."
"I can't believe it."
"What are you going to do if you don't believe me?"
A chilling staring contest took place between the two women.
...Scary.
"I have a lot of money. Do you think I made the company to make money?"
"Then why did you make it."
"Why, you ask? I made it to support this idiot."
Oh Ha-rin smirked and manipulated the tablet PC to bring up a different screen.
"Look. It's the contract. Ah, would you even know anything if you saw it?"
"Don't underestimate me. I know agency contracts inside and out."
"Really? Then look to your heart's content. That's the original."
Yoon Da-ye, who had been examining the contract for a while, looked at Oh Ha-rin with eyes looking at something incomprehensible.
"This is... there's no money being taken from the player at all. At this rate, it's just running at a loss..."
"That's right. It's a company that only runs at a loss. I made it to support him with my own money rather than seeing him get swayed by money for no reason. Satisfied?"
"No, an agency isn't that simple..."
Yoon Da-ye, who closed her eyes for a moment and opened them,
"Found it."
She smiled faintly.
"What I can do."