Why Is Jiwoo-chan Here?!
"Just fill out this statement, please. Once we've checked your luggage and given you a body search, you're free to go if nothing turns up."
"Okay..."
I bowed my head, genuinely sorry. All I had done was disguise myself to hide my face, but to everyone else it must have looked like I was about to pull an airport terrorist attack. Even in my previous life I had worn a hat, sunglasses, and a mask just like this, and nobody had ever looked at me this suspiciously.
"Well, of course! Jiwoo-chan's pretty face doesn't get hidden at all even with a mask on!"
"Thanks... But why were you trying to run—"
"Finished writing that?"
I had been about to ask Tsuki why she had tried to flee when the security chief appeared, a paper cup in each hand.
"Have some of this while you write."
"Thank you."
"Th-thank you..."
Tsuki shrank back, shy as ever. She had been like that with everyone except me from the start. Thinking about it now, the fact that she had flown all the way to Korea just to meet Kuro despite being that socially anxious meant Tsuki was not exactly right in the head either.
Slurp.
It had been a while since I had instant mix coffee. Lately I had only been drinking espresso. Out of courtesy for the gesture, I took a sip, then finished the rest of the statement.
It reminded me of the statements I used to write in the military. The admin NCO telling me to write down exactly what I had done, at what time, in what place. Back then I had just transferred in as a new recruit, and when I briefly told a guy to stop walking around with one hand in his pocket smoking a cigarette, he had gone, What's it to you?
Crazy bastard.
Looking back now, it was almost impressive that anyone could show that kind of attitude inside the military. And then, even after taking a flying kick to the ribs, he had immediately counterattacked. Completely unhinged.
"I'm done writing."
"One moment... So the person next to you came here looking for you. Luggage check is fine... We'll just do a quick body search."
The security chief called over a woman from the security team, and Tsuki's pat-down was over in no time. They checked her pockets and waved a metal detector over her a few times, and that was it.
"Yes, everything's clear. You're free to go, but... would it be possible to ask for an autograph?"
"Chief? Isn't that a little too much personal interest?"
"Hey, she's a high schooler now. And the one next to her is still a student too. She said she came looking for her friend. So... here."
The security chief slid paper and a pen across. I asked for his name and drew the autograph I had been practicing.
"Huh? That's different from the autograph you gave Tsuki before."
"Ah..."
During the PUG game broadcast, after Tsuki won, I had given her an autograph as a kind of proof stream. That one had been fine until Kang Hoyeon took one look and rejected it. The new signature had taken hours of forearm-destroying practice to finish. Even Kang Hoyeon had reluctantly nodded at this one. It started with a hook, then a short stroke to form the J of Jiwoo. The old version had looked like a worm; this one cut clean, bold lines across the page.
"Here you go."
"Thank you. Our security team will escort you out."
"You really don't have to..."
"No need to decline! We received a report, so this was just a formality... The idea of Actress Lee Jiwoo committing a terrorist attack... it's absurd."
Was he even allowed to say that out loud? Then again, if someone actually looked suspicious, the security chief would probably be thorough. Half-ass it like this and have something actually happen, and it would be a disaster.
"We'll be going, then."
"Yes, take care."
After exchanging farewells with the security chief and following the escort, we arrived near the airport reception desk. In the distance, two familiar figures came into view.
"Unnies!"
I waved big, letting them know we were here — and that I had caught Tsuki.
"Tsuki!"
"You were going to run off by yourself?!"
"Why is everyone..."
Tsuki looked slightly flustered at the sight of Lee Yuwol and Jina standing there too. I smiled faintly beside her.
"So. Why'd you run?"
I finally asked.
"...I don't want to have secrets from Jiwoo-chan. So I'll tell you. The truth is..."
Tsuki told us why she had no choice but to leave. The whole thing dated back a few days.
"Huh? What's this email all of a sudden?"
Tsuki opened her inbox. It looked different from the usual spam, which piqued her curiosity a little. Come to think of it, scam emails had been on the rise lately. Jiwoo-chan had even warned her to be extra, extra careful. She checked the subject line first.
Anyone who tried to get attention with a title like that was a real idiot, she thought, and clicked it without much thought.
"Th-this is bad..."
She skimmed through the email. At first there was nothing major... but the further she dragged the mouse, the stiffer her face became. And when she finished reading it to the end, she glanced around to check if anyone was nearby.
"Ah, nobody's here. First, delete the email..."
After sending it to the trash, she figured she just had to keep smiling like usual and get along with Jiwoo-chan. She thought nothing would come of it. Then, just yesterday, it happened.
She had been alone at the dorm, a little hungry, heading out to the convenience store nearby, when a black van with expensive-looking dark tint rolled into the parking lot. She was not sure if it was her imagination, but she could feel a bone-chilling gaze through that heavy tint. The email from a few days ago flashed through her mind.
"I-I have to go back..."
And that was how Tsuki ended up leaving.
"Hold on! I don't get it. Why do you suddenly have to go back?"
She remembered an email, so she had to go back? What did that even mean? I turned Tsuki's incomprehensible words over in my head again and again, trying to make sense of them... but no answer came. The more I thought about it, the dizzier I got.
"Well..."
Tsuki twisted her fingers together, avoiding my eyes. There was still something she was hiding. I narrowed my eyes slightly and pressed her.
"Be honest. You're still hiding something, aren't you?"
"That's... haah..."
Tsuki let out a sigh, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
"I really can't lie to Jiwoo-chan. That email from a few days ago... it was from home."
"Home... you mean your family in Japan?"
"Yeah."
So her family had sent an email telling her to come back. But I still did not get why that would make her flee to Japan like she was on the run.
"The truth is, Tsuki's family is pretty strict. They're a former yakuza family, so even more so..."
"Yakuza..."
Japanese thugs flashed through my mind. Then something a step more menacing than that.
"B-but! Lately some of them are civil servants, and some are police! Everyone's living honestly! Tsuki was studying for the civil service exam too, before coming to Korea!"
She waved her hands around, insisting we should not get the wrong idea. We erased the yakuza images from our heads.
"Then why are they telling you to come back? Didn't you say you got their permission to be with us?"
"Ah..."
"Well..."
I already knew this from before, but Lee Yuwol and Jina apparently had not heard it yet.
"Tsuki, if it's hard to say, is it okay if I tell them?"
"No... I can't keep leaning on Jiwoo-chan for this. Tsuki will say it."
Tsuki drew a deep breath.
"Tsuki... ran away from home! Maybe to shake off the former-yakuza image, they even forced Tsuki to become a civil servant! They told me to study! But Tsuki really, really hates studying! So..."
I ran away from home!
Tsuki's shout made even passersby stop in their tracks. If we stood here any longer, a crowd would form.
"Let's move first. We're too visible here."
"Huh... isn't that Jiwoo?"
"For real? Jiwoo from The Days We Had?"
"It really is."
Oh. Never mind. It was not Tsuki's shouting — it was my face. I covered my face as best I could and hurried past the people pulling out their phones.
"Tsuki, you're coming too. I'm not letting you go until I've heard everything."
"U-uh! I won't run!"
Just in case she tried to slip away in the commotion, I grabbed Tsuki's arm. She did not seem to have any cowardly plans to escape, and followed along obediently.
Once we reached a quiet spot with no people around, first things first.
"Give it."
"Jiwoo-chan? What do you mean... is Tsuki getting Ji-jime'd? I-I'm sorry! So please don't hate me~!!"
"What are you talking about! You might run, so give me your phone. I'll give it back after I've heard everything."
"Th-that's textbook Ji-jime...."
"Tsk!"
"Hiiing..."
After sentencing Tsuki for her unnecessary commentary, I confiscated her phone.
"This might take a while, so I'll go order first."
"Espresso for me, please."
"Okay. Tsuki, you?"
"I'll have... a matcha latte..."
Matcha latte had become Tsuki's favorite drink at some point. It was also the first drink I had ever bought her.
A short while later, four drinks arrived, and we were ready to hear the rest.
"Alright, keep going. What did your family say?"
"Well... they said if I don't come back right away, they'll show the people around me a taste of the old yakuza ways..."
Old yakuza. I pictured a bunch of them running around with swords, tearing the place apart.
"Ah! It's not like that! Even if they're yakuza, they don't fight with katanas!"
"Then... human trafficking..."
"That's..."
Tsuki's voice lost its confidence.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Just thinking about it was terrifying. If we had been unlucky, we could have gotten trafficked too—
No! Tsuki would have stopped it somehow! Do not think weird thoughts!
I shook my head hard to shake off the scary ideas.
"Is that the whole story?"
"Yeah... that's all of Tsuki's story... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. I almost put Jiwoo-chan and the unnies in danger."
Seeing Tsuki bow her head, her face full of apology, made my chest ache. It was not like she had wanted any of this. Why did a kid have to get caught up in adult problems?
I could not accept this!
"Ah! Tsuki's flight is soon! Sorry, everyone! And thank you! I'll definitely stay in touch even after I get home!"
Tsuki grabbed her suitcase and sprinted off to check in.
"Haah... what a mess. At least we know the reason now, that's something... Jiwoo, where did you go?"
"Huh? She was right next to us a second ago? Jiwoo!"
Lee Yuwol and Jina searched the area for the vanished me.
Meanwhile.
"Phew... barely made it on board. A little later and I would have missed it."
"I know, right. That was close."
"Yeah. Jiwoo-cha...an?! Why are you here?!"
Yahoo! I got on the plane!