Fish (2)
Dong-dong was so startled and moved by Neoul’s blunt reply that she burst into applause like a seal.
“Yes! That was exactly it! How wise you are! That is what I should have said, but I was too foolish to think of it myself!”
The blue-ringed octopus, flustered with enthusiasm, told Neoul that she had come to escort him and asked him to pack his things and come downstairs.
“I can’t say I trust him, but that minnow seems utterly cowed before the Sea Witch. Since the Sea Witch told him to serve you well, he will probably take good care of you.”
“However….”
Neoul drew the last word out, as if something still bothered him, and looked down at her. Dong-dong tensed.
“Yes! Please, speak freely!”
“The Sea Witch.”
“Pardon?”
“I am familiar with her, so I may address her as I please. But you, Gyesabok Dong-dong, should say ‘the Sea Witch’ or ‘the Sea Witch herself,’ not ‘the Sea Witch said.’ One must not speak of one’s elders so carelessly.”
Neoul corrected her with a gentle smile.
“Oh. Is that so?”
Utterly unprepared for the rebuke, Dong-dong blinked in confusion and hurriedly nodded.
“Yes, yes! Of course! Your Highness is right!”
“And also.”
Neoul went on.
“If the Sea Witch told that fellow to attend me, why did Gyesabok Dong-dong come instead of him?”
“Ye-yes?”
“The Sea Witch’s order was given to him, not to Gyesabok Dong-dong, was it? Then why didn’t he come?”
Neoul’s expression remained as mild as a spring breeze, but Dong-dong felt a bad premonition rising in her chest. His next words nailed that uneasy feeling down.
“I wasn’t formally introduced to him by the Sea Witch, and I can’t just trail off to the house of some stranger I’ve never even seen, taking only Gyesabok Dong-dong’s word for it.”
“B-but…!”
“If you want to take me with you, tell that fellow to come here himself.”
Neoul wiped the smile from his face, gave Dong-dong one expressionless glance, and turned away. As he went back inside to head upstairs to Baek Yuri’s apartment, his lips stuck out in a sulk.
Gyesabok Dong-dong, and that fellow who’s apparently a minnow or whatever, both rub me the wrong way.
And yet he himself had never hesitated to call the Sea Witch “the Sea Witch,” “the Sea Witch herself,” or even “that old witch hag” whenever it suited him. So why did it irritate him when other people said it?
It was because the blue-ringed octopus sounded as if she were speaking of the Sea Witch with contempt.
To be casual with someone was not the same as being rude to them. That was what Neoul believed.
Still, I should be more careful with my words in front of others from now on.
He was riding the elevator back up with a sullen face when hurried footsteps and a voice stopped him.
“Mr. Gal Neoul.”
It was not Dong-dong, but a deep, unfamiliar voice. Neoul turned and saw a neat, stern-faced man addressing him.
“Hello, Mr. Gal Neoul. I’m Secretary Song, to Representative Won Hasin. You can just call me Secretary Song.”
“You know me?”
“Not in detail. I’m only carrying out Representative Won Hasin’s instructions.”
“Who is Won Hasin?”
“Our representative.”
“What does he represent?”
At the odd question, Secretary Song hesitated for a moment, then answered calmly.
“…He runs H.A.D Entertainment.”
“…?”
So he must be someone who governed something, the way Father ruled the sea. Neoul understood only half of it and tilted his head.
Secretary Song handed him a business card and said, “Mr. Gal Neoul. I don’t know much about Lady Little-Yeong, and I don’t know what kind of relationship you have with her either.”
“…….”
“But I can tell you this much for certain. Our representative and the chairman seem to have a very deep connection with her, and the two of them are clearly treating her with the utmost respect.”
Secretary Song stood with his hands politely folded and met Neoul’s gaze.
“Our representative has prepared a room for you, Mr. Gal Neoul. He has also already hired a Korean teacher to give you basic language lessons.”
“…….”
“If you would rather stay longer at your friend’s house, we can’t force you. But if you come with us, I can promise you’ll be treated well.”
Neoul stared at Secretary Song, then looked past him to see blue-ringed octopus Dong-dong standing quietly with both hands folded, eyes lowered.
As if she had not been flailing about a moment ago, Dong-dong was now visibly gauging Secretary Song’s mood.
After a brief pause, Neoul asked, “The ‘we’ you mentioned—do you mean Secretary Song and Gyesabok Dong-dong?”
“Gyesabok Dong-dong…? Ah, yes. Yes, that’s right. Ms. Mun Dong-dong and I came to escort you together, Mr. Gal Neoul.”
Secretary Song seemed unfamiliar with the title Gyesabok, but quickly nodded in understanding.
Neoul narrowed his eyes. “Then the minnow Gyesabok Dong-dong mentioned—does that mean the same person as your representative?”
“Minnow…? Pardon?”
Secretary Song turned, bewildered, to Dong-dong.
“Ms. Mun Dong-dong. Did you call our representative a minnow?”
“Th-that is….”
“Ms. Mun Dong-dong. You mustn’t speak of your superiors like that.”
Secretary Song let out a short sigh and scolded her.
“I will correct myself….”
Dong-dong drooped miserably.
Neoul watched the whole thing with slow blinks. If the two of them had come together to fetch him, they didn’t seem close at all.
They were awkward with each other, as if they were strangers meeting for the first time, and Dong-dong in particular looked deeply uncomfortable around Secretary Song.
Just now, though, she was throwing casual abuse at that minnow who seems to be her superior and representative.
Hmm.
Neoul had originally planned to see the minnow’s face, find out exactly what sort of relationship he had with the Sea Witch, and learn precisely what she had said to him before deciding whether to go or not.
But now it seemed the man was the free-spirited type, not especially bound by rules or procedure.
If someone who governed and represented others treated outsiders like Dong-dong without any stiffness, then that too was enough reason to reassess his character. Besides….
“Did you say you’ve prepared a teacher to teach me Korean?”
“Yes. That’s right. Not only Korean, but anything you wish to learn, Mr. Gal Neoul.”
Oh-ho.
That caught his interest. Neoul asked whether they could wait a moment while he thought it over. Secretary Song agreed and said he would wait in the car.
Neoul rode the elevator back up again.
* * *
Baek Yuri hadn’t gone downstairs, fearing he might interrupt the conversation, but he had been watching Neoul and the strangers through the window.
Neoul had said, “I saw him getting scolded by a Gyesabok,” so Yuri had relaxed, assuming they were from the Dragon Palace—but still, what if they weren’t?
Historically, it wasn’t exactly unheard of for a retainer to betray his lord. Maybe while the Dragon King was unconscious, a rebellion had broken out in the Dragon Palace.
Who knows? Maybe the starfish soldiers sealed off the Dragon Palace and the lobsters seized the throne.
Maybe they had come to kill Neoul and tie up loose ends. Or maybe they intended to reveal Neoul’s identity to humans, kidnap him, and use him as test material for papers and research.
As someone who knew Neoul’s true identity—and had unintentionally deceived him—Baek Yuri carried a certain amount of guilt. If Neoul ran into trouble, he couldn’t just pretend he hadn’t seen anything.
And the Sea Witch, who seemed like an adult Neoul trusted and depended on, had even told him personally to take good care of Neoul.
It was an important time, with Idol Travel filming underway, so Yuri did not want to get dragged into any headache-inducing mess if he could help it….
If I ignore this, my conscience will spend every minute and every second stabbing me to death.
So in the end, Baek Yuri stationed himself by the window. If it looked as though they were trying to drag Neoul away by force, he would immediately call the police and run downstairs.
But he couldn’t hear a single word of what they were saying below.
Baek Gi-yeom, seeing Yuri staring out the window, idly came over to watch as well.
“Maybe Neoul’s some runaway chaebol third-generation or something? They said they came to escort him, and the whole atmosphere feels like they’re bending over backward for him.”
“Maybe.”
Being a chaebol third-generation or a prince was much the same, in the sense of being born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth, so Yuri halfheartedly agreed and played along. Neoul hadn’t been born with one, of course; he’d acquired his only after the fact.
Fortunately, Neoul finished his talk without incident and came back upstairs to Baek Yuri’s apartment. The Baek family opened the door the moment Neoul knocked.
“Gal Neoul! You have to keep your phone with you!”
“Mr. Neoul, what did you decide?”
Baek Gi-yeom’s nagging and Baek Yuri’s question reached Neoul at the same time.
Neoul looked back and forth between them as if wondering why they were all making such a fuss, then spoke.
“Do you by any chance know who Representative Won Hasin is?”
“Won Hasin…? The Won Hasin who runs H.A.D Entertainment?” Baek Yuri’s eyes widened.
“Do you know him?”
“Not personally. But among anyone trying to make a living as an idol, or even those with the slightest interest in idols, you’d be practically a spy if you didn’t know his name.”
At Yuri’s explanation, Baek Gi-yeom butted in cheerfully.
“Hey, how’d you know I’m a spy?”
He meant that he didn’t know Won Hasin either.
Baek Yuri bit his lip for a moment to hold back laughter, then shoved Baek Gi-yeom aside and added further explanation for Neoul.
“Anyway, he’s famous. H.A.D Entertainment itself isn’t a huge company, but their artists—the seniors in Dunkiss—are first-tier, both in Korea and overseas, which means they’re insanely popular.”
“Hmm….”
“National singer Seo Se-im is also signed to H.A.D. And the Luma seniors are only in their second year, but they’re gaining recognition really fast.”
“Is he a trustworthy man?”
“Well, I don’t know if he’s trustworthy… but I’ve heard he never interferes with his artists’ activities and spends money very well.”
“Money?”
“Yes. They say he isn’t stingy with investments and spends money like water. Because of that, he lets them make albums however they want and gives them everything they ask for in support… ah, I’m so jealous….”
“…?”
Neoul still didn’t quite understand the concept of money and thought of the scraps of paper he had borrowed from Baek Yuri the previous night and handed out to the ghosts.
That was what they called funeral money.
At Jeju Folk Village, the production team had handed him the same sort of paper and called it “allowance,” which he had exchanged for food. Even when he went with his team to eat spicy kimchi stew in their first team match….
Was it good to have a lot of that?
Neoul was deep in thought when Baek Yuri, who had briefly gone gloomy and then gathered himself again, continued speaking.
“Ah, anyway, if the seniors all renewed their contracts, doesn’t that mean he’s probably a good person? H.A.D is also the kind of dream company idol trainees want to sign with most these days.”
“I see….”
After considering it, Neoul asked carefully, “Do you, Teacher Baek Yuri, want to go there too?”
“No. I’m going to debut through Idol Travel for sure.”
Baek Yuri made his intentions clear.
“Because the Luma seniors are only in their second year now, a new male idol group would have to wait at least another three or four years to debut there. It could even take longer….”
“…….”
“I’m done waiting without any promise of when it’ll happen.”
When he finished, Yuri lowered his eyelashes with a wistful expression. Baek Gi-yeom, quietly observing, raised a question from the side.
“But aren’t you actually senior to the Luma guys? Clear debuted a few weeks earlier.”
“…Could you not bring that up now that I’m sad?”
Could a no-name group that disbanded after six months really be called a senior group?
Seeing Baek Yuri grow gloomy, Baek Gi-yeom shook his head and handed Neoul his smartphone before asking, “But why did this Won Hasin guy suddenly come into it?”
Neoul accepted the smartphone, still not used to it, and tucked it into his pocket.
“It seems that fellow received an order from my guardian. He is to keep me under his care for the time being.”
“……?”
Order…? Keep you under his care…?
As he listened from the side, a dozen different drama plots flashed through Baek Gi-yeom’s head.
An heir hiding from greedy relatives who wanted his fortune, perhaps. Or someone with a secret birth who couldn’t even call his own father “Father,” forced to wander from one house to another. Or maybe the child of a gang boss with too many enemies, unable to go home because he might be taken hostage and needing protection somewhere else.
He was curious, but he didn’t dare pry into family matters in case it was rude, and his misunderstanding only deepened in an instant.
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