Chapter 164: Side Story. A Certain February 14th
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 164: Side Story. A Certain February 14th
The official clock-out time at Hanpyeong Industry is 6:00 PM. Kim I-wol’s dinner plans were for 6:30 PM.
And the current time was… 7:00 PM.
“Assistant Manager Kim, aren’t you leaving? I heard it’s your birthday today!”
Assistant Manager Hwang, who was also stuck at the office, checked on him with a grave expression.
I’d love to, I-wol thought to himself. But it’s not like this company lets you leave on time just because it’s your birthday, is it?
He kept the thought internal, showing no sign of it on his face.
A message notification popped up on one of I-wol’s dual monitors. Since he had previews turned off, he couldn't see the content, but he knew exactly who it was just by looking at the sender.
Noona must be furious.
She had braved the "hell-train" subway all the way to Gangnam just to buy her younger brother dinner, only to be stood up for an hour. It was a crime of the highest order.
Only after scouring through all the data Team Leader Nam had dumped on him to "check before leaving" was I-wol finally able to check his sister's messages.
Older Sister
[What gives?]
[I think I’ve been waiting in two-degree-below-zero weather for forty minutes.]
[Is this some new tactic to piss me off?]
Me
[I’m sorry, I’m not done with work yet.]
[Are you still outside?]
[I’ll send you a gifticon, so go wait in a cafe or something.]
Older Sister
[This company is absolute trash.]
[I’m currently raiding the Mine Friends Shop for dolls, so don’t worry about it.]
Despite her words, she didn't press him on when he’d be finished. She had already heard him complain about his irregular clock-out times more than enough.
Me
[Leaving now.]
After sending the short reply, I-wol grabbed his coat. His pace quickened.
Gangnam on a Wednesday night is nothing short of chaotic. People were everywhere, and the streets lined with restaurants and bars were even worse.
It was a place that was crowded on weekends because it was the weekend, and crowded on weekdays because it was a weekday.
Pushed along by the crowd, I-wol arrived in front of the store where his sister was waiting.
Having received his call, she stepped out with a white shopping bag in her hand.
“Did you buy a doll?”
“No, this is something else.”
“I thought you said you were raiding the place for dolls.”
“My place is too small; there’s nowhere to put them.”
She checked her phone, likely looking at a map app.
They had agreed on pasta—a compromise between I-wol, who loved noodles, and his sister, who loved Western food.
His sister led him on a walk for about ten more minutes. Just as the biting wind began to make his face go numb, they arrived at a Western-style restaurant with warm, yellow lights hanging along the walls.
She showed her phone screen to the staff at the front, mentioning she had a reservation. After confirming the name, the employee led them to a seat in the back.
“You even made a reservation?”
“I wouldn't have gone this far if we weren't eating dinner in Gangnam.”
I-wol’s sister had a peculiar way of speaking. She could have just said, "I reserved a spot because I thought it would be crowded," but this was her habit.
While I-wol filled the glasses with water and set the knives and forks, his sister unwound her scarf and placed it on the seat next to her.
Then, she handed him the shopping bag she had been carrying.
“Here.”
“What’s this?”
“A birthday present.”
I-wol’s eyes widened.
Even before he could open the bag, he locked eyes with a celebrity printed on the side of it.
“Ah…”
“Why the long face before you’ve even looked inside? Is my sincerity a joke to you?”
“No, it’s not that.”
A handsome man was posing in a new sports t-shirt. It was a face I-wol recognized.
“It’s just a face I’ve been seeing a lot at work lately. It caught me off guard.”
“Does your company have a reason to use models?”
“Not exactly… and besides, this guy is an idol.”
Still, it was only polite to show a reaction to a gift. I-wol opened the shopping bag and pulled out a piece of clothing wrapped in plastic.
It was from the same line the idol on the bag was wearing, just in a different color.
“You bought me workout clothes?”
“Didn’t you say you were doing… home workouts or something?”
“I did.”
“Wear it when you exercise.”
His sister took a refreshing sip of the ade that had arrived first. Ice clinked inside the glass of grapefruit ade.
“I thought we were just calling it even with dinner.”
“It was on sale, so I just grabbed it.”
“The product the promotional model is wearing was on sale?”
“Ugh, stop being so nitpicky.”
She poked at the ice with her straw—a sign of her growing irritation. In times like these, it did a younger brother no good to run his mouth.
“Thanks. I’ll make good use of it.”
“Good.”
There was some time before the food arrived. I-wol and his sister started talking about their respective jobs but quickly stopped. The conversation only made them more tired.
The topic shifted elsewhere.
“Are you not interested in celebrities, Noona?”
“Me? I only know a few actors, and that’s it.”
“Really?”
“You probably know more than I do. You said you knew that guy earlier.”
She pointed toward the shopping bag.
“I only know him because my Team Leader’s daughter likes him.”
“And why do you know that?”
“He asks me to look up photos and stuff for her sometimes.”
It wasn't enough to interfere with his work, so he did it when he had spare time, but searching for photos of a male idol he didn't know wasn't exactly a fun task.
“What’s his name?”
“Je-ho. He’s in a group called Spark.”
“Spark? Isn't that the group with Lee Cheong-hyeon?”
“Yeah.”
Even his sister, who had no interest in the entertainment industry, seemed to know Lee Cheong-hyeon.
“That guy is seriously handsome. Isn't he the representative visual for male idols right now?”
“He is. Even I get surprised sometimes while looking for photos.”
His sister pulled out her phone. Since they were on the subject, she wanted to see who else was in the group.
“Je-ho is the oldest. Hey, he’s the same age as you.”
“I know. Doesn't he look like he’d be younger?”
“I guess.”
She gave an ambiguous response and tapped on Choi Je-ho’s profile.
The face of the handsome man with sharp, well-defined features—the same face I-wol had seen just yesterday—was enlarged on the screen.
“He’s good-looking. His position is… Center? He’s 187cm? No wonder he’s the center.”
“He looks huge in his fancams.”
“You’ve even watched his fancams?”
“…It just kind of happened.”
“You’ve become a total fanboy.”
“Don’t say that, it makes me want to cry.”
Even as he made excuses, I-wol desperately hoped his task of collecting Choi Je-ho materials would end soon.
“The oldest isn't the leader? That’s unusual. This one looks a bit cute.”
“He’s actually quite sharp, though. He’s a good speaker.”
“He looks the part. Total class president vibes.”
His sister nodded.
“But with Je-ho above him, can this younger one even speak up?”
She seemed genuinely worried for Jeong Seong-bin, who held the heavy responsibility of leadership. It was a completely different attitude from when she was praising Choi Je-ho’s visuals.
The pasta they ordered arrived just as she was about to look at Park Ju-woo’s profile. A cream risotto was placed in front of his sister, and a basil pasta in front of I-wol.
Watching a thin-crust pizza being served as well, I-wol asked, “Why did you order so much?”
“Hey, this is the basic amount people order.”
“Let’s split the bill, then.”
“Who talks about the bill before they’ve even started eating? You’re ruining my appetite.”
His sister seemed to be enjoying her exploration of Spark, as she didn't stop browsing their profiles even while eating her risotto.
“Ju-woo…? This is my first time hearing of him. Since he’s a main vocal, he must be good at singing. But wasn't that Seong-bin guy a main vocal too?”
“Their vocal colors are different. Ju-woo’s is a bit sharper.”
“No matter how I look at it, this Cheong-hyeon guy is the most handsome. Why isn't he the center?”
“But when you watch the stage, Je-ho really stands out.”
“This Gi-yeon guy has a striking impression, too. He looks like a total 'maknae on top' type.”
“Only his face. He’s actually very respectful to the other members. He seems like a good kid.”
I-wol provided comments for each one. He couldn't understand why he was playing along so thoroughly with a conversation about idols.
I never thought the day would come when I’d be chatting with Noona about a topic like this.
I-wol recalled his sister’s birthday last year.
Back then, I-wol was in his final year of university. His sister had looked haggard. It was a summer where it felt like the scorching heat was beating down on her alone.
‘If the circumstances were better, I would have told you to delay your graduation,’ she had said with a vacant expression.
She had lamented that it felt like she would never have another day off, and that she hadn't realized her university vacations would be the last rest of her life.
It was both a grievance and an expression of pity. She said it because she knew exactly what kind of life he would lead, dreaming of graduating and getting a job immediately.
‘I have to do my part now.’
It was only natural. And I-wol had kept his goal.
Whether his peers prepared for difficult exams to join major corporations or became civil servants, I-wol had entered a decent company that didn't demand much of him and earned as much as he could.
And now, half a year later, both his sister and I-wol himself had found a bit of breathing room. I-wol was satisfied with just that.
Perhaps that was why he was able to play along with the idol talk—even though just looking at them reminded him of his Team Leader’s face—as if it were nothing.
Dinner was delicious. The restaurant was warm, and pleasant classical music flowed through the air.
By the time I-wol had finished his portion of pasta and picked up his coat and bag, his sister was already at the counter with the bill.
Outside the restaurant, a biting wind blew.
“I told you we should split it.”
“You buy me dinner on my birthday then. At an omakase place.”
“Just so you know, I’m going off the grid starting in July.”
It was a weekday evening. Both of them had to return home and prepare for work the next day.
It was time to part ways.
“Hey.”
His sister called out to him, stopping him in his tracks.
“If the company starts making you do weird things, just quit. Don't be stubborn and try to endure it.”
“Don't I need to stay for at least two years to be able to switch jobs?”
“If you spend two years doing idiot work, where else are you going to go but another idiot company?”
She was being quite serious. I-wol smiled faintly.
“It’s not that bad yet. I’ll think about it once I’ve gained some experience.”
“Suit yourself.”
She snorted in response. It was her way of saying, 'As if you'd listen.' I-wol’s sister sometimes mistrusted her brother’s judgment. Like now.
“Don't go looking for trouble. Got it?”
As soon as she finished speaking, she vanished.
He didn't know if she had gone down to the subway turnstiles, caught a taxi, or stepped into a bus stop.
I-wol was left alone in the bustling city.
And then, he woke up from the dream.
It was something from a very long time ago.
I-wol remained in an unfamiliar dorm.
If he just turned his head, Choi Je-ho—the man from the shopping bag—was right beside him, and Lee Cheong-hyeon popped up from above to give him a morning greeting.
“…What’s the date today?” I-wol asked. Perhaps because it was winter, his throat felt dry.
Lee Cheong-hyeon thought for a moment before answering.
“The 14th. Oh, it’s Valentine’s Day!”
Now, there was no one left who would know that February 14th was Kim I-wol’s birthday.
He had never felt bitter about that fact before, yet today, his body felt unusually cold.
I have to go to practice.
I-wol, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed, stood up.
It was time to get to work.