Jinbe
Tuesday morning, I was back on the job again. There was already more work than I could handle, and yet that damn “work” kept tripping me up every single time.
Yesterday had yielded nothing. I never even managed to ask Eunju to retract her campaign promise, and with Hyeonji I had only traded a few pointless remarks before we parted ways.
In the end I hadn’t asked a single thing about Harin.
Because I had laid the groundwork, the election prep would only pick up more speed. But I couldn’t get to school until tomorrow, and with my weekday schedule packed solid I had to settle everything in a single day.
Thud…
The message arrived at the exact same moment several file folders landed on my desk. If she wasn’t going to send them as actual files, couldn’t she have just told me?
“Uh… Chaewon? Why is there no 2022 data?”
“…”
Another phrase I couldn’t parse had just popped out. What the hell was this “Jinbe” she kept talking about? I had one guess…
“Chaewon? I’m really sorry to bother you when you’re busy, but what does this ‘Jinbe’ mean here? If it’s industry jargon…”
“Team leader, you don’t know One Piece?”
Rattle!
Chaewon got worked up all by herself again, rocking her chair as she spun around to face me. Wait—she actually meant One Piece?
“Uh… Chaewon? The word One Piece can be used in more than one sense, so could you explain a little more precisely?”
“The anime One Piece. Team leader, you haven’t even watched that?”
“What are you talking about… I’m literally from the One Piece generation? I only double-checked because I figured you might not know it.”
“Then this’ll be quick. Jinbe shows up in it, right?”
“The Warlord who later joins the Straw Hat Pirates? Why are we talking about that here…”
“At first they hype him up like he’s this huge deal, so everyone thinks he’s basically the boss of the Warlords, right? But the further the story goes, the more you realize he’s complete trash. So even after he joins the crew, people say having him or not makes ‘no difference,’ and that’s why they call it ‘no Jinbe.’”
“…”
It wasn’t “Jinbe,” it was “jinbae.” And I didn’t even need to hear why Chaewon was spouting that mangled meme; it was obvious.
“Oh come on… Manager, why are you even like this? You’re trying to act like the cool young manager who watches One Piece, but honestly that manga is pure boomer bait for old farts like you, team leader. How are you the only one who doesn’t know that?”
“Uh… Chaewon? I think the manager said ‘jinbae,’ not ‘Jinbe.’ The meaning’s the same as what you’re saying, but it’s actually the character ‘true’ mixed with the native Korean ending ‘-bae eopda’…”
“Team leader, are you ‘jin’?”
“What the… why is that suddenly coming up?”
“As long as the meaning gets across, why are you nitpicking the etymology like some greasy nerd? People tell you you’ve got zero social awareness a lot, right? The second you open your mouth everyone forces a bitter smile, shuts up, and slowly edges away?”
“No they don’t? Sure, I might be a little clueless about fields I don’t know, but…”
Tap-tap-tap!
Chaewon had already stopped listening. The irritated look on her face as she opened Blabla and started typing told me she was writing a full roast of me and fishing for people to agree.
Forget it. Like she said, as long as the meaning got through, who cared about the origin.
Vrooom~
Once again I worked late into the night and was driving back to Seoul. My hands moved the wheel on pure sequential memory, but my head was completely full of how I was going to ask Eunju to pull her campaign promise.
I just couldn’t figure it out! Thanks to Wonhui she already thought I was hitting on her.
On top of that, my old-man habit had made me bring up Lee Jubin, and now she just saw me as some pathetic jealous guy. The misunderstanding only got deeper.
“Hey… Chaewon?”
“…”
I needed help, so I tried talking to her. As usual she had her AirPods in and gave zero response.
But I was capable of learning. If I stopped here she’d just scold me again for starting a conversation and then saying nothing, so I pushed a little further.
“I’ve got something I want to ask you.”
“…”
Still nothing. She must actually be listening to music today.
I was about to give up and focus on driving again when—
“Oh for— hey, team leader? How many times have I told you to fix that habit of starting a conversation and then saying nothing?”
“What are you talking about… I already stated my business and you didn’t answer. What was I supposed to say after that?”
“So what is it?”
“Haa… Chaewon, what do you think about ‘giving something and then taking it back’?”
“Just hearing that already maxes out my irritation. Give me more details.”
“Like a gift, basically. I gave the other person something and they were super happy with it. But now I have no choice—I need to take it back.”
“You’ve already prepared yourself to cut ties with them, right?”
“I-is it that serious? Looking at it another way, it was kind of a mistake. It was never supposed to go to that person in the first place…”
“If you make a mistake, do you get forgiven for murder? Team leader, you’d score perfect on a psychopath test, wouldn’t you?”
“Why are you comparing this to killing someone… Anyway, so there’s no way?”
“There is. Just give them something better instead.”
“…”
I had no idea what that “something better” would be. Eunju was under serious stress because of her completely useless teammates, and I had been the drought-ending rain that tossed her a pretty solid main campaign promise.
If I was going to snatch that away, what could I possibly give in return? And if it had to be more valuable than what I originally gave, the only option left was another campaign promise, wasn’t it?
“Who’s this about?”
“Huh? Uh… my daughter. It was my niece’s birthday so I bought a Kirby plush as a gift. But my daughter thought it was hers and fell asleep hugging it.”
“Just let her keep it and buy a new one for the niece. What else are you earning money for?”
“It’s a limited edition… so that won’t work.”
“Just explain the situation. You can’t even handle one little kid and you want to be a team leader?”
“…”
I wanted to argue, but I had nothing. Of course Harin wasn’t actually a tiny child, but the fact remained that I still hadn’t found a way to solve the problem.
“So what’s Kirby?”
“Ah, Kirby is… a character from the game series Kirby of the Stars. He sucks up enemies, absorbs their abilities, and then uses them to fight more enemies…”
“Haa… seriously, the variety never ends with you. Muttering away like a total weeb…”
“…”
Then why did you even ask?
I dragged my exhausted body home. Click-click! Harin undid the double lock, poked just her head out, and greeted me.
“You’re back?”
“Yeah. Did anything happen at school…”
Click-click!
That was as far as it went. As if she had fulfilled the bare minimum of courtesy, she immediately locked her door again and made not a single sound. Looks like the grudge from Sunday still hadn’t cleared.
Thud…
I sank onto the sofa. On holidays I cosplayed as a high-school boy; on workdays I stayed late for overtime.
Turning on my phone only confirmed the lonely life of a man with zero people who would ever contact him. And because I had chosen all of this myself, I couldn’t even complain to anyone…
[2 Missed Calls]
“…?”
Strangely enough, there were two missed calls. I must have set it to vibrate while driving and never noticed.
I was extremely curious who it was, but it was past eleven at night. Was it okay to call back? Just in case, I sent a polite text.
Brrring! As if it had been waiting, the phone rang immediately. Who on earth had been sitting around waiting for my reply at this hour?
“Hello?”
“Ah… hello? I’m so sorry for calling this late. You’re Harin’s father, correct? I’m Harin’s homeroom teacher.”
“Ah, is that so? Harin’s homeroom teacher… wait! Ms. Eunju!?”
A miracle had occurred. The light of my world, the one I couldn’t help but love—Ms. Eunju herself had personally called me!
“Hup… y-you know me? Have we spoken on the phone before? If so, I’m really sorry!”
“N-no, of course not. As a parent I at least know my daughter’s homeroom teacher’s name. Besides, Harin praises you every single day at home—says how great her teacher is.”
“Ah… if you suddenly say things like that…”
Of course it was a complete lie. I only found out Ms. Eunju was the homeroom teacher after I started cosplaying as a high-school boy and went to the school myself.
But she was always fretting that students might see her in a bad light, so she deserved to hear a little praise now and then, right? It was a white lie. Santa Claus would definitely forgive me.
“But… your voice somehow sounds familiar. Have you visited the school before?”
“…?”
I let my guard down. I was so happy she had called that I completely forgot I had to perform both of my identities.
“Ahem… t-that can’t be. Anyway, what did you call about?”
“Why did your voice suddenly go lower… ah! It’s parent-teacher conference week this week. That’s why I contacted you.”
“Is that so? But for parent-teacher conferences don’t they usually check participation in writing ahead of time?”
I had figured the time was coming. When they asked about attendance I had planned to get a date from my aunt and send her in my place.
“Pardon? I already received the consent form. You said you couldn’t come, so I was calling for a phone consultation.”
“…?”
What… the hell… was she talking about? I had never received any consent form.
If I had, I would have shown it to my aunt ages ago and adjusted the schedule.
The culprit was Kang Harin. That brat knew perfectly well that if I showed up at school I’d become a laughingstock, so she had blocked it in advance.
Because she had no idea I was planning to send my aunt instead.
“Haa… I’ve been a bit busy with work. So Harin’s doing fine at school, right?”
“She’s doing well. Lately she made a new friend, and she’s helping that friend with the vice-president election like it’s her own campaign.”
“You mean Thuy, right? I’ve heard roughly about it.”
“That’s right! Come to think of it, there’s also a student who’s your fifteenth-degree cousin attending here, isn’t there?”
“Y-you already reverse-calculated the degree of kinship? So that kid isn’t causing any trouble, is he?”
“Not at all! He helps me so much that I’m always grateful… ah! It’s nothing.”
Ms. Eunju got flustered and started hedging about me. Still, hearing praise from her lips even like this felt good.
But wait. This was a perfect opportunity, wasn’t it?
Things I couldn’t ask when facing her as a student, I could freely ask now as Harin’s father.
“By the way, does Harin have any other friendships? For example, a boy in the same class she’s close with.”
“Pardon? Our school has separate classes for boys and girls, so I’m not really…”
“I-is that so? Then, uh… maybe a senior she’s close with?”
“I don’t really know that far… I’m sorry! I’ll try to pay more attention to Harin!”
“No! You don’t need to feel pressured. Is Harin keeping up with her studies lately?”
“That also… let me open NEIS right now and check her grades…”
“No! You don’t have to do that.”
How was she planning to hold a parent consultation when she knew absolutely nothing about Harin? Ms. Eunju seemed just as flustered; her words started stumbling.
“I-is there anything else you’re curious about?”
“Curious about… well, nothing much except whether Ms. Eunju has a boyfriend…”
“Ah! I can answer that. I’m not seeing anyone right now.”
“Kiyooooooooootshiiiiiiii!!!”
“…!?”
I had lost my mind. Confirming that Ms. Eunju was single pushed my joy past its limit and I let out some unidentifiable scream.
“S-sorry. I was walking and stubbed my toe on the sofa.”
“Ah… that must hurt terribly. Did you break anything…”
“I don’t think it’s that bad, so please be careful when you walk too, Ms. Eunju. I’ve never seen them, but if those pretty toes got even a scratch my heart would ache so much…”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll hang up now. Get some good rest and have a nice day tomorrow.”
Click!
One more word and I was going to confess on the spot, so I hung up with tears in my eyes. Still, just hearing her voice this late at night felt like my life’s nutrients had been recharged.
Of course Ms. Eunju probably now saw me as a complete lunatic. But how many more chances would I even get to talk to her as Harin’s dad?
That aside, wasn’t Kang Harin being way too much? No matter how embarrassed she was of her dad, shouldn’t she at least have asked about the participation?
Click! Click!
Speak of the tiger and it appears—Harin came out right on cue. Without a single word she crossed the living room and headed for the bathroom.
About thirty seconds later? The sound of the toilet flushing, and Harin emerged. Then she slowly… watching my reaction the whole way… started heading back to her room.
An awkwardness that made it impossible to believe we were father and daughter. But even in my exhaustion my mind was spinning fast.
That brat hadn’t turned on the faucet while she was in the bathroom. Normally whenever she went while I was around she always ran the water so no sound would leak out, but today she just flushed and came straight out.
She knew the call from Ms. Eunju had come. She must have realized the consent form she stole would be exposed, so she pretended to go to the bathroom just to gauge the atmosphere.
Click… click…
Even the sound of her locking the door lacked confidence. Still, at least she seemed to feel bad about it. That was something.
So let’s call it even. On Sunday I had suspected her for no reason, and today she had deceived me, so we’d just let it go.
More importantly, I still had work left to do. To go to school tomorrow, meet Eunju again, and get her to retract the campaign promise, I needed—exactly as Chaewon said—to give her something better in exchange.
From now on, I had to create a new campaign promise.