The Leader
It was the moment when the true nature of A Team, long shrouded in mystery, began to reveal itself just a little. Surprisingly, A Team had first been formed about two years ago—right around the time Hyeonji entered Cheonji High.
“It’s got a shorter history than I thought. In the end, it’s pretty much like you created it, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t create it. It just happened naturally.”
“You talk as if there’s a real founder of A Team separate from you?”
“None of your business.”
“...”
Yeah, when has she ever told me anything straight? But I was definitely surprised.
I already knew that A Team was a secret organization existing within Cheonji High. I’d just roughly thought of them as some kind of ‘delinquent’ group.
But listening to Hyeonji’s explanation, it wasn’t quite like that. If it were a normal delinquent group, it would be normal for Hyeonji to join naturally upon enrollment.
But there’s a separate founder, and Hyeonji was selected as the first team member? I don’t know much about Hyeonji, but she doesn’t seem like the type to take ‘orders’ or ‘commands’ from anyone.
“So how many people are in A Team right now?”
“None of your business. You’re not even in A Team.”
“Hey, isn’t it a bit cruel to build up all this curiosity and then say it’s none of my business? Then were all the other members also directly chosen by that leader?”
“Why do you keep asking? Did Park Eunju put you up to this?”
“What the hell... Does Eunju have nothing better to do than dig into A Team’s past? If you don’t want to talk, then don’t.”
I said that, but inside I couldn’t help but flinch. It wasn’t like I was gathering info on Eunju’s orders, but it was clear she was negative about A Team, right?
Maybe the reason those two seemingly unrelated people were hostile was right there.
Hyeonji, the founding member of A Team who took considerable pride in it. And Eunju, who ran for vice student council president while hiding her true purpose of eliminating A Team.
True to their extreme personalities, they were enemies even within the school. Though Eunju had never revealed her true intentions, Hyeonji was instinctively sensing the threat.
Grrr...
Walking along while talking about A Team without thinking, a rumble came from a stomach. But it wasn’t from mine.
“What? Kim Hyeonji, are you hungry?”
“I’m not.”
“Then why’s that sound coming out?”
“Because I didn’t eat breakfast.”
“That’s the definition of being hungry, isn’t it? Come on, let’s eat something.”
No wonder she’d been prickly since morning—she was hungry. Hyeonji pretended otherwise but kept glancing at the people around who had spread out mats and were enjoying picnics.
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Chicken.”
“Yeah, you’ve been staring daggers at that kid holding a chicken leg since earlier. Then let’s order a whole chicken...”
“And beer.”
“Cough... Does that make sense? After all that fuss with me last time, you want to drink again? You said you’d never drink with me again?”
“I said there might be no chance to drink, not that I wouldn’t drink.”
“No way. What if you get drunk like last time?”
“As long as you don’t secretly mix soju into it, that won’t happen.”
“I didn’t mix it secretly—you just drank it on your own, remember? But chi-maek out of nowhere...”
Maybe because I’d done something similar with Eunju yesterday? My already tattered conscience was reaching its limit little by little.
Because recently, the only people I’d drunk with were all high school girls. The last proper drink with an adult was just a few sips of beer when eating chicken at Aunt’s place last time.
“No, I can’t allow it.”
“Who are you to allow or not allow? I can just drink by myself.”
“Huh? That’s true, isn’t it?”
Come to think of it, this isn’t Eunju. This is the kid who can skillfully get her hands on alcohol and cigarettes anytime?
“Haa... Fine. But promise you’ll only drink as much as you can handle under my supervision.”
“I’ve never gotten drunk on beer.”
“You’re a lightweight with soju but can drink beer endlessly? What’s the most you’ve ever drunk?”
“Three cans.”
“...”
She acts like she’s lived the high life with drinking and partying, but seems to take care of her body terribly carefully? No wonder it didn’t make sense that even if she’s weak to soju, she’d pass out from that.
In the end, I can’t let my guard down completely today either.
Clink clink...
I told Hyeonji to grab a spot and went to the snack shop to buy beer. When I returned, Hyeonji was sitting alone by the riverside, staring into the air.
“I bought the beer.”
“Where’s the chicken?”
“Delivery’s backed up, so we have to wait an hour.”
“Fuck... Then what am I supposed to eat until then?”
“For now, some jerky at least...”
Whoosh! Hyeonji quickly snatched the jerky, tore it apart as she pleased, and stuffed it into her mouth. I’d walked a few hundred meters and spent my own money on drinks and snacks, but not a single word of thanks?
“Kim Hyeonji, third-year at Cheonji High School? You went home super drunk that day, right? Your dad didn’t notice at all?”
“He knew.”
“Really? Since you said it was the first time you’d been that drunk, he must have been really worried?”
“He just ‘acted’ worried.”
“What the... Aren’t you looking at the world too cynically? I know why you’re mad at your dad. But in the end, the one your dad loves most is you, right?”
“Not me, ‘that bitch,’ more like.”
“Uh... Of course he loves her too, but I think it’s a slightly different kind of love from what he has for you?”
“Different how! Don’t talk about things you don’t know!”
“...”
Looking at it now, the one going through a delayed Electra complex isn’t Harin—it’s this kid. Of course Hyeonji’s dad likes the stepmom, but how can you compare that to love for his own daughter?
Gulp gulp...
I must have said the wrong thing. Hyeonji, even though the chicken was still far off, had already cleanly finished one can of beer and was opening a new one.
Huu... Better stop talking. Honestly, what persuasive power do I have, the guy who got pissed at his brother around the same time and ran away from home to wander around?
“Sorry for bringing up unnecessary stuff. Just... how should I put it... I already know everything, but I went through something similar too. It doesn’t feel like someone else’s business.”
“I’m different from you. I’ll never forgive him. Next year when I leave home, I’ll never see him again.”
“Have you seriously thought about what it means to leave home and live alone? You’ll lose everything you enjoy as your dad’s daughter without even realizing it. Instead of a palace-like house, you’ll have to live with cockroaches in a tiny room—are you really okay with that?”
“I’ll go to a house without cockroaches.”
“Sorry, but the choice is up to the cockroaches, not you. Plus, even to buy a pack of cigarettes, you’ll have to tremble thinking about your bank balance.”
“I’ll just cut it in half. Three cigarettes a day.”
“Huh? So right now you only smoke six a day? You’re not even that much of a chain smoker?”
“Got a problem?”
“...”
It’s not that I have a problem—it’s just funny. She puts on this whole act of being corrupted, but it turns out she’s a healthy beauty who only drinks three cans of beer and smokes six cigarettes?
She always calls me pretentious, but this kid is the one who’s fake about everything. Even now she’s talking about leaving home for revenge on her dad, but once she actually leaves, she’ll clearly come back before even eighteen days are up.
That was when a surprising hypothesis suddenly popped into my head.
“Kim Hyeonji, third-year at Cheonji High School? I’m curious—when did you start smoking?”
“First year of high school.”
“Then drinking?”
“That too, first year.”
“...”
I had a feeling, and sure enough. The period when this kid started properly ‘acting’ twisted coincides exactly with when she joined A Team.
“Then what did you do before that?”
“Why do you need to know?”
“Like I said before, I want to be friends with you. So I want to know as much about you as possible.”
“I just went to school.”
“What did you do after school?”
“Ate tteokbokki with friends or went to taekwondo.”
“...”
As expected, extremely ordinary. Of course, based on her excellent physique, she’d continuously trained in taekwondo, so her fighting skills improved by leaps and bounds.
But she clearly wasn’t the runaway kid she is now. Of course, even now she’s just ‘acting’ runaway.
Someone had fanned the hatred for her dad that was latent inside her into an active volcano. The culprit is without a doubt that leader guy who pulled her into A Team.
Adults’ sayings are never wrong. Birds of a feather flock together; near ink gets black. Make one wrong friend and your life is over.
“What about you then?”
“Me? Why me all of a sudden?”
“What did you do in middle school?”
“I just studied every day. Home, school, academy, library. I never strayed from that route to the point people around me called me ruthless.”
“I’ll punch you in the mouth... Then why are you living like this now?”
“I already told you? I had a reason to go off the rails like you.”
“Then in the end you’re the same as me? So why do you alone act like an adult and keep butting in?”
“I’m different from you. I thoroughly chose it of my own will, but you just ended up like this from making a bad friend, right?”
“It’s my will too.”
“...”
You’re just mistaking it for your will, right? I don’t know what kind of guy that A Team leader is, but as an ‘adult,’ I can’t just leave him be.
Turning a perfectly fine kid into someone who has to chow down on chi-maek with a thirtysomething guy in Yeouido on this nice weather? He’s already high on my hit list, right after Harin’s boyfriend.
“Who ordered the chicken?”
In the meantime, the chicken arrived. Hyeonji was so hungry that the moment the lid opened, she quickly grabbed a chicken leg and stuffed it in as if she’d chew the bone too.
Anyway, at times like this, there’s no separate little kid. Look at her now.
She doesn’t even know that fried bits and chicken grease are all over her plump lips as she eats saying it’s delicious?
Suddenly, the thought of wanting to wipe those lips for her came to me. But I hadn’t brought any tissues, and there was no water fountain nearby.
Then in the end, I’d have no choice but to wipe them with my own lips...
Shake shake!
What the hell am I thinking? The other person is a minor, even a senior at my daughter’s school.
Why do I go crazy and get soaked in all sorts of lecherous fantasies whenever I meet Hyeonji? Just because the kid has an adult’s body doesn’t mean she’s a real adult!
“Tissue.”
But Hyeonji seemed to know her lips were shiny and immediately started looking for tissues. But since it was also my first time having chi-maek by the Han River, I hadn’t thought to bring any.
“None. You can wipe with that bandana there.”
“I’ve told you several times it’s fashion.”
“No matter how I think about it, it’s a minus. You look much prettier with it down.”
“...”
Hyeonji froze with the half-eaten chicken leg in her hand. Then she started staring at me fixedly.
“What? It’s not like I said anything wrong.”
“Why are you saying that?”
“Haven’t I been saying since we first met that I don’t like the bandana?”
“That’s not what I mean. You like Kang Harin, right? You went flower viewing with Park Eunju. So why say that to me?”
“What the... I told you Eunju and I had things to repay each other for. And Harin and I really aren’t like that.”
“Then why do you keep obsessing over Kang Harin?”
“That’s...”
Come to think of it, it was about time to talk about Hyeonji and Harin. Even if Hyeonji is a lost cause, I need to stop her before she exerts a bad influence on Harin too.
“If you promise to keep the secret, I’ll tell you.”
“My lips are sealed.”
“Uh... For someone who says that, wasn’t this meeting set up because you threatened to snitch everything to Harin yesterday?”
“I didn’t really intend to tell.”
“What the... This is a real secret. Not just Harin, you can’t tell that A Team leader guy either.”
“I won’t tell.”
“...”
Can I trust her? Eunju proved her trust by not giving my name even in a crisis. But can Hyeonji do the same?
“Really, only you can know. Actually, Harin and I are relatives.”
“Don’t lie. Kang Harin has never once talked about a relative older brother...”
“Harin doesn’t know that I’m her relative older brother. Harin’s dad asked me to look after his daughter a bit. But if it gets out that her dad did this behind her back, it’ll just cause unnecessary trouble, so I’m not revealing my identity.”
“That seems right. It looked like she didn’t get along with her dad.”
“...”
I’m glad Hyeonji believed me, but she found out info she didn’t need to know. Kiiing... So Harin really hates me?
Of course I know she’s only thinking of leaving home at every opportunity. But getting solid confirmation from a third party is a different story, right?
“Anyway, now you know why I freak out whenever I get involved with Harin? Every time you guys say that stuff, it creeps me out so much I go crazy.”
“I won’t do it anymore.”
“And this is really a secret just between you and me. Not just Harin, but that A Team...”
“I won’t tell anyone.”
Hyeonji casually took off her bandana and wiped her mouth as she spoke. With the spring sunlight reflecting off her flowing hair, I was losing my mind again.
“Good, then now it’s your turn to talk.”
“About what?”
“I already revealed all my secrets, right? So now tell me a bit about Harin’s boyfriend. As her relative older brother, I should at least know who the kid is meeting, right?”
Did you think I came out for free with no conditions? How many drinks have Hyeonji and I shared, yet I’ve never heard about Harin’s boyfriend.
So today I definitely need to know.
“He’s not a boyfriend.”
“Still not? For kids these days, they’re taking the ‘something’ stage pretty long, huh?”
“It’s not even ‘something.’ It seemed like only Kang Harin liked him.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Completely new information. Finding out he’s not even a crush is fortunate, but I’m not sure if my daughter hanging onto the other person is really a green light.
“Exactly as I said. Only Kang Harin likes him. The guy doesn’t know and seems to be meeting other girls.”
“How do you know he’s meeting other girls?”
“There was a day she looked super depressed. Suddenly she asked what you do if a guy and girl get introduced or something.”
“Seems like she picked the wrong person to ask?”
“Shut up.”
Hyeonji immediately furrowed her brows, sensing I was teasing her like a ghost. But it’s a bit much, right?
“No, well... I just can’t really imagine you meeting a guy and coyly flirting.”
“I don’t meet guys or anything. Guys only have dirty thoughts in their heads and just lie.”
“All guys? Your confirmation bias seems a bit severe.”
“I told you not to use difficult words!”
From now on, I should avoid Chinese characters and foreign words as much as possible in front of Hyeonji. Anyway, so what happened?
“I told her what I know. When two people meet, they eat and talk a bit, then if the mood hits they drink a bit, and when a bit drunk they kiss. Then motel too...”
“Whoa whoa! What the hell are you saying right now? You didn’t really say that to Harin, right?”
“I did.”
“...”
Is this kid crazy for real? Just because you’ve only seen the ugly side of the world doesn’t make that the truth.
Leaving that aside, why tell that to someone else’s pure, knowing-nothing baby-cat-like daughter? How shocked must Harin have been?
“Are you out of your mind? Who are you to say that to Harin? Why are you so desperate to ruin a perfectly fine kid?”
“It’s the truth, isn’t it? Kang Harin has to know someday too.”
“It’s not even the truth, and why do you have to teach it? Wow, I’m really going crazy.”
I was wrong. For Harin’s proper mental world, I should have gotten rid of this Kim Hyeonji first, not the crush guy.
My fault for arbitrarily deciding she was a nicer kid than expected. That’s why I should have spent some money to go to a better school district...
“Haa... Anyway, I get what you said. But isn’t it too early to jump to the conclusion that Harin’s crush is meeting other girls just from that? Harin might have asked for reference for when she dates later...”
“She cried.”
“Huh?”
Actually, it was a story Harin absolutely shouldn’t reference, but Hyeonji said she confirmed their relationship after her own solid calculation.
What did my daughter do now?
“C-cried? You’re saying Harin cried after hearing that?”
“One tear came out. She said she yawned.”
“...”
She did cry. I’ve already experienced someone crying and making the yawning excuse.
It was testimony that completely flipped my worldview upside down until now. At the same time, I clearly realized how much I’d been misunderstanding that kid.
I always worried that Harin wouldn’t overcome the pull of genes and film High School Mom and Dad Season 2. But the person Harin resembles most isn’t Mom or Dad—it’s me.
She’s currently in the middle of a heartbreaking unrequited love.