The Proposal
Rembrary found the whole thing puzzling, but none of the lines he actually possessed felt right to unleash in a situation like this, so for the moment he simply held his tongue.
Anyone else would have improvised something on the spot. But Rembrary had never experienced romance at all, let alone two-timing, and he had never once witnessed anyone carry on two relationships at the same time. He had no idea how one was supposed to broach the subject first.
Fortunately, before things could turn awkward, Shin Jo-woon spoke up.
"Do you think that woman is a match for your station?"
Then he pulled an envelope out of his jacket and held it out.
"No need for a long speech, so I'll keep it short. Take this and break up with her. You're only seeing her for this anyway, aren't you?"
Is that Shin Jo-woon's mandatory line?
Rembrary gave a dismissive snort, then drew out the envelope and checked the amount inside.
Surprisingly, there was actual cash within. And going by the currency values Jungseo had taught him, it was quite a sizable sum.
Am I permitted to keep this?
He considered the question for a moment, then slipped the envelope into his jacket.
He hadn't received a single settlement payment yet, so he had no money. If it was genuinely being given to him, then he wanted to take it.
Watching him do it, Shin Jo-woon sneered.
"You'll take it and break up with her. Right?"
Rembrary answered in a frosty voice.
"And what will you do if I take it and do not break up with her?"
"I do have a certain pride, you know. ...What even is this?"
"Will you be giving me more?"
"?"
Frankly, if he gives again, this is pure profit.
Rembrary was a wise high priest, one who knew how to secure the practical advantage. If holding out meant receiving the envelope a few more times, then holding out was clearly the better course.
Shin Jo-woon sneered again, wearing a look of utter disbelief.
"You have no conscience at all. No pride, either."
"So you will not give me more?"
"No."
"Then I cannot break up with her."
"What if I give you more? Does that mean you'll break up then?"
"It does not."
"Hold on — you're asking for money? What exactly are you doing right now? Are you shaking me down?"
The more Shin Jo-woon carried on, the deeper his brow creased in bewilderment. He had hurled the money envelope as an insult, and yet somehow he was now the one being bled for cash — a development he found difficult to comprehend.
Just then, an employee arrived and held out a White Shake Latte Gold Coconut Sweet Potato, large size.
Accepting the thick, oversized cup, Rembrary declared with firm conviction:
"I can give up nothing."
"!"
On the way back, Jong-woo's face went red as he rounded on Rembrary.
"You blockhead — why would someone going to pick a fight order a coffee that sweet?"
"You are the bitterness; I am the sweetness. That is what it signified."
"It did NOT look like that!"
"Is that so. Then what does one normally order?"
"A glass of water! If water's rude, an americano! At absolute most, a latte!"
"I did order a latte. The word 'latte' was in the name."
"That was not a latte! The 'latte' was buried in the middle of that word salad — you couldn't even see it!"
"But Jongwoo. Americanos are bitter."
"That's WHY you order one! Because you're going there to fight!"
Jong-woo fumed on about how Rembrary didn't understand the fundamentals of a confrontation, and how bickering like that would only get him laughed at — but Rembrary let it all wash past him. His mood had soured the moment Jong-woo confiscated the money envelope the instant filming wrapped, and he had no energy to entertain Jong-woo's pointless theories about fighting.
"Cease your chirping. I shall go and finish my video diary."
Whether some change of heart came over him, Jong-woo hyung ordered pizza for me. He then stared at me with a smug, expecting look, so I asked what he was looking at, and he asked if I had nothing to say.
I asked if he meant the shrimp, and he asked if I had nothing else to say.
I remarked that the shrimp pizza was truly delicious, and he asked if I had nothing else to say besides that.
I declared firmly that if I had something to say, I would say it myself — and he took the pizza away again.
I asked Jungseo what Jong-woo hyung had actually wanted, and he said he'd wanted to eat together. When I pointed out that was not what I wanted, Jungseo suggested I try saying so out loud.
Afterwards...
Went to film Dear God, and a pizza truck arrived bearing my name.
Astonished, I looked, and it read: "From Taeri."
When I asked the man riding along with the truck, I was told this truck could produce 157 pizzas.
I informed Jong-woo hyung that he now possessed proof Jang Tae-ri was one hundred and fifty-seven times the person he was, whereupon he cursed at me to spend the rest of my life eating pizza.
His mouth is far too coarse.
Went to the studio to film Dear God, and the moment I arrived, Maeng Woo-shin — rather, Maeng sunbae — spoke to me.
"I saw the teaser for that new variety show you're on."
When I asked how it was, he asked what the concept was supposed to be.
When I answered that the concept was two-timing, he asked whether I meant two-timing between pizza and lattes.
When I said Jang Tae-ri was the one two-timing between me and Shin Jo-woon, he said that was not how it looked at all.
When I asked how it did look, he said I came across as the lone idiot of the three.
I suppose I must seek out this teaser.
— 11:00 PM
I found the teaser. There is nothing idiotic about me whatsoever.
I appeared remarkably shrewd and quick-witted. Of the three of us, I looked by far the most intelligent.
Come to think of it, I received a text from Jang Tae-ri today. She said she was glad to be able to film alongside me.
I replied that the feeling was the same on my end.
Before long, a text arrived — unexpectedly — from Shin Jo-woon as well. He said it had been a pleasure filming with me.
When I replied, "What am I supposed to do about that," he said that if I did not reply properly, there would be no more coconut lattes.
When I sent back that the money envelope he gave me had been warm, if only for a moment, he asked why my replies to him and to Jang Tae-ri were so different.
When I answered, "The difference between one hundred and fifty-eight pizzas and an empty envelope," he seems to have had some realization. There has been no reply.
His solo music show promotions had ended, and there was no separate filming scheduled that day. Seizing the moment while the iron was hot, the agency plunged straight into preparations for Wild Animal's next album. The other members had been granted some final rest, but perhaps stung into action by Rembrary's relentless run of activities, they all showed up at the office and buried themselves in practice.
Rembrary, too, was seized by the dance teacher and put through choreography rehearsal.
How long had they been at it? Someone rapped on the door.
The dance teacher cut the music and called out, "Yes~!"
Rembrary stopped as well, wiping the sweat beading on his brow.
The person who had interrupted their practice was CEO Im.
"CEO Im. What brings you?"
The dance teacher grabbed the towel draped over his bag and hurried over to the CEO. CEO Im pointed at Rembrary with his eyes.
"Ah — I just need to borrow Yeon-woo for a bit. Are you busy?"
"Nope, go right ahead. Yeon-woo."
"What is this about?"
"I'll tell you upstairs."
Wondering what it could be, Rembrary followed him anyway. Apparently not the sort of thing to discuss down here, CEO Im said not a single word the entire elevator ride up to his office.
"What is the matter, that you carry on so?"
Rembrary asked again as he stepped into the office. CEO Im spoke with uncharacteristic gravity.
"That doctor we were supposed to meet a while back — the appointment that got pushed back? His schedule today got cancelled, and he said he could come right away if we were free. So I told him to come."
"That Harry... you mean that man?"
"Yeah. He should be here in about ten minutes."
Will it actually work, I wonder. Thinking this to himself, Rembrary nevertheless said he understood, and sat down on the sofa at the center of the room.
Before long, someone knocked on the office door.
"Come in."
The one who entered was Jong-woo.
And behind him trailed an unfamiliar face — a woman in a crisply tailored suit with silver-rimmed glasses. Her face was pale, her lips strikingly red; a beautiful woman.
Rembrary frowned without meaning to.
He knew her. Of course he did. She was Sa Jikjae — the grim reaper, that colleague of Sa Gamjae's.
"Thank you so much for coming."
CEO Im, knowing nothing of the circumstances, shook Sa Jikjae's hand in greeting, bowed and stammered out plea after plea to take good care of his boy, and when Sa Jikjae said she would like to speak with the patient alone first, he swiftly stepped aside.
Rembrary's brow furrowed deeper as he confronted her.
"Why have you come here so suddenly? Do you hold a side profession as well, like Gamjae?"
"Why? Is that weird?"
"It is not strange, merely..."
"Then what's the problem."
"My condition now rests upon your diagnosis, does it not? Tell me — are you actually skilled at this work? Gamjae was such a hopeless mess that I could not begin to fathom how he became a manager."
"Of course I'm not. I only took up a profession because I needed a shell. It's not like I spent years in school studying and training for it."
"You hold a profession without any skill? Is that even possible?"
"Yep."
Having finished, Sa Jikjae beckoned him closer.
When Rembrary came to stand before her, she placed a hand atop his head, tilted her own this way and that, and knitted her brow.
"What is the matter?"
"Verifying soul."
"Why my soul?"
"A Saint like you couldn't actually be mentally ill. And if your boss's story is true, I figured there'd be some interference between you and the body's original owner."
She tilted her head back and forth a while longer — then, seemingly gleaning nothing, lowered her hand and arched an eyebrow.
"There's nothing wrong with you?"
"That is because it clings to my shadow."
"There's not a single trace left on the body."
Sa Jikjae turned to look at Rembrary's shadow, cast toward the wall opposite the window, and cocked her head.
"Does it surface from time to time? I hear the frequency keeps increasing?"
"On stage, my shadow once took on a strange appearance — once at that time, and once more when I was told the truth that Yeon-woo's biological brother was adopted, and then once again not long after. Three times in all, and the intervals have been growing shorter."
"And since then?"
"But since then, nothing has changed at all."
"Hmm... I can't tell much just from hearing about it."
Sa Jikjae crossed her arms, tilted her head again in thought — then produced something like an ornamental pin and drove it into Rembrary's shadow where it pooled across the sofa. Astonishingly, rather than sinking into the sofa, the pin planted itself into the shadow with a soft tap.
"I'll mark it for now and check back on it."
"Is your business concluded, then?"
"Most people ask what I actually did."
"You are not yet finished?"
"No."
Sa Jikjae stared at him as though he were a very strange man, scratched her head, then flopped down onto the sofa.
"The real business starts now."
"The real business? Has a way back opened, perchance?"
"No. King Yeomra has made you an offer."
"What manner of offer?"
"'Catch the evil spirits and youkai before Nakru gets to them, and contact us.'"
"Why me?"
"'The demon beasts that awoke when your kind crossed over — plus the ones that will awaken when you cross back. Help us with that many jobs, and He will send you home.'"