Flower
If Hyunji had truly been in danger, the security team would have handled it on their own. And if she had actually been dead to the world, I was sure they would have stepped in. This much might still have fallen inside what they allowed—but no matter where I looked, that wasn't it either. Then there was the car. She and I had agreed she would finish her training first. I couldn't believe Hyunji would break a promise. I had no hard proof, but the conversation was full of holes.
Might as well go and see.
In case she really had taken the car, I decided to leave the van in the alley. I checked the address on the text alert and headed straight out. I glanced around, turning my head this way and that, but everyone seemed to have gone home as promised. I'd ended up lying about taking a break without meaning to, but there was nothing to be done.
She did get in touch, after all.
When I checked the messages in the taxi, I found Hyunji's text about going to Gangnam for a friend's pointe shoes, followed by one saying she might drink, and even a note that it was a drinking gathering. I read them through with a pleased smile and closed the screen as it was. I didn't want to spoil whatever she was looking forward to for no reason. The taxi let me out in the heart of Gangnam, a place I hadn't seen in a long time. Aside from company dinners I had no memory of coming here, so it felt surprisingly fresh. The streets, lit by dazzling neon, showed no trace of the pandemic's scars.
…This feels awkward.
It was a downtown entertainment district that somehow felt like a place I wasn't supposed to be. Scratching my cheek, I fumbled my way toward the address from the text. I could feel plenty of eyes on me from all around, but by now I was getting good at enduring it on peripheral vision alone, without turning my head.
…Flower Business Room. Is this the place?
The name had the exact ring of a hostess bar, but Hyunji would never go somewhere like that. I looked up at the sign, the word drawn in handsome English cursive.
I started forward again and went up to room 501, just as the text had said, knocked, and opened the door.
"Hello. I'm here to pick up our Hyunji."
I offered the greeting and looked around the room, and of course—there she was. Hyunji sat bolt upright in the left corner like someone awaiting sentence, watching me with an uneasy face. All I could feel from her was apology, and anxiety. Cute. Over a prank this small. The ones I pull are worse.
"Hello. I'm Lee Shinwoo."
Across from me and off to the right, three women were looking my way, greeting me with bright smiles—eyes going round, faces lighting up—and I smiled gently in return and greeted them again. I couldn't help thinking the bar lived up to its name. Every one of them was genuinely beautiful. In the dimly lit room they seemed to give off a light of their own. I would have believed it if someone told me they were idol trainees.
"Wow, you actually came."
"Welcome."
"…You're so much more handsome in person than on a video call."
"O-oppa…"
That last, unsteady voice was Hyunji's. She caught my sleeve and looked up at me as she called, and I quietly stroked her hair and murmured.
"It's all right. I would have come even if you'd just told me the truth."
"…I'm sorry. I lost at rock-paper-scissors…"
"Yeah, yeah. You didn't bring the car, did you?"
"…No. I haven't even looked into the training course yet…"
Of course. Our Hyunji would never go against what I'd said. I sat down quietly beside her, and the woman on my left studied me with open curiosity before setting a straight glass and a rocks glass in front of me. She dropped ice into the glass, stealing glances as she spoke.
"Ah, hello. I really didn't think you'd come…"
"Ah. So you're the one who called."
"Yes… I'm Im Seolah…"
"I thought that voice sounded familiar. Aren't you the one who said you were an A-cup?"
"Ah, th-that's…"
At that, Im Seolah's face flushed as if it might burst, while the other girls broke into peals of laughter. Their reactions were almost too good. It had only been a small joke, but the response was warm enough to break the ice completely.
"Here. Just a moment, I'll pour for you…"
"Sure. You sounded incredibly bright on the phone. Not so much now?"
"That's all an act, oppa."
"Since when have you known him that you're already calling him oppa?"
"Why not? If he's Hyunji's oppa, he's our oppa too. Right, Hyunji?"
"Mm. He likes it when you call him oppa."
Hyunji's answer caught me off guard. I turned my head, and when I smiled at her—shoulders drawn in, neck tucked—she smiled shyly back. Had it shown without my noticing? Honestly, where would you find a man who got upset at being called oppa? A foreigner, maybe.
"Oh my, look at her. Her hands are shaking. I've never seen Seolah like this."
"Sh-shut up… Just give me the bottle. So I can pour for him."
It was the lively noise of a drinking party in full swing. For the first time in a long while I felt the way I had in my early twenties, not at work and not at a company dinner, and it wasn't bad at all. The difference was that this was whiskey, not soju. Two bottles were already open, so they'd had a fair amount. From Hyunji's messages alone, practice looked brutal; they'd have to blow off steam like this just to survive. They couldn't even eat as they pleased. That was when it happened.
"…Oppa…"
Hyunji whispered it and took my hand. I closed my fingers lightly around hers and whispered back.
"What?"
"…I'm sorry."
"You're due for a scolding, aren't you?"
"…Ah…"
"The performance is two days away, and you're drinking."
"I-it wasn't like that. Seolah said she needed shoes, so we came out to shop and have some tea… There's a place in Gangnam that stays open late… A-and I only had two glasses…"
She spilled it out in a rush, like an excuse. Of course. Our Hyunji would never do something like that. And even if she had, I had no intention of scolding her. School was a kind of social life too. None of that really mattered, though. I just needed an excuse.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, really…"
"I know. I believe you."
"…I'm sorry."
"What are you so sorry for? You can just take the scolding."
"Ah, oppaaa…"
"Oh my, look at them whispering. I'm sick with envy."
"Me too. Aigoo, my stomach… How am I supposed to live like this?"
At the voices of Hyunji's friends teasing us from the side, I quietly reached for the bottle to fill her glass and Seolah's.
"I'll pour."
I had only said the most natural thing in the world, but Seolah's eyes, and the others', went perfectly round as they stared at me. Hyunji looked almost triumphant at the sight, and I wanted to tease her for it, but the glasses being held out pulled my attention at once.
"Th-thank you. Here…"
"…Hey. Switch seats. I want to sit there."
"Do it fair. Rock-paper-scissors."
I hadn't expected to have to be careful even about pouring drinks, but by now this much hardly registered.
"I'll pour for you two as well. What are your names?"
I smiled, poured for Im Seolah as she received the glass in both hands, then stood and extended the bottle toward the table across from me. They hurriedly emptied their glasses and held them out, and I smiled and poured.
"I-I'm Lee Miji, oppa…"
"I'm Hwang Jiyoung."
Even from this much, their personalities seemed easy to guess—though, well. If Hyunji was right, even Im Seolah's demure act was just that, an act, so I filed it away and left it there.
"Th-thank you…"
Miji had a softer, gentler air. She looked shorter than Hyunji, but their temperaments seemed alike. The moment our eyes met she flushed and dropped her gaze in a hurry, then delicately wiped a trickle of liquor from the corner of her mouth with a fingertip. They were all so slender that their faces ran similar, but her lips, small as cherries, added a little extra sweetness.
"Thank you. May I call you oppa too?"
"Of course. I'd be grateful."
What stood out most on Hwang Jiyoung was her long, wavy hair, and the way she looked straight into my eyes through the bangs falling softly across her forehead was frankly provocative. Her eyes tilted up a little, and she seemed to favor makeup with an overall sexy concept. It suited her very well. Maybe it was only the contrast with Miji's small mouth beside her, but Jiyoung's rather full lips gave her a clean, striking impression. She sat with an easy confidence, and she looked quite tall. I'd heard ballet favored the short. Apparently not.
"All three of you are truly beautiful. They do say like attracts like."
"Ah, no…"
"Thank you."
"We kind of have to be, don't we? If you want to hang around Hyunji, you have to put in the work. Can't be helped."
"Ah, Jiyoung, why are you like that again…"
In order: Lee Miji, blushing and shy; Im Seolah, smiling as if the compliment pleased her; and last, Hwang Jiyoung, shrugging with a bright, open smile. Even then, Jiyoung didn't forget to lift Hyunji up along with the rest of them. Compliments like that were a debt of words. Someday I'd have to pay it back, but it was nothing much. Lip service I could give all day. She seemed like she'd be fun to talk to, though she clearly wasn't the one in charge.
"Th-then, shall we toast?"
"Of course."
Im Seolah raised her glass. Lee Miji tipped a straight glass against a rocks glass, and Hwang Jiyoung simply lifted her straight glass as it was. I transferred my own drink into the rocks glass, then wrapped a hand around Hyunji's—she was still watching my mood beside me—and drew her in. Jeers and shrieks went up at once. We toasted lightly like that, and for a while I settled into the rhythm of the table.
Nice to look at.
I answered the questions that found their way to me, then nudged the talk toward school, and just as naturally took a step back out of it.
Nothing beats the young ones.
The sight of them giggling and chattering was peaceful, easy on the eyes. I wondered if this was how a manager felt, parked in the middle of a girl group. Attention swung my way now and then whether I wanted it or not, but none of it was rude, and the absence of swearing—unbefitting their age, and welcome for it—pleased me more than I expected. I'd been sure there would be drinking games. There hardly were. Maybe they were being considerate.
"Still bothered?"
I whispered it to Hyunji, who couldn't join in and only fidgeted with her hands. Hwang Jiyoung glanced at me, grinned, then quietly drew Lee Miji and Im Seolah into talk and turned her attention away. Miji caught the look, flicked a glance at Hyunji and me, and threw herself into the conversation. They had a feel for it.
"Ah, no."
"Sure you don't. You haven't said a word. Did I come for nothing? Are you uncomfortable?"
Her eyes went round and she started to shake her head, and I quietly took her hand. Moisture from the glass wet the back of that snow-white hand, but neither of us paid it any mind.
"No… I'm sorry. I keep regretting it. I should have called instead of just leaving a text."
So that was it. She was still fretting over the prank from when I'd walked in.
"A message was enough. I just didn't see it, that's all."
"Still. I feel like I flustered you."
"Did I look flustered?"
She thought it over, and her cheeks puffed, just a little. I rested my chin on my hand and simply admired her face.
"No. I don't think so."
"Right. I'm grateful enough just that you told me this much."
"…I know I'm sending you even the things that aren't a big deal…"
"I mean it. You're not hurt that I can't write back, are you?"
"I'm not hurt. I know you're reading them."
"Yeah. Checking your messages has been getting fun lately. I even look forward to them. So don't worry about it. All right?"
"…Hehe. Yes."
"But what's with the drinking all of a sudden? You didn't seem like you drank much."
"That's because of Seolah. I was trying to cheer her up a little…"
The moment Seolah's name came up, every gaze swung to Hyunji. Seolah sighed, glanced at me, and then spoke.
"Um, oppa, you know we have a performance Friday evening, right…?"
"Ah, I know. Our Hyunji—I haven't even been able to see her because of it."
"Kyaa, what do I do."
At that, Lee Miji clapped both hands to her cheeks and squealed. From the way Seolah had asked, I could tell Hyunji hadn't mentioned inviting me. If they'd assumed I was obviously coming, she wouldn't have put it like that. I turned my head, and the shy little smile on Hyunji's face told me well enough what she was thinking. She wanted to surprise them. If anything, feeling that playful streak in her made me glad. And in the look I was giving her, a warmth gathered in the eyes of Seolah, Miji, and Jiyoung as they watched me.