Gather Here - 2
[July 27, 13:25:27]
[July 27, 13:25:28]
[July 27, 13:25:29]
[July 27, 13:25:30]
...
...
...
On the way to the convenience store, rain fell in a fine drizzle. It wasn’t the kind of cooling rain that chased the heat away, only a miserable, damp sort that seemed to spread stickiness through the heavy air beneath the overcast sky.
Even under an umbrella, I still ended up soaked through.
The front of the store was thick with the smell of wet grass.
I watched droplets hit the blades one by one.
Plip.
Plip.
Watching them, I worked out my plans in my head.
...
This rain has nothing to do with the live show. It’s only a passing shower that’ll stop around two in the afternoon. After that, it’ll stay clear all the way through the 31st. I need to prepay the food trucks and send them to the theater and concert hall where the live viewing will be held, just as planned.
Memorizing all ninety-two days’ worth of weather had come in handy for exactly this reason.
Thinking that, I kept walking forward. I had a briefcase in hand; I was bringing the convenience store and building documents to the manager’s office.
...
I plodded up to the place and arrived.
Of course, the convenience store lights were off.
It had never really been built for proper business in the first place, so while the interior looked tidy, the hours were entirely arbitrary. Naturally, there were no customers at all.
I opened the door.
The security system disengaged,
and the lights inside the store flicked on with a series of crackles.
I moved behind the counter and into the manager’s office.
...
The little room was nothing special.
Just a desk bolted to the wall and a chair. Beside it, a pile of assorted boxes was stacked high. It was practically a spare storage room for odds and ends.
I set the briefcase down on the desk in that barren little room.
Then I took out a few documents and started going through them.
...
Until this coming August,
if I didn’t cancel it myself,
the rights to this building and the convenience store would automatically pass to Ah-Young. The expected taxes and expenses would be withdrawn from an account I had already set up.
That was what the paperwork was for.
...
After regression,
I had no idea what would happen to this world.
I had never seen beyond that point even once. Once July 31 passed, everything always came back with a ticking sound. The moment I came to my senses, I was back on May 1.
So.
For the people left behind,
this was the only way I could help them.
...
Then, at that moment,
my phone rang.
A message had arrived from Ah-Young. It came with a sweating, limp little rabbit emoji.
From the middle on, it wasn’t really human language anymore.
She was probably a little worn out. But Ah-Young wasn’t the type to get drained by just a handful of lessons. If anything, she must have been in the middle of all sorts of adjustments for the live show.
Cancel what had been set.
Then revive what had been canceled.
And then go back to the beginning again.
She was probably trapped in that kind of endless hell.
...
They said the performance prep itself had been finished before the weekend, and that she wasn’t even nervous thanks to her showcase experience, but... there are probably a lot more things to worry about for a launch event like this than there were for the showcase.
Thinking that,
I moved my fingers and typed back.
...
[ ]
I was about to answer.
As I always did, I was going to tell her to hang in there.
...
[ ]
But I couldn’t.
She was already doing her best, so did she really need me to say that? And when she said she was tired, it wasn’t necessarily because she wanted comfort... maybe she was just stating how she felt.
So instead, I wrote something else.
It was, in my own way, a sincere little truth.
[This is Ah-Young’s stage.]
[Please prepare so you won’t have any regrets.]
[I’m truly looking forward to it.]
...
[I’m your fan, after all.]
I sent it.
And then.
I got a reply.
Ding!
It was a photo showing only hands.
The right and left hands each made a V sign, crossing over each other so they wouldn’t jut out to opposite sides. It formed something that looked like an A.
She must have propped the phone up and taken it on a timer.
Then a shy rabbit emoji flew in.
[Ah-Young: Secret for Bigman, from the first ace~]
[Huh?]
[Ah-Young: It’s a new fan sign I made. I’m going to reveal it for the first time at the performance, and use it there too.]
[A fan sign?]
[Ah-Young: You remember my greeting, right?]
...
Of course I remembered.
-Like a star in your heart! I’m the idol trainee Aki-chan!
Now she was closer to a proper idol than a trainee.
[Ah-Young: When I say “Like a star in your heart!” the Ace fans in the audience will reply with “Hi-five!” and make an A together with the person sitting next to them!]
...
It sounded like a teacher saying, “Now, why don’t we all make a pair with the friend beside us?”
I’d forgotten everything from my school days in the middle of all this regression, so I couldn’t remember any of it at all.
...
How annoying.
Outgoing people never understood the hearts of the withdrawn.
To an introvert, it felt like one of those events that came flying out of nowhere and flattened you before you had time to blink. Still, most of the Ace fans would probably enjoy it.
They already gave off the feeling of being a pretty lively bunch.
[Ah-Young: And when five people gather in a crowded place....]
She posted another photo.
It looked like something she’d found online for reference. In it, five V signs each formed a point, turning into a star.
[Ah-Young: Ta-da! That’s how you become a star, haha.]
[Ah-Young: And I prepared a ton of stuff.... secret, haha.]
[Ah-Young: If you’re curious, haha, you’ve got to come to the performance, haha.]
[Ah-Young: No matter how much Bigman you are, it’s still a secret, haha.]
...
That last little line carried a confidence that said she had put a huge amount of work into this and wanted me to look forward to it.
Yes.
Confidence.
The confidence to show her own creation to other people.
She was an artist now, a creator. The girl who had once done a rough broadcast for barely a dozen viewers could now tell people to look forward to a stage she had prepared herself.
She planned it herself.
Connected with her viewers.
Designed the stage.
And took pride in it.
Because she had put her whole heart into it,
I could see Ah-Young grow.
...
I looked outside.
The rain had stopped before I knew it. The downpour that had soaked the pavement had vanished like a lie. Through the still-muted clouds, warm sunlight was pouring down again with force.
One side of the window,
bright enough to sting my eyes.
I walked over there.
Then I opened it.
Rrrrkk—
...
A deep smell of grass.
The rain had passed,
and the wind was blowing.
The sun shone on me.
...I’m looking forward to it.
Ah-Young’s stage.
...
Carrying that feeling,
I sent another message.
[I’ll definitely come and watch.]
[Ah-Young: Where? There are a lot of live viewing places, lol. Oppa Taek looked all over for them... don’t tell me, Busan?]
...
[It’s a secret.]
Then a pouting rabbit emoji flew back.
[Ah-Young: Hmph, then I’m not telling you the stage content either.]
...
[Then I’ll wait until then.]
[Ah-Young: Because we promised when we set up the “Big Plan A” corporation?]
!
[You remembered.]
But there was no answer.
So I tried to look back at the sky.
...
Until the phone rang.
Ding—!
It was Ah-Young calling.
!
When I answered, Ah-Young whispered conspiratorially. She was probably speaking secretly from some corner somewhere.
“That was a promise I made with Oppa Taek. How could I ever forget...!”
...
I said,
“Thank you.”
“Hey! You keep saying thank you all the time, and now I’m the one who should—”
At that moment,
voices started buzzing around me.
-“Then I’ll head out first! Good work, everyone! I’ll bring supper later tonight, so make sure to eat something!”
It was Representative Baek Su-cheol’s voice. He must have been leaving after sitting in on a meeting just moments ago. Then Ah-Young’s voice drifted farther away, as if she’d pulled the phone from her face before answering.
-“CEO! Take care on your way home!”
-“You worked hard too, Ah-Young!”
-“You could just leave work, you know.”
-“Ah! Chief Choi, you really!”
The female voice teasing Representative Baek sounded familiar. On her broadcasts too, she kept a voice that felt close to her everyday tone, so I could tell immediately who it was.
The C of ABCD.
Clara.
...
Clara? So she’s casual with Representative Baek in private. And from calling him Chief Choi, it sounds like they treat her as an internal manager even though she’s a member...
The brain of ABCD.
Even though I’d never seen her face, somehow that was reassuring.
And from far away, I heard a pterosaur’s roar.
-Kiyoooooot! The tyrant has fallen! Let us establish the republic!
-Do-Dam...
-Kiyo, ooooot... khrrk—! Uh, I drank cola a bit ago.
-Do-Dam...
...
So that’s Doda.
Doda was still Doda.
I’d already gotten my red-pill inoculation, so I wasn’t remotely moved.
“Hmm.”
“Ah, Oppa. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. Sorry if I interrupted you in the middle of your lesson.”
“Hey! You’re doing it again, saying sorry! I’m the one who should be grateful, actually...!”
Even while I was speaking with Ah-Young for a moment,
the sunlight kept pouring warmly through the window.
Flash—
So much so that I almost imagined the bracelet on my left hand catching the light.
...
It felt like the dampness was evaporating away.
*
Baek Su-cheol drove toward Seoul Station. Then he parked in the lot and opened the passenger-side door for her. He was a thoroughly gentlemanly sort of man.
Baek Hyang was inside. She was holding a bundle and two chickens, which meant both her arms were occupied.
The two of them went into the noisy platform of Seoul Station.
Inside the station, the announcement system rang out clear and bright.
Baek Hyang spoke to the younger brother who had come to see her off.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. You helped me out too, sister.”
“I didn’t help you with anything. I just didn’t have bad luck to begin with.”
“Hah, fine, don’t say anything at all.”
Baek Su-cheol glanced at the bundle in Baek Hyang’s arms without meaning to. The chickens were bobbing their heads rhythmically as they clucked.
Cluck-cluck-cluck....
Baek Su-cheol let out a dry laugh.
“Those damn chickens. So you’re really taking them with you after all. At first even the security guard was irritated, but he got attached and started sprinkling them with crackers.”
“Maybe they were never destined to die at the apartment.”
“Why don’t you just make samgyetang out of them? You’ll get hungry on the way to North Chungcheong anyway. Good for your health too.”
...
When Baek Su-cheol finished speaking,
the chickens stiffened and looked up at Baek Hyang.
?!
But she shook her head.
“No. You’re not supposed to cook food over an open fire in the mountains.”
“Because of fire safety?”
“That too, and because the Sun and Moon Spirits said not to.”
“Good grief. They’re picky.”
“Still, they’re merciful. They’re smiling at us right now.”
“Are they?”
Baek Su-cheol looked up at the sun peeking through after the shower and waved his hand playfully. He spoke with complete ease, as though he were talking to a brother-in-law.
“Hey, you old sun-dweller! Please take good care of my sister! Send her out into the world more often, would you? She gets lonely up in the mountains, so talk to her more often too. And maybe tell me the lottery numbers once in a while.”
...
Baek Hyang’s lips curved slightly as she smiled.
Even after hearing things like gods and spirits, her younger brother still acted this calmly. Other people would have been frightened and kept their distance.
...Ha.
That “natural” behavior
was so human
that it healed her soul, bleached white by hardships.
At that moment, the station announcement came on.
-The next train is the service bound for Jecheon, North Chungcheong.
Then the train rolled into the platform. The departure board said it was scheduled to leave ten minutes later.
!
!
Baek Su-cheol grinned.
“Then take care, sister.”
“You take care of Daon too. And when your sister-in-law comes back from her business trip, give her my regards too.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do all that... Ah, right.”
“?”
“That knot of yours, sister.”
“The Five-Colored Thread?”
“Th-that... is it expensive?”
“Why?”
...
Baek Su-cheol said awkwardly,
“Damn it, I guess I must’ve dropped it while cleaning or something, because I can’t find it. So I was wondering if it was some expensive thing.”
“Bigman?”
“Yeah, that.”
...
Baek Hyang said,
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Huh? It’s not expensive?”
“It only moved according to connection. That’s the kind of object it is.”
“Conn, connection...?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“One day, if you come to your senses, Su-cheol might suddenly be friends with Bigman.”
“F-friends...?”
Baek Su-cheol tilted his head.
“What are you talking about? Why would I be friends with Bigman...?”
...
Baek Hyang reached out and patted his head.
“Everything will work out.”
“?”
“Trust him. I did too. We may meet someday, or we may not... but everything will be fine.”
...
“Then I’m going. Take care of yourself, Su-cheol.”
“Yeah, sister. You too.”
And so.
Baek Hyang boarded the train bound for Jecheon.
-The train is departing.
Baek Su-cheol stood there blankly until the white hair visible through the train window grew distant and small.
---