The Road to A
Friday morning.
A congee shop in Jongno was thick with the comforting smell of bean sprout soup simmering away. It was the kind of breakfast meant for people heading to work after a warm meal at dawn, and at the tables sat office workers in suits alongside laborers in work clothes, each waiting for their order.
An old man in a bucket hat and a young man with a backpack were seated there too. They, too, were waiting for kongnamul gukbap.
“….”
“….”
Dr. Jang stole a glance at Seonwoo Taek, who sat across from him.
With his backpack set behind him, he was wearing a yellow T-shirt. A large yellow girl character was printed boldly across the chest. He usually wore nothing but plain, colorless shirts, so today he looked almost startlingly colorful.
“….”
“….”
But Dr. Jang didn’t ask, and he didn’t point it out.
He’d invited him out to treat him to a bowl of soup, after all. There was no reason to quibble over his clothes.
And besides…
He’d seen it sometimes at Tapgol Park.
Old men who always came dressed like beggars, but then one day showed up in a crisp suit or the clothes they’d worn in their youth. A little while later, they’d be found cold in the rooms where they lived alone.
Seonwoo Taek sat there just like them, vacant and unmoving.
Not saying a single word.
“….”
“….”
He’s acting like someone whose time has come to die.
To shake off the bad feeling, Dr. Jang took a sip of water. Stroking his sparse beard, he glanced up at the television mounted near the shop’s ceiling. The morning news was running another segment on the protests, which had been growing more heated by the day.
The field reporter pointed toward the streets packed with people. Even now, masses of protesters were moving across the screen, thousands of them.
At some point, the sea of people stopped marching.
The route along the main road had been blocked before they even knew it. Since the protest had begun before the permit paperwork had even finished being filed, police had already surrounded the area to disperse the illegal assembly.
The reporter on scene continued to explain what was happening.
Protesters desperate to break through and police trying to hold them back were tangled together in a mess of anger and confusion. This wasn’t about politics; it was about their livelihoods and the years of their lives that had been taken from them.
With the tears of the webtoon artist whose glasses had been shattered, the protest footage ended.
“Meanwhile, the opposition has said only this about the protest: ‘If we want to reclaim our rightful rights as democratic citizens, then we must act according to procedure.’ They offered no further comment.”
Watching it all, Dr. Jang muttered in exasperation.
“We’ve gone straight back to the 1980s. What, are they waiting for someone to lose their temper and pull out a Molotov cocktail before they get a clue?”
“…!”
At the word regression, Seonwoo Taek, who had been sitting there blankly, flinched. He flexed his hands for no reason at all, opening and closing them, then looked around.
Dr. Jang noticed the shift in his mood.
“Ah, was politics uncomfortable for you? My apologies.”
“….”
Seonwoo Taek silently shook his head.
Dr. Jang let even that childish reaction slide. The always composed, always unruffled Seonwoo Taek looked suddenly like a nervous little kid, and the sight stung in a way he didn’t expect, so he said, almost sharply, “Even if the world looks like it’s about to end tomorrow, don’t be too frightened. There are always ways to keep living.”
“….”
“Even an incompetent old beggar like me gets by just fine. A capable, smart young man like you will do even better.”
“….”
Just then, the woman running the restaurant set down their bowls of soup.
“Enjoy!”
“Goodness, thank you.”
Dr. Jang took the spoons out of the utensil container and handed one to Seonwoo Taek with a smile.
“Eat up. This old Jang is so useless that all I can offer my benefactor is this.”
“….”
Seonwoo Taek accepted the spoon.
“Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it.”
They began eating in silence. They stirred in the salted shrimp, fished out the steaming bean sprouts, and blew on them before eating. Then, with their spoons, they scooped up rice from the clear broth.
Even while they ate, the news continued.
That bastard… making everyone else suffer and then sneaking off…!
The moment he heard the name, Dr. Jang growled under his breath. But he didn’t say anything else, not wanting to interrupt Seonwoo Taek, who was eating precariously in front of him.
“….”
“….”
The two of them finished quickly.
There was no conversation, and the reason was simple: the soup was easy to eat.
After the meal, Dr. Jang paid at the counter with two crumpled ten-thousand-won bills and came back out with his change. Seonwoo Taek stood in the middle of the Jongno street with his backpack on, motionless.
Dr. Jang walked over to him.
“Did you eat well?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Is that so? Then that’s a relief.”
“….”
The conversation lapsed again.
“….”
“….”
Early in the morning, the street was full of people.
The two of them stood there and looked at each other for a moment.
Neither leaving nor parting, as if they still had something to say, like old men adrift on a fleeting stretch of time….
“….”
“….”
Dr. Jang asked, “You planning to head off somewhere soon?”
“!”
Seonwoo Taek hesitated for a moment, then replied, “Yes. I think so.”
“….”
Dr. Jang said, “When?”
“Probably tomorrow.”
“Mm… today’s the thirtieth, so the thirty-first?”
“….”
“Well, that’s awkward. Hardly enough time to have a proper drinking session. Time moves too damn fast when you get old.”
“You’ve already drunk plenty, haven’t you?”
“True enough. We’ve been getting hammered every day.”
Dr. Jang held out his rough hand.
“Then I’ll count this as my send-off. You shouldn’t drink the day before you leave anyway. If you carry your memories with you intact, you won’t miss home as much once you get there.”
“….”
Seonwoo Taek took the hand.
Up and down, they shook firmly.
Still clasping his hand, Dr. Jang said, “Take care of yourself while you’re gone.”
“….”
Seonwoo Taek nodded.
“Yes. I’ll be careful.”
“Good.”
The two parted ways. On the broad streets of Jongno, they walked in opposite directions, and between them the flow of pedestrians gradually filled in the space.
Dr. Jang glanced back for a moment.
“You can spot him from far away.”
Even from a distance, the yellow stood out.
Passersby who caught sight of Seonwoo Taek’s yellow shirt blinked in surprise, then edged away as if to pretend they hadn’t noticed. Young women in particular practically fled in alarm.
Dr. Jang clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk. No one’s got any eye for quality. Looking at a millionaire like he’s a pile of trash. There’s not another friend as kind and decent as that boy. Seems only the girl with the yellow hair and Eunryeong are the ones who struck gold.”
Then he turned and started walking again.
“….”
He felt no lingering regret.
He did not doubt that he would see Seonwoo Taek again.
For some reason.
That was just how it felt.
“…Take care.”
*
The ordinary office worker Park Hong-shin was at his desk, getting through his tasks.
“….”
Tap, tap.
Even while he worked with a blank expression, his mind was already somewhere else entirely.
If it were up to me, I’d be doing an open run, but I have to finish my morning schedule or it’ll cause problems….
The truth was, he had another identity.
An identity in the internet world, a mark of his hidden instinct for stirring things up. Specifically, he was a fan of the rapidly rising new VTuber group ABCD, and more precisely, of the blue maniac called DoDa.
Park Hong-shin was an eternal DoDa fish.
He had decided that ever since the day he started running wild in a PC bang.
And today, as a DoDa fish, he had something to do.
He was going to a live viewing.
He had even taken the afternoon off for it.
Heh…! When the venue got canceled, I thought I’d wasted the half-day leave I’d set aside in advance. But to swap it for a live viewing on the exact same day and at the exact same hour…! I really am lucky.
Park Hong-shin had always been lucky.
Whenever he played gacha games, he’d often pull a limited character with the very first free currency they gave out. And if there was a 100-pull event, the characters everyone called “must-haves” would spill out in a rush.
Just like the kind of person he was, fortune was following him again this time too.
“….”
Tap, tap.
But even he had never won the lottery.
That was why he worked a perfectly ordinary job like this.
Still, the dull stretch of the day was finally over.
“!”
The morning work was done.
Park Hong-shin grinned and started getting ready to leave.
Then Section Chief Kim called out from far away.
“Well, well, if you’re so happy to go home, why don’t you just quit?”
“….”
It didn’t hurt at all. He let the irritating remark slide in one ear and out the other, then happily slipped his blue DoDa T-shirt on beneath his white dress shirt.
Yeah, yeah. Screw you. I’m going to see DoDa.
Who was he?
A fish devoted to DoDa and DoDa alone.
Park Hong-shin walked as if wings had sprouted from his shoes, using one hand to check the live viewing location posted on ABCD’s official social media.
Once he got outside, a sense of liberation washed over him.
Just being able to leave work in the middle of the day felt exhilarating. And that thrill peaked fifteen minutes later when he reached the nearby cultural center. It was the closest live viewing venue.
Park Hong-shin beamed.
“!”
-Scan the QR code and get your free snacks!
-Where should we move the water bottles?
-Do you have any medium posters left?
Staff bustled around in every direction, food trucks had been set up in the open lot, posters covered the building’s entrance in dazzling layers, and videos played across every display screen….
The show started at six in the evening.
It was only two in the afternoon now.
And yet it already felt like a festival. What was more astonishing was that this festival atmosphere was happening simultaneously at dozens of venues all across the country.
Even just this one place is basically a major game company event…. How much money did they spend?
Once he realized that, a shiver ran through him.
“BigMan….”
Oh, god of festivals.
Please reign over us forever.
The prayer to BigMan, which had once felt awkward, now came naturally.
If he had to put it another way, BigMan just felt like a VTuber who hid his identity.
He keeps his concept absolutely dead on, which makes him feel exactly like a VTuber.
Anyway.
Park Hong-shin was about to stop worshipping BigMan and head into the venue, but a gentle gesture from a staff member stopped him.
“Did you do the QR code event?”
“The QR code?”
“Yes. Normally there’s only one free snack per person, but if you win, we give you the whole menu.”
“I haven’t done it yet.”
“Then scan the QR code up front, go to the site, enter your phone number for verification, and then join the event.”
“Ah… okay.”
“Even if you lose, you’ll still get one item, so don’t worry.”
“Got it. Thank you.”
Park Hong-shin casually walked up to the food truck.
He entered his number, scanned the QR code, and the result came back immediately.
You won!
“Hah.”
Of course I’m lucky.
Park Hong-shin gathered up an armful of snacks from the food truck and went inside. The spacious venue, with its theater-like rows of seats, was still in the middle of final preparations.
-Please turn off the lights!
-Yes, I’m checking the timing.
Looks like there still aren’t many people. I guess everyone’s just hanging out outside for now.
Nearby, only one person who looked like a member of Aki-chan’s fandom, probably the ace, was seated there. He had been sitting there blankly without doing anything for a while now.
Park Hong-shin chose a good spot, set down his snacks, and was just about to play a mobile game when he let out a low groan.
There was too much food.
“….”
But I can’t possibly eat all this alone… I already had lunch, so I’m full.
He glanced around, then approached the man.
“Excuse me.”
“!”
The man turned.
Park Hong-shin handed him a tornado potato.
“Would you like some snacks? I won a ton, and I really don’t think I can finish all this by myself. If you want more, I can give you more.”
“….”
The man nodded.
And without a word, he accepted the tornado potato. A strange bracelet wrapped around his left wrist jangled lightly. It looked like something hastily, almost clumsily, woven from thread.
“Thank you. I’ll eat it slowly.”
“No problem. It’s all thanks to BigMan anyway, s—”
Just as he said that.
Flash—!
Park Hong-shin tilted his head.
Did that bracelet just flash…?
Was it a smartwatch?
He looked again, carefully.
“….”
But it was still just a shabby thread bracelet.
“….”
Park Hong-shin scratched his head.
“….”
Guess I saw wrong.
The man eating the tornado potato suddenly spoke.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Pardon?”
“The performance.”
“….”
Park Hong-shin grinned.
“Me too.”
With that, he returned to his seat.
Even while he played on his phone, he kept sneaking glances at the man. He did nothing but sit there blankly, holding his snacks and eating them one by one. His gaze stayed fixed on the stage, where preparations were still underway at the front.
“….”
What an odd guy.
And then he went back to his game.
There were still four hours left before the live viewing started.
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