Family (4)
Family (4)
"Okay, popcorn is one for every two people, and cola is one per person."
"""""Yeees~"""""
Since we couldn't carry everything at once, we solved it by having the younger siblings each carry one popcorn as the orders came out.
The popcorn was carried in pairs of two, and the cola was one per person.
After confirming that everyone had grabbed their share, I picked up my own popcorn and cola.
"Oppa, isn't it heavy?"
"This much isn't heavy..."
"Really? That's a relief, then."
We hadn't even entered the theater yet, and I smiled wryly as I watched a younger sibling sip her cola.
It wasn't something to worry about from siblings who were only nine years old.
Maybe it was because they were girls?
I could see them trying to take care of me, a guy, for no real reason.
"It's not that. It's because you used to collapse every chance you got, oppa."
"Ahem... But I've been working out hard, so I don't do that anymore."
"That's a relief. I hope you live a long life, oppa."
Since she was a child who had been entrusted to the orphanage after both her parents passed away, things had been quite complicated for her, but I stroked her head.
"Shall we head in, then?"
I moved my feet toward Gate 4, which was written on the ticket we had just received.
*
"It really does feel different watching it at the theater."
"Next time, after school..."
The younger siblings, seemingly satisfied, chattered among themselves about which scenes were great and which were funny.
Since you couldn't talk inside the theater, they were letting out all the pent-up conversation at once now that we were outside.
Watching them reminded me of my movie theater dates with A-ra.
A-ra had been noisy every time we went, too.
That had been really cute.
What was she doing around now?
A concert? An event? A shoot?
She seemed to have so much going on that I couldn't even begin to guess what she might be up to.
Should I give her a call later?
"Now that I think about it, it's already lunchtime..."
Would popcorn be enough to fill our stomachs?
Of course not. It was lunchtime, so we had to go eat a proper meal.
*
I coaxed the younger siblings into eating a meal and then took them back to the orphanage.
I had considered stopping by to see Mom one last time, but I remembered that she had said she was going out earlier, so I just exchanged greetings with the other teachers and stepped outside.
"It's already 3 p.m...."
3 p.m. on a Saturday.
It was a truly boring time with nothing to do.
Now that I'd taken care of the younger siblings, I guess I should find something else to do.
If I worked, that meant going into the agency, of course.
Hmm... What to do?
"Since I'm going anyway, should I pick up some drinks?"
The employees apparently didn't like that the break room drinks were carton drinks.
Carton-packaged drinks were certainly cheaper, so they did tend to taste a bit lacking.
As I got into the car to head home, the orphanage door opened and a whole group came pouring out in a rush.
The cute younger siblings had come out.
"Hey, kids? What are you doing? Go back inside and do what you need to do."
"Oppa! Thank you!"
"Come again next time! Let's go watch another movie!"
It looked like my younger siblings had come outside because they wanted to say thank you.
Adorable little guys... I wanted to ruffle each one's hair, but that would probably just get awkward.
At times like this, the cool thing to do was to flash a bright smile, wave your hand, and disappear.
So, waving my hand to the younger siblings like that, I pulled out of the parking lot.
"I'm about to tear up for no reason."
Seeing my younger siblings' smiles grow brighter and brighter, I felt so proud I almost wanted to cry.
Right up until I left, the support funds and donations had been severely lacking, so things had been incredibly tough.
Even when I quickly gained independence in my first year of high school to reduce the number of mouths to feed, the shortages hadn't changed much.
Now, I felt happiness knowing that my younger siblings could eat their fill and live decent lives.
***
"Did you have a good weekend?"
"I had... a really, really good one..."
When I arrived at school on Monday, Lee Min-ho came into the lecture hall with a face that looked like he might drop dead at any moment.
He had probably stayed up late watching an overseas live broadcast.
"I just recorded it. How was it yesterday?"
"Japan? Don't even ask. For a second I almost couldn't tell if I was in Korea or Japan, I swear."
According to Lee Min-ho's testimony, even though it was clearly a performance in Japan, the audience had passionately belted out the songs of the Queens members and sang along.
Wasn't that a bit too much of an exaggeration, no matter how you looked at it?
"Come on, you're saying Korean, not even English, echoed throughout the place?"
"I'm telling you, it's true! Go watch the video today!"
"Today's the day A-ra comes back, so I don't think I'll be able to watch any videos."
"Right. Today is the day she returns to Korea..."
Lee Min-ho made an expression that was hard to tell whether it was disappointment or happiness.
He was glad that A-ra had returned to Korea safely, but it seemed a shame to him now that he wouldn't be able to watch her nighttime live streams.
Just what kind of people were the Queens fanclub?
"Hey Lee Min-ho, do you have a ticket for the Korea concert?"
"Uuuu..."
"...Why is he suddenly crying?!"
Upon hearing the single question of whether he had a ticket, Lee Min-ho began to sob sorrowfully.
I was genuinely startled for a moment.
For a grown guy to openly weep and snivel like that.
What a pitiful sight to behold.
"Don't be like that. He said he got all the way to the seat selection and payment window, but the transaction failed because there was no money on his debit card."
"So he couldn't get one?"
"He said if the payment fails, you have to start over from the beginning. And the tickets all sold out in one second the moment they opened."
So that was why he was crying like that.
In that case, I supposed I really was his savior.
"But isn't there a separate batch set aside for agency staff?"
"No, he said the Director didn't prepare any at all this time. It apparently came up once before."
"Hmm... I see."
Then there was no way to get one through any other route.
Our agency took a very hard line on things like scalped tickets for concerts it managed.
Scalped ticket transactions were immediately sued for business interference, and they never settled.
And except for VIP entry tickets, everything was an on-site pickup ticket, and if the account holder who made the reservation didn't match the person picking it up, they absolutely would not hand over the ticket.
And there were no refunds either.
I rubbed my chin and looked at Lee Min-ho, who was slumped over his desk.
It seemed the time had come to take 'that' out of my pocket.
"Hey, Lee Min-ho. Look at this."
"...What is.............................!!"
When Lee Min-ho saw what I held out, his eyes went wide.
With eyes that looked about to pop out at any moment, he began examining what I'd given him.
From crying to shock to laughter.
The guy sure had busy days.
"D-Don't tell me... This is...!"
"It's a VVIP ticket I got from A-ra."
The concert venue had C-seats, S-seats, and R-seats, but what I'd received were seats with an even better view and guaranteed privacy.
It was a section with only eight seats total, four on the left and four on the right.
What I got from A-ra was a total of four seats.
Meaning, I'd received an entire row.
"You're going, right?"
"O-Of course I'm going!!! Just give me your orders, my lord!"
"My attendant, my throat is terribly parched. Go to the marketplace and fetch me a bottle of Coca-Cola."
"I shall obey your command, my lord!"
Lee Min-ho set the ticket down on the desk and dashed out the door.
Jeong Hwan-yi, seeing this, started making a phone call somewhere.
"Who are you calling?"
"Lee Min-ho. To tell him to buy mine too."
In a way, I thought Jeong Hwan-yi was better at bossing Lee Min-ho around than I was.
"But what about that one seat?"
"I'm taking my little sister. She really likes A-ra noona."
She'd been studying hard lately and eating well, so she deserved a reward.
The seat was going to be empty anyway, so I decided to take Minji along.
"You had a younger sister? I didn't know that."
"I mean the younger sister I grew up with at the orphanage."
"Ah~ Right. I'd completely forgotten about that."
Saying he'd forgotten, he scratched his head and pulled out the bag he'd hung up behind him.
Looking at the clock, it was nearly time for the professor to arrive.
"But did that guy Lee Min-ho go all the way to America to fetch cola? Why isn't he coming back?"
"If he's late this time, he gets marked absent and automatically fails."
Had I sent him on that errand for nothing?
But seriously, what had that guy been doing to be in danger of an F grade when the semester had only started a month ago?
"Oh, I can hear him breathing."
"You can hear it from here, all right."
Just as I was about to give up and turn away, the sound of heavy breathing reached us from outside.
It was such a loud sound that it was impossible not to notice.
"Huff... Huff... That bastard Kang Jeong-hwan..."
"Oh, did you buy it?"
"What did you ask him to get?"
"I asked him to get coffee."
The guy who made the request and the guy who bought it were both pretty ridiculous, honestly.
Class was about to start, so how had he managed to go all the way to a cafe and back?
"My lord, huff... huff... Here is the Coca-Cola you ordered."
"Well done. Good work."
When I gave him a thanks that wasn't really a thanks, he plopped into his chair and started gasping for air.
Realizing that being late this time meant an F, it seemed he had moved quickly.
"Anyway, when is it? Is it this weekend? Be ready."
"Hah... Hah... I've gained a lifelong source of pride..."
"And you're happy with just that?"
"This is a place that even the biggest diehards couldn't get tickets for this time. Of course I'm happy."
I knew ticketing was incredibly competitive, but was it really that bad?
When I'd tried it before, all I'd noticed was that seats disappeared the moment you clicked on them.
But from what Lee Min-ho said, it sold out in one second this time, so I probably wouldn't even have seen that happen.
Well, people who couldn't go could just watch the live stream.
They couldn't see it in person, but it wasn't like they couldn't see it at all.
"I'm so glad my friend is A-ra-nim's husband... Really so glad..."
"Hey."
What an insolent guy.
It was true that I got the ticket from A-ra, but remember that I'm the one taking you.