Comeback
Comeback
Today was the day A-ra was coming back.
I'd thought about rushing straight to the airport after school, but there was some kind of event at the airport that would take a while, so she told me to just go home.
But if I actually went home, would that make me a proper husband?
And for the special event Director had scheduled today, I had to be at the airport.
The special event wasn't anything major.
It was an event for the Queens members' families—a chance for relatives who hadn't seen each other in a long time to embrace and celebrate the group's return to music activities.
From what I'd heard — Eun-ji's older brother, Yeji's older sister, Hwa-young's parents...
And then me, A-ra's husband — I understood we were all invited.
So I was on my way to the airport.
Behind me, Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho were also coming along.
"Only people who won the draw can go to today's event."
"An event held at the airport?"
"They made a contract with the airport. They said it's in the Korean Air Business Lounge, I think?"
Even I hadn't known exactly where it was being held, but Lee Min-ho had all the details down pat.
From what I'd heard, things like that were considered the basics of being in the Queens Fanclub.
All sorts of things were basics, really.
"By the way, you're not bringing your younger sister?"
"Younger sister? Seong-hwan, you had a sister!?"
A few hours ago, Jeong Hwan-yi was showing a reaction similar to Lee Min-ho's.
Seeing him make a fuss for no reason, I could tell what was behind it.
"Why, are you interested?"
"Of course I'm interested. If she's your sister, she's gotta be nice."
"Based on what?"
"What, I don't know? It just seems that way?"
"At times like that, you're supposed to say you get that impression from looking at me... good grief..."
Should I really introduce my younger sister to a blockhead like this?
Anyway, since we'd be seeing each other at the concert coming up soon, it'd be hard to keep her hidden.
Still, for a guy to show interest in a girl first... well...
Maybe I should actually be worrying about this Lee Min-ho instead.
"Me? Why worry about me."
"Does this idiot think he's a girl or something?"
Jeong Hwan-yi smacked his own forehead in disbelief.
A girl like Minji wouldn't handle a guy roughly, but still, the difference in physical strength between men and women was clearly enormous.
I didn't know exactly why, but even a slender woman was still much stronger than a man bulging with muscles.
That's probably why the world developed into a matriarchal society.
"I've never been hit by a girl before."
"Not even by your mother?"
"I've argued with my mom before, but... why would my mom hit me?"
Well... I guess that's true enough.
I'd heard that mothers, except in extreme situations, didn't lay a hand on their sons.
On the other hand, I'd heard that fathers got scolded a lot.
"So? Are you going to introduce her?"
"Depends on how you behave."
Anyway, asking me to introduce my little sister—this Lee Min-ho guy really was something else.
And he'd personally told me before that he'd dumped his previous girlfriend because she was too annoying...
"Tch..........how old is she?"
"Twenty. She goes to xx University."
"xx University...? She must be incredibly good at studying, huh?"
"She said she's a dentistry student."
"Whoa... dentistry...?"
Lee Min-ho looked quite surprised. What was with him being that surprised?
***
The place we arrived at after driving was Incheon Airport.
As always, it was overflowing with people.
So many cars, so many people...
Finding the way was really difficult.
"Hey, don't forget your car keys."
"Oh, right."
Jeong Hwan-yi pointed out that I'd almost gotten out with the keys still in the ignition.
At this rate, I was practically inviting someone to steal the car.
"You need to be a bit more careful. A guy driving an expensive car and all."
"Am I the only one who drives an expensive one?"
"We're already careful, you know?"
The two of them looked at each other and nodded, acting as if they had no problems whatsoever.
I tucked the keys safely into my pocket, chuckled softly, and started walking.
After about ten minutes on foot, we entered the building and started looking around for Director.
Director had said she'd be near the entrance, easy to spot if you just looked around a little... So she should be somewhere around here.
"There, isn't it? The place with the crowd."
"That looks like a different event."
Seeing something written all over in Japanese, it probably had nothing to do with us.
So we started looking around more carefully.
"Over there, over there."
Looking past the area that had been covered in Japanese earlier, I spotted a black banner.
It was Queens' chic and haughty symbolic color.
Once we'd confirmed the place that must be the event venue, we slowly walked toward it.
The closer we got, the more cheers—or were they screams?—reached my ears, and soon unmistakable screams were assaulting my eardrums.
"Ahh.... comrades invited to this event...."
"Stop that, you sound like a total otaku."
"......What's wrong with being an otaku!"
Jeong Hwan-yi and I sighed and started pushing Lee Min-ho along.
The place we were headed to wasn't over there, but the staff waiting room, after all.
"Yes Director. We've just arrived."
Jeong Hwan-yi started making a phone call to Director on his phone, while I held Lee Min-ho back to stop him from going over there.
This guy might end up doing something even wilder than those people, so why was he trying to go over there?
"What business do you have butting into a family event!"
"Why wouldn't I have business? Agency staff are no different from family."
"Mmhm. Seong-hwan said something nice for once."
Jeong Hwan-yi nodded in agreement.
He just had to add that completely unnecessary final remark.
*
"Hello, Director."
"Noona, hi~"
"Hello."
Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho.
And then me — we greeted in order.
Jeong Hwan-yi's polite greeting and Lee Min-ho's greeting, which was the polar opposite.
He was probably being informal since we weren't at the company and this wasn't a work meeting.
"Lee Min-ho, you... never mind..."
"What, we're not at the company right now."
"Then come by my office later."
He just waved and greeted her casually, using banmal and calling her noona, even though other employees were present.
In my view, Lee Min-ho seemed to be missing a few screws.
"Seong-hwan-ssi, it's been a while."
"Hello. You must have returned to Korea earlier, Director?"
"I came back yesterday. Do you know how much A-ra worried, asking what to do if Seong-hwan-ssi was crying?"
"Ahem.... I'm not a child, why would I cry."
It had been a bit lonely, but I'd spent the time well, doing things for the family for the first time in a while.
Plus we called every single day, talking for two or even three hours at a time.
"Ah, really? Or shall noona give you a hug?"
"Ahem, madam, I'm a married man."
"I was only going to hug you because you're like a younger brother to me."
"If you mean noona's younger brother, are you talking about Yeongjae? His face isn't nearly as nice as Seong-hwan's."
A jab from Lee Min-ho, who knew all about her private life.
Upon hearing that, Director shifted her target to Lee Min-ho.
"That's going to hurt."
"It's his own doing, what can you do."
Watching Lee Min-ho getting caught by Director and having his cheeks pulled to the verge of tearing, I let out a sigh.
He was really asking for it.
"Director? So what exactly should we do?"
"Right, I almost forgot. Lee Min-ho, you come see noona in the CEO's office later."
"Ugh.... it hurts..."
Lee Min-ho rubbed his reddened cheeks — a redness not caused by the sunset glow — and pretended to be in pain.
The two of them had been close since they were young, so they were completely comfortable with this kind of thing.
"First, the three of you, see that room there? You can go inside and wait there."
"Understood."
"What time did they say A-ra-nim will arrive?"
"They said she would enter the airport at 6:30, so..."
Director checked the watch strapped to her wrist.
That was the watch. A Patek Philippe.
"She'll be here soon. Please go inside now."
"Then, Director, take care."
"Take care."
"Take care."
We bowed our heads in greeting to Director and the staff who were working hard, then entered the room at the back.
Inside, people I was meeting for the first time were seated — they were probably the members' families.
"Hello."
I gave a brief nod in greeting and took my seat.
The room was quiet, so an overly energetic greeting would have felt out of place, and chatting loudly seemed inappropriate, so we stayed quiet.
"Hey, by the way."
But that only lasted for a moment.
Lee Min-ho, seemingly curious about something, struck up a conversation to ask about it.
"With this comeback, she's going to get a lot busier, right?"
"Probably..."
"She'll be releasing new songs one after another... So besides Seong-hwan, all the other family members are going to have a much harder time seeing them."
In my case, as her husband, we would meet every single day whenever there was time, but the other three who lived in group housing would have an even harder time seeing their families.
This event at the airport was something Director had planned with that point in mind, to help them make memories with their families.
"Still, Lee Min-ho, you've got it good."
"It is good. But thinking about how the families might feel a bit bitter, I do feel a little bad."
Lee Min-ho occasionally said things that made it sound like he'd matured a bit.
At moments like these, I sometimes wondered if the person himself had been swapped out entirely.
Well, everything Lee Min-ho said was true, anyway.
And when A-ra resumed her solo activities as well, there would be times she came home late or even stayed out overnight.
"Haa..."
If it were purely up to my heart, I'd want to be together with A-ra for a long, long time... but that would just be me being selfish.
I didn't want to block her from doing what she wanted, and I didn't want her to give it up, either.
"It'd be hard to find a husband like you, seriously."
"Yeah... hang in there."
"It's not that sad, okay?"
To begin with, I'd gotten somewhat used to A-ra being busy with work.
She'd be away from home for a day or two once or twice a month, too.
Even if she made her solo debut, it probably wouldn't be a huge difference from now.
"You never know about that. Don't forget that A-ra-nim already chewed up and devoured the Billboard charts as a soloist."
"Urk..."
Now that I thought about it, that was true.
Just how busy would my A-ra get...
I hoped that at least before then, she would have time to be all lovey-dovey with me.
Being the husband of a truly amazing wife was a life full of hardship and self-pity, indeed.