Interview
Interview
A week had already passed since A-ra's comeback concert ended.
As time went by, the intense fervor gradually subsided and entered a sort of lull.
The first week had been so chaotic it felt almost unreal.
They hadn't been able to enter the apartment, but some reporters had swarmed the entrance hoping to score at least an interview.
Of course, A-ra hadn't given any interviews since she moved by car.
And so, perhaps the reporters had decided to try and get an interview out of me, the husband, instead.
So how did I get out of it?
I should probably think about that for a moment.
Because this was the very first time I had been caught while just out for a walk with Lil' One and Pipsqueak.
"You're Yoo Seong-hwan, right? I'm Lee Yeon-hwa, a reporter from KBG Broadcasting! I was wondering if perhaps your wife, Song A-ra..."
"H-hold on a second! You're startling the dogs, so please slow down...!"
First, I scooped our little rascals, who were tilting their heads, into my arms.
They docilely nestled against me and licked my cheek, then started letting out big yawns as if they were satisfied with the walk.
"I'll give you the interview, so please don't stand in front of me like this. This is the absolute worst kind of public nuisance there is."
"I-I'm sorry... Things will be bad if I go back with no results again today..."
I let out a deep sigh.
Looking at the other reporters' faces, it seemed they were in the same boat.
Could all of them be rookie reporters?
Maybe the station had used them as a throwaway card, knowing that A-ra never does anything outside of official interviews anyway.
"Then please follow me."
"C-can we come inside?"
"Were you planning to do it outside here?"
"W-well, we have a policy of not entering without permission."
She gave a very common-sense answer, uncharacteristic of reporters.
The people behind her also nodded in agreement.
The reporters I knew were the type to come looking for you at all hours and pester you...
Could it be that these people weren't actual reporters?
"Hm..."
"Wh-what's wrong all of a sudden? Don't tell me you've changed your mind...!"
"No, that's not it... Hm... Please come inside for now."
Even though I had my doubts, I let them into the apartment complex.
It wasn't like we were going into my actual apartment, anyway—we were just heading to the coffee shop inside the complex.
***
"I...I see. So then the VIP seats were..."
"Four people went up: an employee from our agency, a Qtube creator friend, and my younger sister."
Because the reporters' questions were mostly unrelated to our private lives, I answered most of them.
They asked about A-ra, but they also asked about me and were mindful of my mood, softening the atmosphere—I could tell they were professionals.
"May we use this content in an article?!"
"What? Sure, I don't mind."
It was also the first time I'd ever seen a reporter ask the interviewee if it was okay to use that information in an article.
Back when Ye-ji had beaten down that rapist, reporters had invented crazy, nonsensical stories and posted them...
I guess there really are people like this, too.
For the record, Lil' One and Pipsqueak were sitting next to me in their cage, with the permission of the shop manager.
The two of them were grooming each other inside the cage and making an absolute happy fuss about it.
The reporters, who had been typing away on their laptops or phones for a while, began to look at me as I gazed into the cage.
Then, as if they had become interested in the dogs inside, they started peering into the cage.
"Seong-hwan, since when have you had dogs?"
"It's been a while. About a year now... You're going to write about this, too?"
"There are lots of people who like dogs, you know."
Well, that was true.
I supposed dogs didn't really discriminate between men and women.
Who could dislike such adorable creatures?
"The one here on the left is Lil' One, and the one on the right is Pipsqueak."
"Such tiny, wriggly little things... The names are incredibly cute."
"Right? I spent so much time thinking those up..."
Though they sounded a bit like hamster names, what did it matter if they were cute?
Our doggies were tiny, so the names actually suited them well.
"Phew... Thanks to you, Seong-hwan, I think I'll be able to fill my quota."
"I gave you the interview this time, so if you spread any weird fabricated news..."
"Oh dear, our agency Director scares me way more than you do, Seong-hwan, so I wouldn't dare."
Well, that made sense. After all, you knew who our Director was.
She was someone who could endure anything but would never forgive anyone who messed with her people.
If you knew what happened to that reporter who wrote the strange news about Ye-ji...
Ugh... They definitely couldn't write any weird news.
"Well then, we'll be heading off now."
"Goodbye."
I waved my hand while sipping the iced Americano sitting on the table.
I hoped those sensible reporters would land important positions and help create a media that was sane again.
*
"Ohh... As expected, normal news..."
Even though the interview had ended well, I had been worried at the last minute that some strange news article might pop up.
Perhaps that fear had been unfounded; not only were there proper articles, but there were even articles that seemed to praise me, which surprised me a little.
"If another interview request comes in, it wouldn't hurt to go out and do it."
The interview had ended well even with people I'd met so suddenly, so what would it be like with people who deliberately wanted to cover a story about me?
After seeing the news, I felt good for some reason and grinned from ear to ear.
***
"Seong-hwan-a, what are you doing?"
"I'm doing an assignment. You can come in."
I was working on the assignment with the tap-tap-tap of the keyboard when A-ra poked her head in and spoke to me.
Did she have something else to say?
A-ra slowly pulled a chair over and sat down beside me.
She looked a little tired, but she also seemed to be in a very good mood.
"What's the matter?"
"There's something I want to consult with you about."
"Consult? Is there something you want to buy?"
A-ra and I had agreed to consult each other before buying anything expensive.
It was to prevent the awkwardness of a really expensive item suddenly appearing in the house, or the disaster of treating something carelessly without knowing its value.
For reference, 'expensive' for us meant anything exceeding 100 million won.
We had agreed that anything below that could be bought freely.
"Noona, is it okay if I raise a cat?"
I had thought she was going to buy something this time, but the consultation was about something quite different.
A cat, huh... Cats were definitely cute, too.
"A cat? Now that you mention it, you said before you wanted to raise something called a Munchkin cat, right?"
I minimized the Word window and searched the internet for a Munchkin cat.
A small, adorable cat that looked exactly like the kind A-ra would truly love appeared on the screen.
Somehow, it had the kind of looks that suggested it would get along well with our dogs.
"I heard there are lots of places that raise Pomeranians and Munchkins together."
"Really? Do their personalities match well, then?"
I dragged the mouse down and scrolled through the article.
Originally, in most cases, if a dog and a cat grew up together from a young age, they got along well. And sometimes a cat grew up thinking it was a dog, too, resulting in a so-called 'dog-like cat.'
But 'dog-like cat' sounded a bit weird.
It kind of sounded like a curse word.
"They said it comes running when you call it, plays for affection, and does things like that."
"That's... a little cute..."
"So, how about it? Would it be okay to get one?"
"I'm fine with it. We already have two dogs, so one more animal won't change anything."
And besides, cats were territorial animals, so they didn't need to go out for walks, right?
It'd be like having a dog that stays home anyway—it should do well in this spacious house.
"Where are you getting it from?"
"I'm planning to adopt from a private home. An acquaintance of mine has a cat that gave birth recently."
"Aha... Then we could go pick it up in about a month."
Animals had to stay with their parents for at least one month after being born.
I had heard that they needed their gut microbes and things to properly establish, and they needed to grow to a certain size before they could be separated and still do well.
But wasn't it different for birds?
One of the animal club members who raised mini quails had taught me that.
"So you've given your consent, right?"
"Of course. I'd even consent if you said you were buying an airplane, Noona."
"Really? Then can Noona buy an airplane?"
"..."
Considering A-ra's financial assets, she might actually buy one.
I quickly shook my head from side to side to signal her not to.
"Hehe, but helicopters are a bit cheaper, though."
"Can you even buy one in Korea?"
"What's stopping me? In capitalism, if you have money, anything is possible."
It was a line that felt quite alien coming from that gentle and cute A-ra.
It seemed the movie she had watched last night had influenced her.
"Then let's go together when it's time to pick up the cat."
"Shall we? I'll tell you when the time comes, then."
"Okay. I'm going to do my assignment now."
I swiveled my chair and placed my hands on the computer keyboard.
But A-ra just rested her chin on her hand and stared intently at me.
"Can I stay and watch?"
"It's a little embarrassing..."
"Don't be like that~ It's boring being alone~"
"Ah... Fine. So please stop shaking me."
A-ra's hands, which had been gripping my head and shaking it, stopped.
In truth, the one who craved affection more than a baby kitten or a baby puppy might just be A-ra.
But that was actually even cuter.
The way she tried to shake me around wildly didn't seem much different from a kitten or puppy, though.
Ah... My heart hurts.