Group Project (2)
Group Project (2)
"Whoa... I've seen this place on TV, and passed by it a few times..."
Lee Min-ho looked up at our apartment building—tall enough to be called a skyscraper in this area—
and got out his first words.
Famous celebrities and actors lived here,
and the commercial floors below housed a variety of popular restaurants,
so it was frequently featured on broadcasts,
making it a rather well-known mixed-use residential-commercial building.
Of course, filming was prohibited in the common facilities,
so they only filmed within their own units.
As if trying to personally confirm where the top of the towering building ended,
he was craning his neck and staring up at the sky.
Seeing that he was still at it even ten minutes after we'd met at the main gate,
I judged that this would go on forever,
so I tapped them each on the shoulder to bring them back to reality.
"What are you doing? Let's go in."
"Uh... yeah."
"When am I ever going to live in a place like this."
When I hurried them along, the two of them entered the lobby.
I had also stood there with my jaw dropped like them the first time.
If my past self saw how nonchalant I was now,
wouldn't he slap me in the face?
Anyway.
Each of them was carrying something heavy in their hands.
Even though I'd told them not to buy anything.
"But why did you bring those?"
"It's basic manners."
Jeong Hwan-yi was holding a box of bottled drinks,
and Lee Min-ho was holding a pretty expensive bundle of toilet paper rolls.
What was it called again—
housewarming gifts or something.
These guys had surprisingly solid manners when it came to things like this.
Rolled toilet paper was said to be the best housewarming gift.
Since you unroll and use the rolled-up paper,
it apparently carried the meaning that things would 'unroll' smoothly for you going forward.
After listening to Jeong Hwan-yi's explanation, I glanced at Lee Min-ho
and couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
It was because Lee Min-ho's face had 'Huh? That's what it meant?' practically written on it.
He'd probably searched for housewarming gift rankings online and bought it.
Still, I was grateful all the same.
We could only move on after entering the lobby and finishing the visitor registration.
The commercial area and officetel floors didn't require this kind of verification,
but visitor registration was mandatory for the residential floors, for safety reasons.
Annoying and time-consuming procedures like these
seemed to be the most effective when it came to accident prevention.
We got into the elevator and pressed the Ph floor.
In this apartment, the 1st floor was marked as the L floor for lobby,
the underground parking was the P floor for parking,
and the penthouse was marked as the Ph floor, all using English abbreviations.
Since it was a mixed-use building, they'd labeled them
to be easily visible for residents.
"What's Ph short for?"
"Pent house, duh."
"Oh... when you say penthouse... that hedonistic..."
"I told you not to say stuff like that around other people, you dumb guy."
"Aack! Ow! That hurts!"
Jeong Hwan-yi grabbed Lee Min-ho's earlobe and pulled.
She didn't let go of his ear, determined to properly scold him this time,
while Lee Min-ho stomped his feet and yelped.
I'd had the same thought on moving day,
so I felt a strange sense of kinship.
When you hear 'penthouse,' isn't it inevitable
that 'that' movie or 'that' drama comes to mind?
"Both of you stop it. Other people are going to hear..."
"Oh right, sorry."
"No apology for me?"
"Yeah, no. You were the one who messed up."
Lee Min-ho stayed quiet, as if he had no rebuttal.
Just when the two of them finally quieted down, the elevator
slowed and then came to a stop.
- Doors are opening. -
We got off the elevator and stood in front of the front door.
They seemed nervous, probably because I'd told them
in advance that A-ra was inside.
I was used to it by now so I was indifferent, but A-ra was a world star
with close to a hundred million fans.
Even at a friend's house, walking into a home where someone like her was waiting
was bound to put anyone on edge.
"Hoooh... I'm nervous."
"Don't mess up, okay?"
"Mess up at A-ra-nim's house? I wouldn't forgive myself."
Lee Min-ho took one deep breath, then nodded, signaling he was ready.
He looked like a hero steeling his resolve before entering a dungeon.
When I held my ID card to the door lock and opened the door,
A-ra was waiting for us just inside.
"Excuse us for intruding."
"A-ra-nim, excuse us for intruding."
"Welcome."
The two of them bowed their heads deeply in greeting, and A-ra returned the greeting.
Had I worried for nothing?
Now that I thought about it, it was similar to when a wife brought friends home in that other world.
I should say it felt quite different from a man bringing friends home to a house where his wife was—
there was no difference in the act itself, but what I felt was clearly different.
It was just the difference between a man bringing friends and a woman bringing friends.
"Oh my, you could have come empty-handed."
The two of them quietly handed over the items,
and A-ra accepted them with a bright smile.
A-ra, noticing that one of the items was a bundle of toilet paper rolls,
wore a slightly delighted expression.
After showing the two of them where the living room was,
I approached A-ra, and she gently stroked my cheek.
"You go on in, Noona. I'll tidy up later."
"Okay, got it. Do well on your assignment."
She seemed a little bored.
Normally she'd have been getting ready to go out for a date,
so I felt a bit sorry.
Once the assignment was done, I'd have to stick by A-ra's side and take care of her.
I grabbed my laptop from the master bedroom and came out to the living room
to find the two of them already discussing the assignment.
"Well then, I've got things to do so I'll head in."
"Ah! A-ra-nim, thank you for your hard work!"
Lee Min-ho made a fuss and nodded his head deeply in greeting.
A-ra answered with a smile and walked down the hallway.
Then I heard the quiet sound of the door closing.
She must have gone into the master bedroom.
Now that we had guests, I should prepare something to drink.
Though by 'something to drink,' I only had coffee, green tea, and orange juice.
"Which of the three do you want?"
"Coffee, then."
"I'll take orange juice."
"Okey."
I went to the kitchen, took out the orange juice from the fridge
and poured it into two cups, and poured the cold latte I'd made for coffee-loving A-ra into a cup.
When I returned to the living room with the drinks, the two of them had taken out their laptops and were getting ready.
I placed the drinks they'd each ordered on the table, and they reached out
and started taking sips.
"Anyway, we should start by interpreting the topic."
"'Qualities of Social Welfare Facility Workers,' huh."
"I thought about it a bit yesterday—how about going with 'Respect and Consideration for the Client'?"
"Oh... not bad."
"That seems like it'd work, doesn't it?"
The two of them began to agree with my opinion.
Wasn't it a simple and clear topic?
If you thought about the raison d'être of social welfare facilities,
it was an answer you could easily deduce.
And so our assignment began.
***
"It's... it's over!!"
Lee Min-ho stood up and stretched.
Probably because he'd been hunched over for so long,
his whole body was screaming in agony.
"Whoa... we finished it in one day after all."
"Right... the professors really don't assign anything impossible."
I was impressed.
Maybe because we only had three days, it had felt so overwhelming,
but now that it was all done, only about four hours had passed.
If I'd known it would be like this, we could have just met at a cafe.
"Group Leader, you'll handle the rest on your own, right?"
"Huh? I already sent the email."
"Damn... as expected, you're crazy fast when it comes to action."
Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho met eyes and grinned.
Then they started stuffing their laptops and textbooks into their bags.
"You're leaving already?"
"Of course, man. You think we're that clueless?"
"Still, you should at least say goodbye before you go."
They already seemed set on leaving.
Maybe they were uncomfortable sitting around in someone else's house for no reason,
or they were being considerate of A-ra and me.
Though the latter was probably more likely.
Since they said they wanted to say goodbye,
I went into the master bedroom and found A-ra sleeping, oblivious to the world.
Seeing her clutching the pillow I always slept on,
it seemed to be a stand-in for me.
She looked like she was sleeping pretty deeply—no need to wake her.
I quietly closed the door and came back to the living room.
"She's asleep."
"Really? Then I'll have to greet her next time."
"Seong-hwan, see you at school on Monday."
I'd tried to see them off to the lobby, but the two of them firmly declined
and wouldn't let me step outside the front door.
Left with no choice, I saw them off from just the entrance,
and they were the ones who closed the door first.
It probably meant 'Don't come out, go take care of your wife.'
I put the toilet paper Lee Min-ho had brought as a housewarming gift away in the dressing room,
took the drinks out and put them in the fridge, and then stretched as well.
I'd been sitting hunched over for four hours, and my joints crackled loudly.
After roughly tidying up, I headed to the master bedroom
to find A-ra, who'd been sound asleep just moments ago,
sitting up on the bed, half-asleep and groggily waking up.
No—was she even waking up?
It kind of looked like she was trying to go back to sleep.
"Noona, they finished the group assignment and left."
"Mm...?"
A-ra tilted her head for a moment as if wondering what I was talking about,
but then she nodded, as if she'd remembered.
She must have been completely knocked out.
"Oh right... they already left?"
After fumbling around in the bed for a bit, A-ra found her phone
and checked the time.
"It's only 2 o'clock... you should've told them to eat lunch before going."
"They firmly declined."
"Hmm... then I should treat them to a meal or something next time."
Then she let out a big yawn and stretched.
She seemed really tired, probably because she'd gone to bed late last night.
Program filming happened at dawn, during the day,
and was distributed across all sorts of time slots, so keeping a regular schedule was apparently difficult.
"Get some more sleep."
"I have to go film for Qtube later... Seong-hwan, you're ready too, right?"
"Yes, yes. I studied the dish you've been wanting to eat really diligently.
So get another nap in. I'll wake you up before then."
"...Really? Then should I trust Seong-hwan and sleep a bit more?"
She'd asked it as a question,
but her eyes were already closed and she was on the verge of sleep.
I laid A-ra, who'd gone limp while leaning against me, down onto the bed.
Waking up and then trying to sleep again must have made her even more tired.
Within three seconds of her head touching the pillow, her breathing sounds began.
Come to think of it, starting this week we were supposed to film at the studio, right.
There seemed to be about three hours left until filming time...
Should I browse around Qtube and try to supplement the recipe or something?
Without thinking, I murmured the menu A-ra had requested.
"Boeuf Bourguignon, huh..."
She'd ordered a menu I'd never tried making before.
Feeling a little bit miffed, I ruffled A-ra's hair firmly.
"Hehe... Seong-hwan-a..."
After pulling A-ra's cheek and stretching it while she murmured in her sleep with a goofy grin,
I left the master bedroom, planning to head to the mart.
Hmm...
Come to think of it, I felt like I was forgetting something.
What was I forgetting...
I'd thoroughly studied the recipe, prepped the ingredients and poured wine over them to let them age, A-ra was sleeping soundly in the master bedroom...
and filming at the studio... uh...
"Ah! No wonder something felt missing!"
I was going to ask Lee Min-ho and Jeong Hwan-yi to appear on A-ra Tube!
I'd completely forgotten.
Ahhh... my lab rats...