Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Festival Memories
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"Daeun and Mommy are the same too!"
It seemed Daeun liked hearing that her words were similar to her mom's.
Daeun kept repeating the question, as if she wanted to hear it again and again.
"Yeah, exactly the same as Mommy."
"Wow! Tell Daeun the story about being the same as Mommy!"
Finding that common ground brought her such joy—Daeun's face looked incredibly happy.
Watching her reaction, Changsik let out a hollow laugh and said,
"So this makes twice I've been shot down?"
Once by Hyorin, and now again by Daeun, who took after her mom.
It felt like Changsik was fated to keep getting rejected by my family.
He slid a hand over his face.
Then, with a slightly sad expression, he turned to me and asked,
"You're gonna reject me too, right? If you are, just do it now. Might as well take it all at once."
Pfft.
When Hyorin had told me over drinks that she liked Changsik's confession, I never imagined we'd end up this close. But her straightforward answer had actually brought us closer.
Of course, I hadn't felt zero guilt since that day.
"Sorry I couldn't make it to the wedding. I just... couldn't bring myself to do it, no matter what."
I could fully understand that, even putting myself in his shoes.
Who could easily watch the person they loved marry someone else?
"Still, I watched from afar, so don't be too disappointed."
I nodded with a smile at his words.
"And thanks to you, I buckled down and studied hard. If anything, I'm grateful."
Rivals didn't have to end on the worst terms.
What was our relationship like?
Yeah, it felt like we were close friends now.
"You sure it was thanks to me? You were always good at drawing anyway."
"No, if you hadn't told me that day how much you liked Hyorin, I probably never would've made it this far."
That was the truth.
If Changsik hadn't confessed to me that day, I might've wandered in confusion about my feelings for a long time.
And I wouldn't have studied so hard to succeed and make Hyorin happy.
"Quit saying stuff just to be nice."
"I'm serious."
He averted his gaze, looking embarrassed at my sincerity.
This side of Changsik felt strangely awkward.
"What're you two up to?"
Just then, Jungeun Park approached us with a grin.
"I figured you'd be growling and fighting when you met, but the vibe's actually pretty good."
"Well..."
Truth be told, I'd thought the same when I first heard about Changsik.
Honestly, I'd liked her first, but he'd been the one to confess first.
And crucially, I thought he still harbored feelings since he skipped the wedding.
"So that's why you haven't been in touch?"
Changsik sank deep into the sofa, flashing a self-deprecating smile.
"Huh?"
"Back in college, I was kinda unlucky, y'know? Haven't kept in touch with a single friend since. What a wasted life."
It sounded casual at first, but it didn't seem that way.
His sigh carried real regret for the past.
"Maybe that's why I wanted to reach out to you even more."
"Why?"
I wasn't just asking out of curiosity—it was genuine.
"Why, huh?"
I nodded.
Changsik scratched his forehead with a finger and said,
"Guess you could say I wanna fix things from the start. I thought about where it all went wrong, and it felt like it started back then."
Back when?
"The day I first met you and Hyorin."
The first day we met.
"You mean Professor's class?"
"Yeah, Professor's class, right?"
"Come on, even after all this time, you can't forget that. We met in Professor's class. We even greeted each other after. Don't tell me you forgot."
That's how I remembered it. But apparently not for him.
"Nope."
"What?"
"We recognized each other and said hi, sure—that was our first proper meeting. But the first time I actually saw you two wasn't class."
"Then..."
I could only blink at what came next.
"I first saw you two at the festival."
The festival?
On the drive home in Jungeun's car, Daeun asked me,
"Daddy, what's a festival?"
"Festival."
Explaining the word alone was easy, but describing a college festival? Not so much.
After some thought, I told her,
"Hmm, kinda like a playground where college kids play together."
"Playground?"
"Yeah, they sing songs, dance, eat yummy food—super exciting stuff."
Festivals really were a blast.
Maybe one of the most memorable moments in college life.
"So Mommy and Daddy had tons of fun too?"
"Yeah, Mommy and Daddy."
Changsik said he'd first seen me and Hyorin at the tavern our department ran during our freshman year festival.
"Yeah, it was a ton of fun."
"Wow! Daeun wants festival too! Daeun wants tons of fun too!"
'Festival, huh...'
There was a reason Daeun was saying this.
I'd heard Changsik's real reason for coming to see me.
"Daeun wants festival too?"
"Yeah! Daeun wants it!"
"Then Daddy'll talk to Uncle Changsik about it."
"Yeah! Thanks, Daddy!"
After marrying Hyorin, contact with Changsik had cut off.
Tabloid reporters occasionally tried linking us maliciously for clickbait stories, but they never blew up.
Neither of us ever issued any response articles.
Still, in all that time, both Changsik and I had gone through a lot.
Especially Changsik—he'd become someone I never expected.
'Who'd have thought he'd be a professor.'
A famous artist doubling as a professor.
I thought he was still young, but he'd clearly lived a fierce life.
He'd achieved his college dream of becoming a professor, but the problem was having no one left around him.
'At least he seems to want to change. That's good.'
Most of his college classmates hadn't liked him much.
Partly his personality, sure, but the biggest issue was different majors.
A fundamental clash of departments.
But he was convinced it was all his personality.
That's why he'd come to me directly.
Jungeun, who was driving, turned to me and asked,
"You really going to that festival Changsik's at?"
"I did get the invite."
It was right around peak college festival season.
I'd even considered going to our alma mater's to make memories with Daeun.
But I never imagined getting a festival invite from Changsik.
"Still, the sudden invite bugs me a bit."
"Bugs you how? You heard what he said too."
"Not that—"
"Then what?"
Jungeun narrowed his eyes and said,
"I'm worried it'll just feed the reporters. Those hyena-like jerks are dying to link you two."
Calling them hyenas when he was a reporter himself.
"So you want me not to go?"
"Not exactly, but..."
If I feared that stuff, I couldn't live my life.
And skipping out when I knew why Changsik came to me? That'd be nonsense.
"Don't worry too much. It won't turn into reporter bait. And if it does, you can protect us, right?"
"..."
Having a reporter friend felt reassuring.
But Jungeun still looked worried.
To the guy driving with a stiff expression, I said with a smile,
"If you're that worried, just come with. Changsik invited you too."
"Me too?"
Jungeun pondered as he drove.
"It's a weekday, so not sure if I can. If nothing comes up, maybe."
"Dude, with two famous artists as friends, that's your worry?"
"Yeah."
"You said you're worried about malicious articles."
Life was about striking first.
No point worrying—instead, have Jungeun write the article about us preemptively.
He'd never exploit us for sensationalism.
"You want me to write an article on you two?"
He looked pretty displeased, but I didn't like that attitude.
"You gonna let someone else write about us? You think that's okay?"
He looked shocked, his face full of concern.
His reaction made me chuckle.
That was Jungeun—always like this.
He had this firm belief that his articles shouldn't hurt anyone.
That's why I liked him.
The most honest reporter I knew.
"Festival fun and work too. Killing two birds with one stone."
Jungeun went quiet, probably mentally shuffling his schedule.
Smiling again, I asked him,
"You'll come, right?"
He was still hesitating on the request when one little arrival disarmed him completely.
"Uncle come too."
"Yeah, got it."
Dude, think for at least a second before answering.
October 2nd.
The school where Changsik taught as professor started its festival a bit earlier than most universities.
Screech.
"We're here. Let's get out."
"Okay, Daddy."
We got off the bus right as we arrived and took in the school's fancy front gate.
Daeun, holding my hand, looked up at me and asked,
"Daddy, Uncle Jungeun not coming?"
"Oh, Uncle might be a bit late. Something came up last minute."
"Really?"
Stroking her slightly disappointed head, I asked,
"Why? Want Uncle to come quick?"
"Umm... Uncle promised to take Daeun pics..."
"Didn't know about that."
Calling himself our personal photographer meant he was serious about covering it.
"He said he'd wrap up as fast as possible, so let's wait."
"Okay!"
Jungeun was probably the most bummed.
Daeun had begged him to come, so he'd told his company days ago he'd take today off.
But wouldn't you know—emergency at work this morning.
Team lead or above had to go, so he'd rushed in.
Work came first, no helping it. Still, PTO taken but no day off? He'd be pissed.
"Shall we go in first and look around just us?"
"Yeah! Daeun wanna look around!"
Hand in hand, Daeun and I walked into the school grounds.
The sight that greeted us left me speechless.
'Wow, festival vibes—tons of people, just like always.'
The path through the center of campus was lined with taverns, bustling with students.
Seeing them prep ingredients for dinner sales brought back old memories naturally.
'That was fun back then.'
What was it?
Like feeling my youthful days on my skin again. This felt great.
Squeeze!
Then I felt strength in Daeun's hand gripping mine.
Snapping out of nostalgia, I looked at her.
'Huh?'
Her eyes sparkled like they were glowing on their own.
Where she stared was a familiar scene.
No wonder her eyes were so bright.
"Daddy, Daeun wants that!"
She grinned.
Looks like caricatures had totally hooked Daeun.