Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Daeun's Hangul Practice
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I headed to a cafe near Sangam to meet Jungeun.
I'd been cooped up at home for a while and was feeling a bit stifled anyway, and Daeun had said she wanted to see her uncle's workplace.
Ding-a-ling.
The moment I arrived at the coffee shop we'd agreed on, I was greeted by a huge crowd of people.
Everyone was wearing name tags around their necks and bustling about busily.
'Hmm, I wonder if there are any seats.'
It was a pretty big coffee shop, but there were way more people than I'd expected—no empty seats in sight.
I couldn't have no place to sit when Jungeun arrived.
I gripped Daeun's hand tightly and asked,
"Shall we grab a seat first and then order?"
"Yeah!"
With that, I looked around.
'No seats on the first floor.'
Every seat was taken, and with even more people lining up to order, the first floor was packed to the gills.
It'd be hard to talk in this atmosphere, so I took Daeun's hand and headed up to the second floor.
Honestly, the second floor wasn't much different, but it looked a little better than the first.
There weren't any lines to order up here either, so it'd be much better for chatting.
Slide.
"Let's take this seat."
"Yeah!"
As I said that, I put the bag I'd brought on the table.
"All right, then."
Just as I was about to head down to order together—
Daeun plopped down in her seat and declared,
"Daddy! Daeun guard seat! You go!"
"Okay, I'll be right here."
I was honestly a bit surprised.
A week had passed, sure, but this was still Daeun.
She had a memory like a steel trap—remembering things as vividly as if they'd just happened.
"You'll be okay by yourself?"
Ordering wouldn't take long, but I couldn't help worrying about Daeun.
At my question, she flashed a bright smile.
"Daddy promised! Daeun fine!"
A promise might just be something to brush off for some, but to Daeun, it was incredibly important.
"So Daeun stay alone okay!"
Why did her words make me feel so grateful? I was proud of her and impressed by her determination to handle it on her own.
I stroked her head and said,
"Okay, then. Daddy'll order quick and come right back."
"Yeah! Daeun want..."
"Chocolate milk?"
"Yeah! Cold one!"
"Got it. I'll get it quick, so just wait here a bit!"
"Yeah!"
With that, I left Daeun and headed down to the first floor to order.
"Customer 113! Your order is ready."
"Ice vanilla latte and one more..."
"Excuse me! Could you transfer this to a to-go cup?"
Swarming.
Whew, it was total chaos down here.
Why were there so many people?
I joined the line to order, but it wasn't shrinking at all with how many were waiting.
'Daeun's waiting...'
I figured it'd be fine since we'd talked about it, but I still couldn't shake the worry.
That was when—
Jing-!
The cafe door opened, and a familiar face walked in.
"Hey, Jungeun! Over here!"
It was Jungeun.
He looked exhausted, having just started work not long ago. I felt bad for him.
He came over and said to me,
"I'll have an Americano. Extra shot."
"Uh... okay. What size?"
"Big."
"Big."
"Yeah, the biggest size they have here."
They say office workers survive on coffee IVs, and it looked like that was true.
Among everyone here, I bet the only non-office workers were me and Daeun.
"But where's Daeun?"
"Oh, she's waiting upstairs."
At that, Jungeun's bleary eyes went wide.
"What? You left Daeun alone?"
He must've still been thinking about that incident from a week ago.
"Come on, even for you, leaving Daeun..."
"Don't worry. She told me to go ahead."
"What?"
"I mentioned it 'cause I was worried too, but she said she was fine."
I scratched the back of my head as I explained.
"She said it first?"
"Yeah, I double-checked just in case, and she was like, 'You promised, so it's fine.' So now I have to keep my promise to her no matter what."
I'd been determined to anyway, but today's events gave me even more motivation.
"So help me out a lot, okay?"
"Well, I'll help, but..."
He wasn't exactly thrilled about me getting famous.
But what could I do?
It was for Daeun.
"Go on up. She's waiting."
"Got it. Order and come up—I'll come down later to pick it up."
"You're here now, so I'll bring it up."
"Yeah, okay. I'll head up first."
Nod.
He nodded and headed straight up to the second floor.
'At least I can relax now.'
With Jungeun there, I didn't have to worry much. He was the next biggest Daeun fan after me.
I waited in line, ordered the drinks, and took them up to the second floor.
There, I found Daeun intently staring at something with Jungeun.
Step, step.
As I approached, I peeked over and asked,
"What're you looking at?"
At that moment—
Whoosh!
It was like they'd been caught seeing something they shouldn't.
"Ah, Daddy here!"
Daeun greeted me super awkwardly.
'What was that?'
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What on earth had they been looking at?
I narrowed my eyes at Daeun.
But she must've sensed my gaze, because she averted her eyes and kept slurping her iced chocolate milk.
Just then, Jungeun changed the subject.
"So, you're gonna do the interview?"
"Yeah, like you said, I have to meet them first to know if it's a real solicitation or not."
"Right. Could just be my hunch, but it feels like they're painting for a solicitation. I've been burned by this stuff more than once."
True, most of the artists Jungeun knew were pretty reclusive types.
You might think journalists don't manage artists, but even moderately famous painters build networks with reporters.
They needed each other, after all. In that sense, Jungeun was like an unopened oak barrel—full of rich, expensive wine.
"But who's this person? I wanna know at least that much."
"Hmm, her name's PD Kim Chanmi, like I mentioned on the phone. She mostly does variety shows. She's really into kids, so most of her past shows have been kid-related."
"So mainly parenting programs?"
Nod.
"Yeah. Most were one-offs, but pretty popular. So now she's got the green light for an official variety show..."
"And that's the art therapy counseling one."
"Yep."
"But how do you know all this? Feels like you're into more than just art."
He knew way more details than expected. It didn't seem like something he'd just overheard.
Had he looked it up because of me? Nah, probably not.
"Nah, it's not interest—it's just that we've talked about this stuff a ton."
Fair enough. If it were the first time, he wouldn't have tried so hard to stop me. He knew too much, so he was desperate to dissuade me.
"Anyway, if you're doing the interview, it'll probably be set within a day or two. Like I said, it's not really about the interview."
"Got it. I'll see when I meet them."
"Oh, and just in case, ask Erina too. Her agency probably has more dirt on broadcast PDs."
That wasn't a bad idea.
I was planning to head to the studio right after anyway.
"Or should I call her now? We said we'd talk when I got to Seoul."
"You already planned to call?"
What? Was there something between them...?
But sharp-as-a-tack Jungeun picked up on my suspicion right away.
"Not like that, so don't get weird ideas. I asked her to introduce me to someone in variety reporting."
"Oh... sorry."
I'd thought there was some secret love line I didn't know about.
"Good thing Daeun's here, or I'd have said something nasty."
Tsk. Why'd he take it so seriously?
I knew why Jungeun reacted like that.
It was around half a year before my accident.
He'd dated someone briefly back then, and it ended badly.
It was so short it never went public.
Gulp! Gulp!
Remembering it, maybe, he downed half his iced Americano in one go.
'Probably a celebrity.'
I wasn't sure exactly.
I'd pieced it together from what he'd drunkenly babbled while blackout drunk after the breakup.
"Guess I'll call."
"Yeah, mention me too."
With that, Jungeun pulled out his phone and dialed Erina.
"Hey, Erina. You over your jet lag? Oh, work's my jet lag cure. Anyway, reason I'm calling... Yeah, that reporter you said you'd tell me about..."
They talked for a while.
About work, unwinding from trips, all that.
Finally, my turn came up.
"Oh, by any chance, do you know PD Kim Chanmi? Could you look into her? Yeah, Kanghyeok might interview her soon. Just in case, we're meeting now and... Yeah, yeah. Us? We're at a coffee shop near Sangam... Oh, you're coming?"
Coming? Here?
I stared at him wide-eyed, and he looked a bit troubled as he held the phone out.
"Uh, Erina says she's nearby too—asks if it's okay to come."
"She's coming here? Is, is that okay?"
The place was already packed. If famous celebrity Erina showed up...
"You're not worried about crowds 'cause she's a celeb, right?"
"N-no."
At my question, he shook his head.
"Well, people might stare... but not as bad as you think. This is Sangam."
Where all the broadcasters and media companies were clustered.
Celebrities here were just kinda special people, apparently.
"She asked about you. If you and Daeun are okay with it."
Me and Daeun... Erina was probably worried about us instead.
Being with a celeb would naturally draw eyes.
At that, I glanced at Daeun, still sucking away at her chocolate milk, and said,
"I think it'd actually be good."
"Yeah."
"Like a preview experience or whatever."
I had to get famous anyway. To keep my promise to Daeun.
Jungeun nodded at my words and told Erina,
"Oh, it's fine. I'll send the address."
At that, I piped up.
"Oh, ask if she wants anything. I'll order ahead."
"Oh, Erina says you're ordering ahead—what does she want?"
Then he told me,
"Americano."
"Americano. Got it. I'll go order now."
"Ah, yes. We'll wait."
Slide.
I stood up and headed to the first floor...
'Oh, my phone.'
I'd forgotten it, so I turned back to the table.
And what I saw made me blink twice.
'So that's what she was hiding when I came back... Hangul.'
Daeun was studying Hangul on Jungeun's phone, now that the call was over.