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# Chapter 3. Episode 1. A Strange Confession (2)
I could clearly see the expression on Yesul’s face as she told me that she was romantically interested in me.
I pride myself on being fairly good at reading people, which is why I can say this.
Yesul didn’t look like someone who was deliberately lying just to tease me.
I even wondered if this might be some kind of hidden-camera prank.
You know, those videos you sometimes see on AkaTube where celebrities secretly film ordinary people as part of a prank.
At first, I suspected that might be what this was.
But I couldn’t see any cameras.
There were CCTV cameras installed, but they didn’t look like they were being used for a hidden-camera prank.
Meanwhile, Yesul seemed to have a dry throat, because she was already drinking her third Americano.
The owner, who had been quietly watching the two of us, silently placed a fourth cup of coffee in front of Yesul.
Yesul gave him a small nod to express her gratitude.
“But why would someone like you, Yesul, choose me…”
It was something that could easily be added to a list of the world’s greatest mysteries.
Yesul and I weren’t people who had known each other for a long time.
We had only exchanged contact information a few days ago, yet she had suddenly confessed to me like this, leaving my mind in complete panic.
Yesul let out a deep sigh.
Her expression was filled with nervousness.
“Actually, you’ve been on my mind for a long time… Before I knew it, I kept hesitating and wondering what to do, and somehow eight years have already passed.”
“Did Yesul and I meet eight years ago?”
“Yes. That must have been when we first met.”
Judging from the hint in Yesul’s words, that meant we had met when I was twenty-one.
Naturally, I had no memory of anything like that.
“Eight years ago, I was in the middle of preparing for the firefighter examination. How did you happen to see me?”
Yesul let out another deep sigh.
The weight of her second sigh seemed much heavier than the first.
“I guess you don’t remember.”
“Huh? No, I mean…”
I was flustered by the sudden change in Yesul’s expression.
“It’s okay. I already had a feeling when I met you again after such a long time yesterday. That’s right. No matter how famous I become, if I don’t remain in the memory of the person I love, then what meaning does all this popularity have?”
“No! It’s not your fault, Yesul! I’m the one who deserves to be killed. I’m the bad guy here. Everything is my fault, so please don’t blame yourself like that!”
Why had Yesul come to like me?
At first, I had been trying to figure that out somehow.
But before I knew it, I was standing there with both hands clasped together, practically begging for forgiveness as though I had committed some terrible crime.
Seeing me like that, Yesul gave a small chuckle.
“I’m joking. I’ve encountered situations much worse than this in the entertainment industry. I’m not such a narrow-minded woman that I’d get upset over something like this.”
“R-really?”
So it had been an act.
As expected of a top star.
Someone like me could be fooled so easily.
“Then, Yesul, if I may continue the question I asked earlier…”
“No.”
“Huh?”
Yesul puffed out her cheeks slightly and said,
“I’m not upset, but that doesn’t mean I’m no longer disappointed. So I’m going to give you some homework, Bit-chan.”
I didn’t need to ask what kind of homework it would be.
I could already guess.
“Please remember. Remember what you’re curious about regarding me right now. And then… give me your answer to my confession.”
It was the most difficult assignment I had ever received.
* * *
The next day.
The weather had become cold enough that I could actually feel winter slowly approaching.
“Good morning.”
I had just finished changing shifts with the night crew and was about to change clothes in the locker room when,
“Hey, Lee Bit-chan.”
Captain Kim called out to me.
“The results are out.”
“What results?”
“The villa gas-pipe explosion that happened at dawn on the fifth. They said there were no fatalities. I figured you’d be worried, so I went and found out the result quickly. I told you, didn’t I? There was no survivor in that room.”
Grandfather Choi Seong-chun’s prediction had turned out to be correct.
“That’s a relief.”
I rubbed my chest in relief.
If there really had been someone inside, I might have carried an unbearable sense of guilt for the rest of my life.
Seeing me like that, Senior Yoon Seok-hoe nearby gave a bitter smile.
“Bit-chan. More importantly, what happened with that thing from before?”
“Huh? What?”
“The woman who took your contact information.”
“That was about a friend of mine…”
This time, Captain Kim continued Senior Yoon’s words for him.
“Anyone listening would know that was about you. You left work early the other day, so it looked like you were going to meet that woman. Did she confess to you first? Huh?”
I had thought Grandfather Choi Seong-chun was the only person with supernatural insight.
I had no idea Captain Kim had this kind of ability too.
How did he know?
There was no point continuing to lie in front of these two. They would see right through me anyway.
So at this point, I decided to come clean.
“She did.”
“Really? Ha-ha, look at this guy! You’re popular!”
Senior Yoon walked toward Captain Kim and me as he spoke.
“Captain, Bit-chan is actually pretty handsome, you know. Decent face, good body. If he weren’t a firefighter, he’d be the perfect man.”
“What’s wrong with being a firefighter, you idiot?”
“It’s a job where you never know when you might die. Even my wife calls me dozens of times whenever I’m even a little late getting home. Your wife does the same, doesn’t she?”
“Well… that can’t be helped.”
Captain Kim was right.
We had chosen this path because we liked it and because it was what we wanted.
Even though Senior Yoon talked like that, he had said many times over drinks that he had absolutely no regrets about choosing this career.
Captain Kim was the same.
And so was I.
Everyone here felt the same way.
Captain Kim asked, just in case,
“But the woman who confessed to you knows you’re a firefighter, right?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“You think so?”
“She said she’s known me for eight years, but she won’t tell me why.”
“What? Then isn’t she a scammer? Or maybe some kind of gold digger.”
If Yesul really were a gold digger as Captain Kim suggested, then more than eighty percent of South Korea would have fallen for her.
That was how attractive a woman Min Yesul was.
Just then, a familiar song began playing in the break room.
Senior Yoon pointed at the television.
“Oh, Min Yesul is on.”
“I wonder who a woman like that will marry someday.”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it, Captain? Either she’ll marry the grandson of some wealthy chairman or an extremely famous celebrity. It’ll be one of those two.”
Money or fame.
Coincidentally, I had neither.
So why on earth would someone like Yesul be interested in me…?
I even wondered if I might have dreamed the whole thing.
But the message Yesul had personally sent me proved that it had really happened.
[Bit-chan, good luck at work today too. And always take care of yourself, okay?]
Right underneath it was a cute duck character emoticon holding a heart.
Does she like this duck character?
Yesul seemed to know quite a lot about me.
But when I thought about it, I realized that I knew almost nothing about Yesul.
She sang well, she was a good actress, and she was a top celebrity who made a lot of money.
That was about it.
Perhaps because the weather had suddenly gotten colder, Captain Kim put on his outerwear and called out to me again.
“Bit-chan, you’re going to visit that old man this week too, right?”
“Grandfather Choi Seong-chun?”
“Yeah. Winter is approaching. I was thinking of stopping by to check whether his house is properly prepared for the cold. He’s old, and there’s no way he’ll be able to manage alone in this freezing weather. I’m worried about him, so if you’re going this week, let’s go together.”
That’s right.
I had been so flustered over the matter with Yesul that I had completely forgotten about Grandfather Choi Seong-chun.
Grandfather had definitely told me this.
My days of bad luck were coming to an end, and I would be rewarded for everything through one tremendous opportunity.
Grandfather would know.
He would know why Yesul had come to like me.
“Captain!”
“You scared me! Fuck, what is it?”
“I just remembered something urgent. I’ll be back in a little while!”
“Hey, Lee Bit-chan! Where are you going?”
“I’ll tell you when I get back!”
Just like I was responding to an emergency fire call, I hurriedly pedaled my bicycle.
* * *
I climbed the stairs and went to Grandfather Choi Seong-chun’s house.
But the place was already empty.
“Grandfather! I’m here!”
No matter how loudly I called, there was no response from Grandfather.
I searched every corner of the house, but there was no trace of him anywhere.
Instead, employees from the district office were looking at me strangely.
“Excuse me, you can’t come in here without permission. This place is going to be demolished soon, so please leave.”
“This is my grandfather’s house. Why are you demolishing it?”
“Your grandfather? This house has been empty for three years. What are you talking about?”
“…What?”
A memory from last week suddenly came to mind.
Grandfather had said that since he could no longer eat the roasted chicken, there was no longer any reason for him to come here.
Was he not joking?
If he had simply moved away, I might have accepted it.
Just in case, I even went to the local community service center.
I wanted to ask about Grandfather Choi Seong-chun, but the answer I received was completely unexpected.
“There’s no one named Choi Seong-chun.”
“T-that can’t be! I definitely had a meal with him last week.”
“Could you perhaps be confusing him with someone else?”
“……”
It was impossible.
The social worker who had supposedly been responsible for Grandfather Choi Seong-chun, as well as the surrounding neighbors,
all had no memory of him.
When I returned to the fire station and asked Captain Kim about Grandfather, he gave me the same answer as everyone else.
“Was there such an old man? This is the first I’ve heard of him.”
“You just told me we should go visit him together this week. You said it yourself, Captain. Don’t you remember?”
“I don’t know. Did I really say that?”
Senior Yoon also shook his head and said he had never heard of him.
I was the only one who remembered Grandfather Choi Seong-chun.
It felt as though I had been possessed by a ghost.
To clear my complicated thoughts, I deliberately took an iced coffee outside to the outdoor break area despite the cold weather.
I sat alone on a bench, opened the canned coffee, and gulped it down.
It was so cold that I could almost pinpoint exactly where the coffee I had just swallowed was flowing through my body.
I crushed the empty can with one hand and roughly scratched my short hair.
“If you were going to disappear, you should at least have told me about Yesul beforehand, Grandfather.”
Even the sigh that escaped my lips was cold.