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# Chapter 5. Episode 2. Surprise Guest (2)
“My interview?”
“Yes. I’m not sure whether you’ve seen the video, Bit-chan…”
“I have.”
“Oh, then this will be easier. Bit-chan has become quite a hot topic online lately. But when I looked into it, I found
that no one had tried to interview you yet.”
She was right.
It was only natural. It hadn’t been long since the incident happened, and there probably hadn’t been enough time to
figure out who I was or where I lived.
But how had this reporter figured out that I was the person in the video?
“May I ask how you found out that I was the person in the video?”
“The mother of the child you rescued is a friend of mine.”
“Oh, I see.”
I had given the child my business card as a present. So if she asked his mother, she could obviously find out who I was
immediately.
They say Korea is a small country, but I never expected the mother of that child to have a friend who worked as a
reporter.
What should I do?
Should I accept the offer or not?
Honestly, I couldn’t make up my mind.
“Could I have some time to think about it?”
“Of course. I’ll give you my number, so contact me whenever you make up your mind.”
“Understood.”
Since I worked at a fire station, I felt it would be awkward to decide on my own whether I should do an interview.
I probably needed to ask Captain Kim or the station chief as well.
Since I was the youngest member of the team, it seemed better to get permission from my superiors before making a
decision.
Something similar had happened before. Senior Yoon had once tried to handle something on his own without reporting it to
Captain Kim and had received a serious scolding for it.
I had just hung up the phone and was about to leave the administrative department when something I had temporarily
forgotten suddenly came to mind.
Come to think of it, Captain Kim said he was on vacation.
Should I report this to Senior Yoon?
Just as my thoughts were becoming complicated, whether by coincidence or fate, I happened to run directly into our fire
station chief at the entrance to the administrative department.
“Lee Bit-chan, why do you look like that? You look like you have something on your mind.”
That unexpected encounter immediately cleared up my dilemma.
“A place called BLT wants to interview me. They asked if they could film a short interview video with me.”
“You? Why?”
I felt rather embarrassed bragging about myself with my own words.
Actions spoke louder than words.
Just as Senior Yoon had done, I found the video of me rescuing the child and showed it to the station chief.
“I rescued a child a few days ago, and apparently someone uploaded a video of it online.”
“Let me see. The number of views is… 550,000?”
The station chief’s eyes widened.
It seemed the number had already increased by another fifty thousand.
The internet is scary.
“That’s twenty times more than our fire station’s promotional video! No, wait. It might be even more than that.”
Twenty times was already being extremely generous.
As far as I remembered, our promotional video had fewer than a thousand views.
The station chief’s gaze toward me changed.
“I had no idea we had an internet star in our fire station!”
“I wouldn’t go that far. That’s why I’m wondering whether I should accept their filming request.”
“Of course you should! When else are you going to get an experience like this? And if you appear on the news, it’ll help
promote our fire station too.”
“Then you’re giving me permission?”
“Permission or not, if you want to do it, go ahead.”
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
Now that I had the station chief’s permission,
I figured I could just contact that reporter, Kim Oh-hyun, again in a little while.
But can I really just agree to an interview like this without preparing anything?
If I knew someone experienced with interviews like this, I’d ask them.
I wasn’t a celebrity, after all. There was no way I knew anyone who worked in the entertainment industry…
“…Actually, I do.”
I took out my smartphone and opened a certain contact.
There probably wasn’t anyone who knew more about broadcasting than Yesul.
* * *
After waking up at dawn, Min Yesul went straight to the salon and participated in a radio recording.
In the afternoon, she moved to the set of a variety show to promote the drama she was currently appearing in.
Singer Yesul in the morning, actress Min Yesul in the afternoon.
One busy schedule followed another without giving her any time to breathe.
Perhaps because of that, while traveling to her next filming location, Min Yesul decided to take a short nap in the car
to recover even a little of her energy.
She reclined the seat far back and put on an eye mask that was much larger than her small face.
“Unni, I’m going to get some sleep for a little while.”
“Sure. We still have a long way to go, so get some proper rest.”
Perhaps she thought it would be a waste to simply sleep, because she searched for her Bluetooth earphones so she could
listen to songs by some of the newer singers who had recently debuted.
At that moment, her smartphone lit up.
It was not her secondary phone, but her main phone, which she used to communicate with friends and acquaintances she was
close to personally.
Min Yesul’s eyes, which had been half-closed just moments earlier, suddenly opened wide.
Her manager, who glanced at her through the rearview mirror, immediately became curious.
“Who messaged you that you look like a child who just got a present from Santa?”
“I guess I must have done a lot of good deeds this year.”
For the second time that day, Lee Bit-chan had sent her a message first.
Min Yesul was incredibly happy about it.
Until now, she had always been the one to message him first.
Perhaps because she could feel Lee Bit-chan gradually opening his heart to her, the happiness she felt was even greater.
Her manager, who had resumed holding the steering wheel after the light turned green, asked just in case.
“Is it Bit-chan?”
Instead of answering, Min Yesul simply nodded repeatedly.
Her manager had also heard that Min Yesul had confessed to Lee Bit-chan at the café, though it had been more like a
confession than an official declaration.
At first, she couldn’t believe it.
What could Min Yesul possibly be lacking that she would confess to someone like that?
But after hearing about what had happened eight years ago, she began to think that perhaps it was understandable.
Still, she remained curious.
“What do you like about Lee Bit-chan?”
“If you want me to tell you everything, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep before we reach the next filming location.”
“…Calm down. Just tell me three things.”
She had no idea just how lovestruck Min Yesul had become to talk like this.
“First of all, he’s kind. Very kind.”
“That’s true. From the video online, he definitely seems that way. Honestly, there aren’t many people who could think
about saving a child before worrying about their own safety in that situation.”
That much was undeniable.
Her manager immediately asked about the second reason.
Min Yesul answered,
“He’s handsome. Manly and dependable.”
“Really?”
“You saw the video too, didn’t you, Unni?”
“I did, but you couldn’t really see his face clearly.”
“If you ever get a chance to meet him, make sure you look closely. He’s exactly my type.”
Min Yesul had worked with countless male idols and actors. If she considered someone handsome enough to say so herself,
he clearly wasn’t an ordinary-looking man.
The most important reason, however, was the third one.
“Eight years ago, Bit-chan saved me and my younger sister. If Bit-chan hadn’t been there back then, I wouldn’t be riding
around in this car with you now, going to work in broadcasting.”
“But Bit-chan doesn’t remember, does he?”
“No. Things were so chaotic back then. It was the same for me and my sister.”
“Doesn’t that make you a little disappointed? You’ve considered Bit-chan your lifesaver and searched for him for more
than eight years. But he doesn’t even remember what happened back then.”
“That’s why I gave him homework.”
Please remember me.
Her manager turned the steering wheel according to the left-turn signal and let out a hollow laugh.
“If remembering what happened eight years ago means he gets to have South Korea’s hottest top star as his girlfriend…
That’s homework no one could refuse.”
“I hope Bit-chan manages to do it too.”
Almost no one knew about the relationship between Min Yesul and Lee Bit-chan.
Her manager, and the owner of the café where the two of them had met a few days earlier.
“Still, be careful. Reporters are very interested in you. It could become troublesome if a dating rumor breaks out
later.”
“I don’t care. If that happens, I’ll just publicly announce that we’re dating and then marry him.”
The manager suddenly coughed.
“C-carry on? Marriage?”
“Yes.”
“Seriously? You mean that?”
“I’m serious.”
“……”
The manager had worked with Min Yesul for quite a long time, but she still couldn’t understand what was going on inside
her head.
Min Yesul turned her attention back to her smartphone and asked her manager another question.
“Unni. Do I have anything scheduled on the 25th?”
“This week? No. You said you were taking that day off.”
“Then could you schedule one thing for me?”
“Why? Is there a program you want to appear on?”
“Yes.”
There was no trace of sleepiness left in Min Yesul’s eyes.
* * *
When I asked reporter Kim Oh-hyun where the filming would take place, she replied that she would come to the fire
station according to my working hours.
In other words, they were going to film at our fire station.
Good thing I asked the station chief for permission beforehand.
If I hadn’t, I might have been the one getting scolded this time instead of Senior Yoon.
Captain Kim had returned from his vacation, and apparently Senior Yoon had told him that I would be filming an interview
video today.
The moment he saw me, he clicked his tongue.
“You’re going to appear on television. You should’ve at least done something with your appearance.”
“I thought showing myself as I really am would feel more genuine.”
“You idiot, everything you see on television is staged to some degree. At the very least, you could’ve put some wax in
your hair. Wait. I’ll fix your hair for you.”
“No, no! It’s okay. I really appreciate the thought.”
For some reason, I had a feeling something irreversible would happen if I let Captain Kim handle my hair.
So while we waited for reporter Kim Oh-hyun and the filming crew to arrive, Captain Kim and I had a small argument
outside the fire station.
That was when it happened.
A somewhat familiar female voice quietly joined our conversation.
“If you don’t mind, should I do it for you?”
Captain Kim and I simultaneously turned toward the direction of the voice.
For a moment, neither of us could believe our eyes.
Captain Kim began stammering in bewilderment.
“M-Min Yesul?”
“Yes, that’s right. Hello.”
Yesul politely lowered her upper body while modestly pressing down the loose fabric around the upper part of her chest
with one hand.
Neither Captain Kim nor I could understand why Yesul was here.
Perhaps she realized what I wanted to ask.
Without waiting for me to ask, Yesul cleared up the confusion in both our minds with a few simple words.
“I’m also supposed to be interviewed with Bit-chan today.”
I hadn’t heard anything about that from reporter Kim.
Apparently, there had been some arrangements made regarding this interview that I knew nothing about.