Did You Get a Date or Something?
Yoo Gaeul sat slumped in the shabby alley in front of her house, playing music on her budget smartphone. Through the cheap earphones jammed into her ears came the song titled Memories of the Sea and Fallen Leaves. It was the song she had sung most often and loved more than any other.
In the acoustic guitar prelude, she recalled the words Seon Taeyang had spoken when he suggested she become an idol. You like singing, don’t you?
“….”
The answer she hadn’t been able to give back then finally slipped out now.
“…I do like it.”
Just as Seon Taeyang had said, Yoo Gaeul liked singing. No—she loved it. When her father started gambling and the family began to fall apart. When her exhausted mother divorced him. When she discovered that the father who had sobbed and sworn he would quit had returned to the tables once more. She had endured it all because the songs were there. Because she loved them.
But life had made even that love feel like an unaffordable luxury. So singing had grown smaller and smaller in Yoo Gaeul’s world. At first she studied under a professional vocal trainer, honing real technique and knowledge. When money grew tight she quit the lessons and taught herself through YouTube videos in the practice room. Later even that became difficult, and she settled for warming up her voice at a coin karaoke booth. Eventually even that was too much.
That was how Yoo Gaeul had given up on singing. She had pushed the ache into a corner of her heart, telling herself it couldn’t be helped. Today that corner was screaming.
She wanted to sing. Right now.
The cheap earphones carried the long introduction to its close; the first lyrics were approaching. Soft, low, and deep—the opening line she had sung countless times. It had been over two months since she last sang, yet the feeling was still perfectly familiar.
Yoo Gaeul surrendered herself to it. As the prelude ended and the melody prepared to bloom, she steadied her breath and parted her lips.
And at that exact moment—
“…Noona?”
Yoo Gaeul crashed back to reality.
“…Yeah, Gahyeon. What is it?”
Her younger brother, Yu Gahyeon, was stepping out the door in his outdoor clothes. He must have come looking for her when she failed to return after her shift.
“Were you about to sing?”
Gahyeon smiled, clearly delighted. “I haven’t heard you in so long! You sing so incredibly well, noona!”
Yoo Gaeul tried to sound as indifferent as possible. “Noona isn’t going to sing anymore.”
“…Why?”
He had watched closer than anyone as she dropped out of school and ground herself down with part-time jobs. There was no way he didn’t understand the reason. He would surely believe she had given up singing for his sake. Yet here he was, dragging that uncomfortable truth into the open without hesitation.
“You’re supposed to do what you want. So why?”
Because he didn’t want to keep receiving her sacrifices. Because he was ready to give things up too. He was trying to face the problem and straighten their tilted relationship—even if the household built on her sacrifice came crashing down. That was the kindness this boy possessed.
So she lied.
“Because that’s what I want.”
She couldn’t bear to make a younger sibling like him abandon his own dreams.
“Oh? Team Leader Seon, you’re back again!”
“Haha, yes I am. Hello, Gaeul.”
“This place really is worth visiting two days in a row! I’m personally on team sundae gukbap, but the boiled pork gukbap is honestly great too. Load it up with plenty of chili paste and it’s perfect. Oh, but I’d recommend skipping the sliced meat today. The owner must have sourced it from somewhere questionable—it smelled a little off.”
Yoo Gaeul chattered away with boundless friendliness, acting as if the previous incident had never happened. She was like an enthusiastic country puppy that greeted everyone without reservation. Chatting with her over a hearty bowl of soup would have been pleasant, but today eating wasn’t the goal. He had avoided the crowded cafés, bakeries, and convenience stores to come here specifically so he could talk with her.
Before she could continue her lively commentary on gukbap, Seon Taeyang brought up the main subject.
“Gaeul, could you free up some time in three days?”
She had been clearing a customer’s empty bowl while talking to him. Now she tilted her head, clearly surprised by the sudden request.
“Um… I’m sorry. That won’t work. I have a shift that day too.”
“What about the day after?”
“That day’s booked as well.”
“Then how about the day after that?”
“The one after that and the one after that are the same. I only get a single day off every two weeks.”
“…Is that really okay?”
He had known her schedule was brutal, but he hadn’t realized she was pushing herself this hard. In response to his worried tone, Yoo Gaeul rolled up her sleeve, flexed her arm to emphasize her biceps, and proudly displayed her health.
“I’m fine! High school girls have energy to spare, you know!”
Then, as if startled by her own words, she covered her mouth.
“Oh, right. Since I dropped out, I guess you can’t call me a high school girl anymore.”
She had said it lightly, like a joke, but Seon Taeyang couldn’t laugh. The joke carried the heavy truth that she had been forced to drop out just to manage four part-time jobs a day.
When he remained silent, Yoo Gaeul looked puzzled.
“Huh? You’re not going to ask me to use my day off?”
What exactly did this girl think of him to come up with that?
“I have no intention of stealing the single day of rest you get every two weeks, Yoo Gaeul.”
He was, after all, a person with common sense. Yet Yoo Gaeul nodded as though impressed.
“Hmm… That actually sounded pretty cool! I knew working with Team Leader Seon would feel reassuring!”
It was an excessively warm gaze. Still, the words themselves were pleasant. Thanks to them the conversation flowed naturally in the direction he wanted.
“In that case, would you consider actually working with me?”
“I’m sorry, but I already turned that down. I don’t have time to become an idol.”
“I’m not talking about becoming an idol.”
“…Then what are you talking about?”
He spoke with deliberate seriousness so it wouldn’t sound like a joke.
“I want to buy some of your time—even if it’s only a little.”
“My time?”
Yoo Gaeul flinched and instinctively hid behind the empty gukbap bowl.
…What on earth had she imagined?
“…I’m offering you a short-term part-time job. Something simple that you can cancel anytime if it makes you uncomfortable.”
If she had no time because of work, he simply needed to become the one paying her. That was what “buying time” meant.
“…A short-term part-time job?”
She set the bowl down and tilted her head.
“I’ll pay double the highest hourly rate among your current jobs. Just give me three hours in three days.”
At the tempting offer, Yoo Gaeul closed her eyes, touched her lips, and pondered seriously. Then she reached her conclusion.
“I’m sorry, but I already have shifts scheduled for the entire day. You should probably find someone else.”
“Couldn’t you change your shift?”
“It would be rude to suddenly rearrange things on short notice. I don’t want to cause trouble for the kind people who were willing to hire a minor like me.”
It was an admirably thoughtful answer. Unfortunately the adult world did not run on such courtesy.
“I’ll pay triple the rate.”
It ran on money.
“Triple?”
For a second her eyes sparkled with interest, but she lightly slapped her own cheek and firmed her expression.
“I can’t betray the bosses’ kindness for a little extra money…”
“Four times.”
“…I really can’t betray them.”
Her eyes were spinning. Seon Taeyang decided to drive the final nail into her wavering heart.
“This is my last offer.”
He spoke with the firm resolve of a negotiator who would permit no further debate.
“I’ll pay five times the rate.”
In the heavy silence, Yoo Gaeul stared straight into his eyes. He stared back. Finally she spoke with absolute certainty.
“Could I call you Boss Seon?”
“…Team Leader Seon is perfectly fine.”
After finishing her shift at the gukbap restaurant and returning home, Yoo Gaeul lay in bed replaying her conversation with Seon Taeyang.
I want to buy even a little of your time.
She couldn’t help smiling.
What is that? It’s not even a confession.
Coming from someone she had met so recently, the words could easily be misunderstood. Yet Seon Taeyang had tossed them out without the slightest embarrassment. It was something she could never do.
Yoo Gaeul was friendly to everyone. Because she genuinely liked people, she never hesitated to approach first and show warmth if the other person didn’t seem uncomfortable. But that wasn’t her whole heart.
She was a contradictory person. Outwardly a friendly puppy who approached everyone with kindness, yet she was terrified of revealing her true feelings. Her inner world was not beautiful. Life was exhausting, full of things she had to abandon, and she had always lived under pressure. Dark emotions had settled inside her like sediment. Afraid of showing that side, she built thick walls before approaching others.
But Seon Taeyang had leapt over those walls as if they were nothing. He gently touched the forbidden places inside her—dreams, money, effort, resignation—that had sunk behind those solid barriers. Strangely, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
Seon Taeyang was like a stone dropped into the lake that was Yoo Gaeul. With a splash, her heart surged and rippled. The reason she had accepted his proposal wasn’t only the money. That unexpected ripple in her monotonous daily grind had been welcome.
…But why does he want to hire me?
What value could she possibly have that he would pay five times the hourly rate just to spend three hours with her? She couldn’t guess. With that kind of money he could easily hire two—or even three—people who worked better than she did.
She recalled the words he had said earlier.
Your appearance is truly beautiful, Gaeul. I believe you possess enough charm to be called everyone’s first love.
…Wait, is this a date? Like “I’ll buy you even with money!” or something?
“….”
She sat up in bed, unconsciously running her fingers through her hair as she began rummaging through her closet.
“Noona, what are you doing?”
“Kyaaah!”
Startled as if caught stealing, Yoo Gaeul slammed the closet door shut with a bang.
“Did I wake you? Sorry!”
Yu Gahyeon rubbed his sleepy eyes. “Why are you suddenly looking at clothes? Did you get a date or something?”
“It’s not like that!”
With a flushed face, Yoo Gaeul covered her eyes.
“…Probably.”