Did You Actually Believe That?
I stepped into the orphanage—the same one where I had reunited with Yeoreum after so long. The moment I opened the door, a wave of children came rushing toward me.
“It’s Manager Seon!”
“For real? You didn’t abandon us?”
“I thought I’d been ditched too!”
“…When exactly did I ever abandon any of you?”
Could you please stop with the scary false accusations? Especially here at the orphanage—it doesn’t sound like a joke at all…. I haven’t even dated anyone, let alone had kids. I’m not even married yet.
“Wow! Manager Seon, dance for us again!”
“Dance? Oh man, our Manager Seon’s girl group choreography is killer!”
“…Where did you pick up that old-man slang?”
“Taeyang oppa! Trouble Chaser! Trouble Chaser!”
These kids were always way too energetic. They’d only been around me for less than a minute and were already demanding a sticky, sexy dance routine.
“Hey, kids, I’m happy to see you too, and I want to do whatever you ask, but I told you I’m never dancing again. Remember? You promised that one time would be the last.”
“Did you actually believe that?”
I did, you little brats.
Just then, Yoon Haneul walked out from the kitchen wearing an apron and greeted me with a bright smile.
“Manager Seon? It’s been a while!”
“Nice to see you, Haneul. Has everything been okay at the orphanage?”
She wiped her hands on her apron and said, “If you’re asking about big events, there have been plenty.”
“Like what?”
Yoon Haneul grinned and answered, “Ever since Yeoreum left, the Jin Kang Group has been pouring in support. Manpower, facilities, supplies—everything’s been upgraded. You won’t have to volunteer for bathroom cleaning duty anymore. We even installed bidets everywhere!”
“That’s wonderful. Yeoreum will be thrilled to hear it.”
“Still, the kids seem to miss the days when she was always here.”
“…As the person who took her away, it’s hard to show my face.”
While I was talking with Haneul, the little dance solicitors who had been chanting requests like a Buddhist chant finally backed off. The ones who showed unexpected crowd-control skills were the children who were especially attached to Winter and Autumn. They approached me and asked,
“Taeyang oppa, where’s Winter noona?”
“Autumn noona didn’t come? Hyung?”
I delivered the bad news. “Winter and Autumn couldn’t make it this time. Everyone’s busy with their own things.”
“…Aww.”
“It’s over. Totally over.”
“Game over.”
“Everyone, let’s head out.”
“…What a shame. I really wanted to hear the blue whale song.”
The children began to scatter like they had nothing left to do here. I called after them,
“But Yeoreum came instead?”
The kids, who had been looking at me with lukewarm expressions, suddenly lit up with surprise. At that moment, the door behind me opened, and Jin Yeoreum appeared.
“Kids, it’s been so long!”
“Waaaaah!”
“It’s Sunny noonaaa!”
The children swarmed toward her like a horde of zombies that had spotted living prey. The momentum was no joke. Someone was going to get hurt at this rate. I tried to protect both the kids and Yeoreum as best I could while urgently calling out to Haneul.
“Haneul, help me stop them! The kids are going to get hurt!”
“Yeoreumaaaaah!”
…Hey, you’re not supposed to join them. Help me control this, please.
The children were tangled together in a chaotic mess centered around Jin Yeoreum. It was as if each one was determined to claim more of her attention than the others. The noise was overwhelming. Yeoreum tried to calm them down, saying it was getting out of hand, but she couldn’t hide the small smile that bloomed on her face.
Yoon Haneul, who had been watching the scene with an expression of utter disbelief, turned to me.
“When she was here, they said she was scary and strict and avoided her. But the moment she’s gone, they’re all over her like this. Is it true that you only realize how precious something is once it’s gone?”
I looked at Yeoreum with a warm smile and replied, “They must have missed her. She’s the kind of person worth missing. If Yeoreum disappeared, I would miss her too. A lot.”
It was precisely because I understood that feeling that I had run all the way to the airport to stop her. And I had never once regretted that choice.
“I suppose so. I would miss her too if she disappeared. …I never showed it, but when I first heard she had suddenly decided to study abroad, it really hurt. On the surface I acted all cool, saying I supported her decision, but once I got home I regretted not getting on my knees and begging her to stay.”
Yoon Haneul shook her sky-blue hair and looked at me.
“That’s why I was so grateful when you stopped her, Manager Seon. We can’t meet as often as we did during our volunteer days, but unlike when she was in America, we can see each other anytime if we want, right? Like today.”
Her face was filled with pure relief.
“How did you and Yeoreum become so close, Haneul?”
“What kind of relationship?”
“The kind where you can support, cheer for, and miss each other.”
“We’re friends?”
“Very good friends.”
“…Very good friends, huh.”
In the previous chapter of my life, I had assumed their relationship wasn’t good after seeing the contrasting situations—Jin Yeoreum, the third-generation chaebol heir who had to give up volunteering because of the scandal, and Yoon Haneul, who had used her as a stepping stone to rise. But seeing her now, I realized that assumption had been a huge misunderstanding.
Still, I couldn’t figure out how two people with such completely different images had become friends.
“Did I ever tell you that I did rhythmic gymnastics when I was young?”
It was the first I’d heard of it. I shook my head slightly.
“I didn’t have the kind of incredible talent Yeoreum had. Back then my pride was so strong I couldn’t admit it, but I was probably just an ordinary talent. Even so, I didn’t want to lose to the genius called Jin Yeoreum. I declared myself her rival all on my own, even though she had no idea. …I was the type with way too much pride to just give up because our talents were different.”
From a young age, every media outlet had praised Jin Yeoreum as the genius of the century and focused all their attention on her. Yoon Haneul must have watched that spotlight from the shadows, simply because they were in the same generation. Choosing to overcome that and keep challenging herself couldn’t be dismissed with a single word like “pride.” It was far too valuable.
“That’s an impressive competitive spirit.”
“…Competitive spirit? …Yeah. That’s right. I wanted to reach the same level as her. I wanted to show that girl who was always looking far into the distance that I could catch up and overtake her anytime. I wanted to become real rivals on equal footing. …But as you know, Manager Seon, the ending was a complete disaster.”
“….”
For a moment, neither of us could speak. We simply watched Yeoreum, who was laughing brightly among the children.
“The story of Yeoreum isn’t over yet, and it’s certainly not a disaster. And I won’t let it become one.”
“…I’ll look forward to that.”
Yoon Haneul gave me a refreshing smile and continued.
“Anyway, after Yeoreum was forced to retire, it felt like I had lost my purpose. It was like the finish line I had been racing toward suddenly got bombed and collapsed. The motivation to keep working hard disappeared, so I quit rhythmic gymnastics too. Instead, I started pursuing becoming an idol. While rhythmic gymnastics had been something my parents encouraged, becoming an idol was something I had always wanted to do.”
The director came out and began greeting Yeoreum warmly. Yeoreum seemed equally happy as she hugged the director tightly. It was a heartwarming scene that looked like a grandmother and granddaughter. Watching them with a fond expression, Yoon Haneul said,
“While I was learning to dance and sing and occasionally volunteering, I ran into Yeoreum here. The moment I faced that miraculous coincidence, I thought, ‘I absolutely have to become friends with this girl.’ So I kept making moves on her endlessly. With the mindset that there’s no tree that won’t fall after a thousand strikes.”
“So that’s how you became close.”
“No, she found me annoying?”
…Where did the friendship go?
“But through all that bickering back and forth, we ended up talking about our true feelings a lot. We had deep conversations where we revealed hearts we had never shown to anyone else. One of those secrets was that we both had an interest in becoming idols.”
Yoon Haneul flushed slightly as she spoke.
“Do you know how happy I was back then? Even though the category had changed from rhythmic gymnastics to idols, the chance to become Yeoreum’s rival again was incredibly exciting.”
I smiled softly as I looked at her flushed cheeks, reminiscent of a child’s.
“And that expectation became reality.”
“That’s right. We both thought it was a dream that would never come true, even though we hoped for it.”
“Yeoreum is a child with a softer heart than anyone. To the point where it’s almost frustrating to watch from the side.”
“She’s a very rare type of person in a world like this.”
Yoon Haneul’s words were remarkably similar to the impression I had of Jin Yeoreum. She was kind to the point of frustration. That was exactly why I wanted to protect her.
“A child like Yeoreum is too pure to live in a world like this. And people in this world have simply used her as if it were natural, treating her like an easy mark. So Yeoreum would have definitely become unhappy. …If you hadn’t been there, Manager Seon.”
“I didn’t do anything that great.”
“Hehe, I’ll have to decline the modesty. I have high expectations for someone as amazing as you, Manager Seon.”
That was quite a difficult expectation to live up to.
“Thank you. Please continue to take good care of Yeoreum. So that both she and I can keep dreaming the same dream.”
Looking at her, I made a small vow and answered,
“I will do everything in my power so that your expectations don’t turn into disappointment. Because I’ve started to want to see it too. The rivalry between you two.”
We looked at each other and smiled.
Just then, the sound of clapping came from behind me.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
“What a truly touching story.”
It was James Oh, wearing his trademark gold-rimmed glasses and gold chain. …Why on earth are you here?