Chapter 127
Chapter 127
It was past 10 a.m.
The members left one by one, and before I knew it, only Baek Gyeonwoo and I remained in the once-crowded dorm.
"So when are we leaving?"
"I need to make a call first."
Baek Gyeonwoo nodded and went into the room. He was probably getting ready to go out.
I checked the clock, then opened my contacts.
'It should be fine to call now.'
It was the holiday season, a break before the break, so she would start her day more leisurely than usual.
Even taking that into account, she would certainly be up by now.
As expected, the dial tone didn't last long.
[Why.]
'She recognized me right away.'
By the way, I changed my number right after debut and only notified a few people via a mass message.
Since then, there had been no reply, so I thought she hadn't seen it, but she did save it after all.
Feeling a little less burdened, I opened my mouth.
"Are you busy?"
[No.]
Fortunately, she seemed to be in a good mood today.
"I have something to deliver. Are you home today?"
[What time?]
"Uh..."
If we left now... hmm.
Considering the holiday traffic heading home, let's give ourselves plenty of time. If we arrived early, I could just kill time with Baek Gyeonwoo.
"I'll come by around two."
[Okay.]
"I'll hang up."
[Sure.]
Ending the call, I headed to my room to get ready as well.
And when I came out to the living room, Baek Gyeonwoo, all ready to go as expected, was waiting for me.
Baek Gyeonwoo asked.
"When are we leaving?"
"Once a taxi is caught."
"Is there a place to buy a gift near your parents' house?"
"A gift?"
When I asked back, Baek Gyeonwoo lowered the phone he was looking at and said.
"A gift for your parents."
"Ah..."
It was such a common-sense statement that I was taken aback.
Well, I mean, it made sense. Just as I thought about the other members' parents, my parents were parents too, so he could think that way.
That being said...
"You don't need to give anything. My parents don't care about stuff like that."
It wasn't just that they didn't care; there was a 99% chance they'd return it, asking why he gave it to them when they weren't even personally acquainted.
"Still, it's our first meeting, so I can't go empty-handed."
"Huh?"
"And what else."
First meeting?
"...Why are you meeting my parents?"
Baek Gyeonwoo adjusted his sitting posture.
Then he crossed his arms and frowned.
"..."
"..."
A brief silence passed.
It was Baek Gyeonwoo who broke the quiet first.
"Aren't we going to your parents' house right now?"
"Yes, we are."
"Then where am I supposed to be in the meantime?"
"You can just wait outside for a bit."
"..."
Surely he didn't mean he didn't want to be alone even for that short while...
No, if an adult lacked that much independence, it would be a bit concerning.
And as that bewilderment grew, just when I was starting to seriously worry about Baek Gyeonwoo,
Baek Gyeonwoo asked.
"Oh, you were just going to drop that off and leave?"
"Yeah."
"Right away?"
"Yeah."
As if finally grasping the situation, Baek Gyeonwoo let out a deflated laugh.
"I was thinking..."
"What were you thinking?"
"I thought you were inviting me to spend the holiday together at your place."
"Ahh."
So there was a misunderstanding.
In the first place, there wasn't even space for us in that house.
'Wait, so then.'
He interpreted my suggestion as an offer to spend the holiday with my family?
Now that I thought about it, it was even more amazing that he accepted.
"...Do you want to get something like japchae for dinner? Sanho said he'll be back by then too."
I suggested it in case he wanted to get a taste of the holiday atmosphere.
"Sure."
Baek Gyeonwoo answered blandly and turned on the TV.
Soon, the lively sounds of a famous family comedy movie that aired every holiday filled the dorm.
'...'
I had inadvertently learned that Baek Gyeonwoo lived alone with his grandmother, but since then, I had never once seen him directly mention his family circumstances.
That also meant I had never seen him go to visit his grandmother or call her.
So... it wasn't hard to guess.
'Let's be careful with our words.'
Just as I was thinking that, a phone notification chimed.
It was the taxi-hailing app.
"It's caught. Let's go."
"Okay."
Turning off the TV, we left the now-silent dorm behind and set off on the journey home.
* * *
A few dozen minutes later, we got out of the taxi.
We had switched to the subway partway, so we couldn't fully experience the homeward-bound journey, but the crowds everywhere made it clear it was a holiday.
Either way... it looked like we wouldn't be able to go to Hwaseong.
Not that I had any intention of going anyway.
Anyway, as we walked through the apartment complex whose exterior walls had been freshly painted and stood out vividly, we soon arrived in front of the apartment where my parents' house was.
I looked at Baek Gyeonwoo and pointed to the playground inside the complex.
"Want to wait at the playground?"
"You want me to push the swings by myself?"
"...Can't you?"
In the end, I got on the elevator with Baek Gyeonwoo.
Because the playground had been conquered by kids who came to play for the holiday.
Imagining Baek Gyeonwoo sitting alone on the swings amidst all that was... quite a pathetic sight.
I checked the time inside the elevator; twenty minutes remained until two.
'This margin of error was within the acceptable range.'
Thinking it was a relief we weren't late, the elevator came to a stop at that moment.
After getting off the elevator, I pointed with my chin at the space between floors and said.
"You wait over there."
"...No, I should at least say hello."
Hmm...
That wasn't necessary.
Still, if it was just a greeting, nothing embarrassing would likely happen.
"Alright, then."
And then I took out my phone in front of the door and made a call.
[Are you here?]
"Yes, I'm at the door."
The call ended immediately.
Soon, the sound of the door lock disengaging was heard, and the door opened to reveal a familiar face.
"Hello..."
"What do you have to deliver?"
The two voices overlapped.
Mom glanced at Baek Gyeonwoo, then looked back at me.
I handed over the shopping bag I was holding.
"Do you know who Han Neuti is?"
"I know him."
Mom nodded right away.
"Hyeon-gyeom's son."
Wow, they really did know each other.
The way Mom spoke so familiarly, it seemed like they were quite close.
I hid my surprise and said.
"He asked me to give this to you."
"Oh."
Mom finally took the shopping bag from my hand.
"Tell him thank you."
That was a relief. I passed.
Along with the relief, I also confirmed the sound of a sports broadcast coming from the study right next to the Hyeon front door.
'And Dad was there too.'
Having confirmed that both of them were well, I had done everything a son should for the holiday.
I bowed my head.
"Then I'll be going. Have a good holiday..."
"Sure."
"I'll contact you when the settlement comes in."
And it was the moment I was about to close the door.
"Chaegyeom."
"Yes?"
You called me?
At the unexpected situation, I froze with my hand on the handle.
Fortunately, what followed was nothing particularly strange.
"When does your settlement come in?"
"That... I'm not sure yet."
Idols who release a debut album and get their settlement right away are... almost nonexistent outside of the big agencies.
At best, it's a quarterly settlement, so I could only guess the month. The year was an unknown.
Mom seemed to understand that much and quickly accepted it.
And she added.
"When your first settlement comes in."
"Yes."
"Send only 10%."
"What?"
What did you say?
"...Only 10%?"
"Yeah."
"Per person?"
"No, for your dad and me combined."
Isn't that... too little?
Ever since I joined Mary, she had even sent me an allowance every month without fail.
I didn't know how much the settlement would be, but even being generous, 10% of it wouldn't come close to what I'd received over the past few years.
'...Ah, maybe she's only talking about the very first settlement.'
That would be understandable enough.
But as if reading my thoughts, she added.
"Once you send that, you don't need to send any more."
...It was obvious that if I insisted on sending more, I'd just get a look that said 'Why?' or something.
I rubbed the back of my neck and answered awkwardly.
"Okay."
"Go, now."
"Yes."
And the door closed.
"..."
I stared at the closed door for a moment, then turned my head.
Baek Gyeonwoo was looking at me with a rare expression.
"It's done. Let's go."
"..."
Baek Gyeonwoo hesitated, then opened his mouth.
"Your family..."
He glanced at the door, then shut his mouth.
And he moved first and pressed the elevator button.
* * *
With the shopping bag gone from my hands, I felt much lighter.
Or maybe it was because the mission was accomplished.
Beside me, as I searched for the route back again, Baek Gyeonwoo spoke.
"You said you'd show me Suwon Hwaseong."
...I just said that offhand.
"Do you want to see it?"
"I've never been there."
Honestly, since I spent most of my time after age 12 at the Mary trainee dorm, I was far from being a true Suwon citizen.
So you could say I have no memory of Suwon Hwaseong except for an elementary school field trip.
Still, I knew one thing for sure about that place.
"It's insanely crowded there."
Especially during the holidays.
As if disliking crowds, Baek Gyeonwoo quickly gave up on the idea. Only the idea of going to Hwaseong, that is.
"Then what do we do?"
For reference, we were still sitting on a bench inside the complex.
'He doesn't want to go back.'
I supposed so. We had traveled nearly two hours to get here, so going back without doing anything was a bit... meh.
And I was the one who dragged him here for my errand, so I should clearly play the role of a guide here.
But the problem was...
"I'd guide you if I knew what's around, but I don't really know myself. What's nearby."
"..."
"Or do you want to walk around a bit?"
We might see something while walking. A restaurant or something.
Soon, Baek Gyeonwoo and I began wandering aimlessly around the neighborhood.
It was at least fortunate that two unfamiliar faces wandering around the neighborhood wouldn't look suspicious because it was a holiday.
As we were blending into the natural holiday scenery like that,
"Shall we go there?"
I lifted my head in the direction Baek Gyeonwoo pointed.
"Why go to a PC bang?"
"It's been a while since I went."
But wait, what's the difference between the PC bang near our company and the one here...
'Wait.'
Now that I thought about it, it seemed okay.
"Our 'Island' music video was released at noon, right?"
Baek Gyeonwoo nodded.
We hadn't been able to check the music video or monitor reactions because we'd been on the move, so now that things turned out this way, let's go watch it.
I turned my steps toward the PC bang building and answered.
"Sure, let's go."
Baek Gyeonwoo raised an eyebrow as if my agreement was unexpected.
"I just said it offhand."
"Well, we have nowhere else to go."
"Do you even play games when you go?"
"I... don't."
I had only planned to watch the music video and leave; was I supposed to play games too?
Still, there's nothing wrong with a PC room, and I figured it was better to go inside somewhere than to waste time wandering aimlessly like this.
While Baek Gyeonwoo played games, I could just listen to music or something beside him.
"...Hmm."
After staring at me with a slightly miffed look, Baek Gyeonwoo soon shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking.
"I'll teach you."
"Teach me what?"
"Games."
"There's not much to teach about games..."
Just as I said that, I suddenly recalled.
'System.'
Come to think of it, this System's terminology had suspiciously overlapped with game terminology.
Moreover, I had been thinking that its stubborn insistence on Sora Seom might perhaps be related to the President.
And the President had seemed deeply connected to games.
'If that's the case...'
Maybe it could help.
In figuring out the System's identity.