Episode 14: Choi Si-joon Is Tired
Episode 14: Choi Si-joon Is Tired
14Choi Sijun Is Tired.
"I have nothing further to say. Discuss the matter with our legal team, and if you call again, I will add obstruction of business to the complaint."
Just as the legal team lawyer had predicted, the reporter and the head of the news outlet kept calling.
I was still paying for yesterday's workout, and I was already on edge. The constant calls cranked my irritation up another notch.
The moment I got to work this morning, my office line rang.
- We're planning to file an additional complaint as well.
"Excuse me?"
- After you left yesterday, we reviewed the situation further ...(abridged)... and after consulting with Ms. Cha Nara and her agency, this is what we've decided.
Stripping out the legal jargon and putting it plainly: by writing the article, the reporter had provided the stalker — a criminal — with Cha Nara's movements. Whether the reporter knew it or not, they were now considered to have participated in an unlawful act.
I had no idea if a court would actually rule that way, but unlike simple trespassing, this apparently carried the potential for serious criminal penalties.
"You'll get a lot of calls today. ...(abridged)... Just tell them what I told you."
"But I'm not even a direct party to this..."
"You are a related party, and from their perspective, you're the weakest link."
Rather than the division director or a lawyer, they might figure a Department Manager — one who just barely turned thirty, at that — would be easy to push around.
"Ah..."
And the lawyer's prediction was dead on.
"Ugh, my legs..."
My phone vibrated. I checked — an unknown number. Wondering if the reporter had somehow gotten my personal number, I answered and spoke immediately.
"I told you, if you call again, I'll add obstruction of business."
- Excuse me?
A woman's voice came through, contrary to my expectations.
- It's Nara.
"Ah... Ms. Nara."
- Nara.
"Pardon?"
- Not Ms. Nara. Just Nara. We agreed to drop formalities the next time we saw each other.
"That was..."
- I get it, I'll wait. I called to tell you not to worry. Even if I did use the emergency contact line.
The emergency contact line really shouldn't be used like this, but it wasn't exactly abuse, so I let it slide.
- I moved into the school dormitory. They told me to stop all activities for a while and just focus on school life.
"Hmm..."
It would get a little stifling, but staying somewhere safe until the stalker was caught was still the better option.
As it turned out, there hadn't been just one or two stalkers, so the agency had taken extraordinary measures.
"You've been through a lot."
- I'm fine with it. It's not a good thing, but at least I get a little rest out of it, right?
After that, we chatted about this and that — how classes were going, what other people were up to — and then ended the call.
---
A few days passed, and by the time I had more or less adapted to working out with Eunhwi-nuna, midterms arrived. With a bit of breathing room, the day of the dinner with the Department 5 TAs drew near.
"Great work, everyone!!"
"Thanks for the meal, Manager!"
"Eat up."
Park Haru had set the date and suggested a place that was a little too open for my taste, so I booked a restaurant with private rooms.
Naturally, the per-person cost went up, and everyone seemed a bit uneasy about it, so I decided to cover it myself.
After all, the official pretext was that this dinner was being held because I had become Department Manager.
"This is delicious!"
It was my first time at this restaurant too, so I had been a little worried, but it turned out to be a lot cleaner and tastier than I expected.
"I thought all meat was just meat..."
"This is kind of like that barbecue place Professor Park took us to last time, isn't it?"
Hearing it was comparable to the place the renowned foodie Professor Park had taken them to gave me a small swell of pride.
"Don't just cook it. Eat some."
Park Haru, who was sitting beside me, placed a piece of meat onto my plate while I did nothing but grill.
Everyone was eating happily, but worried that the mood might dip, I leaned over to Park Haru and spoke quietly into her ear.
"Ah... I'm on a diet, so I'm watching what I eat."
"Excuse me?"
Park Haru turned her face toward me and stared.
"Seriously."
"Now that you mention it, you do look a little slimmer..."
"Really?"
Hearing I looked slimmer made my voice rise before I could stop it. The diet and exercise were actually paying off.
"Kkhup!"
Apparently my happy face was funny — Park Haru covered her mouth and laughed.
"Hic- I'm sorry. You were just so cute, Manager."
It must have been hilarious to make her hiccup. I felt a little deflated but didn't let it show. I poured water into a cup and handed it to her.
"Thank you."
Until she settled down, I just sat beside her and grilled meat.
"I really did laugh because you were cute."
Park Haru, who had been chatting with people at the next table, apparently felt bad and leaned in close to whisper.
"It's fine."
The others were all in their own conversations, so she could have just spoken out loud. Park Haru, however, deliberately tried to talk so that only I could hear.
While we were chatting about this and that, one of the more experienced TA seniors — an older guy who was also something of a sunbae to me — spoke up from across the table.
"Manager."
"Yes? Yes."
"So... would it be all right if I asked something a little personal?"
"Something personal?"
Had someone spotted me being all lovey-dovey with Eunhwi-nuna somewhere? I tensed up a little.
Honestly, even if someone had, it wasn't exactly a problem, but I had no intention of going public with a relationship. I'd seen far too many people around my sisters bleed out after going public.
"So... what exactly is your relationship with Professor Choi Sijung?"
"Pardon?"
"Your names are so similar, and, how should I put it... Professor Choi is a little, gentle? with you. A lot softer, so I was wondering."
"Ah..."
"That's right! With me, she's super strict! I always feel this wall between us."
Park Haru whipped her head around and chimed in.
At some point everyone had stopped their own conversations and was looking at me. A little flustered, my throat seized up, so I took a sip of water and then spoke.
"We have no relationship at all. I believe she's even in a different main department. She's just known me since I was young, so she treats me comfortably. High school? Middle school? That's when I first met her."
"Ahh~"
It clearly wasn't the answer they'd been hoping for — the response that came back was a mixture of relief and vague disappointment.
"Wait, you first met when you were a student?"
"Oh, I have one too!"
Another question was headed my way, but the youngest on the team, seated at the far end of the other table, shot her hand up, and it got naturally buried.
"Yes, go ahead."
"So, with Professor Choi Mi-ae from Department 4... I heard from a friend who's a TA in Department 4 that Professor Choi Mi-ae is really cold, but I saw her being way too comfortable around you."
"She's my aunt."
"Excuse me???"
"Professor Choi Mi-ae is my aunt."
It wasn't exactly a secret, but unlike my aunt, who was a celebrity, I was just some random civilian passing through — so it had never really come up.
"F... for real?"
"Yes."
"The legendary diva Choi Mi-ae is your aunt?"
The senior sitting directly across from me dropped his chopsticks.
I didn't know if it was that shocking, but it clearly hit them hard.
"But why didn't anyone... no, wait. Do the other professors know?"
"Some of them probably do. I'm not a celebrity, just a regular person, so I believe Professor Choi Mi-ae never saw a reason to bring it up either."
And thinking about it, it made sense that others wouldn't know. My father, my sisters, my aunt — everyone in my family had been extremely careful about photos and things like that to protect me, the one living a civilian life.
I wasn't the type to go around loudly announcing, 'I'm related to so-and-so!' and I didn't have a wide social network. So the number of people who knew both my aunt and me at the same time was vanishingly small.
"You're amazing. If I were you, Manager, I'd be strutting around going, 'Hey! Hey!' throwing my weight everywhere."
Watching someone who absolutely did not seem the type act out throwing his weight around made everyone burst out laughing.
"Me too!"
The youngest agreed, looking at me with eyes full of what looked like admiration.
Park Haru, sitting beside me, stared at me with eyes so sparkly it was as if someone had added special effects. I subtly avoided her gaze.
'Whoa, what is with those eyes...'
It was something I felt constantly while living around my sisters, but actors were different. Especially actresses.
I wasn't trying to compare male and female actors.
Some had such tiny heads you'd wonder if they were even the same species. Some were short but had such good proportions they looked tall. Compared to male actors, the women tended to have one strikingly exceptional feature, distinct and definite.
Park Haru, beside me with her eyes sparkling — her eyes literally sparkled. At first I thought she was wearing contacts. And with a small face and big eyes, they drew you in even more.
"Managerrr, we're going for round two, right?"
As the meal was winding down, Park Haru grabbed my arm and kept clinging to me.
"Haru, I think you've had too much to drink. Next time."
"Awww~"
A quiet person doing a complete 180 just because of a little alcohol — booze truly was an amazing substance, no matter how many times I saw it in action.
The others read the room, dumped Park Haru on me, and fled.
"Oh jeez, my cab's already here. I'll be going first!"
"We're headed the same way, so we'll go together. See you next week!"
"Traitors."
I thought we'd gotten a little closer today, but a sense of betrayal welled up.
Perhaps the alcohol was kicking in — Park Haru's eyes grew increasingly unfocused as she clung to me even more.
"Manager Chwiii~ mmmbl mbl..."
Park Haru murmured something as if delivering her final words, then promptly fell asleep.
"Who just passes out in a split second like that?"
I propped up the teetering Park Haru, got her into the car, and pulled out my phone.
"A motel nearby... motel..."
I turned my head slightly and saw Park Haru sleeping, her mouth twitching faintly.
"A motel's a little iffy, right?"
She might not have been famous, but she had still debuted. She was an actress who'd had articles written about her for filming. Taking her to a motel felt wrong.
And if, by any chance, word got back to Eunhwi-nuna or Sieun-nuna that I'd taken a drunk actress to a motel, I had no idea what I'd be in for.
"Ah, whatever..."
Park Haru was rubbing her arms together, probably cold. I took off my suit jacket, draped it over her, and started the engine.
[ Behind the Scenes ]
"Hey, not all motels are the same, you know?"
"Hey!! She's our actress!"
"Oh, bullshit! Are actresses not human?!"
"Bullshit? Have you lost your mind talking to your nuna like that?!!!"
"Sieun! Don't hit him!!"
In the middle of my argument with Sieun-nuna, her hand shot up — and Eunhwi-nuna stopped her.
A little time passed, and once both of our tempers had cooled a bit, Sieun-nuna spoke calmly.
"I'm not saying motels are bad, Sijun-ah."
"Then what?"
I still answered in a sharp tone.
"It's just a little... you know. An actress coming out of a motel? Somewhere that isn't near a filming location? If someone happens to see her, what kind of articles do you think will come out? What kind of rumors will spread?"
I couldn't say a word. No matter how much I racked my brain, nothing good was going to come of it. Even if they tried to explain, it would just stay that way.
"I'm not throwing my weight around because I'm an actress. During filming, we sleep in cars, in tents, hell, in sleeping bags out in the mountains if they tell us to. A motel would be a luxury."
"..."
"Actors sell an image. Our Sijun can understand that, right?"
Following Sieun-nuna's words, Eunhwi-nuna sat down beside me, stroked my hair, and spoke.
"Yeah. And it's not like we're broke — if we were, then it'd just be posturing and pretending, but that's not the case."
"I get it..."
Across from me, Sieun-nuna stroked the back of my hand as she laid out the reality of things. That left me with even less to say.