A Conversation Without Voices
What the—?
I eyed the man holding out his phone toward me with suspicion, and pulled Haram back behind me once more before sneaking a glance at the screen.
“Um….”
There was Haram on the phone.
To be precise, it was a photoshoot picture Haram had modeled for. Then the man opened his memo app and typed something out.
[The girl next to him in that photo is my daughter. I couldn't help saying hello because it was so good to see a familiar face — I'm sorry if I startled you.]
When the man showed me the photoshoot picture again, there was another girl in it besides Haram.
Ah, I see.
The smiling man's face finally made sense — but just as I was wondering how I was supposed to believe any of this—
“Dad!”
A crisp, clear voice cut in. A girl who looked about Haram's age came walking over. She was the same kid from the photo I'd just seen. So it hadn't been a lie after all.
“Honey? What's going on?”
The adult woman with the girl looked like her mother. The moment I saw the mother and daughter approaching with puzzled faces, I hastily pulled my mask up.
While the man explained the situation to his family in Korean Sign Language, I looked down at Haram.
“Yeonjae, are you mad?”
“What? No.”
Where did that come from?
I stroked the head of Haram, who was peering up at me with a slightly frightened face.
“Did I look angry to you?”
“Your face earlier….”
“That was because a stranger came up to you. I wasn't mad at you.”
Only when my expression softened did Haram finally relax and cling to me.
“Hey! You're the kid who did that photoshoot with me over the summer, aren't you?”
Just then, the girl came over and spoke to Haram. Haram shrank back and clung to me, so I lifted him up into my arms.
Wow, he's gotten even heavier.
The moment I hoisted Haram up, he buried his face against my shoulder. He clearly had no interest in conversation, so I greeted her on his behalf.
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
The girl gave a polite little bow, then immediately fixed me with a glare.
“For the record, I wasn't the one talking to that mister over there. I was talking to him.”
“Is that so?”
A laugh escaped me before I could help it.
Cheeky little thing.
I was smiling behind my mask when the woman who seemed to be her mother hurried over in a fluster.
“Yeonji. What did I say about making strangers uncomfortable?”
“He's not a stranger. We did a photoshoot together.”
“Even so. Do you like watching your friend be uncomfortable?”
The girl's lips jutted out in a pout. She grumbled, “He's not my friend, though…,” but she must have been used to minding her mother, because she quieted down right away.
The woman apologized with a troubled look on her face.
“I'm so sorry. My husband and daughter are both handfuls, and they managed to cause trouble in the few minutes I was away in the restroom.”
“It's quite all right.”
“He said he was just happy to see someone who'd done a photoshoot with our daughter, but still, there are limits. Really, I apologize.”
The way she declared she'd go home and give him a firm scolding made it sound less like she was talking about her husband and more like she was talking about a son.
I kept telling her it was fine, smiling as she apologized over and over.
Somehow all the tension just drained out of me.
In those few seconds when the man had reached out toward Haram, my imagination had run through every worst-case scenario — so the fact that we were now standing here having a perfectly normal conversation struck me as funny. I was swallowing back a snort of laughter when the woman lowered her voice and asked, carefully:
“Um… excuse me, but aren't you the actor Lee Yeonjae?”
Ah.
Only then did an awkward smile spread across my face.
“Yeonji! Take these cookies over to Haram!”
“You do it, Mom. He won't even answer me.”
“He's scared because you act like you're going to gobble him up.”
“When did I ever act like that? Hmph. If I'd actually eaten him, then it'd be unfair, but I didn't.”
Kim Yeonji — the girl who'd done that photoshoot with Haram — grumbled on and on.
So this is how eight-year-olds talk these days.
I was watching with a smile when Kim Yeonji, defeated by her mother's scolding, trudged over with a sulky face.
“Hey. Mom says take this to him.”
“…….”
Her words to Haram went unanswered. And no wonder — ever since we'd arrived at Kim Yeonji's house, Haram had been glued to my arms. Even now, he showed no intention of lifting his head from my chest, so I accepted the cookies in his place.
“Thank you. We'll enjoy them.”
“They're not from you, mister.”
“Right. I'm just saying thanks on Haram's behalf.”
“You know what? They say he can't do anything without you.”
The more I listened to her complaint-filled voice, the funnier it got. And Haram, flinching inside my arms every time Kim Yeonji opened her mouth, was pretty funny too.
Adorable.
Was it really this entertaining, watching tiny kids bicker with each other? I glanced over and saw that Jinbae was struggling to hold back a laugh as well. Apparently I wasn't the only one amused.
I chuckled and held the cookies out to Haram.
“Haram, want some?”
“No. You eat them, Yeonjae….”
“Why are you so down?”
“……She scares me.”
Haram looked like he was about to cry. As he mumbled that she seemed mad at him, I stroked his head.
“I don't think she's mad. If you ask me, I'd say she wants to talk to you.”
“With me?”
“Yeah. Don't you want to talk to her?”
“It's not that I don't want to….”
Haram pursed his lips.
“Her voice is so loud it scares me. It's kind of like when Mom gets mad….”
“…….”
The moment I heard those words, the corners of my mouth drooped.
I see.
When I pulled Haram into a tight hug, he clung to me as if I were his lifeline. I could feel Jinbae watching the two of us from the side.
Ugh. Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea after all.
The moment Kim Yeonji's mother had asked if I was the actor Lee Yeonjae, Jinbae had closed in on us too.
Actor-nim. What seems to be the problem?
The way he'd immediately pulled me behind him and demanded an answer had sent a brief, razor-sharp tension through the air. People already stared at him just for his sheer size, and his warily scanning the surroundings drew even more eyes. Maybe it was because of what the woman had just said, but even with my mask on, I'd felt uneasy.
If it's no trouble for you, would you allow us to treat you to dinner at our home?
That was why, to a proposal I would normally have refused without a second thought, I'd nodded along almost eagerly. There was no telling what kind of chaos would erupt if my identity got out in the middle of this crowd.
My first thought had simply been to get out of the amusement park, but sitting in the home of people I'd met only today did feel strange. I wondered if this was really okay — but then I caught sight of Jinbae smiling beside me, and even my nerves settled.
Thanks to you, Actor-nim, I keep having the strangest experiences. Sharing a meal with total strangers, of all things.
Tell me about it. I got to watch you be terrified of the rides, too. Quite a day.
……To be precise, I was not terrified. I was merely… a little fatigued.
Right. If anything happened, this man would handle it. With Jinbae around, no one would be stupid enough to try anything against us.
Once that thought settled in, I even started to enjoy looking around the unfamiliar house.
Which is exactly why I never expected Haram to be this frightened.
I can't exactly ask the girl to keep her voice down.
I hadn't realized her mother's influence ran that deep. I was still debating whether it would just be better to head home when my eyes met the father's — he was sitting at the table, watching us with a smile.
Hmm.
After a moment's thought, I looked down at Haram.
“Haram. If talking out loud scares you, want to try talking with your hands instead?”
“Huh?”
“Talking isn't something you can only do with your voice.”
He tilted his head, clearly not following, so I stroked his hair and taught him a few signs of Korean Sign Language — the ones people use to greet each other. Maybe because I'd deliberately chosen simple movements, he picked them up right away.
“Give it a try whenever you're ready.”
I smiled and patted Haram on the back. He hesitated, then looked over at Kim Yeonji. She'd apparently been keeping an eye on him this whole time too, because the instant she felt his gaze, she whipped her head away.
Cute. So cute.
Ah, why are they this adorable?
There was something endearing about little kids being secretly aware of each other like that.
When Haram clumsily signed his greeting, Kim Yeonji stared at him with a sulky look. Then she cupped both hands, held them to her chest, and moved them up and down in alternating strokes, twice.
Haram immediately looked up at me, and I translated for him: “She says she's happy to see you.”
When I nuzzled his cheek as a way of saying well done, Haram beamed, his face flushing pink.
“What do you think? Fun, right?”
“Yeah. It's fun….”
“Ask Yeonji to teach you more. She knows way more than I do.”
When I subtly nudged Haram's back, he hesitantly slid down out of my arms. Kim Yeonji whisked him away as if she'd been waiting for exactly that.
“This book is the most fun one. It's all comics. Do you read comics?”
“No….”
“Well, you can start now!”
Kim Yeonji pulled a book about Korean Sign Language off the shelf and chattered away at him with one topic after another. Even Haram, who'd been answering awkwardly at first, seemed to adjust after a few minutes and was soon chatting away with a bright face.
Kids really do adapt fast.
I was watching them with a smile when Jinbae, standing beside me, asked quietly:
“Actor-nim. When did you learn sign language?”
“Back at the orphanage. There was a friend there who couldn't hear.”
He was a friend who lived with Korean Sign Language as his first language rather than relying on lip-reading and spoken words. That was why every child at the orphanage back then had learned about KSL.
“It's been a long time since I've actually used it, so I thought I might have forgotten. Thankfully, it all came back.”
“The more I learn about you, Actor-nim, the more impressive you become.”
The sincerity in his voice drew a snort of laughter out of me.
“You're the impressive one, hyung.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“The way you're scared to death of the rides, but still suggested the amusement park just for me — that heart of yours—”
“Actor-nim.”
“Haha.”
His voice cracked in a way that was unlike Jinbae, and I couldn't help laughing out loud. Apparently he heard me, because Haram, who'd been lying down reading a book, sprang up and came running over.
“Yeonjae! I learned more signs!”
“Did you? Nice work.”
“Yeah! Yeonji taught me!”
“Looks like Yeonji gave you cookies too.”
“How did you know??”
Haram's eyes went round, cookie crumbs smeared around his mouth. I laughed, brushed them away for him, and only then did he cover his mouth with a bright red face.
(Yeonjae, you're amazing. How do you notice all these things? You're so cool.)
(Thank you.)
(Is this like a dance or something?)
I stroked the head of the child asking with such clear, guileless eyes.
(No. It's a language all its own, like Korean or English. Korean Sign Language.)
(Korean Sign Language?)
(Yeah. Even if someone's too far away to hear your voice, as long as you know this, you can still get your words across.)
When I asked him if that wasn't pretty amazing, Haram grinned shyly.
(Yeah. It's cool. You're really cool….)
I watched him for a moment as he slid, effortlessly, back around to complimenting me. Then I placed my right palm against my left cheek and gave it a couple of light taps.
(What does that one mean?)
(Not telling.)
(Why not??)
Smiling at Haram's bewildered face, I repeated the same gesture. His eyes went even rounder, but I never gave him the answer.
So this is why Junghyun hyung loves teasing me.
Watching Haram squirm like a caterpillar, his eyebrows knitting together, I finally understood how Junghyun hyung felt.
“Dinner's ready!”
Despite the woman's sheepish laughter — she hadn't expected such distinguished guests and hadn't had time to prepare — the table was loaded with food. Jinbae marveled with every bite and asked her for her recipes. I answered the father, who wanted to know when I'd learned sign language, and Haram was too busy chattering with Kim Yeonji to pay attention to any of it.
And so, dinner with people we'd met only that day flew by in a happy blur.
“We should meet again sometime.”
“Of course.”
I answered the woman's parting words with a smile. It wasn't empty politeness — I genuinely meant it. Since we'd been treated this time, I was thinking I'd have to return the favor properly next time….
“It's been a while.”
“……Yes. Hello.”
A while was a stretch — it had only been two days.
The faces of the woman and man I was seeing again after those two days were as bright as ever.
Why are they here?
My head was full of questions — why on earth were Kim Yeonji's mother and father, the couple we'd shared dinner with just two days ago, standing in our agency?
When my face made it clear I had no idea what was going on, Team Leader Woo spoke up.
“Yeonjae. Would you be interested in filming an educational video about Korean Sign Language? Not a stiff, formal one — more of a mini-drama feel.”
“I'm sorry?”
As I answered in a daze, Kim Yeonji's mother held out a business card.
“I'm afraid I introduced myself far too late. My name is Choi Jimin. I work at the National Institute of Korean Language.”