Relationship (1)
To cut straight to the result — thankfully, things worked out.
Better than I had any right to hope for, really.
Nakyeong forgave her worthless father with a generosity as vast as the open sea.
Was there another daughter on this earth so considerate, so kind, and so beautiful on top of it all?
That said, I also received a warning that wasn't quite a warning — that next time, it would not end as a near miss the way this one had.
Just imagining it sent a chill down my spine.
"…Got it. I'll buy you a mountain of souvenirs. Thank you so much for understanding. I love you. My girl. Yeah."
Having barely managed to resolve things with Nakyeong, I stepped out into the hotel living room with a weight lifted from my face. Choi Yeonjeong, who had been fiddling with her phone, looked up at me with concern.
"All done?"
An almost empty glass already sat in front of her. The thought that she'd wasted what little vacation time she had because of me left a sour taste in my mouth.
"Thanks to you. I nearly got myself killed for real."
"What did Nakyeong say?"
I let out a sigh, took the seat across from her, and snatched up her glass, knocking back what was left in one go.
"Hahh."
Pouring hard liquor into an empty stomach had a way of snapping the mind wide awake.
"Just… rest well for now, she said. Since I'm already overseas, I should have fun and come back."
"I heard shouting from inside and thought I might need to start packing. Sounds like you managed to smooth it over?"
Yeonjeong casually picked up a fresh glass and poured a little into both — hers, and the one that had effectively become mine.
I added a quiet thanks, raised my glass, and sank deep into the sofa, launching into a stream of complaints.
"You know where Nakyeong was just now?"
"Where?"
"A tattoo shop."
"…For real?"
"She sent me this photo. Look at this."
"Wow. Where did she even find something like that?"
"That's what I'm saying."
I handed over my phone and took a sip of liquor, breathing out a sigh of pure relief.
"……."
Yeonjeong studied the photo for a moment, turning my phone over in her hands, then set it down and offered a word of comfort.
"Raising a kid is hard, huh?"
I couldn't bring myself to deny it.
"…It's not easy."
"Aigoo…."
She looked at me with genuine pity, then grabbed my hand and tugged, insisting we go eat something good to lift my spirits.
"Come on. There are plenty of decent restaurants around here."
I didn't have much of an appetite, but I wasn't about to throw a tantrum at someone who hadn't even eaten because of me.
"…Alright."
And so we finally began to enjoy the last of our schedule in Japan.
No matter how many Koreans visited the country, Japan was still a foreign land — which meant Yeonjeong felt relatively little pressure walking around outside.
"You're filming again?"
"We came all the way to Japan. Can't leave without getting some footage."
Along the way she made sure to stockpile video material, of course…
"Want to check this place out?"
"I'm fine with anywhere. Let's go."
Having missed mealtime, we decided to just drink, and stepped into an izakaya with private rooms. That was when a worry I'd temporarily forgotten thanks to Nakyeong began to creep back in.
Namely, the problem of Choi Yeonjeong and me — our relationship.
"Yeonjeong."
"Hmm?"
"So… about me showing up in your video."
"Yeah."
"Aren't you going to put out some kind of statement?"
"What statement?"
Yeonjeong reacted as if she couldn't see what the problem was, popping a freshly arrived takoyaki into her mouth. Sauce clung to the corner of her lips, and it bothered me enough that I pulled out a tissue and gently wiped it away.
"The comments are going crazy asking if we're dating. Plus there are photos of the two of us at the airport."
"……."
She stared at me for a beat, then took a careful sip of draft beer with a demure expression and ventured her thoughts.
"Actually, Inha already contacted me about it."
"Director Kang?"
Kang Inha had worked with Yeonjeong for years, and I'd met her face a few times myself.
"She's the one who suggested I start a YouTube channel in the first place."
"Oh, really?"
Apparently the latest trend in the entertainment industry was building a sense of "inner intimacy" with fans. Yeonjeong had thought it wasn't a bad idea and started as a hobby — but the response had been so explosive that even the company was still reeling.
"So… she's asking if we should try growing this a bit."
"Yeah. Even people with that kind of money are all doing YouTube these days. Building it up properly would be good."
Setting aside the complications involving me, I wanted Yeonjeong to do well, so I backed Kang Inha's suggestion.
Except.
"Mm… when she says 'grow this,' she doesn't mean the YouTube channel."
Somehow, this was not what I'd been picturing.
"She means you and me."
"…Huh?"
Yeonjeong calmly recited the proposal Director Kang had put forward.
"The buzz is already locked in, so she wants us to put it to use."
Director Kang's scenario went like this: since Yeonjeong and I were planning to operate as partners going forward anyway, why not use this opportunity to raise our profiles and jack up our market value?
In cruder terms — sell a little will-they-won't-they.
"A business couple? Something like that."
"Ah…."
I couldn't find a single word to say. When it came to that kind of thing, I was a complete outsider.
And more than anything —
I could see crystal clear how much Nakyeong would hate it.
"Look at this."
Whether she read my mind or not, Yeonjeong quickly pulled out her phone and showed me something the company had sent over.
"We've already gotten a few ad offers through our channel."
"Wait, already?"
The neatly organized document listed brand names I actually recognized, with ad rates ranging from tens of millions of won all the way into the hundreds of millions.
"H-holy… how much is all this?"
The scale was so staggering I sucked in a breath without meaning to.
"More will come in. The rates will go up, too."
She said something extraordinary as if it were nothing, then gave me a simple example.
"We can split this ad money."
"!?"
"We're under the same company. No legal issues, and the tax situation is way more favorable."
I stared at her blankly, then snuck another glance at the rates on the phone and swallowed hard.
A few ad shoots and we could afford to move…
One way or another, more money was always better than less. That much was true.
"That's the plan for now, at least."
Yeonjeong took her phone back, drained her beer, and added a brief explanation.
"They need your input too. The company said they won't put out any clarifying articles for the time being."
If I turned down the business couple arrangement, they'd run a statement to cool the public down. If I accepted, they'd ride the wave and keep stoking the buzz.
Everything hinged on my choice alone.
"You don't have to answer right away. Think it over slowly."
"…Meaning I should come up with an answer as fast as possible, right?"
Yeonjeong flashed a grin and pressed the call button, declaring it was time to order drinks properly.
What do I do?
I sank into thought for a moment, turning the numbers over in my head. I was going to need to talk this through with Nakyeong.
After all the twists and turns, we made it back from Japan.
I'd stuffed my suitcase and maxed out the duty-free allowance, and I presented Nakyeong with her gifts along with my deepest thanks.
"Nakyeong!"
"…You're back?"
I didn't forget to cling to her like a cicada on an old tree, planting kiss after kiss on her cheek.
"I don't think Japan and I are a good match. Without my daughter, I missed you so much I couldn't stand it."
Of course, Nakyeong still hadn't fully cooled off, and she responded with a stiff, cynical air.
"I'm sure you did."
Thanks to that, I couldn't even bring up the business couple idea with Yeonjeong.
Asking her right now is going to be tough…
I spent the rest of the weekend fawning over Nakyeong, and then —
The next day.
On my usual commute to work, I began to notice a strange shift.
"That was him just now, right?"
"Whoa… I'm so jealous."
"He looks better in person than on camera."
People had started whispering as I walked past.
Nah. I'm imagining things.
At first I dismissed it as pure self-consciousness. I'd only appeared in a video for a few seconds — the idea that people already recognized me was absurd.
…However.
"Oh my! Teacher Han!"
The moment I stepped into the department office for a meeting, I realized it hadn't been my imagination at all.
"How was Japan?"
"Our Teacher Han looked a little worse on camera than in real life, didn't he?"
My fellow instructors kept dropping knowing remarks, and whether I wanted to or not, I had no choice but to understand.
"Uh… you all saw it…?"
"Of course we saw it! It was all anyone talked about all weekend — how could we not know?"
"Our explorer alumni group chat was going absolutely wild. I was dying to say something the whole time I was watching. Ohoho."
The shared identity of being both explorers and Academy faculty had apparently amplified the interest more than I'd expected.
…I need to be more careful going forward.
Once again, I was freshly reminded of the weight Choi Yeonjeong's name carried. I resolved to watch my behavior so I wouldn't cause her any trouble —
But then a problem erupted from a place I never saw coming.
"…Why isn't she here?"
After finishing all my classes, I sat in the training ground as usual, waiting for Cheon Seo-hui. I'd brought the gifts I'd bought for her in Japan, bundled up carefully.
But the agreed-upon time came and went, and she never showed her face. Not a single call. Not a single text.
All of a sudden…?
Sensing something was wrong, I tried contacting her through the messenger first.
But.
"……."
Cheon Seo-hui read the message and sent nothing back.
I'd seen this situation before.
"…Hss…."
Scratching my head at the inexplicable silence, I tried calling her this time.
And then —
"The person you are calling is unavailable…"
She rejected the call outright.
By this point, there was no mistaking it — she was avoiding my contact.
But why?
Panicking, I frantically turned over every possible reason she might be dodging me. No matter how hard I wrung my brain, I couldn't find a single plausible cause.
Instead, all that kept surfacing was the image of her on the day I left the country — shyly wishing me a safe trip.
Be careful… Have a good time in Japan.
Why is she doing this…? Things were good between us!!!
Agitated by an avoidance I couldn't explain, I finally sent Cheon Seo-hui another round of messages.
We'd grown close enough that I could call us friends now, and I'd believed we'd built real trust in each other.
I was certain that at this point, she'd tell me honestly.
…Right up until the reply came back.
"……What?"
I couldn't believe my own eyes.