A Peaceful Day (3)
A Peaceful Day (3)
After we got home, Dad turned on his stream.
"Hello, I ended up going live again for a bit~"
I pulled up Dad's stream on my phone and checked the chat, which was flooded with demands to show me.
"Si-yoon, they're asking to see your face."
"Tell them to watch the broadcast."
"Ahaha... you heard that? Please watch the main show~"
"Oh, before I take off my makeup, I should go brag. I'll be at Da-yeon's~"
"Huh? Okay."
I set my stuff down, went out to the front door, and rang the bell at the apartment across the hall.
—"Who is it?"
"It's me."
—"Oh? It's Si-yoon. Come in."
The door opened and Kim Seon-hwa welcomed me.
"Si-yoon, what brings you... whoa..."
"I got my makeup done for filming and it felt like a waste to just take it off~"
Just as I expected, Kim Seon-hwa was speechless at the sight of my face. Then she naturally grabbed a camera and took pictures with me.
Jeong-yeon was overseas at the moment, and Ga-yeon, who was home, flinched hard when he saw me, like he was startled.
"What? Is Si-yoon pretty?"
"...Uh... very."
"What's Da-yeon doing?"
"Ah, Grandpa's here, so they're talking together."
"Grandpa? All of a sudden?"
"Yeah."
I headed toward the study like it was nothing, and Kim Seon-hwa didn't stop me.
Lee Gi-seok liked me as much as his own granddaughter Da-yeon, after all.
I knocked twice on the door and then swung it open.
"Huh? Si-yu...!!!"
Da-yeon's eyes sparkled the moment she saw my face.
"Whoaaa..."
And there in the room were Lee Gi-seok and Lee Jin-seok.
I gave them a little nod as I looked at them both.
"Grandpa, it's been a while! And what are you doing here?"
I glanced down at the file they were looking at, and it was stuffed with photos of various foreign men.
It looked like they were searching for a marriage partner for Da-yeon.
Lee Jin-seok was visibly stunned by my appearance; Lee Gi-seok, relatively composed, looked at me.
"Have you come to greet this old man?"
"Nope? I came to see Da-yeon, actually."
"Hahahahaha."
"So what's this?"
I pulled up a wooden chair and sat next to Da-yeon, propped my chin on my hand, and scanned the photos.
I eliminated them one by one, all casual, until only one was left.
"Han Su-ho? Out of these, he's the least bad, but wait—are you seriously looking for a marriage partner?"
""......""
"Wow, you went on and on about how pretty Da-yeon is, and now you pull this... right in front of her, too, you're brutal."
"Ahem... ahem, if Da-yeon said no, we had no intention of pushing it."
"With Da-yeon's personality, do you think she'd actually say no? What a lame excuse..."
"Si... Si-yoon?"
Lee Jin-seok let out a sigh and looked at me.
"This time... Da-yeon was kidnapped... considering the future, it's not something we can just let slide... If she's going to be safe overseas later on, we have no choice."
"What happened to all that HSW pride? You'd be better off expanding HSW instead."
"...Right now is a critical period for Hanseong. Expanding into India is only the beginning... and the money we'll need to invest in that..."
"Huh? Our dad is the goose that eats nothing but straw and craps out golden eggs, so what's..."
"Ah..."
"In exchange, assign a security team to me too, so Dad can stop worrying."
"......Is Ji-ho home right now?"
"Should I call him?"
"Yes."
I went back home to get Dad.
After sending Dad over to Da-yeon's, I went into the bathroom and started removing the white hair extensions.
I took out the colored contacts, and as I was wiping off the makeup, the exhaustion hit me all at once.
I felt like just diving into a tub filled with bath salts and staying under.
I took off all my makeup, brushed my teeth, then grabbed my phone and got into the bathtub.
"Hwooooh... this is the stuff..."
If MC Kang In-seong had one flaw, it was that the filming sessions were way too long.
"They used to go easy on me because I was little, and now look at them squeezing every minute out of me the second I've grown up a bit. Wow..."
While checking Neotube for a minute, I spotted photos of me already circulating that were taken in the makeup room.
They came out well enough to be once-in-a-lifetime photos.
I set my phone on top of the waterproof pouch next to me and sank underwater, holding my breath.
My whole body relaxed so much that I got drowsy and sleepy, so in the end I wrapped up quickly and went outside.
I was tired enough that blow-drying my hair felt like a pain, but if I didn't, Dad was guaranteed to nag me about it.
As I yawned and dried my hair, Alpha and Beta were whimpering and rubbing against me.
"Yaaawn... I'm tired..."
""Woof...""
I watched the two of them for a moment, then grabbed my phone off the bathroom counter, flopped down on the bed in my room, and Alpha and Beta followed right after.
Fighting off sleep, I petted Alpha and Beta for a while, and the second I let my guard down and closed my eyes, I was out.
Summoned by Si-yoon, I came to Lee Jin-seok's study and had a serious conversation.
"Ji-ho... I never imagined I'd be reaching out to you like this... I'm sorry."
"Not at all. More importantly, you're giving me shares in HSW?"
"Yes. Rather than taking money from you using Si-yoon as leverage, my father, Jeong-yeon, and I decided it's better to transfer half of each of our shares, bringing you to 38% of HSW. If we want to pull in active-duty Korean soldiers, we need your capital."
I took the freshly printed contract.
The moment I saw the clause about establishing a separate protection team for Si-yoon, I moved to sign immediately, but Lee Jin-seok suddenly stopped me.
"Ji-ho, show it to Si-yoon first, then sign. It still won't be too late."
"How much do you need?"
"...200 billion, minimum."
Jin-seok brought up the 200-billion-won investment proposal cautiously, but...
200 billion...
To protect Si-yoon, and to stop something like last time from happening again, it looked painfully insufficient.
The thought crossed my mind—how many people in South Korea could mobilize 200 billion right away—but I was more than capable of it.
"Hmm... let's make it two trillion. I can move up to two trillion immediately."
""......""
I saw both of them flinch at my unexpected answer.
I figured they had expected something to that effect, but it didn't seem like they'd imagined my assets were at that level.
Of course, if you included the money tied up overseas, it was even more...
But if I went out of my way to reveal and use that, Jeong-min—whom I hadn't seen in a while—would chew me out.
Although, if he heard the reason, maybe he wouldn't...
"To me, it's basically money I'm not using. If it can protect Si-yoon, it's not the least bit wasted."
"No, we don't need nearly that much... You write two trillion on there and Si-yoon will faint."
"...Huh?"
"Based on the HSW project plan, roughly 200 billion spread over four installments, once a year, is more than enough. Don't worry."
"I see... you don't... need any more...?"
"Are you trying to build an army? Numbers in the trillions... hah... honestly... I'm speechless. We don't need it."
Lee Jin-seok propped his chin on his hand and mulled it over for a long time.
"...No matter how much copyright revenue pours in... how does anyone have that kind of money..."
"Ah, there's an older friend who was practically a real brother to my wife..."
At the mention of someone managing my money, curiosity blossomed on both their faces.
After talking with Da-yeon's family for a long while, I came home and saw Si-yoon asleep with her door open.
Maybe because she'd been on the move all day, she'd been tired even while eating the chicken.
I carefully sat on the edge of Si-yoon's bed for a moment and checked whether she'd properly taken off her makeup.
Si-yoon didn't even notice me touching her—she was sleeping so deeply someone could've carried her off without her knowing.
Looking at Si-yoon like that, all kinds of thoughts came to mind.
I'd wanted to raise Si-yoon quietly, like any ordinary child.
Even if it meant giving up my own dreams.
But twelve years ago, when I saw the piano in front of little Si-yoon, I couldn't hold back.
Would it be okay... to press the keys just once?
Would it be all right... if I just enjoyed it for myself?
When I carefully pressed the piano keys while lost in those countless thoughts, I was so happy my mind went blank.
Looking at my smiling daughter, I wanted so badly to make the music I'd been holding back all that time.
As if human greed knows no end...
The thought that just once—just this once—might be okay...
...kept growing, and that was how I'd come this far.
Because of my greed, it seems like Si-yoon can't enjoy an ordinary life, and I'm sorry, endlessly sorry.
And since the situation ended up this way because of my greed...
So that she can always grow up smiling...
Making sure Si-yoon always walks a path covered in flowers;
Making sure I can grant her anything she wants, as much as possible...
That alone would be my mission.
Someone kept touching me while I was asleep, and I opened my eyes.
Dad was right in front of me, smiling down at me, and only after I looked around did I realize it was morning.
"Yaaawn."
"Want to go out and grab breakfast?"
Normally I'd say it's too much trouble, but I stretched and nodded.
"Nnng... let's do that."
I went to the bathroom, did a quick wash, and when I came out, Dad showed me the contract.
"Da-yeon's dad said to show this to you, Si-yoon."
I skimmed it once, then sat down and mentally replayed the terms from the beginning.
"200 billion...? Unbelievable. Do you even have that right now?"
"Yeah, I do, actually."
Seriously, Dad... treating 200 billion like it's the price of gum...
If you count just the number of zeros next to the two, that's eleven of them.
Money that, even if you put it in the bank and spent 100 million won a day, would last more than five years.
If you spent two hundred million a month, it'd last you your whole life.
Even though it was that kind of money, Lee Jin-seok had set fairly favorable terms for Dad.
Honestly, according to this contract, with the equity split, you could recoup the principal in ten to fifteen years.
And depending on how the business development goes, it might even turn out to be a contract made of gold.
If things proceed as written, every single top-tier security detail in South Korea will end up using HSW—maybe overseas too.
Above all, since Dad is the type to just go and do things impulsively, the fact that Lee Jin-seok told him to show me first made me like the deal even more.
"It's fine. Sign it."
"Okay. Got it."
Dad picked up a pen at the table and started signing his name on the signature line.
Then he added a signature on the confirmation line with my name at the end of the document.
- Si-yoon☆
My signature was exactly the same one I'd first written for the older girl working part-time when I was five.
People and Dad like it, so I've kept using it to this day.
"What should we eat?"
"Hot broth in the morning, obviously~"
"Alright. Si-yoon, go get changed. Dad will drop this off."
"Okay."
Going to someone else's house first thing in the morning might be rude, but...
Da-yeon's household starts their mornings very early.
Especially with exams coming up, it might've gotten even earlier because of Da-yeon.
Dad put on a mask and sunglasses; I pulled a plain baseball cap down low.
"Not studying for your exams, kid?"
"You're just saying whatever because you've got nothing to say."
"Haha, was it that obvious?"
Walking just the two of us with Dad is pretty fun, actually.
Up until not long ago, Dad used to walk incredibly slowly to match my short stride...
Well, he still walks slower than usual even now.
As we walked holding Dad's hand, a bicycle passing by wobbled and almost hit Dad, so I yanked him out of the way hard.
I pulled him further as he lost his balance, grabbing the collar of his jacket as he was about to fall, and we ended up in a pose straight out of some third-rate romance.
"Kiddo... you've gotten crazy strong..."
"You're heavy... how about using your legs instead of just hanging off me?"
Dad listened to me and quickly straightened up.
Then he went and helped up the elderly man who'd slammed his brakes and fallen over.
"Are you all right?"
"Ah... yes... my legs just gave out, haha... I'm sorry."
"No, were you hurt anywhere?"
"No, thank you. Take care~"
Dad helped the old man up, exchanged goodbyes, and then came back over to me.
We arrived at our regular goat soup place, a five-minute walk from home.
"One medium goat soup."
Dad took off his mask and looked at me.
"You're really fair-skinned, kid."
Our skin tones are complete polar opposites.
"You're the one who deliberately tanned because your new song is hip-hop."
Dad, who always got my permission before adding tattoos little by little.
He had SIYUN written across his fingers.
That one's a tattoo I never gave permission for.
Feeling my gaze, Dad started checking my expression carefully.
"Living it up since Mom's not around, huh?"
"Hahaha... sorry."
When Dad bulked up with muscle once before, a lot of fans actually missed his old look, so now he's back to something closer to his past Park Gi-level physique.
A little more muscle than Tae-oh.
Not practical muscle—it's the kind meant to look as good as possible.
Dad drummed his fingers on the table like he was playing the piano, then suddenly, for the first time in three years, asked about my grades.
"Si-yoon, how are your grades these days?"
"Same as ever."
"Ah... really?"
It wasn't that Dad didn't care about my test scores. He'd just lost interest because I always got perfect marks.
"Dad, when's the thing we filmed yesterday supposed to air?"
"Probably the week after next, I'd guess?"
"So it airs after exams end."
"Yeah. I think they might've timed it on purpose to avoid students' exam period."
While we were talking, the goat soup arrived before we knew it.
I'd been pretty fond of goat soup in my past life too.
Because of the chewy texture, even more than dog meat, as I got older I ate it often at my regular spot.
Well, dog meat I only ate in the past—these days you could get mobbed for it, so I don't eat it.
Now in the modern day, the broth is richer and the meat flavor has completely won over my palate compared to back then.
"Ahh..."
"Haha, is it good?"
"Yeah, it's refreshing~~"
As I slurped away with my spoon, Dad separated the meat from the bones and set it in front of me.
"I'm fine~ you eat, Dad. I can handle my own food just fine."
I swept my hair back with one hand so it wouldn't fall forward, turned my baseball cap backward, and got down to eating for real.
"Anything on your schedule today?"
"Nope, I canceled everything so I could hang out with Si-yoon."
Normally I would've hung out with Da-yeon on the weekend, but exams were right around the corner, so I had no friends to play with.
Now that I think about it, aside from six people... I don't have a single friend...
"Want to go for a walk and then hit a PC bang?"
"Sounds good~"
While eating, I checked my texts.
The person who'd messaged me was Ji-su.
(Ji-su) — Si-yoon, what are you doing today~?
(Me) — Eating with Dad, why?
(Ji-su) — I was gonna play games with Yua~
(Me) — And Su-a~~~?
(Ji-su) — spl;dfkgja;lk DON'T!!!
(Me) — Want me to tell Dad to give him a call?
(Ji-su) — H... how about a date with me today?
(Me) — I don't mess with someone who's already taken.
(Ji-su) — T_T Please don't tell your dad... T_T
Dad looked at me with an expression that asked who it was, so I told him it was Ji-su.
(Me) — Dad and I already decided to go to a PC bang. Come with Yua~
(Ji-su) — Don't call Su-a... got it...?
(Me) — yep yep
I smiled faintly and met eyes with Dad, who was still eating.
"...?"
"Dad, Ji-su wants to see us. Should we call Su-a too?"
"Leave it alone. She won't even thank us~"
"Yeah?"
"Yup~"
Somewhere along the way, Dad had ordered an extra bowl of rice.
He used to eat incredibly slowly, but after he started working out, he'd turned into a big eater before I knew it.
I added rice to the hot broth filled with shredded goat meat and scooped up a heaping spoonful.
On top of the spoon, the chunks of meat nestled among the broth-soaked rice grains were tempting me.
A bite topped with a piece of cubed radish kimchi, and I desperately craved a shot of soju.
Dad must've felt the same, because his gaze drifted toward the liquor fridge.
I tapped Dad's bulging belly a few times.
"Ugh~ I'm stuffed."
"You look it. Hey, at least you're still breathing in that state."
"Hahaha."
After we finished eating, Dad and I took a walk while breathing in the morning air.
"The weather is slowly getting warmer."
"It really is~"
I got a phone call from Yua asking where I was, so I told her we'd be there in an hour.
For the last seventeen years, I'd been looking at the world through Kim Si-yoon's eyes, but forty-five years of time remained vividly in my memory, so seeing the changed surroundings always felt new.
"Si-yoon, look, the flowers are blooming over there."
"Not interested."
"...Okay."
Maybe because we didn't go on walks together that often, he seemed to think I walked around because I liked flowers.
I just... like the streets of Seoul, South Korea, where so much is different from the past—that's all.