Next-Door Hyungnim.
Next-Door Hyungnim.
As time passed, the things I'd said began to have a tremendous impact worldwide.
Starting with the light issue of why I'd snapped during that review broadcast.
China's atrocities in trying to steal Korean culture became known in greater detail, and they began to draw condemnation from people across the globe.
Even so, they kept their ears shut, but...
Although I'd spoken quite forcefully, this controversy gradually turned into a satisfying, refreshing statement.
Once my words were translated and spread, I'd practically become a hero like Joan of Arc.
To the point that a national petition was even filed to include Dad and me in a book of great figures who brought honor to Korea...
Though it was embarrassing that people were filing petitions over something like this.
And the JSM Neotube channel was flooded with Chinese comments too, and you had to hand it to China's firepower.
The number of dislikes began to swell sharply, and in response, people hit like.
This blind dislike-bombing by Chinese netizens became a controversy yet again,
and we began raking in an enormous number of views.
My intellect also drew attention, and at the same time my school grades began to be spotlighted.
Straight hundreds, not a single mistake so far...
Normally that would be enough to attract hate comments claiming I'd been unfairly given everything, but now that I'd become a national hero, anyone who said anything about me had become a traitor to the country.
And... Dad and I were eventually banned from entering China.
"Heh."
Of course, Dad and I were just laughing and joking around, but...
Lastly, the footage of Dad and me donating 42.5 billion won was broadcast live.
From the account holding 42.5 billion, we began distributing donations to the places Dad and I had decided on.
"People of national merit first."
"Got it!"
From the start, the Global Village Social Sharing Foundation had contacted us one-on-one, and we negotiated the terms for the 20 billion won donation.
We stipulated the condition that where the donation money went and how it was used must be disclosed.
Since it was already being broadcast live, the possibility of a dine-and-dash was significantly lower, but...
The foundation had already reviewed my videos, and they indicated that they would distribute the donations fairly and make sure they were used meaningfully.
Dad and I also went around various donation sites and burned through the remaining 22.5 billion, and maybe the sight was so striking that the footage spread far and wide.
When Next-Door Hyungnim had originally planned the after-school hip-hop content, they had predicted two million views on Neotube. But with Dad and me joining midway, and due to this controversy, it had now reached 800 times that figure: 1.6 billion views.
While we were stacking up all sorts of controversies and views like that, before I knew it, the day of the end-of-term ceremony had arrived.
Simultaneously with the ceremony... the part-time job that Dad and Lee Jin-seok had planned began.
Maybe they'd planned it more tightly than I thought, because we ended up working three hours a day, five days a week, and Da-yeon and I did it together at the same time.
Da-yeon had recently started dipping her toes into social media, little by little.
She wasn't filming her own face, but more like she was just filming the situation itself?
So while doing this part-time job, she was trying to film it like a vlog.
I listened to the manager's explanation of the basic rules and nodded.
The manager looked awkward around Da-yeon and me.
Da-yeon, maybe determined to do her best, nodded vigorously.
"It's okay even if we mess up~ Da-yeon's dad or my dad will pay for it."
"Ah... um... still, wouldn't it be better to do a good job?"
The manager broke out in a cold sweat at the conversation between me and Da-yeon.
If Da-yeon or my dad just said the one word 'Buy it for me,' everything would become ours.
We were listening to this and that explanation, and when they were about to explain the POS system one more time, I spoke.
"We know everything, don't worry and just watch."
"Uh.... uh... okay."
I remembered everything the manager explained the first time, and whenever Da-yeon missed something, I'd tell her again.
As soon as the training ended, HSW Team 7, who had been waiting outside, came swarming in.
"Haa..."
Each of Team 7 grabbed something random and lined up.
'No, why is that guy... picking up mascara...'
I was questioning why Kang Jong-hyeon was standing there, but Park Ji-hoon being mixed in was even more questionable.
The Team 7 security agent standing at the very front had a proud dad smile.
"Young miss, I'll take this and a pack of Danhill Frost."
"No... ha... mascara... here... that's 8,000 won."
Without even looking behind me, I grabbed it, beeped the barcode, and placed it on the security agent's hands as he held them out.
"My... what an honor..."
While paying by card, the security agent took out his cigarette case and put the pack inside...
The case was covered in pictures of me.
Seeing him hum and walk away, then grab another random item and line up at the very back again, a sudden surge of fury washed over me.
"Mr. Song Sang-gil..."
"...Yes?"
"You're fired?"
"Gah!"
"Everyone, don't come more than twice a day... that's a warning."
Where Da-yeon was, there had been no one, and then suddenly HSW Team 5 came swarming over too.
Inside the now crowded convenience store, only the manager was flustered.
When Da-yeon made a mistake, Team 5 soothed her with warm words, telling her it was fine and she could just do it again.
Meanwhile, I treated Team 7 so roughly that you'd be hard-pressed to find a single shred of service with a smile.
Especially... that bastard Park Ji-hoon came carrying an armful of stuff, then looked at me.
"Not showing respect to a customer. A customer who's higher than a king, a cus-to-mer."
"Haa... you son of a bitch... that's 125,700 won."
"Oh... yeah? That's a pretty steep price, huh... I'm not buying~"
Park Ji-hoon just left everything on the counter and walked out.
"...Oh... dear Lord..."
I immediately called Kang Jong-hyeon, and he dragged Park Ji-hoon back down.
After that, well...
He'd be a well-behaved Ji-hoon for a while now.
There wasn't a customer who looked like a real customer at the convenience store; all of them were just the security agents who came by.
The agents would hold in their need for supplies as much as possible, then come and buy everything while we were there...
At first it was only Team 7 who treated me like a precious jewel, but now Team 5's loyalty to Da-yeon had grown enormously too.
As if competing with Team 7, they fawned over Da-yeon, and they even fought each other.
Especially when there was a futsal tournament, centered around Park Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-oh, they would go at it intensely like a real match.
And the team names weren't even Team 5 and Team 7; they were Team Da-yeon and Team Si-yoon.
We weren't even participating in those games...
After the first day of the part-time job ended, Da-yeon and I naturally headed home.
As it began to get dark outside, I got ready to go out with Dad.
"Si-yoon, how was it?"
"Eh, it was just whatever. A ton of HSW people came, though."
"Yeah? Want Daddy to say something to them?"
Dad's shoulders lifted, as if he felt a surge of confidence for the first time in a while, but I snorted a little laugh.
"What could you say, Dad. You might get hit if you do."
"Uh... um... nah, no way... would they hit their employer...?"
Dad flinched at my words, as if afraid he really might get hit.
As expected, Dad had a bit of a dorky charm.
I wore black stockings, short pants, and a hooded zip-up.
Dad, as always, wore clothes with a Suton Island maker's mark.
While watching Dubu's stream, I went down to the parking lot and got into Dad's car.
- NoPrincess has donated 1,000 won.
If you take your stockings off, 100,000 won deal? (danglingly)
-"Hey!!!! Why don't you wear them then?! And you! Don't write 'danglingly' when you don't have one!"
- NoPrincess has donated 1,000 won.
I do have two dangling things, you know? And if you don't like it, too bad~ (danglingly)
-"You're crazy... that's not your image... you're a hero of Korea... why are you like this..."
As I watched the stream with a smirk, Dad looked over at me.
"Oh? It's Dubu?"
"Yeah, I'm the chairman here."
"Oh... how much have you spent?"
"33.43 million...?"
Hearing the donation amount, Dad's expression suddenly turned dead serious.
"...Hey."
"...Yes?"
I quietly put my phone in my pocket and clasped my hands behind my back.
The place Dad and I headed to was the JBC headquarters.
Today was the day we were filming Next-Door Hyungnim for the first time in a while.
As I got out of the car and stretched, the JSM stylist and makeup artist aunties quickly swarmed around me.
"Si-yoon, you have to come early, I told you!"
"Ahaha, sorry, I came right away but..."
Dad got an earful from the aunties, and he began getting his makeup done right next to me while I was getting mine.
"Hello! It's Kim Ji-ho, living on the Billboard charts again and coming to you from there!"
"I'm the daughter from that. Search if you're curious."
The Next-Door Hyungnim members greeted us.
By now the blackboard behind them was filled with pictures I had drawn.
""Wow!!! The national hero!!!""
The broadcasting station was even calling me a national hero over this controversy.
The copyright issue with China had been a headache for every Korean broadcaster, and it seemed they were thinking of taking a firm stance this time.
As soon as Kang In-seong saw me, he brought it up.
"Wow... Si-yoon, you're an amazing speaker, you know that?"
"I know."
"Do you also know you're pretty?"
"Of course~"
That was when Uncle Kim Gyeong-hoon spoke.
"Si-yoon, what's your IQ?"
"Never had it checked, too much hassle."
If Next-Door Hyungnim had a distinctive trait, it was that the recording time was long and once the conversation shifted in a direction, everyone just piled onto it.
The members excitedly talked about my grades along with Dad.
And naturally, they started talking about my genius, which led into stories from when I was little.
Only after quite a while had passed did Uncle Kang In-seong seem satisfied and change the topic.
"The Si-yoon Bounce is incredibly famous, isn't it?"
The Si-yoon Bounce was the bizarre dance I'd done before on Next-Door Hyungnim.
It had established itself as a meme and started an enormous trend.
To the point that even now there were still people who danced it frequently.
The ugly man at the very front spoke.
"Show us the founder's class."
"I'd like to, but I'm only wearing thin shorts under my skirt. I'll teach you a new dance instead."
""Ohhhhh!!!""
They thought I might feel pressured because of the 'Si-yoon Bounce,' which had now blown up so big it had gotten out of my hands.
But to me, the 'Si-yoon Bounce' was just the tip of the iceberg; I had tons of dances the Dreaming aunties had acknowledged.
"It's a dance expressing the walk of the daughter of the dad who's currently hot in hip-hop. I even gave it a name. From now on call it the 'Si-yoon Walk.' Give me a beat, please~"
This was a dance even Dad didn't know about.
I'd made it most recently, so at most only Auntie Yua knew it.
I put on a haughty expression with my trademark face, used my elbows to make a ninety-degree angle with my arms, and raised them level with my shoulders.
The bizarre posture utilizing my thin, long arms made people feel something was unusual from the very start.
In a pose like a person walking on a hanger, with every step I took in time with the beat, I began moving while busily twisting only my ankles.
"Ack! What is that!"
"Wow... a real genius."
Not breaking under the sound of people's laughter, the key point was turning my body toward the camera while maintaining a haughty expression.
I stopped dancing, smiled at the camera as if a little embarrassed, and said,
"Occasionally people ask me to show them when they pass by... just drop dead, seriously, don't ask."
When I'd revealed my bizarre dance, there had been a time when my dancing ability became a hot topic.
And also when I'd released the dance video I shot with the Dreaming aunties.
Of course, I naturally couldn't dance as well as the Dreaming aunties who had conquered the world with dance, but maybe because I'd danced for a long time to play with them, I now danced better than most idol trainees.
More than anything, the dance I revealed this time was a lot harder than people thought.
Even the Si-yoon Bounce took more than three days of practice to do properly, but this one was at a level that was hard for someone without talent to follow.
While everyone was giggling and copying my dance, Kang In-seong said,
"Si-yoon, Si-yoon! In that case, could you maybe show us your real dance skill?!"
"Nope~ gotta save it. I'll show you when I appear with the Dreaming aunties later~"
"Ohhh! That's a promise!"
"How hard could that be."
As we progressed with the broadcast, for the finale we sang the song we'd released and revealed the donations made through the streaming proceeds.
"Wow... is that really 6.8 billion? Is this real money?"
The man with a lot of debt was gaping from the back.
It was probably because if 6.8 billion came to him, not as a donation but into his own pocket, he could resolve all his debts he'd been struggling to pay off.
Time passed, and as I was lying on the sofa rolling around with Beta, Dad sighed.
"Si-yoon... you have to wear pants..."
"Don't want to. It's uncomfy."
"Are you going to stay like that all day today?"
"Hmm... then, I guess I'll draw~ bring me some fruit."
"Which kind?"
"Mm... any?"
I roughly tied up my hair with the hair tie on my wrist and headed to my studio.
A studio full of the smell of paint.
I placed a canvas bigger than my body on the easel and thought for a moment about what to draw.
SIYUN - In Her Brain 137.
The painting that had connected Farzier and me, the one of the view looking outside from our swimming pool.
I laughed a little at the old memory and began to draw again.
The scenery I had watched together with Da-yeon.
I drew the underdrawing of the background, which had changed little by little. And I began filling in color with my distinctive brushwork, which had developed further with all the painting I'd done up until now.