Park Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-oh.
Park Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-oh.
When I got home, Dad came rushing out ahead of Alpha and Beta.
"Daaal~! You're back?!"
"Yeah."
"What did you do today?!"
Dad hovered around me even more than Alpha and Beta did.
I pushed his face away with my hand.
"Get off. Why are you so clingy today?"
"Daaal~"
"The whole world already knows I'm your daughter... Come on, out. I need to wash up."
"Hmph... Just one hug... You're so mean."
I ignored Dad's Puss in Boots expression and went into the bathroom.
After taking care of business, I went to my room, changed into pajamas, and came back out to the living room.
As I sat on the sofa, Dad was watching me cautiously from a distance.
I sighed and said to him,
"Come here."
The moment I said that, he shot over, wrapped me in his arms, and wouldn't let go for a long time. Annoying Dad.
If I'd known he was going to hold on even longer than usual, I would've just hugged him when I walked in. Tch...
A man with attachment issues who barely ever goes out—Dad was pretty damn exhausting.
Well, since he likes it so much, I guess I can invest ten minutes or so...
As I lay with my head on his thigh, Dad smiled and touched my ear.
Naturally, I ignored his gaze and pulled up Neotube on my phone.
The hottest issues these days... Sure, the algorithm probably pushed some of this because I've been searching my own videos a lot...
But even setting that aside, the 'SIYUN - WALK' dance had become the hottest dance lately.
It seemed like people were moved by a totally outlandish dance no one could've imagined; more people than I expected were trying to copy it.
And then there was 'SIYUN - BOUNCE,' which had already become legendary.
Cover videos of even little kids doing it were everywhere, but the one I was watching now was
a clip of some famous Chinese streamer who had uploaded a video of himself doing my 'Si-yoon Bounce'—and was now in the middle of a catastrophic downfall.
Seeing him post a flood of explanations claiming he hadn't known I was the creator made me snort.
"Sweetie, what're you watching?"
Dad leaned down trying to see my phone, so I turned the screen toward him.
"Ah~ that incident from before~"
"Yeah."
Dad didn't ask me separately when I'd learned Chinese.
When it came to asking things like that... he'd watched me pick up Japanese right next to him, so I guess it felt natural to him.
"My daughter's so smart her poor dad's having a hard time~"
"So, is it hard?"
"Aha, of course not~"
I set my phone on my chest and looked at Dad.
The moment our eyes met, Dad beamed.
"Dad."
"Yeah?"
"Want to practice the dance I made?"
"All of a sudden?"
I lifted myself off his thigh and said,
"Let's do it with a super addictive beat and a dance to match, and upload it together."
"Shall we?"
The old days when Dad and I playfully filmed the Ji-ho challenge dance flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern.
Though this time, I'm the one doing the teaching.
And so we danced to the beat together, and the day flew by in a flash.
The next day, when I came out after washing up, Dad started braiding my hair.
"Are you marrying your daughter off?"
"Would Ji-hoon like it... Do you know how reassuring a friend like Ji-hoon is, as a man?"
Ha... Dad's outrageous comment nearly put me in a really foul mood.
"As if you wouldn't freak out and stop me if I said I was actually going to date him."
"Ha ha."
Dad really liked Ji-hoon.
There were several reasons.
First, from Dad's perspective, Ji-hoon was always protecting me, looking out for me, and treating me well.
In reality, he's a friend I've been with for a long time, and Dad even believed Ji-hoon had saved my life, didn't he.
And the biggest reason above all...
was probably that even in this situation, I didn't think of Ji-hoon as a romantic interest...
Seeing how Dad was wary of Tae-oh, I felt a little sorry for Ji-hoon but...
It seemed that, to Dad, Ji-hoon's face was pretty reassuring.
Dad, who thought I liked his own type of man, was still wary of Tae-oh.
A person's got to have a conscience...
I looked at the meticulously braided long hair that nearly reached my waist.
"Makes me look like an actual bride, huh?"
"Yeah, my daughter's pretty."
"Yeah yeah, so pretty~ Dad might be right, a guy like Ji-hoon wouldn't be bad~"
"....."
I nodded to myself and muttered quietly,
"I might have to marry Ji-hoon after all..."
"No..."
At Dad's reaction, I pointed a finger at him and let out a short laugh.
"Ha!"
"You... being disrespectful to your dad, pointing your finger at me like that?"
"Bleh~"
Still, I was going to see Ji-hoon's parents, so it felt wrong to dress too sloppily. I changed into clothes that gave off as modest a feel as possible.
The outfit Da-yeon had put together for me: the so-called girlfriend look!
Skinny jeans with a white boxy tee tucked into them.
Then I put on the black diamond earrings that had become my trademark by now, and even wore the bracelet I had given Dad for his birthday.
Once I slung on a small black mini shoulder bag just big enough for my wallet, it was perfect.
"I'm heading out~"
"Call before it gets late, or before you arrive~"
"Got it."
I put on the sneakers Dad gave me, gave him a vague wave goodbye, and headed to the first floor.
Kang Jong-hyeon was waiting for me. The moment our eyes met, he greeted me.
"How is it? Pretty?"
"Of course."
Kang Jong-hyeon naturally opened the door for me. A situation that had become so familiar by now that I got into the vehicle without a second thought.
"Let's go~"
"Yes~ I shall escort you."
From my house to Ji-hoon's wasn't a long distance, but since he offered to drive me, I didn't turn him down.
The moment I got in the car, I called Ji-hoon, but he didn't pick up.
He finally answered on about the second or third call.
"You little shit, why didn't you pick up right away? You wanna get the shit beaten out of you?"
Silence flowed without any reply...
Cold...
-"...This is Jung-ho."
"....."
I felt a slight sense of being screwed, and for the first time in a long while, I felt my brain freeze up.
Even so, I instinctively changed my voice and said,
"Ah... hello..."
Park Jeong-ho.
In the Republic of Korea, even among people who didn't know the rules of baseball, a considerable number knew the three syllables of Park Jeong-ho's name.
It's a bit much to say this about someone else's father, but...
Maybe because he spent his life in athletics in the Republic of Korea... he was a pretty severe hard-ass.
The story that he'd beaten Ji-hoon with a baseball bat well into the 21st century was absolutely not a lie.
Well, from what I'd heard, every time he swung the bat at Ji-hoon, Ji-hoon's mother Yoo Mi-seon would hit him with a bat, but...
Anyway, for as strict as he was, he was also incredibly proud of Ji-hoon.
-"...I'll put Ji-hoon on."
"Yes... thank youu..."
And then Park Ji-hoon's voice came through.
"You son of a bitch!! Oh you piece of shit! You should've checked who it was, you seriously wanna die!?"
-"Gahk... ahem... it's on speakerphone... Mom and Dad's faces right now are priceless ak..."
Wow... this bastard... Yeah... Let's go home.
This bastard had clearly set me up, predicting my reaction, and meant to mess with me.
"Sir."
"Yes?"
"Let's go home."
"Uh... um... we've already arrived."
I was aware the car had stopped at some point, but I thought we were just stuck at a light...
When I slowly turned my head, Ji-hoon's family was waiting outside to greet me.
And they were all looking directly at my seat.
I slowly covered my face and bowed my head.
With the dark tint, they couldn't see me from outside anyway, but this was an unavoidable instinctive reaction.
-"Helloooo? You dead? Aghk."
"Shut up..."
Hearing Ji-hoon's mother Yoo Mi-seon's voice, I confirmed it was still on speakerphone.
-"Si-yoon... are you... not getting out?"
I assessed the situation with my overwhelming cognitive ability, opened the door, and got out.
"Hello!"
I greeted them as brightly as I could, feigning ignorance, but Park Jeong-ho's next words made me blush.
"That was pretty colorful language. Sounded a lot like what I used to hear during my playing days..."
"I'm sorry..."
Park Ji-hoon pointed a finger at me and cackled, then got smacked in the back of the head by his mother.
I followed Park Ji-hoon's mother inside the front gate, and the yard was much bigger than I'd expected.
"Maybe because it's been a while~? Our Si-yoon has gotten so pretty?"
"Ah, thank you~..."
I went inside the house and naturally took a seat at the table they'd set for me.
We were a family with quite a close relationship, but there were probably three reasons why it felt like I was sitting on pins and needles right now.
First, because I'd hurled profanities at Park Jeong-ho...
Second, because of Park Jeong-ho's heavy aura...
Third, probably because I was dressed up like a bride...
The atmosphere felt exactly like I was supposed to make some declaration like 'Please give me your son.'
The adults picked up their spoons and started eating. Just as I lifted my spoon to try the soup, Park Jeong-ho opened his mouth.
"Did you know... that Ji-hoon's dream was baseball?"
Park Ji-hoon, that bastard, was giggling as he stuffed food into his mouth.
I made a mental note to beat the ever-loving hell out of him if I ever got the chance.
I didn't like the situation either... and since my image was already wrecked anyway, I decided to just do whatever I wanted.
"Ji-hoon said his dream was to be a fighter, eleven years ago on June twenty-seventh, around three in the afternoon, didn't he?"
"Ahem..."
I smiled a bewitching smile at Park Jeong-ho.
"If I wouldn't have known, then he must've been even younger than that~"
As I lifted a spoonful of soup, Ji-hoon's mother's eyes sparkled as she watched me.
I had to acknowledge Ji-hoon's mother's skill in the kitchen.
Maybe because I'd been mooching banchan off them since I was little, her food suited my tastes perfectly.
Ji-hoon's mother placed a variety of side dishes onto my rice bowl from the side.
"Even though it's been a while since I had this, it's really delicious as always~"
"Oh my, really~? That's a relief~ And how's your dad doing?"
"Of course. He's practicing dancing right now."
"Dancing?"
"Yes, this time I decided to film the dance I developed with my dad and upload it~"
"I see~ Ah! Our Si-yoon has practically become a national hero?"
"Aha."
Because of this recent incident with China, Park Jeong-ho also seemed to have a lot he was curious about regarding me; he nodded as he looked at me.
"I was proud of you."
Yoo Mi-seon looked at Park Jeong-ho and laughed softly.
"Ji-hoon's dad, every time he drinks with his friends, he brags about how Si-yoon is his son's friend."
"Ahem! When did I ever do that?"
"You did it yesterday too, but pretending you didn't~"
"...Ahem..."
Smiling, I fetched my wallet.
Then I took out an ID photo and gave it to Park Jeong-ho.
"Aha, brag even more with this~"
"....."
When I smiled a slightly greasy smile at Park Jeong-ho as he took my ID photo while pretending not to want it, he flinched.
"I can see now how our Si-yoon has our Ji-hoon wrapped around her finger~"
"Aha."
After I finished eating, I helped clean up. They told me I didn't have to help and to go hang out with Ji-hoon, so I went to his room.
"Oh... look at your computers, fancy as hell."
Brilliant LED light poured out of the two water-cooled rigs.
I naturally sat down at the one that looked like it had better performance.
"What're you doing? Get lost?"
"You get lost. That's my spot."
"You suck ass at games, so why do you even care about specs?"
"...?"
"Sorry."
I played the Maple Leaf Game for a bit, then spoke to Park Ji-hoon.
"Oh, right. You been jerking off? Smells like chestnut blossoms in here, you crazy fuck. It's rank as hell, shit."
"Bullshit? Never once in my life have I rubbed one out."
"Wow, that's some barking from Alpha and Beta like a couple of dogs. Woof woof, dipshit."
My sense of smell was pretty sensitive, and there really was a foul, fishy odor in this room.
"Hey, for real, the smell is rough... You're reeking up the place in front of a girl."
"Ah! I said cut the crap! I never did anything like that!"
"Guess your shrimp grew a tiny bit and now you're running your mouth all you want. This fucker."
"Hey!"
Just then, Ji-hoon's mother's voice came from outside.
"Ji-hoon! Take the fruit!"
Park Ji-hoon glanced toward the door, then looked at me and said,
"Don't do anything stupid."
"Stop talking shit, get lost~"
"....."
The moment I confirmed Park Ji-hoon had left, I immediately hit Alt+Tab.
I searched through Park Ji-hoon's computer while he was briefly out, and sure enough, for a guy, there were the kind of videos you'd expect.
Right as I was accurately verifying Park Ji-hoon's tastes, which I'd never known about before, Park Ji-hoon came back with the fruit, freaked out, and lunged at me from behind.
"What are you doing! You crazy bitch!"
"Get lost~ Told you it seriously reeked of chestnut blossoms in here~ This fucker was just rubbing one out. You nasty bastard."
I shoved the charging Park Ji-hoon away with my foot, and the force was stronger than expected; the chair tipped backward.
Amid that, Park Ji-hoon put his hand out to keep my head from hitting the floor.
Park Ji-hoon's mother came running at the loud noise.
"What is going...!!! Ji-hoon... you two are still students..."
""....?""
Park Ji-hoon's mother suddenly closed the door and left.
My brain froze for a moment wondering what situation this was, but she'd clearly imagined something very foul, so I kicked Park Ji-hoon right in the vitals.
"Aghk!"
"Ma'am!!! Ji-hoon's trying to force himself on me!!!"
"Hey!! Shut your moooouth!!!"
Park Ji-hoon clamped his hand over my mouth.
Honestly, I'd thought for a while now that I was completely no match for him physically, but by this point, the gap was starting to get way too big.
The grip strength that held me still no matter how much I struggled to peel his hand off.
As I thrashed, Park Ji-hoon wrapped one arm around me, pinning my arms and waist together.
"Mmph!! Mmph!"
Just then, Yoo Mi-seon burst back in, aghast, and started hitting Park Ji-hoon.
Once Park Ji-hoon's father found out, he also laid into Park Ji-hoon with the baseball bat.
"Aghk!! It hurts!!! Go easy on me!!!"
"This little shit, for real!"
I got to witness Park Ji-hoon living out in the wild, fighting for survival.