Park Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-oh.
Park Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-oh.
Kang In-seong came into the house and exchanged greetings, and Aunt Ji-su bowed at a full ninety degrees to Park Jeong-ho, saying it was an honor.
Then Aunt Ji-su, who had been sitting down, spotted Ji-hoon, and the two of them greeted each other warmly.
"You two know each other?"
"Ah, he's Si-yoon's friend."
She answered Kang In-seong's question and turned toward me. After glancing past the two of them cooking, Aunt Ji-su, who was about to face forward again, suddenly locked her gaze in my direction.
I looked at the cabinet handle reflecting like a mirror straight ahead and gave a sly grin.
Aunt Ji-su, as expected...
"...Si-yoon... is that...?"
Along with Aunt Ji-su's trembling words, the camera that reacted instantly pointed at me.
I turned around and greeted them.
"Hello~ Uncle In-seong and Aunt Ji-su~"
""Whaaaaaat!?!?!?""
The cast and crew seemed more shocked to discover me than they were to coincidentally arrive at some house where Park Jeong-ho lived.
Everyone stiffened up, and you couldn't even hear breathing.
I ran over to Aunt Ji-su naturally and hugged her.
"Long time no see, Auntie~?"
"Uh... yeah... but why are you... at this house...?"
"Me? I'm a lot closer to Ji-hoon than you'd think."
I talked with Kang In-seong too, and Park Ji-hoon started carrying out the food.
Every eye locked onto Ji-hoon. In a casual tank top, his sharply defined physique was on full display.
"Si-yoon... so... you're into that type...?"
Park Ji-hoon's face wasn't half bad at the moment. After getting double-eyelid surgery, he actually fell into the decent-looking category.
Of course, the problem was that he looked like a second-rate thug...
He said he was dyeing his hair red next break... that would be even more of a spectacle.
While I was fooling around and chatting for a bit, the food kept coming endlessly...
Aunt Ji-su and I were helping, but even so, we didn't have enough hands.
"Aren't you... pushing yourself too hard?"
Yoo Mi-seon was smiling at Kang In-seong's words, but the answer came from Park Ji-hoon.
"Dad and I, the two of us can eat all of this."
"Excuse me?"
After all the food was brought out, Ji-su and I sat down and started eating too.
"You know there's an appearance fee, right?"
"Of course we'll take care of it, although it's hard to match what you get for Next-Door Hyungnim..."
"I know~"
From the moment they clearly confirmed the appearance fee would be paid, the questions about me began pouring in earnest.
"Ji-hoon? There should be archive footage of us watching baseball together...? We've been close since kindergarten."
Aunt Ji-su nodded in response to my words.
"When Si-yoon came over to hang out, I often played with Ji-hoon too~"
Most of the questions were about Park Ji-hoon, who was shoveling food into his mouth.
Aunt Ji-su checked the producer's cue card, then kept the questions going naturally.
"You sleeping over tonight?"
"Nah, I was planning to head home after dinner~ Auntie, are you busy today?"
"No? Why?"
"Since I'm here, I should play a round with Ji-hoon~"
"Should we...?"
When Park Jeong-ho and Yoo Mi-seon signaled their approval, Aunt Ji-su looked at the producer and nodded.
We ate, then headed to Ji-hoon's room with a cameraman.
This was after Ji-hoon and I had a serious talk that morning about the unmistakable semen-like smell in his room; he'd aired it out and sprayed air freshener afterward.
"Whoa, it's super clean~"
"If it isn't, I get my ass beat by my dad."
"Ah... I see."
While the two of them played a game, I helped clean up.
Then I brought out the fruit.
As I held the knife and was peeling, Uncle Kang In-seong's eyes went wide.
"Wow... that's art~"
My dazzling knife work had literally reached the level of art.
Just then, Uncle Kang In-seong showed off a trick where he split an apple with his hands.
Smiling, I took it and split a half with both hands.
"Whoa... Si-yoon's strong~?"
Kang In-seong took the two pieces I'd split and split one again, but my hands were small, so I didn't think I could manage that.
After peeling the fruit to a certain point, I picked up the plate and headed for Ji-hoon's room.
Aunt Ji-su was already absorbed in the game.
"Have some fruit~"
"Oh!? Got it, hold on..."
Having demonstrated to Park Ji-hoon exactly what a skill gap looks like, Aunt Ji-su stepped out, looking satisfied.
When I casually took the seat where Aunt Ji-su had been sitting, Park Ji-hoon threw a fit.
"Get out~ I'm not playing with you."
"...That's petty..."
"...???"
Because the cameras were rolling, I pretended to be sulky, and Park Ji-hoon freaked.
"Won't you... play with me... too..."
"Are you crazy!?"
I entered the game just like that, and Park Ji-hoon, who had been staring at me like I was a genuine batshit lunatic, also realized the gravity of the cameras and entered the game.
I was bad to begin with, but when I deliberately played even worse, Ji-hoon predictably started flaming me.
"Ah, what are you doing~... you seriously... suck so bad..."
I pushed my lips out and quietly listened to Park Ji-hoon's words.
When I immediately locked in Ganjji—the poster boy for trash-tier play—Ji-hoon sighed.
"Wow... this is seriously not it, I'm losing my mind... wow..."
"I'm not playing."
When I got up on the spot and headed for the door, Park Ji-hoon freaked out and grabbed me.
Ji-hoon knew perfectly well that if I walked out like this, public opinion would send him straight to the abyss, so he whispered in my ear.
"Are you... seriously trying to kill me...? Sit down. Hurry..."
I slowly sat back down. Unable to take my trolling anymore, Park Ji-hoon said,
"Haah... you're doing this on purpose, right?"
"Doing what..."
"Oh fuck, your reactions are so fucking annoying! Fuck!! It's disgusting, so cut the concept shit! For real!"
I hunched my shoulders and rolled my eyes, pretending to check Park Ji-hoon's mood. Every bit of it got caught on camera.
"Sorry..."
"Hey... hey! That's crossing the line!!!"
Park Ji-hoon suddenly dropped to his knees and grabbed my legs.
"I'm sorry, I won't do it again... this isn't right, seriously, my dad will fucking kill me... you crazy bitch... seriously..."
When the episode aired, the station predictably didn't do what Ji-hoon wanted; every scene aired.
Park Ji-hoon, who had achieved the number-one title of both Korea's most envied man and Korea's bad boy...
He started getting overwhelmingly flooded with hate comments.
Of course, I had prepared a video in advance and did some explaining.
Along with telling people not to leave hate comments, with the nuance that Ji-hoon was a really precious friend of mine...
I used Ji-hoon to give my reputation for being rude a thorough cleanup.
And Park Ji-hoon got a very real lesson in just how popular I am.
The next day, while I was swimming with Da-yeon, it came time for our part-time job, so we each headed to our own places to change clothes.
Had the SNS post of us doing our part-time job from before caused a problem...?
The entrance to Dad's Tower Palace was packed with people...
HSW was holding them back, but a truly massive number of people had swarmed in.
It was a situation where even the police had been mobilized and were holding them back.
The police were speaking through a megaphone to control the large crowd.
"If anyone who is not a resident or an authorized person enters this building, it constitutes criminal trespass! Stop filming!!! Do not enter!!!!!"
The people outside would probably all disperse within a day, but this was a nuisance like no other.
While I was holding my spot with Da-yeon and watching outside, a customer came in.
The person who walked in was a lady I hadn't seen in a long time—the one who had breastfed me when I was small.
"Oh... hello~"
"Oh my, Si-yoon, you've grown so much~"
"Sure have~"
"We live in the same building, but I feel like I only see what you're up to on TV these days?"
"Ahaha."
The lady put this and that on the counter.
I rang her up quickly, and Da-yeon started putting things into a bag.
"This one's for you, Si-yoon and Da-yeon~"
""Thank you~""
The people living in Tower Palace...
Thanks to the people we had friendly relationships with, the food kept piling up.
Da-yeon said as she drank some milk,
"At this rate, I'm gonna turn into a pig..."
"Still, I think Da-yeon would be cute even then?"
"Tch..."
We'd been chatting for a while and were organizing things in the stockroom when Park Ji-hoon came looking for us.
"Hey! Kim Si-yoon, where are you!!!"
"Ji-hoon, hi~"
"Oh, good to see you. Where's Si-yoon?"
"She's not working today."
At Da-yeon's natural lie, Park Ji-hoon's eyes went half-lidded.
"You... are you turning into Si-yoon...?"
"You do realize anyone would take that as a compliment, right?"
"....."
When Park Ji-hoon tried to come into the stockroom where I was, Da-yeon said,
"I've heard there are legal consequences if you go in there without being authorized personnel."
"Kim Si-yoon. So you were in here?"
I walked out casually, acting as if I knew nothing.
"Move it, musclehead. I'm busy."
"...Don't you have something to say to me?"
"What, could you get out of my way and not bother me?"
I smacked Park Ji-hoon's arm as I passed him. Park Ji-hoon grabbed my long hair and pulled it like it was a handle.
"Ack! You son of a bitch, wanna die?"
"Because of you, I get cussed the fuck out just walking down the street, fuck!"
"Hell yeah~"
"Wow..."
"Alright, hold on."
I opened an SNS account I didn't even use and quickly uploaded photos I'd taken with Park Ji-hoon.
- We were just joking around, so don't cuss Ji-hoon out, I'm genuinely really close with Ji-hoon.
From the photos Dad took for us, to kindergarten graduation photos, to elementary school graduation photos—Park Ji-hoon was always right next to me.
Park Ji-hoon checked my SNS and immediately led with an insult.
"Wow... you're acting like a fucking sanctimonious prick."
"Park Ji-hoon! Stop swearing at Si-yoon!!!"
"Yeah~ I'll get right on that~"
Da-yeon's cute little punch flew out immediately and landed squarely on Park Ji-hoon.
"Kyaa~ Da-yeon~"
"Si-yoon~ don't play with that idiot~"
"Should I not?"
"Yeah!"
Behind us, Park Ji-hoon just let out a deep sigh.
The firepower from China had to be acknowledged, as expected.
The comments were still overwhelmingly full of Chinese.
I loaded up a photo Dad had taken of me back in my short-hair days, before I went on Next-Door Hyungnim, with full makeup done.
Photos that stirred a sense of mystery, making you wonder if you were looking at a truly living creature.
Then I also uploaded the picture of Joo Ha-rin that I'd gotten from Director Yoo Dae-yeon.
After uploading all the photos, I wrote a post in Chinese.
- You guys are out here talking shit about me, but honestly, I'm fucking gorgeous, admit it.
"Kyahahaha!"
Dad, who was petting Alpha, looked at me weirdly because of my bizarre laugh.
Once I was done with SNS, I set the Pineapple Phone—which I'd only gotten for that exact purpose—to silent, tossed it aside, and started playing with Beta.
Dad kept looking at my Pineapple Phone, which wouldn't stop lighting up.
"Wow... this is insane?"
"Right? I should just turn off notifications."
Like an American-made M134 machine gun, messages were flying in at about a hundred rounds per second.
As I lay on the floor, Dad, who was on the sofa, brought Alpha over and lay down next to me.
"You said you're going to the pool with your middle school club friends tomorrow."
"Yeah."
"Then you should sleep early~ so you won't be tired while you're out having fun."
"I could just sleep while I'm there?"
"Ah...?"
Dad thought about it, then nodded as if he agreed with me.
"Want to sleep with Daddy tonight?"
"I'm eighteen."
"Ah... right... you definitely do look really young with your long hair, Si-yoon~"
Usually, having long hair gives a more innocent feel and makes you look more mature, but it was a little different for me.
It feels weird to say it myself, but... with the doll-like vibe and the long hair, I look quite a bit younger.
To the point where I slightly wondered, if England had a young lady, would she feel like this?
It was especially pronounced when I put my long hair in a ponytail like now.
Beta was batting around our ill-fated Antonio and trotting all over the place with the doll clamped in her teeth.
Watching him get jabbed by those teeth, honestly... what a tragic fate.
A day passed. When I came out to the living room rubbing my eyes, Dad was sitting on the sofa, asleep.
"I'm hungry."
Dad flinched and opened his eyes. Seeing me, he got up, pulled me into one tight hug and took a breath, then immediately went to check the fridge.
"What... should we eat?"
"Chinese?"
"Mm... no. You're going to eat out with your friends later."
"I want noodles, though..."
"Want me to make buckwheat noodles?"
"Oh... nice."
Dad started getting the ingredients ready, and I headed straight for the sofa and flopped face-down.
"Come over here next to me and slice the cucumber."
"That's annoying~"
"Should I not cook for you either?"
"Wow, that's just wrong. Even birds feed their chicks."
"Birds also kick their chicks out once they've grown up a certain amount, you know."
"Hm, should I try becoming independent, then?"
".....Help me before I get mad."
I stood next to Dad and started slicing the cucumber.
"Wow..."
With a flashy knife technique that drew the eye, the cucumber was prepped in no time.
"Wanna go?"
"You don't want to be next to me?"
"Nope."
"....."
I lay back down on the sofa and petted Alpha and Beta.
Alpha had been biting my hand a lot lately.
Seeing Alpha bite my hand, Beta raised a paw and smacked him down—whap-whap-whap!
""Hyaaaaak!!!""
"Paw."
Beta hissed at Alpha, then gave me her paw.
I stroked Beta, then picked Alpha up and placed him on my stomach.
"Stop fighting."
"Myah..."
"Beta, come here."
Beta leaped up and climbed onto my side.
"You two make up."
""Myah...""
I took hold of their arms and placed Beta's paw on top of Alpha's paw.
I dressed Alpha and Beta, took pictures of them, and played with them for a while.
Dad said food was ready. Alpha and Beta scrambled to move.
"I'm the one supposed to eat, why are you two going?"
I pulled out a chair at the table and plopped down.
When I picked up the buckwheat noodles with my chopsticks and took a bite, Dad watched me with sparkling eyes.
"How is it?... Is it good?... How good?"
"You keep bugging me?"
"Whyyyy~ tell me~"
"It's really good."
"Ahaha."
Only then, satisfied, did Dad pick up his chopsticks and start eating.
Normally I might've done a short vlog, but right now, the moment I turned it on, it would definitely be overrun by Chinese people, so I left it off.
"Dad, did you finish practicing the choreography?"
"Yeah, I think I can film it tomorrow. I got a matching beat ready too, by the way~"
While eating, I typed a message first in the middle school manga club group chat, then answered Dad.
"...Yeah?"
"Were you listening to me?"
"Want me to repeat back every single bit?"