Playing the Game I'd Been Waiting For.
Playing the Game I'd Been Waiting For.
After that day, no one at school dared treat me lightly.
The same went for the kids who'd watched me fight Ji-hoon.
Well, after seeing my picture-perfect flying knee smash into Ji-hoon, who would dare?
Anyway, today was the school's founding anniversary, so I didn't go to school. Instead, I followed Dad to the JSM headquarters.
"Si-yoon."
"What is it, Grandpa?"
CEO Jang Seong-man was fidgeting nervously and offering me chocolate.
"So... could you maybe... call me uncle instead...?"
"I call a grandpa ‘Grandpa.’ What else would I call you?"
CEO Jang Seong-man's eldest son had become a high school senior this year.
The age gap between him and Dad was a full 16 years.
Dad was 30 now, so CEO Jang Seong-man was a 46-year-old man.
"I-I'm not even 50 yet..."
I challenged the grumbling Jang Seong-man.
"So why did you ask to see me separately?"
"Well... I already talked to your dad about it... but would you like to do a movie?"
That immediately caught my interest.
"A movie?"
These days, all I did at home was play the Maple Leaf Game, watch Alpha and Beta, or watch movies.
More than anything, whenever I watched child actors perform, I kept thinking I could do a better job than them.
"Yeah, a famous director's preparing a movie this time~"
"Who?"
"His name's Yoo Dae-yeon..."
Yoo Dae-yeon was a director with numerous films that had each drawn more than ten million viewers.
It was a name capable of sparking interest where there had been none.
"Oh..."
When I showed a positive reaction, Jang Seong-man's eyes lit up.
"You know him?"
"I've seen a lot of his work. Including the one that won an award at an American film festival."
"...That one's rated 15..."
"...?"
My icy expression made Jang Seong-man panic and wave his hands frantically.
"No, never mind. I misspoke..."
I nodded and answered as though his form of address had now been settled for good.
"Yes, Grandpa."
Jang Seong-man grabbed onto my leg.
"Si-yoon!!! I'm sorry!"
"First, tell me why Director Yoo Dae-yeon needed me."
When I moved to cross my legs, I saw Jang Seong-man about to scold me, but he held back, so I uncrossed them.
Habits really are a terrifying thing.
Now, when an older person calls me out on something, my body moves on its own.
Jang Seong-man gauged my mood and then explained how Director Yoo Dae-yeon had first noticed me.
"He said he saw Si-yoon on that Next-Door Hyungnim broadcast..."
And then he went on with the movie details.
The main story was about a virus turning Korea into a world overrun with zombies,
and the role I'd have to audition for was the protagonist's beloved little sibling.
The role was basically a minor part, but he said the film itself was set to receive an enormous investment from a famous overseas distributor.
"Is that all?"
"...Huh?"
"No, I mean, is that all for the character description?"
"...The investment is huge, so I think they’re withholding details to minimize the risk of spoilers..."
I looked at Jang Seong-man as he explained the additional concepts, then answered.
"Tell Dad I want to do it... No, wait. Grandpa will probably phrase it weirdly again."
Jang Seong-man made a bitter face.
"...Just what do you take me for...?"
"I'll just tell him myself."
"...Fine."
I walked over to Dad, who was in the middle of filming.
My sudden arrival broke Dad’s concentration.
Fortunately, the director seemed to have been about to take a break anyway, and the filming paused for a moment.
"Si-yoon, you’re here?"
"Yeah."
Dad picked me up and introduced me to everyone.
"Oh my! Si-yoon is so pretty!"
"I know."
Everyone was entranced by my face.
I looked at Dad and said,
"I want to try doing a movie. What do you think, Dad?"
"...You know you can't just treat a movie like a joke, right?"
I looked at Dad and smirked.
"I'm gonna treat it like a joke. If the director likes me, he'll cast me anyway."
"Oh... I guess you’re right."
The others could not hear what Dad and I were saying.
But there were plenty of people filming the sight of Dad and me together.
It was needlessly uncomfortable.
The next day, during PE class, we were in front of the pool doing calisthenics following the teacher.
The little kids were eagerly following along up front.
I could not be bothered, so I half-assed the stretches while warming up.
Then Ji-hoon, who was next to me, looked at me and spoke up.
"Whoa... swimming... it's really been forever."
Jae-hyeong and I had learned survival swimming before, and we hadn't been bad at it back then either.
No, actually, we'd liked the water quite a lot.
As proof, even when we'd gone to the pool back in daycare, the two of us had swum around like athletes.
That was why Ji-hoon had that excited look on his face.
After calisthenics ended, the swimming teacher looked at us and asked,
"Is there anyone here who's good at swimming?"
Ji-hoon and the kids in the swimming club raised their hands confidently.
That punk Ji-hoon looked at me and smirked.
"Heh-heh-heh... I bet I’ll be better this time."
Lately, Ji-hoon had really started to feel like an actual elementary schooler to me.
I nodded with my usual expression and sat quietly in the back.
The kids who'd raised their hands, probably the ones learning swimming seriously, were a bit faster than Ji-hoon.
One of them, in particular, had swimming skills far superior to the others, as if he were preparing to be a competitive athlete.
Honestly, Ji-hoon... he tried to swim using strength rather than technique, so he inevitably wasted a lot of energy.
'He’ll get in great shape swimming like that...'
Ji-hoon was absorbed in swimming, pissed off that he'd lost to that little kid,
and the kid who swam well was smiling as he watched.
I propped my chin on my hand and watched the little kids splashing around—it was peaceful as ever.
Of course, Ji-hoon was included among those little kids.
The swimming teacher spotted me not swimming and came over.
"Si-yoon, don't you like getting in the water?"
"No."
"Huh? Then why aren't you getting in?"
I looked at Ji-hoon and the children who trained seriously in swimming.
"If I get in, they’ll feel completely outclassed."
"...? What do you mean?"
I'd been sitting because the rubber mat on the floor was comfortable, but without answering, I tied up my long hair and put on a swim cap.
I got up and walked toward the pool, then slipped into the water naturally.
The swimming teacher watched me in silence.
Ji-hoon spotted me and came over, wildly overdoing his freestyle stroke.
"I’m warmed up. Why don’t you warm up and come over?"
Without a word, I put on the goggles that had been hanging around my neck, submerged, and kicked off the wall.
Si-yoon began her underwater glide, and the kids and teacher watched.
And the eyes of the kid everyone called gifted began to grow wider and wider.
Without taking a single breath, Si-yoon touched the 50-meter wall underwater and came back.
The teacher's expression, in particular, was even more priceless than the kids'.
Because before Si-yoon submerged, she hadn't really seemed to take a deep breath at all.
"".....""
In her black swimsuit, swimming faster than anyone, Si-yoon looked like a torpedo.
She reached the starting wall, executed a clean, perfect turn, and pushed off again.
"".....""
"Th-That's impossible..."
Si-yoon still looked completely at ease. The teacher, who had assumed she simply disliked the water, stared with his jaw hanging open.
She'd already done two laps, so it seemed like time to get out, but Si-yoon kicked off the wall and set out again.
The teacher looked at his watch and was at a loss for words.
Four minutes had passed since Si-yoon submerged.
At around the six-minute mark, Si-yoon surfaced as calmly as ever.
Si-yoon climbed the pool steps and walked onto the deck.
She removed her goggles and cap, shook out her waist-length hair, and returned to her original seat.
She was still breathing evenly, as though she had plenty left to spare.
Everyone was stunned.
Only Ji-hoon, who already knew what Si-yoon could do underwater, merely nodded.
"Pwah..."
When I climbed out of the water, an uncomfortable number of eyes were fixed on me.
I was used to the attention, but... the swimming teacher's gaze was really a lot to handle.
On the way back, I spotted a kickboard, pulled one out, laid it on the floor, and sat on it.
The swimming teacher came running from far away.
"Si-yoon!"
"They say not to run at the pool..."
The swimming teacher got flustered at my words and spoke very rapidly.
"Ah... right... sorry. Anyway, have you taken swimming lessons before?"
I looked at him, and my young teacher who'd taught me swimming came to mind.
"Mm... yeah, I have."
The teacher watched my reaction as he continued.
"Are you... by any chance training to be a competitive swimmer?"
"No."
My answer seemed to delight him.
"Would you consider becoming a competitive swimmer?!"
"No."
"...Why not?"
"Swimming's just a hobby."
"I see..."
Still disappointed, the teacher kept glancing back at me as he returned to supervising the children.
Even from across the pool, he continued watching me while managing them.
Park Ji-hoon approached me, though I wasn't sure when he'd gotten out of the water.
"Huff... huff... I didn't know you could... hold your breath that long."
I smirked and faced forward. Ji-hoon kept talking.
"Talk about trying to teach your grandmother to suck eggs..."
"What are you talking about? You were a quail spreading its wings in front of an airplane."
"A quail can't even fly..."
"Exactly."
"......"
Ji-hoon sat down next to me and stared at me as I watched the pool.
"No, but seriously, what's up with that body of yours... how is this even possible?"
"What?"
"Even when I sparred with you before, it wasn’t like this. I could at least touch you..."
I looked at my two hands for a moment.
Two small white hands without a single callus.
"That’s not true. You couldn’t touch me back then either."
"....."
I looked at Ji-hoon and said,
"Hit me."
"...?"
I held my face out toward Ji-hoon.
"I said take a swing."
"If I hit you for no reason, my life is over."
Ji-hoon thought back to Lee Jin-seok, who'd dominated the whole atmosphere at the school violence committee.
"That bastard was pretty damn imposing."
I smiled bitterly as memories of the past surfaced.
"We're the ones who made him that way..."
Ji-hoon, who'd been reminiscing about the past, looked at me and said,
"Wasn't it Park Gi who did that to Lee Jin-seok?"
"You crazy bastard, you turned Lee Gi-seok into ground meat yourself... and that's what you have to say?"
"Huh? You ordered me to do it! The nerve..."
"Yeah, and that's why I look after Da-yeon."
"That doesn't make what you did just... disappear..."
"....."
I propped my chin on my hand for a moment, lost in memories of the past.
Then, from far away, the boy who'd been the best swimmer approached.
"...?"
"You gonna be a competitive swimmer?"
"No."
"....."
As I faced forward again with an expression that said I couldn't be bothered, the boy clenched his fist and said,
"I am. I'm gonna be one."
'What am I supposed to do with that information...?'
The little kid suddenly went back into the water.
"...?"
Ji-hoon had been watching the situation unfold from beside me.
"Must be nice being so popular."