Da-yeon's Crush.
Da-yeon's Crush.
The moment Da-yeon saw Park Ji-hoon, she flinched in surprise.
Park Ji-hoon had gone through another growth spurt,
and now stood a full head taller than us. He'd been working out so much that his build was even better than Kim Tae-oh's.
Still, both of them were little runts.
But the biggest change was his face.
The face that used to be a total dweeb had completely transformed—thanks to one eye that had settled perfectly after surgery, his whole look had turned sharp.
Objectively, it practically advertised "I'm a delinquent"—a straight-up thug mug.
Park Ji-hoon picked his nose when no one was looking, then flicked it toward Kim Tae-oh, who was staring at him.
Maybe it was because he'd pulled that same crap on me in secret until I was sick of it...
but today, it was fucking reassuring.
I felt bad for Tae-oh, but I had to make him dislike Park Ji-hoon, while acting like I had feelings for Park Ji-hoon myself.
That was today's objective.
Kim Tae-oh, however, wasn't paying Park Ji-hoon any attention at all.
I walked up to Park Ji-hoon and took his hand like it was nothing.
The instant our hands touched, a chill ripped through both of us, like every nerve in our bodies was prickling at once.
And in the middle of that, Park Ji-hoon's mother was just beaming with joy...
The good news was, Da-yeon's eyes were sparkling too.
Park Ji-hoon and I moved somewhere else for a quick strategy meeting.
"Hey, let's stop holding hands now."
"Yeah, it's giving me such bad goosebumps I can't handle it either."
"Depending on how things go, we might have to do even more than that... but for now, it's on hold."
I turned to Park Ji-hoon, who was nodding along.
"Oh, right. Try gripping my wrist hard for a sec."
"Why?"
"Just wanna check your grip strength."
When Park Ji-hoon grabbed my wrist lightly, I could feel right away that his grip was heavier and more solid compared to Kim Tae-oh's. I nodded.
"You have to be better than Kim Tae-oh at everything. Beat him at everything, got it? And flash him that signature shit-eating grin you do when no one else is watching."
"???"
"This little punk's playing dumb... you know, the one you always gave me."
"Ah, okay."
The two of us continued the strategy meeting.
From a distance, Dad and Ji-hoon's mom were watching us in secret.
"Oh my... I had no idea they were so close."
"Right? Though, come to think of it, the only friends Si-yoon has at school are Ji-hoon and Ji-yeong."
"Really?"
Dad and Ji-hoon's mom smiled and nodded at each other.
After finishing the strategy session, we went over to Da-yeon.
I whispered into Da-yeon's ear.
"So, what do you think? Ji-hoon's pretty cool, right?"
Da-yeon was watching my reaction closely.
"Si-yoon... do you like Ji-hoon?"
I was supposed to answer with the line I'd prepared, but the words wouldn't come out so easily.
"Huh? Uh... yeah..."
Suddenly, Da-yeon's eyes started sparkling.
"Really?! I had no idea!"
I whispered into Da-yeon's ear again.
"Shh... you're not supposed to let it show when you like someone."
"Okay!"
Ji-hoon walked up to Da-yeon and struck up a conversation.
"Long time no see?"
"Yeah! It's been four years."
"Wow, you didn't forget and actually remembered. Smart."
"I was always the smarter one."
Park Ji-hoon smirked and reached out to tousle Da-yeon's hair, but Kim Tae-oh tried to grab Park Ji-hoon's hand.
Park Ji-hoon slipped away smoothly and fast.
"What, you tryna touch my arm or something?"
"....."
Kim Tae-oh stared at his own hand as if he hadn't expected Ji-hoon to dodge.
"If you wanna be friends, use your words. Baby boy."
Park Ji-hoon threw the shit-eating grin when Da-yeon wasn't looking.
Yep, that signature Park Ji-hoon shit-eating grin was more than enough to piss anyone off—and it was Kim Tae-oh, the kid who normally never showed any emotion, whose brow I saw twitch.
Park Ji-hoon jerked his chin toward the water at Kim Tae-oh, then dove in with a clean entry.
"....."
Kim Tae-oh suddenly let out a small laugh, then slowly waded into the water.
Perfect.
Anyone watching would say Park Ji-hoon was clearly an eleven-year-old kid who was constantly running around.
And then the swimming race between the two began.
"Wow... Ji-hoon's a really good swimmer~"
Their competitive fire was fully lit, and it was hard to tell who was winning.
Da-yeon and I watched for a bit before getting into the water ourselves.
The two of them were pouring every bit of strength into surging forward,
but Da-yeon and I, just casually swimming, overtook both Park Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-oh at an overwhelming speed.
The moment they saw our swimming ability, both of them stopped dead in their tracks and just gaped.
Park Ji-hoon was staring at Da-yeon's competition-level skill, and Kim Tae-oh was staring at my swimming in utter shock.
Fueled by their stares, I decided to show them what a "human torpedo" looked like.
"".....""
I confirmed that this place had a diving practice area that went down to fifteen meters, then started loosening up.
"Si-yoon... are you gonna go in there?"
"Yup, you just float up here and watch~"
"Okay!"
I pulled out the Level 0 freediver certification I kept in my pocket and showed it to a staff member.
Whenever I go into deep water, I never let myself get cocky—I sat down and controlled my breathing.
Because there's always that one-in-a-million chance.
"Hup."
Under the lifeguard's watch, I swam around the area a bit, then began a controlled circular descent straight down.
Kim Tae-oh watched the whole thing without a word.
Da-yeon was just dangling her legs in the water, and Park Ji-hoon casually sat down next to her.
"Man, the more I watch her, the more dumbfounded I get..."
"Si-yoon's a mermaid, that's why."
Park Ji-hoon smiled and reached out to stroke Da-yeon's hair, but once again Kim Tae-oh grabbed Park Ji-hoon's hand.
"Don't touch her without permission."
Park Ji-hoon smirked and tried to lightly shake off Kim Tae-oh's hand.
But Kim Tae-oh's grip was stronger than Park Ji-hoon had expected.
When he applied real force to yank his hand free, Tae-oh lost his hold, and the recoil sent Da-yeon—who was between them—tumbling into the water.
Eek!
A flustered Kim Tae-oh dove in fast to rescue Da-yeon,
and Park Ji-hoon dove in right after him.
What they overlooked was that Da-yeon was a far, far better swimmer than either of them.
Da-yeon came back up to the surface as naturally as if nothing had happened, leaving the two boys underwater staring at each other.
Just as they were slowly rising up from below, Da-yeon suddenly splashed back down into the water from above.
I hurriedly swam up and assessed the situation.
After pulling off my goggles and earplugs, I looked at them, and both little runts flinched at my expression.
"What's going on?"
"".....""
I really wanted to kick Park Ji-hoon in the shin,
but too many people were watching. So after climbing back out of the water, I took Da-yeon's hand and moved away with her.
"You saw that, right? They're total idiots."
"Yeah..."
Da-yeon looked at me with sparkling eyes and followed along closely.
After surviving yet another day of not knowing when Kim Tae-oh might confess to me,
I once again made a firm resolution not to see Kim Tae-oh for a while.
Praying he'd forget about me when he got older...
Dad had said he was going to shoot a vlog, but then he suddenly shoved the camera at me and went into the bathroom.
"Jeez..."
-Si-yoon, show us your face!
"No."
-Si-yoon, draw us something!
"No."
-Si-yoon, blow us a kiss!
I very naturally pressed the report button.
Then I put up the hood from my pajamas, grabbed the black mask Dad wears a lot, and put it on. Now my face was completely covered.
I pulled it down just a little so only my eyes were visible.
"There."
The viewers were disappointed that my face wasn't showing anymore.
"Why does Dad keep dumping the camera on me and disappearing..."
I set up the camera in the living room and flopped down on the sofa, then gently touched Beta as she padded over.
I might've been bigger than Beta by now, but Beta was still insanely huge even compared to other cats of her breed.
"Beta, do you like your big sister?"
"Myaang."
"Aww, so cute."
At some point, Alpha had also come over and was wagging his tail at me.
His fur was pure white, soft and fluffy—not a single speck of dirt anywhere.
Alpha was sitting there in an elegant pose.
"Paw."
Alpha placed his paw on top of my hand and started licking my fingers.
The more he did, the more Beta burrowed deeper into my arms.
I played with the cats for a while, then fell asleep right there.
Kim Ji-ho finished up in the bathroom and came out to the living room, where he found Si-yoon sleeping between Alpha and Beta.
"Huh? She's asleep."
Kim Ji-ho waved to the camera, then picked Si-yoon up.
"When Si-yoon's asleep, someone could carry her right off and she'd never know... so I'm going to put her in her room. Be right back."
Kim Ji-ho laid Si-yoon down, took off her mask, then closed the door behind him as he came back out.
"I was thinking of doing a cooking stream today too—is that okay with everyone?"
-yesyesyesyesyes
-A cooking stream without Si-yoon is 98% lacking but it's fine
"I appreciate you watching even for the 2%, ahaha."
Kim Ji-ho laughed at the comments while he cooked.
When I opened my eyes, I couldn't see a thing in front of me, so I knew it had to be night.
Since Dad was definitely right in front of me, I checked the bed's position and moved very carefully.
Once I slipped out of the room, my vision started adjusting to the darkness, and I could make out my surroundings a little.
After finding my phone in the living room and turning it on, I saw that it was 4 a.m.
I stifled a yawn, stretched, then tiptoed toward the game room.
I carefully opened the door, closed it without making a sound, then turned on the computer.
'Heh heh heh... this is tense...'
I carefully put on my headset and started playing the Maple Leaf Game.
Completely unaware that someone was watching me from behind...
I was chuckling to myself and had been playing for a while when I sensed a presence behind me.
I felt my pupils dilate.
Like a scene out of a horror movie, I took off the headset and very, very slowly turned my head around...
and found myself meeting the eyes of a smiling Dad.
"AAAAAAAH!!!"
"Kim Si-yoon!!!"
I was so startled I plopped right down onto the floor, and Dad flipped on the light and started scolding me.
"So that's why you've been falling asleep so early lately! You're on the computer at this hour?!"
I crawled under the desk and tried to calm my pounding heart.
"Haa... haa... sorry..."
Dad dragged me out, then lectured me for a long while.
Still, he didn't seem to have the heart to actually punish me—he picked me up, put me in bed, and went back to sleep.
I waited until Dad's breathing deepened and I was sure he was asleep, then started to carefully slip out again. That was when Dad spoke.
"...Do you want to stand there as punishment before bed?"
"Ah... n-no... I just couldn't get comfortable..."
I froze in place, pretended to toss and turn for a bit, then pulled the covers back over myself and forced myself to sleep despite not being tired at all.
In the sweltering heat of high summer, I once again felt how much the world had improved.
Sure, the proper thing to do when it's hot is go into the shade, but these days, everywhere you go, it's cold even in summer.
It isn't just indoors that blasts cool air—even the entrance of the apartment building pumps out ice-cold air.
And all those bugs that used to be everywhere? It's like they got mass-exterminated, because they're barely even visible anymore.
Now you only see them in museums, field-trip exhibits, or on Neotube.
Well, I guess even the insects that used to be so common are on the endangered species list now...
Now that I'm eleven, my radius of movement has gotten relatively bigger.
I had a dad who was famous all across South Korea, and I was way too famous myself, so I couldn't exactly wander around alone for safety reasons.
But inside the apartment complex, going around by myself was fine, and it was the same inside JSM headquarters.
In the end, I still couldn't escape the boundary of being "inside buildings."
But right now, I'm inside JSM headquarters, watching Dreaming practice their choreography.
'Damn, absolutely incredible.'
Especially Ji-su, who'd just turned twenty-seven—her beauty was truly living up to her reputation.
I was snacking on some crackers while watching, and once the Dreaming members finished their practice, they all came running over.
""Si-yoon~""
"Yeah."
I waved in my signature way, feeling pretty cool about myself for the first time in a while.
"Where's your dad?"
"Dad? He's talking with the CEO uncle."
Rije offered me a piece of candy.
'Very good. I shall grace you with my favor.'
I accepted the candy and put it in my pocket to eat later.
Then Yua, who'd been staring at me intently, spoke up.
"You really did get insanely pretty... you're gonna be unreal when you're older, huh?"
"Me?"
"Yeah!"
"I'm already unreal."
"True, true~"
My arms and legs had grown even longer, and it honestly made me a little worried about how tall I was going to end up,
but unlike in the past, kids these days were all tall, so I wasn't even that big by comparison.
When I actually compared, I was only about three centimeters taller than Da-yeon.
Inside JSM headquarters, my paintings were a frequent sight these days.
Originally, the headquarters didn't have a single painting on display, but now they had works ranging from Farzier to Ahn Jun-tae, the master painter, and even pieces by Teacher Go Min-su.
Of course, my paintings made up the overwhelming majority.
"Ji-su."
"Mm?"
"I want to go to a PC bang."
"Huh...?"
I pulled up a news article on my phone about Ji-su making occasional late-night appearances at a PC bang.
"Should I try asking your dad for permission...?"
"Yeah."
"But... what if I get in trouble?"
I slowly blinked my eyes, making them sparkle, and tried to charm Ji-su.
Ji-su stared at me blankly for a moment, then seemed to make up her mind. She nodded to herself, grabbed my hand, and headed toward Dad.
The tension around Ji-su was painfully obvious as she stood in front of the door and knocked quietly.
"Come in~"
Once I heard Dad's voice, I took Ji-su's hand and we went inside.
Dad had been talking with Jang Seong-man, but the moment his gaze shifted this way and caught me, his eyes locked on.
"Hm? What's up?"
"Um... would it be okay if I took Si-yoon to a PC bang?"
"No."
"...Okay."
Ji-su looked like she was about to crumble under that single firm refusal from Dad. But I couldn't give up here, so I quickly spoke up.
"Let's just go take a look."
"...No."
"Oh, come on! I'll go with Ji-su and come right back! I'm just curious!"
"...Hm. No, still no."
"Ugh! Kids my age these days all go to PC bangs! Why am I the only one who can't go?!"
"You aren't exactly a normal kid, sweetheart..."
"The son of the National Assembly member in my class goes by himself! Compared to that, having you as Dad is basically normal. So unfair."
Dad went silent for a moment, and that was when Ji-su finally spoke up again.
"There's a place I frequent... I go there a lot with the members. They have private rooms, and up until now, no one's ever recognized me."
"Haah... isn't that because you go in the middle of the night?"
"No, it's not!"
Dad looked at my sparkling eyes and Ji-su's sparkling eyes and let out a deep sigh.
"...Then I'll come with you."
At Dad's words, I wrapped up my thoughts in a flash and answered.
"No."
"Why?"
"If you come, we can't have girls-only conversation. I have a ton of stuff I want to ask about."
"....."
Dad fell silent for a bit, then seemed to consider my age and slowly nodded.
"It really is safe, right? No, wait, where exactly is this place? If it's a private room, I'll set up in the one next to you and do my own thing."
Dad must've felt he'd reached the best compromise he possibly could on his own, because he was nodding to himself.