Calm Before the Storm.
Calm Before the Storm.
Tae-oh and Da-yeon's security detail headed home, and I put on the gym clothes the coach handed me and slipped on the gloves.
"You can walk me home today~"
"What!"
"You want a girl going home alone at night? It's dangerous, you know?"
"...In what world are you a girl...?"
Ji-hoon said it with genuine concern, but anyone listening would've thought it was just the usual messing around middle schoolers do.
I threw a punch exactly the way the coach told me to.
Thwack!
"...?"
The coach stared at my hand like he'd just seen something off.
"Ah, like this. Thump."
I started throwing punches like I was just casually tossing them out, moving exactly the way the coach instructed.
It was the optimal motion for throwing a punch.
It was so clean I wondered how I'd never known this before.
"Oh..."
Admiring it to myself, I tapped the heavy bag playfully, mimicked the moves Kim Tae-oh had done, and then gradually started copying Park Ji-hoon's moves.
Park Ji-hoon's pupils shook as he watched me.
And then Park Ji-hoon came over.
"Coach, don't teach her anything."
"Why?"
"Unless you're trying to make an actual 'monster'..."
The coach smirked at Park Ji-hoon.
I learned striking like I was just messing around, tapping lightly here and there.
And once everyone had gotten used to me being there and nobody was looking, I put my weight into a kick and drove it into the heavy bag.
Boom!
Eyes snapped onto me in an instant, but I played dumb.
Judging by the stance, it looked like Park Ji-hoon had done it, but Park Ji-hoon, who'd been right next to me, was staring in shock at the speed and power of my high kick.
I nodded, satisfied, peeled off the gloves, and tossed them at Park Ji-hoon.
"Nothing special~ Act up now and you're dead..."
"...Wh... when have I ever acted up..."
Weekend morning.
I'm pretty fond of walking.
As long as Da-yeon was with me, Dad didn't really worry much about where I went.
The weather that had annoyed me just four days ago was warm now, even cozy.
I ignored Kim Tae-oh trailing behind me and spoke to Da-yeon.
"Wanna hit a PC bang?"
"PC bang? The place with all the computers?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm... but I don't know any games, though?"
I gestured at Kim Tae-oh, who was following behind.
He came up to us in a flash.
"You play games?"
"No... I've never played one."
"What do you even live for, man~"
"....."
Kim Tae-oh stayed quiet at that, but Da-yeon, beside me, spoke up.
"...I... I live... a fun life... hmph."
"Huh? I wasn't talking to you, Da-yeon~ We've got plenty to do, right?"
"Um... yeah...?"
"There's tons of fun stuff at a PC bang."
"Let's go!"
I said that while dialing Park Ji-hoon.
"Should we call Ji-hoon?"
"Yeah!"
As Da-yeon and I walked along the Han River, I called Ji-hoon.
Ji-hoon picked up, panting.
"Where are you?"
-"Huff... killing me... Han River. Why?"
"Where on the Han River?"
-"Jamsu Bridge."
"We're by Hannam Bridge. Get over here."
After catching his breath for a moment, Ji-hoon spoke.
-"Ah... I'll wash up and come. About fifty minutes?"
"You know Fantasy PC bang in front of my place, right?"
-"Ah, okay."
I hung up and immediately dragged Kim Tae-oh and Da-yeon to the PC bang.
While I was teaching Kim Tae-oh and Da-yeon Maple Leaf Game, I discovered something.
Kim Tae-oh was worse at games than Da-yeon.
'You little shit... you're just like me, huh?'
Watching him handle the controls, I was sure he'd be worse than me at any game.
Da-yeon, who loved comics and cute things, was getting completely sucked in by Maple Leaf Game's adorable characters and setting.
Ji-hoon arrived an hour later and draped an arm over my head.
"Coming all the way to a PC bang to play Maple Leaf, seriously."
"Sit your ass down and play."
Ji-hoon casually powered on his computer and opened the menu first.
"I'll have a mango smoothie."
Ji-hoon added it without a second thought, following my lead.
I also picked a drink Da-yeon liked and asked Kim Tae-oh.
"What do you want?"
"I'm fine."
"Don't be a smartass, eat when I'm buying."
"In that case, I'll have an iced americano."
Where the hell did he pick that up... the disconnect of saying "iced americano" with that kind of tone was massive.
Ji-hoon muttered that a fourteen-year-old should be drinking sweet stuff, not ordering something that suited a face like his, and clicked "iced americano" and ordered it.
Before Ji-hoon had arrived, I'd been checking the auction house, and he jumped straight into Maple Leaf Game.
Da-yeon looked surprised as Ji-hoon and I naturally teamed up and took down a boss.
"Whoa... you guys are crazy strong..."
Ji-hoon and I both dealt enough damage to rank in the top fifty.
The two of them just stared, slack-jawed, at damage values going over a hundred billion.
"Da-yeon, level that up to ten and I'll gear you out."
"Okay!"
The food we'd ordered arrived, and the part-timer who saw my face did a double take.
I haven't officially shown my face in public recently, but I'm only a couple years older—how much could my looks have changed since I was little?
Another hour passed, and before I knew it, the two of them had hit level thirty.
I opened a trade with Da-yeon and handed over the items.
"Wear this, and when you hit level fifty, equip this..."
I passed over the items while explaining things, then smiled at Da-yeon.
"Each of these is worth ten million won in cash, y'know? They're growth items, so Ji-hoon and I need 'em whenever we level new characters—you've gotta give 'em back~"
"...Huh?"
Da-yeon looked taken aback by the price too, but next to her, Kim Tae-oh's jaw practically hit the floor.
Lending out ten-million-won items like they were pencils you'd borrow... I guess that was fair.
Kim Tae-oh still didn't seem to have fully registered it—the fact that I was a diamond-spoon kid...
Not that this had anything to do with spoons, of course.
I sent the items to Kim Tae-oh too, and he asked me slowly.
"Is this... also ten million...?"
"Yep, so you gotta give it back, got it?"
"Under...stood."
Tae-oh couldn't hide his shock at the fact that a digital scrap inside a game was worth ten million won in real cash.
While we were playing, I got a message from Sheen.
Sheen was in the guild I'd founded, so I opened the chat program and talked to him.
"What."
-"No, I mean... you were fighting the boss, so..."
"Trying to hitch a free ride again, huh?"
-"Wow... isn't that a little harsh?"
Ji-hoon snickered beside me.
"Gonna hang up, I'm busy."
-"Are you with Park-Dyu?"
"Yes, we're fighting Ryan right now. I'll call you after~"
I hung up and focused on the boss. Da-yeon asked me.
"Who's that?"
"Hm? Ah, there's this older guy I play the game with."
"Aha~"
Next to us, Kim Tae-oh took the items from Park Ji-hoon and muttered while grinding.
"This is... thirty million won...? Isn't that about what an average person makes in a year...?"
Next to him, Da-yeon glanced at me to gauge my reaction.
I looked over at Park Ji-hoon, who was absorbed in eating, and spoke.
"Wanna run a round of Obawatch?"
Park Ji-hoon, who'd been eating ramyeon, looked at me, bit through the noodles, swallowed, and said.
"You suck absolute ass at it."
"...?"
"Ha... wanna just play one round?"
"Piss off."
Suddenly, by way of apology, Ji-hoon handed me a handmade burger he'd been saving.
'This little shit thinks he can buy his way back into my good graces.'
I took it as is, then passed it to Tae-oh.
He stared at me for a long moment, then his face suddenly flushed and he ate the burger.
Da-yeon, who'd been watching with a complicated expression, turned her focus back to Maple Leaf Game.
We kept gaming at the PC bang until Da-yeon suddenly blurted out.
"It's six!!"
"Huh?! Already?"
I quickly shut down the computer and threw my clothes on. Park Ji-hoon looked at me.
"What's the big rush?"
"Curfew."
"Huh? You've got a curfew?"
"Yep. Now get lost."
I flipped Park Ji-hoon the bird, then rushed home with Kim Tae-oh and Da-yeon.
The weekend passed, and early in the morning, someone tapped me lightly on the cheek.
I slowly opened my eyes to find Dad perched on the edge of my bed, touching my face.
I stretched and got up.
"Dad."
"Yeah?"
"Feed me."
"Already made it, see~ You eat first, then wash up and get ready for school."
"Hwaaahm... can I sleep five more minutes?"
"Don't push it. Come eat."
At Dad's firm words, I slowly got out of bed.
Before I knew it, Alpha and Beta were sitting on my blanket.
When I got up from bed, Alpha and Beta followed me out.
"What's for breakfast?"
"Come out and see for yourself."
Breakfast was side dishes Grandma had sent and seaweed soup Dad had made.
I watched Neotube on my phone while eating slowly.
"Si-yoon, if you're gonna wash up and get ready for school, you need to eat faster."
"We've still got two hours till school, y'know?"
"It takes thirty minutes to walk."
I scrunched up my face and glared at Dad's nagging. He laughed.
"Should I take your food away?"
"Sorry."
Drying my hair, which reaches down to my waist, takes quite a while, so I ate quickly and went into the shower.
Standing under the hot water made my head go hazy.
Normally, water is supposed to wake you up, but the fact that it calms me down instead means I must really like water.
To wash up fast, I switched it to a cool temperature and washed my hair.
When I came out, all washed up, Dad had a brush and a hairdryer ready and dried my hair for me.
"So refreshing~"
"Indeed it is, my lady."
"Give me a massage while you're at it."
"Yesss~"
Dad gave me a scalp massage, pressing firmly, and it yanked my drifting consciousness back into place.
"What're you doing today?"
"Hm... prepping for a collab with Ji-eun,"
"At home?"
"Yeah, she's coming over to hang out."
"I won't be here. Don't get any ideas about making me a sibling."
Dad pressed his thumb into my temple at that. I yanked my head away in pain.
"Aagh!"
"If Ji-eun and I were gonna be like that, it would've happened when you were way younger, y'know?"
"Wow, so back then you would've felt bad for Mom!"
"Exactly, and I still feel that way now, which means I have no plans for it, dummy!"
I tried to run from Dad's sudden outburst, but he grabbed me by my long hair.
"Aagh!"
"Sit. Your hair's not dry yet."
I sat back down in the chair before answering.
"I'm just gonna shave it all off like a monk."
"Go ahead and try. See if you're allowed back in the house."
"Tch."
While my hair was drying, the doorbell rang.
"It's Da-yeon."
Dad quickly opened the door, then got right back to focusing on drying my hair.
"Pardon the intrusion~"
"Da-yeon, hey~"
"Hello~"
Da-yeon was in her school uniform. She took off her shoes and neatly set them aside as she came in.
She looked at Dad and me, then spoke to Dad.
"I'll do it!"
"Yeah? Here."
Dad handed the brush and hairdryer to Da-yeon.
Da-yeon brushed my hair and spoke.
"Si-yoon."
"Yeah?"
"Tae-oh..... what do you... think of him...?"
"Tae-oh? Why all of a sudden?"
"Just~ wondering, that's all..."
From the tone of her voice and the way the hand brushing my hair flinched, it was definitely not "just."
Rather than try to figure out why, I gave her a quick answer.
"Hmm... a squirt who's good at sports?"
"He's handsome, though..."
"To me, Ji-hoon and Tae-oh are pretty much the same."
"No, they're not..."
I rested my chin in my hand and pretended to think.
"Hmm... no matter how I look at it, he's just a dumb kid."
"...What if... just hypothetically... Tae-oh confessed to you, Si-yoon?"
I looked at Da-yeon and made a show of thinking about it. Her pupils started shaking violently.
I petted Da-yeon's hair and smiled.
"Da-yeon, I know exactly how you feel. There's no way I'd ever accept it."
"What if I wasn't here...? Pretend I'm not here and..."
"Still not interested. If I actually wanted to date someone, I could've dated everyone, not just Tae-oh, and run around with all of 'em, y'know?"
"...I'm jealous..."
"Why?"
"If I... were you, Si-yoon..."
I flicked Da-yeon on the forehead.
"Ow!"
"You're someone tons of other squirts are insanely jealous of too, y'know? You search your name and it literally comes up as Korea's young lady."
"....."
"And honestly, I'm the one who's jealous of you, Da-yeon."
"Liar..."
I reached out and gave Da-yeon's impossible-to-ignore chest a little "boing."
"Eek!"
"I'm super jealous..."
I spread both hands and wiggled my fingers as I advanced on the fallen Da-yeon, who scrambled away to Dad.
"She's trying to touch me again!!!"
"Si-yoon... first thing in the morning..."
Dad hid Da-yeon behind his back and blocked my path.
"At this stage of development, a twenty-minute massage every day helps with blood circulation and makes them grow nicely and pretty."
"...You can just do it yourself. Why do you have to be the one doing it..."
"Nah, it's better when someone else does the touching..."
I gave Da-yeon a greasy grin, and she bolted.