Calm Before the Storm.
Calm Before the Storm.
On a weekend morning, I was in Dad's room, staring intently at the screen—at Alpha and Beta perched on top of the computer monitor.
"Ooh... this is exciting..."
With one earbud in and my feet pulled up onto the chair in a crouch, I'd been glued to the screen for a while. Then Dad, fresh out of the shower, spotted me.
"Si-yoon, what're you doing?"
"Hm? Watching a video."
"What video?"
"Uh... like a documentary."
"Ah..."
Dad clearly wondered why I'd use his computer to watch a documentary, but he seemed to accept it with a shrug and went off to cook.
I focused even harder on the screen, and my expression must have looked suspicious, because Dad came charging back in. Yeah—what I'd been watching was Dad's "Pandora's box," you could say. I'd found a folder that was taking up a ton of space, opened it, and a whole new world unfolded.
'Wow...'
There was a reason Dad stayed so healthy. What I was watching was art beyond anything I'd imagined. In my old life, magazines had gotten me excited; in this one, Neotube had done the same. Watching busty women dance while showing off their figures had been enough to get me worked up on my own, but...
This was, well... nothing but bare skin and the most dynamic, efficient motion there is. Comparing it to my own body while I watched... Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad barreling toward me from across the house. For a split second I almost panicked, but the more I thought about it, the more justified I felt. It was Dad's fault for keeping that stuff on a computer a kid could easily stumble across.
Face bright red, Dad frantically shut the video down. The hand movement made it clear this wasn't his first time closing something in a hurry.
"What? Is breakfast ready?"
"......Stay out of... Dad's room."
I hopped to my feet and left his room. Dad, apparently drowning in shame, powered the computer off in record time.
"Oh, right—if you're picking a mom, you need my permission first~"
I'd wanted to tease him a little more, but Dad looked like he simultaneously wanted to crawl into a hole and was shell-shocked that I'd seen his "Pandora's box." I flopped onto the living room sofa, and Alpha and Beta followed me out.
"Oh my~ Pretty Beta, big sis just saw something amazing, and thankfully her chest was smaller than mine."
Dad must have collected himself, because he came out of the room looking pitiful and slowly started cooking.
"Here, eat..."
As he said that, I set out spoons and chopsticks and dished up the rice. While we ate, I watched Dad hang his head like a puppy in the rain, then spoke.
"Well... considering Mom was small too, I guess that's just your type, huh, Dad~"
"Pffft—cough..."
"It was a total new world..."
Dad's face turned the color of a strawberry.
"Heehee, the food's really good today~ I should show this to Ji-eun~"
Dad stared at what was in my hand and finally looked horrified. In my hand was a USB drive. He called out to me urgently.
"Si-yoon!"
"Yeah?"
I put on a perfectly innocent expression, and Dad stared at me with a dead-serious look.
"So... do you need an allowance?"
"Psh~ You think that's what I've been wanting lately?"
"...Fine... I'll make you an account."
"Huh?! If you're making it, then thank you very much~ But I might happen to know how to use that account somewhere, and maybe there's a way...?"
"...I'll... let you go to the PC bang... and set your curfew at 8 p.m."
That day, Dad lifted the restrictions on 19+ games that were too violent, and on PC bangs. In exchange, I wrote a pledge swearing I wouldn't look at the information on his computer. Even so—maybe because he'd been collecting it for years—Dad never once said he would delete any of it.
Come to think of it, if I'd looked at Dad like he was a bug when I'd caught what was in his trash can last time... Dad would've restrained himself, even if it meant tying himself down. The files would've been gone the next day. But I'd lived forty-five years as a man, so I could understand Dad. With Alpha on my right and Beta on my left, I watched TV. The two cats were glued to the screen like they actually knew what was going on. I kept my gaze fixed on the TV, then poked the white Alpha's rear with my finger. Alpha whipped around to look at me. I pretended I hadn't done anything, and Alpha studied Beta, who was sitting beside him. When I poked Alpha's butt again—eyes still on the TV—he let out a "Myaaaoow" and glared at Beta. Beta glanced back at Alpha, and Alpha went papapap! and smacked her. I poked Alpha's butt one more time, and he hissed, staring at me, before raising a paw.
"What, you gonna hit your big sis too?!"
"Myaaang..."
Alpha placed his paw on top of my hand and started licking it. Beta sat there alone with a face like she'd just chewed on poop. Just then, Dad came out after getting changed.
"How do I look?"
"You only wear Storm Island anyway. What are you, their brand ambassador? Put on something else."
"But... the clothes are pretty..."
"Go out there in something different."
Dad used to dress worse than me. I ended up following him into his dressing room and pulling out clothes.
"Wear it like this."
"Okay."
After picking Dad's outfit, I went to my own closet to choose mine.
"Si-yoon, are you done~?"
Dad called from outside, so I opened the door while still wearing just a boxy T-shirt.
"Dad, pick my clothes."
"...You're all grown up now. You should put on pants before opening the door."
"What are you talking about? I'm not wearing pants because I can't decide on an outfit."
Dad held up different clothes against me and nodded.
"This one'll work."
"Your taste really is terrible... You do know how old I am while you're picking this for me, right?"
"...Sorry."
Still, I decided to go with Dad's style today. I put on black stockings, comfortable bottoms, and a military jersey, then topped it off with a Storm Island cap. Dad looked at me and clapped like a seal.
"You're incredibly pretty!"
"I know."
"Oh right, let's eat first and then go."
"Then let's go get blood-sausage soup."
"Shall we?"
Dad and I ate, and for the first time in six years, I came back to the Next-Door Hyungnim studio. The one show I'd chosen to share what I'd been up to was Next-Door Hyungnim.
There were a lot of reasons I'd decided to give an update on how I'd been doing. My face hadn't changed much since I was little, so people recognized me everywhere I went anyway. And the older I got, the more my looks seemed determined to hit peak beauty, drawing attention no matter what. If I took off my mask, I'd draw every eye—even from people who didn't know me. And the biggest reason I'd chosen Next-Door Hyungnim was that I was a hardcore viewer of the show. I sat next to Dad in the waiting room, eating snacks. It really hit me how much I'd grown.
Everyone looked flustered when they saw how much I'd shot up. Just then, the regular cast members of Next-Door Hyungnim opened the door and came in.
"Oh my gosh... Si-yoon, you've gotten so big~"
"Hello~"
"Wow... didn't you grow up ridiculously pretty?"
We finished the rehearsal, and after I changed into my school uniform, I was getting my makeup done. Maybe because it'd been so long since someone had done my makeup, but when I looked in the mirror, I looked as if a beauty filter had been applied. Dad saw me and freaked out.
"Where did my daughter go...?"
"What are you talking about? Stop fooling around and sit next to me."
"Okay..."
The makeup artist spotted Dad, their eyes sparkling—probably a fan. Dad was staring a hole through me.
"You're wearing me out. Stop staring."
"I don't wanna~ I'm gonna keep looking~"
He even pulled out his phone and started recording. I sighed and watched the staff member's hands as they braided my long hair. With a few swift movements, my hair was pulled back into a braid.
"Oh... that's pretty."
As we chatted, the makeup artist worked on me with a satisfied expression. The main shoot began, and I followed Dad into the set. I gave a little wave to the celebrities who were acting like they were seeing me for the first time.
"Hey~"
"Si-yoon, wow... you've gotten so gorgeous~"
People now pronounced it clearly as Si-yoon. Dad and I stood in front of the teacher's desk and spoke.
"I'm Ji-ho from Sweeping the Billboard~ Nice to meet you."
Dad had looked mid-thirties, but after some grooming, he was back to looking like he was in his late twenties. Because I looked a little mature for my age, I came across more like Dad's much-younger sister.
"I'm the daughter of the old guy next to me. You know my name, right? If you're curious, search it."
Dad had kept releasing albums as usual, but I hadn't really done any public activities, so Kang In-seong asked,
"Why haven't you been on any shows lately?"
"Hm... I wasn't planning to appear on TV anymore, but it turns out everyone recognizes me anyway."
The handsome guy in front of me spoke up.
"Right, Si-yoon, you'd stand out even from three hundred meters away."
"Exactly. Mom and Dad are the problem~ Somehow I inherited nothing but the best parts from both of them. Sheesh."
I said it with my chin propped on my hand and a smile, and even Dad looked like his heart fluttered for the first time in a while. With looks admired even overseas, I put on a cute act, and the whole room went quiet.
"Anyway, being the daughter of composer Kim Ji-ho means I was never meant to live a quiet life~ So I'm here."
Dad laughed awkwardly, looked around, and said,
"Also, Si-yoon doesn't really watch anything else, but she never misses this show when it airs."
""Really?!""
"Yeah, and she said that if she ever gave an update on how she was doing, she wanted to do it on this show."
I winked, brought my fingers to my eyebrow, and flicked them away. Then the handsome man in front spoke again.
"Si-yoon, do you have a boyfriend?"
"Yeah."
""What?!""
Even Dad, standing beside me, looked dumbfounded, as though this was the first he'd heard of it.
"His name's Ji-hoon, and we've been close since kindergarten. Lately I've also gotten close with a guy named Kim Tae-oh."
"Ah... a guy friend?"
"Yup."
Dad let out a relieved sigh next to me. Watching that, Kang In-seong threw out another question.
"Are you planning to appear on TV more often now?"
"No? If Dad and I appear together, this show's production budget would get blown to smithereens. Even if we wanted to come on cheap, Uncle Jang Seong-man would block it."
The short man looked at me and said,
"Come on~ you're joking~ If you said the word, they'd let you on, you know?"
"Hmm... you think so? But all the appearance fees go straight into my account, so I don't really feel like it~ Ahaha."
"Your dad doesn't take it from you?"
I glanced at Dad, who was laughing.
"Honestly, to Dad, it'd be pocket change from a snot-nosed kid. You think he'd take it?"
""Wow...""
Suddenly, the ugly man looked at me and said,
"What's your ideal type?"
"Not you."
As expected, my firm answer made the ugly man deflate.
"So mean, seriously~"
Now the barrage of questions shifted to Dad. People asked about the dance in his new song. There was a video of me dancing in it, wearing a mask.
"For that one, the facial expression is key!"
Dad, heading toward his late thirties, brightened his expression with his trademark puppy-like charm. When I stared at him in disbelief, the other celebrities who noticed me laughed. Then the short man spotted the watch Dad was wearing.
"Whoa... I saw something flash and figured a fluorescent light had burst."
Dad hurriedly covered the watch. People swarmed over to check it out, and a golden crown set into it became visible. Laughing, Dad took it off and handed it over.
"Whoa... this is probably worth more than four years of your salary, isn't it?"
At those words, the heavily indebted man touched the watch with trembling hands.
"Would this wipe out my debt?"
I watched the scene, then laughed and said,
"Dad, you barely even wear that thing. Just give it to him~"
"No!"
Dad fidgeted like a kid who'd lent out his toy, staring at the watch.
"Si-yoon's mom bought that for me."
The second Dad finished speaking, people scrambled to hand it back. I looked at Dad and snorted a laugh.
"Wow... Dad, you just lied right there on camera. That's total bull."
It wasn't actually a lie, but thanks to my words, Dad became a liar. His restless fidgeting was pretty adorable. The room erupted into a fuss about him lying about Mom, but as soon as I told them the truth, everyone settled down.
"That watch was with Mom's accessories, actually. Sorry for the prank—how about I give you each a drawing?"
""...!""
The people of South Korea seemed endlessly curious about me. News stories about which numbered painting of mine had sold for how much popped up all the time. Last time, after I uploaded piece "452," which I'd done for practice with Teacher Go Min-su for the Korea Comprehensive Arts University practical exam, the prices of my paintings had doubled.
The total number of oil paintings I'd done so far was 521. My words made most people's eyes sparkle.
Smiling, I picked up some chalk and started drawing on the blackboard. My hands moved without hesitation, and the other Next-Door Hyungnim cast members, Dad included, settled in to watch me work. After adding the shading, I dusted off my hands.
Each portrait took an average of less than four minutes to complete, and everybody stared with their jaws hanging open.
"Here~ a present. Don't erase it, treasure it~ I'll check when it airs, okay?"
As filming stretched on, I left Dad talking up at the front and ate the snacks stashed under the teacher's desk. Six cameras filmed me, all of them focused only on me. Time passed as we played various games, and before I knew it, the shoot wrapped.
"Please take good care of Si-yoon."
Dad said goodbye to the producer, then went around and did the same with everyone else one by one.