11 – Who Found Whom (4)
1.
She’s asking me to let her sleep out of the blue.
It couldn’t mean to let her sleep meat or tomatoes.
Because she didn’t have any meat or tomatoes in her hands.
Then there’s only one thing I can let her sleep.
“You?”
“Yes, I need a place to rest.”
She was the cold-faced woman in front of me.
What is this? I’m pretty sure I just met this person today.
No matter how many times I try to recall, I met this woman in front of me today for the first time. I don’t even know her name.
She was undoubtedly the best talent who possessed the values necessary to become the top idol.
So if I could gain her favor, I could fulfill this kind of request without hesitation.
But I couldn’t just accept the request to let her sleep so easily.
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No matter how much she wanted to help, saying that she would let him sleep right away in this situation was too much.
So, I had to confirm a few things with her.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-two.”
First, the age is okay. She doesn’t give off the vibe of a minor at all, even at first glance, but these days, kids mature quickly.
“And your home? You don’t have a place you usually stay?”
“No, those people who were chasing me earlier are probably waiting. I can’t go back there now. Not that way.”
Well, I had a feeling it would be like that. Asking a man she just met to let her stay when she has a good place doesn’t make sense.
Then, naturally, it means there’s no guardian either. Even if there were one, they probably wouldn’t be able to play the role of a guardian.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked a complete stranger to let her stay.
I roughly knew the two things I needed, but there was still one crucial question left.
I stared directly into her cold eyes and opened my mouth with a serious tone.
“So, I’ll ask you the last question.”
“…”
As I asked, her complexion, already dark in the dim light, became even darker.
I wonder if she expected what question she would receive and what answer she should give.
But in a situation where she has nowhere to go back, she can’t avoid the question I have to ask or escape from the answer she has to give.
In this moment, where I hold the upper hand, I smiled slyly and asked the question.
“What’s your name?”
“Um?”
“What’s your name? It’s not an easy task to shelter someone whose name you don’t even know.”
Yeah, it’s against the rules to let someone into your house without knowing their name.
Later, if my brother asks, “What?! Who did you let stay over?” and I answer, “Uh… I don’t know? Didn’t ask?” he’ll definitely give me a pathetic look.
So, even if I don’t know anything else, I had to know the name.
Calling her by vague pronouns like ‘she’ wasn’t helping at all.
Anyway, a person’s name is such an important thing, and you absolutely must know it before letting them into your house.
So, when I asked for her name, she looked at me with a blank face, then, with a surprised expression as if seeing me for the first time today, she said her name.
“Choi Ha-an…”
“Choi Ha-an. Miss Ha-an.”
It had a nice ring to it. Ha-an. Not a common name, right? Not common, but it felt comfortable.
Finally knowing her name was incredibly satisfying.
It’s more likely to succeed in being clingy to someone who knows your name rather than begging someone whose name you don’t even know.
Of course, the reason for my happiness isn’t just that.
Discovering the name of a person as beautiful and sparkling as her is something to be happy about, naturally.
However, Ha-an seemed to dislike being called pretty, so I didn’t mention that.
“I’m Kang Jin-hyuk. Twenty-seven years old, and my house is just a 5-minute walk from here.”
Instead, I stored away the general information about me and the answers Ha-an gave.
“Oh?”
Knowing things about each other is closer than keeping everything to yourself.
When you’re close, the chances of listening when you beg to be idolized increase even more.
Of course, being an idol isn’t something that you can do just because you’re pushed into it, but if you’re being pushed, it means you have at least a little bit of willingness to do it.
If there was even a slight chance that Haan might be pushed, if he would at least take idol activities seriously, then I had the confidence to do anything.
“Since Haan answered me, I’m just returning the favor. From now on, call me whatever you want.”
“Well, then… Kang Jinhyuk…”
“By the way, I’m working as a manager.”
“Oh, I see… Kang Jinhyuk…”
“Ahem!”
“…”
“Ahem! Manager! Ahem!”
“Um, should I call you ‘manager’?”
“hahahahaha! If that’s more comfortable for you!”
Alright, the word ‘manager’ came out of Haan’s mouth.
It was almost like a beginning, although they say that the beginning is half of it.
They looked at me with eyes that seemed to say, ‘What kind of person is this?’ But I had no pride to be hurt by such a gaze.
Pride doesn’t feed you. It’s just something you have to put up with if you’re called a manager instead of receiving cold glances.
Being called a manager by the idol(s) felt much better than I had expected.
It was beyond comparison to being called ‘oppa’ by the girls.
As soon as I heard the title ‘manager’, a warm feeling surged in my chest, and in the midst of a chuckle, I noticed Haan’s body slightly shrinking.
Oh, come to think of it, it was minus 10 degrees today.
For someone who only had a thin coat on, it was definitely a cold day, even if I called it an outerwear rather than a padded jacket.
Not showing any signs of being cold, but it must be chilly for sure. And since there’s no outerwear to lend, it’s better to quickly go inside.
I could have taken off my suit jacket, but if Haan mentions feeling cold and I offer it, she would probably refuse.
Haan still maintained her distance from me. Unnecessary favors that she doesn’t need, she won’t accept.
Even if her body temperature drops to the point of shivering involuntarily, she won’t accept kindness.
Haan seemed like the type who doesn’t approach or get close to others.
Well, that’s just a matter of time. If the other person doesn’t come closer, I’ll approach first.
Whatever past she has or whatever problems she’s facing, it didn’t matter much to me.
Whether in society seven years ago or during the seven years in prison, in my eyes, Haan didn’t look like a bad person trapped in blood, violence, and crime.
So, she is qualified to be an idol. If she looks good in my eyes, it means she’s not really a bad person.
She just became cold to survive, and Haan is not a bad person.
Even the lady I considered somewhat ambiguous in my eyes eventually became Korea’s top superstar, didn’t she?
If that lady could succeed, there’s absolutely no reason why Haan couldn’t.
So, at least in my eyes, there was no problem with Haan becoming an idol, and there was no hesitation in my efforts to make her one.
“Well, now we should go home. But before that.”
I confidently extended my hand to Haan and made a request.
“Could you lend me your phone? I need to make a call before going home.”
※※※
“Your sister, I mean, you’ve been managing her for seven years? Why? Why did it happen? Ah… the lady? Personally? Continuously for seven years? Even with such a busy schedule? Ah… and now that she’s on an overseas tour, some cleaning might be needed, right? What? Until yesterday, you were personally cleaning? Why on earth?! Ah, anyway, I understand. Thank you, sir.”
Thud.
You’ve been managing her until now? Continuously for seven years? And not just anyone, but that lady? The busiest celebrity in Korea, doing it personally???
Brother mentioned that she secretly came in every vacation and even lived here, but every time I discover this side of her, closer than even siblings, I feel a little distant.
Entering an ownerless house and doing cleaning and maintenance that wasn’t even necessary – that’s truly strange. Moreover, for seven straight years.
Of course, in the current situation where a place to sleep is urgently needed, there was no room to change the evaluation of her to ‘a lady doing strange things.’
Since there was a possibility that Haan might get hypothermia if she stayed longer, I returned the phone I borrowed from Haan.
“Thank you for lending me the phone, Haan.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Anyway, now it should be okay to enter the house without any problems. It’s been a while since I’ve been home.”
“Uh… yes.”
I had no choice but to sleep at Brother’s house until I went to work today, but I couldn’t stay there any longer.
Brother and his wife should live happily together. Without the lady. It’s already good enough for the two of them, and if I interfere, it’s a nuisance.
Anyway, for that reason, I had to go out and find a place to live, and luckily, I found a good place.
“If Brother had sold it, it would have been a bit troublesome, but fortunately, he kept it.”
Where is it, you ask? Well…
“But Manager, this isn’t a house, is it?”
Yes, as Haan said, the place we arrived at was not a house like a villa, apartment, or officetel, but a building.
“Yes, that’s right.”
It was the headquarters of the Jean Dodofa building and the current headquarters of Barun Gil Entertainment.
“My workplace.”
It was my workplace then, and it still is now.