chapter 15
15 – That’s right, right?
I go to bed around 11 and wake up between 7:30 and 8:00.
I’ve had an almost consistent pattern for the past 23 years, but today I woke up at 1 PM.
“I think I’ll be addicted to this….”
I’m tired of oversleeping. The best.
As soon as I open my eyes, I use the iPad left by my bedside and turn on the carefully selected ‘Best Playlist that is good to listen to right after waking up’.
I stretch my bloated body and do some light stretching on the bed, then slowly walk to the living room and close the curtains.
I go to the sink, gargle, wash my face, and finish my morning skin care routine, and then eat yogurt and cereal for my first meal of the day.
After waking up, the last thing on my schedule was drinking instant coffee.
I’m the type of person who usually only touches my phone around the time I drink coffee to think about how I’m going to spend the day.
“… What’s this?”
When I turn off sleep mode, I see countless missed calls and KakaoTalk messages.
What? Have I been doxxed?
Bewildered by the situation, I rub my eyes and check the number of notifications again.
The number of missed calls exceeded 80, and Kakao Talk could not overcome its limit and ended up dialing 999+.
“Oh, life is a high career.”
The biggest time I had unread KakaoTalk in my entire life was when I first joined the undergraduate group chat and didn’t read it for two days.
Even back then, I took 700 pictures and thought, wow, this is a scenery I’ll never see, and it’s not like it was just yesterday that I was capturing it.
“Wow, it’s annoying to read.”
I wonder why KakaoTalk has piled up like that, but I hate seeing it pile up.
Frowning at the fatigue that came after only an hour of waking up, I checked my phone records to see that there were relatively few alarms.
… Did my identity really get stolen? Why are there so many unknown numbers?
I check each and every number that I can’t figure out and look at the saved numbers that appear sparsely in between.
Oh, by the way, there are only 20 people (including family) in my contacts.
“Hey, why did you call me so much?”
My best friend, Seon-woo, took an overwhelming first place, accounting for a whopping 14 out of 81 missed calls.
I know that Seon-woo is probably at work at this time, but if he’s calling this much, wouldn’t it be right for me to call too?
I immediately pressed the call button……
“Hello———”
-b*tch why are you getting it so late?!?!
Before the connection tone could even be repeated, the guy who answered the phone was completely angry.
What is this reaction?
‘Did something bad happen near my house?’
There may be various incidents such as stabbings, group fights, fires and explosions, but if that guy shows that level of reaction, there is one of two answers.
The gate has opened, or aliens have invaded.
Among them, I think it is more likely that the gate was opened……
-Are you conscious or not?!?!
I guess it’s not the right time to talk nonsense like this.
Seon-woo seems angrier than I thought, and he responds hesitantly without knowing the meaning.
“Huh? Uh… , Sorry…. I woke up late last night because I had trouble sleeping….”
-Ha, are you having trouble sleeping? When you are installing it?
“That’s right, it’s not a rodent, and now is not the time to get upset———.”
-… ….
“… Okay. Sorry.”
I was very embarrassed because he didn’t accept the drip, but seeing his reaction, I understood that it was quite important from Seonwoo’s point of view.
I was about to ask you what on earth made you make 14 calls.
– Explain.
Was it not the gate that broke out, but social controversy?
“…… “Explanation?”
-What? Surely that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to say after such a thing has happened?
This is the first time I’ve heard Sunwoo’s angry voice since we’ve known each other.
For a guy who didn’t get this angry even when his seniors in the military made fun of him, it wasn’t usually pressure for him to be like this, so it was really confusing.
What is it? What did I really do wrong?
The only thing that could be considered scandalous recently was timidly throwing water on my pants at people who kept splashing rain on me at a jazz festival.
No, but there is no way that would be controversial.
‘Do we have to go back to elementary school?’
What kind of explanation is this?
When I didn’t say anything in a situation where I couldn’t quite figure out what to do, Sunwoo’s sigh, unable to hold it in, came through the phone.
I could feel that I was truly disappointed just by sighing.
-Wow, you’re going to stick out your flippers like this all the way?
“… It’s not because of flippers, it’s because I really don’t know what I did wrong….”
When I find myself in a situation where I don’t know what my fault is, and looking at it objectively, it would be appropriate to call it shameless, people naturally turn into idiots.
“… I’m really sorry, but can you tell me what I did wrong? That’s because I really don’t know. Uh? “If I know what it is, I will reflect properly and apologize.”
-… ….
“I think this is the last time, huh?”
Ha, Sunwoo takes a deep breath and clicks his tongue.
I don’t know what mistake I made, but seeing him react like that means I did something wrong.
But I feel really unfair……
What did I do wrong?
-Yoo Min-ah.
“Uh, uh. Okay.”
-How long have we been friends… ?
“Since high school… , at least 6 years.”
-… 6 Years. It already happened like that.
“Ugh. “It already happened.”
-But how can you not say a word? Was I that unsatisfactory?
So what is that?
I was so upset that I wanted to say something, but when I heard Seonwoo’s voice sounding as truly sad as I was, even if I had anything to say, it faded away.
I close my eyes tightly and sigh.
“… Sorry.”
-Ha… , no. I think I was too emotional after talking on the phone like this. It’s between you and us.
“There must have been a reason why you were so angry.”
-I’m sorry, Yumin. The kids are waiting, so I’ll contact you later.
“Now, wait a minute. “Before that, please tell me what I did wrong.”
-…… Ha, that.
Seonwoo keeps swallowing and is reluctant to mention anything.
Is the mistake I made really that bad?
No matter what happens, I humbly accept it and wait for his answer with the intention of apologizing.
-Chaewon.
“…… Chaewon?”
-Why didn’t you tell me that you and Chaewon were childhood friends…? !!!
A roar filled with anger, similar to that of a lion’s hooves.
-Hey, dude. You know that I am a big fan of Chaewon from Ever… !!
Next, the words and breathing that I couldn’t bear to continue with my tears.
What did I just hear———?
1 Second. 2 Seconds. 3 Seconds.
I kept blinking and repeating what he said……
“Hey f*ck———.”
I spat out a bunch of swear words that I have never uttered outside of my military service.
+++
When I heard that it would be uploaded tomorrow, I immediately thought that the video would be released the day after today.
By the time Chaewon and I called, it was already around 11:50.
From my perspective, a new today has come, so of course I thought of tomorrow as the standard for the new today.
But what is this? The vlog was uploaded as soon as midnight.
The timing was also amazing. I had a lot on my mind at the time, so I put my phone on sleep mode and stared at the sky endlessly, so I had no idea.
“I think Park Seon-woo lost 10 years to his life because of that idiot….”
To calm your mind, which is difficult to calm down, sit still and take a deep breath.
Contrary to my wish to find peace, the phone and KakaoTalk continue to ring even now that I know the full story of the incident.
Sunwoo I was so annoyed by that crazy guy that I put myself on airplane mode and turned off the KakaoTalk alarm.
Oh, I don’t know. No contact for two days.
I mutter to myself, throw my cell phone on the bed and get my iPad.
“Is there anything to watch on Netflix these days?”
Current time: 2:30 PM. Currently, I am suffering from a condition called boredom.
After I was discharged from the military, I went everywhere I could go and met everyone I met.
I don’t have any plans today and I don’t have any reason to go out to buy groceries, so studying is really crazy.
So, I went to Netflix to watch a movie or drama I hadn’t seen in a while……
“Wow. “It’s annoying to see.”
That’s right. I am a person who finds watching videos very annoying.
I immediately turn off the screen and stare blankly at the ceiling.
I usually zone out or sleep while listening to music at these times, but I was asleep for two hours before I could sleep, and these days, I can’t find any good music to listen to.
… However, I don’t have the confidence to watch the vlog in question.
“It is an emergency. “It’s an emergency.”
The day comes when you worry that you have nothing to do at home.
I feel like my pride, which I prided myself on being the strongest homebody, is being cracked.
“But in the end, you spend your time well…… “What?”
The title of a song suddenly passed through my mind while muttering.
Stream Kendrick Lamar’s Alright, a song that immediately came to mind.
“The old building is a famous building. “This guy’s songs are really crazy.”
A rap that is sloppily uttered while riding a groove. I spent a good 3 hours enjoying the good old days……
“Wow, I shouldn’t sleep now.”
Maybe I was enjoying it too enthusiastically, but I felt so drowsy.
In an attempt to somehow chase away sleep, I leave the house with half-closed eyes, taking my cell phone, wallet, and headphones with me.
This is what happened, let’s run on campus to sweat a lot and then eat something.
15 Minutes walk to campus. I walked lightly at a brisk pace, feeling like I was warming up, and stopped at the waiting signal in front of a large crosswalk with an 8-lane road.
… But what?
“Oh, no way.”
I thought it was too much of a fuss, so a self-deprecating smile came out.
It was uploaded at midnight, which means that only 17 hours have passed since it was released.
No matter how famous Ever’s Han Chae-won is, how interested are people in her?
‘Don’t be conceited. You, it’s no big deal.’
I mutter that this is a ridiculous situation, but I turn up the volume on my headphones as the two women look at me and seem to be whispering.
At the moment when the signal was about to change, I was taking steps to increase my speed.
“Hey….”
A woman tapping my shoulder.
No way. She mumbled and turned her head to meet her eyes……
“That’s right.”
“… Yes?”
“Chae-won’s childhood friend, Kang Yu-min. “That’s right, right?”
The woman’s expression hardens as she speaks, her eyes flashing with an expression close to conviction.
No way, they caught someone.
“New Jeans’ Hype Boy.”
Five minutes after leaving, I sprinted toward home.