Episode 192
At my overly confident statement, Oh Yoori looked doubtful and asked.
“Is there really a method like that? In this situation?”
As I pondered how to explain this, I playfully said,
“Gaeul, what do you think of me?”
“…What kind of sudden question is that?”
“Do you like me in a romantic way?”
At my question, Oh Yoori looked horrified and answered.
“Wow… that’s truly the worst question.”
Yeah, that’s the normal reaction you’d expect from someone her age, not like Gaeul, Yeoreum, or Gyeoul.
Feeling a strange sense of satisfaction, as I looked at her happily, Yoori scoffed as if she couldn’t believe it and said,
“But Team Leader Seon, you know what kind of person I am. I can’t give a proper answer to that question.”
“Oh, right. Did I choose the wrong person to ask?”
“I did say it, but it oddly feels bad to get that kind of reaction.”
Complicated feelings indeed.
“But still, it’s not completely unrelated. Listen to me. Hmm… first, Yoori, what do you think when you see me holding this beer you brought while whining?”
At this obvious question, Oh Yoori pondered seriously for some reason and looked at me as she said.
“You’re easy?”
“Then what about when I smash my head on the keyboard while composing and lament, ‘Is this pathetic head really presenting this as a result?’”
“That’s… pitiful?”
“When I’m out at Girls in Road, watching the kids struggle and laughing, then scream and run away when I realize I’m getting dragged into it?”
“That’s… ugly?”
“Bingo! Perfect answer!”
“….”
At my reaction, Oh Yoori muttered quietly enough not to be heard.
“Is this really the right answer?”
I chose to ignore Yoori’s mumbling and continued with the main point.
“Just like you think, when I look at my actions objectively, I’m not someone with fantasies. I desperately try to manage things, so even if it doesn’t show, I always end up causing one incident at a time, and saying it’s a plan seems a bit off somewhere.”
“So, isn’t the plan you’re talking about now the same?”
“Hey, this time it’s different. You’ll be convinced if you hear it!”
Oh Yoori leaned in as if she was willing to listen to the content.
“The important thing is, I’m not the amazing and unbeatable man they think I am. If you dissect each of my actions like you just evaluated, they’re ugly, pitiful, and easy, and beyond that, there’d be plenty of negative impressions too.”
“So? Are you saying you’re deliberately choosing to be hated? That sounds like another incident waiting to happen.”
“I think something’s about to explode.”
“No, the point is not to be hated, but to shatter the children’s illusions.”
“Shatter their illusions?”
I nodded emphatically.
“Yeah, it’s what you might call a ‘bean pod’ situation.”
“…From my perspective, it seems like you guys aren’t in a ‘bean pod’ situation but have just fallen madly in love!”
“No, Yuri. Calm down and think about who the kids are currently seeing.”
She tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then said, “I thought about it. So? What’s your point?”
“Among those people, was there anyone who could possibly be viewed as a romantic interest by the three kids?”
“Team Leader Seon.”
“…Except for me.”
“Except Team Leader Seon? Hmm… Oh dear?”
Then Oh Yoori scratched her head, pondered again, and quietly said, “There’s no one?”
That’s right. There was no one.
There’s a perception that pretty, girly girl group members are secretly dating, but that fundamentally requires the possibility of dating.
In the initial training period, a typical meeting place.
Since TwoBear was a brand new agency with nothing, there were no male trainees to interact with.
Right after the debut, controversies regarding Yeoreum erupted, leading to all schedules being halted before any interactions could happen.
Now, with successful variety shows, contests, dramas, and a second album, it was possible to resume normal activities, but Cheon Aram, now sensitive to scandals, had cut out most programs with potential for such meetings.
Maybe there would have been chances in the music broadcast world where various people mix, but the managers, brainwashed by Cheon Aram’s code of conduct, did their best to prevent such situations, so that too was not easy.
“Yeah, right now the kids can’t meet any attractive peers at all.”
So the kids were living in a sterile environment devoid of men.
“My being seen as a romantic option is heavily influenced by this; there aren’t any decent male figures around, so they end up with someone like me, like an unfortunate twist of fate. It’s like having a crush on the only young male teacher in an all-girls school. The feelings the kids are experiencing stem from encountering the opposite sex for the first time after puberty, mixed with the illusion of an adult. It’s all intricately layered.”
Oh Yoori tilted her head, then said, “Honestly, I’m not sure it’s just that… But if we assume Team Leader Seon is right, the fact that they fell for the absence of male interactions doesn’t change the fact that they fell for someone, right? Isn’t that important?”
“It is important, because falling for someone in such a limited space and view makes it very easy for that illusion to break.”
And breaking that illusion didn’t necessarily have to leave negative feelings behind.
“Yuri, why do you think you see me as someone pathetic, shabby, impoverished, messy, and not even remotely attractive? Someone who feels suffocating and lamentable?”
“No, I didn’t say it like that…”
“It’s because my attitude towards you is different from how I treat the others. I treat you like a comfortable friend, not as an adult who should shoulder responsibilities and set an example.”
“That’s because I treat you differently than I do with the others. I see you as a comfortable friend, not as an adult who has to take responsibility and set an example.”
“…Friend.”
Oh Yoori, fiddling with her beer can, finally asked.
“So, are you saying that if Teacher Taeyang treats me the same way, the illusion will shatter, and love will fade for my sisters?”
“Exactly.”
“…I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t believe their feelings would just vanish like that.”
“Of course, it won’t disappear right away. That’s why it needs to be approached long-term.”
“So, is it different?”
“Very different.”
The passage of time dulls the intense feelings and buries them in memories of ‘It was like that back then.’
“The hormones that trigger feelings of love peak for 2 to 3 years. After that, they decrease. The feelings those kids have will gradually lessen too, and during that time, if I’m treated as a friend rather than someone rational, their feelings can drop down to the level of someone they used to like.”
“…Won’t that take a long time?”
“The contract has about 5 years and one month left, right? That will be plenty of time. By then, they’ll probably ask to let things go as if there were no promises.”
Honestly, it won’t take that long. I’m looking at about 1 to 2 years. And that should be enough time to change their perception of me.
“I’ll prove it. No one will get hurt, and all this time can become a memory.”
*
At the baseball stadium with Yeoreum.
“Team Leader Seon, thanks for coming with me. I love sports and have always wanted to see a game live.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. You don’t need to thank me. I love all sports too, so when I have time, I make sure to catch a game. Let’s have fun and enjoy it in a healthy way.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best to enjoy it!”
“Good, that’s a great attitude. Even if our team is losing and it’s a bit frustrating, let’s understand sports and have fun… MERCURY, YOU CRAZY IDIOTS! CAN’T YOU CATCH THAT?!”
“…”
At karaoke with Gaeul.
“Well, Brother Taeyang, isn’t that song a bit tough on your throat? How about choosing another song, or lowering the key?”
“Gaeul, I appreciate your concern, but there are moments a man just can’t back down.”
“…What are those moments?”
“Challenging the limits of vocal range at karaoke, of course. Here we go, RAJENKA!”
“…”
While gaming with Gyeoul.
“Teacher Taeyang, I can’t unfreeze this, could you come help me just once? I swear I’ll pay for the gank!”
“Gyeoul.”
“Yes?”
“The top lane is supposed to be a lonely lane. Get used to that loneliness. Hmm… the red is delicious.”
“…Teacher Taeyang, it seems like the enemy jungler is about to dive. Please, just help me this one time, and I’ll work hard…”
“In that case, I must run to the bottom following the diagonal law. Let me show you. Playmaking! …Ah, I missed the sonic wave.”
“I guess I have to run to the bottom following the diagonal law. Let me show you. Playmaking! …Ah, I missed the sound wave.”
“….”
I was throwing a huge fit.
Oh Yoori looked at my efforts with an odd expression and said,
“Is this really effective?”
“Yeah, I think it’s working well? The kids look at me like, ‘What’s wrong with this person?’ Even a thousand years of love might cool off?”
“….”
“Plus, I’m having fun.”
With a deep sigh, Oh Yoori scratched her head and said,
“Well, this time it really seems okay. It breaks the illusion but draws more interest than usual, so it doesn’t seem like anything bad will happen. It’s a surprisingly good plan for Team Leader Seon.”
“Right?”
“But still, be careful. It’s fine to break the illusion, but if it feels like Team Leader Seon’s interest has waned or that there’s an intention to distance themselves, it might lead to an accident like last time.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be much more careful this time.”
Honestly, I was thinking of investing fully in all three kids, as if I had no personal life at all.
“But, those girls really dislike it, right?”
I was certain about this.
“Of course, they only pick annoying and dirty things to do, so they must hate it.”
“That makes sense?”
“Of course!”
“…Wow, I feel a bit relieved now.”
“You’ve worked hard to hang out with me all this time.”
“Team Leader Seon has had the hardest time.”
“Well, I guess I will have a hard time from now on, but I can think a bit more comfortably now… Really, thank you.”
We laughed comfortably, thinking about a hopeful future after a long time.
*
Five years.
A period long enough for the emotion of love to crumble into the word affection, a time where at least two phases of ennui are bound to occur, and sufficient time for a teenage girl’s feelings toward an adult to shift from longing to pity.
I didn’t waste that time recklessly.
I worked hard every moment to become someone unremarkable and annoying, someone devoid of masculine charm.
And thus, five years passed.
*
-Five years later-
“Brother Taeyang, there are 30 days, 3 hours, 28 minutes, and 4 seconds left until the contract ends! …It’s so hard to wait, can we just start dating right now?”
“Um… Teacher Taeyang. My grandfather keeps asking when I’ll get married and when I’ll bring home a partner… So can I introduce you as my boyfriend?”
“Team Leader Seon. By any chance, where would you like the newlywed house? Don’t worry about the money. Villa? Apartment? Detached house? Ah… Should we just build a whole building?”
With one month left until the contract expired, i.e., the day I decided to date the kids, their feelings hadn’t changed. …No, if anything, they had intensified.
“….”
…Huh?
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