Chapter 214
The man who was enthusiastically stepped on sighed as he was rescued by the police and said while rubbing his back.
“Why the heck is a middle school student wearing high heels? …Man, that really hurts.”
I asked him the question that popped into my head as I looked at him.
“Looking at your body, you seem like you’ve exercised a lot. Why were you beaten down like that?”
The man tilted his head, as if to say, ‘Why are you asking something so obvious,’ and replied.
“Whether you’ve exercised or not, how do you beat up a kid?”
“….”
Honestly, that was a hard statement to understand.
There were kids armed with wooden bats and pipes, and he was worried about that?
If things go south, it’s like becoming a vegetable, right? Shouldn’t you be thinking about yourself first, no matter who your opponent is?
“If they were a group of sturdy adult men, I could’ve beaten them.”
“….”
I understood that he was actually quite weak compared to what he looked like, and that he had an overly strong bravado.
“By the way, are you hurt anywhere?”
“Nope, not at all.”
“Great, that’s a relief.”
After saying that, the man walked over to the girl who was being bullied.
He probably didn’t want to provoke her, so he seemed to try to approach carefully, but it seemed her attitude was annoyed by that.
Maybe because of that, she yelled at him, saying he did something useless.
It was a remark that fit the current situation. I mean, even if she avoided this situation, she’d have to face that gang from tomorrow.
And they were likely to use today’s events to act even more viciously.
However, having understood enough about the situation and the trends of human emotions, I also knew that the man would get angry.
He was just trying to help, so why be mad?
It was a hard attitude to understand, but it was a flow of thought I had to get used to.
But the man’s response was different from my expectations.
“It’s okay. I’ll protect you.”
The girl, with a sense of justice, told him not to say such things lightly, and the man asserted that it wasn’t just talk and chuckled softly.
“I’ve got plenty of time and nothing to do. I’ll show you what happens when you poke a jobless guy with a strong obsession.”
What he showed afterward was a range of various annoying actions.
He started accompanying her to and from school like a bodyguard, threatening to sue the parents of the bullying group for assault, barging into the places where the gang often gathered to bust them for smoking or drinking, invading the school to throw tantrums at the staff pretending to be a guardian, and staging a one-man protest in front of the school gate.
Throwing a tantrum at the school staff, staging a one-person protest in front of the school gate.
And ultimately managing to publicize the matter in the media, turning the entire school upside down.
This was the work of the man who introduced himself as Seon Taeyang over three months.
Eventually, when all the kids who had been the center of the clique were disciplined and most transferred schools, either voluntarily or due to pressure, causing the clique to dissolve, the girl waited, as always, to walk home with Seon Taeyang, bursting into tears as she hugged him and said,
“Thank you, really thank you.”
As Seon Taeyang gently patted her and smiled faintly, he disappeared the next day.
As if he had accomplished all his goals.
“…”
It was hard to understand.
*
Three months later, I saw the missing Seon Taeyang in some vacant lot.
He was climbing a tree to retrieve a ball stuck up there for the neighborhood kids.
For a moment, I thought, ‘Should I tell him that the girl he helped is desperately looking for him?’ but I shook my head.
It wasn’t really going to help me.
Just as I was about to walk past him, Seon Taeyang called me over and asked me to shake one of the lower branches.
Again, not something that really helped me. But I approached and shook the tree.
…Huh? Why?
“But if the goal is to drop the ball, shouldn’t you be shaking that one over there, not this one?”
“Why?”
“No, just looking at the position and distance, it’s obvious.”
“Oh, you calculated that? Smart. As expected, you’re Oh Chun-ja when it comes to math.”
…Does that guy seriously think middle-school knowledge is comparable to that of a chimpanzee?
Watching Seon Taeyang smile contentedly as the neighborhood kids started playing soccer again with the ball I got down from the tree, I said,
“Thanks for what you did last time.”
Objectively, everything he did last time had helped me.
Had he not intervened, I might have ended up getting beat up and a video of me getting bullied could have gone viral online.
Moreover, because he went to the school and caused a ruckus, I also managed to avoid any revenge from that clique.
In terms of a deal, he essentially provided me with very valuable labor.
Because of that, I wanted to repay him with light-hearted words, thinking of what might make him happy, and I said,
“And watching you back then, I thought you were really cool, and I wanted to be like you. Yeah…”
With a suitably moved expression, I said,
“I’m going to be a cool person. Just like the sun.”
Considering the personality of the man known as Seon Taeyang that I had seen over the past three months, I was sure he would like this.
However, to my surprise, Seon Taeyang’s face stiffened at my words.
Seon Taeyang’s expression was set in stone.
And in a low voice that lacked any hint of joy, he firmly replied.
“Don’t encourage someone like me to become like that.”
“….”
It was hard to understand.
I knew it was nearly impossible for me to fully comprehend others, thanks to the antisocial personality disorder that the quack doctor mentioned, but while analyzing the situation with logic and statistics, understanding wasn’t entirely out of reach. But this man, Seon Taeyang…
He was particularly hard to grasp.
*
Time passed quite a bit after that.
I was focusing on my studies, and on my way to catch the bus for a comprehensive academy, I spotted a woman and a man in suits walking determinedly somewhere.
But the man’s face looked familiar.
I stood on my tiptoes to peek over people’s heads and confirm the face.
It was Seon Taeyang.
The two seemed to be getting into a car, heading somewhere.
I instinctively hailed a taxi in front of me and asked the driver to follow them.
It wasn’t until the taxi fare reached its base rate that I began to question.
…Why?
I didn’t know. But my body just moved.
The two parked in the lot of SS, a well-known agency and then headed inside.
Naturally, as a mere middle school student, I couldn’t enter there.
I paid the taxi driver and waited alone in the parking lot, reasoning that since the car was still there, they’d come back.
After a short time, Seon Taeyang emerged.
But the composition of the group was different.
A stunning girl with mystical blonde hair and purple eyes had joined them.
Judging by her appearance, situation, and the location, she seemed to be an idol trainee.
She was holding onto Seon Taeyang’s hand tightly, as if she never wanted to let go.
After a brief exchange, the woman in the suit who came with Seon Taeyang headed off in the opposite direction, and the two approached my side.
I instinctively hid, but they walked and then stopped, and the girl spoke loudly.
“I won’t leave this as just words. I’ll stake my entire life on you. I’ll be with you in everything from now on. No matter what agency you go to, I’ll definitely follow you. And I’ll make sure you reach the top. No matter where or when.”
From what I could tell, Seon Taeyang was once again getting involved in someone else’s drama and displaying some inexplicable meddling.
I kept my eyes on this bizarre scene and eavesdropped on their conversation.
“…I’m really happy. Those words mean a lot to me. But you shouldn’t follow them.”
“Yeah. But you shouldn’t follow that saying.”
“Why?”
“It would be great if we succeed, but if we fail, there’s no way to compensate Teacher Taeyang for his time and efforts. Even if I give everything I have, it won’t cover that.”
“If I can’t succeed with you, that’s my fault, so why should you compensate me? I should be the one rewarding you.”
The girl, with tears streaming down her face, rubbed her cheeks against the man’s comforting hand and cried out desperately.
“Even so, if we fail, it’s all over! All this time, all this care!”
Then Seon Taeyang smiled at her and replied.
“If being an idol fails, we can just do something else.”
“…Like what?”
“Hmm… How about internet broadcasting? You’re pretty, like really pretty. Once you turn on the camera, the viewers will pour in, I guarantee it! I’ll handle the editing.”
“…What if that fails too?”
“Then let’s open a pub. I’ll cook and you can serve. We can set up a small stage in the corner, and you can sing while serving, and people will flock to you like clouds!”
“…What if that fails too?”
Seon Taeyang answered each of her persistent questions, one by one. Each answer meant he would stick by her through every possibility in life. It was no different from a proposal.
Hearing those words, the blonde girl held his hand tightly as if it were precious and said,
“Teacher Taeyang.”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s be together for a long time.”
To her words, Seon Taeyang smiled like spring and said,
“Sure.”
They smiled at each other and walked out together.
“….”
From what little evidence had been gathered, it could be inferred that the blonde girl was a trainee at SS and had been going through some unpleasant experiences. And, just like before, Seon Taeyang had managed to rescue her with his usual antics. From what he gathered, it seemed his after-service for the blonde girl wasn’t finished yet. Unlike the other girl in his class who’d been bullied by a gang.
He seemed inclined to work at the agency with her.
“….”
Sitting hunched in the parking lot, he recalled the scene he had just witnessed. Then he looked at his reflection in the glass. He hadn’t felt the need to take care of himself much, but he had a face that fit the usual standards of beauty.
“Being an idol… Should I give it a shot?”
He pondered the income potential, work intensity, and return on investment. It didn’t seem bad at all.
This was a very rational decision. It was definitely not an emotional decision.
After all, he was a person who could only make rational judgments.
…Probably.
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