I then parted ways with Nayoung. And then, the next day, her father – Man-hyun Kim, the CEO of Saman Group – came looking for me personally.
“Thank you for saving my daughter’s life.”
“It was nothing,” I said with my most modest face and lowest bow.
“I would like to give you something in return.”
He spoke as though he was the Mountain Spirit that appeared in The Honest Woodcutter fable. Of course, the one who actually brought the golden axe wasn’t really the Mountain Spirit, but the god Hermes. He’s one of Zeus’ sons and one of the 12 gods residing on Mt. Olympus. So, for those of you who thought that the Honest Woodcutter was a Korean fable, sorry, but no. It was originally from Greece. The god Hermes was changed to a Mountain Spirit when it came over to Korea. And right now, this man in front of me – Man-hyun Kim, the very CEO of Saman Group – was sitting in front of me, promising me even better things than a mere golden axe.
“Something in return?”
“If there’s anything you want, just say it. You saved my daughter’s life. It’s the least I could do.”
Jackpot.
“Can I get a car?” I asked tentatively.
And, as if on cue, Man-hyun started listing every model.
“Lamborghini? Ferrari? Porsche? Benz? BMW? How about an Audi? What kind of car? Would you like all of them?”
“….”
Wow, this guy was actually serious.
“A Genesis, please.”
“Genesis? That’s a Korean car. Do you not want a foreign one?”
“But the maintenance…”
See, I didn’t want to spend too much on my car. I’d rather use that money to buy myself some food. Then again, a Genesis probably won’t be cheap to maintain either.
“I’ll pay for all the expenses. You should get a foreign car.”
“No really, that’s fine,” I rejected nicely, but it was all for show. I decided to reject maybe two times. Unfortunately, Man-hyun thought that I was serious and didn’t push it further.
“Alright then. Of course, someone as righteous as you wouldn’t be so greedy. With that, I’ll get you a Genesis. It’s a great car. I’ll get you the latest model.”
“Yes, Sir…” I answered dejectedly. To be honest, I really wanted the Lamborghini. I had placed the wrong bets.
Anyways, that’s how I got a free car. I decided to name it Boong Boong. Don’t ask me why I chose that name…it’s so cutesy…must be the female hormones taking over again…
***
A few weeks had passed since then. During that time, I got my drivers’ license. Right now, I was taking Boong Boong to Seoul Station. I was going to pick up the soldiers who were out on break, but they had no idea I was here. I had come without telling them.
“Should I hit them?”
I was seriously considering it, but I wasn’t a thug…
“I’ll just give them what they gave me.”
Yeah, that’s it. I’ll just do what they did to me to them. No, wait, that’s not good enough. I’ll give it to them 3 times as much. Yeah, that should do it.
Anyways, I walked into Seoul Station and waited with my eyes peeled. Just then, I saw two of the soldiers from ‘Army Body’ coming out of the KTX exit. The two I’ve been waiting for: the referee officer and the tanned officer.
“Heh.”
I approached them slowly, but they saw me. How? I’m not sure. I wasn’t exactly close enough for them to notice me right away, but they did. And at the moment they saw me, they both gulped. I waved at them.
“Hi~”
Unfortunately, they didn’t buy my enthusiastic greeting and immediately started to retreat.
“Hmph. Nice try.”
I chased after them and as soon as we were outside, I grabbed them by the back of their necks.
“Gotcha!”
“Ah!”
“Shit!”
They both started cursing.
“Hello, officers!”
“H-hi…”
“Hello…”
The two greeted me rather awkwardly, and to think they were so tough and arrogant when they ordered me around back at the base.
“Why so awkward? Just treat me like you did back at the training center. It keeps my aggressiveness going.”
“….”
The two didn’t say anything at that.
“Come on. No need to be scared. I just wanted to treat you guys to a meal.”
“It’s fine. We can buy for ourselves,” the referee officer said. He may be the bigger of the two, but at the moment, he was cowering more than the tanned officer was. To be honest, these two had good reasons. Before I left, I made sure they knew just who they were dealing. You know the barracks I stayed at during filming? Well, I may have left a not-so-little crack on the steps leading up to it. While they were watching as well. That’s why they’re so scared of me.
“I said I’m buying.”
“No really, that’s…”
“I’m buying.”
“O-okay…”
In the end, they were the ones who gave in.
“But before that.”
“Y-yes?”
They both looked rather nervous and gulped once more, but they were right to be nervous. Why? Because I ended up dragging them to an empty alleyway. And I made them suffer just as much as I had not long after. Some might call that petty, but you know? I’m really not that big of a person. I’m one who takes what is due.
“Go forward! Go back! Don’t roll to the left and don’t roll to the right! I said don’t roll over!”
But I also bought them really good food. With my own money, of course.
***
That evening, Jinwoo called me again. Saying he had something to tell me. I have a rather ominous feeling about it. I can still picture all those contracts sitting on his desk…
Knock knock.
“Come in, Sian~”
“….”
Well, he’s in a good mood today. I opened the door and walked into his office. As soon as he saw me, Jinwoo greeted with a big smile.
“Sian-san!”
“….”
He’s a man in his 40’s. What’s he calling me Sian-san for?
“What now?”
“Aw, what do you mean? You keep talking like that and I’ll get real sad.”
He sat down on the sofa and I sat across from him.
“You’re really famous in Japan now.”
“Uh-huh.”
It’s true. I was a hit in Japan now. In the midst of all the fuss about how I had rescued those survivors, the story about ‘Sugoi Sushi’ had also been released. Now everyone knew about how I had beaten Sakaraba in arm wrestling. And that just made my popularity explode, especially with Japanese women. A few did question the story, saying the table was way too thick for anyone to be able to punch a hole in it, but no one cared. It wasn’t that important. Right now, it was safe to say that Japan was charmed by me. Particularly, its women!
“You really are impressive.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Oh well, that’s good. Anyways, thanks to you, Lovely Girlz is building quite a following in Japan. You probably already know this, but you have a Japanese fanclub now.”
“I see.”
“It’s mostly women.”
“As expected.”
It’s the same in Korea, after all.
“Why do you think women like you so much?” Jinwoo asked with a curious smile.
“Because I can fight?”
“Is that so?”
“Probably. The whole girl crush thing is really popular these days.”
“That’s true.” Jinwoo nodded. Then, he spoke up.
“We’re going to be organizing a Japanese concert soon, and we’ll have to hold a fanmeeting.”
He said all this with a big smile. Then again, having a concert in Japan is a pretty big deal.
“You seem happy.”
“Of course!”
“Great. So now can you tell me why you called me here?”
“Oh, right.”
Jinwoo took one more sip of his coffee before he spoke.
“Do you know what the Idol Dream Team is?”
“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. Idol Dream Team? Never heard of it.
“It’s the show that’s on every Sunday morning.”
“Oh. That.”
Right. That. It’s that show where idols come on and compete in teams against real athletes. They do all these obstacles and missions and whatnot.
“Yes, that. They wanted to book you as one of the female guests.”
“And?”
“I signed the contract.”
“….”
Good for you, asshole.
“It’s okay, right?”
“Yeah, sure. Who else is going to be on there?”
“It’s three male idols and three female idols, but apparently, the male idols are really handsome. So I’m a little worried.”
“About what?”
“I’m worried that they’ll try and take you away. You can’t go crushing on them just because they’re tall and good-looking, okay?”
“Yeah, right,” I said with a smirk. Hello? I’m a guy as well.
“I’m just saying…you’re old enough to be interested in those things. I’m just telling you to put off dating as long as possible. Your image is tied to Lovely Girlz. The moment you start dating…you know how it is. It’s the women who get the brunt, and it could spell trouble for the group.”
That’s true. It’s always the girl who gets in trouble whenever a dating scandal comes out. No guy would fall for a girl who’s in the arms of another man.
“How about dating in secret?”
“Don’t do that either.”
“Okay.”
I mean, it’s not like I had any plans to. I’d need someone to date first.
“It’s a crucial period for you right now. You have to be really careful.”
“Okay.”
“And don’t just go around randomly hitting people either.”
“Random?”
What am I? A street punk?
Anyways, I asked, “So when does filming start?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Aw, fu…sigh…”
Once again, I held back the string of curse words that had threatened to escape, but really. Can’t this guy tell these things earlier?
“Oy, you…I mean, Mr. Park.”
“Y-yes…?”
“Why do you always wait until the day before to tell me these things?”
He better have a good answer.
“Because I’m afraid you’ll say you won’t do it.”
“Right.”
Well, it made sense, so I didn’t say anything else.
“Do I need to bring anything?”
“Nope. Just yourself.”
“So I’ll be put on a team?”
“Yeah. You’ll go through some obstacles and stuff. Should be fun.”
“And the other members? They’ll be there to support me, right?”
“No. They’re scheduled to film a commercial that day.”
“Then it’s just me?”
“Hak-gyu will be there. Don’t worry.”
“….”
I don’t want men cheering for me.
“Oh, and Christine will be there. You guys are friends, right?”
“Yes, we are.”
We are. At least, in my case, we’re just friends. In her case, she has a crush on me, since she’s a lesbian. So we’re filming together again? Hmm…she’s not going to keep clinging to me, is she? Not that I mind. To be honest…Christine is really pretty…and I’m a guy.
‘As long as it’s not too severe.’
After all, too much can get troublesome. The public is really good at picking up these things. They may catch on that Christine is a lesbian…and when that happens, I could be accused of the same.
Anyways, that’s how I got confirmed for Idol Dream Team. Or at least, that’s how I learned that I did.
