The fact that rock music was playing was my only comfort in that moment. In a situation like this, it was much better than silence.
Kim Ahyoung, sitting on the bed with her legs folded to her chest, gestured towards the chair with her chin. When I obeyed her command and sat down, we were forced to look at each other face to face, as if this was the true beginning of the conversation.
“I already mentioned this, but I ran away from home.”
“Then go back home.”
“If I wanted to, I wouldn’t have run away to begin with. If you’re trying to nitpick every trivial thing, just shut up and listen.”
How could she say that?
I shuddered at her sharp words. It seemed that I was not even allowed to make a joke, though I had meant what I said.
“That’s why I broke your phone back then. All of the students in our class will probably have their locations tracked. I left my phone at home, too. Didn’t the school contact you?”
She was more like a fortune-teller than an angel. Kim Ahyoung scoffed.
“It’s too obvious. If they immediately contact the mass media, there would be an uproar and my reputation would crash, or at least fall. That’s why they’ll try to find me secretly. They won’t be able to find any clues at school, so only innocent people would suffer.”
I wished that she would acknowledge the fact that I was also one of those innocent people. However, there was something that I wanted to ask first.
“So, why did you bring me here?”
Kim Ahyoung stared at me intently as she lifted a finger.
“First of all, you saw me.”
“Because you ran away.”
“That was because I was caught off guard. Anyone would have done that in that situation. Why the heck was it 13,000 won anyway? That price is so random!”
“Don’t lash out at me. I only sold it at the listed price.”
“It was fortunate that you followed me. If you hadn’t, I would have needed to wait to ambush you in this weather. After all, it’s true that you saw me.”
Kim Ahyoung spat out those terrifying words with indifference. In any case, it meant that I would have ended up here no matter what.
“At the moment, there should only be a few people who know that I’ve run away. I mentioned this before, but I can’t walk around openly because there are a lot of searching eyes around. In the end…”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
The more she talked, the more I felt that she wasn’t going to give me the answer I wanted, so I cut her off and asked another question. However, Kim Ahyoung answered as if I were asking something obvious.
“What do you mean ‘what’? You have to stay here until it’s over.”
“Until what’s over?”
“My getaway.”
I was stupefied. I could understand that she had to bring me here to talk. However, telling me that I had to stay here for the length of her who-knows-how-long getaway was a different story.
I raised my voice.
“Are you kidding me? After dragging me here, all you’re telling me is that you don’t even know when…”
“I’m not kidding. You’re actually going to have to stay here for a while.”
Kim Ahyoung’s expression didn’t change at all. Chills ran down my spine.
“You can’t possibly be trying to tell me that I should let you go because you won’t tell anyone, can you? Think about it carefully. You’re the hostage here. If you still want to find out what will happen if you leave, you can do so.”
I didn’t want to know.
I didn’t like it, but it was a fact that Kim Ahyoung had the upper hand here. There was nothing that I could do right now.
Regardless of my inner circumstances, Kim Ahyoung confidently lifted a second finger.
“What’s important is the second reason. To be honest, the first was merely bait to bring you here.”
“…And what is that?”
“You can help me.”
“Me?”
“That’s right. In order for you to help me, I have to tell you my plan first, right?”
She said that in a deliberate tone, as if she was doing me a favour, but I wasn’t happy at all.
“I never told you that I’d help.”
“Then help.”
Kim Ahyoung seemed to have already realized that I couldn’t talk back to her if she maintained her high-handed attitude. Damn it. This was clearly blackmail. The problem was that it was intentional.
“I ran away to give a performance.”
Although I was exploding with anger inside, I was dumbfounded by Kim Ahyoung’s reason. If I remembered clearly, she had announced an indefinite hiatus in early November. It didn’t make any sense.
“You’re the one who stepped down, and now you’re saying that you want to perform?”
“The entire reason I stepped down was for this. I want to perform in a rock band.”
“Why?”
“I can’t tell you all of the reasons right now. I will tell you everything someday. For now, just know that my Dad hates rock.”
It seemed to be about her reputation, like she had mentioned earlier. One of the few restrictions she had on her. I shook my head.
“It’s impossible.”
“Why is that?”
“How are you going to perform in a rock band by yourself? You’re hiding your identity right now, but if you perform with somebody, you will have no choice but to reveal yourself. Did you plan to walk around wrapped in god knows how many layers? I don’t think anyone would accept performing with such a suspicious person.”
I thought that my points had been quite accurate, but Kim Ahyoung was confidently smirking. I wondered if I had missed anything, but nothing came to mind.
“That’s why I told you that you can help me.”
“I don’t know how to play any instruments, and a performance is out of the question.”
Even while I was refuting her, something didn’t feel quite right. How had she been planning on performing if she had not encountered me?
Kim Ahyoung laughed, as if she had read my confusion.
“Don’t worry. I won’t make you stand on stage. What I need isn’t anything like that.”
“What is it, then?”
“Let me ask you something first. How did you get your part-time job at the concert today?”
How, she asked. The performer herself had lured me in with 5,000 won per hour.
“From Part-time Heaven.”
Kim Ahyoung responded to my half-hearted answer by kicking my shin. It wasn’t like she kicked it hard, and I admit that it was my fault, but I hadn’t expected her to kick me immediately, as if she were kicking an animal.
However, I had no choice but to be shocked at Kim Ahyoung’s follow-up comment.
“As if. I never found it.”
“You searched for it? No way, you can’t work part-time, right?”
The Angel0 working part-time at a concert venue? This wasn’t some getting-experience documentary. If she did something like that, the positions of the concert’s employer and the employee would be flipped in an instant.
Kim Ahyoung blushed when she saw my expression.
“I had no choice! I had to meet her! I personally like her, too.”
“Who?”
“Margaret.”
Now that I thought about it, it was strange for Kim Ahyoung to be at the concert in the first place. Why had she come? If an internationally renowned celebrity hid her identity and secretly visited to watch the concert, there were only a few possible answers.
I had a lot to ask, but I decided to listen to what she had to say first.
“But, I couldn’t find a way to meet her on my own. Like you said, I couldn’t reveal myself outright. I was thinking that I might be able to figure something out when I went to the concert today, and then I met you. As far as I know, you don’t know anything about music, but you were working there as if it were the most natural thing to do. I heard that Margaret only works with a limited group of people. If that’s so, how could this be? I can only conclude that you are acquainted with someone on the inside. How does that sound?”
It was a pretty good deduction. If Kim Ahyoung knew who the inside members were, her reasoning would have been perfect. It had only stopped there because she couldn’t get any help.
Sangah-noona tended to prepare for concerts with her acquaintances, just like how she picked the members who would be on stage, and I was one of her favorite laborers. Noona, who loved meeting people, rarely worked with people she didn’t know because of her desire to draw a clear line in these matters, so her acquaintances were usually willing to participate. The number of such “acquaintances” was diligently increasing, though.
“So what am I supposed to help you with?”
“I want to meet Margaret. You can make that happen, right?”
“First, I have something I want to ask you about.”
“What?”
“You can’t reveal your identity, but you’re saying that you have to meet Margaret? Does this mean that other bands can’t meet you, but Margaret can?”
Considering Sangah-noona’s and Kim Ahyoung’s reactions, the two had not met each other. As Kim Ahyoung herself had just revealed, the farthest it went was enjoying each other’s music.
Kim Ahyoung lightly shook her head and answered.
“That’s related to the reason I can’t tell you right now. However, if you let me meet Margaret, you’ll understand.”
You could say that she was trying to appease me, softening her oppressive attitude from before. She was inducing my cooperation by setting a tangible condition.
However, was she really just trying to appease me? I looked for a different intention behind Kim Ahyoung’s words.
Kim Ahyoung’s eyes had a teasing glint when she looked at me.
“What, are you doubting me? Do you want me to tell you more? We’re already in the same boat anyway, so I’m willing to tell you almost everything.”
“…Like what?”
Upon hearing my question, Kim Ahyoung answered with a hint of laughter in her voice.
“The third reason I brought you here is because you’re a thoroughly calculating type. You already knew that I was steadily observing you at school, right? Since I was making it obvious. Anyway, that’s how you were when I observed you. Even now, you aren’t trying to do anything stupid, even when you’re alone with a girl.”
That was because of the situation that I was in right now.
However, I couldn’t refute it. I was definitely the type to think before acting. Irked by the reality that I had been utterly seen through and had gotten teased on top of that, I asked a question with my voice full of discontent.
“So, that’s all?”
“What more do you want to know?”
“Well, something like when all of this is going to end?”
“The moment I finish my concert with Margaret. I’m thinking that it would be before school starts.”
Before school started. That meant that I wouldn’t be able to go back home for about a month, but I was so calm that even I was surprised. It was probably because I had been sort of expecting it.
There was no way that a concert would proceed that easily, and we would need time to prepare it. I had only heard her objective, but I thought that a month was still too short.
When I did not respond, Kim Ahyoung opened her mouth while nodding slightly.
“It would be beneficial for you to accept my offer. I plan to find a way, no matter what it takes, but if you help, things would be easier for me. You would also have someone to talk to about your situation. Needless to say, things would progress faster, and they might help you out as well.”
It would definitely be better for me to have someone who knew about my situation, rather than suffering alone from this nuisance.
It was the minimal consideration Kim Ahyoung could show me, and as well as the best card she could play.
Damn it. I never had a choice.
“Fine. I’ll cooperate.”
Kim Ahyoung smiled at my reply with satisfaction and extended her hand to me. I wiped my hand against my pants and shook hers. It was as cold as it was pale.
“Smart.”
Kim Ahyoung then stood up and began to put on some more clothing. A sudden feeling of unease hit me.
“Where are you going?”
“We’re going to meet Margaret.”
“Now?”
The clock on the wall showed that it was past eleven. However, Kim Ahyoung, who had followed my gaze and glanced at the time, responded nonchalantly.
“At least when it comes to getting things done, faster is better. You don’t know what could happen. It’s better to get it done immediately and relax.”
I agreed with that statement. It was better to finish things immediately when possible.
“At least take off the jacket you wore on the way here. If you look inside the closet, you’ll find some coats and hats. There are multiple sizes, so find something that fits loosely. There are sunglasses in the first drawer of the desk.”
“I need to wear a disguise, too?”
“Isn’t that obvious? We’re in the same boat.”
She was the one who dragged me onboard though.
Most of the clothing were large, so it wasn’t difficult to find some that fit me. After putting on a mask, a hat, and even a pair of sunglasses that Kim Ahyoung handed to me, I didn’t think anyone would be able to recognize me.
Kim Ahyoung, who had already finished putting on a perfect arctic outfit that matched mine, stood at the doorway and urged me on with her hand. Why did she need to be so hasty when we were already in the same room?
Before leaving the doorway, Kim Ahyoung began putting on her shoes and asked,
“Anyway, what is your relationship with Margaret?”
I passed her and stepped through the door.
“She’s my older sister.”
♫ ♩ ♬ ♪
“I’ll go in first, so just wait here for a bit.”
It was fortunate that the bus that connected Kim Ahyoung’s secret lair to Sangah-noona’s place was still running, although we had to transfer once.
When I suggested this after we got in front of the door, Kim Ahyoung quietly raised her voice.
“I’m going in with you. You might lock the door on me.”
She had even pretend to appease me to blackmail me back then, and now she was doubting me? This wasn’t a good place to argue, though.
I tried to convince her again.
“I’m sure she went to drink after the concert. She might not even be here.”
There was a good chance that that alcoholic would come back totally sober tomorrow morning.
“Then it shouldn’t matter.”
“What if there is someone else in there? Everyone might be gathered here.”
“Whether she’s here or not, you still have to ring the doorbell. Press it – before I kick that door.”
The fact that rock music was playing was my only comfort in that moment. In a situation like this, it was much better than silence.
Kim Ahyoung, sitting on the bed with her legs folded to her chest, gestured towards the chair with her chin. When I obeyed her command and sat down, we were forced to look at each other face to face, as if this was the true beginning of the conversation.
“I already mentioned this, but I ran away from home.”
“Then go back home.”
“If I wanted to, I wouldn’t have run away to begin with. If you’re trying to nitpick every trivial thing, just shut up and listen.”
How could she say that?
I shuddered at her sharp words. It seemed that I was not even allowed to make a joke, though I had meant what I said.
“That’s why I broke your phone back then. All of the students in our class will probably have their locations tracked. I left my phone at home, too. Didn’t the school contact you?”
She was more like a fortune-teller than an angel. Kim Ahyoung scoffed.
“It’s too obvious. If they immediately contact the mass media, there would be an uproar and my reputation would crash, or at least fall. That’s why they’ll try to find me secretly. They won’t be able to find any clues at school, so only innocent people would suffer.”
I wished that she would acknowledge the fact that I was also one of those innocent people. However, there was something that I wanted to ask first.
“So, why did you bring me here?”
Kim Ahyoung stared at me intently as she lifted a finger.
“First of all, you saw me.”
“Because you ran away.”
“That was because I was caught off guard. Anyone would have done that in that situation. Why the heck was it 13,000 won anyway? That price is so random!”
“Don’t lash out at me. I only sold it at the listed price.”
“It was fortunate that you followed me. If you hadn’t, I would have needed to wait to ambush you in this weather. After all, it’s true that you saw me.”
Kim Ahyoung spat out those terrifying words with indifference. In any case, it meant that I would have ended up here no matter what.
“At the moment, there should only be a few people who know that I’ve run away. I mentioned this before, but I can’t walk around openly because there are a lot of searching eyes around. In the end…”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
The more she talked, the more I felt that she wasn’t going to give me the answer I wanted, so I cut her off and asked another question. However, Kim Ahyoung answered as if I were asking something obvious.
“What do you mean ‘what’? You have to stay here until it’s over.”
“Until what’s over?”
“My getaway.”
I was stupefied. I could understand that she had to bring me here to talk. However, telling me that I had to stay here for the length of her who-knows-how-long getaway was a different story.
I raised my voice.
“Are you kidding me? After dragging me here, all you’re telling me is that you don’t even know when…”
“I’m not kidding. You’re actually going to have to stay here for a while.”
Kim Ahyoung’s expression didn’t change at all. Chills ran down my spine.
“You can’t possibly be trying to tell me that I should let you go because you won’t tell anyone, can you? Think about it carefully. You’re the hostage here. If you still want to find out what will happen if you leave, you can do so.”
I didn’t want to know.
I didn’t like it, but it was a fact that Kim Ahyoung had the upper hand here. There was nothing that I could do right now.
Regardless of my inner circumstances, Kim Ahyoung confidently lifted a second finger.
“What’s important is the second reason. To be honest, the first was merely bait to bring you here.”
“…And what is that?”
“You can help me.”
“Me?”
“That’s right. In order for you to help me, I have to tell you my plan first, right?”
She said that in a deliberate tone, as if she was doing me a favour, but I wasn’t happy at all.
“I never told you that I’d help.”
“Then help.”
Kim Ahyoung seemed to have already realized that I couldn’t talk back to her if she maintained her high-handed attitude. Damn it. This was clearly blackmail. The problem was that it was intentional.
“I ran away to give a performance.”
Although I was exploding with anger inside, I was dumbfounded by Kim Ahyoung’s reason. If I remembered clearly, she had announced an indefinite hiatus in early November. It didn’t make any sense.
“You’re the one who stepped down, and now you’re saying that you want to perform?”
“The entire reason I stepped down was for this. I want to perform in a rock band.”
“Why?”
“I can’t tell you all of the reasons right now. I will tell you everything someday. For now, just know that my Dad hates rock.”
It seemed to be about her reputation, like she had mentioned earlier. One of the few restrictions she had on her. I shook my head.
“It’s impossible.”
“Why is that?”
“How are you going to perform in a rock band by yourself? You’re hiding your identity right now, but if you perform with somebody, you will have no choice but to reveal yourself. Did you plan to walk around wrapped in god knows how many layers? I don’t think anyone would accept performing with such a suspicious person.”
I thought that my points had been quite accurate, but Kim Ahyoung was confidently smirking. I wondered if I had missed anything, but nothing came to mind.
“That’s why I told you that you can help me.”
“I don’t know how to play any instruments, and a performance is out of the question.”
Even while I was refuting her, something didn’t feel quite right. How had she been planning on performing if she had not encountered me?
Kim Ahyoung laughed, as if she had read my confusion.
“Don’t worry. I won’t make you stand on stage. What I need isn’t anything like that.”
“What is it, then?”
“Let me ask you something first. How did you get your part-time job at the concert today?”
How, she asked. The performer herself had lured me in with 5,000 won per hour.
“From Part-time Heaven.”
Kim Ahyoung responded to my half-hearted answer by kicking my shin. It wasn’t like she kicked it hard, and I admit that it was my fault, but I hadn’t expected her to kick me immediately, as if she were kicking an animal.
However, I had no choice but to be shocked at Kim Ahyoung’s follow-up comment.
“As if. I never found it.”
“You searched for it? No way, you can’t work part-time, right?”
The Angel0 working part-time at a concert venue? This wasn’t some getting-experience documentary. If she did something like that, the positions of the concert’s employer and the employee would be flipped in an instant.
Kim Ahyoung blushed when she saw my expression.
“I had no choice! I had to meet her! I personally like her, too.”
“Who?”
“Margaret.”
Now that I thought about it, it was strange for Kim Ahyoung to be at the concert in the first place. Why had she come? If an internationally renowned celebrity hid her identity and secretly visited to watch the concert, there were only a few possible answers.
I had a lot to ask, but I decided to listen to what she had to say first.
“But, I couldn’t find a way to meet her on my own. Like you said, I couldn’t reveal myself outright. I was thinking that I might be able to figure something out when I went to the concert today, and then I met you. As far as I know, you don’t know anything about music, but you were working there as if it were the most natural thing to do. I heard that Margaret only works with a limited group of people. If that’s so, how could this be? I can only conclude that you are acquainted with someone on the inside. How does that sound?”
It was a pretty good deduction. If Kim Ahyoung knew who the inside members were, her reasoning would have been perfect. It had only stopped there because she couldn’t get any help.
Sangah-noona tended to prepare for concerts with her acquaintances, just like how she picked the members who would be on stage, and I was one of her favorite laborers. Noona, who loved meeting people, rarely worked with people she didn’t know because of her desire to draw a clear line in these matters, so her acquaintances were usually willing to participate. The number of such “acquaintances” was diligently increasing, though.
“So what am I supposed to help you with?”
“I want to meet Margaret. You can make that happen, right?”
“First, I have something I want to ask you about.”
“What?”
“You can’t reveal your identity, but you’re saying that you have to meet Margaret? Does this mean that other bands can’t meet you, but Margaret can?”
Considering Sangah-noona’s and Kim Ahyoung’s reactions, the two had not met each other. As Kim Ahyoung herself had just revealed, the farthest it went was enjoying each other’s music.
Kim Ahyoung lightly shook her head and answered.
“That’s related to the reason I can’t tell you right now. However, if you let me meet Margaret, you’ll understand.”
You could say that she was trying to appease me, softening her oppressive attitude from before. She was inducing my cooperation by setting a tangible condition.
However, was she really just trying to appease me? I looked for a different intention behind Kim Ahyoung’s words.
Kim Ahyoung’s eyes had a teasing glint when she looked at me.
“What, are you doubting me? Do you want me to tell you more? We’re already in the same boat anyway, so I’m willing to tell you almost everything.”
“…Like what?”
Upon hearing my question, Kim Ahyoung answered with a hint of laughter in her voice.
“The third reason I brought you here is because you’re a thoroughly calculating type. You already knew that I was steadily observing you at school, right? Since I was making it obvious. Anyway, that’s how you were when I observed you. Even now, you aren’t trying to do anything stupid, even when you’re alone with a girl.”
That was because of the situation that I was in right now.
However, I couldn’t refute it. I was definitely the type to think before acting. Irked by the reality that I had been utterly seen through and had gotten teased on top of that, I asked a question with my voice full of discontent.
“So, that’s all?”
“What more do you want to know?”
“Well, something like when all of this is going to end?”
“The moment I finish my concert with Margaret. I’m thinking that it would be before school starts.”
Before school started. That meant that I wouldn’t be able to go back home for about a month, but I was so calm that even I was surprised. It was probably because I had been sort of expecting it.
There was no way that a concert would proceed that easily, and we would need time to prepare it. I had only heard her objective, but I thought that a month was still too short.
When I did not respond, Kim Ahyoung opened her mouth while nodding slightly.
“It would be beneficial for you to accept my offer. I plan to find a way, no matter what it takes, but if you help, things would be easier for me. You would also have someone to talk to about your situation. Needless to say, things would progress faster, and they might help you out as well.”
It would definitely be better for me to have someone who knew about my situation, rather than suffering alone from this nuisance.
It was the minimal consideration Kim Ahyoung could show me, and as well as the best card she could play.
Damn it. I never had a choice.
“Fine. I’ll cooperate.”
Kim Ahyoung smiled at my reply with satisfaction and extended her hand to me. I wiped my hand against my pants and shook hers. It was as cold as it was pale.
“Smart.”
Kim Ahyoung then stood up and began to put on some more clothing. A sudden feeling of unease hit me.
“Where are you going?”
“We’re going to meet Margaret.”
“Now?”
The clock on the wall showed that it was past eleven. However, Kim Ahyoung, who had followed my gaze and glanced at the time, responded nonchalantly.
“At least when it comes to getting things done, faster is better. You don’t know what could happen. It’s better to get it done immediately and relax.”
I agreed with that statement. It was better to finish things immediately when possible.
“At least take off the jacket you wore on the way here. If you look inside the closet, you’ll find some coats and hats. There are multiple sizes, so find something that fits loosely. There are sunglasses in the first drawer of the desk.”
“I need to wear a disguise, too?”
“Isn’t that obvious? We’re in the same boat.”
She was the one who dragged me onboard though.
Most of the clothing were large, so it wasn’t difficult to find some that fit me. After putting on a mask, a hat, and even a pair of sunglasses that Kim Ahyoung handed to me, I didn’t think anyone would be able to recognize me.
Kim Ahyoung, who had already finished putting on a perfect arctic outfit that matched mine, stood at the doorway and urged me on with her hand. Why did she need to be so hasty when we were already in the same room?
Before leaving the doorway, Kim Ahyoung began putting on her shoes and asked,
“Anyway, what is your relationship with Margaret?”
I passed her and stepped through the door.
“She’s my older sister.”
♫ ♩ ♬ ♪
“I’ll go in first, so just wait here for a bit.”
It was fortunate that the bus that connected Kim Ahyoung’s secret lair to Sangah-noona’s place was still running, although we had to transfer once.
When I suggested this after we got in front of the door, Kim Ahyoung quietly raised her voice.
“I’m going in with you. You might lock the door on me.”
She had even pretend to appease me to blackmail me back then, and now she was doubting me? This wasn’t a good place to argue, though.
I tried to convince her again.
“I’m sure she went to drink after the concert. She might not even be here.”
There was a good chance that that alcoholic would come back totally sober tomorrow morning.
“Then it shouldn’t matter.”
“What if there is someone else in there? Everyone might be gathered here.”
“Whether she’s here or not, you still have to ring the doorbell. Press it – before I kick that door.”
