SATURDAY 79

Complex emotions tangled in my head. Was it truly correct that it wasn’t my fault? Until now, every event in the household was… but then, a single sentence rose in my mind like a lantern.

‘You don’t have the power to bring misfortune to your family.’

“….”

Those words were also right. In a way, it was a kind of self-important delusion. Bringing misfortune to others? There was no way a person with such grand power could exist in this world.

It would be one thing if I were the only one becoming miserable, but to be fine myself while affecting only others. Wouldn’t it be right to apply the thought ‘Am I really that significant?’ not only to my relatives but to my family as well?

However, the thin branches of thought that were reaching out were quickly blocked by a wall and snapped. To think so lightly and shake it off, the time I had spent living while hearing such things was simply too long.

Pitifully, I didn’t have the spirit, the strength to resist, or the energy to suppress the countless words I had heard all this time and say, It isn’t so, it’s not my fault.

The next day, my condition had stabilized enough that I was able to go see my parents.

When we went down to the parking lot, something incredibly distracting caught my eye immediately. Some… frivolous light-green sports car was sitting there. It was a quite spectacular car, with black patterns drawn like tattoos above the wheels and on the side mirrors.

‘Who on earth drives a car like that….’

Actually, they probably aren’t non-existent in this world. I occasionally saw similar cars in the neighborhood. But there were none around me. To begin with, there were hardly any people around me, but even Inha used to despise such sports cars, saying it was an eyesore to drive one like that in Korea.

Inha himself owned a few sports cars, but at least they weren’t in that style, and he only really took them out when going to the circuit.

I was staring at the flashy car while flinching repeatedly when Mr. Taeseon walked toward that very car with a thud, thud and called me, saying, “Come here, Inyoung.”

“….”

Why is Mr. Taeseon standing there and calling for me….

For now, I approached.

Seeing it up close, the car was even more of a spectacle. The light green was so vivid it made my eyes ache; its appearance was threatening, and fluorescent colors reflected around it, making it look like a brilliantly sparkling nocturnal cicada. After a long silence, I asked with difficulty.

“Mr. Taeseon… this car… what is it?”

“Yeah, it’s for camouflage. To lose the reporters.”

Wouldn’t it rather become a car that attracts a following like the Pied Piper?

“Isn’t it too conspicuous?”

“Who would think Lee Taeseon would be riding in a car like this?”

“Ah….”

Mr. Taeseon is a man famous for usually being quiet and frugal. A chaebol with a good image, so to speak, who doesn’t cause trouble.

He garnered attention by saying he doesn’t have a private jet and uses only one domestic sedan and one Swedish electric car.

Of course, some people had a lot to say, asking if that was even something to praise or pointing out that he still had two cars. Other people saw that and started an argument, saying even an average middle-class person drives two or three cars.

I slid my gaze next to the glowing car. An ordinary German sedan was standing beside the sports car. Since the parking spots were designated, that car was likely the one we would use. I quietly pointed at that car with my finger.

“Can’t we… take that one?”

“Hmm, well, if we take that, I think everyone will be suspicious. They’ll shove cameras at us like crazy, saying it might be Lee Taeseon and Yoon Inha. Some determined person will follow us all the way to the VIP parking lot.”

That was also true.

“Then why is that car here? Is it for some other use….”

“Yeah, I’m going to take that one.”

My uncle approached from behind.

“I got photographed coming out yesterday and my car was discovered, too. It’s a brand new one, but the window tinting was insufficient…. I thought it would be okay, but cameras have such good zoom these days. They use that good zoom for useless things. If they went and photographed idols or actors, it would at least be a contribution to the world.”

My uncle, who grumbled at length as if he were truly annoyed, headed toward the sedan.

“Are you okay, Uncle? Anyone can tell it’s a newly bought car…. Won’t you get photographed again?”

When I spoke out of worry, my uncle shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, it’ll be fine. And since everyone in the world knows I have a bad personality… would they really shove a camera in my face? If they do, I’ll sue them for invasion of privacy.”

Most of what my uncle said was sincere. My uncle was a world-famous painter and the youngest among the third-generation siblings of Jegang whose name and face were well-known. Suing… considering my uncle’s personality, he was more than capable of doing it.

I looked back at the light-green sports car I had been avoiding. Pitch-black tinting that clearly violated legal standards, front lights that looked exactly like fly eyes, a wing jutting out toward the sky, a greasy-looking chassis…. I really did not want to get in.

Watching me as I was deeply estranged from the car, Mr. Taeseon and my uncle burst into laughter. Actually, I had wanted to stop by the house while I was out to see Lili, but I apologized to Lili in my heart and cancelled it. I don’t want to drive even a single kilometer more in this car. Truly, I felt like a clown clashing cymbals.

“Get in, Inyoung. Let’s get there and back quickly.”

“Yes….”

Mr. Taeseon spoke with a voice barely suppressing laughter, and then laughed again upon hearing my “Yes….” which trembled like a goat’s bleat.

The interior I saw after getting into the car was an even greater spectacle. Blue LED lights attached to the ceiling like circuits, a flame-patterned steering wheel cover studded with metal, various Buddhist prayer beads from famous domestic temples hanging in bunches from the gear shift, and a crucifix dangling from the rearview mirror….

A fluorescent circuit pattern was laid out on the seats, a menacing demon-shaped air freshener—it smelled nice—was in the air vent, and glowing stickers were attached to the car handles. I couldn’t help but ask.

“Mr. Taeseon…. Where did you get this car?”

“Why? You don’t like it?”

“….”

As I stared silently, Mr. Taeseon burst into laughter.

“I told Chief Shin to find one. A car that is as conspicuous and noisy as possible. Surprisingly, it was close by.”

“You didn’t happen to do something wrong to Chief Shin, did you?”

“How can you say that when I treat my secretaries so well?”

Mr. Taeseon laughed while saying the words that wicked employers always have on their lips. However, he was truly a manager who treated his employees well, just as he said. It wasn’t for nothing that L&L Korea was considered a dream workplace. It wasn’t just me being biased, really….

“Come to think of it, did you give that person a reward back then?”

“Of course. There will be a personnel announcement soon. Promotion to assistant manager, salary renegotiation. And a bonus, a car for the reward, and ownership of one unit in a company condo.”

“Wow.”

Calling it a company condo was an understatement; L&L was using a super-luxury resort in Jeju Island as its company condo. Naturally, he hadn’t given that level of privilege solely because the man had saved him.

From what I heard from Mr. Taeseon, that person was a talented individual with great courage and judgment. And Mr. Taeseon liked talent that appeared abruptly like that.

I was marveling at this when I noticed the head of the demon-shaped air freshener rattling with a steady rhythm. Feeling troubled again, I swallowed a sigh and stared only at the front to avoid looking at the inside of the car as much as possible. Only the front.

On the edge of the glass window, a phone number was written in a font that looked like it was on fire, possessing zero readability. It was so hard to read that I unintentionally strained my eyes and ended up reading the number.

But the number… felt familiar somehow.

There was no reason for it to be familiar, yet I felt as if I had seen it somewhere. Tilting my head, I looked at the number written in the bizarre font and asked Mr. Taeseon.

“But where did Chief Shin say he got this… this car? Did he buy it?”

Did he urgently buy a used car from somewhere? What on earth could the original owner’s circumstances have been that they had to sell a car they put so much effort into? However, Mr. Taeseon tilted his head and answered.

“This is Sihyeon’s car.”

I fell silent in an instant. Where had I heard that name.

Ah.

“…Mr. Song Sihyeon?”

‘Sihyeon’ and ‘Song Sihyeon’ were easily connected in my head. I also knew the reason why the number was familiar. It was because Mr. Song Sihyeon’s number was saved in my phone.

Come to think of it, that man seemed to have noticed something when he saw me…. He even told me to contact him if things got difficult.

So many things had happened since then that I had completely forgotten. It was also due to the fact that I was not used to asking others for help.

“He kept asking. Why aren’t you getting in touch with him? He asked if I was perhaps blocking you.”

“Ah….”

Actually, I had erased it from my memory more because I wondered if Mr. Song Sihyeon was just teasing me, as people often do. At that time, anyone could see that the relationship between me and Mr. Taeseon was bad. No, to be precise, it was because Mr. Taeseon looked like he hated me.

I had doubts about whether Mr. Taeseon’s friend, who saw that, would really try to help me.

Since I couldn’t bring myself to say that, I scratched my eyebrow, and Mr. Taeseon glanced at me and spoke.

“Try staying in touch. He’s a more interesting friend than you’d think.”