“Please, have a seat here.”
With a heavy heart, I entered the hair salon and sat in the chair the owner pointed to. Honestly, I was hesitant, but I decided to get my hair cut for today’s meeting. To show a changed version of myself.
Though I worried what if the Sujin I was going to meet wasn’t the one I knew.
Well, I was going to get it cut anyway.
“How would you like it cut?”
For a moment, red hair caught my eye, but—
The thought ‘anything but red hair’ instinctively crossed my mind.
Unless I suddenly came into a lot of money.
“Um, just a moment…”
Actually, I had a hairstyle in mind before coming.
It might seem a bit shameless, but it was a photo of an actor known as a “face genius.”[1] Finding the photo I’d saved was quick, but showing it wasn’t easy.
What if they looked at the photo with contempt?
But this looks the coolest though.
Maybe it’s just because of his face, but at least among the various styles I’d looked at for 10 minutes, this was the one I wanted most.
Right, didn’t I come here to show that I’ve changed?
I steeled myself and confidently handed over my phone.
“Sir? You need to loosen your grip for me to see it.”
“Ah, sorry…”
While my resolve was good, I’d been gripping the phone too tightly. Still, the owner accepted it with a kind smile.
“Ah~ This person is very popular these days~ Are you a fan?”
“Ah? Yes… haha…”
“Your hair’s long enough”
I knew he was famous.
When I searched his name, photos came pouring out. How could I not know? But I only knew he was famous, not what he’d acted in. So when asked if I was a fan, I just laughed it off with a “haha.”
Fortunately, maybe because I was a customer, they didn’t say ‘I couldn’t possibly give such a precious hairstyle to you.’
These days it feels like the Daeju-dans are living in my head.
Is this an occupational disease too?
While I was collecting my thoughts as my hair was being cut, something was happening in a chatroom I didn’t know about.
***
[Is this the right open chat room?]
[Yeah, are you a Daeju-dan from Incheon?]
[I don’t live there but I’m in Incheon for work and wanted to join]
[OK so is Daeju right now at the hair salon?]
[Yeah lol I followed him in and I’m watching him lol he’s even dressed up nice and getting his hair cut lol he only does this for streams, how annoying]
[Stalking Daeju is easier than eating cake lol no streamer is naive enough to reveal their home address right? lol]
The woman who had entered the salon after Daeju was grinning while chatting on KakaoTalk.
This career woman in casual business attire looked like any other salon customer on the outside, but she was actually a Daeju-dan following him to monitor—no, protect him. Her nickname was ‘WatchingStreamsAtWork27Days’.
Being the closest to Daeju’s home, she was tasked with monitoring him.
Honestly, when Daeju, who rarely went out, actually left his house, she felt there must be something going on.
[lol Daeju’s hair looks pretty lol]
[Don’t chat like that it makes us sound like real stalkers;;]
[But we are]
[Oh come on, are we stalkers? We’re more like bodyguards~ Did you see Daeju’s expression yesterday? He looked like a cow being led to slaughter;;]
[He looked like he was being threatened]
[A guy who only stays cooped up at home suddenly leaves in the morning? After making that kind of expression yesterday?]
[I agree with everything you’re saying but we are still stalkers yeah]
The Daeju-dans who had seen Daeju’s expression yesterday started rolling theories among themselves.
Theory 1: Is someone Daeju knows sick?
This initially received the most support. There had recently been a streamer whose mental health collapsed when an acquaintance got sick, but Daeju’s expression while looking at his webcam seemed more terror-stricken than that.
Theory 2: Is he being threatened?
This had now become almost certain. That’s why the Daeju-dans living in Incheon had gathered to take action.
Theory 3: It was just our misunderstanding.
This was a theory, but it was more like insurance in case they were wrong.
[Why isn’t ConvenienceLord… no, UnderwearLord here?]
[That pervert with ulterior motives doesn’t fit with our vigilante group. …is what I’d like to say but actually they got caught by their boss while trying to run away from their part-time job, idiot]
[Sigh let’s just do this ourselves]
[Wow! Daeju is so lucky! Having such loving viewers]
[lol this is so pathetic lol if it were me I’d quit streaming]
The woman absent-mindedly watched Daeju’s hairstyle changing in real-time while crossing her legs. Honestly, she hoped it would turn out to be nothing.
But Daeju’s occasional sighs and anxious expression kept catching her attention.
[Seems like something’s up? That’s the 8th sigh stack]
[No one except Daeju-dans is allowed to make Daeju sigh]
[Ask him casually where he’s going]
[??? Me?]
[Who else is there in the salon?]
“Oh geez…”
Just as she was about to reluctantly stand up while looking at KakaoTalk,
The salon owner stopped the woman’s movement.
“So where are you going all dressed up like this?”
‘Nice’
The woman clenched her fist at this heaven-sent luck.
“Ah… I might be meeting someone today…”
“Who? Girlfriend?”
“No… someone I know from… school days”
Daeju stammered as he spoke.
Whatever their relationship was, it didn’t seem particularly close.
“Where are you meeting?”
“That… steakhouse…”
“Ah~ there~ You’re meeting someone you know at a place like that?”
“…yeah”
The woman immediately posted to KakaoTalk, thinking this was perfect.
[Breaking news) Says he’s going to a steakhouse]
[That place? I know where it is (photo) map photo]
[Oh that place? OK everyone gather]
[lol everyone bring your tools lol]
[Hey now! We’re going to protect Daeju, not to beat someone up~]
[But I’m getting excited. The thought of ganging up on someone really gets me pumped]
[What if this turns out to be nothing and Daeju is just meeting a friend?]
[What if we’re just actually stalking Daeju? What if this is just a criminal open chat room?]
Everyone started gathering at the meeting place while exchanging playful messages.
“Wow… you do streams?”
Sujin never imagined that the streamer she happened to encounter would turn out to be someone she knew from high school.
She hadn’t even recognized him while watching his streams.
So when he slightly lowered his mask yesterday and she saw that familiar face, she was surprised.
She couldn’t possibly mistake that face for anyone else. When she sent a text message just in case, seeing him check it at that exact moment confirmed it.
That it was indeed the person she knew.
So she called him out.
He couldn’t possibly defy her words when she knew about his past. Not when he even covers his face.
What expression would Daeju make when he saw her?
Would he look terrified? Or maybe even angry?
While thinking this, the door opened and a group entered.
She reflexively looked to see if it was Daeju, but she felt them looking back at her.
“…What…?”
Strange.
That was her first thought.
The group that just entered was seven people.
Isn’t that too many? Outside of school trips or special occasions, she’d never seen such a large group of women moving together. Plus their ages, heights, and attire were all different.
And an odd number at that.
As anyone familiar would know, women don’t prefer odd numbers. Whether walking or sitting, it naturally leads to one person being left out.
And the way they scanned the surroundings right after entering wasn’t like they were looking for empty seats, but searching for “someone.”
And not just searching, but with somewhat violent eyes. Eyes that seemed ready to destroy.
So when their eyes met, she got goosebumps and immediately lowered her gaze.
“Excuse me”
“…Yes?”
Despite her efforts, the woman whose eyes she’d met from that group approached her.
Then showed her a photo.
The others also started surrounding her one by one.
“This is…”
It was a photo of Daeju.
That scene she saw from yesterday’s stream.
“You know him, right?”
Gulp.
She swallowed.
How should she answer?
How much did they know, and who were these people?
And suddenly, the nickname of her area flashed through her mind.
[Demon Realm Incheon]
A nickname given because many scary women lived there.
She glanced at the woman in front of her from the corner of her eye. Whether she was actually scary or not, there was madness in her eyes.
She didn’t seem entirely sane.
“Y-yes, I know him…”
“You’re meeting him?”
“…Yes…”
They already knew that much.
Was Daeju the one who called them? Well, seeing his viewers rise to 3,500 yesterday made her think he was basically a major corporation now.
For a broadcaster of that level, it wouldn’t be strange to have bodyguards or hardcore fans.
She trembled while lamenting her own foolishness in trying to threaten someone at that corporate level.
“Why are you meeting?”
How should she answer?
She was quick to read situations.
Making meaningless lies to someone who had already investigated quite thoroughly… wouldn’t that lead to big trouble?
The fact that they were all holding phones in their hands gave her a strange sense of pressure.
She even had the absurd thought that phones could become high-performance weapons.
“I-I’m sorry! I’ll apologize! I won’t do it again!”
“Huh, why are you suddenly apologizing to us?”
“I’m sorry! I’ll properly apologize to Daeju!”
***
Finally, I arrived at the steakhouse and went in.
Though my clothes and hair were completely different from usual, my timid heart remained the same, unable to stride confidently to the seat I was told about after entering.
Instead, I timidly watched from afar.
She really was there.
The adult version of her had become more mature, and her characteristic confident expression was gone.
She looked more like she was about to cry.
Why is she like that?
I checked if I was late for our appointment time, but I seemed to have arrived exactly on time.
This wasn’t a date, and the Sujin I knew wouldn’t make such a tearful face just because I didn’t arrive 5 minutes early. No, the Sujin I knew would more likely glare with wide eyes rather than make such a tearful expression.
Plus why did she choose a seat in such a place?
While other tables were sparse, the tables around her were full of people.
At the table opposite Jiyoung[2], there were 4 people, and at the table to the right, 3 people were seated.
If she chose such a place knowing I hate crowds, that would be truly awful.
I walked carefully.
I didn’t use honorifics.
Because we’re the same age.
Because I’d imagined this conversation many times in my head.
I could roughly guess how she’d react to my first greeting.
No matter how I greeted her, she’d probably say I’d grown a lot with a dismissive expression.
“…I’m here.”
“I’m sorry!!”
She apologized while bowing her head as if about to slam it on the table.
No, I think she actually did hit it.
I didn’t expect this.
* * *
(End of chapter)
T/N:
- “Face genius” (얼굴 천재) is a Korean term for someone naturally blessed with extremely good looks
- Yes it was written Jiyoung (지영) instead of Sujin, I think the author made a typo here
