Chapter 34: Gaze (1) (1/2)
“Oh my, my dear sister?”
Yeorum licked her lips with the end of her tongue and gave a coquettish smile.
“U, unni. H, hello…?”
With a frightened expression, the baby chicken looked around. She was in the small dorm, and there was nowhere to hide.
It seemed that the time she spent in her immersive state also remained in her memories.
“You look fine now don’t you? That’s good. Then should we have a little chat?”
“A, ahjussi!”
Yeorum took a step closer while the baby chicken freaked out and turned around. Her eyes facing Yu Jitae seemed to be screaming S.O.S. and after hearing her shout, Yeorum also looked at Yu Jitae.
They seemed to be waiting for a response and soon, Yu Jitae nonchalantly opened his mouth.
“Do what you want.”
There was no saviour for Yu Kaeul.
After the permission was given, Yeorum walked a step closer.
“Yu Kaeul.”
Her voice dripped with coldness.
“Mummy…!”
Kaeul hid behind Yu Jitae’s back. When Yeorum quickly dashed in and arrived behind Yu Jitae, the baby chicken threw her body to his front. And when Yeorum went back to the front, the baby chicken hid behind his back yet again in fright.
Yeorum made a frown.
“Come here.”
“Uahh, don’t wanna!”
“Thirty if you come by yourself, and forty if you get caught.”
“I, I don’t want either…!”
They went around Yu Jitae three to four times.
In the end, Kaeul became a victim of all sorts of wrestling techniques after being caught by Yeorum, and the house was filled with echoing screams. After the baby chicken collapsed in tatters, Yeorum then stood up with a satisfied smile hanging on her face.
“You asked if I enjoyed harassing you, right? It’s actually not that fun.”
When the baby chicken turned her teary eyes at herself, Yeorum let out a moan, “Haang…”
“It excites me.”
There were lots of people looking for Kaeul.
– Uh… Mister Yu Jitae, what about just once?
Although he completely ignored the phone calls of others, he still picked up the call from Team Leader Yong of the PR team. She was the person who had given a chance to Kaeul, who had been oblivious.
“If you’re talking about her being Lair’s public model, no.”
– I see. Is there perhaps a reason?
“There are circumstances.”
– Ahh…
What could she do after hearing that? Team Leader Yong was extremely regretful.
It was natural. The person she was looking for was the main declarer herself, who had excelled so much that the media called her as the best of the best. This was the best opportunity for Kaeul to give a great change to Lair’s image.
– Aigo. That’s so unfortunate.
“Sorry.”
But he remained obstinate. Yu Jitae had also checked the reactions from the public on the internet.
Yu Kaeul.
That name had entered the top trending topics of Korea’s web portal and related reports as well as comments had exploded out.
Most of the comments had been complimenting Yu Kaeul’s appearance, or her declaration. However, there were seldomly some negative comments and a few of them had vulgar language as if they were swearing at a sworn enemy.
The issue was that she was being mentioned too much. Although there were tens of thousands of compliments, there existed thousands of insults as well.
This, was the borderline.
Taking a step further from here would make things bothersome.
– In that case, what about just one interview?
“An interview, huh.”
– Yes. If you express that she wouldn’t be appearing on television there, wouldn’t it be possible to better convey the thoughts of the Yu household?
That much would be okay. But her offer was most definitely not out of pure kindness.
“…Are you thinking of an exclusive interview from the PR team.”
– Aht.
Team Leader Yong flinched but soon gave out a gentle laugh. It was the cunning laugh of a middle-aged woman.
– In exchange, we will also provide help when needed.
“That would be good. But not from the PR team.”
– Sorry?
“When needed, if Team Leader Yong can help us privately, we will agree to the interview.”
PR team’s help and a private aid from Team Leader Yong Dohee were different. There was a connotation that the latter was a bit more secretive.
– Okay. That would be good. Although it’s been some time since I washed my hands of it, that used to be my field of expertise in the past.
Washed her hands?
– Back in the days, I used to be a paparazzi.
He had a feeling that she would become a decent ally.
*
Q: Hello, Cadet Yu Kaeul.
A: Yes, hello!
Q: Currently in internet communities, Cadet Kaeul’s declaration is going extremely viral right now. I’m sure you know that already?
A: Yes yes.
Q: There are lots of positive comments about…
“Ah, one second.”
Team Leader Yong intervened and stopped the interview.
“Sorry?”
“I told you to get rid of those things as much as possible, right?”
“Ah… yes, I got it.”
After being scolded by Team Leader Yong, the interviewer fidgeted with the script.
Q: There are many people curious about how Cadet Kaeul spends her day. What do you do usually?
A: I eat delicious food! Macarons, chicken, red velvet cake, chocolate, ice cream, churros, jokbal, bossam, and… uh… and chocolate… (etc).
Due to leaving out all the sensitive and provocative questions, the result was a trivial interview, which Kaeul innocently continued giving answers to. Nothing was problematic until that point and it was exactly the same as how the interview had been planned to be like.
Finally, it was time for the long-awaited final question.
Q: Do you, by any chance, not plan to appear on TV programmes?
Kaeul stole a furtive glance at Yu Jitae and he returned a nod.
The night after the declaration ended, he had asked Kaeul whether she would be okay with that or not. In response, Kaeul gave a nod and said, “It’s alright. We made a promise right?” before closing her mouth shut for a long time.
A: Yes. There aren’t any plans.
Q: I’m sure everyone will agree that that’s a shame.
A: Hehe.
Q: Is it possible to ask you why?
A: Uh, umm… my mum… Ah, never mind! Can you edit this out?
Mum told me to treasure and keep promises, just as I would with my life.
Kaeul swallowed those words in.
***
Fall semester.
It was the first day of school.