Episode 5

I answered the police officer’s question.

“I’m embarrassed to say this, but Gyeoul is making an effort to break away from her past.”

“What? Break away from her past?”

The middle-aged officer asked again as if he had heard nonsense.

Then, seeing Gyeoul’s delinquent-like outfit, he nodded as if he understood.

Gyeoul’s appearance, looking like a complete delinquent, gave credibility to my story.

“She hasn’t committed any crimes, but to avoid any gossip, she’s filming a settlement with money. It’s for her future. We were on our way to meet the kid she used to hang out with.”

“…Settlement.”

“Oh, you asked why she had cash. Gyeoul said she had to pay in cash to avoid leaving a record, so she was carrying it in her wallet.”

“…The kid is pretty clever.”

“Indeed. She’s good at thinking up unnecessary schemes. Hahaha.”

The middle-aged officer seemed to trust my story and looked at Gyeoul with a strange expression.

It was a success.

Gyeoul, apparently impressed by my acting, was left gaping.

The officer, looking at Gyeoul, asked,

“Is that true, student?”

Gyeoul, weighing her options, seemed to make a decision and said,

“…Yes, I am indeed the human trash, Han Gyeoul.”

The considerate middle-aged officer gave a lengthy lecture to Gyeoul about the dangers of being labeled a delinquent.

He also gave her a tip to keep as much evidence of the settlement as possible for a long time.

“Yes, I’ll keep as much evidence as possible to gain an advantage in any future legal disputes.”

“…Geez, I don’t even know what I’m teaching you. Finally, student, the scary thing about delinquent behavior isn’t the immediate consequences. Even if it seems well-resolved, it can explode like a landmine later and ruin your life!”

The officer turned to leave but added one last comment.

“Live a good life! Not for others, but for yourself.”

“…Thank you for your sincere advice, even to someone like me. I’ll live a good life from now on.”

Gyeoul nodded unnaturally with lifeless eyes as she spoke.

From the perspective of someone in the entertainment industry, it was close to terrible acting.

Even I could do better than that.

I saw that her acting talent was about B on the status window, so I don’t know why she’s acting like this.

However, the middle-aged officer seemed satisfied with her crude acting and left with his colleagues, making a formal promise to file a lost property report.

“They’re gone.”

“Yeah.”

The incident was roughly settled.

There would be no need to contact her guardian, so Gyeoul could attend her audition tomorrow without issue.

Now, I had to rely on the fact that I hadn’t seen Gyeoul debut in the previous round.

I wanted to set up a meeting with Cheon Jonghoon right away, but it was difficult with the CH audition coming up. So, I would bring up Cheon Jonghoon after her trainee life fell through.

Of course, it would take some time for her trainee life at CH to fall through, so this seemed like a long-term plan.

For now, I should leave my contact information and continue to interact with her as a kind neighbor.

I needed to snatch her up the moment her trainee life fell through.

The problem now was that I needed to get the minor’s number to keep in touch.

If I said the wrong thing, the good guy image I had built could turn into that of a creepy man hitting on a minor.

I couldn’t bear to see that.

“…Um, ahjussi.”

As I was pondering how to get her number and stay in touch, Gyeoul, perhaps feeling awkward in the silence, spoke up.

“Yes, why?”

“…Well.”

“Trying to say thank you? There’s no need for that.”

What I needed was her number.

Not pointless gratitude.

“No, it’s just that I don’t have a place to sleep.”

“…”

“…I lost my wallet and don’t have any money. Please let me stay for one night. If you give me a blanket, I can sleep in the hallway. I’ll just crouch in a corner where I won’t be a bother.”

Does she realize we’ve only known each other for thirty minutes?

I felt a bit of resistance because I didn’t like the idea of bringing a stranger into my home.

However, thinking calmly, it seemed like an effective way to get her contact information and maintain long-term communication.

I was currently living alone with my sister, so I just needed her to agree.

So, how would my sister react?

I ran a simulation in my head.

‘Sis, can we let a girl stay for just one night?’

‘Of course not, you idiot. Why would she sleep in my house? Tell her to go to a motel or something.’

This wouldn’t work.

I had often clashed with my sister because of my gullible nature and her almost individualistic personality.

In the previous round, I didn’t understand.

I thought it would be nice if she were just a bit more tolerant of others.

Now, I understood why she had to be that way…

Anyway, it didn’t seem easy to persuade her to let someone stay over.

“Um… sorry, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

Upon hearing my answer, Gyeoul started trembling like a newborn deer.

Bead-like tears fell onto the floor.

What’s wrong with her?

“You said it was okay to ask for help.”

Gyeoul said in a small, strained voice.

Honestly, it was too quiet to hear.

“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you well because of the passing cars! Could you say that again?”

“You said there are people who can help! You said if I couldn’t think of anyone right now, you’d help! I have no one! No friends, no acquaintances, no mom, no dad, no one! Huaaaaa.”

Gyeoul sobbed and grabbed onto my leg.

“Huhuh, please help! I’m asking for your help!”

Gyeoul half-kneeled and begged me.

She looked like she was about to bow her head to the ground.

It was a sudden outburst that left me dazed.

I thought she was fine, but it seemed she was more desperate than I realized.

I felt like a medical staff dealing with an emergency patient, so I tried to calm her down as much as possible.

After five minutes of mindless positivity and praise, Gyeoul calmed down.

“It’s not that I don’t want to help you; it’s just that my landlord probably won’t allow it.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, let’s call her right now.”

I thought it was a slim chance, but maybe my sister would allow it if she was in a good mood.

I turned on the speakerphone so Gyeoul could hear and called my sister.

“Hey, sis, it’s me. I have a favor to ask.”

“…”

“It’s just that there’s a really pitiful girl, and I was wondering if we could let her stay at our place for just one night. She came up from the countryside and just lost her wallet, so she has no money. She has no friends or acquaintances, no one to help her. She seems nice, so let’s help her for one night.”

“Are you trying to pick up a person like a stray dog from the riverside? Haven’t you fixed that habit from high school?”

What was my high school habit again?

“Are you turning the house into a runaway gang’s base again?”

Oh, that.

Letting anyone stay if they looked pitiful.

“I’m not letting even a dog into our tiny house, so send her to a jjimjilbang¹ or a runaway youth shelter. And what time do you think it is right now…?”

I saw the signs of words inappropriate for a teenager, so I quickly ended the call.

“She refused.”

“…It seems so.”

We cooled our heads, facing the cold wind blowing from the river.

Nothing in the world is easy.

“But you didn’t really come to Seoul without a plan, right?”

Considering she was asking a stranger to let her stay, this girl named Gyeoul seemed a bit lacking in sense.

But it didn’t seem likely she came to Seoul from the countryside without any plan.

She must have at least reserved a place to stay.

“Didn’t you reserve a place to stay?”

“I made a reservation but only paid the deposit, not the accommodation fee yet…”

“Don’t you have a card? Or an online account like Toss or KakaoBank?”

“The emergency card was in the wallet I lost, and I don’t know how to use those online accounts. Huh… Sob, I’m sorry. Sob.”

Gyeoul, feeling frustrated with herself, couldn’t hold back her emotions and started crying again.

I handed her the entire pack of tissues instead of giving her one at a time.

Then Gyeoul showed efficiency by holding tissues in both hands, blowing her nose, and wiping her tears.

When her tears finally stopped, her swollen eyes and smudged eyeliner made her look pitiful.

She couldn’t go to the audition looking like that, so she needed a place to wash and sleep.

I made a bold investment.

I took out two precious 50,000 won bills from my wallet and handed them to her.

“…What’s this?”

“What do you think? It’s a hard-earned 100,000 won. Take it and pay for the accommodation you reserved. Use it for travel expenses when you go back home.”

Gyeoul looked at me with trembling eyes as I handed her the money.

“Wash up, get some rest, and do well in your audition.”

Gyeoul, after constantly checking my reaction, seemed to make up her mind and took the money.

“Then, um… your phone number, please.”

I internally celebrated.

I successfully got her number without looking desperate.

“Why, to repay? It’s okay. I’m not rich, but I can consider that much as just helping you out.”

Feeling good, I spoke as gently as possible.

Think of that 100,000 won as a deposit.

“Still, I think I should repay what I received. You said debt might be considered a small act of kindness by some, but I don’t think that should be an excuse for me to be irresponsible.”

Gyeoul, steadying her trembling voice, spoke with a confident attitude.

“So please, give me a chance to repay this as a favor, not a debt.”

As she said that and handed me her smartphone with both hands, she reminded me of myself before my regression.

It was about trusting people.

It was a naive attitude.

She would only learn after getting scammed once…

Well, it wasn’t my place to interfere, as I wouldn’t be around for long.

I nodded and left my phone number on Gyeoul’s smartphone.

Gyeoul, worried I might leave a fake number, called it right away and smiled when my phone rang.

“Alright, I’ll be going now. Do well in your audition. I’ve worked in the industry, so trust me when I say that you’ll get good results as long as you don’t do anything strange.”

In the end, the most important talent in the idol industry was appearance.

And Gyeoul excelled in that talent.

“Yes! Thank you so much. I will definitely repay this favor!”

I watched her walk away with her bulky bag like a hermit crab and then turned back.

The next day, after staying up until dawn to pack, I fell asleep late but was woken up by my phone ringing nonstop.

At first, I ignored it, thinking it was an insurance or telecom company employee working diligently in the morning, but by the third ring, I thought it might be something unusual, so I opened my heavy eyelids and picked up my phone.

The caller ID showed it was Gyeoul.

Fully awake, I cleared my throat a few times and adjusted my voice as much as possible before speaking.

“Hello?”

“…Ahjussi, hick, huuuu.”

“Yes, Gyeoul, what’s wrong this time?”

“Heuk… sniff, ahjussi, I’m ruined.”

My heart pounded.

It seemed something had gone wrong with the audition.

The completion of the quest was tantalizingly close.

However, I had to stay calm at times like this.

“Right now, it might feel like the world is ending, but in retrospect, it often turns out to be nothing. So take a deep breath and think about it calmly from a third-person perspective. Are you really ruined?”

Then Gyeoul took a deep breath loud enough to be heard on the phone and started thinking carefully. After about thirty seconds, she started crying again.

“Huaaa, I’m really ruined!”

“Where are you right now? Stay there; I’m coming.”

If she judged herself to be ruined after calm thinking, she was truly ruined.

I grinned and dashed out.

Wait for me, my job introduction ticket.