Chapter 26: Snowflake Serenade (8)

Chapter 26: Snowflake Serenade (8)

The spotlights were turned off and the staff members yelled Good work everyone before gathering just before the stage. They began the process of wrapping up by checking the speakers and inspecting the special effect equipment.

Jungwu gazed at the hotpack that had used up every last grain and had fully completed the corrosion process and said,

You worked hard too.

Despite the official concert being already over, much of the audience was still basking in the afterglow of the show and couldnt find themselves to leave. But then the speakers from all around the mall began to broadcast a message.

-December special sales event. The sales will last for 24 hours from now, thanks to the snow that fell today. There will be a lottery gift event on the 1st floor accessories section starting at 8:30

The announcement listed events on all the floors of the mall which were slated to last until closing time.

Eh?

The customers filed out as if swept away by a flood.

Once Jungwu experienced firsthand how effective the commercialization of the emotions was, he couldnt help but let out an exasperated chuckle. Then his eyes met Isuls who was standing while hugging her guitar tightly.

Mmm

She must have been watching him all this time. He thought it might be awkward to suddenly turn away so he stared back at her. This had unintentionally gotten him a chance to see her in detail and he couldnt help but be amazed again.

Pretty, really. Enough to make Yulhwi look ugly in comparison.

Isul wearing her full stage makeup was exuding such beauty that it was embarrassing to even look at her.

Especially her facial features like eyes, nose, and lips.

They were pretty enough to make his mind go blank. Her narrow shoulders looked a little lonely.

Isul Sunbae! See you later again!

Yulhwi yelled as she hopped off the stage.

Jungwu snapped awake at the sound.

Time to ask for autohaa, nevermind. I dont need it.

Truth be told, he lost all desire to ask the Girlfriends autograph since a while ago. Fandom was terrifying. It evaporates so easily.

Excuse me.

Jungwu looked back at her nervously when she spoke to him.

My name is Isul Yoon.

Jungwu made a quizzical look.

I know.

When did you learn my name?

Jungwu answered right away, recalling his morning.

I heard your music being played on the bus. Winter is coming was it?

That song was from two years ago. You have the autographed CD I gave you, right? If you would like to become my fan starting today, please give it a listen. Then if you like the song

Isul seemed to hesitate and was unable to finish her words. Jungwu who was fiddling with the slowly cooling hotpack then thought of something and spoke up.

About Mr. Spokesperson Sungjae Ji, please let him know that you cant buy hot packs like this from a convenience store and not to buy a bunch of these instead of taking a heater with him. You might freeze to death.

You mean that hotpack that has a vibrating Activated Carbon which increases the rate of corrosion?

Jungwus eyes grew wide at her response.

You remembered.

I was thinking this man doesnt feel like a stalker. Although I had no idea what you were telling me.

Isul gave a brilliant smile.

And about you. Not a staff member, not a magician. Then what are you?

I guess Chemist is most accurate.

Chemist?

It seemed to have caught her attention because it was an uncommon profession.

Thanks to interacting with her from close up, Jungwu was able to learn that she had a tendency to stare at the object of her musing. Its just, he happened to be the target of her attention so he ended up looking away. Her prettiness was too much to bear.

Isula!

Manager Ji yelled for Isul from below the stage.

What are you doing there? The parking lot is filling up with fans so we have to leave now. Otherwise, our fans will mix with fans of other groups and chaos will ensue.

Ah, Im going.

Isul hastily turned back to look at Jungwu and said,

If you like the song lets meet again, the two of us.

Excuse me?

Jungwu stared at Isuls back who was quickly running off the stage.

What? What does this mean?

Manager Ji noticed Jungwu and greeted him with his eyes before taking Isul and disappearing together into a prep room.

Ding dong.

Soochan began to look around as soon as the elevator doors opened. Once he found his friend standing under the stage, he yelled out the name very loudly.

Jungwuya! Wahahaha!

Soochan ran up and then suddenly stopped as if stepping on breaks before Jungwu. And for whatever reason that got him so worked up, he had he began to speak so quickly that he was spitting as he spoke.

That was crazy, you got to stand on the stage with Isul Yoon!

I guess so.

What kind of reaction is that? Its a major major event! I took a picture from up there and put it in the group chat. The guys are going crazy.

Jungwu checked his phone and saw that there were over three hundred unread messages. Even though most of them never message, they were in an uproar when they found out he was with Isul.

I couldnt help but notice that Girlfriend and TOT were getting kinda close there. Looked like you were clubbing. How did you feel?

It happened so fast Im feeling numb right now.

There was no way he could be feeling numb after that. Jungwu only wished to keep the happy memory of having been pushed and bumped into by those ladies to himself.

So what about Isul Yoon? Where is she? Did you speak to her?

She left with her manager.

She didnt say anything else?

Jungwu shook his head while looking in the direction she had left.

Lets meet again, the two of us.

Jungwu shook his head because if those words meant what he thought it meant, then it made no sense at all. They lived in completely different worlds, and they had nothing in common, so how would they ever meet each other again?

It wasnt meant to be.

Jungwu returned his gaze to Soochan.

Soochan, when do we get our pay?

Director will probably hand it over the moment you ask.

Let me change out of this first.

He was on his way towards the staff room when Representative Yum and his secretary saw him.

Jungwu ssi!

Representative Yum raised his hands as soon as he discovered Jungwu. The man walked straight towards Jungwu smiling from ear to ear and grasped Jungwus hands.

The artificial snow was really something. The marketing team took pictures to use for press release, and the response on the online articles are very positive. I would like to extend my gratitude once again.

All Ive done is sell you the products our company already had.

A very simple natural chemical knowledge utilized in the right place created such a positive reaction. This had been a very important lesson for Jungwu. The fact that everyday chemistry was every bit as fun as the complicated and complex chemistry used by professionals.

Shes the same? Ok, Ill go. Today was the best. Ive never been so proud of the fact that Jungwu Han is my friend.

Stop it with the gross talk.

See you.

Jungwu waved his friend goodbye and opened the gates.

Creak~

His arms got goosebumps due to the severe sound from the metal grating. He picked up the broom and trash bin at the corner of the yard to get at least some of the mess at the entrance cleaned up.

Ill do the rest tomorrow.

He then passed through the yard and entered the entryway.

Im home.

Jungwu took off his shoes and entered the living room. Jungchan who was watching the TV inside turned to see who it was.

Youre late.

Wheres Mom?

Shes sleeping.

Whew. His brother, who was watching Jungwu, let out a sigh of relief and turned apathetically to resume watching the TV. Jungwu shed his clothes to prepare for a bath before he stopped to yell down the hall at the living room.

Chana, want to go to PC Bang tomorrow? Hyung will pay!

Its finals until next weekend. Also, I will never play a ranked Pentawatch game with you, hyung. Not even if you buy me skins.

Fidgety brat. Fine.

Jungwu finished his shower in the blink of an eye and resolved to play alone on Sunday. He wiped his hair with a towel and lumbered his way up to the second floor. He was so overcome with sleepiness that he fell asleep as if passing out.

Next day, Cling, Jungwu woke up to the sound of a message notification from the cell phone.

What time is it?

When he looked at the time on the cell, it was 7 am. Although he didnt oversleep, compared to the rest of the week he felt like he had quite a long rest.

When he pressed the button to check who had sent the message, it was someone rather unexpected.

[When should I send you the Coating material you had requested?]

Boyoung Sunbae?

[Whenever it is convenient for you, Sunbae]

Jungwu was deciding between lazing around on the ground or waking up after he had sent a reply when he heard a sound of someone noisily making their way up the stairs.

This kind of sound normally cant be heard except for when Madam Hong was enraged.

Eh?

Jungwu recalled the bin of vomit he had left in the corner of the yard.

Crap!

Woosh

Jungwu Han!

Mom, Im so sorry. I was feeling strangely unwell yesterday. Ill go clean the yard right away.

Jungwu jumped up like a frog and bowed low to the ground before her when Jisook Hong tilted her head.

Yard? What is this about?

Hmm? What are you mad about then Mom?

Did you get drunk and throw up all over the place?

Dang, he reported something he wasnt getting in trouble for. Jungwu stood up and decided to ask Jisook.

Then whats going on this morning, Mom?

What did you do to the front gates? I know its old but why did you have to draw on it?

What?

Jungwu couldnt help but let out a snort when he saw the front gates. In the middle of the rusty gate, there was a brand new red hand-shaped figure that wasnt there before.

Only this area is newly corroded!

It made sense that his mother would mistake this as a drawing. It was a deep color as if it was newly peeled. Placing his left hand over the gate where the rust had formed, it perfectly recreated his vomiting position from last night.

There is not one shred of doubt that I caused this.

After checking with the zoomed in chemical vision, he noticed that this was a drastically accelerated corrosive reaction. Particles of sweat, Iron Hydroxide, and Iron Oxide remained as evidence.

Wait.

It needed testing.

Jungwu placed his hand over another part of the front gates and focused on the dust stars.

The oxygen and water molecules of his sweat pulled the dust stars from the iron and created a large volume of Ions. And when he took a closer look, a gathering of those ions formed a red particle star and flung itself towards the metal surface, almost instantly creating a crimson rust landscape.

This was the cause of the rust handprint.

I see, there are quite a lot of reactions that can be coaxed by manipulating the dust stars.

It was a fact that most chemical reactions known in the world involved the manipulation of free electrons; Jungwu stared at his palm.

That aspartame incident at the company outing last Friday, and now this. This isnt simply an ability of a Molecular Chemist, is it?

Jungwu felt a chill crawl up his spine when he began to feel like he had become a character found in a Hollywood movie, like a hero hiding his identity.

But then, he heard the sound of slipper being dragged across the yard and saw his mother emerging from the other side of the yard.

Jungwu. Since you have a day off today, apply lubricant to the gate with Chana

Jisook stopped. She discovered a second handprint above the original one.

You

Wait, mom. Ill explain. This isnt a drawing, this is a super fast corrosive reaction! This is Iron Hydroxide and this is Iron Oxide Ack! Dont slap me in the back!

No matter what ability he had gotten, he was nothing more than a son at home. Jungwu came to realize this very well as he escaped to the inside of the house.

Code: AF-12

Case: Static master

Research: (Identical)

Feedback: Continual use is improving the effectiveness of control over the Free Electrons. It is expected that training should improve influence even further.

TL NOTE:

*Samgyeopsal

Literally means three fold skin, this is the most popular pork dish in South Korea with 85% of the population voting for this dish. The meat itself is from the stomach portion of the pig and is fried in a self-draining grill placed on the dining table. The customers themselves cook the meat and is provided all the tools to do so.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samgyeopsal

**

National Sister

Ive been requested to give an explanation of what this title means.

So a little bit of background.

There is a kind of special recognition for stars on Korean TV that are so well known that they began to be called Peoples something. The portion after is kind of a silly nickname used to distinguish them. But the nickname (in spite of the fact that some of them can be taken as sort of an insult) commands enormous respect and recognition.

For example, there was an MC (Master of ceremony) that was so well known and widely popular that he became known as MC Peoples MC. This kind of title is somewhat informal, yet formal. For example, there is no governing body that issues the title. It just kind of happens, spreads online and becomes common place. There is a man called meaning Peoples weakling and another who has the title Peoples grandma (he is a rock star, but visually looks like a granny due to age and long hair). Isul is called , literally People of the nations younger sister.

But wait, if the literal meaning is peoples [X], why not go with the same format?

Calling her Peoples younger sister sounded too communist in English. Since South Korea is specifically NOT communist, it felt like using this title literally would be too misleading and politically charged. Hence, a much more neutral and safe national or nations has been used which is the other alternative to Peoples.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation%27s_Little_Siste