Chapter 31 - Little Truths

Ye Rim was still marveling at how the night turned out despite her bleak expectations. She even discovered that walking around in slippers didn't draw as much attention as she thought, or at least people pretended not to notice.

After getting behind-the-scenes access to the show thanks to Dae Won, and having dinner and drinking at a small restaurant near the theater, the trio were still not satisfied. Thus they decided start looking for somewhere else to keep drinking.

When she saw one, Ye Rim pointed out a pongmacha* next to a station: "There! Sounds like a good place. What'cha you guys think, uhn?" The two men looked at each other not sure on what to think.

She exclaimed, "What? Don't underestimate the comfort of a street food vendor! Let's go the the pongmacha, ah? It's so hard to find a good one these days! I knew it! You two studied abroad, didn't you?" she acted like it could explain their ignorance on pongmacha's potential.

She also knew she drunk more booze than she should have to, but simply thought that she should indulge herself a bit. Drinking and having fun was a well-deserved prize after such a stressful day.

"Okay. That looks like a good place," Kim Jun Hyeon nodded in agreement, and Lee added,

"Very well. It's a great place. Let's do it."

"Hey. Don't ignore my question! Did you guys meet in college?"

"I told you before, we met in high school. And beware!" said the doctor, preventing her from crossing the street without looking around, hooking her by her belt, and keeping her on the sidewalk until the green light turned on for them. Lee laughed at the scene, and watched to ensure that both of them, which drank far more than he, could safely cross the street to the pongmacha.

Already seated and with orders placed, Dae Won asked, "Now you know that Jun Hyeon and I have known each other since high school, but what about you? Where did you meet?"

"It's a sort of macabre story," Kim said, winking at the singer.

"It involves death," Ye Rim added, adding to the mystery. Ye Rim had the distinct impression that Kim Jun Hyeon still was upset about the cemetery incident; but something rang inside her telling it wasn't so simple. However, at this point she just decided not to raise the issue by herself, and just comment on the cemetery issue to his hyung if the doctor did it first.

"Oh well, I can't imagine what it is. But then? What's your profession, Ye Rim?"

"Oh, I'm a singer."

That made the musician really embarrassed. Dr. Kim just keep silent.

"Ah, well…"

"Oh, you won't never guess which group I am or were from, don't bother trying... I've been a trainee in the past, but the groups I was supposed to debut didn't happen… three times. Currently, I sing in a place called Pearl."

"Ah…"

"Don't make that face, who doesn't know what to say." She was smiling to Lee. "Of course I am sorry, but that's how things happened. They happen to a lot of other people every year."

The doctor poured them both drinks, and looked at the singer:

"You said Pearl is your only place of work, but you only perform two nights a week," he left the most important part of the question in the air, but it didn't sound offensive or intrusive.

"Oh, well, it's true. Well,... that's temporary."

Kim leaned toward her and asked,

"Apart from being a singer, did you think of being something else? Having another profession, I mean."

"Ah… well. I don't think so. It is a strange story. A little funny too."

"You wanting to be a singer? Why would it be funny?"

She spread her arms and shrugged, "Well, I think it is. Do you really want to know, oppa?"

"If you don't mind telling, yes I'm interested."

"Well, I was born in this town. Little town. Like, tiny. In this tiny town, my parents divorced early, and that's another story; but then, my father raised me on his own. My dad… Well, that's another story too; but the fact is, I was this pretty little girl, the daughter of a divorced young man. The ajuhmmas were more than willing to help!"

The two men laughed heartily at this.

"Then one day, one of them, I don't remember who, took me to a Christian church. I really don't remember how old I was, but I sure couldn't read at that time. The ajuhmma gets distracted and the little pest Ye Rim somehow, and don't ask me because I don't really remember how, gets a hold on a mic and start singing a song, in front of everyone. I remember how happy I was with all those appreciative looks. Maybe they used some force to make me let go of the mic. They still do, nowadays!"

They laughed at her funny remark, and she completed,

"In short, people liked to hear me sing and I liked to sing to them."

"Your eyes sparkle when you talk about it." Lee noted, Ye Rim just nodded to it. "But this candid moment went on a snowball. I grew up like that, a little local celebrity. Wherever they invited me to sing, I would sing. At candidate A's rally, at candidate B's rally. On friends' birthdays. At wedding anniversaries. At the hospital. At the supermarket. At church. At the Student Games. I was known there, like I said."

"So? Did your father send you to the capital in search of your dream?"

Ye Rim laughed:

"My father was against it. He wasn't against me singing in our town _but he used to disapprove the whole idea of his daughter becoming a professional singer, and coming to a big city and all that. It involved a few years and a lot of people, even the mayor of the city, telling him to let me come. I even had some support at first."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She took another sip of her drink, and continued, with a thoughtful expression in her face." I, and probably a lot of people in my hometown, imagined things would happen magically once I got into the capital. It was something! The day I boarded the bus, almost half the city went to the bus station to wish me farewell! With banners and everything! True story!"

The three of them fell silent for a brief moment after hearing the report, Ye Rim couldn't imagine what they might be thinking, but she couldn't stand the ensuing silence:

"But I'm getting something else! They recently opened a female DJ job opportunity on the XBTV radio station." She said excitedly. " I'm really counting on being called in for this interview. I submitted my work, and they should start conducting interviews early next week. That's what they said."

"Oh yes! Song Kyu is expecting a baby, and decided to leave work." Lee commented, seeming to associate things.

"Do you know her? She's very good!"

"Yes, I know her. I actually know a lot of people on the radio."

"Oh, sure. You are a music producer on HTN. It is only natural that you meet many people in the industry. But what does a music producer do on a major TV station like HTN?"

"Well, it's complex, but in my case, I don't really have a fixed contract. My contract is only two years long, and I take care of the house's dramas soundtracks."

"But I've seen you as a judge on the reality show…"

"Ah, just as a guest judge. It's cool, but it's not really my league…"

"Do you compose songs for K-pop or just scores for soundtracks?"

"Oh yes, I compose other types of music. Some artists have been recording and releasing my things lately." He didn't seem inclined to talk about himself, however; and gestured towards the younger man before Ye Rim could say anything.

"And, oops, I think we're totally ignoring Jun Hyeon. He looks bored and lonely."

"No, you two just keep going. It's natural that a musician and a singer have a lot of affinity and things to chat about." the other man said.

"Hey oppa, you had a lot of girl friends on the chorus line! I got the impression they weren't your clients." She protested, remembering the interesting incident from earlier when they visited the backstage of the musical, thanks to Lee Dae Won's contacts. Maybe Ye Rim had kept her impressions to herself on a normal occasion, but alcohol made her overly spontaneous. She would have thought it natural for the musician to know many people behind the scenes of the show, but she was astonished when three dancers flocked around to hug the doctor as if they were relatives who had not seen each other for a long time. Kim Jun Hyeon also seemed happy to meet them, although a little embarrassed as well.

"Oh yes, I saw it too. Who were those ladies who only had eyes for you after they saw you?" Lee didn't hide he was flaming the topic on purpose.

The doctor raised his eyes from his plate, and Ye Rim could see that the doctor already had bright red eyes and rosy cheeks. She figured her own shouldn't be too different:

"You too, hyung? You're acting weird tonight, you know it? "Turning to Ye Rim he replied: "Never girlfriends. Long time friends. We lost touch when I entered college."

"Did they also dance with you guys?" Lee asked, seeming to link facts of which Ye Rim was ignorant of.

'Also? Oh, now Kim Jun Hyeon's conversation with the girls makes some sense! He used to dance! My God, I couldn't even imagine it!' She thought, a little confused by the alcohol.

"Oh, is oppa a dancer? What's your dance style?"

"Ah, well… That was a long time ago. Can't we talk about something different?" He was clear in showing his willingness to change the subject, and his attitude intrigued Ye Rim as well. 'Well, if not from him, maybe I can find it out from Mr. Go? It's interesting that he always talks about his grandson, but never mentioned anything about him dancing or the like.'

"Aish, what are you looking at? Don't tell me you started to like what you see?" He asked with a smirk, and she found herself lost in her thoughts shamelessly staring at him. It wasn't even the first time.

"Ah, I was thinking… It was nice to visit the backstage at the show! She turned to Lee. "Lee oppa made our night very interesting. Thank you!" She poured him a drink, which he accepted with a smile. Kim raised her glass in a toast, seconding her words.

"Dae Won hyung got to be the soul of the party today! Geonbae*!"

"Bullshit! Ye Rim is the fascinating person who is the soul of the party here."

"Don't flatter her, she's going to become a monster."

"Hey!" She pretended to protest, but jokingly amended," How did you guess it?"

"Just looking. It's part of my job."

"What? Are you a physiognomist, by any chance? Like those old shamans?"

"No, just a plastic surgeon, who might say you look a lot like your mother, but your eyebrows are similar to your father's. And that you both frown when you are concentrated. He has a job where he often forces the vision, and you probably imitated him, even assimilated it."

"He's showing off! He's showing off around now!" Lee semed to find it amusing to watch.

"Wow!" Ye Rim was impressed with the little guessing, but Lee again put her again under the spotlight:

"So Jun Hyeon, how do you read our new friend Singer Nam Ye Rim? Please, she's not flattered enough yet, don't call her a monster."

"Uhn… I'd call her... Problem."

They laughed at his witted comment, Ye Rim pretended to be angry, but if the alcohol wasn't lying to her, she also thought those two men were a problem. A double problem.