episode_0115

“Hurry up and get in!”

-Swish swish. Rustle rustle.

It was 7:50 in the morning. As usual, the time for students to go to school always brought a lively atmosphere to the onlookers.

-Vroom vroom. Thud.

“Oh, as expected, hybrids are quiet.”

In front of the lively middle school gate, a medium-sized SUV came to a stop.

“Haha…I don’t know much about cars, so I have nothing to say in response.”

As Kim Tae-hyun marveled at the car from the driver’s seat, Jung Da-bin replied from the back seat.

“Well, you’ll find out when you buy a car later. Haha. Have a good day and good luck with your duties. Um…see you next time.”

Not later, but next time. At least he wouldn’t see him by evening.

For Jung Da-bin, who felt close to Kim Tae-hyun, the farewell sounded a bit disappointing.

“Yes…have a good day at work, hyung. See you next time.”

But Jung Da-bin was good at reading others’ emotions, so he quickly suppressed his feelings and bid farewell.

After Jung Da-bin got off, the car was left with only two people. Kim Tae-hyun slowly started the car.

“Brother, you drive well, don’t you? They say your driving skills deteriorate without driving a car. Looks like our kids were lying.”

Jung Da-young felt sour as if her viewers, commonly referred to as “Tsu” for Twitch + unemployed, had deceived her.

Of course, the relationship between broadcasters and viewers, streamers and Tsu, involves teasing each other. But somehow, in this real-life situation, incorrect information is often conveyed about areas that are used in daily life but not yet well understood, leading to embarrassment or mistakes.

A harm of internet culture.

At the next Bangon (ON AIR broadcast), she vowed to break everyone’s heads open.

“Well…I’m not wrong. It’s just that, just like your body remembers how to ride a bike, once you hold the steering wheel again, you quickly remember and become proficient.”

“Oh, I see. (I don’t understand.)”

That’s understandable. Jung Da-young doesn’t even know how to ride a bike, let alone drive a car.

When her mother was still around, she was busy following her boss fishing or drinking on weekends. Nowadays, that culture has largely disappeared, but back then, it was like that.

At least her mother, Jung Do-yeon, doesn’t seem to do that to Kim Tae-hyun in front of her.

“Anyway, now that I’ve experienced driving a good car, I feel like I need to buy one again.”

And so the car talk began. Didn’t the streamer who is currently the most popular on Twitch like cars and often talk about them? According to her Twitch viewers, they call themselves “Chagari” (car + nogari). If they are Chagari, she understands the feelings of the Tsu who are enthusiastic about various cars.

Why is it so enjoyable to talk loudly about something you don’t know much about?

“And come to think of it, Mom seemed to really like cars. If they talk, time will fly by.”

Listening with one ear and thinking about her mother, Jung Da-young sighed deeply.

“Ah, Mom…will she be okay?”

She sighed without realizing it. Originally, her mother. No, the woman who left and the only woman left in the house was herself. So when that woman became a woman, there was no one else but her who could help.

For Jung Da-young, who had always received care from her parents and now had to be the one to support them, this was a very unfamiliar experience. Especially with her father, who had become more feeble with age.

But that experience wasn’t a bad thing. Even though it wasn’t gentle, the fact that her strong father, who always stood firm for himself, showed a weak side was new.

In addition, people are visual creatures, so they have to be somewhat pretty. Whenever something happens to such a pretty adult woman (which is nothing to Jung Dayoung, like getting her period or learning how to wear underwear), she looks at herself with eyes full of anxiety, how cute that appearance is.

“Hehe, hehehe.”

“D-Dayoung?”

She realized that an evil laugh had escaped her unintentionally and quickly changed her expression.

“Yes, why?”

An indifferent expression as if asking if something had happened.

Kim Taehyun opened his mouth again with a slightly annoyed expression.

“Sorry, was it boring to suddenly talk about cars? Hm… Chairman… Do you have anyone around to take care of you? Like a sibling of the Chairman, or a grandmother.”

“My grandmother’s house is in the countryside of Chungcheong Province. I do have an aunt… but she has to take care of the store, and raise children, so it must be difficult. Ah… at times like this, it would be nice to have someone by your side, but there’s no one I can trust.”

As she glanced at Kim Taehyun, she continued. In fact, after two months, this new employee who rides her mother’s car every morning had become somewhat familiar.

To her mother, it might be a bit of a discriminatory(?) thought, but it would be difficult for someone with a general mindset to think of a patient with TS syndrome as a rational person, and above all, Kim Taehyun respects her mother, Jung Dayoung.

Since language represents a person’s thoughts, values, and ideas, she could infer to some extent. At least to her family, she was a mother with a slow expression of emotions, but to her subordinates, she was respected. Thinking that made her feel a little proud for no reason.

Well, she’s been paying more attention to her family lately and doing well. Besides, she’s cute.

Anyway, for Jung Dayoung at the moment, Kim Taehyun was one of the few people who belonged to the category of trustworthy humans.

“Ah, I wish someone would take care of my mother.”

But this was only half-joking. If it happens, great, if not, that’s fine.

Didn’t her mother say that it would be difficult for the team to function properly even if one person was missing? In that situation, would Kim Taehyun be left out too? Her mother wouldn’t be pleased with such a situation, and she wouldn’t be indulgent either.

However, Kim Taehyun, who was listening beside her, seemed to be seriously considering it.

“Oh, oppa. Do you know that?”

“Huh? What?”

“Mom often praises Taehyun oppa, you know?”

At that, Kim Taehyun’s face suddenly turned red. Was that embarrassment, or… another emotion?

“R-really? Chairman is really…”

“Do you want to know what she’s saying?”

“Ahem, if she had something to say to me, she would have said it to me. Even if it’s praise, I don’t want to know what she says behind my back.”

As expected. Perhaps Kim Taehyun is even more naive than his own mother.

“That’s it! That diligence? Righteousness? That’s what she sees and likes. She even said to Dabin to get along well with oppa, and told me to learn from you. It’s funny. Really. Oh, it’s not that oppa is funny. I have my own charm too…”

-Gushireong, gushireong.

Anyway, although he was focused on driving, his face, which was as red as a beet, caught Jung Dayoung’s eye.

“By the way, you were really surprised in the morning, right? Mom crying so loudly, that was the second time I’ve seen it. And I don’t even know why she’s suddenly crying. I was really shocked. Oh, do you know what the first time was?”

“What, what was it?”

A while ago, I went to Busan on vacation and rode the cable car at Songdo. My mom has acrophobia, you see. My dad had it too, but I didn’t know it was that severe. Back then, even though her complexion was a bit pale, she didn’t show much fear. But I played a little prank and she got so scared that she started crying loudly… Oh, I feel really sorry… Even now, just thinking about that moment makes me want to punch myself in the head.

As Jung Dayoung recalled the time when her mom cried loudly, her vision blurred for no reason.

“Oh, Manager… You had acrophobia….”

Was he nodding as if he understood something?

“It was really fun back then. I had only heard of vacation, but it was my first time actually going. Oh, you know about my broadcasting, right?”

Kim Taehyun nodded. He didn’t really watch internet broadcasts, but if a clip video popped up on platforms like NewTube due to the algorithm’s recommendation, he would watch it once. That’s why he had heard the nickname “Jorang” from her broadcast before. He never expected her to be the boss’s daughter, though.

“To be honest, I earn more money in a month than my brother does.”

“Ugh, I’m envious.”

Kim Taehyun looked at her with eyes that truly showed envy. It was a bit embarrassing, but since she didn’t bring it up to brag in the first place, he continued.

“So, going on vacation? It’s no big deal once you get permission from your mom, right? With friends.”

“Y-yeah.”

What was she trying to say?

“Honestly, it was really fun. Beyond my expectations. Um… Oh! Weren’t you curious about something? Why I started calling my dad ‘mom’.”

“If it’s something I can know… I am curious.”

“We agreed to do that during the trip. Because of how society views people with Tourette syndrome. They may feel sympathy, but they tend to avoid them when they’re around, right? That kind of feeling. So. It was agreed to just call him ‘mom’ to accept the relationship based on the visible gaze of others.”

“…I see.”

“Um, anyway. That’s not the story I wanted to tell. I have something that I’ve achieved.”

“What, what is it?”

“The ultimate photo.”

“What kind of photo is it?”

At that moment, Jung Dayoung’s school came into view.

After a moment of silence, Jung Dayoung spoke up.

“The ultimate photo that I endured, rejecting when other streamers asked me to go together, when friends insisted on going on vacation.”

– Swish.

The SUV smoothly stopped in front of the school. Finally, Kim Taehyun met Jung Dayoung’s eyes. In his eyes, she was a devil.

“If my brother does me a favor, maybe I’ll show it to him…?”

‘Oh, God. Father. Please take this trial from me.’

Kim Taehyun silently screamed and recited a verse from the Bible he learned at church during middle school.

‘For my mother’s sake, I will become a master of darkness if necessary!’

Jung Dayoung made a firm resolution to carry her own cross willingly for her mother.