Separation Anxiety

33.

#Broadcasting Club Senior

“Do you know him?”

“Just by face.”

“How do you know his face?”

“Just… somehow. Anyway, forget about the assumption that he grew up financially struggling. It’s definitely not the case.”

“You sound very certain.”

One of the seniors looked at her suspiciously.

“You can tell just by looking at his clothes. They’re different.”

“You can tell from that?”

In response to the comment that college students’ clothes are all similar and can’t be that different, the girl who first spoke smiled faintly.

“I spilled a drink on him recently. The shirt he was wearing then was from a luxury brand.”

“Ah…”

Only then did everyone nod in understanding.

“Well, his family situation is none of our business. Anyway, I vote to accept him.”

The conversation ended there as the next interviewee came in.

Choi Yu-na, the second-year broadcasting club member who had spilled the drink on Dawoon, followed Dawoon’s figure with her eyes through the gap in the interview room door as it opened.

A faint smile flickered across her lips for a moment before disappearing. It was such a brief instant that others wouldn’t have noticed.

***

Hayun came home from work earlier than usual. Thanks to this, the three brothers were able to have dinner together. As Dawoon sat next to Haram and tried to pick out various side dishes for him, Haram said he could eat by himself. This made Dawoon feel awkward, and he brought the side dish he had picked up to his own rice bowl instead.

Watching the two, Hayun smiled faintly and shook his head slightly. Haram had certainly been trying to do more things on his own since the beginning of the year. Ms. Lim probably taught him that he was now old enough to do things independently and that it was admirable. Her intention was likely to make Haram independent from Hayun rather than Dawoon, but regardless, Hayun quite liked Haram’s changes. Dawoon still seemed to have difficulty accepting the child’s independence, but he would eventually adapt, whether he liked it or not. Just as Hayun had.

“Your broadcasting club interview was today, right? How did it go?”

Hayun drew Dawoon’s attention with a natural question. Only then did Dawoon turn to look at him.

“I did the interview, but we don’t have the results yet.”

“Was the competition fierce? They seem to be quite selective.”

“When I got there, it didn’t really feel like a regular club.”

Dawoon explained that they had proper broadcasting equipment, and he even saw someone taking a camera test, suggesting they had a studio like a news broadcasting station. To Hayun, it was still just a university broadcasting station, regardless.

“Someone took a camera test? Didn’t Ui-hyeon apply for the PD position with you?”

“Ui-hyeon was eliminated in the written test.”

Hayun tilted his head at the mention that Ui-hyeon didn’t even get to the interview stage. He wondered if there were other people Dawoon would refer to as “friends.” Just the other day, Dawoon had said he barely knew anyone in his department because he didn’t attend the orientation. Unlike high school where they attended classes in the same room, moving between different lecture halls for each class made it even more challenging to make friends, though Dawoon didn’t seem particularly concerned about it.

“Then who took the camera test?”

When asked again, Dawoon looked at Hayun, his lips moving slightly before furrowing his brow a bit. Then he just closed his mouth.

“Who is it?”

Dawoon’s reaction made Hayun even more curious.

“Just someone from my department.”

Dawoon lowered his gaze, seemingly not wanting to explain further, and resumed eating.

“Don’t tell me you don’t even remember their name?”

Hayun asked, half-jokingly. Dawoon just furrowed his brow without answering.

“Really?”

This time too, instead of answering, Dawoon just stuffed some side dishes into his mouth. Hayun watched him quietly before shaking his head slightly. Even in high school, there were many cases where Dawoon couldn’t remember the names of classmates he’d been with for a whole year. Especially in his senior year, perhaps because he was focused on studying, he couldn’t remember even half of his classmates.

“It’s impressive you even knew they were from the same department.”

Hayun thought it was quite considerate of Dawoon to at least know that the person who took the camera test was from the same department.

“We had the interview together by department.”

Dawoon answered nonchalantly and quickly grabbed a handkerchief to wipe Haram’s clothes when he spilled water while drinking.

“I can do it myself!”

Haram stubbornly held out his hand, asking for the handkerchief Dawoon was holding. Reluctantly handing it over, it was hard to tell if Haram was wiping or making more of a mess, but he struggled to do it himself with his small hands.

“Was it a girl, by any chance?”

Dawoon froze when Hayun mentioned the person from the same department again, thinking the topic had ended thanks to Haram. Dawoon had intentionally not told Hayun that it was Kim Na-eun. This was because in their second year of high school, Hayun had particularly misunderstood his relationship with her.

It was unexpected that she had enrolled in the same university and even the same department, but that didn’t mean there was any change in their relationship. Even after the broadcasting club interview, Na-eun had just given a light greeting before turning away. Despite being in the same department, they hadn’t even encountered each other in lectures. So unless they both got accepted into the broadcasting club, there wouldn’t be many chances to meet frequently, and Dawoon didn’t think it was necessary to explain about her to Hayun.

But he didn’t expect Hayun to keep asking about her like this. He thought he could just brush it off, but with Hayun’s persistent questioning, he didn’t have the confidence to keep lying.

“Come to think of it, someone spilled a drink on my clothes a few days ago, and that person turned out to be a senior in the broadcasting club.”

Dawoon changed the subject entirely, not wanting to mention Kim Na-eun.

“A drink?”

“We bumped into each other and it spilled.”

“Oh dear. They should have been more careful.”

“I was just standing still.”

Dawoon responded defensively to the tone that suggested he hadn’t been careful.

“They weren’t looking properly and bumped into me.”

“Hmm.”

Hayun just made a long nasal sound without saying anything specific. Thinking the response was different from what he expected, Dawoon raised his eyes to check Hayun’s face. For some reason, he didn’t look particularly pleased.

“Do you know their name?”

Dawoon shook his head at Hayun’s question.

“If you had thrown away the clothes, they probably would have offered to pay for them.”

“They did, but when they offered their card, I refused.”

“That’s it?”

“…What else should there have been?”

Dawoon felt something was odd but calmly answered while maintaining eye contact with Hayun. After he refused the offer to compensate for the clothes, she had said she would at least treat him to a meal, but he had already refused that too, so he didn’t think it was necessary to mention.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Hayun’s gaze remained fixed on Dawoon’s face even after he answered.

“It’s nothing.”

After a brief pause, Hayun smiled as usual and shook his head. It felt like a subtle thorn was stuck in his throat. But Dawoon couldn’t understand what the problem was. He swallowed quietly and focused back on his meal. Fortunately, Hayun didn’t ask any more about the broadcasting club test.

Hayun’s eyes sank quietly as he watched Dawoon continue his meal silently. Of all people, the one who spilled the drink was a senior in the broadcasting club. Was it really a coincidence? Was he being oversensitive to think there might be other intentions?

It was fortunate that Dawoon maintained more distance from others than Hayun expected, but Choi Yu-na’s existence still bothered him.

‘I heard she’s a quiet and wise young lady. She has a good reputation even among those who know Congressman Choi. To the point where they say it’s a shame about her background.’

On his way home from work today, Director Park had added information about Choi Yu-na. It seemed he had been looking into her more even after handing over the investigation file.

Hayun had chuckled when he heard this. It was amusing that despite her good reputation, they still mentioned her “background.” Being an illegitimate child was the parents’ issue, not the child’s who was born that way. Having closely observed how the label of “illegitimate child” could belittle and torment a person, he felt disgusted thinking that Congressman Choi’s people were no different.

But now, he was about to chuckle from a different perspective. It seemed he should focus more on “wise” than “quiet” in Director Park’s report.

What if Choi Yu-na spilling the drink on Dawoon’s clothes wasn’t a coincidence but intentional? Perhaps she was more ambitious and full of ulterior motives than everyone thought.

“Did I raise him too naively?”

Both Dawoon and Haram turned to look at Hayun’s muttered words. Hayun smiled brightly at Dawoon, who was questioning with his expression, as if nothing was wrong.

Should I just tell Dawoon that Choi Yu-na is Congressman Choi’s granddaughter and that grandfather is trying to set them up? He had considered it. But he couldn’t gauge how Dawoon would react to hearing this.

He might rebel, or conversely, he might comply obediently at the mention of grandfather’s wishes. The former wouldn’t be a problem, but the latter would be troublesome. Hayun had no intention of handing Dawoon over to her according to grandfather’s wishes. Rather than stubbornly resisting, it was better to keep Dawoon unaware of everything.

“When will the broadcasting club results be out?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Do you have any free time between classes?”

“I have about two hours free on Monday.”

“That’s perfect. I have something to do near your university next Monday. Let’s have lunch together.”

Dawoon looked at him quizzically at the sudden proposal, but Hayun prevented further questions with a gentle eye smile.