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Chapter 9
The Incident Finally Happens
“Ta-da! Lady Rina has arrived!”
Yurina suddenly announced her own entrance line and stood proudly in front of the elementary school gate.
For some reason, the moment she stepped through the gate, she put her hands on her hips and made a very arrogant face.
“Huh?! It’s Yurina!”
“Whoa—move! I’m first today!”
As soon as the other students recognized her, they rushed over and formed a line in front of her.
I had been helping her get to school, and I just stood there watching, completely confused about what was going on.
“Author-nim, how many today?”
A girl with thick black-rimmed glasses suddenly appeared and stood next to Yurina like an assistant.
“Twenty. Make sure the books come back by fifth period.”
Yurina answered in a cool tone, then pulled a notebook out of her bag.
That’s…
I knew exactly what that notebook was.
Recently Yurina had become obsessed with drawing comics, and that notebook was her comic sketchbook.
“Everyone line up properly! We’re cutting it off at twenty people!”
The girl acting as her assistant counted the students in line and strictly stopped it at twenty.
“Ahh!! I got cut right before my turn!”
“I really wanted to read it today!”
“Can’t you add just three more people?!”
The students who were cut off groaned and complained.
But Yurina firmly shook her head.
Her assistant pushed away the begging students and handled the situation easily.
“…Yurina? Can you explain what’s going on here?”
I finally asked because I couldn’t understand anything.
“I’m serializing my comic at school these days. Sigh, business is just too good.”
“Business…? What do you mean business?”
“Comic rental business.”
“…What are they giving you?”
Clink! Clink!
Hearing an unusual sound, I turned around.
The assistant girl returned after dealing with the unhappy customers and handed Yurina a heavy indoor shoe bag.
Yurina checked inside the bag briefly and nodded with satisfaction.
What’s inside that?
I leaned in and looked.
Inside were Pokémon stickers, trading cards, and small toys.
…At least it’s not money.
I had worried she might actually be charging money.
Thankfully, it seemed like the kids were simply trading toys and collectibles.
Still… she’s really into comics lately.
Yurina had been drawing comics much more often recently.
If she really wanted to become a webtoon artist, it made sense—these days she spent most of her time drawing comics after school.
“Dad, I’m heading in now. I have a morning deadline to finish.”
“A deadline? Where did you learn that word?”
“Sigh… I can’t think of the plot for Dad Ranger Episode 5.”
Apparently the ten-year-old elementary schooler had already become a writer and was suffering from the pain of creativity.
“Anyway, I’m going now. Dad, work hard too.”
“…Yeah, okay.”
Yurina waved her hand coolly without even turning around.
I blinked as I watched her walk away.
Why do I suddenly feel distance from my daughter…?
It almost looked like she had a glow around her.
It was the aura of a confident and talented person.
The light was so bright I could barely look at her.
“Oh my, Yurina’s father?”
While I was still covering my eyes from the glow, Teacher Chae-eun walked toward the gate and greeted me.
“Why are you standing like that?”
She paused at my strange pose.
“Ah—nothing at all.”
I quickly stopped and awkwardly adjusted my clothes.
“I see you often these days. You’ve been bringing Yurina to school almost every morning, right?”
Teacher Chae-eun asked with a smile.
“Because of that, Yurina has become much brighter at school. I think she’s happy spending more time with you.”
“Really? I didn’t realize.”
“It’s true. Every morning assembly she’s smiling, and at the end of the day she keeps urging us to finish quickly so she can go home and play with her dad.”
Teacher Chae-eun chuckled softly.
I smiled too, imagining Yurina acting that way.
Just hearing the description made it easy to picture her lively behavior.
So it wasn’t just my imagination that she’s been happier lately.
Recently Yurina seemed much more excited about everything.
Unlike when she was in first or second grade, she no longer complained about going to school.
In fact, she almost seemed eager for it.
And whenever I came home from work, her face when greeting me was always bright.
I had simply thought it was her cheerful personality.
But hearing that it was because of the time we spent together made me feel incredibly happy.
I felt proud and grateful that I could bring Yurina even a little happiness.
“Oh right—how is the art academy? Yurina said she’s been going for about two weeks.”
Teacher Chae-eun asked with sparkling curiosity.
Now that I thought about it, she had recommended the academy and introduced it to me.
But I hadn’t updated her on how things went.
Realizing that, I quickly bowed slightly.
“Thanks to you, she met a wonderful teacher and is learning well. I’m really grateful. I should have told you earlier, but things were hectic.”
“Oh no, I only recommended it! But I’m so glad! Yurina’s drawings are already changing a lot. You can literally see her improving every day.”
Teacher Chae-eun smiled widely, as if it were her own family member.
As I watched her smile, Yurina’s face suddenly came to mind.
Her bright smile looks just like Yurina’s.
She was just as pure and kindhearted.
“Every time I think about it, I’m really grateful to you.”
“Huh? For what?”
“Well… you help Yurina so much in ways I can’t. When she comes home, she always tells me what she did with Teacher Chae-eun that day. What you taught her. Sometimes I think the reason Yurina has become brighter might actually be thanks to you.”
Teacher Chae-eun blushed and covered her mouth.
“No… I didn’t really do anything… But thank you for saying that.”
Maybe I embarrassed her by saying something so heartfelt early in the morning.
But I had always wanted to say it.
She was truly someone important to us.
I wished I could help Yurina as much as she did.
“How is work these days? I heard you joined a new program. You must be busy.”
Teacher Chae-eun changed the subject.
Unfortunately, it was a question that was hard for me to answer.
“Ah… yes, a little…”
“Your expression doesn’t look good. Nothing’s wrong, right?”
“No! I’m fine.”
I forced a smile.
Inside, though, I flinched.
She probably asked casually, but it hit right where it hurt.
Heh… For a moment I thought she knew and was asking on purpose.
Sadly, I wasn’t in a situation where I could comfortably talk about work with my daughter’s teacher.
The weather was getting colder.
And it was already mid-October.
The day I hoped wouldn’t come had finally arrived.
The incident had happened.
***
“Did you hear about the Yoon Ra-hee incident last night?”
“Drunk driving? Her top-star career is over.”
“What about the variety show she joined? I heard it hasn’t even aired its first episode yet.”
“If the main cast member caused a scandal like that, it’s obviously finished. That show had no appeal without her anyway.”
As I walked through the NBC building, whispers filled the air.
Everyone was talking about Yoon Ra-hee.
The thing I had been worried about had finally happened.
Her drunk driving scandal.
Oh boy…
There was nothing I could have done to stop it.
It happened three years ago, so I didn’t even know the exact date.
And it wasn’t like I could follow Yoon Ra-hee around every day to warn her.
I had been living like I was holding a ticking time bomb.
And now—
It had finally exploded.
I really don’t want to go in there.
I stood outside our team’s meeting room for a long time, hesitating.
Even before opening the door, I could feel the gloomy atmosphere inside.
Creak—
When I finally opened it, the cold mood became even worse.
The meeting room felt like a funeral.
The main writer looked defeated.
Director Bong looked like he might cry.
The two lead staff members sat frozen.
The rest of the staff just watched nervously.
It was a disaster.
“…Hello.”
No one answered my greeting.
Everyone sat silently, like monks in meditation under dark clouds.
I quietly walked in and tried to sit in a corner.
“Everyone.”
Just as my backside was about to touch the chair, Director Bong suddenly spoke.
I froze halfway down.
“I think we’re screwed. The department head… wants us upstairs.”
…I quietly stood back up.
Then I bowed my head with my hands neatly folded in front of me.
***
That evening, after the team’s mood had completely collapsed because of the Yoon Ra-hee incident, I checked the group chat message from Director Bong while walking home.
As expected, the message announced the cancellation of the program.
[Everyone worked hard. Let’s meet again somewhere better someday …]
Just from the tone of the message, I could already imagine Director Bong drinking soju like an IV drip for a while.
But more importantly—
My own future looked bleak.
I had only joined the team a month ago, and now I had to find another job again.
I need to find something immediately because of Yurina’s academy tuition. Who do I even contact now…
The only person that came to mind was Kyung-min.
But I had heard he was extremely busy after becoming a main writer.
Why was it that important people were always busy when I needed them?
Murphy’s Law really existed.
[Director Kim Sung-min]
[Writer Wang Ju-hee]
[Writer Lee Young-hyun]
…
Looking through my contacts, I sighed deeply.
Who should I call?
And what should I even say?
It was such an awkward and exhausting problem.
Sigh… But I have to do it. For my genius daughter.
Thinking of Yurina’s face turned my tired expression into a smile.
Even if I had no money or job, my heart still felt strong because I had my amazing daughter.
I started looking through the contacts again.
Among these people, who can I call right now…
Bzzz!
Suddenly my phone rang.
“…?”
The caller’s name appeared on the screen.
[Ham Ju-young]
