บท 77: Joonjae-Aren't They Pretty?
Mia took a while to answer. 'It's been a month,' she finally replied. 'In fact, I came to Korea because of this job.'
She narrated how her mentor, Professor Ahn, helped to get the job in Korea.
'I do recall there was a trainer named Ahn at T-Net,' I said casually. 'He was particularly fond of Cheng. But why did you come here?'
'For this job of course,' she replied.
'I'll rephrase that question. Why did you decide to leave everything and move to an unknown country?'
Mia took a while to answer, slowly chewing on her rice cake.
'Do you see that child over there?' she ushered at Deen, who was now chasing Mona. 'I left everything for him.'
I gave her a skeptic look. She snickered. 'Some day, he will grow up,' she explained. 'If we had stayed there, he'd have faced some questions, to which I don't have any answers.'
'Is it about his father?' I asked gently.
'It's about his very existence,' she said softly. I could see her eyes were about to tear up but she quickly rubbed them.
'Ugh, I really hate discussing useless things,' she laughed. I did not press her further. She will tell the truth when the time is right. Coercing her will only agitate her.
'Are you sure that reporter won't reveal anything?' she asked, concerned.
'I took his memory card,' I replied. 'He doesn't have any proof. Besides, I scared him off good.'
'But making enemies out of a reporter, that's dangerous for your reputation!'
Mia was more worried about my reputation.
'You're worried about my rep?' I laughed. 'You do realize if those pictures were released, you'd have been fired?'
Mia looked mortified. 'What?' she exclaimed.
'Yeah,' I said. 'He got you on the shot as well. No doubt, he'd have made Deen our love child and would have turned it into some juicy gossip. If T-Net managers saw that, you'd have been kicked out. No one from that agency is supposed to be in touch with us. At least not openly.'
'Oh,' Mia realized. I chuckled. She really did not realize it all this time.
'It's kind of sad,' she lamented. 'Living under the public radar. Everyone watching your every move.'
'I signed up for it,' I shrugged. 'The moment I decided to be an idol, I knew what I was giving up.'
'Yet you chose this line,' she countered. 'Why?'
'I just didn't know what else to be.'
'I'm jealous though,' Mia expressed.
'Of our fame?'
'No,' she said. 'You had a choice and you chose to be in the spotlight. I wish I had that choice.'
'What would you have chosen?' I asked curiously.
'I would have chosen to erase my existence from all public eye,' she asserted.
We fell into a long stretch of silence. Both of us were looking at Deen and Mona playing but our thoughts were elsewhere.
'You got to be an idol,' Mia stated after a while. 'Are you happy that you achieved your dreams?'
'Mia,' I started. 'You said you're a Starry, right?'
She nodded. 'So you must know everything about the original TNT,' I said. 'After knowing everything, do you really think we are happy?'
Mia had no answer to that.
Sudden blasts broke our reverie. Colorful, glitters were blasting off in the sky.
'Mee, look at the fireworks!' Deen cried in excitement. He stared in awe as the fireworks blasted off in the sky to form sparkling lights.
Seeing Deen's delighted expression, took me back in time. I was reminded of another person's expression. That laughter, which got frozen in the passage of time.
'Aren't they pretty, Jun?' the person once asked me with a wide smile.
'Yes,' I said out loud.
'Jun,' Mia shook me gently. I broke out of my trance. 'You okay?' she asked.
'Yeah,' I replied. The fireworks have stopped.
'Let's go home?' I suggested.
Mia nodded and called Deen. We quietly walked out of the park and headed towards our street. I bid them farewell at the alleyway near their home. I had already texted Taewon regarding the incident so there were no reporters around our area at that time.
As I watched the mother and son walk away, I reflected back to the sudden flash of memory I had earlier. Maybe, it was time to pay a visit to Itaewon.
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