Chapter 14: The Urgent Recall of the Throat Lozenges
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At ten o'clock that night.
The sensor light in the entrance hall flickered on as Kang Jaehun's hurried footsteps approached.
When he pushed open the door to the shared apartment, only a warm yellow floor lamp was lit in the living room.
On the yoga mat, Lee Seongkyung was holding a perfect plank pose, her waist and back taut, sweat-damp strands of hair sticking to her neck, the tips of her ears flushed faintly red from exertion.
"I'm home—"
"Shoes."
"Oh..." Kang Jaehun quickly crouched to straighten the shoes, then carried a paper bag toward the sofa.
*Clatter—*
"Seongkyung, how do you wash this denim jacket?"
As she pulled the deep blue denim jacket out of the bag, Lee Seongkyung's eyes caught the sleeves cut short just above the wrist and the tapered waistline.
—Jaehun's broad shoulders simply couldn't fit into such a delicate slim fit; it was clearly a women's style.
Her abdominal muscles twitched sharply, and the yoga mat scraped harshly beneath her.
"Don't you usually just toss clothes into the drum washing machine?"
"Ah, this jacket belongs to senior Yoonah."
The air froze for three seconds.
"Senior Yoonah?"
"Lim Yoonah from Girls' Generation."
*Bang!*
Lee Seongkyung's elbow went limp; her torso slammed heavily down onto the mat.
"She's really nice; this morning, my leather pants, cough..."
Kang Jaehun quickly interrupted her embarrassing morning mishap: "Anyway, she's super gentle."
Suddenly, Lee Seongkyung flipped up like a carp, barefooted on the floor, grabbed honey water from the fridge, and tilted her head back to gulp it down.
The sound of her Adam’s apple moving was unusually clear in the quiet living room.
Kang Jaehun stared at the amber liquid dripping from her mouth's corner.
"Um... that’s not for me, right?"
"Who said it was for you?"
The sound of the glass bottle hitting back in the fridge was like a gun being cocked.
"Uh..."
Kang Jaehun scratched his head, completely unaware of the icy tone in her voice.
But then he suddenly noticed—wasn't that his thermos cup she was holding?
He shook his head, dismissing the unlikely thought, and brought the jacket label closer under the light.
“The Gothic font says ‘hand wash,’ but here’s a washing machine icon. So, Seongkyung, how exactly should I...?”
*Bang!*
Lee Seongkyung slammed the bathroom door hard enough to knock down the painting in the hallway.
Kang Jaehun squinted at the fallen painting, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
Such an irritable Seongkyung could only be explained by one thing—she must be on her period.
The sound of running water came from the bathroom.
Kang Jaehun sat cross-legged on the floor, his phone screen illuminating his furrowed brow:
[How to wash a women's denim jacket?]
He had brought home Lim Yoonah’s jacket essentially to save money.
But if it shrank or got ruined, it would be more trouble than it’s worth.
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After searching for a long time, Kang Jaehun finally decided to take the jacket to a laundry shop the next day.
The next morning.
Six o’clock.
Kang Jaehun was woken by the roaring sound of the kitchen juicer.
When he stepped out of the bedroom, his messy hair like a bird’s nest, he noticed Lee Seongkyung’s lip tint today was a cool rose tone—
Three degrees sharper than her usual makeup.
“Seongkyung, good—”
“Hmm.”
Her usual cold response didn’t make Kang Jaehun think much.
Half an hour later.
After washing up, Kang Jaehun carried the laundry bag toward the entrance.
“Hey.”
“Hm?”
He turned, catching a water cup she tossed over clumsily.
“What’s this?”
Looking into the transparent cup holding a pale green liquid, he asked curiously.
“Celery juice, lowers blood pressure and cools the body.”
“Seongkyung, you...”
“Shut up and take out the trash.”
“Oh.”
After Kang Jaehun got off at Apgujeong Station,
he wandered through a couple of alleys before finding a small couple-run laundry shop with a “24-hour express cleaning” sign.
“Boss, how much to clean this denim jacket?”
The owner’s wife, chewing gum, lifted the jacket.
“Oh! Bean Pole’s runway piece this year!”
She tapped the gold-foil logo on the collar with her manicured nail: “Basic wash is 20,000 won, women’s style plus fabric softener 3,000 won, rush service another 10,000 won.”
The washing machine’s glass reflected Kang Jaehun’s conflicted face.
His hand hesitated over his wallet.
“Can you give me a discount?”
The owner’s wife tapped the price list with the tip of her nail:
“If you top up a 50,000 won membership card, you get 5,000 won free, so each wash is effectively 28,000 won.”
His money-counting suddenly became brisk.
“No thanks, I’ll pick it up tonight.”
“...”
Running late by seven minutes at the recording studio, assistant director Lee docked Kang Jaehun a coffee quota.
But fortunately, Lee Seongkyung had juiced celery for him.
The morning’s work went smoothly.
Kang Jaehun and Lucy, the voice actress, worked in perfect sync.
In just three hours, they recorded a tenth of the scenes featuring Gru and Lucy’s interactions.
During lunch break,
he munched on seaweed rice rolls while his phone vibrated with a bank notification—
[Balance: 127,500 KRW]
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Four days until SEM’s payday; gritting his teeth, he could still make it through.
Kang Jaehun’s contract split earnings 50/50 after tax, no signing bonus, but a guaranteed base salary of 1,000,000 KRW per month.
The pay for three scenes in “Ode to My Father” totaled 800,000 KRW; one performance in “Macbeth” earned 200,000 KRW.
After taxes, he would receive 1,500,000 KRW on payday.
A monthly salary of 1.5 million KRW was midway between South Korea’s minimum and average wages in 2013—enough to get by.
“Kang Jaehun xi—”
As Kang Jaehun focused on calculating rent and utilities on his phone, a sudden tap on his shoulder made him turn—but no one was in sight.
“Look down!”
He sharply lowered his gaze—
Kim Taeyeon stared up at him, baseball cap crooked over her golden hair, looking like a frizzed-up chihuahua.
“Do you need to look down to see seniors?”
“Sorry...”
Her platform Converse barely reached Kang Jaehun’s chest.
Her official height of 158 cm seemed suspiciously inflated.
“The number.”
“What?”
“The fried chicken place’s phone number from yesterday.”
“Oh, right.”
Kang Jaehun pulled out his phone to check contacts: “010...”
“Yoonah flew to Jeju Island this morning to shoot an ad.”
After jotting down the number, Kim Taeyeon suddenly added:
“Huh?”
Kang Jaehun was taken aback.
“Didn’t you just ask why you haven’t seen her?”
“I didn’t ask...”
“You want to ask.”
“Then... does senior Taeyeon have no schedule today?”
“Yeah, just filling in two hours during lunch break.”
She suddenly noticed the pale green liquid in Kang Jaehun’s thermos and asked, “What’s that green stuff? Some new health supplement?”
“Celery juice, cools the body and refreshes.”
“Share some with me. The pressure from schedules has caused me to break out.”
Hearing this, Kang Jaehun unscrewed the lid and poured a third into her cup.
“Thanks.”
Kim Taeyeon pulled two throat lozenges from her pocket and handed them to him in return.
She took a big gulp, her face instantly contorting into a puckered sour expression:
“Ugh... Kang Jaehun, have you lost your taste buds? This is definitely bitter melon juice!”
Kim Taeyeon whipped out a tissue, stuck her tongue out wildly, and grabbed back the lozenges she had just given him.
“...?”
Kang Jaehun stared at the green residue at the bottom of the bottle, suddenly recalling the melon peel scraps in the trash this morning.