Episode 28. Studying (2)
As Yang Jiyoon suggested, Kang Yebin headed to the Deokgun pop-up store with her as soon as all her school classes ended.
Was it because it was after school? Or was it because Deokgun’s popularity was skyrocketing?
“The line… it’s really long?”
Kang Yebin gasped, looking at the long line of people. What made them so enthusiastic? It was obvious. It was Deokgun.
Meanwhile, Yang Jiyoon lightly tapped her forehead with one hand, expressing regret. “I should have come earlier. The pop-up store has been open for a while, and I thought there wouldn’t be many people since all the popular limited edition items were sold out.”
Contrary to her expectations, the pop-up store’s popularity had not yet faded.
Kang Yebin asked Yang Jiyoon. “What do you want to do?”
“For now… should we wait?” Since they had come all this way, it would be a waste not to. They decided to wait a bit and then leave if the line didn’t shorten significantly.
The two waited for about 20 minutes at the very end of the line. However, compared to when they first saw it, the line length hadn’t changed much.
It seemed like a big decision was needed.
“Should we quietly give up?”
Kang Yebin suggested first. Though regrettable, Yang Jiyoon nodded, saying there was nothing they could do.
But at that moment, someone called out to the two of them.
“Yebin unnie! Jiyoon unnie!”
It was a familiar voice. Where their gazes landed, Kang Yeyoung was standing.
Kang Yeyoung, who was waiting in line with her friends, seemed to have arrived much earlier than the two of them, as her turn was quite far ahead.
Kang Yeyoung shouted to the two of them. “If there’s anything you need, just tell me, and I’ll go in and buy it for you.”
“Really? Thank you, Yeyoung-ah!”
Kang Yeyoung usually got along well with Yang Jiyoon. At the consideration of her friend’s younger sister, Yang Jiyoon’s eyes sparkled, and she organized a list of Deokgun-related merchandise she wanted to buy today and sent it to Kang Yeyoung via text message.
Kang Yeyoung, after checking the message, also asked Kang Yebin. “Unnie, isn’t there anything you want to buy?”
“I’m good.”
“What? Didn’t you come to buy Deokgun merchandise?”
“I just got dragged here by Jiyoon.”
She was being forcibly ‘sold’ Deokgun, as if to say, ‘There’s a place like this.’
Still, having come all this way, wouldn’t it be a bit of a shame to leave without buying anything? It wasn’t as if Kang Yebin was short on pocket money. In fact, thanks to her long career as a child actress in the entertainment industry, Kang Yebin was quite well-off financially compared to her peers.
“Then I’ll pick out something you might like and bring it, and you can pay me then. Okay?”
Before she could say there was no need, “Next person, please enter.” “Yes—!”
It was Kang Yeyoung and her friends’ turn next. Kang Yebin let out a deep sigh as her younger sister strode boldly inside.
Since things had come to this, “All I can do is hope she doesn’t buy too many strange things…” There seemed to be no other way but to pray that her youngest sister wouldn’t get caught up in some strange buying spree.
Kang Yebin, along with Yang Jiyoon, decided to wait outside for her sister and friends for a while.
About 10 minutes later, Kang Yeyoung and her friends were spotted coming out of the pop-up store by the older sisters.
As soon as Kang Yebin saw something full in both of Kang Yeyoung’s hands, she realized her prayers had not reached heaven.
“What did you buy so much of again?”
“I originally planned to just buy a few things and leave. But I saw a lot more cute things than I expected, so I bought them. Look at this. Isn’t it super cute?” Pyong! A round Deokgun doll wearing a police uniform popped out of Kang Yeyoung’s hand.
“They sell things like this too?”
“Yeah. They say it’s a limited edition doll only sold at this pop-up store. So I quickly bought it.”
Kang Yeyoung had a chronic characteristic in her spending habits. If the word ‘limited edition’ was attached to something, she would buy it immediately, even if it wasn’t a field she was particularly interested in. This tendency remained the same, both before and after her regression.
“Besides this, I bought a few more things…” She was about to immediately show the Deokgun merchandise she bought from the shopping bag, but before that, Kang Yebin reined her sister in.
“If you want to show them, don’t do it here on the street. Go to that ice cream shop across the street and show them there. I’ll buy it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You guys come too. Unnie will buy you one each.”
She decided to buy something delicious for Kang Yeyoung’s friends as well, not just her. Opportunities to earn points as a good unnie from her sister’s friends were rare.
Kang Yeyoung’s friends were already curious about Kang Yebin. It was their first time seeing their friend’s unnie, whom they had only seen on TV, this close. Unintentionally, Kang Yebin’s fan meeting ended up happening.
As soon as they settled down at the ice cream shop, Kang Yeyoung’s friends started asking Kang Yebin about things they had always been curious about. Kang Yebin showed no sign of annoyance in the face of the barrage of questions.
When the barrage of questions had somewhat subsided, Kang Yeyoung whispered quietly to her unnie with a “What’s gotten into you?” expression.
“Why are you so kind today? It’s not like unnie.”
“I was always kind, you just didn’t know.”
“No, you weren’t.”
A belated regret washed over her, wondering if she had foolishly offered to buy them ice cream.
Unlike Kang Yebin, Yang Jiyoon seemed to enjoy the lively atmosphere, maintaining a consistently bright expression.
What she particularly liked among these was the Deokgun talk.
“Wow, you bought this! I heard they were all sold out yesterday, so I thought I’d never be able to get one.”
“As soon as Yeyoung and I went into the store, we bought everything that was left!”
“You did? Good job, good job!” Yang Jiyoon reached out and patted the heads of her school juniors who were proudly boasting about their achievements.
Yang Jiyoon and Kang Yeyoung’s friends seemed to know a lot about Deokgun, as they continued their conversation without interruption. However, Kang Yebin couldn’t join their conversation. If the main topic of conversation had been about dramas, like before, she would have had a lot to say. But since she knew nothing about Deokgun, she was hesitant to open her mouth first.
But this wasn’t just Kang Yebin’s problem. Kang Yeyoung was also diligently trying to read the room between Yang Jiyoon and her friends.
Kang Yebin found her sister’s behavior strange.
Thump, thump. Kang Yebin secretly poked Kang Yeyoung’s side and asked, keeping her voice low.
“Why are you so quiet? Didn’t you like Deokgun?”
Kang Yeyoung, who had been quiet, revealed a secret she hadn’t been able to tell her unnie. “Actually, I only started getting interested in Deokgun two days ago.”
“But you were acting like you knew everything earlier.”
“I knew it because the kids told me; it wasn’t information I knew from the start.”
Thinking about it calmly, Kang Yebin had never once seen Deokgun-related merchandise displayed in Kang Yeyoung’s room. That’s why she found it strange when she met Kang Yeyoung in the pop-up store line.
She was curious why Kang Yeyoung started getting interested in Deokgun. She replied, lowering her voice, “I’m trying to get close to the kids these days.”
Kang Yebin, who was about to say, “You’re also ‘kids these days’,” quickly shut her mouth. In fact, strictly speaking, Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung didn’t fall into the category of ‘kids these days.’
The easiest way to get along well with elementary school students these days is to catch up on the trends circulating among them. If you create common ground, you can have smooth conversations. This alone can instantly bridge the distance with children. It was Kang Yeyoung’s own solution.
On the other hand, Kang Yebin hadn’t bothered to care about such things. Because she had Yang Jiyoon.
However, by having a friend like Yang Jiyoon by her side, Kang Yebin began to reconsider the nature of friendship. This was because she realized that the more friends she had with whom she could communicate well and rely on, the better.
Seeing her second unnie’s thoughtful expression, Kang Yeyoung made a suggestion. “How about it, unnie? Do you want to study together?”
“Study what?”
“This.” Kang Yeyoung took out a small keyring with the Deokgun mascot engraved on it.
Studying mascot characters? She had never heard of such a thing.
However, human relationships aren’t formed for free. Just as people in the entertainment industry need to actively promote themselves to be recognized, if you want to make more friends, it’s important to actively approach them first. Although she didn’t have many friends, Kang Yebin knew this well.
At first, her sister’s suggestion put a brake on her thoughts. But after thinking it over carefully, it didn’t seem so bad. And if she was going to do it anyway, wouldn’t it be better to do it with someone else rather than alone?
When her thoughts reached this point, “Alright, let’s do it.” Kang Yebin decided to take her foot off the brake and step on the accelerator pedal.
Kang Dae-oh, heading home after work, recalled the conversation Min Seung-yeon and the other mothers had at the cafe today.
‘Now that I think about it, I don’t remember our kids ever pestering us to buy them something.’ Other mothers and fathers often said their backs were about to break from their children constantly nagging for dolls and toys. But Kang Dae-oh had never experienced that himself.
Even Oh Myung-woon, who worked closely with him, would often express his exasperation, saying that as children grew up and had such easy access to various media, they would ask for so many things.
‘All I’ve ever bought them… at most, it was a smartphone, or maybe some filming equipment Yeyoung asked for when she was younger.’ Even when he asked what they wanted for Christmas, he never really got an answer. So, in a way, he felt a little disappointed. Of course, if he told this to Oh Myung-woon, he would get the reply, ‘That’s a problem of abundance.’
‘It’s difficult.’ Because of this, it was awkward to ask for advice. Perhaps it was a problem of abundance, as Oh Myung-woon said. Nevertheless, he had a slight romanticized idea of his daughters clinging to him, asking for things, and acting cute. So, his regret didn’t easily fade.
‘Well… there’s nothing I can do.’ Since his children were mature, he, as a parent, also enjoyed many benefits from it. He decided to just accept it and not think much of it.
However, as if Kang Dae-oh’s wish had come true, as soon as he opened the door and stepped inside, he heard these words from Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung. “Appa!” “We need something. Could you possibly buy it for us?”
A deep smile spread across Kang Dae-oh’s lips. “Of course! Appa will buy you anything. Just tell me!”
What on earth did his daughters want? Just as his expectations were about to soar, an unexpected answer popped out.
“It’s this.” “This is…” A thick-looking book. The first thing that caught his eye was the book’s title. [Deokgun Encyclopedia]
