The TS Memoir of a Misogynistic Novelist

“Ah! You’re here? I was waiting for you ever since I saw your message earlier!”

“Hi, Kang-hyeon.”

“Hey.”

“Welcome! Mira unnie, Eun-a noona.”

“Hey, why is she ‘unnie’ and I’m ‘noona’?”

“Well, it’s obvious there’s a different vibe, right?”

“Somehow, that’s annoying.”

After arriving at the villa, following Ji Kang-hyeon’s guidance, Mira and Eun-a, who got out of the car first, greeted him. I looked at Hwa-won, who seemed tired from the long drive, and got out of the car when he did. We both stretched at the same time, as if it had been prearranged.

“Ugh…!”

“Why are you stretching? Did you drive?”

“Should I drive on the way back?”

“My feet can’t reach… Oh, did I mention that already?”

“You can reach if you pull the seat.”

“Have you tried it?”

“I know even without trying.”

Well, we chatted casually as we unloaded the luggage. Mira and Eun-a had already gone off to chat with Kang-hyeon. It wasn’t a lot of luggage, so we finished quickly. If they had any conscience, they would carry their own bags, right?

I pointed to their luggage and said, “You guys should carry one each.”

“Eh, that’s something the adults should do.”

“But you’re an adult too.”

“Oh right.”

By the way, the villa is pretty big. Well, it better be for eight people to stay comfortably. By the way… who is that person?

Just as I was thinking this, an unfamiliar adult male, not someone who looked like an idol trainee or his girlfriend, approached us.

“Wow! Hello! We’ve met before, right? I’m Gong Hyeok-jin, Kang-hyeon’s manager!”

…?

“Manager, you say?”

“Oh, you don’t remember? You were on a show back then.”

Ah, I see.

“Hey, Seo Eun-a. Come here.”

“Yes? Why?”

“Kang-hyeon said there weren’t any adults around, so he called you and me. Didn’t you say that?”

“I don’t remember.”

I quietly replayed the recorded phone call with Eun-a on my smartphone. Eun-a’s voice came through.

“Oops.”

I lightly tapped Eun-a on the head.

…Well, it wasn’t a real tap.

“It hurts! Are you responsible if my intelligence drops?”

“The fact that you thought this wouldn’t be found out shows you really lack intelligence.”

It didn’t make sense from the start. It was absurd to think that a celebrity wouldn’t have a manager when they went on a trip… I was foolish to fall for such an obvious lie. The only reason I could forgive him was that I got to come with Hwa-won; otherwise, I wouldn’t have let it slide.

“Hello, I’m Gang Hwa-won.”

“Wow, you’re really handsome! Have you ever thought about becoming an actor or a model?”

“Aren’t idols too much for me? Hahaha. People say that a lot, but my personality just doesn’t fit.”

“That’s a shame. Really. Oh, I’m here as someone overseeing the kids. After all, they are all minors.”

While Hwa-won and Gong Hyeok-jin were introducing themselves, I dumped the remaining bags on Eun-a. Holding my own luggage, I headed towards Mira, who had already moved her stuff and was chatting with Ji Kang-hyeon.

“Hey, isn’t the villa nice?”

“I’m glad we came, right? The beach up ahead is private, so we can use it as we please for three days.”

“Thanks for inviting me.”

“When did you become so honest?”

“Every time I say something, you just have to add another comment.”

“By the way, I just told Mira that we should introduce the kids. Well, I said the noona could handle it, but they should at least know each other’s faces.”

“Is everyone inside?”

“Um, Si-woo went for a walk with his girlfriend, and Si-on is inside. Just a moment.”

Saying that, Ji Kang-hyeon opened the villa door and shouted loudly.

“Hey! Kang Si-on! Come out and say hello!”

Soon, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and a neatly groomed boy with messy hair fixed by a headband appeared. He looked smaller than the now-grown Ji Kang-hyeon, clearly giving off a high school vibe. He’s an idol trainee, they said. Well, looks…

Hmm, he’s not bad.

Hwa-won is definitely more handsome, though.

“Ah, hello! I’m Kang Si-on.”

“Hi, I’m Seol-guk.”

“Ah, yes. I know. I heard when I got in.”

“You need to be a bit famous for that.”

Is the kid a bit shy? His voice was a bit quiet. When I fell in with Ji Kang-hyeon’s playful teasing, it seemed he opened up a bit.

“Yeah, yeah, now it doesn’t matter.”

“Does Kang-hyeon call you noona?”

“Yeah, she’s definitely a woman now.”

“Shut up. If you don’t want to get hit.”

“What a violent noona.”

“This is real.”

Of course, I didn’t actually hit him but just pretended a bit. Si-on looked surprised that we seemed so close.

“That guy is the ‘nerdy’ kid.”

“Hey! What kind of introduction is that…!”

“Oh, it’s fine. I don’t care about that stuff. Don’t worry about it too much.”

Since the kid who left earlier has a girlfriend, it makes sense that he would be described as the ‘nerdy’ type by Ji Kang-hyeon, who knows him well, thus teasing him. Seeing Si-on get flustered looked pretty effective.

“Y-Yes… Thank you.”

“Oh, noona. We booked the 2nd-floor room, so you can take any room on the 1st floor. But there are only three rooms, so one person will have to share.”

“We can just let Eun-a and Mira share. Where did you say the kids’ bags were?”

“I piled them up inside for now.”

“Then take this one too.”

After finishing off the bags with Ji Kang-hyeon, I ignored his murmurs from behind and turned back. Hwa-won was still chatting away, caught up with Gong Hyeok-jin, who seemed to be quite a chatterbox. Hwa-won, as ever, was being appropriately responsive.

The other luggage was all moved by Eun-a (she was panting from moving that little), but Hwa-won was still holding onto his own bag.

“Give me the bag. I’ll take it.”

“Oh, sorry. I’m fine.”

“No, keep talking.”

I forcibly took the bag from Hwa-won’s hands. I was a little flustered when our hands brushed, but acted like it was nothing. Since I had already taken all of Hwa-won’s things, it was time to choose our rooms. There was one large room with a big bed where two could sleep together and two small rooms.

“Are you two going to sleep together?”

“Me?”

“Why?”

I asked casually, expecting the decision was pretty much made, but the reaction was…?

Weren’t they close friends?

“Well, we are friends, but still, sleeping together is a little….”

“Just let you two sleep together?”

The first speaker was Mira, and the latter was Eun-a. I almost smacked Eun-a but then refrained, forcefully assigning the two to the same room while trying hard to hide the slightly flustered feelings.

“Despot!”

“Revolution!”

So, this is what works for you guys.

“Since it seems you two are close, this is a good opportunity for you to spend some time together.”

“And set the table for meals, too.”

“Stop.”

“Yes.”

This time, I added a little seriousness, so Eun-a didn’t push the boundaries any further. Regardless, I couldn’t let them share a room with Hwa-won. I simply had no confidence that I could handle it right now.

“Have you chosen a room?”

Hwa-won, who returned after finishing his conversation, asked. I told him that as we previously decided, Mira and Eun-a would sleep in the room with the bigger bed, and Hwa-won and I would each take one of the small rooms.

“Alright, I’m going to the room to rest for a bit. I drove for too long.”

“Okay, hey, did you meet Ji Kang-hyeon and his friend earlier?”

“Ji Kang-hyeon was just like he was on the show, same vibe. He immediately called me hyung.”

“He’s kind of like that.”

“I also greeted a kid named Si-on. He seemed pretty normal and polite.”

“He seemed a bit shy around me.”

“What do you mean, shy?”

“I don’t know. He just seemed that way.”

“Oh really?”

Hwa-won trailed off. Was there something odd?

“Did you two say hi?”

“Oh, yes. He seemed a bit shy with us too.”

“Nerds are usually weak against girls.”

“It seems a bit strange considering his face, doesn’t it?”

“They might be setting a concept as idols.”

From what I heard in Mira and Eun-a’s conversation, it seemed that I wasn’t the only one he was shy around. It wasn’t particularly significant information, though.

Now that everyone had said their greetings, it was time to unpack our luggage in our respective rooms. The room had a bed, a hanger, and a light but nothing else, yet the bed was soft and comfy.

Hwa-won seemed quiet, probably resting for a moment, so I left him alone. But now what to do?

“Of course, we have to go to the beach first.”

“Isn’t it a little too soon to go right after arriving?”

“I’m not saying we should swim; just going for a walk would be nice. We can enjoy the sea breeze. If we walk a bit over there, there’s a café by the beach that isn’t private.”

At Ji Kang-hyeon’s suggestion, the three of us decided to go for a stroll on the beach. For some reason, Ji Kang-hyeon and Kang Si-on followed behind us, but there was no real reason to shake them off, so we just continued together.

Mira seemed to have become quite friendly with Ji Kang-hyeon, chatting quite warmly, while Eun-a occasionally joined in the conversation. I was silent, taking in the scenery, while Kang Si-on seemed a little less present.

“Uh, the sea is nice.”

“Yeah, it is.”

At that awkward comment, I replied appropriately. Honestly, the sea breeze brought back no bad memories. Only the memory of walking by the beach with Hwa-won at night welcomed me back. The fishy smell and saltiness no longer bothered me.

“You called him a nerd, right?”

“Ah, no. That was Ji Kang-hyeon’s framing.”

“It’s fine, I also watch that stuff. Are there any interesting shows these days?”

After responding to Kang Si-on’s question, I intentionally tried to engage him in conversation since he had been quiet the whole time. Normally, nerds go off about such topics if you ask them. Ji Kang-hyeon, hmm, he watches some strange stuff, but he’s not an ordinary nerd.

My world connected not through sounds but through sentences. So, I didn’t know much about music or songs beyond what I learned in literature classes at school and a few about the literary nature of popular music. The only popular music I knew was from Queen or The Beatles.

I dug into the lyric aspect as a common ground, so I could comprehend the meaning of what was being said. As stated, even in the creative writing department, we cover bandmen like Freddie Mercury. The problem was that I knew nothing about Japanese culture or anything like that. I just smiled and feigned understanding.

Honestly, the last anime I watched was a childhood children’s show I revisited for nostalgia.

If only we had talked about Osamu Dazai or Yukio Mishima, I would have understood.

“Oh, there’s a café over there. Let’s get a drink and walk around.”

“I’m tired.”

“How far have we walked? Just because you’re short, it doesn’t mean you can’t walk as much as everyone else!”

When Ji Kang-hyeon pointed at the café, Eun-a complained slightly, and immediately, Mira took the initiative to defend her. This was unusual. Did my earlier jab hit too hard? It was a bit uncomfortable to think about, but I was still safe since I wasn’t tired yet.

“Say whatever you want. I want to relax in the café with the air conditioning.”

Did Eun-a figure out she was too tired to retort? If so, Mira was quite skilled. Once it was our turn to discuss, Kang Si-on went quiet again, and I supported Eun-a’s opinion. It definitely wasn’t because I thought they were short.

“I’ll have… orangeade.”

“I’ll have iced tea.”

“Don’t they sell cola?”

“What kind of cola do you have at a café?”

It went Mira, Eun-a, Ji Kang-hyeon, and then Kang Si-on.

And among them, the three were looking at me while speaking.

“Hey, you bought us drinks at the rest stop earlier.”

“As the oldest, you should treat us a bit. It’s stingy.”

Seo Eun-a, I wasn’t supporting that opinion. Well, fine. After all, I was the only one earning money here. No, wait, that jerk Ji Kang-hyeon probably earns more than me.

“You stay out of it.”

“Why?”

“You earn money.”

In reality, after hesitating, I ended up buying drinks for all four of us (by the way, I got an iced coffee).

“Ah, I might explode…”

“You really should exercise a bit.”

“I’m not like you, doing studying, exercising, and dating all in one day~.”

“What? Dating?”

Mira looked flustered, while Ji Kang-hyeon awkwardly smiled. When Eun-a teased me like that, I found it quite annoying, but seeing someone else get teased like that felt pretty fun. I think I started to understand why they did that. Not that I was going to allow it in the future, though.

Um, by the way, there were quite a few people around already. The area we were in was a private beach, so we weren’t likely to see many people, but this side was just an ordinary public beach, so there were quite a few people out early.

Naturally, there were also some glances cast our way.

Even though we weren’t in swimsuits, everyone was dressed lightly, so I felt a little worried. To put it bluntly, there might be guys hitting on Eun-a or Mira.

Both of them were pretty girls, and Mira was tall with a good figure. Eun-a wasn’t short either, though she had a smaller chest.

“Why do I suddenly feel uneasy?”

“Maybe it’s because you drank that cold drink too quickly?”

…Why is she so perceptive?

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