20 — Work in Progress

After treading through a field of sunflowers, I stopped in front of a green gate. Bad color choice. It looked horrendous. "Go Bong?" I called out. "I'm here…" It was not my home, so I kept my tone at a moderate level.

A minute passed, and my patience was slowly running out. Wasn't there an intercom system somewhere around? I shook my head, placing my hand on the green bars, and tentatively pushed it.

If it didn't work, I'd be heading straight back home. 'Screw his drone.'

The gate whined as it opened, exposing a narrow gap for me to slip in.

'This feels like I'm breaking in…'

I looked around. Left to right. There was no trace of Go Bong, or anyone in general. That was true until my eyes landed on a lithe figure sleeping peacefully on the porch.

I blinked, taking in her stocking feet and her flowing pale legs. Her white dress, originally sewn to be rather modest and innocent, looked very indecent right now. It fluttered a little due to the fan sweeping air around.

Everything below the skirt section was revealed. 'I hope this is not how you stole her panties, Go Bong…'

This woman was his sister. Yu Hee Han. With her innocent expression and beauty, she looked like a maiden from some faraway kingdom. Why wasn't Go Bong this good-looking? The poor guy even had a receding hairline.

Yu Hee's dark hair was splayed all around her head, a few stray bangs falling over her forehead and eyes. Despite my presence, she was still blissfully absorbed in her dreamscape. She breathed in and out, never once stirring, even after I purposefully made my footsteps louder.

I wanted to alert her of my arrival.

Unfortunately, she didn't rouse from her sleep.

I sighed and quietly made my way over. The fact that she was not a complete stranger but someone I was 'acquainted' with made me feel less uncomfortable.

I crouched down, maintaining a respectful distance between us. "Pssst, Yu Hee…" I leaned closer. "Psssst."

"Mmm…" She grunted, eyes cracking open. And once she detected me, she sprung up, hand over her mouth. "Dae Ho?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." I apologized, taking a few steps back in case she felt 'defenseless'. I smiled pleasantly and continued. "I came here to hang out with Go Bong. Is he here?"

"Oh…" Yu Hee blinked, a somewhat flustered blush tinting her cheeks as she smiled. "You're here to play with him?"

My smile twitched. "Play is an exaggerated way to put it. He wanted to show me his drone."

Her smile widened. "Come in!" She said with an upturn of her eyes. "He went out to repair his drone."

I couldn't turn down such a beautiful smile, so I accepted her invitation.

After prompting me to wait a couple of minutes, Yu Hee skipped inside the house to fetch two cans of orange juice. She placed them on a wide plate, which currently stood between us.

Yu Hee swung her legs over the edge of the porch. "It's so hot today…" She said conversationally. "I wish I was at the beach." She sighed dreamily, running a hand through those flowing, ebony locks.

I quietly sipped the cold drink. "I wish I was at home…" I mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Nothing." I tilted the can all the way up, swallowing the last mouthful of the juice. "So, when do you think Go Bong will be back?"

"Hmm…" Yu Hee tapped her chin with a thoughtful frown. "It should be soon… haha… the repair shop is not far from here."

A vague answer. Not entirely unexpected. What followed next was a whole minute of uncomfortable silence.

Yu Hee glanced at me. Those honey-glazed eyes flicked to mine before they made a sudden descent down my body. I was wearing a slim, black shirt. The fabric clung to my chest like a second layer of skin, comfortable, light, and stylish.

Naturally, it had the desired effect of emphasizing the toned muscles.

"Umh… so…" She averted her gaze. "What have you been up to?"

I idly played with the empty can. "You know, the usual." I shrugged. "I've been paid ₩5000 in cold cash to murder an important Japanese yakuza member with a fishing rod and cheese wire. Can you believe it? Cheese wire. That stuff doesn't even work properly. At least I got an ice cream out of it. Silver linings, eh?"

"W-W-What?!" Yu Hee was mortified. "Y-You're joking, right?"

"Now, now Yu Hee…" I stared at her seriously. She gulped when I let the silence hang on for more than was necessary. "Of course I'm joking." I chuckled.

She loosened a sigh of relief, hand on her chest. Then, once she realized I just made a fool of her, her lips puckered into a pout. "That was not nice."

"I'm a very believable storyteller, aren't I?"

Yu Hee tried to hold back a giggle, unfortunately, it broke right through her frown. "Pfft." She held a fist over her mouth. Her peal of laughter slowly subsided, leaving the remains of a smile in its place. "You've changed…"

"That's what happens when you try to make a killing as a hitman." I leaned back on my elbows and smiled. "Now, I'm just a wandering street artist hoping to make it big in the football world."

"Ohh?" She cocked her head sideways. There was genuine interest in her eyes. "Football?"

I nodded, fixing a playful smile on my face as I dusted invisible dirt off my shoulder. "Oh yes. And… between you and me." I leaned closer to her and whispered conspiratorially. "I'm quite good."

Yu Hee blinked. A cute, rosy hue throned on her cheeks. "Ohhh… I-Is that so?" She coughed. "I never thought you'd be into that, of all things…"

And then she not-so-discreetly stole a glimpse of my chest. When I tried to lock her eyes with mine, she immediately averted her gaze and started kicking the air, pretending innocence.

"Yeah. Who would have thought. Me, a football player?" I curled one knee up. "Crazy, right?"

"That's not true!" Yu Hee smiled, exposing a perfect row of pearly whites. "I believe you can accomplish anything you set your mind on. Take my brother, for example, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, yet he wants to become a computer engineer. And I wholeheartedly believe he can do it. Just as I believe you can become a football player. Believing in your dream is the first step to achieving it, Dae Ho."

I was a bit thrown off by her honesty. Those were not empty words, spoken to flatter, but a genuine acknowledgment borne from the depths of her heart.

Those hazel eyes of hers belied no deceit.

"That is really sweet of you, Yu Hee."

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Hmm. Really?"

A breeze decided that it was the right time to sweep through her hair.

The sunlight crowned her delicate, pale face. In that brief moment, she looked simply magnificent.

'How am I supposed to remain sane when every woman in my life is so unrealistically gorgeous that it doesn't scientifically make sense?'

I had already figured that this world's benchmark for beauty was off the roof compared to the one I come from. I wondered how high the crime rate in this world was. A woman's beauty could be a trigger for a man to forsake morality and tread down a dangerous road.

"Dae Ho. Are you okay? You're spacing out." Yu Hee's concerned, sweet voice brought me back to reality.

"Ah, sorry… just been thinking about what you said earlier."

She tilted her head, a little confused yet a little earnest. It looked like she was genuinely happy that I took her words into such deep consideration.

Thank God that she didn't have Mia's keen intuition when it came to unearthing the truth from a pile of bullshit.

"You know…" Yu Hee started in a small voice. "I'd really like to see you play sometime."

I looked at her. A smile blossomed on my face. "That can be arranged."

"Then— "

The gates wailed as their non-lubricated joints were put under stress.

Go Bong walked in, a box secured in his arm. "Dae Ho!" He chirped as soon as he saw me. "You're here! Haha, sorry… I didn't think it'd take me so long…" He scratched the back of his head.

I waved him off as I climbed to my feet. "It's fine. I had a lovely conversation with your sister."

"Haha… is that so?" Go Bong alternated a look between me and Yu Hee, who looked a little embarrassed.

I walked up to him and patted his shoulder. "Come on. Let me see what this toy of yours can do."

"It's not a toy…" He mumbled.

I turned back and glanced at Yu Hee. She smiled at me, and in return, I gave her a cheeky two-fingered salute.

She giggled.

And then we walked out.

…

'It's not bad, but it's not entertaining either.'

I watched as Go Bong fingered the commands, and the drone whizzed back and forth in the air, like a swift dragonfly.

"Hehe! This is the latest model, Vanguard 1!" Go Bong said enthusiastically.

I sat down on the swaying grass. "You seem to be good at controlling it."

The beautiful, streamlined drone hummed as it flew around us.

"Yup!" Go Bong laughed. "It's only hard at the beginning. You just need a little practice. You'll get the hang of it in no time."

"Is that so?"

He continued flying the drone until it ran out of battery. Then he picked it up from the ground, packed it back inside its box, and handed it to me. "There you go. You can take it home and practice."

'Why does he have to smile like that?'

I eyed the box in his hands. "Go Bong…"

"Huh?"

The smile never faded.

"I don't think I'll have time to… practice with it…"

Go Bong tilted his head, his hands slowly retracting. "Oh… haha, that's fine. No problem!" The smile on his face was a little forced.

He was trying hard to be a good friend, yet I was blowing him off like that.

I felt guilty.

'I'm his only friend…' I had to remind myself that I couldn't simply cut people off because of my mismatched identity. Both of us used to be bullied, him more than me because he was different-looking.

He deserved a shot to do better, and I wanted to lend him a hand.

Before the awkward silence could stretch on, I got up, dusting my behind.

"Go Bong. Listen…" Perhaps the seriousness of my tone scared him, for he visibly tensed. Still, he kept up the smile. Silly guy. "What would you say if I suggested you start working out with me? We could go jogging in the morning."

There was nothing I could do for his inherent looks, but he could definitely trim down the baby fat on his face and the flab on his belly. A wardrobe change would also elevate his overall appearance, if only a little.

If he had enough money to buy a fucking drone, then some expensive clothes shouldn't be an issue.

There was a lot to work on, after all.

"Work… out?" Go Bong gawked. It was as if he had never considered partaking in such an endeavor before. Then his eyes trailed down the contours of my arms and chest. "Is that what you've been doing?"

I nodded. "I wanted to change, so I did. Am still doing, actually."

For some reason, a sad expression came over his face. "But… but there was nothing wrong with you before… why change?"

"Because I was not happy."

"..."

"Go Bong… are you happy with yourself? Please, be honest. It's just you and me right now, and I really, really want to help you out."

He laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "Haha, Dae Ho… thank you but… there's no way I can change. It's impossible." And then he averted his gaze, his smile faltering. "I mean… look at me… how could I possibly change?"

If he kept that mindset up, he'd be forever stuck on the cocoon stage.

I couldn't allow that.

"I also used to think like you. I've tried working out on and off, hoping that a couple of weeks of half-hearted effort would turn me into this strong, perfect man. I looked in the mirror every morning, desperately hoping for a change. Never saw one. Nothing. So I stopped… resigning myself that I'd never change."

"But you—"

I interrupted him. "Yes, I look different now. And you think I do because I sat around doing absolutely nothing? If the change doesn't start from here." I pointed at my head. "Then you'll never improve."

"..."

"It's not an easy process, nothing worth working on ever is. It's painful. Some days you won't want to do it. Some others you won't even be able to move. And it's on those days that you have to push yourself harder! Go Bong…" I projected my beliefs into him, hoping for a spark of change. "If you allow me — and if you believe in me — in half a year, I'll turn you into a whole different person."

"I… I…" Go Bong hesitated, clinging onto his drone box for dear life. His jaw was stiff, muscles tensed. I could almost see the gears churning and turning in his head. "Dae Ho, can I think about it?"

"..."

I closed my eyes…

"Umh…" He laughed, awkward as ever. "... I'll… contact you once I make up my mind, haha, okay?"

… and released a deep sigh.