'Compliments, huh......'
I watched Ji-ho hyung moving nonstop in front of me.
No, I had no choice but to watch.
Sweeping the documents on his desk into order, going back and forth between the PR team and the marketing team trading messages, checking meeting materials on his tablet and then sorting out the next schedule on top of that.
In a word... extremely busy.
'He really has changed......'
Five years ago, Ji-ho hyung was the kind of person who leaned against a window with a coffee cup saying things like, "Hey, you doing well is how I get promoted."
And that same person was a team leader now, moving like he was worth a hundred men.
I admired him quietly and tossed out a line.
"Hyung... you've really come a long way. That's impressive."
In that moment, hyung set his tablet down and glanced at me.
"Hm? You think so? Anyway, I told you to wait in the car, so why'd you come back up?"
Instead of answering, I slowly lowered my eyes.
The status window.
[Serpent's Tongue Yoo Ji-ho]
- Title Copy Condition: Say five compliments he would like within five minutes. (0/5)
- On Title Copy: You acquire brilliant eloquence and the ability to apply it.
'...Zero?'
I blinked quietly. Even that compliment I'd meant sincerely?
'That's impressive' works in job interviews these days, doesn't it?
I retraced my head.
"Hyung, you look good today?"
"Those clothes are seriously nice? Are they sponsored?"
"Did you get taller? Why do your proportions look so good?"
...The result was no count on all of them.
'None of that works?'
I let out a long sigh and checked the status window one more time.
(0/5)
The number hadn't budged.
'This hyung... what on earth does he like?'
I looked at him again without thinking.
Moving without a break, taking calls, checking messenger, coordinating opinions with people in real time.
On the surface he was just the familiar, cheerful manager hyung, but it struck me that I had never properly understood the 'real Yoo Ji-ho' inside there.
"The compliment hyung wants to hear......"
I muttered it quietly and let my head drop.
A title I'd assumed would be easy to get was jamming on exactly the part I knew least about.
'This is... harder than I thought.'
Just then, hyung pressed a hand down on the documents and said,
"Whew~ all done! Eun-yul, let's head down."
I looked up at him, bewildered.
"Huh? Already? Hyung, you've turned into a real powerhouse. That's cool."
"Sure, sure."
Ji-ho hyung brushed my compliment off absently and stretched, and I immediately opened the status window.
[Serpent's Tongue Yoo Ji-ho]
(0/5)
"......"
I'd run into a genuinely difficult opponent.
Even that last line I'd thrown out on the off chance drew no reaction at all in the status window.
The number still pointed coldly at '0.'
I pressed my lips shut and lowered my head. The reality that even my final struggle had failed.
A 'this isn't right......' expression formed on its own. The higher my expectations had been, the deeper the deflation.
I let out a quiet sigh and followed Ji-ho hyung down to the parking lot without a word.
***
When we got down to the parking lot, a scene different from usual came into view.
A jet-black luxury van stood in the middle. The gloss shone, and the plate still had a delivery sticker on it as if to advertise that it was brand new.
"Huh? What's this van?"
I asked, tilting my head.
Ji-ho hyung shrugged.
"Haha, the CEO swapped it out. The old van was too worn down, so he finally replaced it."
"Wow... it really is new."
I stopped for a moment and looked at the new van admiringly. Clean lines, smooth curves, even matte chrome wheels. Luxury itself.
But then—
Looking at the car parked right beside it, my brow furrowed instinctively.
A yellow-green license plate.
Angular design, faded color.
An old model whose design era I couldn't even place.
Next to the new van, the dowdiness looked doubled.
"What's this one? An employee's car?"
When I pointed at the old car and asked, Ji-ho hyung answered without batting an eye.
"Ah, that's mine. Picked it up not long ago."
"...Picked it up?"
I stared at him, startled.
"Yeah! It was really hard to get hold of!"
Looking at his excited expression, I thought to myself,
'Is he struggling badly enough that he can't afford a car...?'
It was a shock that a manager with over five years at a reasonably well-known agency would have to work hard to buy a car this old.
'No, is he being frugal...? From how he usually spends, he didn't seem like the saving type......'
I looked his car over carefully again. At first it had just looked worn, but the more I looked, the more odd points came into view one by one.
'He bought this...?'
Next to the new van, the old feel came through even stronger.
Honestly, from the standpoint of someone with zero sentiment for old cars, I couldn't understand 1% of this car's appeal.
"The color is... dow... no, it's distinctive. You don't see colors like this much these days."
I muttered it without thinking and nearly said 'dowdy' out loud.
Cars these days all trend toward achromatic tones, but this color was like something out of an earlier era, running against the years.
Hearing that, Ji-ho hyung smiled with satisfaction.
"Right? Cars these days all look the same, no personality! This kind of thing is cooler!"
I shook my head internally.
'Cooler...?'
Wouldn't a color like this usually get you teased for being dowdy? This was practically the symbolic shade of an 'old car' carrying the traces of its years.
"...Yes, it's definitely not common."
I answered vaguely. Then I naturally ran a hand along the body and said,
"This boxy design... you don't see it much anymore."
'There's got to be a reason cars these days all come out rounded...... This is so angular the air resistance must be terrible, and the stability seems worse too......'
Honestly, it was so angular it looked uncomfortable.
Cars these days are all sleek and streamlined, but this one was so straight-lined it was like a brick. But Ji-ho hyung nodded, delighted.
"Exactly! Cars these days are too round and rounded, no personality! Angular like this looks cooler and gives off a tougher feel, right?"
I stared at him blankly.
'A tough feel...? This? Isn't that elderly, not tough?'
I was floored inside, but I made an effort to smile.
Then, looking at the door closely, I discovered something I couldn't believe.
Instead of opening with a button the way things work now, it was the 'manual method,' where you crank the window down by hand.
I asked again, startled.
"Hyung... don't tell me... you open these windows by hand?"
"Obviously! This is the sentiment of the classic!"
For a second I was speechless.
'No, it's a world where things open at the press of a button, and you're cranking by hand on purpose?'
It was absurd enough to make me laugh. No matter how I thought about it, wasn't this just inconvenient?
But Ji-ho hyung shrugged off my startled reaction and said proudly,
"Kids these days don't know manual windows like this, do they? This is real sentiment~"
I shouted internally.
'No, it's just inconvenient!!'
But to get this title, I couldn't break his mood right now. I made an effort to smile and hedged with, "Ah, is that so~?"
"I'll start it up once. Watch!"
Ji-ho hyung pulled out the car key excitedly and turned it.
'Everything's push-button these days.'
Vrrrm—!
Cars this old usually make a rattling engine noise, but this one's engine sound was smoother than expected.
I tilted my ear for a second and muttered,
"But... the engine's quieter than I expected?"
Honestly I was thinking 'is it going to go quiet and then die?', but hearing me say it, Ji-ho hyung looked hugely satisfied.
"Oh~ you've got an eye for this, haven't you?"
"...Sorry?"
"I had the engine completely replaced! Even an old car, if you maintain it right, can be smoother than a car made today~!"
Inside I thought 'then wouldn't buying a new car do the job?', but I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud.
"Get in!!"
I nodded and opened the car door. But the interior was an even bigger shock.
Instead of a flashy digital panel, it was packed wall to wall with all sorts of buttons and dials.
I peered inside and said, half in disbelief,
"Wow... it's got that old-time feel inside too. It really is completely different from cars these days......"
Honestly, it looked far too inconvenient.
No navigation, no touchscreen, nothing but buttons and dials packed in everywhere.
'You still operate all of this by hand?'
But for some reason Ji-ho hyung got even more excited.
"Right! Cars these days are so electronic they've got no sentiment! This one has the real flavor of driving!"
I shouted internally again.
'No! It's just inconvenient!!'
"Haha! You! You love old cars!?"
"...Old cars? No—"
In that instant.
[Congratulations! You have acquired the 'Serpent's Tongue' title.]
I blinked and looked at the status window.
"Huh?"
This... worked?
I looked at Ji-ho hyung with a stunned expression.
He was still riding high, believing with rock-solid conviction that he'd been understood.
'What kind of compliment did I even give this hyung...?'
I looked at Ji-ho hyung once more. In this moment, he genuinely looked happy.
The truth was I hadn't understood the sentiment at all, but with him this delighted, was there any need to deny it?
'Well, what's good is good.'
Looking at Ji-ho hyung's thoroughly thrilled face, I called out,
"Old cars, they're the beeeest~!"
***
The second day after we decided on the interview.
The PR team and marketing team offices were busier than ever. But strangely, the tension from before wasn't there.
If anything the staff's faces were bright, and light jokes and laughter carried around the office.
I was looking around the office when my eyes met Ji-ho hyung's, who was busily taking a call over on the other side.
The moment he finished, he came over to me and jerked his chin.
"You're here? Good timing."
I glanced at the documents on his desk and asked lightly,
"Hyung, you look busy... but you look happy about it?"
Ji-ho hyung snickered and flipped through his tablet a few times.
"You wouldn't have known, huh? When an actor goes into a project, it's not just the production company. The agency's own promotion matters too. The PR team and marketing team are swamped right now."
"That's true... lately every meeting has been with those teams."
"Right. But all this time, when promotional offers came in, we turned every one of them down, remember? Turning things down over and over with no reason isn't easy either."
I nodded quietly.
"Especially for someone like the PR team leader, who has to keep relationships with reporters going. Refusing everything indiscriminately puts a lot of internal pressure on him. But then you said you'd do an interview yourself, so everyone's thrilled."
He nodded, looking proud of it. I smiled awkwardly and scratched my head.
"That's a relief."
"There usually aren't actors like you. Things got a lot easier thanks to you."
"Haha... it's not just my work, it's all of us doing it together."
Ji-ho hyung looked at me for a moment, then lifted the corner of his mouth slightly.
"You're completely different from five years ago. Not just the acting. You yourself."
At that I lost my words for a second. I could tell without him saying it.
I was feeling it too, that I had changed.
Just then, Ji-ho hyung pulled a sheet out of the stack of documents and held it out.
"Here, this is the interview script. Your input's fully reflected in it, so give it a read."
I took the script.
The weighty texture of the paper.
Inside it, the interview questions and expected answers were laid out.
My fingertips trembled slightly.
But that tremble came from anticipation, not fear.
"Go over to the practice room, give it a look, and get me feedback. Then let's head out for the interview around 6 PM."
"Okay."
I answered shortly, then carefully opened the script.