The chatting man suddenly straightened his back. Then he bowed like a new recruit. The woman also bowed her head in greeting. Lee Kwanwoo, who they had met once before, was walking into the office. The once known romanticist of W&U, his face looked much more irritated from being overworked.

“Did you have a look around? How is it?”

“I think it’s still a little awkward since it’s my first day to work.”

Lee Kwanwoo’s drooped eyes narrowed at the man’s sociable response.

“Ah, I went around on set on my first day so I had no opportunity to be awkward. I even remember seeing a thorny path with a devil playing his bugle to welcome me.”

His calm recollection made the new recruits flinch their shoulders.

“I think Team Leader Jung said that he came to work at 3 am and immediately went to Neptune’s music broadcast schedule.”

“Ah! I read that in an article. He was able to meet Knet’s Producer Go Joontae and get Neptune on Next K-Star that day. While reading the article, my heart raced so much that I wanted to rush on to the scene.”

“Then shall we go?”

Lee Kwanwoo made a strange smile before taking the lead. The two new managers quickly followed.

After they disappeared, the employees, who had seemingly been concentrating on their work, simultaneously raised their heads like meercats.

“One month for the guy, and three months for the girl.”

“I give that guy a week.”

“You really don’t think he’ll even last a week? When his heart raced?”

“Whether his heart raced or exploded, we need to see how he works. You know the road manager that was recently hired into Team 2? He seemed pretty good, but he sent a message saying that he was quitting after two days.”

“That team’s a bit rougher than ours. Compared to them, our team is quite harmonious. The celebrities we are managing are easily to manage for their level in general. Also, working with Team Leader Jung is…”

“…”

“…”

The office became quiet.

***

My phone vibrated. After checking the contents, I placed my phone back in my pocket.

It must have rained last night as the wind was moist. I filled a worn bowl with feed and opened the lock to the chicken coop. The chicken coop my father and brother made over the weekend did seem quite legit.

As soon as I stepped in, the chickens caused a ruckus. I remember my father started raising three or four chicks, but they reproduced so fast that there were around twenty large chickens. I did hear that my father would go in any time, whether it was day and night, to feed them.

At this rate, it’ll become a chicken farm.

While I was filling their food trough, Gyeoul^{1}, who was refilling their water tank, said,

“Uncle, there’s a girl named Lee Seolin in my class. Her dream is becoming a girl group idol.”

“Really?”

“She auditioned to become a W&U trainee this time, but she was contacted that she was rejected at the first stage. She came over to me crying, asking me to talk to you. So, about that, can you call her once?”

Oh, my god. I didn’t think that I would receive audition requests from my own niece.

I looked at her round, earnest eyes before saying,

“Gyeoul, life is…”

“Can’t you tell her to stop dreaming?”

“What?”

“She’s really mean. Not long ago, she was bullying my friends, and now, she clings to me, telling me that she’s going to become a girl group idol. Hah, so annoying. Can’t you tell her to stop dreaming, wash her feet and sleep? Huh? Please?”

She grumbled while brushing her short hair over her ear. It seemed like it was only yesterday when she was childish and immature, but when did she start talking about screwing others over with such finesse? This was a great stride.

When I stared at her in a new light, she blinked.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was just thinking that you’ve grown. It seems you all can have 1 chicken each.”

“Well, that’s life. You’re thirty this year. Dozen eggs!”

She said as she giggled, holding eggs hens had laid.

Thirty. Ah, that’s right. I’ll be thirty this year.

I felt a bit off earlier this year, but I had completely forgotten about this with all the work I had to deal with. It wasn’t like there was a big difference between twenty-nine and thirty besides the first digit changing. Looking back, I simply felt like I lived a busy life in my late twenties.

“There’s bird poop on the eggs.”

“Eww!”

Gyeoul quickly passed the eggs to me.

“Uncle! Uncle! We caught worms!”

“Eww, so gross! But they’re huge! Oh, but so gross!”

The remaining quadruplets rushed over. They must have dug up the worms in the wet mud as their clothes were caked in it. Kaeul was carrying a bowl of worms in front of him. I thought they would only have two or three, but it was wriggling with them. They deserved to be proud.

“Where did you catch so many of them?”

“The plum grove over there! Grandpa told us where we could catch a lot of them.”

“Eww, catching them was so gross!”

“Why were you catching them when they are so gross?”

“To give to the chicks! It’s nutritious. They are pitiful for only eating feed all the time!”

I don’t know about that. I didn’t think they really need any more nutrition.

The quadruplets entered the area specially fenced out for the chicks in the chicken coop before dropping the bowl of worms. Having discovered the special meal, the almost fully-grown chickens rushed out with their beaks pointed. The quadruplets screamed as they rushed out.

“Uncle! What the heck are they? Where are the chicks?”

“They are the chicks.”

“They aren’t chicks, they’re chickens! They fit in the palm of my hand when I saw them last month?! Their feathers were soft and warm. They were real chicks!”

“They grew that big after eating feed all day. Pitifully.”

“… Grandma said that they were still babies!”

“Of course, she was lying.”

It was getting hard to fool them as they developed, but they were completely tricked this time. Seeing their devastated faces, like they had seen their country fall, I laughed. It felt like all my built-up stress was being washed away.

I took a few eggs and returned home. They were already chatting and having a laugh at how the quadruplets were fooled.

We had chicken noodle soup for lunch.^{2} We also had fried some eggs to make it a meal. I bit into some ripe plums for dessert. Their sour juice spread in my mouth. With the fan blowing at me while I ate plums, this was heaven.

My mother poked a piece of plum with her fork as she mumbled,

“How long has it been since we gathered like this besides holidays?”

“We came quite often. It’s just hard to see Sunwoo’s face.”

“Sunwoo, are you eating well? Don’t skip meals. Make sure you’re eating. You need to take care of yourself at your age.”

“Thirty is still considered young these days.”

“Actual young folks don’t say that. The plums at the back are tasty, do you want to take a few boxes home? Your brother already ate two boxes.”

“We cleared them as soon as we opened them. I keep craving sour things these days.”

Everyone became quiet at my sister-in-law’s words. Scared eyes glanced at her flat stomach, and they finally became relieved when she waved her hands in denial and laughed. After becoming pregnant with quadruplets, pregnancies were a sensitive subject in our family.

“Sunwoo.”

My father avoided the piece of plum my mother gave him as he spoke,

“When are you going back?”

“I should be going soon.”

My mother joined in,

“When will you come back once you leave today? You’re coming for Thanksgiving, right?”

“Yup, I’ll try to take as much time off as I can.”

“Stop pestering him and let him be. His work is important, especially now that he’s a team leader.”

My mother sulked at my father’s words.

“And is family not important? I can’t even see my son besides on holidays.”

“Go to the chicken coop and see how big the chicks have gotten. Just think of them as family.”

My mother wielded her fork once more. The piece of plum eventually made it into my father’s mouth. Seeing my father scrunch up from the sourness, I suddenly remembered what my brother told me.

That our father has been lonely since recovering his health.

It was also why he began growing chicks.

“I’ll visit often.”

When I said this while looking at my parents, my father coughed.

“Then tell us before you come. I’ll grab a chicken and cook chicken soup.^{3}”

“You’re going to cook them even though you said to think of them as family? It looks like you still care about your son more.”

My mother snorted. My brother and sister-in-law laughed as well.

I leisurely leaned against the sofa. I looked at my family gathered around me and the quadruplets watching an entertainment show on TV before staring at the slow, tranquil countryside outside the window.

My break was over.

*

I entered the grey building in Cheongdam-dong.

Having returned to work after a few days, it was still busy as ever and filled with life. My heart began to beat faster. My belly grew hot.

“Team leader, the City Jungle marketing agency wants a meeting with you!”

“The company in charge of handling the crowdfunding is also causing a fuss, asking a ton of questions…!”

“Joowon! They say his film shoots are going to be delayed in China! He has a commercial shoot immediately though. They’re saying that they can’t delay either, so what should we do?”

My employees rushed over and reported as though they had been waiting for me.

“Why is there such a fuss as soon as I arrive?”

“Uh, can I add to that?”

Someone came over. It was Chief Lee Bongjoon, who had been going to and from China and Japan these days. While greeting him, I placed my bag on my desk when another employee rushed in while holding his phone.

“Team leader, there’s trouble on set and they are looking for you! The road manager says he can’t take it any longer!”

“Again?”

The employee nodded. Chief Lee Bongjoon chuckled.

“Son Chaeyoung? She’s the same as ever, huh?”

“No, it’s Songha.”

The employee replied with a sigh.

Taken aback, Chief Lee Bongjoon blinked his eyes.

“Lee Songha? What about her?”

^{1} Just a reminder – Bom, Yeoleum, Kaeul, and Gyeoul are the names of Jung Sunwoo’s quadruplet nephews and nieces. They are also the seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

^{2} Not the Western version – 닭국수

^{3} Similar to 닭국수 without the noodles – 백숙