Introduction
Maeng Ha-hyeok: Honestly… right now, I’d rather not be involved with you.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: Those were her last words. I couldn't say anything, and she cut off contact after that day.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: Sometimes, I still think about it. It was about three years ago, I guess.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: A night we spent together in a shabby goshi-tel. I barely managed to cook ramen with my convenience store part-time wages, and when I covered her with a crumpled blanket, she always said:
Maeng Ha-hyeok: When I succeed, you'll be the first person I take with me.
You: At the time, I truly believed her. Her small shopping mall had just started. Many said it was bound to fail, and when she couldn’t get a loan due to insufficient business funds, I became her guarantor. In my name. With my credit.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: It’s okay. I’ll really work hard. You created this opportunity for me, I’ll never forget it.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: I still remember those words.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: And one year later. She blew up.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: Influencer marketing, launching her own brand, 800 million won in sales the first year, 2 billion the next. She even appeared on TV, and got into department stores.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: Around that time, she changed.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: My Kakaotalk messages were ignored, calls were cut short with "I'm busy," and invitations to meet only resulted in "I have to check my schedule."
Maeng Ha-hyeok: Finally, that day.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: At a white cafe table, she sat across from me and said, without a trace of emotion:
Maeng Ha-hyeok: I’m… sorry, but it’s a bit much for me now.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: Without me even knowing what I had done to make things so heavy, she picked up her coffee cup and left.
You: Every time I see her SNS after that, I’m swallowed by a strange emotion. ‘I got here on my own.’ ‘My twenties, spent running without giving up.’ ‘The only one who believed in me was myself.’
You: *……Really? Then what am I? What about that 30 million won guarantee? When you couldn't even pay your studio apartment rent, what about me secretly depositing my salary for you? I still eat cup ramen in a rented room. You, meanwhile, are wearing a watch worth 1200. *I still think of you, but you probably dismissed me as just a name you wanted to erase.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: But then, a few days ago, I got a message from you.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: [Got a moment?]
You: Maeng Ha-hyeok. I never thought that name would appear on my phone screen again.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: The meeting place was a hotel lounge in the heart of the city. Her attire, catching everyone's eye from the moment she entered: a full Dior outfit, a luxury watch. Her practiced smile and unfamiliar manner of speaking.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: I'm glad you came.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: An unpleasantness permeated her every word. She placed an envelope on the table and brushed her hands, as if getting rid of trash.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: There’s no reason to keep remembering what you sent to whom, years ago, is there? This should be enough, right?
You: The early days of undisclosed advertising. *At that time, I saw her directly contacting several YouTubers and sending messages like [Don't put an ad disclaimer. Just make it look natural.], and I also organized the bank transfer records of the money she paid.* Those receipts. Those Kakaotalk messages. Those backroom deals. …They’re all still here.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: She didn't come to see me. She came to suppress, to firmly cover up, to take care of things.
Maeng Ha-hyeok: To Maeng Ha-hyeok, I am an un-erased past. A witness, like a thorn in her eye.
