Chapter 126: Chapter 126

I Will Live as an Actor Episode 126

There is a saying that the entertainment industry is a battle of fortunes. This means that corruption is as severe as in politics, and the darkness hidden behind the splendor is so deep that it cannot be fathomed. When you walk down the street drunk with vanity, you often find that there is an unbreakable chain tied to your leash.

‘Have you found a weakness?’

England was able to intuit it when he saw Cha Hye-jin’s trembling pupils. After all, an actress wouldn’t act like this unless her weaknesses were discovered.

I have seen many of these actresses in my past life. However, most endings were not good. Suffering from chains that cannot be broken, one day the past will suffocate oneself.

“Why are you worrying so much?”

Do not pause.

“There are only two ways.”

I just tell you what I want to say.

“Either you keep being dragged around like that.”

“…….”

“Or hit them.”

Cha Hye-jin collapses into her seat as she sees England’s back moving away. Her manager sees this and runs away in shock. This concludes the advice. Because it is up to her to choose.

The closing party started at the convention hall and continued to the meat restaurant. Everyone is at the peak of excitement thanks to the gold medal given by the broadcasting station president himself, so how can the fire be easily extinguished? England also appears to be raising a glass of soju because it has been ticketed as a minor.

‘This is what it tastes like.’

A sweet and bitter feeling passes over the tip of the tongue and down the throat. Author Choi Eun-sook looks at England with wide eyes.

“England, do you drink a lot? Have you been drinking secretly since you were a student?”

“Writer Choi. I guess you didn’t know. We in the UK are good at drinking. As someone who drank with me as soon as I got a ticket, I admit it. I’m the type of person who gets sick and gets angry, but I can’t get enough of Inoma. “You know, England is a natural drunkard!”

“When did the cinematographer come back? Get some sleep. If you do that, you’ll get sick like Actor Cha.”

“Hehe! If not on a day like today, then when would you drink like this? Let’s drink something that will make you crooked today! Are you ready, England?”

Cinematographer Kim Deuk-hyeong goes around various restaurants to liven up the drinking atmosphere. No matter how you look at it, if you weren’t holding a camera, you would look like the hairy owner of Daepotjip. When director Kim Deuk-hyung disappears, writer Choi Eun-sook shakes her head and says,

“England, do you have anything in mind for your next project? I heard there’s a rumor that a lot of synopses are being sent to Songwon these days.”

“Ah. How long do you think it’s been since the work was finished? Are you sure that writer Choi is going to start writing his next work right away?”

“The well in my head is running dry, so I don’t even have the imagination to draw out any more. Well, if England says you’ll work with me on your next project, I’ll have to do it somehow. Next time, if the circumstances allow, you’ll work together with me, right?”

“It’s my honor.”

If it were like the past, it would be unthinkable. After all, there were many actors who wanted to show their faces in at least one cut of Choi Eun-sook’s work in her past life.

In extreme cases, there were famous actors who followed writer Choi Eun-sook’s schedule and asked for favors in order to be selected. Just then, a famous producer approaches holding a glass of soju.

“What kind of conversation were our lead actor and writer Wang having like this? Are they not secretly trying to get together without me?”

“Hoho. It’s better for me to cover a lot of production costs.”

“Look at this, Writer Choi. Is this what’s going on between us? I’m so sad. I’m so sad. We’ve put together a situation where we can’t even see each other anymore.”

“Oh my. Why are you speaking so strangely? Are you going to ruin someone’s marriage?”

“What were you imagining? I mean, we did it together. If the producer and the writer, who were both nose-dives, met each other and worked on their first work together, we wouldn’t have seen it all. Don’t you remember before? Writer Choi complained to me so much that his writing wasn’t coming out. “I ran out to the food stall at dawn.”

“No, a story from some time ago!”

The restaurant becomes noisy again. England looks at them with a smile on his face. Wasn’t this environment, full of human scent, exactly the scenery he had never wanted?

A cinematographer chanting a tune while holding a spoon in a soju bottle. The producer and writer ruminate over memories with each other. At that moment, an actor sits across from England.

“Hmm, England. Let’s have a drink with me too.”

This is actor Park Sang-cheol. He had had a dispute with England once in the past. But until now, we have been without any problems. England nodded willingly and picked up the soju bottle and poured it into his glass. The strong human scent wafts through the waves lapping over the soju glass.

* * *

Dried fish are ripening in the sea breeze with their mouths wide open, as if singing a chorus, and in the red basin that is constantly filling with water, live fish are flapping their tails, adding to the liveliness.

Old ladies wearing mombaji are sitting together in groups of twos and threes, each selling spring greens they have dug up from the mountain behind them. The amount was so large that it was difficult to carry with both hands, but it was cheap enough that a few 10,000-won pieces could be their daily wages.

“Handsome bachelor, I’ll give you more, I’ll just wait a little.”

Although you can’t see her face well because her face is hidden under a hat, the old lady at the stall continues to push the remaining herbs into the black bag, as if she is grateful to the young bachelor who bought all of her herbs. At that time, a small boy sitting next to the old lady at the stall stared at the bachelor.

“Are you a grandmother or a granddaughter?”

“Aida. He has a pretty face, so he’s a boy. Anyway, he’s shy, and whenever guests come, he grabs my pants and hides behind him, but today is a bad day. Jeongsu, do you like your brother?”

“This is the older brother from TV.”

“Tebi? Whatrakano yaga.”

‘Ah, television.’

England smiles slightly and lifts his hat towards the little boy. Then the little boy’s eyes widen to the size of a flower lantern. England put his index finger to his lips towards the kid who looked like he was going to scream at any moment. Before you even have time to feel the crowds, the market is crowded with tourists again.

‘There are so many.’

England walks away with both hands full of bamboo shoots. I originally didn’t intend to buy this much. It was simply because seeing a grandmother and grandson together at a stall brought back memories of the past.

What better deed than this if you can enrich your evening with just a few 10,000 won tickets? Moreover, it is my mother’s favorite vegetable.

“uh?”

When he arrived in front of his mother’s store, England couldn’t help but look puzzled. It’s already been a few years since the store opened, so it seems like there were quite a few areas that needed fixing. Not only was the paint on the sign faded, but the tent pitched at the entrance was clearly damaged. However, the store I visited after a long time was as clean as if it were new.

‘Did your mother do it?’

Did he even call someone? England walked over and opened the store door. And I could tell. The person who cleaned up the store.

“Oh, I’m sorry, customer. We’re out of fish now, so dinner business ended early.”

“Mr. Myeongjin. Who is here?”

“A guest has arrived. I’ll be back soon, so don’t touch anything. If you do something wrong, you’ll get hurt.”

England could not hide its bewilderment at the sudden appearance of a charcoal-stained man. But the voice coming from the back of the store was clearly my mother’s voice. At that moment, a girl who appears to be a middle school student jumps out from behind the store.

“Dad, hurry! Just now, the lady turned it on for a moment, but the faucet burst and the store will be flooded if this continues!”

“Ouch! Something happened. Jisoo, tell the customer again.”

“Okay! Quick! There’s going to be a flood!”

A man with charcoal soot on his face hurries to the back of the store. And then the girl stands in front of England.

“Brother, come a little faster. So many customers came in this morning that all the fish from the fish market was taken out. I guess you heard the rumor somewhere. The live fish at this woman’s store are famous for their large size!”

It seems that this is not the first time that he has replaced business like this once or twice with his relaxed smile and attitude towards customers.

“Anyway, I don’t have much to sell because I don’t have any fish left. Or should I introduce you to a good store? There’s a store next to here too!”

“Mr. Yang’s store?”

“How do you know that!”

She is such a confident girl that even people she meets for the first time say she is her brother. England smiles mysteriously and takes off his hat. Only then did the girl Jisoo’s eyes open wide.

* * *

Like a girl in spring, an inexplicable shame appears on her mother’s face. The same goes for the man with charcoal soot on his face. In the chaotic atmosphere, only the girl opens her eyes and looks around. England, which is worse off, smiles first and gets lucky.

“Hello, this is Jang Young-guk.”

“Oh, look at my mind. My name is Kim Myeong-jin, and I run a side dish store at Namhang Market. I’ve heard a lot of stories from my mother. This is my daughter, Ji-su.”

“Are you Jisoo?”

“Huh? Oppa, do you know me?”

“I know. Whenever I talk to my mom on the phone, she tells me how happy she is that she has a new friend to talk to.”

At that time, my mother saw England’s black bud and asked:

“Kook, what’s all this? It’s all nonsense without any contact.”

“The filming is over and school is canceled tomorrow, so I came down to watch the last episode of the drama with my mother. I bought this from a stall on the way to use it when making side dishes.”

“Did you buy so much chwinamul? It’s enough for all the people in Namhang to eat.”

“You can give it to your uncle and you can also give it to Aunt Yang. By the way, my son has come down, so you won’t even make him dinner?”

“Oh my, I’m out of my mind.”

“I’m just kidding. It’s late and it’s been a while since I ordered a whole chicken. Are you and Jisoo going to have dinner together?”

When Mr. Kim was so shocked that he couldn’t open his mouth, Jisoo, who was sitting next to him, nodded willingly and spoke.

“Oppa! Then can I go watch the drama together? I’m trying to watch it at home, but my dad always tells me to go to bed early because I’m not tall.”

The dialect is so awkward that you can tell it comes from Seoul. When I look at the girl’s face, which has a faint smile on her face, even though it seems awkward, she looks very cute. When England immediately sees Mr. Kim from the side dish store, he nods his head briefly as if he can’t win. Only then does Jisoo cheer.

“And can you take a picture for me? I want to show it off to the kids at school tomorrow!”

“Kim Ji-su!”

“Daddy why!”

“No, it’s okay. What’s so difficult about taking pictures? Don’t be like that, I’m going up tomorrow evening. Shall I pick you up after school?”

“Really!?”

“Oh, England. You don’t have to do that.”

“Mister, please feel free to talk to me. You are similar in age to my mother, but if you keep speaking in such a respectful manner, it will make me more uncomfortable.”

Mr. Kim scratches his head with a puzzled look on his face. We all sit together and eat dinner in front of the store’s small TV.

The mother’s face, which was full of shame, has now regained its original appearance. It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t jealous of the way he looked after his uncle from time to time, but didn’t he say he would do anything for his mother’s happiness?

‘Is this why my mother didn’t want to come to Seoul?’

I thought the reason he didn’t come to Seoul was simply because of the Namhang mayor’s affection, but I guess that wasn’t all. Even though it is a dinner consisting of whole chicken, it is not as enviable as any other sumptuous feast.

“I’ll take a quick look around the dock before the drama starts.”

I walk along the dock to cool my head. Cats that were eating fish in a huddle under the light of street lamps run away with fish in their mouths in the shadows of England. England laughs at the fleeing cats, saying, ‘Run slowly because you won’t get hurt.’

‘Daddy, don’t hate your mother too much.’

The splashing sea waves gently sway as if answering England’s inner thoughts.