After Story 164

After Story 164

“Why’s it so hard to see your face?” said the man who opened the door to the studio.

The man with the weird fashion immediately headed to the president.

“What’s up with that outfit?” asked the president.

From how a smile crept onto his face the moment he arrived, the two of them seemed to be very close.

“Maru, say hello.”

Maru left the range of the lights and approached the two people.

The man took off his sunglasses. The moment Maru saw the eyes that contained depth, he realized the identity of the man.

“So you’re him. Nice to meet ya.”

“Pleased to meet you, senior.”

“Do you recognize who I am?”

“Aren’t you senior Yang Ganghwan?”

“You recognized me instantly, huh? Well, I guess my appearance isn’t something that can be hidden. I was just born too handsome.”

Ganghwan threw jokes around on their first meeting.

Maru shook hands with Ganghwan with a smile. Just through this greeting, he was able to find out what kind of person Yang Ganghwan was: someone full of energy who made those around them enjoy themselves. He was similar to the numerous Yang Ganghwans he had met in previous lives.

“Didn’t you say you were coming tomorrow?” asked the president.

“I had some free time, so I came a day early. But hey, you have a new secretary, huh.”

“It’s been a year since she started working.”

“To think such a beauty joined the company in my sabbatical year… Had I known earlier, I would’ve eaten out with her.”

“Stop saying something like that and get married already. Thirty-six is late enough, isn’t it?”

“I can’t drive a nail through the hearts of the many women who cherish me, can I? I’ll share this overflowing love with a lot more people before getting married.”

“The people who say that always get into unwanted marriages. Though, looking at your appearance right now, forget marriage, I doubt you’ll be able to date anyone.”

“You really don’t know a thing about fashion, president. It’s no wonder that you wear nothing but a suit. It’s too classic. These days, young people are focused on expressing their creativity, like I am.”

Maru received a gaze from Ganghwan asking for agreement. He couldn’t really nod. While Ganghwan was right, his current appearance was closer to deconstructive fashion. It was hard to call it ‘creativity.’

“The young fellow says no.” The president clicked his tongue. “And what’s that in your hand?”

His eyes looked at the paper that Ganghwan was holding. It was a piece of A4 paper folded in half twice.

“Oh, this? It was in your office.”

Ganghwan opened the paper. It was the scenario that producer Cha gave. But why did senior Ganghwan have it?

“It looks like a new work that’s starting soon. Did it come to the company?”

“To be precise, Maru brought it to me, saying that he wants to do it.”

“Really?”

Ganghwan looked at him. The sunglasses on his head slipped down and covered his eyes. Maru could see Ganghwan’s pupils moving on the other side of the black glass. They were eyes that revealed interest and greed without holding back.

“I really enjoyed ‘Depths of Evil.’ It’s been a while since I watched a movie twice in the cinema.”

“Thank you.”

“The fact that you got this scenario must be because of casting the murderer character, right?”

“Yes.”

Ganghwan slowly lifted up his glasses. His eyes which looked full of vitality became dejected. Maru could feel the intense disappointment.

“Too bad, too bad. I can’t exactly take away the work of one of my own family members.”

Ganghwan handed him the paper. Maru received the paper and spoke,

“The role I was offered was Yoon Hojung, but I refused. Instead, it was decided that I’m going to play Ahn Changsik.”

“Really?”

Ganghwan’s dejected face brightened up again.

“Did you hear anything from the producer or the writer during the casting? About who’s going to play Yoon Hojung?”

“No, there shouldn’t be anyone for the time being. They just started casting.”

“When did you get the offer?”

“Today at lunch.”

“No wonder I wanted to come to the company today, not tomorrow. I really have great luck.”

Ganghwan snatched the scenario in Maru’s hand again.

“Who’s the producer?”

“Producer Cha Myungjoon.”

“Oh, it’s Myungjoon-hyung? If he was planning something like this, he should’ve given me a call first.”

Ganghwan took out his phone and then looked at the president.

“Oh, president, I’m doing this, okay?”

“You don’t even want to know what TV station it is, what the production budget is like, nor where the shoot is happening, do you?”

“Obviously.”

“You’re going to fall hard if you keep doing that.”

“President. How can someone keep being successful? A life without ups and downs is no fun. If I do it and it doesn’t go well, then I’m just getting what I deserve, and if it does go well, it’s a blessing. And you know how it is. I have great luck.”

“I can’t deny that.”

Ganghwan put his phone against his ear.

“Hyung, it’s me. How have you been doing?”

Ganghwan winked before leaving the studio.

“Quite hectic, isn’t he?” said the president.

“He’s energetic.”

“Too energetic for his own good. He told me he was going to play around to the fullest for one year, but I see he still has energy left over.”

“Do you think he’ll really do a drama for a private-owned channel? There should be problems with payment because of the production budget.”

“That guy will definitely be more than willing to do it. He will not find it wasteful if he invests in something as long as he likes it. As for money, he already has had a lot of fun with real estate, so I don’t think he has attachments to that.”

“I’m envious.”

“You wanna live like that too?”

“Isn’t owning a building the dream of the working population? You rent it out and go traveling overseas every other week and play golf.”

“That’s a good dream you have there. Are kids these days all like you?”

“Probably?”

Ganghwan opened the door and came back inside. He walked over to Maru with a huge grin on his face and hung an arm around his shoulder.

“I almost missed something fun. Thanks to you, I got a good character.”

“Are you really doing it?”

“I am. I got the feels from the scenario alone, so how interesting would it be if I get the whole thing? The writer said he wrote everything until the end, so there should be less of a worry about getting last-minute scripts. I didn’t want to do something boring as my comeback piece, so this is good.”

Ganghwan took his arm off.

“Before we start working, we should have some time to get to know each other, don’t you think? I really can’t work with people when I find them uncomfortable. How’s dinner?”

“I’m free.”

“President, should we go for a big round of soju?”

President Lee Junmin shook his head.

“I’m forbidden from drinking for a while.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?”

Ganghwan squinted his eyes before clicking his finger.

“So it’s your wife. Well, that can’t be helped then. Also, if you think about it, it’s about time you look out for your health. Then let’s forget booze and go eat some healthy sushi. I have a lot to talk about, you know? I’ll tell you all the spectacular things I’ve experienced during the past year. I should really be getting paid for this, but this is what being a family is about, right?”

Ganghwan’s lips never ceased to move even after that. It was as if he would get in big trouble if his lips stayed sealed for more than five seconds.

As he was talking about his episodes in Hawaii, Ganghwan looked around before suddenly coming to a stop. Was it finally over now?

“Oh, now that I think about it, you two were working huh? I’ll tell you the rest over dinner, so you should finish up your work. I’ll look for a nice place to eat out, so just give me a message once you’re done.”

“...Alright,” president Lee Junmin responded in an exhausted voice.

Even though it was Ganghwan doing the talking, it was he and the president whose stamina had decreased.

Ganghwan left the studio, saying that they should meet up later.

“He’s way too energetic.”

“It was the biggest regret of my life to sign a contract with him without knowing what that mouth could be like.”

“You are going to come with me to the meal, right?”

“If someone has to die, then it’d be better if only one of us goes.”

The president patted him on the shoulder before picking up his phone.

“Miss Jungyeon, regarding the dinner appointment with the president of Hanjun group, tell him I’ll be there right now. If you tell him that I’ll be visiting him, he won’t say anything.”

The president hung up with a fresh smile.

“President?”

“Enjoy your meal with Ganghwan and listen to his stories. It’ll be better if you could hear all of it so that he doesn’t come to talk to me about it next time.”

The president asked the photographer to take care of Maru before turning around.

Maru sighed and palmed his face. He felt exhausted already when he thought about listening to the energy-draining story through the course of an entire meal.

What scared him even more was that he would have to work with that chatterbox throughout the whole shoot of the drama.

“Mr. Maru. Let’s resume, shall we?”

“Yes.”

He smiled as he sat down on the seat.

“Your expression is good, but be a little brighter.”

“Yes, brighter, right?”

He forced himself to smile.

* * *

“What’s up with your face?” Haneul said as he looked at Maru opening the door.

His skin was dry like he had aged years, and his eyes were dark. As far as she knew, he didn’t have any difficult schedule today.

“I met senior Ganghwan,” Maru said on the spot.

His eyes were looking at the floor. Haneul felt pity when she looked at the foolish face.

“That’s a good thing.”

“Yeah, it’s a good thing.”

“Did something happen?”

“No.”

Maru staggered his way to the room. Haneul followed in worry.

Flopping onto the bed, her husband buried his face between the pillow and the duvet. He was like a surprised ostrich.

“Honey.”

“Yeah?”

“Watch out for talkative people. They can kill with their words alone. Also, no Hawaii. There’s too much to talk about from that place.”

“Er, okay.”

“No India either.”

“...Should I turn off the lights for you?”

The pillow moved up and down; it seemed he nodded. Haneul turned off the lights and quietly closed the door to the bedroom.

“What was that?”

He didn’t look that tired when he came back after a tough shoot in Daegu. Just how intense of a battle did he have at his company? Was president Lee Junmin against his decision?

That shouldn’t be true. She scratched her cheek before opening the door again. Her husband had fallen asleep already.

“I don’t know what it is, but good work today.”

She picked up the tickets she placed on the table. It was the VIP premiere invitation tickets that the distributor prepared. The actors were going to be attending as well to have a small talk.

“Looks like I’ll have to give this to him tomorrow.”

Haneul stretched her arms out before turning around. She could hear faint snoring from inside the room. Maybe she should make him some good food tomorrow. Watching out for one’s stamina while young was a good thing after all.

She grabbed the cat that was trying to scratch the door to the bedroom and headed to the sofa.

* * *

He had been excited since morning. He really hadn’t felt like this in a while.

Na Baekhoon headed to Yeongdeungpo, where the VIP premiere was being held. He parked his car at the department store that had a cinema multiplex and went up to the 7th floor. People were flocking already.

Director Lee Sooae, who only talked about the depths of the hearts of men and women to create sometimes dirty and sometimes innocent movies, had tried her hand at action for the first time. That should’ve been enough of an attraction.

On top of that, Yoo Hanbyul played the role of ‘Junga,’ the main character. It was the comeback piece of a beauty actress, so many people should be looking forward to it.

However, the reason Baekhoon was here at the VIP premiere was not because of the director or Hanbyul. It was to see the actress that played ‘Myung.’

The journalists were flocking to the photo line.

Na Baekhoon also approached the photo zone. There were movie promotion panels installed on the inside of the safety line. Actors would soon stand there.

“Unni!”

Someone’s shout made everyone else’s heads turn. The actors were appearing.