After Story 166

After Story 166

The beginning sequences were good. They showed each person’s definition of justice and imbued a sense of expectation for the events about to occur.

The dry conversational tone, combined with the dark and desolate background created tension, and the mix of action on top of that increased the immersion. Based on the beginning parts alone, it could be considered the birth of a well-made espionage movie, but it lost its focus after the halfway point.

Yoo Hanbyul, the main actress, wasn’t so bad in her acting. The action scenes were sliced up into many cuts so that it wouldn’t look awkward.

Haneul did more than enough, and there weren’t any glaring flaws among the remaining actors either.

Ultimately, it came down to the story.

It was when an independence fighter disguised as a Japanese officer had his identity exposed. The main character was no longer the center of attention. This was a failure of scene distribution.

The movie, which described the story in order of progression using events and scenes, started explaining the story through the words of the characters.

One of the characters would talk a lot to clear up the context.

If used well, this technique could compress the story and add to the tension of the story, but director Lee Sooae ended up creating an explaining character for the sake of convenience. She probably realized this when editing.

If there was enough time and budget, the storytelling method would have changed. However, that was one of the most common excuses a director could make in this world.

Creating a decent product using limited resources without making mistakes — that was supposed to be the work of the director and the production crew.

As director Lee Sooae always used to produce emotional movies, this movie should have come as a challenge to her. While it could be said to be not a bad first attempt, movies were a cultural business. In a business where everything was about money, who could laugh in contentment at the assessment of ‘not bad?’

Maru looked at director Lee Sooae on stage. Although she spoke with a smile whenever she held the mic, there was a shade cast over her face whenever she looked at the actors.

She probably felt bitter and probably angry at herself too. She might even feel wronged. After all, she might not have been able to shoot to her heart’s content due to the pressure of budget.

However, whatever happened in the process of creation was not the audience’s business. If a movie they spent ten thousand won for a ticket ended up being rather lukewarm, the words they speak would be negative.

“If there’s something you think you could improve on, what do you think it would be?” one of the journalists asked the director.

“There are so many things I want to improve on, so it’s hard to pick just one, but I really wish I had more time to shoot.”

“Do you think the ending would’ve been different if you were given more time?”

“The ending would’ve stayed the same, but the process of reaching there would have changed a lot. That’s why I feel sorry for the actors even now.”

Usually, people would only say good things at public events, but if the director was blatantly expressing her apologetic feelings and disappointment, then it seemed that there were some complex issues behind it.

The journalist no longer asked anything either. A journalist crazy for controversy would’ve pried more into this, but it seemed this journalist knew some etiquette.

“Miss Han Haneul’s acting was rather impressive, especially the scene where she was being tortured and eventually died. What were you thinking when you were shooting it?”

Haneul picked up the mic. Maru focused so that he could hear his wife’s voice.

“That’s a very broad question. If you ask what I was thinking, then I can only say that I was thinking about a lot of things. I had to think about my line, the feelings of the character, and the movement of the other actors. Of course, the director who’s racking her brain as well.”

Director Lee Sooae smiled a little. She looked like she was a little relieved by Haneul’s words.

The journalist that asked Haneul the question was slightly taken aback and asked again,

“You were playing an independence fighter who died, right?”

“Yes.”

“Your acting was really delicate. Did you do that scene with the heart of an independence fighter?”

“I can predict what kind of answer you want, but I only shot that scene as an actress.”

The journalist froze up and stared at her in a daze. Haneul smiled and continued to speak,

“While I played the role of an independence fighter, how much of the pain would I possibly need to know to say I could understand what those people actually experienced? I’m ashamed to even say that I understand how they felt. It must not be the kind of pain that I could possibly imagine. I only displayed what I’ve once experienced according to the situation.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for your answer.”

Maru covered his mouth and faintly laughed. Haneul’s answer prevented any kind of weird news articles from being written.

After that, the journalist asked more blatant questions for the sake of their articles.

One of the actors, who was gaining a lot of popularity in a recent drama, was asked about the drama instead of the movie. Despite the actor showing a sense of displeasure, the journalist did not hold back.

Still, that much was okay.

“Mr. Jung Haseok. According to an article that was released a little while ago, you’re supposedly in a romantic relationship with the idol Yuni. Is this true?”

Jung Haseok, one of the main actors, picked up the mic.

“It’s a misunderstanding. Miss Yuni and I are just close friends.”

“To call it that, there are reports of you two meeting in front of a hotel.”

“I only said hello near the shooting location I was at.”

“And that place happened to be in front of a hotel?”

“Excuse me, sir, but I would like it if you could refrain from asking questions unrelated to the movie.”

“The movie is one thing, but don’t you think people would like this kind of news as well? It should positively influence the advertisement for the movie. It’s not like dating is a sin, so why don’t you tell us the truth?”

Not to mention Jung Haseok, the expression of Yoo Hanbyul next to him also froze. An employee from the cinema approached the journalist and took the mic away from him. The journalist smiled and shouted with his raw voice, asking if he wasn’t dating Yuni.

“We hope you can ask questions related to the movie.” The host eventually had to step in. However, that didn’t work either.

The members of the ordinary audience also started whispering among each other and took out their phones to look it up. The other journalists that received the mic also brought up the topic of dating and asked Jung Haseok related questions.

Maru didn’t know who Yuni was. The best he could remember was that she was a member of a top-tier idol group and that she was in her early twenties.

“Wasn’t there anything uncomfortable about dating an idol who’s more than a decade younger than you?” someone shouted.

When the general audience started showing interest, the journalists started shouting their questions without using the mic. The host then stepped in, seemingly having judged that there was going to be no progress like this.

“We’d like to conclude the premiere here. Everyone, please say a word of goodbye. You first, director.”

Everyone left behind a short goodbye message as though they were exhausted.

Thank you for coming, please watch the movie when it’s released, et cetera.

It was when Jung Haseok, who was on the far left, was given the mic,

“Don’t live like that and do your work properly. It’s because of actions like that that you’re being called trash. Okay?”

After mocking the journalists, the actor threw the mic roughly on the ground.

Maru smiled bitterly. Sure, he could understand the actor’s feelings. It must have felt like becoming a toy. However, he had endured until then, so he should’ve endured until he stepped down from the stage.

The journalists in the front row all started pressing their shutters. They managed to get a scoop on a scene where an actor threw the mic on the ground in anger, so they would be delighted to write articles about it.

The title would be something like ‘Actor Jung Haseok, someone who frequently verbally abuses the journalists that ask him questions,’ or something along those lines.

Some actors compared journalists in the entertainment industry to maggots: beings that survive by leeching off other people’s wounds.

They would write absurd articles based on intuitive evidence alone, and they would avoid all responsibility by writing a couple of lines of ‘correction’ in a later article if they happened to be wrong. It was natural to feel angry when seeing such people.

However, ultimately, public figures had to use journalists as a way to promote themselves in the eyes of the public. It would be rather troublesome if they made those journalists their enemies.

Maru sighed as he looked at Haneul leaving.

This was one of the hardships of actors. No matter how great they were by themselves, movies were a combined art form, and there was a limit to how much one person could do by themself. A topic of gossip appeared as well, so the participants of the movie would be feeling headaches by now.

Though, as for his wife, she would probably smile it off because she was used to something like this.

“It makes me displeased looking at them.”

Na Baekhoon had come to his side.

He was a man who showed interest in his wife. That fact alone didn’t make him angry or displeased. After all, Haneul was no ordinary woman. In fact, he would’ve been more suspicious instead if he didn’t have any feelings after seeing his wife in person.

“Looks like this will become quite an issue in a different way, even though they must want to be assessed by the work.”

“Can’t a movie become successful like this too? Well, not that I really like it either.”

“Err…,” Maru trailed off and looked at Na Baekhoon. He didn’t know what to call this man. Would ‘president’ be good?

“You can call me however you’d like. Director, designer, president, manager… I have a lot of titles.”

“Did you find the movie boring?”

“I just don’t like soap operas in general, especially if it’s about nationalism. I do like them if they’re done right, but director Lee Sooae used her talent for emotional production in a weird spot. She exerted too much of her influence for parts that needed to be dry, so it couldn’t be helped that the movie fell apart.”

Even someone from the general masses that was walking past them to leave was saying that the movie was not that good.

From how even the general public was not giving it a good assessment adding on top of the critics, it seemed that this movie wasn’t going to be successful.

“Mr. Maru.” Baekhoon sat down next to him. While Maru didn’t entirely like that, he didn’t show it and looked at Baekhoon.

“I tend to become really direct when it’s necessary. Only then will I be able to catch what I want.”

“I see.”

“So allow me to ask you a question. Please don’t misunderstand and if what I ask is not true, then respond as such.”

“Please speak.”

Baekhoon rubbed under his nose with his index finger and spoke,

“Do you happen to know an actress known as Jung Dawoon?”

For now, Maru looked at Baekhoon without changing his expression. He thought about the intent behind that question.

The relationship between Na Baekhoon and Jung Dawoon, as well as between Dawoon and Haneul came to mind.

Haneul assessed Baekhoon as someone true to his desires. If such a man suddenly brought up Jung Dawoon….

As he was thinking, Na Baekhoon frowned slightly.

“This isn’t direct enough. I became too shy because it’s related to the people I want to cherish. Allow me to put aside my etiquette and ask.” He lowered his voice. “Are you lovers with Miss Han Haneul?”

* * *

General manager Lee headed home after paying the chauffeur serviceman. A dark house greeted him. His wife and daughter were currently traveling in Japan.

When he sent them off, he sent them off well, but now that he actually spent a week by himself, he felt lonely and sad.

It was great that his daughter kept sending him photos every day. If she hadn’t, then he might have cried while drinking by himself, despite being in his late forties.

When he was young, he would feel happy whenever his wife said that she was going to visit her parents and would drink out with his friends, but at this point, there weren’t that many people he kept in touch with, so it felt lonely.

He sat down on the sofa and messaged the people he drank with today.

As they were directors of marketing, he had to end things on a clean note. It would be troublesome if he left it to someone below him and that person screwed up.

Just as he was resting after sending out the texts, he got a call from Cha Myungjoon.

“This dude said something weird during the day, and now he’s calling at night?”

He picked up the call.

“What? You were blabbing about stuff during the day too. Am I your subordinate?”

-General manager Lee!

He was startled and took his phone off his ear. That was a loud voice alright. He rubbed his ear before switching the call into speaker mode.

“You lunatic. If you’re drunk, you should get some sleep. Why did you call me!”

-General manager Lee! You’re going to thank me for this.

“What bullshit is this? Hey, Myungjoon. I know you’re having a hard time, but how dare you call a senior in the middle of the night after getting drunk?”

-General manager, there’s something big this time. There’s really something big!

For something big to have happened, the guy was laughing like crazy.

“Speak properly. How are you going to see my face tomorrow? There’s a limit to being close.”

Just then, the voice changed.

-Hello, sir.

“And who are you?”

-Oh, I guess I should introduce myself first. I’m a very close friend of our dear producer Cha over here, a beloved younger brother, a drinking buddy, and….

The man kept going on and on and on. It seemed that two crazies had gotten drunk.

Just as he sighed and was about to hang up,

-I’m Yang Ganghwan.