Chapter 664

“Hyung, over here.”

Jayeon waved her hand over her head. The man wearing a baggy t-shirt and jeans with holes in it walked over with loose steps before sitting on the chair in front of her.

“You should wear some proper clothes. People might think you’re a beggar.”

“Normal people think this is fashion, not me being a beggar. Also, how long are you going to call me hyung?”

“Then do you want me to call you oppa?”

“I’m about to throw up what I just ate, so let’s just go with senior.”

“Hell no. Senior is used for people I can learn from, so I can’t call just anyone senior. Just take hyung. I mean, doesn’t it sound good, hyung?”

“If you ever date a man later, call him oppa. Otherwise, he might dread you.”

“Life is supposed to be lived alone. Hyung, don’t you know that gold miss[1] is the trend these days? Relying on men to live is no fun.”

“So you’re going to live alone your entire life?”

“I might change my mind if someone says he’ll do the household chores, but… nah. I won’t be able to work if I get a kid. Also, I don’t have any confidence to raise kids. I still wonder how my mom raised me all this time.”

“That’s true. Your mother should be on the level of Mother Teresa if you consider how she raised Yoo Jayeon into a person. Had it been me, I would have given up a long time ago.”

“I think so too. That’s why I don’t plan on getting married. Living alone is much more comfortable. There’s no need to match other people, and there’s no need to deal with in-laws either.”

“Doesn’t your family say anything about it?”

“Hyung, I’m Yoo Jayeon. Who do you think can say anything to me?”

“Probably no one. If anyone did, you’ll turn the whole house upside down. Who would be daring enough to do that?”

“Hyung, I’ve been thinking this since before, but you have talent in making me feel upset.”

“Don’t do that here. It’d be scary. Rather than that, can I order something? I feel hungry because I haven’t eaten anything. Oh, by the way, I didn’t bring my wallet.”

“Hah, great for you. You don’t even eat properly at that age. Order lightly. The actors are going to come soon.”

Jayeon pressed the bell on the table[2]. As soon as a waiter came, this ‘hyung’, who had been sticking his nose in the menu board, ordered four different dishes consecutively. Jayeon canceled three of them.

“Order more when other people arrive.”

“You’re being too much. How can a producer treat the main actor like this? I’m crying because I’m so sad.”

“There’s no one who calls for you if it isn’t me. I know that already.”

“Oh, no, don’t give me that. I’m going to start practicing for a musical starting in November.”

“A musical? With a face like yours?”

“Don’t look down on me too much. I’ve never heard that I’m ugly at least.”

This ‘hyung’ giggled. Jayeon shook her head. He hadn’t changed at all from before. She first met this man during an MT[3] for the department of theater at college. He was wearing worn-out clothes like he was wearing now back then as well. The seniors from college pointed at him, who was drinking soju by the bottle in the corner, and said this: that dude is a madman, a madman for acting. Unlike the other return students, who tried to stick to other girls[4], that hyung left the lodging with a red face. As she was interested in him, she observed his actions. She was attracted when other people called him a madman. Back then, she was known as a crazy bitch as well. She left behind the semi-corpses of drunk people and followed him out. That hyung was acting in front of the lodging. He seemed to throw his body into the embrace of the air and seemed to squeeze something out from within his body. His vocalization was so good that his voice could be heard clearly despite the many noises from the people inside the building. Jayeon watched his acting while hiding. She was shocked, surprised, as well as regretful. She realized the moment she saw him - Ah, I will never be like that.

“Aren’t you gonna eat?” hyung asked.

“You can eat all you want. But hyung, is it true that Miso-unni got married?”

“Yep.”

“I can’t believe it. She actually got married. I definitely thought that she would be forever single. Or live with you.”

“That’s the most horrific thing I’ve heard this year. But from the sound of it, you didn’t go to Miso’s wedding?”

“I’m not that close to her to get a wedding invitation. I only met her with you sometimes. Though, the impression she left on me was so deep that I thought she would never get married.”

“You have the same opinion as Miso on that. Miso said the same thing when she met you for the first time. She said that it’s the first time she met someone worse than her.”

“Worse at what?”

“Don’t ask if you know.”

Hyung smiled as he picked up his spoon. Jayeon sipped some water.

“Talk about Russia.”

“I said everything the last time we met. That’s all of it.”

“Talk about it in more detail. So that I can get something out of it.”

“It was disgustingly cold, and the acting was vigorous. That’s it. Oh, I also saw a bear. Done now?”

“What did I expect from you….”

“I won’t do your drama if you keep acting like that.”

“Why don’t you try saying that again? Oh, and bear in mind that I know your address.”

“Sorry. Looks like I was out of my mind just now. I don’t dare pick a fight with the almighty Yoo Jayeon.”

Jayeon looked at her hyung, who was scraping the bowl pretty hard. This hyung, who lived his whole life drowned in acting in his twenties, was still swimming in the sea of acting right now even though he was in his thirties. He would probably step into the lava if it was for acting. He was someone who was more than willing to do that.

He was one of the few people that Jayeon called regularly. Whenever she heard some absurd news about him through other people, she called him on the spot. She would first ask if he was still alive and then ask what he was doing. When he disappeared for a few months saying that he wanted to know what it felt like to be homeless, she even held a funeral for him in her heart. Don’t become a resentful ghost at least - like that. After that, he seemed to be living a docile life, but he would throw his life into the extraordinary if he deemed that it was necessary for his acting. Jayeon had the confidence not to be surprised even if he said he was going to be an astronaut. That was at least within the realm of reason after all. If he said he was communicating with an alien, she might be a little surprised.

“Anyways, you actually got to produce your own thing huh. I should call you director, now, right?” hyung said as he put down his spoon.

In his bowl were just traces of what was once some fried rice. He ate incredibly quickly.

“Of course. On the set, you have to call me ‘director, director’ with politeness.”

“Hey, I don’t think I can do this drama after all. I belong to the stage.”

“It’s too late for that now. I’m not sure about anyone else, but I will not change you out. You’re the perfect fit for the owner of the pojang-macha. I cannot imagine someone else doing it.”

“I’m not good at acting in front of the camera though.”

“That sounds to me like a monkey that can’t climb trees. If you can’t act, then the actors in training should all go and die.”

“Why don’t you use your mouth more prettily? Your mouth got a lot more vile ever since you joined the TV station. Even someone I know, who directs stages, speaks more kindly than you.”

“It’s just a method of survival for me, so bear with it. It will be over once I don’t get taken lightly because I’m a woman.”

“Is your work hard?”

“If it isn’t hard, is it even work? It’s work because it’s hard. At first, I felt like I was going to vomit blood, but these days, I can handle it with just a nosebleed. I get into less trouble with other people, too. Or rather, people avoid me. Hey, there goes the crazy bitch - like that.”

“You must be proud, director Yoo. You got to be a crazy bitch in the TV station too after being called that in college.”

“You tell me, actor Yang.”

Hyung took a sip of water before speaking.

“Rather than that, why did you suddenly switch to production? I thought you would become an actress.”

Hearing that question, Jayeon had to do her best at hiding her bitter smile. She entered the department of theater in college to become an actress. After all, she believed that she would be able to become one if she tried hard. That faith did not shake until she saw this hyung’s acting during the first MT she had after entering. When she felt that she couldn’t become an actor like him, her ambition to become an actress snapped a little. Jayeon thought - was her dream so shallow that she would give up so easily?

“Who do you think made me switch to become a producer?”

“Who did that?”

She had the urge to swear at that curious-looking face, but she held back.

“Hyung, you know? You should be more aware.”

“Of what?”

“The feelings of a firefly who happens to fly past a lighthouse.”

“What the heck is that?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, I forbid you from talking about this in the future. If you bring it up one more time, I’ll take it as you picking a fight with me and smack your face, so bear that in mind.”

“What a temper. Anyways, how many people are coming today?”

“All the main actors. Two high school students, two in college, and then you. For now, these five. You should say hello before you shoot at least. You should get to know each other.”

“Get-togethers and stuff like that don’t suit me.”

“It’s nothing grand like that, so don’t worry about it. We’ll just have a chat with everyone. Geez, you are more shy than you look.”

“I’m not shy. I just don’t like people gathering. It’s no fun.”

Jayeon checked the time. There wasn’t long until the promised appointment.

“Ah, right. Hyung, why don’t you tell me now?”

“Tell you what?”

“The one you recommended. Who is it?”

“I thought all the main actors were gathering today. I’ll tell you once they’re all here.”

“I might have dropped him, you know?”

“You said you picked two high school students, didn’t you? Then one of them must be it. It was me who taught the guy, so there’s no way he failed an audition held by a newbie producer. If he didn’t make it, I will have to doubt the qualities and eyes of the producer.”

“Don’t joke with me.”

“Do you think I’m joking?”

Jayeon frowned. This hyung acted quite arrogant and yawned a lot, but the expression he showed at the end was pretty serious. He acted immaturely a lot during private occasions, but he wasn’t someone who would speak lightly. He was someone who knew the weight of his words.

“Are you so confident?”

“If you watched properly, you should have picked the right person. I thought you only looked at the name and acting, right? You didn’t consider anything like connections, agencies, and things like that.”

“I don’t have enough leisure to take all of that into consideration.”

“Then that’s that then. In terms of acting, you shouldn’t have had any reason to fail that person. The two of you are quite similar in the humane sense as well. You are similar in the aspect that you glare at people in order to keep yourself fed.”

“Am I even a human in your eyes, hyung?”

“You were a human?”

“Do you want me to go mad today?”

“Why do you become scarier and scarier as the years go by?”

Ganghwan shrugged and pulled back.

“If I really dropped the kid you recommended, are you really going to quit?”

“I’ll see how things go. I’ll do it if the people you picked instead of him are acceptable in my eyes. But if that isn’t the case, I won’t be able to do this either. I won’t do it. I only do two types of acting: acting that I want to do and acting that I have to do. Among the two, the latter consist of the pieces that my proud president prepares for me. Honestly speaking, your piece isn’t something I want to do nor is it something I have to do.”

“Then why did you give me the okay when I asked you to join me?”

“Because I believe that you have the skill. It’s enjoyable to do something together with a skilled director. But if you have a defect in your eyes for actors, then it means that you don’t have the skill, and I don’t want to work with people who don’t have the skill. If you beg me to do it, I guess I can do it… but the Yoo Jayeon I know isn’t someone who would do that.”

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t I give you solid smack later? Also, another smack if I picked the one you recommended.”

“Wait, why is this suddenly about that?”

Just as he gripped his fist in order to defend himself, the door to the restaurant opened and the first actor arrived. Jayeon waved her hand and shouted.

“Hey, lucky guy! Over here!”

Mr. ‘lucky guy’, who came over after taking a bow, looked at ‘hyung’ in front of Jayeon before speaking.

“Why are you here, hyung-nim?”

* * *

Smack - it was a refreshing sound. Producer Jayeon, who had an evil grin on her face, stood up rather abruptly and smacked the shocked Ganghwan on the head before he could even dodge. When Ganghwan lowered his head with a tearful face, the producer slapped Ganghwan on the cheek. The producer did not take her hand off Ganghwan’s face as though to immerse herself in the aftermath of the pain.

“Uhm, can anyone explain?” Maru said as he took a step back.

He didn’t want to join this duo for some reason.

[1] Unmarried women who either have a lot of money or are in high positions of power. Wikipediafor more details.

[2] Korean restaurants have bells that call for waiters.

[3] Stands for Membership Training. Usually held in college clubs/circles.

[4] Usually, return students would be male, because they would do their military service mid way through college.

KTLChamber's Thoughts

So that's the reason why Ganghwan said 'come back alive' to Maru... It was a physical thing.

Editor's Note:

Ganghwan x Jayeon would be a very... interesting couple.