By Zephyria The manager tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, looking at the line of red brake lights ahead.
“We’re almost there, and it’s so congested.”
“I know. You must be tired, Manager Nam. Working until Sunday.”
“That’s common on set, though. Besides, you have two days off starting tomorrow.”
About two weeks since crank-in. Filming was proceeding smoothly.
According to the original schedule, they would have come up to Seoul to rest this weekend, but the holiday was postponed due to the forecast of rain. They decided to shoot the rain scenes according to the weather. While many directors preferred water trucks to natural rain, Director Jung Joon-hee chose to alter the schedule to achieve a more natural scene.
Song Hyun-soo had finished work around 4 PM, while Yoon Joo-ho and the other actors were still filming a night scene in Myung Hae-ri.
The manager spoke as they inched forward, following the car ahead.
“It’s important to meet the person who will take over beforehand. His name is Kang Jung-ho, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Jung-ho. Kang Jung-ho. He’ll probably learn the job quickly.”
“Being a manager, especially a junior manager, is 50% intuition and 50% stamina. Intuitive people can do the job of a three-year veteran in just a month or two.”
Manager Nam, who was currently driving, was a temporary manager who agreed to work until Song Hyun-soo officially joined Look Planning. Indebted to Director Bang, he had left the industry a few years ago to run a cafe in the suburbs of Gyeonggi Province with his wife. But upon Director Bang’s call, he rushed back.
With Jung-ho finally quitting ‘Jessica’ and able to join next week, he was scheduled to learn the ropes from Manager Nam for about a month. Song Hyun-soo was heading to ‘Jessica’ with Manager Nam to help Jung-ho move his belongings.
The drizzly Daehangno was bustling with people enjoying the atmosphere of a Sunday evening as dusk settled. Beyond the flowing procession of umbrellas, Exit 1 of Hyehwa Station was just ahead. The forecast predicted that after this rain, a final late cold snap would grip the city. Then, spring would truly arrive.
“Are you really not going in, Manager Nam? I can make you a cocktail.”
Just before getting out of the car parked opposite ‘Jessica’, Song Hyun-soo asked the manager one more time. He smiled and waved his hand.
“It’s more comfortable waiting here. I’ll rest a bit, so take your time and come out.”
Song Hyun-soo nodded and, without an umbrella, dashed under the eaves of ‘Jessica’ and opened the door.
“I’m here!”
“Oh my, our actor Song has arrived.”
Unlike in the past, the manager greeted him warmly. Jung-ho stood behind him, secretly glaring at the manager. Song Hyun-soo exchanged smiles and nods with Chae-young, shaking off the raindrops that had fallen on his head in that short time, and looked around the shop.
“Even for a rainy Sunday evening, this… aren’t there too few customers?”
“That’s why Hyun-soo, you need to work harder. Only Jung-ho is quitting. Did you promise?”
As the manager urged him, Song Hyun-soo chuckled, then his eyes widened with recognition. Sitting at the innermost window seat were three familiar faces.
Idol-turned-actor Yoon Hye-an, his former group mate Park Dong-ha, and their alleged manager, Gu Yong-jae.
Song Hyun-soo waved and walked straight towards their table.
“Oh? Our regular customers are here again?”
“Are we regulars who come once every few months? That’s serious.”
Park Dong-ha, the first to spot Song Hyun-soo, joked with a laugh.
“Does frequency matter? As long as you keep coming, you’re all regulars.”
Yoon Hye-an had started visiting occasionally with the two of them a few months after first appearing at ‘Jessica’. Rumors were rampant in the entertainment industry that Yoon Hye-an’s arrogance had completely vanished, to the point where even obscure, unknown actors like Song Hyun-soo had heard them. But the person he met in person was completely different from the rumors. Perhaps he had changed after returning from the brink of death.
While his appearance had always been said to resemble Choi Hong-seo’s, their images were completely different. Now, their expressions and demeanor were so similar that it further reminded Song Hyun-soo of Choi Hong-seo.
And Yoon Hye-an had changed his stage name to ‘Hyun-seo’. As if shedding his past and living as a new person.
“Wasn’t ‘Jessica’ supposed to be closed today because of the movie shoot?”
Song Hyun-soo quipped in response to Park Dong-ha’s question.
“Oh, actor Park Dong-ha, you know my schedule so well…”
“It wasn’t me, Hyun-seo hyung told me.”
“Ah… Hyun-seo is practically my stalker fan.”
Song Hyun-soo, sitting at the table right next to theirs, met Yoon Hye-an’s—no, Hyun-seo’s—gaze and they smiled at each other.
“That’s why you gave yourself a similar name, Hyun-seo.”
There was one more reason why Hyun-seo was particularly special to Song Hyun-soo.
Hyun-seo had recently wrapped up filming a movie called
It was a movie that Choi Hong-seo had prepared for but never got to shoot before he passed away. Hyun-seo had taken on the role Choi Hong-seo was supposed to play.
“By the way, when is the movie being released? I’m going to go blind waiting. Our movie might be released sooner at this rate.”
“Why are you waiting for
“It’s an important movie to me. Right, Hyun-seo?”
Song Hyun-soo sought Hyun-seo’s agreement. Hyun-seo already knew what the movie
Hyun-seo simply smiled silently. A smile that resembled Choi Hong-seo’s deep, thoughtful smile.
“There’s been a lot of buzz for weeks about whether it’s going to Cannes or not. When will you know if it’s invited?”
In response to Song Hyun-soo’s question, Hyun-seo answered this time.
“We don’t know the exact date either. Only that it’s early next month.”
“Tsk, acting all high and mighty.”
As Song Hyun-soo clicked his tongue, his jumper pocket vibrated. The name that appeared on the screen of the phone he absently pulled out was GYJHSB.
『“Is it that bitch Yoon Joo-ho?”』
Now, every time he received a call from him, that phrase came to mind and made him laugh. ‘That bitch Yoon Joo-ho,’ honestly, even when imagining things… He tightened his lip muscles, trying to suppress the laughter that threatened to escape.
“Ah, why is he calling someone who’s off work? So annoying…”
People wouldn’t even know who was calling, nor would they care. Yet, he put on an act of excessive grumbling and stood up from his seat. Then, he declared to Hyun-seo as if issuing a warning.
“Make sure you go to Cannes. Walk all over that red carpet or whatever it is.”
He added with a smile.
“That was my friend’s wish.”
Hyun-seo just smiled. But Song Hyun-soo felt he understood the meaning of that smile. It was as if he were saying, ‘I understand how you feel, and I will definitely do it.’ Just as he could discern what Choi Hong-seo’s smile meant, even if it looked the same to others.
Looking at that smile, which resembled the guy’s so much, Song Hyun-soo rubbed the back of his neck and turned away with a bittersweet feeling. He was happy when Hyun-seo visited the shop, but seeing him also inevitably made him miss Choi Hong-seo.
He slipped out the back door through the kitchen behind the counter and called Yoon Joo-ho back under the eaves, holding his phone between his shoulder and ear while lighting a cigarette.
[Why didn’t you answer?]
That was the first thing he said as soon as the call connected.
“I was talking to some regular customers. Are you that anxious if I don’t pick up the phone just once?”
[What?]
“No, sir. I was asking if it was your break time.”
[I just finished scene 35.]
“Did it turn out well?”
[Well, they said okay.]
“I guess I should have come to see the filming today too. I’m curious.”
[If you do that from the beginning, your body won’t hold up. You need to rest when you can.]
He looked up at the sky, exhaling thin wisps of smoke through the raindrops. He remembered the memory of comparing his situation to that of a superstar like Yoon Joo-ho, feeling anxious, right here, the day after his first script reading.
Now, as his lover, he was monopolizing his precious break time like this. Every time he thought about it, it felt unbelievable.
[Are you going to have dinner with Jung-ho or something before heading home?]
“I’d like to, but I’m too tired. I’ll take Jung-ho home, and then I’ll unpack my things when I get home.”
The boxes he brought from the rooftop room were still piled up. He was determined to clear out those boxes during this holiday.
“Hey, senior.”
Looking up at the crude signs for PC Bang, billiard halls, and pubs, Song Hyun-soo impulsively called out to Yoon Joo-ho.
[What.]
“It’s nothing.”
[Don’t be shy, just say it.]
“After we finish our movie well, will you… go with me to see Hong-seo?”
[……]
“Ah, I’m not trying to pressure you. It’s just, if you happen to have time…”
[Is this a proposal?]
“Wh-what? A proposal?”
He almost dropped his cigarette.
[Isn’t wanting to introduce me to that friend basically a proposal?]
“No, what kind of proposal… but it kind of sounds like it…”
Yoon Joo-ho’s pleased laughter could be heard over the phone. Song Hyun-soo, who had been rambling incoherently, also let out a chuckle.
He felt that after finishing the filming of
The stars in the sky were hidden by the rain clouds, but the signs, blurred by the humidity, emitted a warmer light than before.
■■■
The room closest to the entrance.
Five boxes, the size of post office boxes, were neatly stacked in two rows.
After returning home, showering, and changing, Song Hyun-soo stood before the boxes with a determined expression. Since these weren’t items he needed urgently, he kept postponing the task, and time had passed.
“Today, no matter what, I’m finishing this.”
Meow, meow. Huh?
Monroe, who had been circling the boxes, sniffing them and tapping them with its paws, looked up at Song Hyun-soo and tilted its head. After stroking the cat’s head and back a few times, Song Hyun-soo lined up the stacked boxes and removed the tape, opening them all. He planned to sort them into things to discard, things to keep, and things to donate.
“Five boxes will be quick.”
But as he started rummaging through the boxes, the pace wasn’t as fast as he expected. Thirty minutes passed as he looked through a diary, and if he found theater playbills from his acting troupe, he’d spend another 10-20 minutes flipping through them with delight.
“Ah… If this keeps up, I won’t even finish before senior comes over.”
Deciding he had to speed up, he tried to focus, but Monroe was nowhere to be seen. Hearing rustling sounds, it seemed the cat was causing trouble inside one of the opened boxes.
“Monroe, where is our Monroe… Ah, there you are. No, this box isn’t sorted yet. Here, let’s play with this box, okay?”
He took Monroe, who had burrowed into a smaller box within the larger one, and placed it in another box. Song Hyun-soo then took out the box Monroe had been rummaging in.
It was a box where he had collected a few items he considered precious.
He first picked up a perfume bottle with about a third of its contents remaining.
“Wow, I didn’t throw this away? Well, it was expensive, so I couldn’t bear to throw it out.”
There were four or five perfumes on Jung Ji-in’s desk, but Song Hyun-soo had liked this scent the most. One day, Jung Ji-in, somehow noticing, gave him a new bottle of the same perfume. It was from a luxurious, little-known brand that Song Hyun-soo had never heard of before.
“I used to save it for really important days.”
Inside the box were other items Jung Ji-in had given him. A leather wallet he had used well until last year, and a designer t-shirt.
“I wore this a lot for a while too. Oh, it’s still in good condition. I should wear this at home, at least.”
As he held the t-shirt up to his chest, Song Hyun-soo froze, like a person in a paused video.
Just as one can have countless thoughts in the brief moment a water glass falls from a dining table, a series of scenes rapidly replayed in his mind.
Fragmented memories, which I thought had no connection to each other, suddenly connected like pieces of a puzzle fitting perfectly together. And that montage pointed to a chilling conclusion.
The sound of a non-existent, imaginary cup shattering on the floor was heard.