A suffocating silence flowed through the office.
After a moment, Im Hyangmin, who’d been frozen in place, opened his mouth.
“Let’s go straight into filming, Director.”
In just those two words, he immediately realized the performance had ended and quickly rose to his feet.
I grabbed several tissues from the box at the end of the table and hurriedly handed them to Im Hyangmin.
“I’m so sorry…!”
Im Hyangmin took the tissues and burst into laughter while vigorously scrubbing his face.
Torn pieces of tissue stuck all over his cheeks and forehead.
Watching his thoroughly delighted expression, I felt relieved inside.
Finally, I’d won him over.
“Ah, I really can’t half-ass this.”
Im Hyangmin placed the wet clump of tissues on top of his head and spoke.
The director also teased Im Hyangmin with an excited face.
“Yo, you were scared just now, weren’t you? I saw everything, dude.”
“Wow, seriously. That startled me.”
Despite getting doused with water, Im Hyangmin kept bursting into hearty laughter, finding something endlessly amusing.
I thought to myself that these were strange ahjussis while forcing myself to maintain a smile.
“I love this scene. When we shoot, give me that exact same line, Sena-ssi.”
The director clasped his hands together and spoke.
“Yes!”
“If you want to try more things, feel free to go for it. It’s a hundred times better than what I wrote.”
“Sena-ssi, you should get your name added to the writing credits.”
Im Hyangmin added.
“Should I?”
“Ugh, just use casual speech already. Treat me rough, okay? Just like you did!”
“Ah… got it.”
“Okay! Today’s meeting ends here!”
The director clapped once and stood up from his seat.
“Sena-ssi, do you have anything scheduled after this?”
Im Hyangmin asked in a much more friendly and warm tone than earlier.
“No, nothing!”
“Great, then let’s go have dinner together. I heard you’re quite the drinker?”
“Oh, right. I heard that too. Sena-ssi’s apparently a legendary heavyweight.”
Hearing the drinking topic come up, the director spoke with an even more excited face.
“Ah.”
I laughed a bit awkwardly, then quickly adapted to the atmosphere and answered again.
“I’m not very confident about drinking.”
“Huh?”
“Not confident that I will lose to anyone.”
As I flashed a grin, the two men burst into laughter and applauded.
“As expected!”
“There’s a suyuk place with arongsatae right out front. That’s my regular spot. Let’s go.”
“Let’s drink until our noses go sideways today!”
The two ahjussis hummed cheerfully as they left the office.
Ugh, my liver won’t survive another day like this.
I also brushed myself off and stood up.
* * *
And exactly two hours later.
“E-excuse me. Sunbaenim!”
Im Hyangmin was passed out drunk with his head planted on the table, refusing to get up.
On the table sat exactly three empty soju bottles.
‘Sena-ssi, Say Your Name was really good.’
‘How do you act so well? And where did you learn action?’
‘Are you going to keep making films from now on?’
For two hours straight, Im Hyangmin had excitedly rambled about my filmography and acting, then lost consciousness the moment he finished one bottle.
Wait, wasn’t he supposed to be a good drinker?
The director had disappeared into the bathroom thirty minutes ago—whether he’d collapsed or what, he hadn’t returned.
“Wow, I’m going crazy.”
What is with these ahjussis.
I sighed looking at these troublemakers who, in my past life, would’ve been my contemporaries.
That’s when Im Hyangmin’s phone on the table started ringing.
Seeing the name ‘Manager’ flash on the screen, I quickly picked it up.
I hurriedly answered.
“Hello. This is Han Sena, who’s entering the same project as Im Hyangmin sunbaenim. Actually, we’re near Director Jin’s office…”
The moment I got that far, the manager responded in a voice suggesting he was already used to this.
-The suyuk place, right? I’ll head there right away. Sorry about this.
“Ah, yes… Thank you.”
I looked outside at the still-bright restaurant, when the director came stumbling over from the bathroom area.
“D-Director. Are you okay?”
The director plopped heavily into his chair and threw up a thumbs up.
“Wow, our Jina… drinks well too….”
That’s when the ajumma from the kitchen peeked over here and clicked her tongue.
“These guys can’t even drink but always cause a ruckus here. Ugh, so annoying. Go home already!”
“…”
The two men, already completely wasted, were beyond responding.
When my eyes met ajumma’s, I laughed awkwardly.
Ajumma looked at my face closely and said in surprise,
“Oh my, isn’t that Han Sena? Wow, you’re so pretty.”
“Hello.”
“Wow, give me an autograph before you go.”
“Yes, I’ll do that!”
“No, but why is such a pretty young lady hanging around with these old geezers?”
“Ahaha….”
I carefully wrote my autograph on the paper ajumma handed me.
“You three are making a movie together?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Wow, so we’re getting a ten-million viewer blockbuster? Can I look forward to it?”
“Excuse me?”
Ajumma smiled warmly and took the autograph to the counter.
“I should change the sign. Ten-Million Arongsatae Suyuk [1] !”
I waved my hands, flustered by this talk of ‘ten-million viewer film’ that I’d never even considered.
“Oh no, no. We haven’t even started filming yet.”
“Hey! With Im Hyangmin and Jin Changju. Plus Han Sena joining the two. What’s impossible about that! Fighting!”
“Ah, yes! Thank you!”
That’s when the door chimed.
A man with a build as massive as Jinseok oppa walked over here with heavy steps.
Then he immediately hoisted up the two men sprawled on the table.
The manager bowed his head to me.
“Sorry about this.”
“Oh no, not at all!”
“Is your home address nearby? Should I give you a ride?”
“No! I’m fine!”
I quickly waved my hands.
“Really okay? But why’s everything so damp…”
The manager looked confused as he checked Im Hyangmin’s neck.
It seemed still wet from the water I’d dumped on him.
Flustered, I quickly spoke up.
“My manager’s already on the way to pick me up too. You should head out first!”
The manager gave another brief bow.
“Then I’ll be going.”
Like that, I watched the manager drag the two men out of the restaurant and clicked my tongue.
What an extreme occupation.
* * *
The next day, at Minyeong unnie’s office.
Unnie was listening to yesterday’s story and bursting into hearty laughter.
“Im Hyangmin can’t drink? That’s seriously surprising, man!”
“Right…?”
“Wow, but dumping water on Im Hyangmin’s head? You’re hilarious too.”
“……”
I shook my head, recalling the pressure of that moment.
“This is gonna blow up the internet when it comes out in interviews.”
“I won’t be able to say anything about it anywhere. Too scary.”
Even though unnie kept laughing, it seemed endlessly funny to her as she kept clutching her stomach.
“What a trio of weirdos.”
“Why am I included, unnie.”
“For sure Im Hyangmin tested you out this time. Well, he’s never had a proper female co-star to go up against before.”
Hearing that made me fall into thought for a moment too.
Of course there were plenty of excellent actors, both male and female, but it was still hard to find a female actor with Im Hyangmin-level power.
Even among the top female actors, when comparing filmography and fees, they still couldn’t match Im Hyangmin, let alone reach the so-called A-list male actors’ level.
This problem wasn’t just in Korea—it was emerging in Hollywood and various other places too.
Im Hyangmin also seemed to have seen through this point and tested me right before joining the project.
“It’s quite a shame, isn’t it?”
Minyeong unnie nodded with a regretful expression.
Still, the situation would keep developing going forward.
In my past life, I’d already seen how female characters evolved with astonishing speed and brilliance.
The actors playing those characters would naturally gain tremendous power too.
Plus, starting with Director Jin Changju’s script, I had a hunch that change would come even faster in this life.
A renowned director had created for the first time a female character on equal footing with the male protagonist.
And a very compelling one at that.
Minyeong unnie, who’d also read the script, rested her chin on her hand contentedly and spoke.
“Something feels right about this. The three of you together.”
“What feeling?”
“You know. That thought you suddenly get right before bed.”
“?”
Unnie looked at me with that distinctive expression she wore when lost in pleasant thoughts.
“Starting with this project. The thought that you might transition from a so-called trending actor to a national actor.”
“What?”
Trending actor, national actor….
Suddenly Minyeong unnie’s words felt foreign.
It overlapped with what I’d heard from the kitchen ajumma at the arongsatae suyuk restaurant yesterday. (+) [2]
Why is everyone counting their chickens before filming even starts.
“You know how many projects you’ve done already?”
“…”
“You’ve solidified your position at almost twice the speed of others. Not a single failed project, and now there’s not a person in Korea who doesn’t know you.”
These unfamiliar approaches about me kept coming, making me feel strange.
“There are tons of actors who either quit honorably after building this much up, or gradually decline and stop getting work.”
“Mm.”
“And the projects you’ve done so far have been particularly experimental, haven’t they? Thanks to that stubborn streak of yours.”
“…”
“But this project’s different. It’s experimental, sure, but we’ve got Director Jin and Im Hyangmin. The absolute kings of commercial appeal. Screen dominators.”
Hearing that, I suddenly recalled the first day I met unnie.
Back when she’d captured my heart by analyzing my acting from a unique perspective right in front of me.
Unnie, who said none of my projects had ever failed, had also never been wrong herself.
That’s why I couldn’t just brush off unnie’s words this time either.
“This feels like the exact moment when you’re one step away from cementing that position.”
Would I really reach some unexpected place with those ahjussis from yesterday, just like unnie said?
After thinking for a moment, I shook my head and quickly brushed it off.
“Forget it! I’m just going to think about what’s right in front of me. Just acting Han Jina well is already making my head spin.”
“Do that. Who said anything?”
Unnie hummed as she stood up and put water in the coffee pot.
“Oh right, we decided to do that fan meeting after a while.”
“Ah, right.”
Unnie brought up something we’d briefly forgotten about.
“We had a meeting and early April after the Hwangryong ceremony seems good.”
“Yeah, that timing works better for me too.”
“The tickets are selling so well. There’s talk about doing it three days in a row this time.”
“What?!”
I looked at unnie in shock.
“How many seats?”
“2500 seats.”
“Will that even work…?”
“People are gonna go crazy demanding more seats for this too.”
“…”
“We originally wanted to book a 5000-seat venue for two days, but you’re not actually doing a real performance. Actress fans prefer being close to the stage. That’s why we picked a smaller place.”
“Ah….”
I nodded at unnie’s explanation.
“Looks like our actress is gonna end up doing a concert?”
“Then we need ideas to fill three days.”
“Right. We’ve brainstormed pretty much every idea imaginable already. But you come up with some more too. The things you come up with and execute always get the best reactions.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it.”
Unnie poured the coffee and sat back down at the table.
“Then I’ll head out now.”
I also stood up with an excited heart at the thought of meeting fans and left the office.
- 1. TLN: Arongsatae Suyuk is basically a food menu that’s basically a kind of boiled pork dish
- 2. TLN: Hmm… I’m having second thought to just translate arongsatae suyuk to just boiled pork dish.
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