I Will Live As An Actor - Chapter 19

I Will Live as an Actor Episode 19:

Wipanjang (委販場) The sound of the boat horn that awakens the South Port and the auctioneer’s drumbeat mix to create a strange harmony. This is a place where dozens of tons of fish come and go every day. The wholesalers pay attention to each other and use hand gestures to price the fish, and the retailers purchase the fish that the wholesalers have bid on and head to their respective homes. Today, I went to this very early morning to go to the judge’s office.

“Oh my gosh! You gave in to me once during the dinner table too. Didn’t you tell me to take care of it next time? I see how many of them are empty in our chest today as well, so I’m sorry if you say that!”

“Okay, England! Stop acting like this, my ears are deafening!”

“No, that’s right. Please take care of me today.”

“Okay, I don’t think I’ll be the one to match the amount of sheep you have. You little bastard knows so well the quality of fish trapped in a block of ice. When you grow up, you’re going to become an auctioneer!”

“Eunjiye! I’m a civil servant who eats up every penny I pay!”

“Inoma, I’m really having a hard time. But thanks to you, it’s nice that Namhang has become more lively these days!”

When considering the quality of fish, it was not uncommon for voices to raise voices. Moreover, there were cases where the quantity was different in each chest. This was not because of a prank, but because the view was blocked by the ice placed to maintain the freshness of the fish. In most cases, wholesalers directly deliver fish to fish stall alleys, but I often visited fish vendors like this in the early morning. Isn’t it said that the early bird catches the worm? It was a similar logic.

“Let’s have some hot coffee!”

I gave mixed coffee to my close auctioneers and wholesalers. Of course, I’m not buying it with my own money. It is distributed at a rest area located in the auction house, but most auctioneers and wholesalers are too busy buying and selling fish to even think about buying coffee. If you get enough points like this, you will receive at least one more fresh fish.

“England, we’re not going to the nuclear bridge today!”

“You’re going to Musin school on the weekend! You don’t have any work to do.”

“Thank you, let’s get off the bridge and come this way! I’ll take care of your daily wages!”

The auction house where the auction has ended. Seagulls pay attention and peck at discarded fish scraps. Even the stray cats, who were normally enemies, worked together with the seagulls at this time to find abandoned fish and eat it. People pass by and pretend not to see them. This is probably because they do not know that they all want to make a living.

“Hey man, eat this. It’s better for you.”

I secretly threw one to a cat that looked like it was pregnant. The guy seems wary at first, but then runs to the other side of the dock with a fish in his mouth. I was worried that he might get hurt while running, but for some reason he turned around, turned towards me, blinked, showed composure, and then quietly disappeared. It was just about to start walking.

“Student Jang Young-guk?”

I turned my head at the unexpected voice and saw a familiar figure standing there. He was a middle-aged man neatly dressed in a suit, and I felt like I had seen him somewhere before. Who is it? Where have you seen this person? As I was tilting my head, a middle-aged man handed me a business card, and a memory flashed back to me.

“Aren’t you the president of Park Soo-young’s agency?”

“That’s right! I’m glad that the British student remembered me. Actually, I had no idea how to find the British student in this large shopping mall, but when I asked the merchants passing by, they all knew me well.”

“But why me?”

Filming had long since ended, and there was about a week left until the drama aired. Why did the man come to me in this situation? At that time, it was only a brief encounter at a daepot restaurant. I was surrounded by people from the filming team and couldn’t even say hello properly. That was all, but after a while, I felt my heart pounding as the words came out of the man’s mouth.

“Student Jang Young-guk, don’t you want to act again?”

* * *

Ssanghwacha has a deep flavor. It’s amazing that there are savory nuts and dried jujubes floating around in the tea, and even a yolk sprinkled with sesame seeds. If you take a spoon and push the yolk into your mouth, it is perfect for appeasing an empty stomach. It was a rare sight to see a boy savoring the taste of Ssanghwa tea like an old man in his sixties, but the coffee shop aunt didn’t even pay attention to it as if it was a sight she saw often.

“Boss, hurry up and take a bite. It’s best to eat it when it’s fresh out. If you leave it out, the yolk will be half-boiled and it won’t taste good.”

CEO Kim Seong-hwan nodded without realizing it and followed the boy, drinking the slurp first from the yolk. As I was born and raised in Seoul, it was almost my first time encountering Ssanghwa cars. As a Seoulite to his core, there was no drink better than coffee for his taste. It was definitely like that until I took a sip of Ssanghwa tea.

“Wow?! This is really delicious!”

“This is the best coffee shop in Namhang. The Ssanghwacha is really excellent. But why did you come looking for me?”

Kim Seong-hwan put down his tea cup as if embarrassed and said.

“I asked the British student earlier, right? Do you have any plans to act again? My name is Kim Seong-hwan, and I am the CEO of Songwon Entertainment in Seoul. I was really impressed by the British student’s passionate performance at the filming site before. Since then, I have continued to admire the British student’s acting. “It stuck in my head and I came back down.”

“Songwon Entertainment?”

“Have you ever heard of it?”

“No, I just thought the company name looked familiar. But you came up with the wrong street address. I have no intention of acting again. At that time, I had no choice but to postpone because I needed urgent money.”

Seonghwan Kim was taken aback by the boy’s stubborn attitude. Usually, child actors have a desire to act. Unless it is a case where the child is forced to act under the influence of his/her parents. There was definitely that desire in the boy’s performance that day.

“Why? If a British student has talent, he will definitely become a successful actor. I can guarantee that!”

“I may seem snobbish, but sir, are there any dramas or movies in Korea that feature child actors as the main characters? Not even in the U.S., and from what I’ve seen and heard so far, the fees are so small that it seems trivial compared to adult actors. I’m not sure yet. “I’m a student and I can’t leave my mother and go around the country trying to earn that money.”

It felt like I was having a conversation with a person of the same age. Moreover, what about his eyes? Instead of the curious gaze that children his age might display, he always faces me with simple eyes. The reason why Kim Seong-hwan met the boy first rather than his guardian was simple. Because the most important thing was whether the person involved wanted to act.

“It may not be there right now, but if we look for it, it may be there. That is, if a British student comes to our agency.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what I said to make the boss take such a long step forward. But like I said, I have no intention of acting again.”

“Could it be because of money? As I said before, if a British student succeeds through acting, money will automatically come in. Honestly, I never imagined I would say this directly to a British student who is not his guardian.”

“You’re half right, but there’s a bigger reason.”

“How can we change the minds of British students?”

These are the eyes that won’t give up. The boy knows these people well. I will never give up. Eventually, the boy seemed to hesitate, but then he poured Ssanghwacha into his mouth and elaborated.

“Boss, a small apartment in Yeongdo costs about 30 million won. If you give me that much as a down payment, I will consider it. You saw me wandering around the sales office earlier. There is a lot I saw and heard there. The down payment is not an advance payment, but is literally a company expense. “I ultimately decide whether to act or not.”

The contract details made no sense. But the boy’s unwavering gaze did not change. Eventually, when Seonghwan Kim could not continue speaking, the boy stood up and bowed his head deeply.

“Then, thank you for the Ssanghwa tea. My mother is waiting for you, so I will wake up first.”

Seonghwan Kim looked at the empty seat and wondered who he was talking to. Still small and black-haired. He certainly looked like a boy, but he spoke with the same pride as an adult. Was he really a middle school student? Only the strong scent of Ssanghwacha lingered in the coffee shop.

* * *

Entertainment industry agency representatives are generally divided into three types. Either a private person, a businessman, or an artist. Kim Seong-hwan, CEO of Songwon Entertainment, is, to put it bluntly, close to an artist. I didn’t know him at Daepotjip, but I knew him today after seeing him face to face and hearing his name. Moreover, I have heard quite a few stories related to him in my past life.

‘I guess he ended up going missing?’

It was an incident that once made a stir in the broadcasting world when I was playing minor roles in my past life. News that the CEO of Songwon Entertainment was imprisoned for embezzlement. Although it became known belatedly, it was embezzlement by a business partner. However, the business partner had already gone overseas, and CEO Kim Seong-hwan had to endure all the shit.

The damage was so enormous that Songwon Entertainment, which was supported by major actors, went bankrupt in an instant. He is famous for his good nature, so there were many people who offered to help him, but he also refused them. I don’t know any further news after that. There is a story that he suddenly disappeared without a word one day, and furthermore, there is a story that he was seen sleeping on the street near XX Station, but there is nothing accurate. At that time, there were only rumors that it was a card.

“Look! There’s some delicious fish here! Come check it out!”

While I was soliciting customers, his last image lingered in my mind. He is a person with good character. Even though I was told to speak comfortably, didn’t I always show respect to my younger self? I wanted to be crazy, but how can I explain what will happen in the future anyway? Besides, since you said it so bluntly, you will never come see me again.

“Whoa, you really have a good sense of vision! How can you be so good at picking out only the most trivial things? By the way, every time I see you, I’m going to cry if you keep getting younger like this.”

“Really? I like it, so I’m coming to see our soup. You’re the best when it comes to lip service. Even if you pay a lot for that service.”

“I provided Nuya with a generous amount of basic service, so please come back next time!”

Child actors are a bitch. This means that it is not worth the cost involved. Even if they somehow signed an exclusive contract, there was no way there would be a down payment. This was because there was very little profit that the agency could make. Moreover, for a child actor to be reborn as a believable adult actor is literally like growing beans in a drought.

You might think I’m crazy because I blurted out ridiculous contract terms in this situation, but for me, it was a good thing. The obsession of artists is unparalleled. The only way to separate them is to speak harshly.

“I’ll take care of cleaning up the Kuk-ah stall, so you can stop going. Even if you say shit at home every time.”

As I was thinking about random things, the day passed by quickly. However, the head and body seem to have moved separately. All the fish on the stall was sold out. Despite my mother’s dissuasion, I organized the stall one by one.

“What are you going to do, leaving your strong son behind? I can’t help him much on school days. So, I ask you to give it up for the weekends.”

It was time to stack and organize the fish stalls under the night sea. When I raised my head at what felt like a sudden gaze, CEO Seonghwan Kim was standing there. In one hand, he was holding a small handbag that he didn’t know where he got it from.

“British student!”

“president?”

It was a moment of confusion. However, Seonghwan Kim said hello to his mother first. My mother seemed surprised to learn that CEO Kim Seong-hwan was the president of actress Park Soo-young’s company. I wonder why on earth he came all the way to Yeongdo. It was then. The hand bag was placed loudly on the fish stall.

“We will meet the conditions that British students want! I was thinking about sending money to our bank account, but since I see business, I guess cash would be better, right?”

her.

This gentleman’s obsession is at the level of a bull’s tendon.