I Will Live As An Actor - Chapter 21

I Will Live as an Actor Episode 21

A similar situation to a few months ago. There was a subtle tension in the classroom. If this were a movie filming location, the director of photography would capture the homeroom teacher’s face at a reverse angle as well.

“Today, our class ranked third in the entire school.”

However, unlike before, the subject’s expression was different. It’s not a look of suspicion. Aren’t the feelings of pride and pride projected onto the subject without filtering, as if facing one’s grown son? The reactions of my classmates were also quite different.

“Congratulations Jang Young-guk!”

That was right after ‘August Man’ aired. As if dispelling the public’s worries, the debut work of famous producer and writer Choi Eun-sook set off a proper signal. It seems that the viewer ratings as well as favorable reviews from viewers are quite high, as news is already circulating that there are discussions about extending the broadcast. What about the boy?

Isn’t it commonly said that he is a sudden star? Of course, this is a story limited to the bottom of Youngdo. Although the child roles had already passed and the adult actors were acting, the people of Namhang, including his classmates, could not forget the boy’s passionate performance.

“Jang Young-guk, please follow me to the grade director’s office for a moment.”

A look of disappointment was evident on the students’ faces upon hearing the homeroom teacher’s call. Anyway, during break time, I often received letters or chocolates from female students I didn’t know. I think it was because of the setting in ‘August Man’ that Kim Ha-jin likes chocolate. I lived my past life without even knowing the ‘Yeon’ character of love, but it wasn’t that bad to feel loved like this.

“Sit down, man, don’t stand like a fool.”

As before, the homeroom teacher arrived at the grade manager’s office and sat down in his chair. He looked at the boy with strange eyes. This quick glance is not unpleasant. It felt like a bonsai enthusiast examining a precious ornamental tree.

“Are you satisfied with your grades this time?”

“I’m very satisfied and I’m not.”

“Hey, you bastard are being greedy.”

It wasn’t a lie. In fact, the number of third place in the school was an amazing result, but it was not enough. After all, it’s a middle school exam, isn’t it? Since there was no discrimination, it was not uncommon for rankings to be divided by one or two points. But it didn’t feel bad. Because it means there is still room to climb.

“Dude, do you know how much of a headache the teacher is having because of you these days? The girls write handwritten letters, buy chocolates, and bring them to you every day. The boys take something they saw somewhere and go to the tap every break to fill their bellies. If they do that, they might catch enteritis, which is a headache. In the end, it will be me.”

“I am sorry.”

“The little guy is so serious about everything that it’s not fun, so he jokes around with the teacher a lot in the drama. There are absolutely no young or old people here. By the way, did you finish using the tutorial I gave you last time?”

The homeroom teacher held out a shopping bag as if she was annoyed. It was full of tutorials and school supplies.

“Your fan gave it to you as a gift, so study hard with it this time too.”

“A fan?”

“Yeah man.”

I was dazed. I received a lot of chocolate right after The Man in August aired, but I have never received a gift like this before. I was about to bow my head deeply and leave. The homeroom teacher took out a piece of paper and a permanent marker and pushed them.

“Hey! Give me an autograph before you leave.”

“yes?”

Homeroom teacher Kim Bong-du wiped the bridge of his nose as if embarrassed.

“I, England, am your biggest fan.”

* * *

Didn’t they say that a horse without feet can travel a thousand miles? I don’t know where the rumor started. The number of tourists at Namhang Market exceeded that of the weekend even though it was a weekday. It was so scary that it almost felt like I was being pushed on my back while walking.

“It’s here! Hajin, I’m going to buy this and this, so can you take a picture?”

“Hamoye! It looks like you came from far away, but if you don’t take a picture, I’ll get scolded! Don’t worry about that, just take a look around!”

“Wow, all the fish are really fresh! I don’t know what to choose.”

“The water in the South Port is so low that even when the fish come out on land, they jump around like this! If you can’t choose, I’ll choose the one that’s good! I’ll buy a few more fish and give them a pampering and a treat for the whole family.” This is a mess!”

I was able to feel the ripple effect of the airwaves. Even though the market was so crowded that it wasn’t possible to solicit customers, people came first and chose fish. The smiles on the faces of the market merchants did not disappear. Isn’t that also the case every day, just like Lunar New Year? As a joke, it was said that there was no need for a warehouse to store fish. As such, there was no end to the cheers at the port bay.

“Chairman, where are you going if you’re not doing business? Why is Chairman Park of Jagalchi next to you? Is today Mushin Day?”

“On the day my ears fell off, my child! On a day like today, you can say that the Namhang market was reborn!”

“How about just rolling it up on your side and carrying it around?”

“If you look at it, you will see it! This is a banner child boasting about being the son of our Namhang!”

Even the chairman of the Jagalchi Merchants Association, who can be considered a brother of Namhang, joined in. After the drama aired, just like the boy’s rant, people from all eight provinces across the country flocked to Namhang Market, regardless of whether it was Jagalchi or not. Is it because of that? In the end, a banner with the boy’s face was hung at the entrance to Jagalchi Market in Namhang. They unintentionally became the mascots of the two markets.

“Britain is so bad. If days like these keep repeating, I feel like I’m suffocating from the happiness! Even the old man at Chojae’s house is lamenting that there are no customers because all the old people who used to frequent Chojae’s house have passed away. Just look at how crowded Chojae’s house has been these days. “The decoction machine is running like crazy! Ankana! The commissioner and the mayor, get rid of them all! Our British people are the best!”

The district office always prepared annual events and festivals to attract outsiders, but there was no real benefit. But I never thought a drama would become so popular all at once. To exaggerate, even if a boy were to run for election now, most talkative politicians would have beaten him. It was then.

“Hey…”

“Hey! Did you come alone? Please choose carefully! It’s so cool to mess around here in the red basin! If we eat together, one of us might die! Kai!”

“That’s not it…”

“So, are you looking for a restaurant? If you go straight ahead and turn right, you’ll go straight to the restaurant. No matter what you choose to eat, I think you’ve come to Namhang in a good way! By the way, before ordering, I mentioned Jang Young-guk. “Once you eat it, you’ll be able to enjoy it for a meal!”

“Please take this!”

“yes?”

It was an old and thick document envelope.

* * *

“Kook, what are you looking at?”

A single room that is the mother and child’s home. It has been a long time since dusk has fallen, but the boy’s eyes are always focused on one place. Among the foreigners visiting Namhang Market, there were quite a few people related to the broadcasting station. Several producers from the Current Affairs Bureau came to see the boy, saying they wanted to film him going about his business, but he was not impressed, so he refused and sent him back several times.

“That’s what the person gave you earlier?”

“Yes, I guess he’s a college student studying film.”

“Seeing how focused you are, I can see that the young man is quite good at writing.”

He is a person who made a name for himself as a screenwriter in his past life. When I heard the university and its name, I vaguely recognized England. He’s an ordinary young man now, but just wait a dozen years and you’ll see that many famous actors and actresses are looking for him to be featured in that author’s works. But now I’m more interested in directing than writing. It seems that no one knows the future of a thousand miles in the world.

“Do you feel the same way, Kook?”

“No, I just watch it because it’s fun. It’s pure.”

“pure?”

As the saying goes, independent films stimulate a strange charm. The production costs are ridiculously low compared to commercial films, and actors are hard to find if you look for established actors. The running time should not exceed an hour at most, and all humor and philosophy should be contained within it.

Someone said It is said that the essence of a work comes from the artist’s hunger. Shooting an independent film is like sprinting. The production period can be as short as a week or as long as a month. You have to burn all your passion in it. The term “equivalent exchange” is meaningless. Of course, there was no profit. It was simply a matter of turning one’s pure passion into a work of art.

“I didn’t know whether I would appear or not, but I came here from Seoul on a whim. I was so nervous that my hands were shaking when I handed over the envelope. There must have been a time when everyone was as innocent as that college student. I don’t know if that’s why I pay attention to them more. ”

The boy also had such passion in his past life. Those days were filled with pure passion for acting, like the sky without a speck of dust. The mother elaborated as she looked at her son’s innocent smile, which bloomed naturally while reminiscing about that time.

“My son’s mother wants Kook to do everything he wants to do. He likes studying and doesn’t hate doing business. But his mother likes Kook’s acting the best.”

“Acting?”

“Do you remember Guk? When my father went out fishing in the morning dew, the two of us told him to come back carefully and stay in the port for a long time. My father happened to have a full ship and a smile on his face and blood in the port. When I got off, you were the first to run and hug me. My father’s expression then was the same as yours now. I can’t explain in words how great it was and how touching it was to see my son appear on TV and recite his lines.”

The mother said as she hugged her son.

“It’s like watching your uncle go out fishing and come back with a full boat. It’s such a good feeling.”

* * *

Even before the morning dew has gone, I am busily rummaging through the closet. CEO Seonghwan Kim took out the dress shirt his wife had neatly ironed the night before and carefully put it on. However, there is no way my wife, who is a good sleeper, would not know that fact.

“honey…?”

Kim Seong-hwan’s eyes, looking at his lovely wife with a dreamy voice, were more filled with joy than ever.

“Myeong-ja, are you awake? Don’t worry, sleep some more. I have to go on a business trip today.”

“Business trip? You didn’t say that yesterday.”

“If an angler catches a big fish, how can he not go there?”

I respond using the awkward dialect I learned in Yeongdo. Seonghwan Kim felt like the boy’s voice he heard last night was still lingering in his head. At first, I rubbed my eyes several times, wondering if I had picked the receiver by mistake in my sleep.

– Representative, I will do it.

“British student? What are you doing..?”

The answer that followed made Seonghwan Kim feel like he was falling asleep. It wasn’t a shock as if cold water had been poured, but a crushing emotion rose like a tide to the tip of my chin, as if I had heard the first cry of a newborn baby.

-I’m going to act!

He was the one who stayed up all night with his eyes open. I was so anxious that I stamped my feet dozens of times. Would this be what it would feel like to meet your first love again? Or maybe this was how I felt when I first went on a school field trip as a child. I couldn’t sleep due to the excitement tickling my face mercilessly.

“Wait a minute, where are you going on a business trip?”

“leading!”

Kim Seong-hwan loudly kissed his wife’s forehead as she lovingly rubbed her eyes, then immediately took her car keys and left. When he starts the car, which is so old that it cannot be considered the vehicle of the agency’s CEO, he lets out a cheerful cry as if he knows the owner’s feelings. However, if a stranger heard it, they would question whether it was the sound of a tiller.

“It must be cozy!”

A small, narrow room for a mother and child to live in. There was warmth, but I wanted to provide the ultimate comfortable haven. Countless times a day, the dinner table of that day flashed before my eyes. The boy’s performance echoed in my head like an echo that never left my head. I had to pick up and put down the receiver hundreds of times, so much so that my grip ached. But didn’t they say that if you wait, good luck will come? Surprisingly, what Jumbachi said was not wrong.

-The only thing we can do is to wait for the bolt to unlock on its own!

The locked bar finally opened the gun gate. There was no more time to wait for the first train. My heart was pounding as if it were broken. Some people will. As a businessman, the investment potential is absolutely zero. But how can you put a price on an actor’s life? He knows that art is priceless.

“Youngdo, wait! I’m coming!”

The old car moves forward, letting out a cheerful cry. The rising dawn, like a lighthouse illuminating the coast, guides him.