I Will Live As An Actor - Chapter 22

I Will Live as an Actor Episode 22

Ice Mill (製氷所) Even though summer has passed, the ice mill’s motor runs without stopping. Ice is as indispensable as fish in the South Port. Dozens of tons of ice are consumed at the Namhang market every day. In these days, the people at the ice factory couldn’t rest. It would be no exaggeration to say that ice was being produced constantly due to the influx of people.

“England! How dare you carry that heavy thing all by yourself!”

“It’s okay! Just put down a few more!”

“Oh my! It’s my monsanda! If you think it’s going to be monstrous, tell me now. If you make a mistake, you’ll lose your back!”

Ice piled up on the truck. Places where the roads were wide and well-maintained were visited by small trucks, but places that were not so well-maintained, like mazes, had no choice but to be entered manually. An ice cart passes between the stalls, just like old Mr. Ttongpo rode through the alleys ringing a bell.

“Tsk!”

At the same time as the command is given, the wheels make a rattling sound and slowly roll. Surprisingly, it does not take much force to move the cart. On the contrary, if you only try to do it with force, you will get tired and your fingertips will quickly become numb. It’s not an incredibly difficult task if you have a natural, flowing knack for it.

The most basic thing about selling fish is filling it with ice. The fresher it is, the more it is filled with ice. In my past life, I worked as a fish seller, transporting and filling hundreds of thousands of kilometers of ice, so I was able to handle this much. Even though my body grew younger, the tricks I learned back then remained as if they had been imprinted on me. Everyone seemed surprised that I was pushing a truck covered in ice by myself, but I paid no attention and hurried my steps before the ice melted.

“Ice has arrived!”

“England, are you delivering ice today too?”

“It’s the weekend, so what’s the point of sitting around in a corner of the house? At a time like this, I need to earn a little bit of pocket money!”

“Take a break while you’re at it. Don’t worry about your mother!”

“Okay, take a break! Have a drink of this before you go! If my baby were half as good as England, I would have no wish!”

The weekend was literally packed with people. The entire stall was so crowded that there was no need to solicit customers. My mother repeatedly urged me to rest for the weekend. However, in times like these, the market needs even more hands. Moreover, since I received something from the merchants at the Namhang Market, wouldn’t it be natural to repay it? Moreover, it is quite rewarding to earn pocket money along with the job.

Even the merchants who tried to dissuade him at first ended up throwing up their hands when they saw that he was able to do the job more easily than most adult men. As if he knew that he wouldn’t listen to him if he tried to stop him, he just compromised by telling him to take it easy.

“Kiya! It’s sweet and refreshing, so it’s the best!”

“That’s right! That’s how you heat it in the mill in the morning! It’s nice to have a bag of this and heat it whenever you’re thirsty! You’ve been through a lot in England on a day like today! Isn’t it too much for you?”

“Eunjiye! Pulling a cart may seem difficult on the outside, but once you learn the trick, it’s a piece of cake! It’s harder for you and your aunts than it is for me! Don’t worry and eat a lot of fish! We all have to become rich, right? !”

“Oh, oh, oh no matter what, our soup is a specialty of Namhang! You little bastard says it so beautifully!”

Famous product is such an undeserved word. The people of Namhang loved me unconditionally.

On days when there was at least one food to eat, they would secretly put it in their pockets, and sailors would occasionally give them octopuses that came with their nets. I also wanted to repay this attention and love. Unlike my past life, this is a relationship I want to lead for a long time.

“finished!”

Before I knew it, the ice that had piled up on the truck had completely disappeared. At every corner of the market, there was no place that wasn’t touched by my hands. Is it because I worked hard with my body? I felt that the hem of the pants I often wore had become shorter. I feel like I’m growing day by day. There was a time when I wondered if I was this tall at this time in my last life.

“uh?”

A man can be seen wandering around in the alley of stalls as if looking for someone. It looks familiar. Let’s approach cautiously and pretend to be popular.

“CEO?”

The man gets startled and hits his butt on the floor of the market.

* * *

The horn of a fishing boat plumbly docking, the lively splash of fish, and even the strong intonation of a sailor seemed to come together to show off the tune of a song. Seonghwan Kim felt like the congestion he felt in the city was disappearing, like the waves rippled in the sea breeze.

“It’s an independent film…”

Kim Seong-hwan recalled the conversation he had with the boy a little while ago.

-I am thinking about appearing in an independent film.

It was unexpected. Since I wanted to act, I naturally thought that I wanted to appear in a terrestrial drama or a commercial film being prepared in Chungmuro. After all, this was a child who did not hesitate to do hard work to ease his mother’s suffering even a little. But an independent film? At first, I didn’t understand the boy who made that decision.

“Kim Seong-Hwan still has a long way to go. He has a long way to go.”

As he became a farmer and tried to harvest before even fertilizing the land, words of criticism towards himself naturally poured out. In that respect, the boy was clearly an actor. It can also be compared to very fertile land. His orientation towards acting is clearer than anyone else. Some people act for money, others act for fame. As such, even the most experienced actors need to think about why they act.

‘What made you want to appear in an independent British student film?’

-I had a pure heart.

However, the boy said he wanted to become an actor for acting’s sake. The group of people who make independent films is diverse. From college students who majored in film to filmmakers who were unable to pursue their dreams when they were young. Although the conditions are different, the fundamentals boil down to one thing. Pure passion for movies.

“The more you look at it, the more attractive it becomes!”

Seonghwan Kim felt exhausted from the long drive, but he felt like the fatigue went away in an instant. The eyes of the boy playing in Namhang were like the sea. Not only when acting, but also when soliciting customers at a fish stall and selling ice while pulling a cart, he even shows extreme filial piety towards his mother. Like waves that change direction thousands of times a day, the boy’s appearance is diverse. However, like the sea that is blue all year round, there seemed to be an indescribable beam in the boy’s heart.

“This day is so heartbreaking!”

Seonghwan Kim shouted in an awkward dialect towards the blue sea. Just looking at it makes you feel the heat go away. The breakwater and flat rocks were already crowded with anglers. Everyone must have come to feel the thrill of fishing like a fisherman dreaming of a full boat. Seonghwan Kim also liked fishing quite a bit. However, I have never felt such an exhilarating feeling before.

Some people will ask, why don’t we look forward to child actors who are no better than unknowns? He bent his back like an angler catching a fish and pretended to wind the wheel. Seonghwan Kim instinctively knew this.

“Jang Young-guk!”

That a boy with that name would be the best catch.

Meow.

At that moment, a mother cat passing by the dock stops and looks at Kim Seong-hwan. Anyway, I must have looked like a crazy person because I was pretending to wind a fishing line in the air. The kittens also take a quick step following their mother. It was time to wrinkle my nose in embarrassment. Suddenly, the mother cat, who had been ahead for a while, turned her head and blinked at Seonghwan Kim. As if I thought so too.

* * *

“Hey, Shirakai on the weekend. We went to the ice maker again today!”

The mother’s harsh gaze is directed at the boy. Normally, it would be a shame to just look at my golden son, but at this point, even his mother is upset. Isn’t this my son who comes straight to Namhang after school on weekdays? I kept telling him to take a break, but he didn’t shy away from doing the hard work at the ice maker again.

“Work at an ice maker may seem difficult at first glance, but it is not difficult. And it’s nice to be able to meet the market vendors.”

“It’s not hard to say that it’s not hard. Guk-a-kada-ni-bingnan-day.”

“It’s all because I like it. I received a lot from Namhang. Even if I can’t return it all, it’s good to give a little like this. I go around and help out when there’s something to do, and I earn my own pocket money as well. In fact, the father of the Chojae family eats with my mother and me. “They also brought bellflower juice to me so I wouldn’t have to eat it in the late heat. Gyeongsuk’s wife also gave me rice flour like this. They are really grateful people. Right?”

He asks and smiles, making me speechless even when I try to say something.

This is a child who receives the love of Namhang (南港) generously. Although she was proud of such a son, the mother felt sad for some reason. She wondered how he had grown up so quickly and was suffering because he had an ugly mother. The son quickly elaborates, as if he had read that thought.

“I remember, Mom. When we first set up a stall at Namhang. At that time, Miss Yang brought us a lot of cold food. They said we couldn’t eat as much as we wanted at the inn. It was when we bought Nakwonjang (樂園莊).”

“That guy is talking about what he’s doing….”

“It wasn’t that bad back then. We hugged each other tightly and fell asleep every day. There were times when it was hard, but I didn’t hate it when the memories of that time came back to me sometimes. But I also have good memories of being with my mother.”

A place full of rough-tempered sailors. It must have been difficult for the mother to take care of her son on her own. He was scolded by the inn owner while cooking late at night to provide meals for his son.

“It’s the same in the room I’m living in now. But on rainy days, rainwater drips from the ceiling, and in the winter, on cold days, the pipes freeze and cold water, let alone hot water, comes out like an ant hole. That’s why. Now, the new memories are better. “It’s made there.”

Even on days with heavy rain, I would often take a nap while emptying a bucket full of water. In the winter, even though she washed her own hair with cold water, she warmed the water for her son over a charcoal fire.

“Why don’t we move into our apartment?”

“Apatu?”

“The CEO said he signed a contract for a small apartment in Yeongdo so that my mother and I can rest comfortably.”

CEO Seonghwan Kim said he would lend the apartment without any conditions. He repeatedly persuaded the boy who refused, saying that it was something he wanted to do, even excluding the down payment.

“I’m being treated to something like that all at once, and no matter how good it is, it makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Even when the boy had made quite a name for himself as an actor in his past life, his mother had said this. He told her to stop selling fish and buy him a new apartment so he could spend his golden years there, but his mother would never allow her son to spend money out of his own pocket.

“The CEO said he would come down to Yeongdo later and tell my mother in person. He also said that if I’m not going to move into an apartment, I shouldn’t even think about becoming an actor.”

CEO Seonghwan Kim is a truly grateful person. He was a person who constantly tried to think from the boy’s perspective, considering all situations. After signing the contract for the apartment, she joked that even as a mother, she would have no choice.

“What? That’s how the story goes..?”

“My mother said that if I were comfortable, I wouldn’t feel comfortable acting outside. What would I do if I lived alone? All I could think about was my mother lying down in a small room.”

“I wish I could cry about this. I know that the CEO is a good person, but I don’t know if I should repay this favor in full.”

“Because I will work hard and repay you for everything. Let’s do that.”

The boy wrapped his arms around his mother’s shoulders.

“Live happily ever after.”

On the beach, fishing boats out for fishing sparkle with their fishing lights. The feast of light reflecting off the waves seemed to reflect my past life like a panorama. How much of a burden was being carried on such slender shoulders? The boy promised. From now on, your son will protect you.