Life, Once Again!

After Story 250

-She scolded me again today. I did think I was a little insufficient as I was preparing for the assignment, and the instructor realized it right away. She asked me if I came here just to do an act on that level and said that I should get my act together.

“It’s fortunate that Miso noo-nim is shouting at you. It means that she recognized your efforts. If she truly thought that you were no good, she would kindly return your money and suggest that you quit.”

-I can’t imagine her being kind.

“It’s definitely true that it’s hard to see her like that. Try asking her out for a drink later. She’s more interesting than most people on private occasions.”

-I will. How are things at the shoot? It’s been over two weeks since I haven’t been there, and I have no news about it.

“Today will be the last day of the shoot; we just need to shoot some supplementary scenes and some edits. I told you to visit multiple times. How could you not come even once?”

-I really had no time. I’m studying with my sister’s money, so I should practice in my spare time.

“Don’t push yourself too hard though. Also, keep in touch with the lighting director. He’s starting to pester other people because he’s bored now that you aren’t around. Okay?”

-Yes.

Maru raised his head. Yeonjin was tapping on his watch and pointing with his chin. It meant that he was going to be on standby soon.

“Bangjoo, I have a shoot now.”

-Please go. I’ll call you again next time.

“Don’t bother, we’ll see each other at the after-party in two days. Good luck with studying. If you do badly, I’ll be the one being scolded by Miso noo-nim for introducing someone strange.”

He hung up and stood up. He headed to the bookstore with a rolled-up script. Today was his last day coming to this place, which he had been commuting to like he was a businessman going to work for two months. The shoot would’ve ended a lot earlier if it wasn’t for the late rainy season that came in the middle of August, but well, the skies told them to push back the schedule, so they couldn’t do anything about that.

“I feel like there are more people here.”

Maru looked at the people watching from a distance. There were so many people that it was hard to walk through this pretty wide street.

“Who do you think caused that?” Yoonseok said as he looked at him.

“It’s because of me?”

“To be precise, it’s thanks to the great seniors who came to see you.”

“Right, I forgot about that.”

Ganghwan made a visit two days ago. As he was someone who thought that one of the joys in life was to upload photos on social media, the location of this place was made known pretty far and wide.

“Senior Ahn Joohyun just uploaded a photo without saying anything much, so there weren’t that many rumors being made… but look at this. This is what senior Yang Ganghwan uploaded.”

Yoonseok showed him his phone. He could see Ganghwan taking a selfie with the set in the background. He even kindly described what it was about: the shoot of a junior I like and cherish. The film will be great. You should encourage them too.

“How many hashtags did this guy put on here?”

“That’s how people around his age do it. Do you see the number of hearts there? It’s 240 thousand. Huge, isn’t it?”

“People are being fooled. I guarantee that if they go out drinking with this man, at least half of his followers would unsubscribe.”

“Well, he was kinda full of energy.” Yoonseok shook his head.

“The setup’s done!” Jiseon shouted.

Maru entered the store under Yoonseok’s gaze. As today was a day where they were just shooting all the insert cuts, there was a lot less mental pressure. They were just going to shoot some supplementary cuts like simple actions, walking, hand gestures, and picking up an item.

After getting some extreme close-up shots, the additional shoot of the other actors began. Maru watched Haeun’s shoot before talking to her,

“It shows on your face too much. The next line is this, so I should do this — It’s good that you’re thinking that, but if it shows too much on the outside, the balance of your acting collapses.”

“I was being mindful about it, but I see I keep doing it. I tried to watch out for it after you told me that last time.”

“Everyone would be actors if they could improve overnight. Think carefully about what you need to do and about what suits you more.”

Going into the reshoot, Haeun finished up her act with a better expression than before.

The shoot, which began in the morning, continued after lunch and until sunset. Yoonseok tried his best not to miss even the little details. He would check and go over his work again and again.

“Thank you, everyone!”

“Good job, everyone!”

15 minutes past 10. Every shoot was finished. Each team got ready to pull out.

“Senior, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Good job until now. See you again next time.”

Haeun bowed before leaving. Maru went over to Yoonseok who was putting away the monitor.

“The director’s true suffering begins now, huh?”

“I was almost too happy because it was all over, and then it came to me. Ah, I have to do the editing now… Still, it’s good that there’s no deadline.”

“Don’t drag it out for too long though. Also, get along with the video editor.”

“I’ll accept his opinions as long as it doesn’t harm the image I have in mind. He should have better techniques than me, but the overall responsibility lies with me after all. I’ll finish it up well.”

Maru smiled and helped out with packing up. Everything was insufficient throughout the shoot, whether it be people, equipment, or time. Despite that though, the level of completion was something to look forward to. While he could not predict how the video would change after it was cut up and reattached, he believed in Yoonseok’s senses and persistence.

“It’s going to be hard to see me after the afterparty. I’ll be holing myself up in the editing room.”

“I’ll visit from time to time.”

Everyone got ready to pull out. Maru could overhear people rejoicing that they were going to go home. Yoonseok’s friends remained behind until the very end to clean up.

“Let’s take a photo before we turn the lights off,” Jiseon said as she picked up a camera.

“Senior Maru, you stand at the front, and the rest should stand behind him. No, wait. Senior, try lying down on that table. It’s our last time, so it’s no fun to just stay standing.”

Maru got onto the table that had a pile of books and laid down sideways. The staff members gathered around him.

“Try posing. A funny photo is the best for something like this.”

Hearing Jiseon’s words, everyone got into weird poses. Jiseon installed the camera on a tripod and quickly joined them. Shutter sounds could be heard repeatedly.

“Thanks, everyone. And good job,” Yoonseok said.

“Don’t just thank us in words. Buy us something.”

“That’s right. You’re just the director in name since you never treated us to anything. Hey, why don’t we empty Yoonseok’s credit card today?”

Yoonseok’s friends dragged Yoonseok away as he shouted no.

Maru went over to the camera left behind. The photo they took just now could be seen on the screen.

“Senior! Come with us after you put that away! We should eat something by ourselves before the after-party!” Jiseon shouted outside.

Maru nodded before putting away the camera. He opened the door and looked behind him. The set was something that contained his own handiwork from the beginning of the construction, and today was his last day in it.

Maru pressed each of the light switches one by one. The lights turned off and the interior of the shop became dark.

Faint light from the street lamps outside shone inside the store. He took a photo of the shop for one last time with his phone.

“I hope it turns out good.”

He closed the door and locked it.

* * *

-Give it up now and close it down. How long are you going to hold on to it? You should give up early when it comes to something that’s hopeless. Sheesh, father-in-law asked for something too much.

The words mom said to me felt sticky like the humidity during the rainy season. It was her complaint about grandfather who passed away without giving them any inheritance, as well as her criticism of me for foolishly wasting money by taking up the bookstore.

But mom, didn’t you like it when I first took over the store?

The sign for the laundry store in front of my store fell down today. The store was dismantled in no time by professionals and soon turned into a cozy fried chicken store. It was one of those fried chicken chains that all neighborhoods had at least two or three of.

The rib barbecue restaurant that had been running for generations turned into a café with a modern interior design, the only barber shop in the street turned into a cosmetics store, and the rice cake store was taken over by a clothing brand.

What would their original owners be doing right now? No, this wasn’t the time to be worried about them. I would be joining their ranks today after all.

“Sir, do we take all of these?”

“Yes.”

I sold all the books I could to the second-hand market, and the rest were sold as scrap paper. The value of the books that were hauled onto the truck was embarrassing to say the least. The books I had maintained so earnestly had turned into a weight lighter than a single 10 thousand won bill.

Another truck came to the store. They were a business that dealt with unused furniture.

“You have it better off. Say you were running a restaurant. The value of a refrigerator you used millions of won to buy would end up less than a tenth of that value. There are many businesses who say they want to take it for free too. Wooden tables and shelves are relatively better off.”

I couldn’t tell whether he was consoling me or teasing me. I looked at the furniture that was being hauled onto the back of the truck.

The last moments of a gray particle were lukewarm at best.

I looked at the empty store. The store that I thought would decorate a page in my youth, ended up writing just a couple lines, much less a whole page.

What do I do now? Go back to college, do some part-time jobs, graduate, and jump into the frontlines of employment?

I was only twenty-four, and I was a kid who hadn’t even graduated college. Maybe some would say that I was too young to talk about life. However, being a kid didn’t mean I didn’t know the fear of failure. In fact, I was even more afraid of failure precisely because I was a kid.

I lost the store grandfather passed down to me. My best efforts paled in the face of the result that was failure.

It’s nothing much; shake it off; it’s not like your life is over, is it? You just need to prepare something else – no matter how much I tried to console myself, I couldn’t help but feel remorse.

“Look at that. It’s really pretty.”

“Should we go inside?”

People flocked to the street. They walked to the stores that were decorated nicely. I stood in the middle of the street and looked at the people walking past me.

Would they know? Would they know that there was a laundry store with a great owner here? That there was a barbecue restaurant with great food? That there was a rice cake shop emitting a savory smell?

…and that there was a bookstore that an immature young man dedicated his whole life to?

“Looks like this place went out of business.”

“This is a really popular place, so if they went out of business there must’ve been an issue with the owner,” said the two people passing by as they looked at the empty bookstore and went into the café on the opposite side.

I closed the bookstore and locked it up. I got a call on the way home. It was the landlord.

-Yes. Good decision. This is good for you too, you know? I’ll make an exception and pay you the deposit right away. You know that it’s usually paid after I get the next leaseholder, right?

“Yes, thank you.”

I turned around after hanging up. I looked at the populated street for a long while. What do I do tomorrow morning? It was frustrating and stifling.

“What a boatload of crap.”

The only thing I could do was to swear.

* * *

By the time the swear was buried by white noise, the ending credits rolled up.

Maru crossed his arms and watched the screen.

“How is it?” Yoonseok asked, his voice full of confidence.

“It ended earlier than I thought.”

“I had a gut feeling the moment I entered the editing office: this won’t take long. I felt like I could play back the completed video in my head. That’s why it was smooth working with the video editor.”

Maru nodded. Unlike his confident voice, Yoonseok was looking at him with a nervous expression. It seemed he was curious about Maru’s assessment.

“It’s… better than I thought,” Maru said honestly.

Yoonseok stood up from his chair and shouted ‘yes.’