Life, Once Again!

After Story 264

“That was good,” Maru said to the student who just displayed her act.

“Senior, you keep saying that we were good. Are you sure we really are?” asked a student who finished her act a while ago.

“I can lie very well when it’s really necessary, but when I don’t need to, I usually tell the truth. Right now, there’s nothing for me to gain by lying to you all here, so everything I’m saying is the truth.”

“Really?”

“You said your name was Miss Ijin, right?”

“Yes.”

“Miss Ijin, your acting has a sharp taste to it. It’s splendid that you know your strong points and chose a story that can bring out those strong points. Of course, if I want to find a weak point, then I can do that too. If it was a critique session like before, I would have talked about them, but we’re not doing that now.”

“Rather than my strong suits, I want to improve on my weak points. I think it’ll be really helpful if you can tell me about them.”

“I get what you’re worried about. In terms of tests, you are getting a D in one subject while getting a B in the rest so you want to improve the scores for that subject, right? But I believe that actors should bring out their strong points rather than be moderately good at everything.”

He looked around at the students sitting around him.

“There’s no one in this class who’s doing acting as a hobby, right?”

Yes – the students replied all at once.

“In the end, you should all be aiming to act on top of a stage or in front of a camera and to consolidate your positions as actors. You must also be thinking about the financial benefits that would come along with it. If this was a meeting of those who purely enjoyed acting, then I would have told you to practice your weak points and improve on them. But that’s not the case for everyone here, is it?”

He put up nine fingers, equivalent to the number of students here.

“There are nine people who want to become actors. Among these people, how many do you think will achieve success? No, forget success. How many of these people will be able to make a living with a single occupation known as an actor?”

No one spoke. It should be hard to say anything. If they were in Miso’s class, they should know what kind of place the entertainment industry was.

Maru folded all the fingers.

“I am talking about the reality that you all know about. I’m sure you’ve all visited the various agencies and production companies with your profiles. You must have thought about all sorts of things while putting your profile in the plastic container they provide for you. Each and every agency and production company gets hundreds if not thousands of profiles. Who here has passed an audition for a commercial film?”

Only Bangjoo raised his hand.

“Bangjoo managed to pass because the requirement was being able to do action and stunts, not ordinary acting. It was a minor role, but despite that, the competition was fierce. But being a minor actor in a film doesn’t resolve the everyday needs issue. It would if you keep getting work, but those actors are extremely rare.”

“What do we do, then?” asked a student wearing glasses.

“That’s why the first thing you should be doing is improving on your strong points. Becoming an actor who can do everything is something you should think about once you get on the stage. If you haven’t even climbed onto a stage, thinking about improving your weak points is just inefficient. I’ll say this again, but I’m only saying this to you because you are all people who want to make their livelihood on acting.”

He stood up from his seat. He held his hands politely and spoke,

“Hello. I have somewhat decent pronunciation and breathing, and my acting is moderately good too. I can also digest stunts to some extent.”

He then unfolded his arms.

“There are too many actors like this. Acting is not a single category. A spiteful character, a character who’s quick to cry, a character who smiles a lot, a character who can look vicious, a character who can sound cold — characters who need various emotions are only the lead and supporting characters that the camera focuses on. Aside from them, all other characters will have just one emotion stand out. Now, you should all know what I’m trying to get at after I told you this much.”

“Isn’t it a big minus to have your image conform to one specific type of character as an actor?”

Maru nodded to that student’s question.

“It is a big minus. But for an actor who isn’t even on the starting line, there is no such thing as a minus. The artistic facet of acting is important, but if you want to make a living as an actor, if you want to live as an actor, you must think about the realistic side as well. Bringing out the true taste and coolness of acting is something you should be thinking about once you have your name in the credits.”

Miso clapped once before speaking,

“You should all talk about what he said among yourselves. Talk about what your strong suits are that you should be emphasizing.”

“What about you, instructor?”

“He came here to see me, so don’t you think we should talk at least?”

“Leave senior Maru here,” said the students mischievously.

Miso frowned and told them to discuss before signaling towards him. He left the practice room with Miso.

“I’m sure the words you told them will be helpful. Advice from a real actor should hold a completely different weight.”

He followed Miso up to the rooftop. When she placed the key card on the door of the rooftop, the door opened.

“It’s nice and breezy here.”

“It’s the resting spot for the people working in this building. They smoke and drink coffee here. Since we’re at it, would you like some coffee? The vending machine coffee here is better than most cafés.”

“If it’s popular, then I should have some.”

Miso bought some vending machine coffee that cost 300 won. It was a stereotypical vending machine coffee that had a lot of sugar.

“These days, it’s hard to find vending machine coffee because there are more cafés than vending machines.”

Miso walked up to the railing with the paper cup. He put his arms on the safety railing that was higher than his waist level. Even though it was past 9 in the evening, the street was still bright.

“It doesn’t look like you have business for me. What made you visit?”

“It’s not that I don’t have any business, but I mainly just came here to see you.”

“That’s so cheesy.”

“People are all cheesy depending on the situation.”

Maru sipped some coffee before speaking,

“I’m going to get married soon, so I’ve been going around telling people I’ve been indebted to.”

“I had a hunch. When I saw the news, I thought that you two had made up your mind. Did you propose to Haneul?”

“That’s a bit difficult. We’ve proposed to each other countless times.”

“You were very successful if you were trying to get a single mad,” Miso said as she glared at him.

He smiled softly.

“I came here because I felt like I’d only be able to get you to come if I told you about it before I gave you the invitation to the wedding.”

“Do I have to go no matter what?”

“Yes, you have to come no matter what.”

“Aren’t there other people you should be calling, not me?”

“We’re going to hold a small one outdoors.”

“That’s even more of a reason to invite people closer to you.”

“To me, you are one of those people. I’ve been indebted to you a lot too.”

“You’ve been saying things about being indebted for a while now, but it’s not like I helped you much.”

“You did. A lot.”

She looked at him.

“Well, if you say so.”

“You’re coming, right?”

“Just tell me once the wedding invitation is ready. I’ll go if I don’t die.”

He smiled and nodded.

“Oh, how are things going with Geunsoo hyung-nim?”

“We’re total duds as members of the opposite sex, but as friends, there’s no one better than him. Thanks to you, I got a good friend. It looks like I’m destined to live by myself. It’s just too comfortable. Geunsoo said that too.”

“Being alone isn’t always a bad thing.”

“I feel like you’re teasing me since you’re about to get married. I’m being paranoid, right?”

“Probably?”

Miso lightly slapped him on the back of his head.

“Live a good life. I liked Haneul the moment I saw her for the first time. It’s like we’ve known each other since before.”

“That’s why I’m having a hard time. Everyone around me looks out for her. It makes me sad, you know?”

“If you’re sad, then give Haneul to me. I’ll feed her well.”

“Haneul and I are a combo, you see.”

“Then live well by yourselves.”

Miso spread her hand and slapped him on the back. Maru frowned at the pain before smiling.

* * *

“You saw it, right? You’ll be hard-pressed to find anything better. The location is good and there’s a large moving population here. As you saw during lunch, there is a decent number of customers as well. If you grab this now, you’ll be able to earn 6 million a month on pure profits alone. You see the profits on the contract, right?”

Yeonjin looked at the materials attached to the contract.

“If it’s really like this, then this is really good.”

“Something as good as this only appears once or twice a year. And that’s why I’m saying that you’re very lucky. Isn’t it really hard to do investment these days? And there’s a shop that has already proven its business at this cost? You can just hire some part-timers and go traveling overseas. It’ll change your life. If I could take out another loan right now, I would’ve taken this place for myself.”

“It definitely looks good.”

Team leader Park rolled his pen around and spoke,

“You met us through someone who’s acquainted with our company.”

“Yes, that’s true. Woojin hyung-nim told me this company was upright and good.”

“That’s why I’m giving you such a great place. If someone came here without connections, I wouldn’t even bother introducing them to this place.”

Yeonjin nodded and had another look at the contract. He subconsciously smiled because of the profits that looked better than he expected. It was a pretty easy job for him because running the café could be left to part-timers and he just had to take care of the inventory.

“Uhm, but sir. I think we need to proceed with the contract as soon as possible,” said team leader Park as he put down his phone.

“There’s another person who wants to buy this place, even going as far as to pay more for it.”

“Really?”

“I’m holding him back for now, but I can’t hold him back for long. As you can see, it’s a very good item.”

Yeonjin looked at the clock. There were about 30 minutes left for Maru to come.

“Uhm, can’t you wait for just 30 minutes…?”

“It’ll be difficult. They want this item very much.”

He started becoming nervous. It was outside of his expectations that he had to get more loans, but even then, this place looked good enough to undertake those risks. He felt like he couldn’t miss this opportunity. Just as he was hesitating,

“If you don’t plan on accepting it, I’ll take this contract back. You saw this, didn’t you? They’re very desperate on the other side.”

Team leader Park showed him his phone which was vibrating like crazy. One message after the other was being received. It really looked urgent.

“Wait, I’ll sign the contract.”

He had a look at the store in person and saw that they had a lot of customers. It was a bit of a pity that he couldn’t meet the owner in person because the deal was through an agent, but that couldn’t be helped.

Yeonjin took out his stamp. Just as he was about to stamp the contract that team leader Park laid out for him, a knock could be heard from the other side of the window. When he turned around, he saw Maru outside. He had a mask and a baseball cap on.

“Who?” team leader Park asked.

“Someone I know. I called him because this is a first for me.”

“Oh, okay. You should stamp the contract first.”

Hearing those words, he lifted up the stamp subconsciously. The endlessly buzzing phone, team leader Park’s urging, and the customers at the café moved his hand.

Just as the stamp was about to touch the paper,

“Hello.”

Maru, who had entered the store, grabbed his arm and greeted them. Team leader Park smiled and greeted Maru.

“Yes, hello there. I heard, our good sir over here knows you.”

“This is the first time my brother’s done something like this. I plan to participate as well, is that okay with you?”

“Of course, but I’ve explained things well and our good sir was just about to stamp the papers after accepting it. This is a really good place, so everyone wants it.”

“That must be one great item then.”

Maru naturally sat down and picked up the contract. Team leader Prak looked at Maru before tilting his head. He couldn’t tell because of the mask, but he seemed to think that it was a face he had seen before.

Maru didn’t even look at the first page and had a look at the benefits page. What was he trying to look at? Team leader Park spoke to Maru, who was looking alternately at the front and back pages,

“Uhm, sir brother, we’re not scammers. We even have a business registration and are the first in this industry. You don’t need to worry.”

“Yes, of course. What world do we live in for you to scam us so outright? I know that too.”

Team leader Park started acting up again.

“Uhm, sir, I’m really sorry but they’re really desperate right now. Are you not going to sign the contract?”

“Wait a second.”

Yeonjin also looked at Maru. It was good that he was worried for him, but he became uneasy about missing this good place because of it. Just then, Maru put down the contract.

“Just as I thought. No matter how the times change, the schemes don’t change. Isn’t that right, team leader?”