After Story 185

After getting out of the car, Junghwa looked for the café sign.

Insome, Insome… she found it. She grabbed her bag and started walking.

Having arrived at the café, she saw a sign that said that there was a shoot happening inside.

Looking inside, she saw Han Maru talking in front of a camera. Next to him was a reporter from a KBS entertainment program.

She carefully opened the door and went inside. She showed her business card for ‘Movie Road’ to the staff member trying to block her way.

It seemed they were notified beforehand, as the staff made way for her.

“With the indie film you have shot before, as well as Depths of Evil and Case Number 0, there was absolutely no romance in any of those works. Don’t you want to try acting as a couple?”

Maru laughed loudly at the reporter’s question.

“I’d love to if they allow me. But directors seem to look for more stimulating stuff from my face than fresh love.”

“I think that’s because you’re an actor with a lot of individuality. If you ever shoot something about fresh love, which actress would you like to try doing it with?”

“I’ve never thought about it in detail, but I’d like to do it with someone with a pretty smile.”

“That answer sounds like you were conscious of someone.”

“Did it?”

“Since we’re on the topic, let me ask you a question. This was at the top of the list of questions we took beforehand. Actor Han Maru is currently in a relations.h.i.+p or not? One, two, three!”

“I’d love to be.”

“So you’re single right now?”

“Yes.”

“Are you really sure?”

“Probably?”

“That sounds like a suspicious answer, but I think you’d hate me if I try to dig deeper, so I guess I should stop here.”

“I was planning to run away if you kept asking. It’s in the middle of winter, yet why am I sweating so hard, I wonder.”

Maru fanned himself and overreacted. He was fles.h.i.+ng out the reporter’s question so that the interview would go smoothly. It would be great if all actors responded to interviews like Maru did.

Junghwa sat on a chair in the café and wrote down the questions that the reporter asked. She was going to skip questions that she had ready if they overlapped with these questions or change them slightly.

Actors would gain fatigue and the quality of the interview would decrease if they were asked the same questions.

“Please look forward to actor Han Maru’s feats in the future. Actor Han, please say a word to our audience.”

“I’ll do my best to become a good actor. Please keep encouraging me and watching over me. Thank you.”

The reporter’s applause signaled the end of the shoot. The producer and the writer went over to Maru and had a conversation with him.

After a round of goodbyes, the equipment was pulled out. The people from the TV station also left the café.

“Did I make you wait for long? That took longer than I expected. If I had known that this would happen, I wouldn’t have called you to come early,” Maru came over and said.

“Not at all. I didn’t wait that long, and delays are frequent in broadcast shoots. Rather than that, you must be tired, doing one interview after another.”

“I thought about delaying the interview, but thinking about the date, I thought that I had to do it today.”

“You must be busy to make time for these.”

Maru shook his head at her words.

“There’s that too, but I’ll have to do the interview with you today so that the interview goes up before the TV broadcast, whether it’s on the internet or the magazine.”

“I didn’t know you looked out for me so much.”

She couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but she did feel like he was being considerate of her. In any case, it was a grateful matter.

“I’m really enjoying the drama.”

She lightly brought up the topic of the drama before the interview.

“Was it interesting?”

“I found it really interesting. It’s been a while since I watched something so faithful to the genre, so I’m watching the new episodes whenever they come out.”

“How about the fantasy elements? Do they feel forced?”

“I was rather weirded out at first. It felt like watching that old drama about urban myths all over again. But when I kept watching, the sense of disparity disappeared. I thought that this would work out too.”

“Thank you for such positive feedback.”

While they were talking, the café owner came over. Maru took some photos with the owner and asked about what time they had the café reserved until.

“You can use it to your heart’s content until six. That was the agreement.”

The owner left after answering. She looked at the clock. There was plenty of time, so she could take the interview slowly.

“Shall we begin?” she asked as she opened up her laptop.

Maru nodded.

“First of all, thank you for responding to our interview request. The higher-ups were really eager to get an interview from you. You’re such a hot potato these days after all.”

“Movie Road is a magazine I enjoy reading. The article you wrote about me last time was good, so I wanted to do my first magazine interview with Movie Road this time as well. But it’s not really a movie I’ve been featured in, so I’m not sure it’ll go well with the magazine.”

“While we’re called Movie Road, we don’t always just talk about movies. These days, when domestic movie t.i.tles are far and few in between, we focus on the actors instead. I think you’ll be our main model for the cover for the January edition.”

“Am I really good enough to be on there?”

“More than sufficient, I’d say. I think you have the tendency to underestimate yourself.”

“It’s a habit of mine. If I boast without knowing how high the skies are, then I might fall down and break some bones.”

She smiled and asked back, “Honestly though, you do know that your popularity and reputation are incomparable to before, right?”

“If people recognizing me is a measure of popularity… then yes, I’m experiencing it in real-time.”

“I heard that your fans made lunchboxes for you during the drama shoot.”

“Thankfully, some people gave me some gifts. I thankfully enjoyed them all.”

She typed on the keyboard for a bit before speaking,

“Offerings are what they’re called, right? Internet fans are gifting presents to the singers and actors they like.”

“At first, I found that word a little funny, offerings.”

“I think it’s supposed to be a humorous word.”

“Before, most of it was about personal presents, but these days, it has changed in form to giving lunchboxes to the staff at the shoot or making donations under a celebrity’s name, right? I think that’s why I can receive it so much more comfortably. I would’ve felt that it was too much if it was a monetary gift.”

“Wasn’t it a pity though? With that kind of money, you can get a luxury brand bag.”

“That’s a scary question.”

It was supposed to be a joke question to lighten things up a little, so she had no plans to put it on the interview. Maru seemed to be aware of that as well.

“I can’t help but talk about the drama. Case Number 0, how did you get cast in it?”

She moved on to the questions about the actor. She first talked about the things that the subscribers to the magazine might be curious about.

“I was on a break after Depths of Evil. During that time, some businesses and directors sent me scenarios. They were all good works too. Had I not met Case Number 0, I would’ve appeared in one of them.”

“But you chose to go with a drama instead of a movie.”

“Yes. One day, director Cha Myungjoon and writer Yoo Jungtae reached out to me for lunch. I was getting a free lunch, so there was no reason for me to refuse, so I went there with glee.”

“And that turned out to be not just a simple eating occasion?”

“Yes. As soon as I sat down, they gave me a scenario with grave expressions. That was Case Number 0.”

“You must have been taken aback then?”

“A little. But when I read it, all of that disappeared. The writing intrigued me so much. I really liked the character. In my desire to do it, I said on the spot that I’ll do it.”

“That’s how you got to act as Ahn Changsik, I see.”

“Actually, no. The role that the two of them proposed to me was the role of Yoon Hojung, the murderer. Maybe I just look like one.”

She chuckled before following up,

“You’ll look good in the role of Yoon Hojung, but maybe because I watched the drama, but I don’t think I can imagine anyone else other than you in Ahn Changsik’s role.”

“You’re too good at flattering me. It’s rather embarra.s.sing to get praised like that.”

“I’m honestly saying my impressions. So, while you were offered the role of Yoon Hojung, you ended up doing the role of Ahn Changsik, huh? Can you tell us the story behind that?”

Maru told her the circ.u.mstances behind how Yang Ganghwan, who was in the same agency, got to play the role of Yoon Hojung. She wrote down what Maru said and spoke to herself,

“If actor Yang Ganghwan didn’t come across the scenario that you took to the company…”

“If he didn’t see it, then someone else might be playing Yoon Hojung right now.”

“As an avid watcher of the drama, I can say that it’s such a relief. Actor Yang Ganghwan is also definitely necessary in Case Number 0.”

“It makes me think that luck is a really important factor when working.”

“Really.”

She then asked about Maru’s future plans.

“I think I’ll be busy until early next year with things other than acting.”

“You mean with commercials and other shoots?”

“Yes.”

“What about after that?”

“I will try to do my best so that you can see me in another work.”

“Are there any works that reached out to you? How are the works that you turned down for the sake of the drama?”

“I was unable to partic.i.p.ate in the scenarios that I got before because of the schedule overlap, but thankfully, I was given a few other offers.”

“Following a murderer, you got to act as a family member of a murder victim. What kind of person will you show us next?”

“I’ll have to see what I can get, but I want to do something more comfortable to see.”

“Like everyday life?”

“Yes.”

“That sounds like it’ll suit you. If you do one, please get in touch with us.”

“Don’t worry. I’d like to maintain a good relations.h.i.+p with journalist Choi from Movie Road from now on too.”

She took out a camera. As the café had a good interior design, it was suitable to shoot photos in as well.

She took a photo of Maru looking outside with his chin resting on his palm.

In the last interview, she didn’t realize this because the photos they put in the magazine were his profile photos provided by the agency, but now that she actually took a photo of him, she felt a sense of leisure from him like he was a full-fledged model.

The figure was good, so even if the composition was awkward, the outcome looked good as well.

Serious expression, mischievous smile, locked in thought — these photos that she just took would decorate the magazine page that will be set aside for the special section.

“Oh, and this.”

She took out five fountain pens she had gotten ready. These were for subscriber gifts.

“These are the subscriber gifts I told you beforehand. Please sign your name here.”

“Are they going to be given away?”

“Yes. The company prepared some expensive fountain pens to commemorate you going on the special section. I’m sure the responses are going to be good.”

“Thank you. Can I sign here?”

She put the fountain pens with Maru’s signature in her bag.

She then listened to some more of Maru’s personal story before finis.h.i.+ng up the interview.

“Thank you for your work today.”

“Not at all. You were the one doing the work.”

“When we finish the ma.n.u.script, we’ll send it to you beforehand as well. If you don’t like any of the sentences, please contact us.”

“Okay.”

Junghwa shook hands with Maru lightly before leaving the café.

Now came the real work. She had to polish the interview and edit it in the style of the magazine.

“I sent some photos through email. Please clean them up and give them back to me. Okay, I’ll leave that to you.”

As she grabbed the wheel, she looked at Maru standing in front of the café. He had grown as an actor whenever she looked at him. She wondered how it would be next year.

She looked forward to it. If he was successful in his subsequent work as well, he would stand with the top stars as icons of popularity.

What if a young actor at the age of twenty-five were to become like that?

She could practically hear his payments for acting and commercials rising already.

Above all, what was really attractive was that he had already been to the military. It meant that he could continue working without a gap period.

“Maybe I’m the lucky one.”

She started the car. Their meeting might have been a coincidence, but keeping that up was skill.

Han Maru provided her with the opportunity, so now it was time to repay him.

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