After Story 193

“How much further do we need to go?” Park Sinhye grumbled.

She was pouting this whole time.

Moon Jungah gave her a glance before taking out her phone.

“This thing says there’s not long left until the orphanage,” Jungah said while waving her phone.

“And how many meters is that? Don’t tell me it’s in kilometers?”

“If you want to know so badly, then look it up yourself.”

“I don’t have the energy to.”

“I told you we should grab a taxi. Who was it that persistently said we should embrace the air of the countryside and take a walk instead?”

“I didn’t know it would be so far.”

Sinhye put down the luggage and readjusted her backpack. Her backpack was huge, making her look like a snail, and she was even holding bags in both hands as well.

“I told you it was excessive when we set off.” Jungah put her hand out, intending to share some of her load.

Sinhye shook her head.

“I’m going to carry this all the way there and show off that I brought all of it there. Also, the more presents the better, my dad said so.”

Even as she grumbled, it seemed that Sinhye was the one who looked out for the children the most.

Jungah s.n.a.t.c.hed some of Sinhye’s luggage anyway. Sinhye glared at her, signaling her to not take her merit away.

“I’ll say that you brought it, so let’s speed up a little. Also, Park Joohwan!” Jungah called out to Joohwan, who was far ahead.

Joohwan stopped and looked behind. Jungah pointed at Sinhye’s luggage.

“Carry some of this!”

“No.”

“That p.r.i.c.k.”

Joohwan didn’t help out until the end. She wondered how that guy was going to get married later in life.

Jungah furiously stomped her feet before carrying some of Sinhye’s luggage.

“I didn’t know he’d actually do this. He asked only once at the station and didn’t even give a second glance after that. Quite a guy he is, alright!” Sinhye shouted.

Joohwan turned around and spoke, “I asked you if you needed help at the station. And you were the one who refused.”

“Fine! You do you!”

The pa.s.sersby looked at Sinhye who shouted. Jungah sighed and put some distance between the two. It was one of her deepest regrets that she had become friends with those two.

Around the time they left the city and the smell of dung started piercing their noses, Jungah received a call from Maru.

“Yes, senior.”

-You should be there by now, right?

“No, we’re still on our way there.”

-Didn’t you take the 8 o’clock train?

“We did. We did, but we’re walking to the orphanage from the station.”

-The distance must be quite considerable. You guys are young alright, you have good stamina.

She chuckled in vain. It wasn’t that they had good stamina. This was just the result of a mistaken impression someone had about the countryside, as well as some twisted friends.h.i.+p. She asked for Maru’s location.

-I’m almost there. Also, thanks for coming. I’m sure the kids will like it.

“It’s for charity, and we can pay you back too. Also, when else would we get to meet a celebrity like this?”

Hearing Jungah’s laughter, the two quarreling friends next to her turned around to look at her. The first one to come over was Joohwan.

“Senior Maru?”

“Yeah.”

“Give it to me.”

His eyes sparked. Ever since he watched Case Number 0, Joohwan would wake up in the middle of the night if there was a mention of Maru. His eyes contained a complex mix of compet.i.tive spirit and respect.

Jungah handed the phone to him.

“Yes, senior. Come quickly. Also, have a look at my acting. I practiced a lot. Also, when can we act together? Aren’t there any empty spots? I’m fine with just a pa.s.serby role.”

It looked as though Joohwan would keep on blabbing if he was left to his own devices. Just as she was about to s.n.a.t.c.h the phone away, there was someone who beat her to it. It was Sinhye.

“Senior!”

There was no need to throw away the luggage, was there? Jungah picked up the luggage instead of Sinhye who jumped around in excitement.

Seeing Sinhye hold the phone with both hands, as well as Joohwan who demanded that Sinhye give the phone back, made her head start to ache.

There was one solution to this. It was to toss both of them over to Maru.

“He’s coming soon as well,” Sinhye said as she gave Jungah back her phone.

Hearing that Maru was almost here, Joohwan also lent a hand with the luggage.

The two of them walked forward in unison.

Jungah looked at the two people going ahead before turning to the right.

“You frustrating lots, that’s not the right way.”

When she walked ahead, the two of them shouted and followed.

Not long later, they saw the orphanage. It was a pretty old building. The only things nearby were a few private residences, some fields, and the wintry mountains.

“I wonder what they were thinking to build it here. What if the kids get sick?” Sinhye wondered.

“I’m sure there must be circ.u.mstances.”

“Money?”

Jungah nodded and started walking again.

She opened the door and went inside. Contrary to the old-looking exterior, it looked rather neat on the inside. The air was warm as well.

“It’s more decent than I thought.”

“Right.”

Jungah said h.e.l.lo to the child in front of her and looked for an adult. She knocked on the director’s door which was to the left of the entrance.

“Come in.”

She carefully opened the door and went inside.

“h.e.l.lo. I’m Moon Jungah, who called you before. We came here for volunteer work.”

“Alright, come on in. It’s cold outside, isn’t it?”

Between the two people sitting on the sofa, a woman with slime flocks of gray hair greeted her first. She seemed to be the director.

While her two friends also came in and said their greetings, Jungah looked at the other person on the sofa. He was an elderly man who seemed to be past sixty. But she felt like she had seen him a lot somewhere before, even though there was no way she met such an elderly on many occasions.

Jungah probed her memories before coming up with a name and face that matched the elderly man in front of her.

“Aren’t you perhaps Sir Yoon Moonjoong?”

The elder said yes with a laugh. It was indeed the person she met during the award ceremony of the Short Film Festival.

She never knew that she’d come across one of the bigshots of the actor industry at a private occasion like this.

“Didn’t I see you at the Short Film Festival? I believe you are Miss Moon Jungah. The young director who won a prize.”

My lord — Jungah was touched. She didn’t think that he’d remember her. Moonjoon’s eyes then looked at Joohwan who stood behind her.

“I remember that fellow as well. Mr. Park Joohwan, am I correct?”

Even Joohwan, who never showed his emotions in things other than his interests, brightly smiled and greeted back when Moonjoong recognized him.

“Yes, sir. Thank you for remembering me.”

“Both of you were fine young people and had plenty of talent, so I couldn’t forget about you. But as for the person next to you… I must apologize. I’m sure we met at the Short Film Festival, and it’s that I don’t remember, right?”

Hearing Moonjoong’s call, Sinhye shook her head.

“This is our first meeting. I’m Park Sinhye! Pleased to meet you!”

Sinhye introduced herself amicably. Jungah was envious of Sinhye’s personality at a time like this.

“I see. Nice to meet you. But did all three of you come here to do volunteer work?”

“Yes! We followed senior Maru here.”

“Really?”

Jungah put down the gifts in front of the director.

“We didn’t know what to bring, so we just brought whatever we liked. Is that okay?”

“Of course. I’m grateful that you’re here in the first place.”

While drinking the tea that the director gave them, they listened to her. It was mostly things about what they were going to do today and what they should refrain from doing.

They then said h.e.l.lo to all the other teachers at the orphanage. Every one of them left a good impression.

Jungah was slightly nervous because of some news articles about embezzling funds and child abuse in orphanages, but this place seemed to really look after the kids.

“We also prepared a small play. Can we perform it?” Sinhye asked.

“Of course you can.”

“How old are the kids here?”

“Our orphanage only has custody of pre-elementary school children. Once they’re old enough to go to school, they’re transferred to another place nearby. It’d be great if we could all live together, but there are realistic challenges to overcome.”

Hearing that, Sinhye nodded.

“I hope they like our play. Actually, I was worried. It might be a little too childish for middle school students and higher.”

“The children here like everything, so don’t worry about it.”

Jungah put down the empty teacup.

“Director, what shall we do first? Please give us anything. We have good stamina.”

“Then shall we say h.e.l.lo to the children first and then start cleaning?”

“Okay, we’ll do that.”

Jungah and co left the director’s room, following a teacher in her early thirties.

“I didn’t know I’d see someone I only saw on TV. My dad told me a lot about Sir Yoon Moonjoong. He said that he’s one who can be called a Buddha in the dirty entertainment industry,” Sinhye said.

Just from the fact that he remembered the names of a few students he briefly came across at a film festival was enough to tell that he was a really good person.

“Some of the kids might throw unbearable tantrums. You can’t listen to all of them. They are young, but they know what they need to. If you look into their eyes and tell them, they should calm down.”

Bearing the words of the teacher in their minds, they went to the room with the children.

* * *

“I should go back right after saying h.e.l.lo to Sir Yoon,” Yeonjin said as he got out of the car.

He was just as busy as Maru these days.

“I could’ve come by myself.”

“I’d get an earful from the president if I did that. I wonder if he’s inside?”

“Probably.”

Maru opened the door to the orphanage. He could hear some rowdy noises inside. Amidst the laughter of the children were a few familiar voices. It seemed that Jungah, Joohwan, and Sinhye were putting on a play.

He inwardly smiled and went to the director’s room.

“Sir, I’m here.” Yeonjin went in first.

Maru lowered his head in tandem.

“It’s been a while since I saw you, Yeonjin.”

“I’ve become quite busy thanks to this guy.”

Yeonjin said as he pushed Maru’s shoulder. Maru smiled awkwardly and stood in front of Moonjoong.

“Did the fellows that came earlier make any mistakes?” Maru asked.

“There are no mistakes to make. They all seemed to be good people. But Maru, do you have time to hang out with children with me? I’m sure you have a lot of work these days.”

“It’s about working with you, sir, so I’ll have to make the time even if I don’t have any.”

The elder laughed heartily.

“You are good at talking alright.”

After a short greeting, he left the director’s room. Yeonjin got back in the car after unloading some items to be used at the orphanage.

“You won’t get hurt while playing with the children, right? If something happens to you, it will to me as well. Remember that.”

“If you keep giving me pressure like that. I might really get hurt. I might step on a lego.”

“That sounds painful. Anyway, have fun.”

“Yes, be careful on your way back as well.”

After the car left, Maru carried the items on the floor into the orphanage. As they brought a whole lot of items in the van, there was quite a considerable amount.

“Why did you bring so much?” Moonjoong said, coming outside.

“Sir, please head back inside. It’s cold out here.”

“It’s okay. If something happened to me from just this, I wouldn’t have been an actor.”

“That’s true. They’re some snacks for the children and some items to use at the orphanage. I heard that the price of diapers and powdered formulas are high these days, so it’s mainly those two.”

“Good. Eating and clothing are the most important.”

He carried the items inside with the elder. Halfway through, a male teacher from the orphanage also came out and helped out. After moving all the boxes, he found himself sweating despite the weather.

“Are the people who came before me inside?”

“Yes, they’re performing, and they’re hugely popular.”

He went inside the orphanage following the teacher. There were children sitting in a circle in a wide room, and the three were performing a play in the middle of them.

Maru crossed his arms and watched them. They were performing a story that was a series of a few folk tales, and it was pretty interesting.

“They’re pretty good, seeing as they major in acting,” said the elder.

“I did well bringing them here, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did.”

He smiled and appreciated the performance.