After Story 202

-Have you ever heard of canned tuna?

“Who doesn’t know of it? And why are you looking for it so suddenly?”

-Because I feel like one right now. I’m all locked up, writing, reading, and writing again. Maybe this is what it feels like to re-enlist?

“Your voice sounds quite cheerful for someone depressed.”

-It’s stifling, but it is quite fun. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do too.

“And you get paid for it too? If you feel like your head isn’t working, then tell Haneul about it. She’s a genius at handling people. I’m sure you’ll be sitting back at your desk before you know it.”

-I already experienced that. Maybe it’s because of that, but I’m scared of Haneul now. It’s like she’s not the same age as me. She seems more like a veteran soldier who has had more than her fair share of society. Well, I guess that must be how she’s the joint CEO of a good company.

Maru chuckled as he listened to Daemyung’s a.n.a.logy. Someone on his wife’s level was not just a veteran soldier, but a veteran general who had commanded many wars. She was a master at making use of people, so she would probably bring out the limits of Daemyung’s talent.

“Work hard. It’s your piece from now on.”

-Even if you didn’t tell me that, I’ve been having a terrible stomachache because of the responsibility. I feel even more pressure when I think that you’re going to be acting according to my script.

“I’m only acting in it if your writing is good. If it’s subpar, I’ll look into doing something else.”

-And you call yourself a friend of mine. How cruel.

“If you chatted this much, I think it’s about time Haneul starts giving you hints. Try looking next to you.”

-...I think I should hang up. Your wifey is on the verge of making me do work.

“Good work, and good luck.”

He hung up and went into the nearby convenience store. He took out a can of coffee and gave the employee his credit card. The employee, who looked to be in college, took the card and gave him a glance. She looked rather puzzled and hesitant.

Maru didn’t say anything and received the coffee and the card.

He got in the car and drank the coffee before heading to Daehak-ro. As there wasn’t a single speck of clouds in the sky on the weekend, it was very bustling in front of Hyehwa station.

He put on his hoodie and got out of the car. Unless he made it obvious, no one would recognize him.

On his way to the theater, he bought some roasted sweet potatoes. There was no better snack than this.

“There’s a C-15 café on the opposite side. Is this the place?”

-Yes, it is. I’ll go up now.

“No, you don’t have to.”

He walked into the building’s bas.e.m.e.nt. He walked past the sign that said that play preparations were underway, and there he saw the audience seats and the stage.

“How are things going?” Maru asked the juniors sitting on the stage.

“Senior!”

Sinhye greeted him first. Joohwan, Jungah, and the rest came over as well.

“You managed to rent a good theater,” Maru said as he looked around.

“We barely managed to get one through an acquaintance. It was cheaper than the market price too,” Jungah said in response.

“For how long?”

“Two months.”

“Are you doing practice here as well? It must be quite cramped.”

“We rented a practice room as well. Everything came down to money when we tried to put on a play. At school, the stage and even the practice rooms were free.”

“That’s how it is most of the time. For now, eat something before you do anything else.”

Maru gave the bag of roasted sweet potatoes to Jungah. Another junior, who was watching from the side, interjected,

“Senior, this isn’t everything, is it?”

“Joohwan, Jungah, and Sinhye were the ones who did all the work. Why do you want a share?”

“Because we share the same destiny,” said that junior, looking side to side.

“I brought these as snacks, so eat them for now. I’ll treat you out properly once you clean up and we leave.”

“You’re the best. I had trust in you.”

“Then you should come next time too. He who does not work, neither shall he eat. You know that, right?”

“Of course. I’ll go next time. I’m really good at looking after kids. I looked after all of my cousins.”

“That sounds reliable. Go on and eat before they cool off.”

While the juniors sat down in a circle to eat the sweet potatoes, Maru walked around the theater. Large stages with more than a thousand seats in the audience were good, but a small theater like this had its own charms.

The smaller stage meant being able to do a cozier play, and being closer to the audience seats meant easier communication.

“They use good chairs here,” Maru said looking at the seats that even had cus.h.i.+ons on the backrest.

Compared to other theaters that just used long benches as seats, these might as well be premium seats.

“The owner said he doesn’t intend to earn money through the theater. That’s why he rents it to college students like us.”

“He sounds like a good person.”

He sat down on the chair and looked at the stage. The juniors eating the sweet potatoes all grinned and looked back at him.

“The stage is good and the actors are good too. As long as you can put on a proper act, I guess the people that visit won’t regret their decisions.”

It was a compliment, but the expressions of the juniors stiffened up slightly. He gave a glance before speaking,

“Is there a problem?”

“Uhm, the thing is… the person playing the main character found employment. It’s a good thing. She got into a well-known company. But the timing was a little…”

The juniors smiled awkwardly.

That alone was enough for Maru to discern their current situation. Other than Jungah, Sinhye, and Joohwan, the rest of them did not stake their lives in acting.

Sure, they might like acting, plays, and movies even now – which was why they were investing their own time and money into practice and rent so that they could hold a play – however, in the face of the giant that was making a living, acting and plays became less of a priority.

There was no need to blame anyone, nor should anyone do so. The juniors must have congratulated that person’s employment wholeheartedly. It was just a natural thing that they were worried about because of the sudden vacant position of the lead actor.

“We stopped her when she said she was going to do it until the end. You know large companies have month-long orientations for new employees, right? She managed to get in with so much difficulty, so she can’t just miss that and come here to act in plays. Moreover, we’re going to do the plays for two months, so we can’t have her commute to this place instead of work for that long.”

“She cried when we said it was okay. She’s way too kind for her own good. If it was me, I would’ve said ‘goodbye suckers’ and immediately left.”

“Are we suckers?”

“We are suckers with a good relations.h.i.+p.”

The juniors looked at each other and giggled. They acted like it was okay, but the absence of the lead actor was probably a huge problem.

“Senior.”

“I’m saying this upfront, but I can’t do it.”

Sinhye frowned.

“You won’t even let me speak. It’s not like you can do it anyway, can you? You’re a man and Jimin’s a girl.”

“I’m sorry, but in terms of acting, I can definitely do it. I’m pretty sure I can look more feminine than you, Sinhye. If I put on a little makeup.”

“Don’t say something so terrible. Anyway, I’m not asking you to do it, but…”

Sinhye was unable to finish her words since Jungah tapped on her flank to stop her.

Sinhye glared at Jungah before twitching her mouth and going back to eating the sweet potato.

“It’s nothing, senior.”

“You know that saying that makes me even more bothered, right?” Maru said.

This time, Sinhye tapped on Jungah and gave her a signal. Jungah put down the sweet potato she was holding.

“It was like this last time too, and I don’t think that it’s a good thing to get your help. I believe that it’s only right that we solve this ourselves since it was something that we were doing.”

“That’s true. But you know, don’t you find it a waste when there’s a person you can make use of right in front of you? Especially now when it’s a problem for multiple people. It’s a problem that you must solve one way or the other. Is it set in stone that Jimin can’t come?”

“Yes.”

“How many times did you put on the play?”

“Yesterday was the fourth run. Jimin came to that one, but the problem will be next week’s.”

“Do you have a backup plan?”

“We were going to talk about that.”

“Then go on. If you reach an answer, you go with that, and if you don’t then I’ll put in my own opinion as well.”

The juniors looked at each other before starting to discuss options ranging from removing a character altogether to finding a replacement. All the normal methods were mentioned.

“The best thing will be to find a replacement, but we don’t have a lot of time. We can at most do four more rehearsals until the 5th run next week. Don’t you think it’s impossible for someone to learn one of the main characters in such a short time?”

“It’s going to be difficult. Moreover, all of us can only meet up about twice. We really have a bad schedule this week.”

Among the juniors gathered here, more than half of them had graduated college. There were some doing part-time jobs and some that were already employed. It wouldn’t be so easy to have everyone meet up.

“If it doesn’t work out, then as much of a waste as it is, we can just wrap up here. The rental fees are a bit wasteful, but it’s much better than putting on an inadequate play,” Jungah said, to which Joohwan seemed to be in agreement.

“I don’t want to do that. Honestly speaking, it’ll be impossible for us to meet up like this in the future. For me, Joohwan, and Jungah, we can invest our time into this because it’s related to our careers, but that’s not the case for others. Everyone either has their own work to do or will find something soon. Do you think we can meet up again like this?”

“I agree with Sinhye. I think it’s better to just remove a role and simplify the play altogether.”

The opinions were split. Both sides sounded plausible and sympathizable.

“I want to do it too. But it’s not easy to remove Jimin’s role. That will end up changing the direction of the play, the content, and even the ending. Can you modify the script in just one week? I don’t have the confidence to do that. Moreover, we’re doing an existing play. If we’re going to reinterpret the whole thing, we have to ask for permission.”

“Geez, Jimin. I hope you’re happy at your job,” Sinhye said with a laugh.

As they hit a block, they couldn’t reach a conclusion.

“Can I say something?”

“I say you’re welcome to!” Sinhye said as she raised her hands.

Jungah also nodded apologetically.

“Seniors have two jobs. One is to pay for a meal without a word, and the second is to help out in times of need. You talked about this for quite a while, but you didn’t manage to find a solution, am I right?”

“Yes, we don’t have anything right now.”

Maru looked at Sinhye and spoke, “What were you going to ask me for, Sinhye?”

“I was going to ask you to introduce someone you know to us. You’re a famous actor now, so I’m sure you must know many actors, and I was thinking maybe you could introduce one to us. A professional should be able to make up for the lack of practice.”

“If I introduce someone to you, can you handle that person’s payment?”

“P-payment?”

“You weren’t expecting me to pay that person on top of introducing her to you, were you?”

Sinhye asked cautiously,

“Which actress were you going to ask? Is there an actress who would come for amateurs like us?”

“How about the actress Kim Suyeon?”

The juniors tilted their heads in confusion before looking at him in surprise.

“That Kim Suyeon?”

“I’m all for it!”

Maru spoke again after hearing their words,

“Instead, you’ll have to pay her around fifty per appearance.”

“It’s not fifty… thousand, is it?”

Maru shrugged. Sinhye sighed.

“Is there any other way?”

“Normally, no. You’d be hard-pressed to find actors who want to partic.i.p.ate in an amateur stage. In that sense, you guys are lucky. I know one woman who loves stages like this.”

“Really?”

“But I can’t guarantee if she will accept or not. She has a lot of work to do. Give me a minute for now.”

Maru pressed the quick dial and put his phone against his ear,

-Yeah, what is it?

“What are you doing right now?”

-I’m out to get some bread. Some carbs for Daemyung.

“You don’t have anything else to do other than supporting Daemyung for a while, right?”

-I don’t. Why do you ask?

Maru looked at the juniors on the stage and spoke,

“Hun, how about going on a stage? And helping out some cute juniors while at it.”