Chapter 666

“I wish I could see everyone’s bottom lines by drinking until we lose our minds, but we’re with minors, so let’s just talk about healthy stuff,” Jayeon said as she opened the soju bottle.

She was practically saying: I’m not going to give the two minors any, but the rest of you should prepare to die. From how Ganghwan, an alcoholic, was freaking out, it seemed that Jayeon’s drinking ability was incredibly impressive.

A cup of soju went around to all the adults. Maru drank soda and Yuna did the same. He inwardly wanted to drink as well, but Jayeon clearly drew the line. She was quite firm in unexpected places.

Bottles of soju and beer started piling up on the table. The meeting, which was originally intended for them to get close, turned into a drinking session of sorts. Byungjae, who drank every gla.s.s Jayeon poured for him, had gone to the bathroom around 10 minutes ago and did not return, while Mira said she would not drink after drinking four gla.s.ses. Jayeon offered her another gla.s.s, but Mira shook her head. I don’t like getting drunk - that was what she said as she pushed away the gla.s.s. After that, Jayeon did not offer her another drink either.

“Uhm, can I drink just a little?” Yuna asked when Byungjae, who had gone to the bathroom, returned looking haggard.

Jayeon stared at Yuna.

“You never drank before?”

“I haven’t.”

“You’re like a natural treasure in an era like this. Do you want to drink?”

Yuna slowly nodded.

“Unfortunately, I definitely won’t let you drink today. Later, if we meet somewhere else instead of a restaurant like this, I will definitely treat you to some. If I let you two drink and law enforcement shows up, both I and the owner of this place will get into trouble. I was just joking before, I will not treat you like children. It’s just that I don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble. There’s nothing more annoying than something happening before the start of the drama, right?”

Jayeon sipped some soju. She frowned and sighed a little before putting the gla.s.s down with a tapping sound.

“Since we drank for about an hour, it’s good enough to get talking, right?”

“He looks like he’s gonna fall asleep at any moment though,” Ganghwan said as he pointed at Byungjae.

“Byungjae, do you want to go home and sleep?”

“No, producer. I can talk. I can do it. Of course I can.”

Maru looked at Byungjae through the corner of his eyes. Was he the type of person that would repeat his words when he was drunk? He swayed back and forth while sitting before running to the bathroom again.

“Don’t give him alcohol in the future. People who accept all the drinks they’re given are dangerous.”

“Okay, hyung. I was planning to do the same. Mira, you’re going to drink some more after you clear your head a little, right?”

“I’ll see how things go. I really hate becoming drunk, so I’m not going to drink if I think I’m the slightest bit drunk.”

“I really like that att.i.tude of yours. You look like you’d drink from the bottle though.”

“And you drink just like you look.”

“Look at her speak. I might as well be suppressed by her during the shoot.”

Jayeon smiled in satisfaction. A while later, Byungjae returned, looking much more exhausted. Maru gave him the orange juice he ordered beforehand.

“If you drink this now, you’ll have an easier time emptying your stomach.”

“Thanks. But I emptied everything just now, so I don’t think any more is coming out.”

Byungjae drank the juice with difficulty.

“Maru, sorry to ask, but can you buy some hangover drinks?” Jayeon asked as she took out some bills.

Her eyes were glued to Byungjae. Byungjae stood up, saying that he will go instead, but he soon collapsed back onto the chair as though he lost strength.

“I’ll go then.”

He accepted the money and stood up.

“I’ll go with him.”

Yuna hurriedly pushed back her chair and followed him. Maru looked at the people sitting around the table. It would be quite awkward for Yuna if she was alone amongst a group of drunk people. Jayeon also told them to go together. It seemed that she was being considerate of Yuna.

“I saw a convenience store right in front of this place when I came here.”

They left the restaurant. The air was very humid and hot.

The convenience store opposite the restaurant was very crowded. One part-timer was dealing with dozens of customers. There was also a line of people waiting outside, so it seemed like it would take time to get inside.

“I saw another one up there.”

Yuna pointed at a sign that could be seen afar. There was a faint logo of a convenience store. Maru started walking and Yuna followed suit.

“Have you ever drank alcohol before, s...o...b..e?”

“I have. Have you not drank at all in your entire life?”

“I haven’t.”

“That’s quite peculiar. Don’t people around our age drink out of curiosity or something?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think any of my friends have tried drinking either.”

“Myunghwa High must be a great school then. You should learn how to drink from adults in the future. Don’t learn from guys that say they’ll treat you to a drink.”

“Did you learn from an adult, s...o...b..e?”

“No. People who say righteous stuff like me are always enforcing what they couldn’t keep to others. It’s quite pathetic.”

Maru shrugged after saying that. The convenience store located a little away from the store was in better condition. At least they could go inside. He bought four hangover drinks before asking Yuna,

“What are you going to drink?”

“Can I pick?”

“You’re supposed to take the errand fees by yourself.”

Yuna grabbed a strawberry milk.

“You like strawberry milk too?”

“Yes. Gaeul-s...o...b..e treats me to it quite often.”

“Looks like the strawberry milk faction is prospering by the day. Can you grab me one as well?”

Yuna brought another strawberry milk. They paid for the items before leaving the store. Maru turned around because Yuna wasn’t coming out, and saw that she kept uttering ‘I’m sorry, excuse me’ amidst a crowd of people. She looked like she was on a crowded train. Maru asked the man blocking the entrance to step aside before going inside and bringing Yuna out.

“You should have pushed your way out.”

“If I do that, people might feel displeased.”

“You look like you’re going to live a tired life.”

“I do it when I need to. It was just that there were too many people before….”

Yuna muttered those last words in a very small voice. Maru handed Yuna her strawberry milk.

“Let’s finish them before we go back. You were just staring at the table before. Wasn’t it boring for you?”

“I was too busy listening to the producer and uhm, senior Yang Ganghwan. Their words were so interesting that I wasn’t that bored at all. But you seem to have known senior Yang Ganghwan before this meeting, right?”

“He’s the one who taught me acting after all.”

“That must have been fun. That senior looks like he’s a jolly person.”

“He’s not just jolly, he’s a freak. He had me do all sorts of stuff when I learned from him. Though, they were quite helpful.”

“All sorts of stuff?”

Maru placed his palm over Yuna’s eyes since she looked curious.

“You can’t see, right?”

“Yes.”

“That’s one of the things I learned from him. Experiencing what it’s like to live as a blind person. I walked the street while covering my eyes, and man, even now it gives me the chills.”

“Did you really do that?”

Maru nodded before drinking the milk. He crumpled the empty carton and threw it in the recycling bin. Yuna folded the carton neatly and put it in the recycling bin as well.

“Shall we go?”

They went back the way they came from and entered the restaurant again. They seemed to have asked the waiter to clean their table as the empty bottles of alcohol in the corner were gone. Byungjae also looked better than before.

“Are you finished drinking?”

“Yep, and thanks.”

While the four of them drank the hangover drink, a boiling-hot budae-jjigae came out. It seemed that they didn’t eat a lot of side dishes with the drinks because they were going to have a full-on meal.

“We should talk about work over food rather than drinks. I ordered portions for you as well, you are going to eat, right?”

“I am.”

Yuna also said that she’d eat. They ate the budae-jjigae as though they were relieving their hangover. When they emptied about half of the rice, Jayeon spoke,

“The production schedule is set for September and October, these two months. It will air starting late October or early November. There will be four total episodes. If the Wednesday-Thursday drama series do decently well and continues until the end without finis.h.i.+ng off early, it will air starting early November, and if they have to cut two episodes short because of bad results, it will start airing in late October. If it does really well and they shoot extended episodes, maybe it will start mid November?”

“Aren’t YBS one-act plays aired at 11? I also thought it was a Friday-Sat.u.r.day series,” Maru said.

“That’s gonna disappear. We’re the last ones.”

After saying those words, Jayeon blew on the ham before putting it in her mouth. Everyone, who was listening, kept staring at her. The fact that they were the last members made them feel very iffy.

“What do you mean by that?” Mira asked as she put down her spoon.

“It’s just as I said. The one-act plays are going to disappear now. It’s going to be excluded from the regular schedule. It doesn’t have good viewing rates and we don’t get any ads. We only consume money without earning any since it’s self-produced. It’s a natural course of action, really. There is the t.i.tle of the gateway to becoming a star, but those stars don’t make the TV station any money. Also, there haven’t been any stars from it recently.”

“So it’s a filler between the regular series,” Maru said.

Ding dong - Jayeon replied while tapping on her bowl with the spoon. He could see Yuna make a dejected expression. Byungjae, who sat next to him, also resumed eating with a not-so-pleased face. It seemed that they didn’t like that they were ‘filler’.

“It’s an opportunity, huh.”

“It is.”

Maru scooped out some sliced sausage and put it on his rice. He put a big spoonful of rice in his mouth and was chewing when he saw Yuna staring at him. Why is it an opportunity? - she seemed to be asking with her eyes.

He believed that Jayeon would explain, but she seemed busy eating. Ganghwan also seemed to have finished thinking things through but he didn’t look like he intended to explain.

“10 p.m. is golden time.”

The answer came from Mira. Yuna still looked puzzled. Maru added,

“Did you see the viewing rates of the YBS Wednesday-Thursday drama that started yesterday?”

“Yes, it was 18%.”

“Late-night one-act plays have a single percentage viewing rate. And that’s only when famous actors are on it. It won’t become a hot topic if there are nameless actors in it, and the same goes for the producer as well. Moreover, there’s a special series in the same time slot by RBS with all the big stars, isn’t there? Which one would you watch?”

Yuna did not reply. Maru drank some water before continuing.

“In such a situation, it’s a fortune that we can enter the 10 p.m. lineup. Even after the drama airs, there will be many viewers who keep YBS on due to sheer momentum. No matter how good our work is, we’ll only get evaluated if there are people watching it, right?”

“If you look at it that way, I guess it really is an opportunity.”

Jayeon raised her spoon high.

“Yes, it is an opportunity. At the same time, it’s also a very big risk as well. There will definitely be more viewers than usual. The fact that there are more eyes on us, means that there will be more criticism as well. I’m one thing, but you guys should get prepared as well. Actors live off their image, don’t they? If you start off good, the industry people will call for you, but you know what happens if you do badly, right?”

Jayeon pushed her spoon into the budae-jjigae and started twirling it. Maru felt like he was one of the ingredients in the budae-jjigae. It was an opportunity to get his face known, as well as a stage where he could get evaluated. If he became known as a gemstone, he would be sold, but if rumors spread around that he was a defect, he would have to focus on practicing for a while. Considering that a single piece could change the life of an actor, this piece could be considered pretty important.

“We now share the same fate. Directed by Yoo Jayeon, scripted by Yoo Jayeon, produced by Yoo Jayeon. Welcome aboard the Yoo Jayeon s.h.i.+p. Men, start rowing!”

Jayeon raised her spoon high into the air. Ganghwan, who sat next to her, also reached out his hand. In his hand was a spoon as well. The spoons crossed each other in the air. Maru was reminded of a movie he saw a long time ago. It was the three musketeers.

“What are you doing? We should consolidate our resolve,” Jayeon said.

She seemed very drunk. Maru faintly smiled and raised his spoon. The atmosphere was very ripe. It was very childish, but he couldn’t help but go with it. Six spoons crossed each other in the air.

“To Yoo Jayeon’s first step to becoming a CP[1]! Cheers!”

Jayeon tapped on the spoons with a cheer phrase that contained her ambition. The sheer strength made Byungjae, Mira, and Yuna’s spoons fall on the ground with a loud noise, while Ganghwan’s spoon fell into the budae-jjigae. Red soup spilled everywhere.

“That’s a bad sign. It’s a sign of doom,” Ganghwan said.

Jayeon immediately blocked Ganghwan’s mouth.

[1] Chief producer.

KTLChamber"s Thoughts

I had a rough time translating today because of an upset stomach. Maybe it"s the curse of the 666?

Editor"s Note:

Man, I wish American convenience stores were good enough that they would be packed. Asia is balling with their stacked convenience stores.