An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 238

238. #43 – What I Can Do (1)

One week before leaving for Hollywood.

Although time was running out, my mind was strangely at peace.

The 10,000 years were finally coming to an end.

The more I felt that, the more I needed to settle things, which made me feel even more at ease.

I couldn’t be sure how I would feel while acting in Hollywood.

But at least, that’s how I felt now.

With the thought of settling things in Korea, I calmly started to take care of them one by one.

The first thing to do was:

Visiting my parents.

It might be the last time in Korea, or even the last time in my 10,000 years of life.

I headed to a different address than their previous house.

I was on my way to the new home I had prepared for my parents.

My parents refused the house I gave them several times, but I had no intention of accepting their refusal.

If I return to nothingness, the money will disappear anyway.

Besides, I wasn’t working so hard as an actor because of money.

My initial goal was simply to do what I wanted: to act and succeed in the life of an actor.

As I worked hard toward my goal, money naturally followed.

I had thoughts of indulging in luxury with that money, living extravagantly, and doing whatever I wanted.

But now I realized that all of that was meaningless.

Because the time I had left was not long.

When you’re facing the last day of your life, luxury doesn’t appeal to you at all.

I just wanted to use this money for the people who would be left behind after I was gone.

The very first of those people were my parents.

A luxurious apartment complex came into view after a few hours.

It was incomparable to their previous house.

It wasn’t just the parking lot that had improved.

The elevator, the entrance to the apartment, and the hallway all sparkled.

“Mom, Dad!”

As soon as I opened the door, my parents greeted me with bright smiles.

“Son, you’re here?”

“Yes, have you been well?”

My mother hugged me tightly, welcoming me and then spoke.

“Of course. I’m so happy these days because I see you so often.”

My father nodded in agreement with her words.

“But you’re going to America soon to film, right?”

At my father’s words, I came out of my mother’s arms, smiled, and shook my head.

“I’m leaving next week. I don’t know when I’ll be back once I go, so I’m visiting often while I’m in Korea.”

My mother replied with a gloomy face.

“Aish, I’m so happy that my son is doing what he wants and doing well, but I’m already sad thinking about not seeing you for a while.”

Soon, tears welled up in my mother’s eyes.

My father handed her a tissue and said.

“It’s hard enough for him to go to work, so it’ll be even harder for Heesung if you’re upset, honey. Don’t cry.”

“Aish… Your mom is being silly. My son is going to suffer… I just have to bear it for a few months.”

I looked back and forth between my mother and father and sighed.

It wasn’t a few months.

Once I leave for LA this time and finish filming the movie… I won’t be able to see my parents again….

My father, who seemed cold, glanced at my crying mother and handed her another tissue.

My heart warmed at the sight of my parents.

Tears were about to well up in my eyes, but I held them back.

Because the fact that I was going to disappear, leaving my parents behind, was something only I knew.

I just smiled and opened my mouth to reassure my parents.

“Aish, it’s always the same thing, why are you so upset?”

I turned my head to look at the kitchen and said to my mother again.

“Mom, I came to eat your food, aren’t you going to give me any?”

At my words, my mother quickly wiped away her tears and put on her apron.

“I have to. I love hearing you say you want to eat my food the most! Hoho.”

My mother smiled brightly and quickly walked into the kitchen.

Normally, I would always opt for eating out so my mother wouldn’t have to work hard.

But today, I wanted to eat my mother’s food.

Because I wouldn’t be able to eat it again….

After finishing the meal,

I quickly packed my bags and left the house.

There were still things to do and more people to meet.

The person I met after a short time:

“Welcome, Jin Heesung.”

The person who greeted me as I entered the office.

It was my attorney, Hwang Joosup.

“It’s been a while, Attorney Hwang.”

I hadn’t known him for very long.

Since I handled everything through the company, there was no need for a personal attorney.

However, there were things I needed to ask the attorney this time.

So I got to meet the attorney who had been in charge of me for a while.

“Yes, it’s been a while.”

“Indeed. I think we met once before for company matters.”

He offered me tea and spoke.

“That’s right. But did something happen?”

Since I had contacted him suddenly saying I would visit, Attorney Hwang asked me the reason.

I carefully took a sip of tea and smiled.

“Yes, I wanted to talk about my assets… in the event of my death.”

At my words, he widened his eyes and barely suppressed his rising voice.

“Yes? In the event of your death…?”

Since I didn’t know exactly when or how I would disappear,

I had to prepare for everything.

It was unfortunate and sad to leave the sorrow of my death to those who remained.

But the only thing I could give them was my remaining assets.

I had already decided that most of the assets would go to my parents, as planned.

And some were designated for Manager Kim.

“You never know what will happen in life. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to prepare in advance.”

At my words, Attorney Hwang started writing down my story with a stiff face.

“Yes, please speak comfortably, Heesung.”

***

Manager Kim and I boarded a plane to LA.

As soon as we sat down, Manager Kim looked at me and asked.

“That’s right, Heesung. Thanks to you, I was able to come early today, but what made you come out so early?”

At his words, I smiled and replied.

“Just… I went down to the parking lot before you called, *hyung* [older brother/male friend]. Wasn’t it convenient?”

We always set a time whenever we went to a schedule.

Manager Kim said that it was dangerous for me, a celebrity, to be alone in the parking lot, so he always told me to come out of the house when he called.

But today, I was in the parking lot before Manager Kim even arrived.

He seemed curious and puzzled by that.

“Well, it was convenient, but please come down when I tell you to from now on. You never know what might happen. A thug might appear anytime, anywhere.”

“Haha, I understand.”

Manager Kim raised his eyebrows and said to me.

“Were you so excited about going to Hollywood that you came out early?”

At his words, I chuckled and replied.

“There’s that too. But I went down because I thought the phone wouldn’t work when you called, *hyung*.”

Manager Kim tilted his head and asked.

“What do you mean by that? What do you mean the phone won’t work?”

Manager Kim frowned as if he didn’t understand.

I showed him the cell phone in my hand and replied.

“I suspended this.”

“What?”

The passenger sitting next to him glanced at Manager Kim at his loud voice.

Manager Kim bowed his head to the passenger and quickly looked at me.

“You canceled your cell phone?”

“No, I mean, why? You’re not just pausing it, you’re saying you canceled it altogether?”

“Yeah, I’m going to be abroad for a long time.”

At my words, his face contorted.

“You’re going to be there for a shorter time than the last project. We decided to film this one quickly and be there for only a few months. Why?”

He was right.

Even when I was in LA for the last project, I never paused my cell phone for a single moment.

Even though I mostly used data because it was an international call.

I didn’t even think about pausing it.

But Manager Kim seemed not to understand why I had canceled my cell phone even though I was leaving for an even shorter period.

I was just thinking of slowly distancing myself from everything like this.

Because disappearing all of a sudden wouldn’t be good for me or for those who were left behind.

I was trying to settle things with the world and with people’s hearts.

Manager Kim looked at me and made a *tsk* sound [sound of disapproval].

“That’s strange?”

“What’s strange? I won’t be using this much anyway, so what.”

I shook my cell phone and said.

“Heesung, you seem like someone who’s trying to wrap up their life? Haha.”

He playfully hit my shoulder with a joking tone.

But those words pricked my heart.

“Wrap up what….”

Even at Manager Kim’s joke, I couldn’t laugh heartily with him.

I just sent him a bitter smile.

Because those words were true.

***

After arriving in LA, we moved to the hotel provided by the movie ‘Creatures That Lived Again’.

If the accommodation for the last ‘September 11th’ had the feeling of a mansion,

This accommodation was a magnificent hotel.

“*Hyung*, is this a hotel?”

Manager Kim nodded at my words and took the lead.

“Do you know what floor it is?”

His eyes were full of anticipation.

I just shrugged my shoulders and followed him.

The place Manager Kim and I entered was the highest floor of the hotel.

It was a penthouse.

A vast living room that I couldn’t even guess how many square feet it was.

Manager Kim shouted with his mouth wide open.

“Wow… what is this place?”

At his words, I also widened my eyes and looked around.

Because Manager Kim was quickly rummaging through the room.

The sound of opening and closing doors was constantly heard.

That meant there were countless doors.

And then, Manager Kim’s voice came from far away.

“Heesung, there are 4 bathrooms here. The bathtub is… wow… I’ve seen this kind of bathtub in movies!”

Manager Kim continued to look around the room for a long time.

Only after Manager Kim calmed down after a few tens of minutes were we able to sit on the sofa in the living room and have a conversation.

“*Hyung*, didn’t they give us too good of a place?”

At my words, he nodded and said.

“Right, you think it’s amazing too, don’t you?”

“Yeah, how much is it a night here?”

Manager Kim carefully said, pretending to look around even though it was a room where only we were, where no one could hear.

“It’s usually $10,000 a day.”

At his words, I widened my eyes and shouted.

“…Not a thousand dollars, but ten thousand dollars?”

Ten thousand dollars, depending on the exchange rate, was well over ten million won [Korean currency] a night.

I shook my head with my mouth wide open.

“Yeah, but it’s a long-term stay, so I think they roughly agreed on about $250,000 a month.”

“No… *hyung*, then even with the current exchange rate, that’s almost 300 million won. 300 million… just for accommodation for a month?”

At my words, Manager Kim raised his eyebrows and looked at me.

“The scale in America is always amazing. Don’t you remember how much your appearance fee is in the first place, Heesung?”

At his words, I rolled my eyes and recalled the appearance fee.

“…5 million dollars.”

“Yeah, that’s over 6 billion won in Korean currency. So it’s worth giving you this much for accommodation.”

“Even so….”

Manager Kim smiled brightly and said to me.

“And let’s get you a new cell phone too.”

“Huh?”

“We’re not going to be stuck together 24 hours a day for a few months, we need to keep in touch.”

At his words, I nodded.

“That’s right. I was thinking of getting a new cell phone here anyway.”

He chuckled and replied with a playful tone.

“Heesung, you wanted to buy a new cell phone in America, so you canceled it in Korea?”

At his words, I smiled faintly and matched his tone.

“Let’s just say that’s the case.”

Looking at my smile, Manager Kim looked around again.

“But the Hollywood scale is really unimaginable. This kind of penthouse, an appearance fee of 6 billion won. *크으…* [sound of amazement].”

Pondering Manager Kim’s words, I also looked around the hotel room.

This movie will probably be the last work of my life.

No, my whole life… the last work with the essence of 10,000 years melted into it.

I wanted to do it perfectly, not even for a single moment, not even for a single scene.

So that I wouldn’t regret everything when I looked back.