An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 151

151 #28 – The 10,000 Year Punishment (2)

After agreeing to Choi Seo-bin’s proposed project,

I relayed the news to the company, and Manager Kim listened to my opinion without any particular comments.

So far, the results of the projects I’ve chosen have never disappointed him.

Moreover, since Choi Seo-bin, the company’s top actress, was starring in and had chosen the project,

the company also sent their support and applause for my decision to appear.

Since that day, I barely managed to adjust to the headaches and took an even shorter break.

Then, a week later, as if nothing had happened, I headed back to the company.

“Hyung.”

As I opened the company door with a bright face, Manager Kim greeted me with an even brighter one.

“Hee-sung!”

He ran towards me as soon as he spotted me, as if he hadn’t seen me for months, no, years, and suddenly hugged me.

“What’s up? You’ve been doing well, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

At the same time, I stretched my arm out behind him to save the coffee, lest it spill.

The team leader, who was passing by, saw this and smirked at Manager Kim, opening his mouth.

“Anyone would think you’re reuniting with family. How does Manager Kim live without Hee-sung? Haha.”

His words made the surrounding employees burst into laughter.

I pushed him away and said to Manager Kim.

“Oh my, come on. Hyung, how long has it been since we last saw each other? Haha.”

“It’s been a few weeks already. Feels like a month?”

“But we’ve been in contact almost every day, haven’t we?”

Manager Kim gave me an awkward smile.

“Let’s go to the conference room, I have something important to tell you.”

At his words, I smiled and followed Manager Kim.

After confirming that I had entered, Manager Kim immediately closed the door and asked me.

“So, really, nothing’s wrong, and you just came to rest?”

“Of course. What could be wrong with me?”

“I was worried that you suddenly wanted to rest like this, that you might have had a burnout.”

Manager Kim said to me with worried eyes.

I waved my hand and replied.

“Hey, I haven’t done enough work to get a burnout yet. I’ve been looking for projects while resting because I want to work soon.”

“I see.”

Manager Kim took a sip of the coffee I handed him and said again.

“But why did you suddenly decide to do that project that Seo-bin chose after resting?”

“It seemed good.”

“The other cast members haven’t been decided yet. Did you check the director and writer?”

At his words, I shrugged my shoulders and said.

“No. This time, I said okay to Seo-bin *sunbae* [senior colleague] without considering the director or cast lineup. I said I’d do it with her.”

At my words, Manager Kim’s eyes widened and he replied.

“Really?”

Then he nodded and continued.

“Well, I said I’d go in because you wanted to. I read the script, and the content was good.”

“Yeah, I said I’d do it because the project was good.”

“But do you know who the female lead in that project is?”

Come to think of it.

Just the fact that I was working with Choi Seo-bin and that the content wasn’t bad were the only two reasons I said okay to the project for these two reasons alone.

I didn’t even think about checking anything else.

I frowned and tilted my head towards Manager Kim.

“Who is it? Has it been decided?”

“Yeah, Kim Hana.”

“Really?”

I opened my eyes wide and asked him again.

“Yeah, I heard she was considering whether to go into that movie or not, but when she heard you were coming in, she said she’d go in right away.”

I was filled with doubts at Manager Kim’s words.

She would come into the project just because I was appearing in it?

Kim Hana and I had no special connection, nor any particular friendship.

The only thing we had in common was that we lived next door to each other.

That was the only thing.

The fact that she decided to work with me just because we were neighbors made me curious.

And I carefully opened my mouth to Manager Kim.

“…Why?”

Then he shrugged his shoulders as if it were nothing and replied.

“Why else? Isn’t it because you have a good eye for projects?”

At his words, I frowned.

Manager Kim raised the corners of his lips and continued.

“None of the projects you’ve done so far have failed. They’ve all done well.”

“…That’s true.”

I scratched my head with an awkward face.

“So, she must have followed you in because she saw your eye for choosing projects. Hee-sung, you have such a good sense. I’m looking forward to how well this project will do.”

Contrary to Manager Kim’s wishes, I smiled as I thought of the actors I would be working with: top actress Choi Seo-bin and Kim Hana, who consistently shows steady acting skills.

If I work with these actors, the success of this project is a sure thing, right?

***

*Whoosh-*.

A place where darkness has fallen.

The only sounds are my rough breathing and the wind.

My eyes were filled with old-looking gray and orange containers.

I was walking between the dense containers, trying not to be seen by anyone.

Everything from my hat to my shoes was black.

*Rustle-*.

At the movement of another person, I quickly hid next to a container.

“*Haa*, *haa*….”

I covered my mouth to prevent my breathing from leaking out.

And then, I could realize it: This is… a dream…!

*Tap-*!

Someone put their hand on my shoulder.

Holding my breath, I glanced over and looked at the person who had put their hand on me.

“What are you doing here, you little punk? You almost got us caught because of you.”

“…Sorry, so where’s the container with the stolen goods?”

At my words, he gestured to a woman hiding next to the container.

“Mina, over here. Hurry!”

At his call, Hwang Mina looked around and ran to me.

She whispered to us in a small voice.

“I found it. Each of the sofa legs has initials engraved on them. That’s right, boss?”

The man called boss nodded at her words.

Then, putting his hands on my and her shoulders, he glared and said.

“Listen carefully. The jewels that the fence [receiver of stolen goods] told us about are inside—a total of 13. You can’t miss even one. Otherwise, the whole container will be exposed.”

I lit up my eyes and nodded.

I quickly asked him.

“So where are they hidden in the sofa?”

“All on the back left leg of the sofa. If you open the leg, they’ll be hidden inside. You can’t damage the sofa at all. Got it?”

He spoke to me and Hwang Mina as if he were urging us.

I smiled and replied.

“It’s not like I’m stealing for the first time; don’t bother with the obvious, okay?”

“Did you forget that the container got caught right away last time because one of the items was damaged? Be careful.”

Hwang Mina looked around and said to our conversation.

“Let’s hurry up and rob it instead of wasting time like this. We don’t have time.”

The three of them looked at each other at the same time and nodded.

“Okay, let’s go!”

At the boss’s signal, we each scattered and started moving towards one container in our own way.

I ran, carrying heavy equipment on my back, avoiding the eyes of the many employees at the pier.

“*Haa*….”

I was out of breath, but stopping to breathe, taking a deep breath in and out, was a luxury right now.

In the middle, flashes of light shone in front of my eyes.

I quickly hid and ran, avoiding their eyes.

At that time.

“Who’s there!”

A bright flash went off behind me.

I froze on the spot as if I had paused.

Step by step, someone was approaching me, step by step.

I swallowed hard, and without looking back, I started running forward.

“Stop there!”

A drop of sweat was flowing from my forehead, and before I knew it, people were sticking to my sides.

“…Damn it.”

“Catch him.”

I didn’t fall over even as I bumped into the container, and I went forward at full speed.

*Flash-*!

Instead of the dark pier in front of me, I saw the ceiling of my room.

I gasped for breath and got up.

*What is it?*

I haven’t had a dream in a while.

I thought I would never dream again, but I guess not.

In the dream, I was a thief, and all the urgent moments of stealing things and getting caught and running away felt vivid.

Even just imagining it, sweat is flowing down my spine now.

I frowned as I recalled the scene in the dream.

It was definitely a scene I had seen in the script, and everything happened exactly as it did in the dream.

But strangely enough, after having the dream, I had some regrets.

Rather than getting caught before I even stole anything in the dream, it would be more appropriate in the circumstances to fill the bag with things and then run away in a hurry, right?

Comparing the dream and the script like that, I started writing my opinions on one side of the script.

***

After practicing the script at the company all day, even after returning home from work, I didn’t let go of the script.

Even if I thought of something other than the script for a moment, all of my life so far was drawn in my head, and numerous thoughts do not make me bright because it was messing up my head and causing severe headaches.

In order not to have any distracting thoughts, I concentrated all my attention on the script today.

Like that, darkness had already fallen outside.

As a result of reading only one script for several days, my head was spinning to the point of dizziness.

I got up from my chair and walked to the living room.

Even if I turned around and around in the room, because of the not-so-large size, the dizziness was only amplified.

Eventually, I put on a long padding [long, insulated coat] and light slippers and went outside.

I wanted to take a walk around the neighborhood or even the park, but there were too many eyes watching.

Even on the way out to relieve my frustration, I had to wear a hat and a mask.

I didn’t feel like leaving the apartment.

In the end, I took the elevator again from the first floor and went up to the roof.

The apartment rooftop is always open to residents, but not many people use it because the nearby park is so well-maintained, there was no need to go up to the roof.

I always took a walk around the park or the apartment.

*Ding-dong*.

When I arrived at the top floor, the elevator door opened with a *swoosh*.

*Flash-*.

As soon as I got out of the elevator, the automatic sensor lights lit up brightly.

I walked past the darkness in front of me, step by step, towards the rooftop.

After climbing a few steps, an old gray iron door appeared in front of me.

*Creak-*.

As I pushed open the door that seemed to be screaming for oiling, a cold wind brushed against my cheek.

“*Haa*….”

It was a cold wind, but I was so happy to feel it.

I took a breath of the wind and approached the railing.

I put my arms up on it and looked far away, trying not to think as much as possible.

If I think of even a little bit of other thoughts, more memories than I want will come to mind.

At that time.

*Creak-*.

The sound of the door came from behind again.

I was startled by the sound and turned around.

“Huh?”

The person standing there looking at me with a surprised face was Kim Hana.

She found me and was staring at me with her mouth wide open and her eyes popping out.

I immediately reached out to her.

“Hana-ssi, hello.”

“Oh my, how are you here….”

She hurried over to me.

She rubbed her hair and face and said.

“I often come here to get some fresh air. There’s never anyone here, so I came with my bare face… I’m embarrassed.”

“No. I didn’t do anything either. And you look the same as on TV, what are you talking about?”

“Haha, no.”

She avoided my eyes as if she was shy.

Suddenly, she looked at me and raised the corners of her lips.

“Ah, I was going to tell you when I saw Hee-sung-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“Did you hear that I’m going to work with you on this project?”

At her words, I smiled and nodded.

“Yes, I heard you came in as the lead actress. Please take care of me.”

At my words, Kim Hana waved her hand and replied.

“No. I should be the one asking you to take care of me. Actually… I went into that project just because of Hee-sung-ssi.”

It was a story I had heard from Manager Kim.

I didn’t expect her to say this to me directly, so I slowly nodded and looked at her.

Kim Hana smiled and continued to speak to me as if she had been saving up what she wanted to say.

“…So I said okay right away.”

“Ah, I see. I’m grateful if you thought of me that way.”

“Um… Actually, no matter what genre Hee-sung-ssi chose, I would have followed you into that project.”

Her attitude had changed to such an active one.

I was smiling, but inside, countless thoughts were intertwined.

Her attitude seemed to go beyond treating me as an actor.

…Does she perhaps have feelings for me?

I was troubled as I looked at Kim Hana, who was smiling and sending me eye smiles [smiling with her eyes].

She carefully opened her mouth in a shy voice.

“I told you at the awards ceremony….”

At Kim Hana’s words, I swallowed hard.

She smiled brightly and shouted, staring at me.

“I’m really a fan of Hee-sung-ssi!”