An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 18

#5 – The Girl I Saw in My Dream (3)

Ding-dong.

Kim Manager got up from his seat as the doorbell rang.

“Perfect timing. If the doorbell had rung after the drama started, it would have broken the flow.”

“Haha, you’re right. Nice timing.”

I also got up and said to him,

“Hyung [older brother or close male friend], I’ll grab the chicken from the door.”

“Will you? Then I’ll get the glasses and set up.”

“Okay.”

The chicken bag was placed in front of the door.

As soon as I opened the door, the smell of fried chicken hit my nose, and my lips curled up.

The day ‘Don’t Look at the Stars’ one-act play airs.

The first starring drama of the celebrity Kim Manager is in charge of.

In other words, it’s the day I monitor my first starring drama in my life.

Even if I don’t put anything in my mouth, I’ll be filled with happiness from the tension and excitement.

And now, even chicken is added!

It’s already a fantastic combination.

“Wow! This chicken smells amazing. Let’s eat some quickly during the drama commercials.”

Kim Manager poured cola into a glass and continued,

“Once it starts, we won’t have time to eat because we’ll be concentrating. Let’s have some cola now, and beer after the drama ends.”

Nodding at his words, I spread the chicken out on the table.

We devoured the chicken in silence for about ten minutes.

Just a few chicken pieces remained, and the bottom of the packaging was visible when the drama started with majestic background music.

“Hee-sung, it’s starting.”

“Okay!”

Without either of us saying anything, we put down the chicken and cola we were holding and focused as if we were being sucked into the monitor.

Several minutes passed after the drama started.

As the scene changed, Kim Manager opened his mouth.

“Hey, that part, I think you acted really well.”

I smiled and replied because I vividly remembered the scene he was talking about.

“That class scene?”

“Yeah, this time, strangely, the acting of teaching as a professor was more genuine than the love emotion acting.”

“Haha, did the professor role suit me well?”

“I guess so. Especially that class scene where you compared love to gravity.”

Kim Manager looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought, and continued,

“From there on, the rest was ad-lib, right?”

“That’s right. I think it’s coming up soon?”

We both thought of the same scene and moved our gaze back to the monitor.

Soon, Kim Manager clapped his hands and said,

“That scene is coming up!”

In the screen, I opened my mouth with a melancholic expression.

-Every object with gravity has a force that attracts each other. I think the love that attracts people to each other is also a type of gravity.

-Have you ever felt that gravity, teacher?

Han So-jeong asked with a mischievous expression at my words.

Our eyes met, and an unknown emotion poured out from our gazes.

“Originally, that’s the end of the line, right?”

Kim Manager asked me, fixing his gaze on the TV.

“That’s right. The script was up to there.”

At that time, a voice was heard from the TV.

-I have.

My ad-lib.

It was an ad-lib that hadn’t been agreed upon in advance, so it could have been an NG [no good/mistake] situation.

But at that time, Director Park didn’t cut the flow.

Han So-jeong, who played the opposite role, also responded without being surprised by my line.

-Really?

-Yes.

-When?

My serious and determined face was captured on the screen.

And Han So-jeong asked, staring at me intently with curiosity.

-About… 560 years ago, I think.

-Hahaha.

I raised my eyebrows and answered with a meaningful face.

Soon, dozens of supporting actors playing student roles burst into laughter.

Han So-jeong tilted her head without laughing.

The camera then zoomed in on my face standing in front of the platform, and the screen changed.

“Kuh.”

Kim Manager exclaimed and looked at me.

“Hee-sung, but was that prepared?”

“No, it just came to my mind.”

“Really?”

He pursed his lips, nodded, and continued,

“It was so specific, I wondered if you had prepared it.”

When I was acting, 560 years popped into my head without me knowing.

I don’t know why, even now.

While I was lost in deep thought, recalling the words I had said.

Kim Manager shouted loudly and handed me his cell phone.

“Wow! Look at the real-time reactions. It’s not bad, is it?”

-It feels like he’s really explaining something.

-Isn’t he a real professor at this point?

-└ If he was a real professor, I wouldn’t have understood.

-└ Ah, haha, that’s right, haha.

-But the male lead is kind of handsome?

-It feels like he’s giving real lectures sometimes, haha.

-The girl’s eyes are sad. She looks innocent, but who is she?

-The male and female leads have good chemistry.

-It seems like the KTS [Korean Television Station] special story is fresh and suits them.

-I looked up the guy’s name, it’s Jin Hee-sung? I’ve never seen him before.

-If the professor was that handsome, I wouldn’t have skipped class, haha.

-└ Me too, haha. I would have sat in the front row and gotten good grades.

Real-time comments were constantly being uploaded throughout the drama broadcast.

The reaction wasn’t bad.

Reading the comments one by one, the corners of my lips naturally curved upward.

***

As soon as I opened my eyes in the morning, I opened my cell phone and searched for ‘Don’t Look at the Stars.’

My heart pounded as I typed on the keyboard.

The screen appeared, and the first number I saw.

Ratings of 1.3%.

It was just a decent number.

It was a one-act play drama with a decent score that wasn’t a flop or a hit.

This is perfect to use for my filmography.

First, I let out a sigh of relief at the fact that it exceeded 1%.

If the work I starred in as my first lead role had a lower rating than the usual one-act play, I would have felt guilty that it was because of me.

With a light heart, I put down my cell phone and started preparing to go to work.

“Good morning!”

“Oh, Hee-sung. Did you see the ratings?”

“Of course. 1.3%.”

Kim Manager nodded at my words.

He seemed to have already checked the ratings as well.

“Good job.”

“It’s not like I did well. Haha.”

Kim Manager leaned towards me and said,

“But I heard Director Park is leaving?”

“What?”

He shook his head and opened his mouth.

“He’s transferring. Well, it’s not confirmed yet.”

“If he’s transferring… he’s moving to another broadcasting station?”

“I don’t know about that. Anyway, it seems like this drama was his last work at KTS.”

I shrugged and replied,

“That’s a shame. I think I got along well with Director Park.”

“But it’s not like he’s quitting altogether, he’s transferring. If we work hard, we’ll run into each other in this industry someday.”

“I hope so.”

Kim Manager patted me on the shoulder and got up from his seat.

“Say hello to him from time to time.”

“Okay, I will.”

Then, he walked into the conference room and said to me again,

“By the way, we need to start on the next project right away.”

“Oh, I was going to talk to you about that today, Hyung.”

Then, he stopped walking, turned around, looked at me, and asked,

“Did you see any good works?”

“The Clockmaker and the Dancer.”

Kim Manager rolled his eyes and thought, then snapped his fingers and replied,

“Ah, that historical drama set during the Japanese colonial period?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I think the audition date for that came out.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, just a moment.”

He checked his cell phone schedule and continued,

“Let’s see… it’s in two weeks.”

“Two weeks is a pretty good amount of time, right?”

“No. There are six designated acts.”

Kim Manager swiped his finger across the screen and replied,

“Wow, six? Can’t we do a free act [unspecified scene]?”

He nodded at my words.

“No, you can’t do a free act.”

“Okay, then I should start practicing right away from today.”

“You can rest for a day and start tomorrow.”

Kim Manager smiled and said to me.

“No. I don’t have any schedules today anyway, so I’ll start practicing right away.”

He shook his head and burst into laughter.

“I can’t stop you, really.”

***

Ticking, ticking.

The sound of the second hand ringing from all directions.

Numerous clocks were shouting as if to tell the time was passing.

But I was only staring at the broken pocket watch in front of me.

“The mainspring was the problem….”

I’ve been looking at clocks all day, so talking to myself is no longer a big deal.

While I was holding a very small repair tool and fixing it with a magnifying glass.

“Hey!”

I was surprised by the loud shout and quickly raised my head.

“Yes!”

The person who was frowning and shouting was the owner of the clock workshop I was working at and a master clockmaker.

He gestured to me without saying anything, and I quickly ran to his seat.

“When are you going to finish the pocket watch you’re repairing now?”

“I just found the broken part.”

He sighed as if the ground was sinking at my words.

“Are you going to hold it all day? Hurry up. You have to think about the next job!”

“Yes, I will.”

I bowed and answered politely.

It hasn’t been long since I started working under the clockmaker.

So there’s bound to be a difference in skill.

All I can do now is bow to the clockmaker’s words.

I tried my best until the end of the work and finally repaired all the pocket watches.

To shake off the hard body and mind.

I went out to have a drink today too.

A regular place I go to get rid of the hard times.

Creak.

When I opened the old wooden door, the inside of the store was dark, no different from the outside.

The dark interior was filled with several divided seats, and each seat was lit by a red light.

As always, I walked to the seat I always sit in.

The front row on the wall side.

As soon as I sat down, a glass of alcohol came out.

As I took a sip, the hardship of the day seemed to pass through my esophagus.

Kuh.

“I heard the story, it was amazing yesterday too?”

“Hahaha, don’t even mention it. Do you know what happened yesterday?”

The noisy voices were heard from the next seat.

Everyone was wearing a fedora and dressed up.

Because it was so noisy, my ears, which were alone, were focused on their voices.

“Yesterday, Hyung-nim [term of respect for an older male]….”

Suddenly, their conversation stopped.

And the men turned to look at the stage.

Tak.

The light shining on the stage was lit.

A woman walking out with light steps.

All eyes in the bar were on the woman.

Soon, she stood in the middle of the stage and entrusted her body to the music that was flowing out.

As I watched her dance, my heart suddenly started beating as if it would pop out.

Thump, thump.

My heart was beating to the rhythm of the dancer’s footsteps.

Is this what they call falling in love at first sight?

Beautiful.

I couldn’t describe her in any other words.

As I stared at her, my soul lost, I got up from my seat as if I was drawn to something as soon as the stage ended.

And I walked towards her with big steps.

“Excuse me….”

She turned her head at my words.

After swallowing once, I made eye contact with her.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”