An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 187

187. Episode 33 – The Master of Good Deeds (5)

“Laura, why are you cleaning all of a sudden?”

Laura was tidying up the scattered documents on her desk.

I tilted my head, surprised by the sudden change.

It seemed so out of the blue for her to be cleaning her desk during busy work hours.

In response to my question, she gave me the brightest smile I had seen from her all day.

“My son is coming soon.”

“Why?”

Laura glanced down at her clothes and sighed.

“I couldn’t even go home yesterday. So, my husband said he’d stop by the office with the baby for a bit.”

“But why are you cleaning your desk? Is he coming up here?”

She smiled, clearly thinking of her son.

“Yeah, my son has always been curious about Mom’s office. He’s just coming to drop off some clothes, so I told him he could come up.”

“Well, I guess Laura doesn’t have time to go down and back.”

“Right. Besides, my son is very interested in what Mom does these days.”

I smiled at the thought of her child and replied.

“Didn’t you say Laura’s son is eight years old?”

“Yeah, time really flies, doesn’t it?”

“I know. I think Laura showed me pictures of her son when he was younger.”

Just then,

The phone on her desk rang.

Laura raised her eyebrows and gestured that she would take the call.

I nodded and went back to focusing on my work.

About thirty minutes passed.

“Mom!”

A young child walked in cheerfully from the entrance.

It must be Laura’s son.

There was no way a young child would be in this kind of trading company otherwise.

Laura’s phone rang again.

I quickly said to Laura.

“I’ll take the call, so go to your son quickly.”

Laura clasped her hands together and replied.

“Oh, thank you, Alex.”

Then, she quickly got up from her seat and raised her index finger towards her son.

“Shh!”

Laura’s son covered his mouth with both hands and nodded.

I smiled at the cute sight and answered Laura’s phone.

“Yes, I’ve answered the phone. Ah, yes. The person in charge is away for a moment….”

After a short call,

I put down the receiver, and the cute child I had seen earlier was sitting in Laura’s seat.

Looking at him, I waved with a bright smile.

“Hello?”

The child looked around and waved back at me.

“Hello.”

“Where’s your mom?”

The child pointed towards the restroom with his finger and said.

“Mom went to change clothes. She needs to take the clothes she changed into to Dad.”

At the child’s small voice, I bent down and approached him.

“But why are you talking so quietly?”

At my words, the child covered his mouth with his hand and whispered.

“Mom said not to make loud noises at the company. She told me to stay quietly in my seat.”

“Okay, good boy.”

The child smiled and leaned back in the chair.

I patted the child’s head and started working again.

Tap tap.

The moment I was typing,

Bang-!

Boom boom boom!

A huge roar that made me feel faint was heard.

“Aah!”

“Agh!”

Screams erupted from everywhere.

My body flew from my seat and crashed into the wall against my will.

“Agh….”

Even when I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see.

A hazy gray smoke clouded my vision.

This place was utter chaos.

“Evacuate quickly!”

“Agh, save me!”

A thick smoke rose, obscuring everything.

I could see flames in the distance.

Boom boom boom-.

The roar continued.

I couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from, but it felt like this building was collapsing.

Otherwise, I couldn’t explain the sounds and sights.

I could even feel the building shaking.

People were just looking ahead and running, not even knowing where the exit was.

Dada dada dada.

While running in a crowd, people were bumping into each other and falling like dominoes because they couldn’t see.

Bang.

“Agh!”

Another loud noise was heard, and people ran quickly, panicking.

I, too, struggled to get up from where I had fallen, not even able to come to my senses.

I definitely hit the wall hard.

But there wasn’t even a moment to feel the pain.

I had to get out of here right away.

Otherwise, I would die in this building filled with this unknown gray smoke.

Fear and terror enveloped my whole body.

But there wasn’t even room to tremble at those emotions.

I covered my mouth and nose with my clothes and walked forward, barely supporting myself with my staggering legs.

“This way!”

People shouted as if they had found the exit.

“This way….”

“Aaaaaagh!”

“I don’t want to die.”

“Save me!”

The shouts announcing the exit were soon drowned out by the screams of those trembling with fear.

Nevertheless, I moved towards the side where I heard the sound.

Around me, I could easily see people crying loudly.

People who were in despair and looking around.

I shouted at them.

“This is not the time to be doing this. Run away quickly!”

At that moment,

A strong light streamed in.

It definitely looked like the exit.

Looking at the light, people started running, losing their minds.

As they ran quickly towards one place, the floor was shaking even more violently.

I, too, was running after the light when…

Wait….

Laura’s son suddenly came to mind.

I had almost reached the end of the entrance.

But I quickly turned around and ran back inside.

The only child here.

The only person who couldn’t protect himself.

It was only Laura’s son.

After taking a deep breath, I held it and ran back to my seat, recalling my memory.

The sight of the child sitting still in Laura’s seat, crying, came into view.

Without a moment’s delay, I picked up the child in my arms.

The child’s face was filled with fear, and his body trembled.

Hugging the child tightly as if to calm him down, I started running towards the light with all my might.

“Uwaaaah.”

There was no time to comfort the child at all.

Because I had to get out of this building before it collapsed.

I only looked ahead and moved my legs with all my strength.

And soon, the brightly visible outside scenery.

The outside of the building was not intact either.

This place was also covered in gray, and I ran to one side and put the child in my arms down on the floor.

And we both gasped for breath and coughed repeatedly.

“Cough, cough.”

The child coughed and trembled like an aspen tree.

It was hard to even take care of my own body, but I opened my mouth to reassure the child first.

“It’s okay.”

But the child cried and kept looking for Laura.

I stroked the child’s head and asked.

“Laura will be here soon. What’s your name?”

“…William.”

“That’s a cool name.”

At my words, William wiped away his tears with his arm and replied.

“It means guardian. Mom gave me that name.”

“My name is Alex. My name also means guardian.”

William opened his eyes wide and smiled faintly, muttering.

“Alex… guardian….”

At that moment.

Bang!

With a tremendous roar, the building behind me…

None other than a plane crashed into it.

I wrapped my arms around the child and crouched down.

“No!”

***

After waking up from my sleep,

My pajamas and blanket were all soaked with sweat.

I couldn’t be okay after having such a dream.

It was a nasty nightmare.

Every moment was so vivid.

Even the moment the plane crashed into the building, it all came to my mind.

I frowned and closed my eyes tightly.

“Haa….”

Trapped in that pain, I stayed in bed for a long time before getting up and heading to the study.

And I started rummaging through the scripts I had read.

“I’m sure this content wasn’t in the script I saw recently. No, there wasn’t even a similar scene….”

I hurriedly picked up my cell phone.

Then, I called Manager Kim.

-Hee-sung!

Manager Kim answered the phone as if he had been waiting for my call, even before the signal rang.

I was surprised by his voice, but I hurriedly asked him a question.

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], do you have any new scripts that came in for me….”

Manager Kim cut me off and shouted.

-Hey, Hee-sung!

“Huh?”

-Are you home right now?

His tone seemed more urgent than mine.

“Yeah, I’m home.”

-I’m almost at your house right now?

“What?”

-It’s an urgent matter, so I was going straight home. I was going to call you anyway.”

I frowned and tilted my head.

“What is it? What’s going on?”

At my question, Manager Kim answered, breathing heavily.

-It’s good news, but I’ll tell you when we meet.

“What’s going on that’s making you like this?”

Even at my words, Manager Kim spoke in a tone that suppressed his excitement.

-I’ll be there in 5 minutes, so please wait a little bit.

Manager Kim ended the call like that.

I blankly looked at the turned-off phone and raised my eyebrows.

***

Ding-dong-.

As Manager Kim said, the doorbell rang 5 minutes later.

I had been sitting on the sofa waiting for him, and I got up at the sound of the doorbell.

Knock knock knock knock!

“Hee-sung!”

Manager Kim, who couldn’t stand that short time, pounded on the front door with his fist.

He continued to make noise towards the tightly closed door.

“Hee-sung, please open the door quickly.”

“Ugh, just wait a moment.”

At his urging, I hurriedly moved my steps and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Manager Kim gasped for breath.

“Hyung, what’s going on that’s making you like this?”

This was the first time I had seen him like this since I met Manager Kim.

Even when I got my first big role.

Even when I won the Rookie Award, Popularity Award, and Top Excellence Award.

I don’t think he was this excited.

“Haa, haa.”

He couldn’t even stand the elevator and ran up, holding his knees with both hands.

He lowered his head and took a deep breath.

“Hyung, did you come up the stairs by any chance?”

“Haa… uh, there was someone getting off in the middle… so I followed them down and just ran.”

He barely continued to speak, breathing in the middle of his words.

Sweat was flowing on Manager Kim’s forehead.

I looked at him, unable to understand at all, and shouted.

“So what’s going on that’s making you like this? What is it, what is it?”

At my words, Manager Kim swallowed his breath and shouted.

“You’ve got a movie offer.”

At his words, I frowned and replied.

“Well, I always get offers.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Manager Kim shook his head violently.

“This time it’s different.”

Manager Kim’s answer was firm.

But I could feel that his voice was very excited.

Unable to contain my curiosity, I grabbed his shoulders and asked.

“What’s different? Can’t you tell me what it is?”

Manager Kim raised the corners of his lips and muttered.

“Hollywood called.”

At his words, I released my furrowed brow.

“…What?”

My expression and tone were bewildered.

Manager Kim swallowed hard and shouted as if the house would collapse.

“Hee-sung, you’ve got a movie offer from Hollywood!”

I opened my mouth wide at his words and blinked my eyes repeatedly.

Manager Kim clenched both fists and shook them in the air and shouted.

“You have a chance to advance to Hollywood!”