An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 232

232. Fruitage (2)

My first project in Hollywood was successfully coming to an end.

As a result, I was flooded with tremendous offers.

While Kim and I were in the conference room looking through the piles of movie and drama scripts.

“Hee-sung, I need to take this call for a second.”

He showed me his ringing cell phone and said.

“Okay, I’ll look at the script.”

Kim nodded and answered the phone.

I focused on the script so as not to bother him.

“Yes, this is Jin Hee-sung’s manager… Ah, yes. Really? Yes, please send it to me by email first, and I will check and contact you. Yes, thank you.”

His brief call.

As soon as Kim hung up, he raised the corners of his lips and said to me.

“Hee-sung!”

“Yeah?”

He bit his lip and shouted.

“Another advertisement offer came in.”

“Wow… really?”

The reason why Kim and I were so surprised and happy.

It wasn’t the first time I had received an advertisement offer.

Advertisements had been contacting me even before the movie I filmed in Hollywood was released.

I rejected all those advertisements, or put them on hold, waiting for my value to rise.

My value was already high, so contrary to my worries that it couldn’t rise much more after the movie’s release.

When the movie became a huge hit, Kim’s cell phone was ringing non-stop with inquiries.

And of course, my value was rising unbelievably, again and again.

“Already five advertisement calls today.”

“That’s really amazing.”

Kim opened his diary with an excited voice.

“We have so many movies and dramas piled up that I don’t know when we’ll ever get through them all. First, let’s put this aside and decide on the advertisement first.”

He looked at the contents of his diary and continued.

“We’re going to have a meeting about your advertisement later. You can listen then and decide on the advertisement.”

I tilted my head and asked him.

“What do you mean, decide?”

At my words, he raised the corners of his lips and said.

“I mean, which of the advertisements you want to do among the ones that have been offered. It’s not about choosing whether to do the advertisement or not, it’s about choosing the one you want to do from several options.”

“Choose?”

He nodded and replied.

“If it’s the same item, you can only advertise one brand’s product. Speaking of what’s been offered to you now… for bank advertisements alone, three places have contacted us.”

“…….”

At Kim’s words, I couldn’t say anything and just gaped.

“Since those three banks are competitors, you can only choose one of the three to advertise.”

“I guess so. If I advertised all those banks, each bank would object.”

“Yeah, the advertisement contract terms are all like that. You can’t advertise all the competing coffee companies either.”

I nodded at Kim’s words.

“So now, you can look at the list of coffee, banks, hamburgers, and also airline and clothing advertisements that have come in, and choose the brand you want to do.”

“Wow…. I can choose the advertisement brand and advertise it now?”

I burst out laughing.

Kim also smiled and nodded his head.

“But Hee-sung, do you know what’s even more amazing?”

“What is it?”

“The advertisement fee.”

At his words, I swallowed hard and asked him.

“How much is the advertisement fee?”

Kim raised the corners of his lips at my words.

“How much is it….”

***

The movie ‘September 11th’ had been out of theaters for a month.

And I had been working non-stop since the movie was showing.

Even though the project was over, I still had a constant stream of work.

I had filmed as many as 20 advertisements in the past two months alone.

“Hee-sung, you know today is settlement day, right?” [Settlement day refers to the day when payments for work done are finalized and received.]

Kim looked at me through the rearview mirror and said.

“So, all the advertisement fees I’ve filmed so far will be settled today?”

He nodded and replied to my words.

“Yeah, except for the ones we filmed this week, everything else will be in today.”

“Wow, I wonder how much will come in.”

I bit my lip and rolled my eyes.

I knew my value had skyrocketed, but I hadn’t been settled since I heard the advertisement fee had risen.

So I couldn’t feel it.

That’s why I was really looking forward to the settlement amount coming in today.

Kim said to me with a tone of regret.

“There were so many advertisements that came in, but there were so many that we couldn’t do because the genres overlapped. And we couldn’t film much because of the schedule…. If we had done them all, the money would have been enormous.”

I shook my head and replied to his words.

“Hey, hyung [older brother or close male friend]. I filmed almost 20, didn’t I?”

“Still, if you include the ones that were offered, it’s several times that, haha.”

“That’s true.”

Kim clicked his tongue and said.

“It’s a shame, but there’s nothing we can do. Also, if you film too many advertisements, the promotional effect will decrease, so that was the limit.”

“That’s right. I wonder when it will come in. The settlement is usually around this time, isn’t it….”

I was asking about the settlement time when.

Ding-dong.

Just then, my cell phone alarm rang.

The alarm that would ring at this time was definitely the settlement, that is, the deposit alarm.

I looked at my cell phone, listening to my rapidly beating heart.

And the moment I looked at the screen, I felt like my heart was beating at least twice as fast.

“Wow… crazy…!”

I dropped the cell phone I was holding on my lap from my seat.

I covered my mouth with both hands.

The Hollywood movie fee that had come in a while ago.

And the advertisement fees that had come in just now.

All of this money was gathered in one account, and my account balance was….

It was over 10 billion won [approximately $7.5 million USD].

I rubbed my eyes and started counting the numbers on my cell phone one by one.

“One… ten hundred thousand ten thousand hundred thousand… million… ten million… hundred million….”

I finally closed my eyes tightly, speechless.

My whole body was covered in goosebumps.

Money in units I had never seen in my life.

I couldn’t even imagine that this money could be deposited into my account.

Of course, it was money I had earned through tremendous effort and work, but the unit of money was so large that it didn’t feel real.

The car stopped at a signal [traffic light].

I tapped Kim on the shoulder and shouted.

“Hyung… what should I do?”

At my words, he burst out laughing.

“Haha, you got a lot of settlement, right?”

I nodded blankly at his words.

Kim shouted, happy as if it were his own business.

“You’ve worked really hard, Hee-sung.”

“Thank you. Hyung… should I retire now?”

He raised his eyebrows and raised the corners of his lips.

“Come on. You’re not going to anyway.”

Kim’s answer, who knows me so well.

We burst into hearty laughter that filled the car, and I said to him.

“That’s true. Hyung, let’s not go home, let’s go shopping.”

***

I went shopping with Kim until the department store closed.

I barely carried the shopping bags full in my hands and put them down on the sofa at home.

I was exhausted from shopping all day and lay down on the sofa.

My body was very tired from the recent busy schedule.

But the scattered shopping bags.

And thinking about Kim’s clothes and shoes that I had filled the car with, I felt so proud.

I jumped up from lying down and sat down.

I hurriedly bit my lip and opened my cell phone.

I opened the bank app and checked my account balance.

“One… ten hundred thousand ten thousand hundred thousand… million… ten million hundred million… billion….”

-Balance 10,927,936,928 won.

As soon as I checked the balance, a smile spread across my face.

I stared at the numbers and shouted.

“What, I still have 10.9 billion even after shopping so much today?”

The amount still didn’t feel real.

Of course, I didn’t buy expensive clothes and shoes, so the money I spent at the department store wasn’t that much.

But even so, my balance had a huge number written on it as if there was no change.

“Haa… I used to tremble at the thought of buying one piece of clothing or eating one good meal….”

I was so moved that I couldn’t move from my seat and just kept looking at the balance.

Several tens of minutes passed like that, and I barely swallowed this trembling and exciting feeling.

It wasn’t the time to just look at this enormous amount of money.

Of course, it’s good to save money without spending it.

I wanted to spend wisely.

Because it was money I had earned by working harder than anyone else, for myself.

And I thought it would be good to spend meaningfully for the people who had helped me.

I took out a notebook and pen and started thinking about how much of this money I should spend and how I should spend it.

“Um… first of all, this part….”

Until late at night, I continued to think about how to spend the money while sitting in the same place.

***

“Hyung, you’re here?”

In front of the foreign car dealership.

I waved my hand, looking at Kim approaching from afar.

“Yeah, I was parking…. Did you wait long?”

“No. I just got here too.”

He looked at the store behind me and raised the corners of his lips.

“As expected, you’re changing your car right away because you’re making a lot of money?”

I smiled and nodded at Kim’s words.

“Yeah, but I don’t know much about cars. Hyung likes cars, so I’m going to get your help to buy one.”

“Okay. I know cars well, so I’ll help you choose one.”

“Thank you.”

He tapped me on the shoulder and said.

“If you’re thankful, let’s have dinner after.”

“Of course, hyung.”

I headed to the store behind me and said to him.

“Hyung likes this brand of car so much. So I naturally decided to buy a car here. Haha.”

He gave me a thumbs up and replied.

“Yeah, this is the place for cars!”

As we opened the door and entered, an employee quickly approached.

“Welcome.”

“Hello, I’m here to look at cars.”

Kim approached the employee and spoke like an excited child while choosing my car.

I smiled contentedly and looked at him.

“Yes, do you have any cars you’re looking at?”

At the employee’s question, Kim glanced at me.

I whispered to Kim.

“Hyung, I don’t know much about cars. Can’t you just tell them to show you what you like?”

He sent an okay sign with his hand and replied to the employee.

“Um… well, there’s a car I saw, can I see that car over there?”

“Yes, I’ll show you right away.”

After looking at the car for about thirty minutes.

The employee looked at Kim and me and asked.

“If you add the options as you said… it’ll be about 250 million won in total [approximately $187,500 USD], and the detailed amount is like this.”

He showed the amount on the document in front of him and said.

I asked Kim.

“Hyung, is this option good enough?”

“That’s right. The options are good, and everything is really good. If you drive this car out… kkeu….”

He made an exclamation as if just imagining the car was good.

Without any more hesitation, I said to the employee.

“Yes, that’s good. I’ll sign the contract with this.”

At my words, the employee bowed deeply and replied.

“That’s an excellent choice. Then I’ll write out the contract and print it out right away. Just a moment.”

“Yes.”

As the employee left his seat for a moment, I said to Kim.

“Hyung, do you like the car?”

“Of course I like it. You have to let me test drive it first when it comes out, okay?”

I shook my head at his words.

“No. Hyung, you do the test drive for me.”

“What do you mean?”

I looked into his eyes and said.

“This is your car.”

At my words, Kim shouted so loudly that the store shook.

“What?”

“I wanted to give you a car as a gift, so I came here today. That’s your dream car, right?”

Kim covered his mouth and said.

“How did you know…?”

“Of course I know. So I wanted to give you that car as a gift. I wanted you to add the options you wanted, so I came with you today.”

“Wow… Hee-sung….”

I raised the corners of my lips and said to him.

“Hyung, you’ve worked hard too. And you’re getting married soon. I’m giving you this as a wedding gift too.”

He swallowed hard and quickly shook his head.

“Still, this isn’t it. Hee-sung, that’s 250 million… almost 300 million won car [approximately $225,000 USD]. I can’t accept it.”

“Come on, take this car with you as a dowry when you get married. That way, you’ll be loved by your sister-in-law.”

“No. I can’t receive something this big from you. Your heart is enough. I’ll just take that.”

I grabbed his arm and said.

“You haven’t even received it yet, how can you just take that? And I made a lot of money from filming a lot of advertisements this time.”

“That’s what you earned from working, how can you spend it on me like this.”

At that time.

The employee came and sat in front of us with the contract.

“Please check the contract and sign here.”

At his words, Kim hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Can we think about it a little more and come back to sign the contract next time?”

The employee nodded at Kim’s words and replied.

“Oh, of course. Please think about it enough and contact us….”

Before the employee could finish speaking, I whispered to Kim.

“Hyung, if you don’t accept this, I’m going to work with another manager and buy that manager this car?”

Kim, who was frowning and concentrating on my words, shouted at the employee as soon as the story was over.

“Can I sign here?”