An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 260

260. Chapter #47 – As Instinct Leads (3)

What I want to do.

I ran away from home to do what I want and see what I want.

But once I did, I didn’t know where to go or what to do first.

And it wasn’t easy to find a place with few people in Seoul.

I left home with a confident heart, but my clothes were not in line with my feelings.

A top with a collar that covered up to my chin.

I covered my nose and eyes with a large mask.

I wore a hat pulled down low, covering my hair and forehead.

Even if I passed through many people, as long as I didn’t do anything noticeable, no one would easily recognize me as Jin Hee-sung.

I didn’t want to drive around in my car to relieve my frustration.

I just wanted to walk wherever my feet took me.

The cold night air of Seoul.

I wanted to roam through it.

The place I decided to go, determined to do what I want and live how I want, was…

…none other than the ‘Han River.’

For those who are not known to the public, walking around crowded places like the Han River or department stores is just a normal part of their daily lives.

But for me, it took a lot of courage and effort to take this simple walk.

Of course, I used to dream of this kind of life.

But now that I’m living that life, I can’t say it’s all comfortable.

I came to the Han River, leaned back on a bench overlooking the river, and took a breath of the Han River air through my stuffy mask.

“Hmm….”

Maybe it’s because I spent a few months in the United States, but this time and space felt even more precious.

As I was blankly organizing my thoughts while looking at the sparkling Han River, I heard,

“Excuse me….”

An old man with a bent back approached me and opened his mouth.

At his question, I jumped up from my seat and answered.

“Yes?”

“I’m trying to go to the G Building, but I don’t know which way to go. Do you happen to know which way to go?”

I breathed a sigh of relief at the old man’s question.

I was flustered because I thought he might have recognized me, even though I had hidden my face so well.

“G Building? Just a moment.”

I wasn’t familiar with this place either, so I quickly looked up directions on my phone and held it out.

“If you go out that way and go up, you’ll find it.”

“Thank you. You look about the same age as my nephew, and you have such a kind heart.”

“Thank you.”

He patted me on the shoulder and said.

“Thank you for giving me directions. Young man.”

“You’re welcome. Please be careful.”

He gave me a warm smile and answered.

I bowed my head and sat back down.

Suddenly.

“Ugh….”

A throbbing headache repeated itself again.

I thought the headache would disappear once the 10,000 years of time entered my head.

Now that all the memories have come to me, I thought there would be no more pain.

But that arrogant thought was a miscalculation.

My head had been throbbing for days.

The 10,000 years, all those memories vividly flashing as if they just happened, made it impossible for my present life to be sane.

No matter who I talked to, it felt like I had already talked about the topic.

The situation where I just gave directions to the old man.

His saying that I looked like his nephew.

All these conversations seemed like I had experienced them countless times in the past.

Looking at the Han River like this too.

The Han River sparkling in the sunlight, the birds freely flying over the water.

I had experienced this kind of scenery countless times.

Not in Jin Hee-sung’s body, but in the bodies of someone else in the past.

Because 10,000 years is an enormous amount of time.

No matter what I do, no matter where I go.

Nothing feels unfamiliar.

Some people say that.

10,000 years is enough time to know the secrets of the universe.

So, since I have experiences from a period that I can’t even imagine.

What new things can I experience?

Nevertheless, the confusion has now disappeared.

Even though my head throbs and a flood of memories overwhelms me from time to time.

As Choi Seo-bin advised me, I will live doing what I want to do.

I was convinced that that was the only new thing I could try.

I tilted my head back and looked at the sky.

“Then the first thing I want to do….”

When I tried to do something that pulled at my heart, not just taking steps toward a goal for the first time.

It wasn’t easy to imagine.

Travel?

Business?

Immigration?

Even the simple act of taking a break.

Even the jobs to earn money to live as Jin Hee-sung.

I couldn’t rashly think about it and decide now.

Moreover, there was nothing in particular that I wanted to do when I thought about it now.

But there was one thing that filled my head….

“…Song Yu-na.”

Her name just burst out of my mouth.

It seemed that even in the vast memory of 10,000 years, there was a place left to remember her.

There was no reason.

I just wanted to see Song Yu-na like crazy right now.

If it were normal, I would have just ended this feeling with a thought.

If I wanted to see Song Yu-na, I would have just ended it with wanting to see her.

But I won’t suppress this feeling now.

I got up from the bench and brushed the dust off my pants.

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, I turned my steps.

To Song Yu-na’s house.

***

Perhaps Song Yu-na had checked my face on the intercom, as I heard a somewhat hesitant voice.

-Who… is it?

She carefully opened her mouth, cautiously looking around to see if anyone was there.

“It’s me, Jin Hee-sung.”

There was a moment of silence at my words.

-Come on up first.

Click-

The tightly closed front door opened with her voice.

I took the elevator up to her house.

When the front door opened, Song Yu-na looked at me with a bewildered face.

“What is it? How did Hee-sung get here….”

Song Yu-na blinked her wide eyes and glanced at me.

I didn’t say things like, ‘You’re all I can think about,’ ‘I just wanted to see you,’ or ‘I felt like I had to come.’

It was true that my heart was drawn to her.

But I didn’t want to convey all these stories to her.

I turned my head and looked at the hallway near the elevator and said.

“Are you going to keep me standing here?”

At my words, Song Yu-na covered her mouth and shouted.

“That’s right. You can’t be here. What if someone sees you…!”

Song Yu-na hurriedly grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house.

“Come in quickly. It’ll be a disaster if someone sees you.”

She stuck her head out like a meerkat and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like there’s anyone in the hallway.”

Thanks to her pulling me in, the distance between her and me had become closer.

The sound of our breathing, stuck right in front of the front door, could be heard by each other.

“…….”

When I made eye contact with Song Yu-na, she pulled her chin in as if holding her breath.

I loosened the clothes that came up to my neck and said.

“Should we talk here?”

At my words, she blinked her round eyes and said.

“Ah… come in first.”

She gestured awkwardly, pointing to the inside of the house.

I followed her into the living room.

When Song Yu-na sat down on the sofa first, I took a seat next to her.

And an entertainment program was playing on mute.

She quickly grabbed the remote control and turned off the TV.

The house was silent, with no sound or movement.

You could even hear the sound of eyeballs rolling.

Song Yu-na cleared her throat and asked me, keeping her eyes fixed on the turned-off TV.

“But what brings you here?”

I also stopped my head forward and answered her question.

“To see Yu-na.”

“…Then why? You were supposed to contact me when you came to Korea, but you didn’t.”

Song Yu-na, who was excited while speaking, turned her body to me and continued, as if scolding me.

“So, when I called you first, you didn’t answer. You ignored all my texts and suddenly showed up like this. I don’t understand Hee-sung’s actions at all. Why did you come?”

She was sitting on my right, and when she scolded me,

I also turned my body and looked at her.

Then, I opened my mouth while gazing intently into Song Yu-na’s eyes.

“Can I be with Yu-na?”

“…….”

She closed her mouth tightly and blinked her big eyes.

I lowered my gaze, looked at her hand, and said.

“Just… just hold hands. Can I just be here with Yu-na for a little while?”

“H-hold hands….”

Song Yu-na was flustered and couldn’t continue her words.

She jumped up from her seat, afraid that I would see her trembling eyes.

“Oh, a guest has come, but I haven’t given you anything to drink. I’ll bring you some tea first.”

Song Yu-na held out her hand, gesturing for me to wait, and disappeared into the kitchen.

Song Yu-na turned her back on Jin Hee-sung and headed to the kitchen at a fast pace.

She turned the corner of the kitchen, out of Jin Hee-sung’s sight.

Then, she clutched her chest with her hand and gasped for breath.

“Haa… what is it? Suddenly coming here and saying he’ll just hold my hand.”

She peeked her head out from the side of the wall and looked at Jin Hee-sung sitting in his seat.

She took out her two favorite glasses and started to make tea.

“Just hold hands and sleep? That’s ridiculous….”

Contrary to her words of absurdity, Song Yu-na’s face was flushed red.

She didn’t move from the kitchen while calming her rapidly beating heart.

After a while.

Calmed down, she held two cups with a pattern of small flowers in her hands and headed to the living room.

“Here, drink some tea.”

Two teacups were placed on the sofa table.

Jin Hee-sung nodded and replied.

“I’ll enjoy it.”

They sat quite close to each other on the spacious living room sofa.

After taking a sip of tea.

Clunk-

They put their teacups down on the table at the same time.

And their eyes met in the air.

Without hesitation, Jin Hee-sung grabbed Song Yu-na’s hand.

Their hands were clasped together.

Jin Hee-sung and Song Yu-na sat looking at one place.

The image of the two reflected on the black screen of the turned-off TV.

The image was like a photograph, with no movement.

They were holding hands in a stiff posture, without any movement.

Literally, Jin Hee-sung and Song Yu-na spent time just holding hands.

No actions or conversations existed between them.

A suffocating silence.

But their attitudes were contrasting even in that silence.

Song Yu-na’s face was red as if it would explode.

Her heart was beating like crazy.

So fast that she could hear her own heartbeat in her ears.

She closed her eyes tightly, afraid that her expression would be revealed.

On the other hand, Jin Hee-sung was rather calmly closing his eyes.

Like someone whose confusion in his head had been subdued.

How long had it been?

Song Yu-na opened her tightly closed eyes at the sound of soft breathing.

And she carefully looked at him out of the corner of her eye, afraid of making eye contact with Jin Hee-sung.

“…Huh?”

Jin Hee-sung, who came into Song Yu-na’s view, seemed to be sleeping in a very comfortable and peaceful manner.

Jin Hee-sung, sitting upright on the sofa and holding her hand, had his head tilted back and his eyes closed.

His breathing, which came in a regular pattern, seemed to indicate that he was definitely asleep.

She couldn’t even open her eyes because she was so nervous.

She exclaimed in absurdity as she looked at Jin Hee-sung, who was asleep.

“Wow… is he really sleeping?”

She looked at the palm of her opposite hand, which she was holding with Jin Hee-sung, and blew on it.

Sweat was beading on her hand.

‘I’m sweating like this, but he’s sleeping in this situation.’

Song Yu-na was worried that Jin Hee-sung would wake up, so she tried to take out her hand.

She carefully moved her fingers, but the clasped hands didn’t budge.

Jin Hee-sung was holding her hand so tightly that Song Yu-na’s fingers couldn’t move at all.

She looked at Jin Hee-sung’s face and raised the corners of her mouth with a smirk.

‘It’s really uncomfortable, but he’s holding my hand so tightly and sleeping so well… I can’t help it.’

***

“Haa….”

As I opened my closed eyes and raised my body, Song Yu-na’s arm touched the tip of my finger.

I hurriedly covered my yawning mouth.

Song Yu-na was curled up on the sofa, lying down and sleeping soundly.

Our hands were gently touching each other, with the strength released.

I carefully took out my hand, got up from the sofa.

I picked up the blanket hanging on the side chair and covered her sleeping body.

I don’t remember when I fell asleep.

I seemed to have fallen asleep on the sofa while holding her hand.

I fell asleep in a straight posture, but it was the most comfortable and happiest sleep I had had recently.

The time was approaching midnight.

It had only been an hour or two since I had been holding her hand.

But my body felt refreshed as if I had slept for several hours.

And then I saw Song Yu-na’s house.

The high ceiling and wide living room were impressive.

A neatly decorated house.

I couldn’t carelessly look at her house, so I just wandered around the living room where I had been with her.

A display case filled one wall.

The display case seemed to prove Song Yu-na’s fierceness and efforts in each compartment.

The numerous awards she had received while working as an actress.

The letters and gifts she had received from fans.

My mouth dropped open at this one wall.

And the frames hanging on another wall.

All of them were pictures of Song Yu-na.

A frame as tall as me.

A frame filled with Song Yu-na’s face, and many other pictures of her were in frames.

I looked at those pictures with a happy smile and raised the corners of my mouth.

At that time.

“Hee-sung.”

I turned my body at Song Yu-na’s voice calling me.

“Did you wake up?”

Song Yu-na covered herself with a blanket, rubbed her eyes, and looked at me.

“There’s something I’m curious about….”

At her words, I raised my eyebrows and nodded.

Song Yu-na slowly raised her body and asked me with a stiff face.

“Are you really… going to retire?”