An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 261

261 #47 – Following Instinct (4)

With a serious expression and wide eyes, Song Yoona stared at me and asked.

I met her gaze and took a step closer.

“Retirement… well.”

Not giving a definite answer, she seemed to want to persuade me, awkwardly rising from her seat.

Then, she settled properly on the sofa.

Tuk-tuk-

She patted the empty space next to her with her palm.

It seemed she was about to seriously persuade me, ask for my opinion, or just talk.

At her determined gesture, I swallowed a laugh that was about to escape and approached her.

“Hee-sung, you’ve become so famous in Korea, why on earth are you retiring?”

Song Yoona tilted her head and asked.

I made a ‘tss’ sound and stroked my chin.

“I’m just thinking about retirement right now.”

“But why?”

A few hours ago, the awkwardness from when I first entered Song Yoona’s house was long gone.

“You’ve even advanced to Hollywood and are doing well. How can you suddenly retire? It doesn’t make any sense. At least tell me the reason. Why are you doing this? Huh?”

She asked me, seemingly unable to understand.

Her expression and tone seemed relieved, as if she was finally pouring out a long-held curiosity.

Song Yoona frowned and asked with a very serious face.

“I’ve just… lost interest.”

“……”

My answer didn’t seem to satisfy Song Yoona’s curiosity, as she looked somewhat taken aback.

For a moment, Song Yoona stared at me with a blank expression before taking a sip of the now-cold tea in front of her.

Following her, I also picked up the teacup on the table.

Song Yoona seemed to be gulping down the tea to prepare herself to speak.

And soon, her mouth opened again.

“Don’t tell me… is it because you didn’t win an award at the Academy Awards this time?”

I shook my head while holding the teacup.

“No, it’s not because of the award, but….”

Before my answer could finish, she spoke again.

“Hee-sung, you worked so hard to get to where you are in Korea. And isn’t it difficult to advance to Hollywood?”

Song Yoona clapped her hands together and continued as if giving a passionate speech.

“To advance to Hollywood and become famous so quickly, that’s really amazing. I haven’t directly told you this before, but Hee-sung, you’re really good at acting.”

Her words about me being good at acting stirred up complex emotions.

When I started acting as a minor role.

Back when I had camera shyness and kept making NGs [outtakes] on even a single line.

At that time, the great actress Song Yoona, like a light to me, was standing opposite me as my co-star.

Even thinking about it now, I was so bad that I couldn’t even be called an actor.

I remembered Song Yoona sighing as she looked at me.

Her nagging tone made me anxious at the time.

Even back then, and even now, I don’t think her actions were entirely wrong.

All the staff and actors had to waste time because of an actor who couldn’t even deliver a single line without trembling.

That’s probably why I gritted my teeth even harder.

For Song Yoona, who used to be like that, to praise my acting, it evoked quite complex and subtle emotions.

Unaware of my feelings, she was giving me advice about retiring.

Not just trying to dissuade me, but as a senior actress, she was sincerely speaking for my sake.

“For a Korean actor to advance to Hollywood, attend the Academy Awards that year, and even be nominated, that’s already incredible.”

At her words, I nodded blankly.

“You know, I’ve been at the top of this industry for quite a long time. I’ve had the thought of retiring from this position dozens, hundreds of times.”

The reason I decided to retire was because I wasn’t Jin Hee-sung, the actor.

That was Jin Hee-sung’s dream.

I entered his body to live for 10 years and worked hard as an actor to achieve ‘Jin Hee-sung’s’ dream.

And I lived diligently in the profession of acting, running towards that goal.

But now, I have to stay in this body until Jin Hee-sung’s life ends.

And since I have to live for a long 10,000 years afterward.

I decided that I wouldn’t pursue Jin Hee-sung’s dream of being an actor any longer in this life.

Actually, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to act.

I just didn’t want to live in this entertainment industry, where ‘results’ always had to follow, feeling burdened and pressured.

I desperately wanted to do what I wanted and feel happiness in this life.

The only reason I was trying to retire was that.

No matter what Song Yoona said, she couldn’t possibly know my situation.

So, I pretended to listen attentively to her passionate speech.

But I half-listened and nodded repeatedly.

“…So that’s what I meant. Do you understand?”

After pouring out her story for a while, she asked me as if to check if I was listening.

“Of course. I understand everything you’re saying.”

“The job of an actor is originally….”

Just then.

Kkul-luk-

Her stomach clock rang.

Song Yoona was surprised by the sound from her stomach and clutched it.

“Ah….”

To spare her embarrassment, I cleared my throat and said.

“Ahem, I’m a bit hungry, do you have anything to eat?”

At my words, she raised her eyebrows.

She seemed to be wondering if I hadn’t heard the sound from her stomach.

Then, she looked at the kitchen and replied to me.

“I haven’t been cooking at home lately, so there’s nothing to eat… Then let’s order something.”

“Okay.”

Less than an hour later.

Ding-dong-

The food arrived with the sound of the doorbell.

Song Yoona got up to get the delivery.

The moment she brought the food in from the entrance.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks.

“Ah, that’s right…!”

“What’s wrong?”

Song Yoona closed her eyes tightly and sighed.

At her attitude, I tilted my head and approached her.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

She reached out and pointed to the terrace.

“There are paparazzi outside….”

For her, a top star, paparazzi were not surprising.

She was always the talk of the town.

Rumors and false scandals; her every move was everyone’s concern.

But since I hadn’t met the delivery person, I asked her again.

“But they don’t know I came to Yoona’s house.”

“The food. They definitely saw that we ordered for two people.”

“Come on, surely not….”

At my words, Song Yoona said to me with a cold, hardened face.

“You don’t know how scary paparazzi can be, do you?”

She shuddered as if recalling the past.

“Last time, they checked the delivery person going to our house, found out how many servings we ordered, and even confirmed when they left our house after hanging out.”

“Wow… that’s really scary. So who was it?”

“It was my manager and stylist, so no articles were published, but that’s what paparazzi are like.”

Song Yoona put the food on the table and bit her lip anxiously.

“They’ll probably be camped out here for hours tonight….”

“Then what should we do?”

“I don’t know….”

I approached the darkened window, drew the curtains, and said to her.

“There’s no choice. I’ll have to sleep here tonight.”

* * *

After eating all the food, an awkward atmosphere seemed to flow between Jin Hee-sung and Song Yoona again.

Before eating, Jin Hee-sung’s last words, that he would sleep at her house, made her feel restless throughout the meal.

They had a meal while sharing stories without a big topic.

But Song Yoona’s mind was full of other thoughts.

‘Sleeping at my house means he won’t just hold my hand this time….’

She sighed deeply.

Seeing that, Jin Hee-sung asked with a worried expression.

“Why? Are you still worried about the paparazzi outside?”

At Jin Hee-sung’s words, Song Yoona smiled awkwardly and nodded.

“Ah… yes, well, that’s right.”

“Don’t worry. I can quietly leave here once the paparazzi disappear.”

“So you’re sleeping at my house?”

Song Yoona blinked and asked.

“Yes, let’s sleep together today….”

She closed her eyes tightly at Jin Hee-sung’s words.

‘Sleeping together means…!’

Convinced of Jin Hee-sung’s intentions, she shouted at him.

“No!”

Startled by her sudden shout, Jin Hee-sung raised his eyebrows.

“Huh?”

Then, Song Yoona, still with her eyes closed, shouted at him.

“At least say you want to date me…!”

Song Yoona’s hands were tightly wrapped around her body.

Confirming that, Jin Hee-sung hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying.

“Okay, let’s date.”

“…Huh?”

Jin Hee-sung had no other intentions.

He had no intention of dating for the sake of skinship [physical intimacy] for today.

“I want to be with Yoona.”

At his words, Song Yoona opened her tightly closed eyes and looked at Jin Hee-sung.

He recalled the day he ended his hellish 10,000-year life.

He thought of the moment he chose reincarnation.

The whole reason for making that choice was ‘Song Yoona’.

He decided to repeat 10,000 years with the single desire to be with her.

“That’s why I decided to live on.”

Song Yoona, who could not possibly understand the hidden meaning of Jin Hee-sung’s words, seemed incredibly moved by them.

Confessing to her and saying he wanted to live on felt more touching than any other confession.

Song Yoona took a deep breath and nodded repeatedly.

“…Okay. Do well.”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t you understand? I’m… this is my first time dating, so do well…!”

* * *

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], come in quickly.”

I greeted Kim, my manager, who had come to my house after a long time.

He handed me the coffee he had bought outside and said.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to Hee-sung’s house.”

“Yeah. Since I’ve been in LA for so long, it’s been a while since we’ve all gathered at my house.”

Kim naturally entered the living room and settled down as if he were familiar with the place.

“Hyung, isn’t it a weekday today? What about work?”

At my question, he raised his chin and said to me.

“My actor, Hee-sung, is retiring, what work would I have?”

At his words, I smiled awkwardly and scratched my head.

Kim looked at me like that and asked carefully.

“So, you absolutely have to retire?”

I hesitated for a moment.

I had told him that I wanted to retire.

Kim and the company were all busy trying to persuade me.

But apart from their persuasion, I was still unsure.

It wasn’t that I hated acting or the job of an actor.

It was just that the pressure from that job was overwhelming.

“No, can I think about it a little more?”

At my words, he smiled brightly and replied, as if it were the answer he had been waiting for.

“Of course, you can think about it enough before you say anything. Especially retirement, don’t decide hastily. Think about it for a long time, calmly.”

“I will. But I want to rest from activities while I’m thinking about it.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to the company. Then the contract renewal, is that also on hold?”

At his words, I nodded slowly.

“I want to rest a bit.”

“Yeah, you deserve it. You’ve been running too hard.”

Kim understood my heart better than anyone else.

And I wanted to promise him.

“Instead, even if it’s not through Enter, if I ever work again, I’ll let hyung know first before anyone else.”

At my words, he smiled contentedly and shook his head.

“Okay. Let me know first.”

“Yeah.”

Only then did Kim take a sip of his coffee, change the subject, and ask me.