Godsent Top Star [EN]: Chapter 143

The Premiere, Beginning (2)

143. The Premiere, Beginning (2)

2022.03.23.

[Why are you saying that?] [Because it’s time to wake up from the dream.] [I wasn’t dreaming. I lived reality with you.] [Joo-young. We are too different. The environments we live in are different too.] [What… what does that matter? Look at me, Yeo-won. Look at me. Can’t you just look at me and not see anything else?] Just looking at her made his heart ache. As her deep eyes clouded with hurt, the pain in his chest grew even stronger. “Oh… what to do…” “Oh dear…” Sounds of pity murmured from here and there. Kim Joo-young tried his best to persuade Shin Yeo-won, but she knew reality all too well. They would inevitably clash and break. The wall of reality would tarnish even these happy memories. Eventually, they might even grow to hate each other. Reality is not a fairy tale. Fairy tales always end with a happy ending, but reality is different. The fear that love might turn into hatred made Shin Yeo-won even more resolute. [Can’t you just let me keep the good memories…?] [If reality interferes with our relationship, even these memories might be tarnished. I’m afraid of that… I…] [So that I don’t feel like dying anymore. Let me keep these perfect memories. I’ll live with the love you gave me. Can’t I do that?] Kim Joo-young is not a foolish man. He understands why Shin Yeo-won is afraid. He understands why she is refusing, which is why he can’t hold onto her even more. [So, that’s what it would take…?] As he spoke, a single tear fell. Perhaps that was the moment. The moment when sniffles began to be heard here and there. An expressionless face, not even slightly distorted, just tears falling silently. She looked as if she didn’t even know she was crying. [Nothing is eternal in this world. Even the love we have now will fade someday.] An extremely realistic statement. [But if we break up here, only beautiful memories will remain forever.] [But I’m not there…] One person is missing from the memories made by two people. Can a beautiful memory with an empty hole truly last forever? [But with those memories, I can live.] [Forever…?] With tears streaming down her face, Kim Joo-young spoke with eyes that stirred the hearts of those watching. [That’s right. Forever.] He wants to hold her. But he can’t. Hesitation, pain, hurt, and understanding mixed together, making his heart ache beyond words. [I don’t know.] [But if that’s what you want… then do it.] A short and pure love that began on a trip. Shin Yeo-won, who let go of that love, also sheds tears as she turns away. Watching Shin Yeo-won’s endlessly receding back, Kim Joo-young’s tears continue to flow. Tears also streamed down Gi Han-hyang’s face as they watched together. Despite her usually very dry personality, once the tear ducts burst, they wouldn’t stop. The scene transitions, highlighting Shin Yeo-won, who has returned to her daily life. Shin Yeo-won, living a busy life, occasionally thinks of Kim Joo-young but shakes her head to dismiss the thought. And. [If we had been together.] [If I could have filled the empty space in your heart.] Kim Joo-young’s narration comes over Shin Yeo-won’s back as she turns away after accidentally running into him in a busy street. The two of them in the forest and the two of them in reality intersect and fade out. Above it, a phrase appeared once more with a calm voice. [I send you myself.] The phrase scatters and blurs. [I send you my eternity.] With the last phrase, the lights in the theater slowly turned on. Gi Han-hyang didn’t even realize the lights were on. That voice that recited the last phrase filled her head, no, her heart. And when she came back to her senses…
“Here are tissues, ma’am.” She was holding a handful of tissues that the staff were busily handing out and wiping her eyes.

* The premiere was a success. Not just a success, but a huge success. Even without seeing the reactions of the people after the movie screening. Even without hearing one of the staff members muttering in excitement that it was a jackpot. Even without confirming that Kwon Seong-hyun, sitting in the VIP seat, was smiling softly and making eye contact. Even without the sudden realization of the intention. ‘It’s a jackpot.’ Yeon-woo could feel it. [Multiple lifespan automatic harvesting complete.] [Automatically harvested lifespan: 17 days] Because a familiar window popped up in front of her eyes along with a brilliant notification. It was nothing short of a sign of a jackpot that told her more clearly than anything else. ‘To be honest, I didn’t really expect much.’ She had expectations for this movie. However, that was just an expectation for a stepping stone to increase influence. She didn’t expect to be able to harvest lifespan. ‘I thought movies would be… a little different.’ A drama where each episode has a clear message. Or music where the emotions Yeon-woo intended directly reach the audience. She thought movies were on a different trajectory from those. That’s why she only thought about exposing herself to a variety of people. But…
“The reviews are amazing! They’re totally great!”
“Oh, oh. The atmosphere is really good? At this rate, it might even be possible to reach ten million viewers?”
“Eh. Isn’t ten million a bit much? No matter how much of a jackpot we are, there are limits to the genre…”
“I don’t want to jinx it, but when we release, that thing, what was it, is also releasing at the same time.”
“That’s right, that’s right. That superhero movie is releasing, right?” The atmosphere of the staff members huddled together fluctuated. But overall, they were so energetic that it was impossible not to notice that they were all excited. Sizzle! People were diligently looking at their phones and tablet PCs, not even knowing that the meat in front of them was burning. They were currently holding a wrap-up party with the cast in a large rented space. “We have to do things like this together to really enjoy it,” Woo Do-gyeom was the first to suggest it. Yeon Do-hee immediately followed, nodding her head. The other actors also said they didn’t have any special schedules and all gathered in one place after the premiere. “Aren’t we all family? Aren’t we comrades who survived together?” Yeon Do-hee said with a cheerful laugh. “We should all get together and celebrate on a happy day.”
“That’s right. Do-hee is exactly right.”
“Oh… I’m so happy because our movie’s atmosphere is so good.”
“If the team chemistry is this good, the movie will do even better, right?”
“What are you talking about? Of course!” That’s how the wrap-up party started. ‘Are reviews… that important? Hmm. They must be important.’ Yeon-woo, who doesn’t usually use SNS [Social Networking Service], flipped the burning meat instead of the staff who were busy searching. Of course, “Yeon-woo, I’ll do it. You’ll hurt your hands if the grease splatters,” “Why is Gun doing that? Secretary Choi.” Because of the people sitting on either side of her, she had to let go of the tongs right away. “No. I can do it,” Yeon-woo refused once. “Yeon-woo, you’ll get hurt if you do that. Give me the tongs because you can’t get hurt.” “Would a young master who grew up so preciously even know how to grill meat? Secretary Choi.” “I think someone else grew up just as preciously.” “The world I live in and the world the young master lives in are qualitatively different.” The people sitting on either side didn’t listen at all. Then what can she do? “Enjoy your meal. I’ll be back in a bit…” She can just leave the seat. Kwon Seong-hyun attended this event because he was in charge of Yeon-woo. Woo Do-gyeom attended because he was an investor. Yeon-woo got up without hesitation, wondering why they were bothering her by sitting next to her. [Our actor is doing great! Win!] Yeon-woo walked to one side, leaving behind Dong Ja-ryeong, who was cheering enthusiastically, even though Kwon Seong-hyun couldn’t hear him because he didn’t have a body. “Director Ji?” “…Yeon-woo?” “Um, are you alive?” At least his spirit looks fine, so he doesn’t seem dead. “The director stayed up all night editing like crazy until yesterday morning, so he hasn’t slept for three days,” Director Jo, who was sitting next to him, answered. “You should have seen Yeon-woo too. He was like a person possessed with madness… Ack! Director, why are you hitting poor me!”
“Too… much… talk…” He probably doesn’t want to reveal it, as Director Ji subtly nudges Director Jo’s side while looking half-dead. “Did you eat something?” Because the production company has a free atmosphere without a strict hierarchy, only Director Jo was left next to Director Ji, sipping alcohol. “No…” It’s a wonder how he managed to endure the fairly long premiere event in that state. “Please eat something.” Yeon-woo silently started grilling the untouched meat. Sizzle! The sound of the delicious two-plus grade Korean beef [highest quality grade] cooking deliciously. ‘Beef is best medium rare.’ He doesn’t like yukhoe [Korean-style beef tartare], but he doesn’t like fully cooked meat either. As soon as one side was cooked, he flipped it over to the other side. After counting to 30 seconds, he cut it with scissors, revealing a delicious, slightly cooked, bright red color. “Eat. You must be tired, but you still need to replenish your nutrients.” Why else would Director Ji have stayed up for three days and nights working until the very end? ‘Certainly… it was pretty even to me.’ He could see why Kwon Seong-hyun cited Director Ji’s beautiful visuals as one of his characteristics. Before receiving the script, he recalled all the movies he had watched following Kwon Seong-hyun’s class. All of them were artistic films, so there was nothing lacking, but Director Ji’s results were definitely on a different trajectory. ‘It even seemed better than the short films Director Ji had taken before.’ It felt superior even compared to Director Ji’s existing works. Of course, it’s definitely not just because Yeon-woo himself appeared in it, so he’s biased. Um. It probably isn’t. “Um… Director, you don’t eat undercooked… Ack! Ah, why again!”
“Eat.”
“Ha…” Suddenly, Director Jo grabbed his side again from next to him, muttering as if he was very wronged, “What’s the point of me working so hard? He goes to someone else and acts like a dog!” But when Yeon-woo looked up, he quietly tilted his glass as if to say no. It seems like he’s drinking even faster than before. “Director Jo, please eat too. Director Jo, you’ve worked hard too.”
“…The only one who recognizes me is Yeon-woo. If you knew how hard I worked to take care of our Director Ji, you could write a 3-4 day thesis about it! But look at this. As soon as Yeon-woo came, he turned away.”
“That’s… not true…”
“What do you mean it’s not true? It’s true!”
“It’s not… really…”
“…” What is it? Why do I feel like I’m stuck between a couple? Yeon-woo silently placed the cut meat on the plates in front of the two of them. Meat is not delicious when it’s cold, so you have to eat it quickly. “Still, it’s nice that Yeon-woo recognizes me. Our Director Ji doesn’t even know I’ve worked hard. Ugh.”
“No… why wouldn’t I know…”
“Shut up and eat the meat.”
“Okay…” It seems like the power dynamic has been reversed, but it probably doesn’t matter.