I Will Live As An Actor

Chapter 98

Namhang (South Port).

A cruise ship makes waves under the bridge. 

The white foam that scatters in the air looks like snowflakes, delighting the eyes. 

Just like the waves that sway over the winter sea, the Namhang market is also buzzing with unexpected good news.

“It’s a bit crooked. Don’t touch that one, lift it up a little to the right. No, not left, right! Lift it up a little to the right!”

“Mr. Choi, you’d be the type to keep talking even if you fell into the sea. This banner may look light, but it’s heavy as hell. It looks perfectly aligned to me, but you keep changing its position. Are you trying to train a dog or something?”

“Dog training needs to be in sync too, you know. How can we do this if our hands and feet don’t match? Stop talking and come down here. Did you skip breakfast or something? You have so much energy. Let me try it!”

The merchants of Namhang market are working hard to hang the banner since the morning breeze. 

The banner is placed in a prime spot, like the entrance sign of the market. 

The faces of the merchants who look at the banner fluttering in the winter wind are flushed. 

It’s not because their faces are red from the cold wave (寒波), but because their hearts are warmed by the words on the banner.

-Namhang’s son, Jang Young-guk! He got a perfect score on the college entrance exam!

He was a boy who grew up with the strong accents and sea winds of the sailors. 

He moved ice from the ice factory (製氷所) with his fern-like hands in the market’s narrow alleys, and he also sold fish with his mother on a mat.

In a way, he was a boy who was cherished and nurtured by all the merchants of Namhang.

“I’m really crying my eyes out. I can’t imagine how he must have felt in Seoul, among those people. But he did well in his studies too, how wonderful is that.”

“Mr. Choi, if you cry like that, you’ll lose all the juice from your fruits. Do you think you’re the only one? We’re all the same. It’s so good that he did well. Isn’t it?”

All the merchants are teary-eyed as they look at the banner. 

Namhang market is having an unusual boom. It’s not even a holiday season, but tourists are flocking from everywhere. 

The reason is simple.

“Is this the fish shop where Jang Young-guk’s mother works?”

She’s clearly a young woman from Seoul, judging by her accent. Mrs. Yang squints her eyes and looks at her. 

How many people have come since the morning breeze? 

Not only tourists, but also media people. 

It’s all because of the rumor that the secret to Young-guk’s exam success was the seafood from Namhang.

That’s why the fish they got from the wholesale market are already sold out. 

From seasonal seaweed to seafood, everything is gone. 

According to the rumor, even the parents from Gangnam’s top eight school districts are planning to rent a bus and come down here to get some luck. 

That’s when Young-guk’s mother greets the young woman with a curious look.

“How did you get here?”

At that moment, the young woman hands her a business card from her coat. 

It’s a business card with the name of a magazine. Mrs. Yang and her mother look at the card alternately.

“I’m Kim Sun-ah, the editor of Dongseon magazine. I was wondering if I could interview Jang Young-guk’s mother.”

There have already been countless reporters who came and went. But this time, it’s a magazine. Mrs. Yang steps forward to help Young-guk’s mother who is in trouble.

“A magazine, you say?”

The editor Kim Sun-ah smiles and explains.

“Our magazine’s theme for this month is great mothers.”

****

The impact of the perfect score on the college entrance exam was bigger than expected. 

After all, he was the only one who achieved a perfect score on the exam, which was known as the impossible exam. 

And he was a rookie actor who was called a teen star. 

The public’s attention, as well as the media’s interest, was inevitable.

It was evident even on the morning of his school day. 

Despite the early hour, there were more reporters than students. 

There was even an ENG camera, which meant that it was broadcasted on the terrestrial channels.

-It’s Jang Young-guk!

Anyone who saw it would have thought it was an end-of-the-year awards ceremony. 

That’s how many reporters ran towards Young-guk like crazy. 

Manager Lee Bong-chui tried his best to protect Young-guk, but it was not easy. 

That’s when it happened.

‘I owe it to the principal.’

I almost got crushed by the reporters’ questions. 

That’s when the principal stepped in front of them. 

He usually smiled like a kind grandfather, but I had never seen him so angry before.

“Everyone, calm down. If you want to interview Young-guk, our pride of Sehwa High School, please follow the proper procedure. This is the students’ school time. How can you put so much pressure on the other students!”

Did he watch a historical drama last night? His booming voice startled the reporters. 

Thanks to the ENG camera, it looked like a scene from a drama.

“Young-guk, are you ready?”

I aced the college entrance exam, so the interview was just a formality. 

Every year, the top scorers’ interviews were published in the media. 

The principal kindly offered his office for a comfortable interview. 

Soon, a young reporter entered with my homeroom teacher.

“Hello, I’m Kim Seunga, a reporter from Gukseon Daily. It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Jang Young-guk. I’m a huge fan of yours. I actually begged my boss to let me do this interview. I was supposed to be in the current affairs team.”

I knew.

The reason why Young-guk chose Kim Seunga as the interviewer was simple. 

Ever since he became famous, his name was constantly in the media. 

Some of the articles were negative about him.

They accused him of being arrogant and choosing excessive acting transformations, or spread baseless scandalous rumors. Of course, after the movie was successful and he denied the scandals, the articles disappeared like lies. But among them, Kim Seunga was one of the few reporters who wrote favorable articles about Young-guk.

“Mr. Young-guk, is it true that you never received any private education?”

It was a well-known fact. 

Of course, there were some who didn’t believe it. 

That’s how miraculous it was to get a perfect score on the college entrance exam without any private education.

“What are your study habits?”

Young-guk was the one who gave many wise sayings to the future perfect scorers.

“I studied mainly from textbooks and school lessons.”

“Did you have enough time during the exam?”

“Not really. I actually had some time left, so I wondered if I solved everything correctly.”

He answered many questions about the day of the exam. 

From whether he expected to get a perfect score to how he felt after checking the answers.

Honestly, he could only say that he was nervous. 

He didn’t expect to get a perfect score during the exam, and he wasn’t sure even after checking the answers. 

He kept getting various questions. 

Among them, the most important one was about his career path.

“You got a perfect score on the college entrance exam. Thanks to that, you have a free ticket in the Korean college admission system. You can enter any university you want. Which university and major will you choose for your career? Can you tell us about that?”

***

A few days later.

MBS Drama Department.

It’s been a while. 

How many times did I visit the three major broadcasting stations in my previous life?

I played so many supporting roles that I couldn’t count them. 

The public talent audition had a clause that prevented them from appearing on other stations, but Young-guk was different.

He failed the public talent audition every time. But thanks to that, he got to experience all three stations. 

Maybe it was a good thing in hindsight.

“Isn’t that Jang Young-guk?”

The eyes of the drama department PDs widened like the youngest PD’s muttering. 

He was the hottest star in Korea right now. 

He was so popular that he even appeared on the 9 o’clock news. 

There was someone who greeted Young-guk warmly. 

It was a famous PD.

“Young-guk!”

The veteran PDs gave him a sharp look as he called Young-guk’s name casually. 

They had a gap in their careers, but he was the most likely candidate for the CP position. But did they know? 

The first person to become the drama department head among them was none other than the famous one.

“Do you want some orange juice like before?”

“Yes, please.”

As I sit in the meeting room, old memories come flooding back. I had also visited the Prince Hotel for script reading when I was filming The Man of August. 

Not long after, writer Choi Eun-sook enters the meeting room. 

She exclaims with pride as soon as she sees me.

“Perfect score on the college entrance exam! Jang Young-guk!”

“I’m embarrassed, writer.”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? How amazing are you? A perfect score, Young-guk, you always surprise people with something. You’ll surprise them today at the script reading too, right?”

It’s almost like a solo script reading. 

Of course, MBS Broadcasting Station had to do some preliminary research since they were investing a lot of money in the production. 

Not to mention, the appearance fee was also unprecedented among the three major broadcasters. 

As proof, there is a camera running in the meeting room. As if to record this whole situation and show it to someone.

“How much time do you need?”

I’ve already read the script book once.

“Let’s start right away. But we need someone to read the lines with you. Can writer Choi do it like before?”

“It’s an honor for me. Now there are so many actors who want to read lines with Young-guk. I’ll read the lines well for you this time too.”

“Writer Choi, you still want to call you a sister. You look like an aunt, not a sister, by your face value.”

“What are you talking about! Don’t say that and choose the starting part quickly. Where do you want to start the script?”

Yoo Myung-han pretends to be troubled by Choi Eun-sook’s nagging. The script volume was already out until the middle. Since it was a video that had to be shown directly to the president, he was worried about which scene to choose. That’s when it happened. Leaving Yoo Myung-han behind, Young-guk speaks up first.

“Don’t do that, writer Choi. You read the lines first. That way, I think the lines will come out more naturally.”

What a confidence. 

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he memorized all the lines in the script book. 

I knew how amazing Young-guk’s memory was, but I wondered if he could do it. Choi Eun-sook also had the same expression. 

She recites the lines with doubt.

“Your Majesty, why do you pay attention to such a lowly creature? If you want to reach the Gyeonghoe-ru by the time of the banquet, you should hurry up now.”

It’s Yeonsan-gun who went out to inspect the lives of the people. 

He is inspecting the houses of the commoners without his royal robe.

Next to him is his guard soldier who walks with him. 

At that moment, what caught Yeonsan-gun’s eye was none other than a dog that was dying of illness. 

And next to the stray dog, there was a small puppy that looked like a baby.

“Do you know, Gyumsabokjang. How my mother met her death. Everyone said that, I heard it over and over since I was young. My mother, Queen Yun, died of illness.”

At that moment, Yeonsan-gun strokes the head of the dying dog. Then, the puppy who was watching him from the side bites Yeonsan-gun’s hand. 

At that sight, Gyumsabokjang (兼司僕將) immediately tries to draw his sword from his sheath.

“Stop, Gyumsabokjang, even this weak animal is doing its best to protect his mother. How can I harm it? When the queen was expelled and everyone was silent, did you also keep silent about my mother’s death, Gyumsabokjang. I guess you did. I did too. I pretended not to know my mother’s death even though I knew it. I had to pretend not to know my mother who died vomiting blood. Isn’t that obvious? I, who was the crown prince at the time, was less than this young animal who is trying to protect his mother now.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not so weak anymore.”

At that moment, Yeonsan-gun, no, Young-guk raises his head with red eyes. 

And then he smiles faintly in the wind that blows in.

“The wind of blood is blowing.”