As soon as the long flight was over and I arrived in Korea, I headed straight to Seonghyeon Productions without even trying to adjust to the time difference.
Sanghyeon looked at me like I was some work-obsessed lunatic, but there was nothing I could do about it.
There were too many things far more important than the fatigue I was feeling.
Creak.
When I stepped into the office for the first time in a while, Junseong stared at me blankly, looking flustered.
“Weren’t you only coming back today?”
“Is my return what matters right now? You said you couldn’t persuade the chairman.”
Ever since I heard the news from Junseong in the days before coming back, I hadn’t been able to get a wink of sleep on the plane.
The news that he had failed to persuade Chairman Lee Jungho.
That news made my body, which only wanted to rest, move on its own.
“Hey. First, take a break, man. How come you went to rest and came back looking older?”
“There’s no time to rest. Even if I wring my brain dry, it won’t be enough.”
The investment costs for a CG infrastructure.
If you added together the computers, labor costs, the space and everything else, the money that had to go in before the film production budget even started would easily come out to several billions of won.
I had been thinking on the flight back to Korea about what method I should use to secure this investment, but the answer didn’t come easily.
“For now, I think we should do what my father said and try outsourcing to an external company first. Us doing it ourselves is…”
“No. We have to do it ourselves. That’s the only way we can really bring the quality to life. Haven’t you seen ? Even if the best CG technicians in the country work on it, they can only pull off that level of quality. We need someone who can fix that.”
A few years ago, <The Return of the Little Match Girl> had been the rival of my film <Desirelessness>.
That film had even used the fact that it relied on domestic CG technology as a marketing point, but the quality was miserable.
“I understand what you’re trying to say. But still…”
After letting out a deep sigh, Junseong relayed Chairman Lee Jungho’s words that he hadn’t been able to say over the phone.
Chairman Lee Jungho had said he didn’t see any value in investing several billions into computer graphics.
And he had added that he couldn’t carelessly meddle in a business that required such large-scale funding, and that if anything, they should just pay an outside company.
But if we did as Chairman Lee said, all we could expect was decent quality at a heavily bargained-down price.
It was not even guaranteed, just a hopeful expectation born of optimism.
This was not what I wanted.
In order to be able to at least be sure of the quality of the CG we would use, we needed Taylor and designers who would faithfully follow Taylor’s directions.
If we could just get that, the success of the next film would be as good as guaranteed.
“Ugh…”
When I clutched my head and groaned, Junseong also perched on the chair next to me and spoke.
“Isn’t there some good way? Phew… Honestly, I’m only trusting this because it’s you. If someone else came up to me and asked me to invest so they could build a CG tech base, I’d probably think they were a scammer. That might be why persuading my father isn’t going so well…”
With a worried look on his face, Junseong watched me.
“Don’t you have any good ideas? You always come up with answers at times like this.”
Looking at my face, he spoke again, sounding worried.
“Forget it. Hey, go get some sleep. Your face was a mess already and now it’s even more of a mess. I’ll keep thinking about it too…”
“No. In this state I couldn’t sleep even if I tried.”
I sat down at my desk, turned on the computer, and began to organize my thoughts.
The added value of CG that would open the ears of a major conglomerate chairman.
That was the key.
Lee Junseong clicked his tongue when he saw that Gyeong Chanhyeon was sitting right beside him even though it had barely been a few hours since he returned home.
He understood that the situation was important, but after a long flight, there was no way he was in his right mind. Yet the way Chanhyeon sat there, bloodshot eyes fixed on his notebook as he scribbled something down, made him look like he was possessed by something.
“Go to sleep, man. What are you, a zombie? Is your brain even working properly right now?”
“Ugh…”
Chanhyeon tilted his chair back, rested against it for a moment, and closed his eyes. At that, Lee Junseong walked up to him and tapped his chair.
“Let’s go out, zombie. Sleep is something you do at home.”
“Why?”
“I’ll handle your jet lag. You said you want to keep making films for a long, healthy time, right? Have a beer and then sleep. Do the thinking tomorrow.”
“You drink beer to stay healthy now? Doesn’t that sound a bit weird to you?”
“The way you look right now is weirder.”
Smiling at Chanhyeon, Lee Junseong continued.
“Nothing’s going to get done right now anyway. So we might as well at least have some fun.”
When Junseong started gathering his things, Chanhyeon let out a deep sigh, worry etched on his face.
“Still…”
“Shut it. Just follow me. I’ll treat you. Nothing you do right now is going to change anything. We need to put our heads together first.”
At his words, Chanhyeon stood up as if he had no choice. The way he moved made it look suspiciously like he had been waiting for that offer, so Junseong asked.
“Were you by any chance just waiting for me to say I’d pay?”
“What are you talking about? I’m going along since it’s convenient.”
“Why do I feel like I’m being swindled…”
Chanhyeon got into Lee Junseong’s car, and they headed to the hof bar they used to frequent.
“Here again?”
“You can’t buy this atmosphere with money. It’s got the traces of our youth.”
Seeing how disappointed Chanhyeon looked, Junseong teased him.
“We’re still young, you know?”
“We’re about to be a carton of eggs.”
“Being thirty is your prime.”
Shaking his head at Chanhyeon’s words, Lee Junseong poured a little soju into a 500cc beer glass.
When the color was exactly what he wanted, he took a hearty gulp of his beer with a satisfied expression and said,
“When you hit thirty, man, that’s when people start calling you an old bachelor. You say you’ve married film, but these days I don’t even have time to meet anyone because of work.”
“That’s all excuses. Even in the middle of a war, people had kids and did everything they needed to.”
“Wow, you sound like an old man.”
Junseong pretended to pinch his nose. Then, after downing his somaek (beer+soju), he asked curiously,
“So, was there anything fun in America?”
“There were lots of fun things. I talked a lot with Sanghyeon too. He says he wants to prepare for the bar exam. I had no idea he liked baseball that much either. I got closer with him, and a lot of fun stuff happened.”
The time he got scared by James’s huge build at the airport.
The time he was subjected to racism on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The time he moved Chester to tears at a Korean restaurant.
As Chanhyeon recounted the various things that had happened in America, Lee Junseong’s expression grew serious.
“You even got racially discriminated against?”
“James stepped in, so it turned out okay.”
“Tsk. When you have a lot of people, you get a lot of vermin too, I guess.”
At his words, Chanhyeon gave a bitter smile and spoke.
“There are going to be plenty of guys like that in the film industry too.”
“You think so? The film world is full of educated people. They do racial discrimination too?”
“They might not use the same methods as the guys I just talked about, but the educated ones use more cunning methods. Do you know what kind of racist is the really scary kind?”
“There are different kinds of racists?”
Looking at the blank expression on Junseong’s face, Chanhyeon answered,
“The racists I’ve met so far are nothing. They’re just idiots. But the educated ones don’t show it so openly. They pretend to have the desire to help us. In their minds, they’re helping the poor people with darker skin and feeding their own petty moral self-esteem. Those guys are the really dangerous ones.”
“Hmm… I don’t really get it.”
“I haven’t met them yet, but… they might end up being a double-edged sword for us. They’ll help us, but at the same time, they’ll become an enormous wall.”
At Chanhyeon’s words, Lee Junseong just blinked, as if he really did not understand.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Let’s just drink.”
Clink.
They clinked their glasses with a refreshing sound and drank.
After he finished telling all the American stories that Junseong might have been curious about, the two of them finally began discussing in earnest how they might solve the problem in front of them now.
The next day.
When I opened my eyes, the clock was pointing exactly at noon.
“Whew…”
The smell of alcohol in my breath made me frown without thinking.
I’d thought it would just be a quick beer with Junseong and then we’d call it a night, but the drinking session did not end easily.
I had a heated discussion with him.
From the worries Chairman Lee Jungho was currently struggling with, all the way to problems of the company we might or might not be able to solve.
But we could not easily find the correct answers to any of it.
Knock, knock.
“Chanhyeon. Can I come in?”
At my mom’s voice, I forced my body upright.
“Yes!”
Madam Bong came into the room. When she saw the wreck that was my face, she clicked her tongue.
Then she picked up the clothes that was strewn on the floor, hung it on a hanger, and took in a deep breath as if she were getting ready to unleash a storm of nagging.
“Good grief. You’re going to be the death of me. You’ve turned into a total middle-aged man! Huh! At this rate how are you ever going to get married! Ugh, you reek of alcohol! Did you drink with Junseong again? If you just got back from America, you should be resting at home! Show your face to your mom and dad once in a while too!”
As my mom’s nagging storm came crashing down, I grinned foolishly, took the clothes from her hands and folded them, then started massaging her shoulders.
“I just had some work, that’s all. Hehe. Mother. Please calm your anger.”
“What, work again? Junseong is not the kind of friend who’d make you work the very day you get back from America!”
“Uh… hehe. Oh dear, Eomamama, look how stiff your shoulders are. Have you not been stretching lately? You should take better care of your noble body.”
At my words, Madam Bong seemed to relax, and she laughed as she said,
“Enough. Hurry up and come out and eat. Your father’s waiting too.”
“Okay! I’ll just wash my face.”
After a quick wash, I went out to the living room and saw my father clicking his tongue as he watched TV.
“Abamama. Have you been well in the meantime?”
“What’s this, why is Chanhyeon like this again?”
My father asked my mother.
“I told him off for not showing his face here and running off to work as soon as he got back from America, so now he’s acting like that.”
My father seemed to finish analyzing my mother’s tone, and he nodded, then spoke to me in a voice that sounded a little angry.
But in the briefest instant, he winked one eye at me, sending me some kind of signal.
“You realize you did wrong, right, you punk? Show your face at home sometimes. Whenever you’re shooting a film you never come home. Huh? If you’re going to be like this, at least get married or something. What, you think this house is a hotel?”
After checking that signal, I nodded and answered,
“Your humble son has erred. Eomamama, Abamam1a.”
“As long as you know, be careful next time. Let’s eat.”
After securing the peace of my household, I mashed up the tofu in the hot kimchi stew, mixed it into my rice, then put meat and kimchi on top and took a bite. A smile came out all on its own.
“How was America? According to Sanghyeon, you were treated like a VIP.”
Watching me eat, my father asked with a pleased look.
“Ah. Haha. Yes. It was nice.”
“You didn’t do any gambling, did you? Isn’t that Las Vegas place somewhere near there too?”
“You know I take after you and don’t bet money unless I’m sure about it.”
“You brat. At least wet your lips before you lie. If only your grandfather hadn’t gambled…”
Every family has that kind of “if only” story. I shut my ears to my father’s worn-out repertoire about how we would be living so much better if only he hadn’t done this or that, and nodded unconsciously as I ate.
“You brat. Are you even listening?”
“Yes, I’m listening. If he hadn’t gambled, we’d have several apartments in Gangnam by now.”
“I didn’t get to that part yet.”
“Huh? Haha…”
When I laughed awkwardly, my father grumbled,
“You brat. That’s why I told you, if you ever need money urgently, tell me. Don’t whine in your sleep after drinking. I have enough room to help out a little, you know.”
“Khak.”
Some rice shot out of my mouth and stuck all over my father’s face.
“You little punk…”
- Eomamama (어마마마) – Royal Mother
Abamama (아바마마) – Royal Father
Lmao that’s cute ↩︎
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