They did have a drinking get together, but maybe it was hard to break through the language barrier while sober, so naturally the foreigners ended up sitting together.
“Andrew?”
Taylor asked, looking at Andrew with a deeply furrowed brow.
“What?”
“Take your glass. It’s the culture here. The first drink, you toast together and shout.”
Taylor explained the Korean culture of “the first drink is one shot together” to Andrew, but Andrew wore an indifferent expression.
“What is that face?”
“What face?”
“I won’t speak too carelessly since you look way older than me, but if you came to someone else’s country, at least show a little effort to match that country’s culture.”
“…”
Andrew frowned at Taylor’s words.
“Match what? We won’t see these people once the movie’s over anyway.”
“You never know. You might do the next one, and the one after that.”
“You really don’t know anything about the film world, do you?”
Andrew glanced at Nick, who was quietly pouring drinks, and spoke.
“What is it?”
“Film is… an art with no affection. Money comes before people. You be careful too. The moment you stop being worth money, it’ll only be a matter of time before you get thrown away from here.”
At Andrew’s words, Taylor frowned.
“What is he even saying? This bearded old man.”
At Taylor’s reaction, Nick stopped pouring and just blinked. Andrew, in front of her, also stared at Taylor as if flustered by what she said.
“What did you say?”
“Isn’t that the same for anything? What, do you think Director Gyeong Chanhyeon is our parents or something? Like he’s going to go ‘there, there’ and raise us?”
“…”
“Just do your own job.”
Maybe Andrew had not expected Taylor’s reaction. After clearing his throat a few times, he took the glass Nick handed him. Then, as if something came to mind, Andrew said,
“I’m confident. I’m overflowing with confidence that I can do well. But my acting isn’t something that’s only in my hands. You know that too, don’t you?”
“Yes, yes. Of course I know. But there’s never been proof your acting is amazing, you know? I’ve never seen it. The only thing I’ve seen is The Lord of the Rings. And isn’t that your best work?”
“You…”
As Taylor and Andrew snarled at each other, eyes blazing, Gyeong Chanhyeon, who had stood up to give a toast, came running over first, looking flustered.
“Everyone’s fine, right?”
“No. There is something.”
As Taylor answered, fuming with her face flushed, Gyeong Chanhyeon looked at them in embarrassment and met Nick’s eyes.
But Nick only shook his head, saying nothing, and looked at Gyeong Chanhyeon with sad eyes.
“Hoo… No. There isn’t. I got excited for a moment. I apologize. Andrew.”
At Taylor’s sudden apology, Nick let out a deep sigh of relief, and the skin under Andrew’s eyes twitched slightly.
“I, I’m sorry too.”
“Haha… I’ll come back later. First…”
“Yes, you have to give the toast!”
The redness left on Taylor’s face faded, and she looked at Gyeong Chanhyeon with an excited expression.
“Haha… yes. I should.”
As Gyeong Chanhyeon, still standing, raised his glass high, the noisy atmosphere quieted instantly.
In that atmosphere, Andrew looked around blankly, flustered.
“Alright, everyone, raise your glasses.”
Taylor smiled brightly, nodded, and with a relaxed smile, signaled to Andrew.
And Andrew, swept up in the suddenly changed mood, raised his glass high without being able to think of anything.
“Let’s toast and announce the start of our voyage to the world. To Space Vagabond!”
“To Space Vagabond!”
Clink.
The sound of glasses striking.
At that ceaseless sound, Taylor, as if she was that excited, smiled brightly and clinked her glass again and again.
At that, Andrew stared at her. Noticing it, Taylor frowned.
“There’s that face again. Seriously. You’re ruining my drink.”
“Taylor, why are you like this…”
Nick, restless at the side, said to Taylor.
“He acts like he’s something. It’s annoying. You remember what he said to the lead actor we met for the first time, don’t you?”
As Taylor snapped at Andrew, Andrew frowned again and shot back.
“What?”
“You, what are you? Director Gyeong Chanhyeon brought you because he thinks you’ve got something, but with that kind of attitude, no matter how good your acting is, you’re just a nasty foreigner who can’t blend into this group. This shoot is going to take months. Are you going to keep acting like that?”
“It sounds like you’re saying I unilaterally insulted that lead actor.”
At Andrew’s words, Taylor looked at him like he was saying something obvious and replied,
“Then did you not? You didn’t see that actor’s face today? And what is that thing you threw out as a ‘question’?”
“I only want the film to go well. That’s why. Do I look like I have time to mind manners right now? We need to solve the fundamental problems. There isn’t much time until filming. If you’re going to work while giving off human charm like that, go find some other job.”
At Andrew’s words, Taylor took a huge swig of beer and said,
“Hey. Do you see anyone here who wants the film to fail? Everyone’s trying to succeed, meaning everyone’s going to move as one body and hype each other up. But you’re just sneering. Is that something you should do?”
“I’m trying really hard, too.”
“You’re seriously lacking in self-awareness. If you grabbed any random person walking by and asked, they wouldn’t call what you did ‘effort.’”
Taylor glared at Andrew. But Andrew did not back down and matched her fire.
And right before their fires touched and were about to explode, Gyeong Chanhyeon stepped in as the firefighter between them, approaching with an awkward smile.
“Haha… so there really is something going on, right?”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s question, Andrew smacked his lips.
“It’s fine. Let us talk more among ourselves. This one has quite a lot of complaints about me.”
“Forget it. I’ve said everything I need to say. I’m going to go have a drink with other people.”
As Taylor stood up first, Nick also stood, watching the situation, scratching the back of his head.
Then Gyeong Chanhyeon, with a troubled expression, looked at Andrew.
“What, do you also think I have a problem?”
“It’s not like you have none.”
“Tsk. I like that you don’t lie.”
Andrew said, emptying the beer glass in front of him.
“But you know what I mean, don’t you? At least you’ll know Kim Seunghun’s acting ability. Do you really think he can perfectly pull off the lead role in Space Vagabond? Those ambiguous emotional lines. They won’t even show properly on screen.”
“…”
At Andrew’s words, Gyeong Chanhyeon seemed to fall into deeper thought, resting his chin in his hand and going silent for a moment.
“That your directing is good, yes, I admit it. But to solve Kim Seunghun’s acting ability with only your directing, the lead role of Space Vagabond will be too much. I’ll stake my twenty years of stage life on it.”
Andrew looked at Gyeong Chanhyeon with confident eyes.
“To the point I’m wondering how you even shot a film called Night. Ha, Space Vagabond. Yeah, the feeling right now? It’s really good. Want me to tell you one of my secrets?”
As if curious, Gyeong Chanhyeon poured beer into his glass and asked,
“What is it?”
“‘The law of the total amount of luck.’ That’s my secret. Every time something good happens, my luck turns filthy bad, and every time something bad happens, my luck gets good.”
At Andrew’s words, Gyeong Chanhyeon frowned.
“What is that? Isn’t it just like, if there’s good, there’s bad too?”
“It’s not that kind of optimism. Do you know how good my luck was back when The Lord of the Rings happened!?”
When toast fell on the floor on his way to work, nine times out of ten the side without anything faced down, and when he turned on the radio, only the exact songs he wanted to hear came on, and as Andrew even aired out his family business, Gyeong Chanhyeon barely held back laughter.
“Surprising, isn’t it?”
When Andrew spoke with eyes wide, neck veins raised, Gyeong Chanhyeon clenched his teeth, thinking it would be a disaster if he laughed.
“Look at how the clock in my hotel room broke today. Do you think that’s common? And the hotel and today’s meeting room aren’t even that far, but I got stuck at every single light. This is a sign that Space Vagabond will succeed!”
“Th-that’s good…? That really is incredible news…”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s reaction, Andrew let out a deep sigh.
“You don’t believe me. Fine, don’t believe me! But that lead actor, that guy’s acting definitely needs fixing!”
“You said he’d be coming soon, so how about talking to him once?”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s words, Andrew made a troubled expression and glanced once at Taylor. Then, with an awkward look, he asked Gyeong Chanhyeon,
“Was what I said that bad?”
“Are you asking because you truly don’t know?”
“…”
“From my standpoint, the problem is how you speak, not the content. That’s why I’m not saying much.”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s words, Andrew nodded.
“Right, if there’s no problem with the content, that’s all that matters, isn’t it? Why is everyone looking at my finger and complaining instead of looking at the issue I’m pointing to?”
“Maybe it’s because the finger Andrew’s pointing with is the middle finger.”
Gyeong Chanhyeon showed Andrew the back of his hand and waggled his middle finger as he spoke.
“I know too. Back then, I was like that too. So instead, I thought other people were stupid. I’d even comfort myself, thinking they were idiots who only cared about the shell and not the substance.”
After taking a sip of the beer in front of him, Gyeong Chanhyeon, with a regretful expression, grabbed a bottle of soju.
Then, after making a whirl once, he opened the bottle and handed Andrew a soju glass.
“Normally, when you talk seriously, you drink this. Want to try it?”
“Sure.”
Andrew lifted his glass and watched Gyeong Chanhyeon pour the soju with both hands.
“But you were like that before?”
“Yes. Well, shouting, cursing. And when good results came out, I thought it was all because of me. In the end, nothing is more important than results, right? Andrew is probably acting like this because you think that way too.”
“Yeah, you get me. I’m doing it because I’m planning to do my best for this film!”
After shouting, Andrew downed the glass he had just filled in one go. Watching him, Gyeong Chanhyeon spoke with a faint smile.
“But that’s what makes people around you suffer the most. In the end, everyone leaves, and you end up alone, completely penniless.”
“What…?”
“Ah… well. Yes. Haha. No, it’s not that…”
Maybe he was flustered because the words slipped out unintentionally, Gyeong Chanhyeon gave an awkward smile and waved his hand.
Andrew, looking at Gyeong Chanhyeon’s expression, frowned.
How could someone who still looked so young be saying he ended up alone?
But his expression looked completely sincere.
“Haha, should we just clink glasses?”
Gyeong Chanhyeon and Andrew clinked their glasses.
And as he poured the soju into his mouth in one go, Andrew’s face scrunched up on its own.
“Khh….”
“Are you okay?”
“It’s not bad.”
“Then one more?”
When Gyeong Chanhyeon spoke with a playful grin, holding the soju, Andrew snorted and nodded.
At the same time.
Kim Seunghun stood in front of the bar, taking a deep drag of his cigarette while staring at the sign.
It was the beef place where they had done the company dinner during Night.
Finding it again after a long time made him laugh.
But because of the one person inside that space.
Because of that person named Andrew Sakil, his feet would not move easily.
“Hoo…”
Only after smoking until the spark was almost at the edge of the filter did Kim Seunghun, with a deep sigh, rub the cigarette out with his foot.
Kim Seunghun wanted to properly judge the contradictory emotions he was feeling right now.
Even though it had only been a simple introduction, the immersion created in such a short moment.
Part of him wanted to learn how Andrew Sakil had done that, but at the same time, he did not want to face Andrew’s aggressive way of speaking.
Just as Kim Seunghun was about to turn his steps back toward home.
He heard someone calling him.
“Hey, Seunghun!”
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