Andrew waited for Kim Seunghun outside MILM. Before long, he arrived, so fast it could not even be compared to the speed at which he had gotten there.
“Didn’t you say you would come right after practice ended?”
“Yes. I did.”
“You came this fast?”
“What are you talking about? It’s originally super close.”
“…”
Andrew looked at Kim Seunghun smiling without a care, and while feeling awkward, sat down in the passenger seat.
As soon as he sat, watching Kim Seunghun chatter away beside him, Andrew drifted into thought.
‘He must have grown up like a flower garden without any hard times, so of course he has no creases in him.’
“What are you staring at like that?”
“It’s nothing.”
“You were thinking I’m the kind of guy who acts because he trusts his face again, right?”
“Hm, it’s not that, but it’s not exactly wrong either.”
At Andrew’s words, Kim Seunghun laughed loudly and tapped the steering wheel with both hands.
At the brisk sound, as if he were riding some excited rhythm, Andrew blinked.
“Have you gone crazy now?”
“Well, you said I’m still a green rookie with potential. If that’s the evaluation, that’s a huge improvement.”
“Tsk, your dream is modest.”
“Originally you move forward one step at a time. If you only stare at a far off dream you cannot even see, you’ll get tech neck.”
When Kim Seunghun said it with his neck stretched long, Andrew let out a snort of laughter and answered.
“Even if your neck stretches out and you die, you should still have a big dream.”
“If you die, what does it mean? It’s all to make a living.”
“You really won’t lose a single word…”
“Originally, I was taught that if it’s a fight, you should be sincere even with a kid.”
“Tsk. What’s the point of teaching you acting…?”
Andrew looked out the window and lamented in a sigh mixed tone, and Kim Seunghun beside him smiled and replied.
“I’m lending you my luck, though. Then it’s mutual help. Why are you making a show of it? Are you getting paid to bring me here or something?”
“Forget it. Stingy, aren’t you?”
As they got close to the house, Kim Seunghun spoke to Andrew, who was sitting there blankly beside him.
“Tomorrow too, we have to run from dawn, right?”
“…”
“You’re not even answering. Even so, I’m going to wake you.”
Andrew let out a deep sigh and said,
“Please… get some rest.”
“I can’t do that. Acting properly, exercise properly. If we’re going to do it anyway, we have to get it all.”
“Tsk. Then stop by the convenience store for a moment on the way.”
At Andrew’s words, Kim Seunghun frowned and asked,
“What are you going to eat?”
“No. Cigarettes, you punk.”
“Smoke mine.”
“Too weak. If I smoke yours, I have to smoke three at once to feel like I smoked at all.”
When Andrew said that, Kim Seunghun also checked that he did not have much left of his own cigarettes, and nodded as if he could not help it.
“Ugh. Fine. Want me to go in with you?”
“Ah, no. It’s kind of awkward if the clerk recognizes a star, you know. Haha. I’ll be right back.”
When Kim Seunghun parked the car for a moment in front of the convenience store, Andrew got out as if he had been waiting for it and ran into the store.
At that sight, Kim Seunghun snorted a laugh and lit his cigarette.
And not long after, Andrew came out.
The plastic bag clutched in his hand looked like it was stuffed so full it might burst, and Andrew smiled brightly like a happy hamster that had stored food in its cheeks.
“There’s no way I can just pass this up…”
“Ugh.”
“I’m not giving you any. Work hard on weight control.”
“Go drink quietly in your room.”
“Got it…”
Clink.
At the sound of glass bottles bumping, Kim Seunghun felt it instinctively.
That this beautiful sound was calling him.
But Kim Seunghun tightened his stomach hard and tried to erase the image of that clear liquor rising in his head.
“Hey, are you okay? Your face is red.”
“It’s because of you, Andrew.”
“What? Why me?”
“Why are you buying soju? You can’t even drink well. You should drink beer.”
“That day, I let my guard down, you punk.”
At Andrew’s words, Kim Seunghun snorted a laugh.
“Oh, really? I don’t believe you.”
“Forget it. I’m not drinking. Don’t provoke me.”
At Kim Seunghun’s words, Andrew smiled and said,
“Anyway, I only bought mine. There’s nothing to give you.”
“You won’t be able to finish all that though. You bought, like…… four bottles, right?”
At Kim Seunghun’s words, Andrew flinched and said,
“Are you a ghost?”
“If you know, you know.”
Kim Seunghun smiled, making a V under his chin with his fingers.
“I can drink it all. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t throw up in the room, and make sure you go to the bathroom. If you really throw up even once, from then on I’m going to treat you like a puker, just like Taylor.”
At Kim Seunghun’s words, Andrew shut his mouth for a moment and looked out the window.
Then, as a topic to change the subject, he brought up something else.
“Does your place get the Premier League?”
“You think Korea doesn’t get the Premier League? I watch it too.”
“Huh? Why do you keep up with another country’s soccer league matches?”
“Because it’s fun. I have to watch today too.”
Kim Seunghun’s eyes met Andrew’s.
The one who spoke first was Andrew.
“Could it be…”
“Are you a Chelsea fan?”
“What!? Chelsea!?”
Andrew frowned.
“What Chelsea? It’s Arsenal, you punk!”
“Arsenal? This guy is saying something that’ll get him in big trouble.”
“What? No, you’re a foreign guy and you’re Chelsea, what kind of nonsense is that, you punk!”
Kim Seunghun swept his gaze over Andrew’s body, then laughed and said.
“I think I’m going to be better at soccer than you, Andrew.”
“Even if that’s true… seriously. Of all things, a Chelsea fan. For a moment I thought I might like you.”
“I’m fine too. Thierry Henry one trick.”
“What? How many good players does Arsenal have? Your forwards can’t score, so only Lampard scores.”
“That’s because he’s a mid striker. It’s cool. Lampard.”
At Kim Seunghun’s words, Andrew clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Tsk. Forget it.”
“Ah, but no way, are you going to drink while watching soccer?”
“Of course. Why would it be drinking separately and soccer separately?”
“There’s only one TV at home…”
“You endure it, punk. I already bought it, what do you want me to do?”
At Andrew’s words, Kim Seunghun frowned.
“I’m the homeowner.”
“Are you going to come out that pathetically? I’m a person who doesn’t watch soccer without beer.”
“Ha…”
“It can’t be helped. Have a drink, then.”
“Ah, I can’t though…”
“Then don’t.”
Andrew snorted a laugh and hugged the soju tight, and at that sight Kim Seunghun let out a sigh like it was ridiculous.
“Damn it. Buy more soju. Four bottles is nowhere near enough.”
When Kim Seunghun turned the car around, Andrew grinned and nodded.
Arsenal vs Chelsea.
The result was a draw.
In the dizzying match, both Kim Seunghun’s and Andrew’s throats became hoarse.
“It was a good match.”
“Hah, what a shame. We could have won.”
“Hey. I was thinking that too, you know?”
The two of them grinned at each other.
Soju bottles piled up in front of them.
They looked quite warmly drunk, as if their eyes had already gone loose a long time ago.
“There are two bottles left. Should we finish these off?”
“We should. Then were you thinking of leaving them? Ah, are you having a hard time?”
At Kim Seunghun’s mocking, Andrew frowned and answered.
“Hard time? What, is this even alcohol? This is a beverage!”
“Ah, then you must have sprayed it while drinking a beverage.”
“…”
Pretending not to hear, Andrew filled Kim Seunghun’s glass to the brim.
Looking at the full glass, Kim Seunghun grinned and said,
“Oh, do you have some feelings for me now? You’re filling it with love like this.”
“It’s because I’m drunk. I can’t control it well.”
“Yes, yes. I understand. Cheers.”
Clink.
When he drank the liquor down, Andrew felt his consciousness blur slightly.
But it was not a feeling that was only bad.
“Haha.”
When Andrew laughed, Kim Seunghun asked.
“Why are you suddenly laughing?”
“You. Your life must be enjoyable.”
At the out of nowhere words, Kim Seunghun frowned and asked.
“What?”
“Yeah. You’re handsome, so you have a lot of fans too. You’re still full of energy.”
“What energy. I’m starting to get worn out too.”
“Huh? If you’re worn out, you punk, I would have died long ago.”
Andrew snorted a laugh and looked at Kim Seunghun as if he envied him.
“I envy you. I envy you. It feels like you must have only ever been happy.”
“Haha. Does it look that way?”
With an easygoing smile, Kim Seunghun asked Andrew back.
“Was there ever any twist or turn in your life? And acting too, you’ve done enough that you’re not lacking.”
“Weren’t you the one saying I can’t act?”
“That’s just by my standards. To people watching, wouldn’t it be good enough? Learn to filter what I say. Tsk.”
At Andrew’s words, Kim Seunghun smiled and poured a drink.
“My life is, really, a damned life.”
“You said not to look pitiful at a drinking table, but now you’re complaining again.”
“…”
Andrew stared at his glass for a moment in silence, then said.
“It’s that you shouldn’t do something like pity. And is feeling pitiful and thinking your life is a damned life the same thing?”
“Isn’t it similar?”
“Completely different. Kid.”
Andrew snorted a laugh and emptied the glass Kim Seunghun had filled in one go.
And then he unspooled the story of his life for Kim Seunghun.
His early twenties, when he lived holding the dream of becoming an actor.
His late twenties, when he met the person he loved.
Up to his early thirties, when he came to feel skepticism toward the dream of acting.
At Andrew’s words, who expressed ten years of time with only the three words dream, love, and skepticism, Kim Seunghun nodded.
“And what happened after that? It feels like there’s still about ten years missing.”
“Now there, the word hope comes out again. Haha.”
Andrew, who had found his footing to some extent in the theater world.
And the Hollywood The Lord of the Rings audition.
In order to grab a place there somehow, he applied with the intention of taking any role at all, and the casting manager suggested the role of Gollum to him.
“If you look at The Lord of the Rings novel, Gollum is one of the characters that’s hardest to act. His movements are different from a human’s too, and his speech.”
As Andrew looked back on the past, perhaps an empty laugh came out, and he emptied another glass.
“To depict that kind of appearance, nothing beats a monkey. So for months, I almost lived watching nothing but monkeys. And I studied a lot too.”
“That’s amazing…”
“Hah, what amazing? I just did what I had to do. But just because I worked hard, nothing ended up going properly. Well, it’s not like I had no fault either.”
A man named Tom Gilbert, the actor who took the role of Aragorn.
The fight with the actor who held that role plunged Andrew’s acting life into ruin.
“You fought?”
“Yeah.”
“Even to the point of fists?”
“Then what, do you think we fought with rock paper scissors?”
“You’re all grown adults, what is that…?”
“When it comes to pride, there’s no adult and no kid. Actors are the kind of people who even fight over what number they appear at in the ending credits.”
At Andrew’s words, Kim Seunghun snorted a laugh and asked.
“So, did you win?”
At Kim Seunghun’s question, the corner of Andrew’s mouth lifted slightly.
“I beat him until he was about to die.”
“The lead actor?”
“My patience is a bit lacking, you know. Thanks to that, on set, talking to me became almost taboo. Because I was that Gollum bastard who punched the lead actor.”
At Andrew’s words, Kim Seunghun shook his head.
“Then you would have been completely alone.”
“I was. So I felt disgust toward the film world too. I just lost affection for acting. Even so, I had to live, so I lived doing theater, just scraping by. And when I was thinking of quitting theater too, the person I met was Director Gyeong.”
Kim Seunghun shrugged.
“That timing is insane.”
“Yeah. I met him at the bottom of my life.”
“Haha, for me too. Not all the way to the bottom of my life, but when things were hard, I benefited a lot from Chanhyeon.”
When Kim Seunghun said it with a sad expression, Andrew tilted his head.
“You had times that were hard?”
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