A few moments later, Junseong answered the phone in English.
Watching Junseong speak English, Kim Eunha said to me,
“Huh? Is it a foreigner?”
“The only foreigner who’d be calling should be Andrew, though…?”
Junseong exchanged a few words with an awkward smile.
Just when I started wondering who it was, Junseong handed the phone to me.
“He says to put you on. It’s Chester. Ugh, my ears. Why is this man’s voice so loud?”
“Huh? Chester?”
I could not understand the sudden call from Chester, but I took the phone.
“Hey! Director Gyeong! How could you do this to me!”
His voice sounded completely furious.
At that voice, I cautiously asked, wondering if I had done something wrong.
“Yes? Huh?”
“No, why didn’t you tell me your movie opened! Huh! Do I have to hear that from someone else, of all things! And you, when exactly do you check your email? Do you go around without checking your email? Then why did you even give me your email address!”
A voice so loud that if I had heard it right in front of me, my ears probably would have gone numb.
It was not even a phone with speakerphone, but his voice filled the office.
“Hey! Director Gyeong! Did you hang up or what. Why aren’t you answering… international calls are expensive, man!”
“Ah, yes. Chester. I’m listening. But…”
“What! Fine! I’ll hear your excuse, then! Go ahead.”
“It opened today, though?”
If a few days had passed since it opened, that would be one thing, but seeing Chester get this angry when it had opened today, I spoke while holding back a laugh.
“It’s already been nine hours since it opened! Huh! Is nine hours not time! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting! This is disappointing!”
“Come on, that…”
“Don’t make excuses! This won’t do. I should just leave for Korea right away.”
“No, just now…”
“That’s enough!”
At Chester’s words that he would leave for Korea right away, my brow naturally furrowed.
Was he always this impatient?
“No, but there aren’t even official subtitles. Rather, until the rights are sold in America……”
“Then you’re telling me to wait until your work gets sold at the film market and distributed in America? Then that’s at least several months!”
“Then you’re saying you’ll watch it without subtitles?”
“…”
At my question, Chester fell silent for a moment, then raised his voice even more.
“I’ll handle that myself! Can’t I just rent out an entire theater and watch it with a translated script or something! So the sound of other audience members turning pages won’t bother me.”
“Well… that… won’t be easy. Word is going around that getting tickets is a bit hard…”
“What? What does that mean?”
“I’ve been hearing way too many stories about it being sold out.”
“Ugh!”
Chester let out a groan.
When he showed disappointment, it bothered me for no reason.
“Hm… Ah!”
“Why!? What, did you come up with a good idea!?”
At my exclamation of realization, Chester asked, sounding expectant.
“Then, for now, come to Korea. It would be better if we showed it to you directly at the production company.”
“Oh?”
Only then did Chester’s voice soften a little.
“Are you coming right away?”
“Yes, I haven’t been able to sleep at all lately! Because I want to see your movie!”
“It opened today, I’m telling you…”
“That’s enough! Anyway, I’m hanging up. I’ll be there soon. Please check your email! I’m really about to burst!”
Only after grumbling for a few more minutes did Chester hang up.
The moment I hung up, Junseong asked:
“What did Chester say? He calmed down a bit at the end.”
“He said he’s coming to Korea.”
“Huh? All of a sudden?”
“He wants to see <Space Vagabond>. But since there are no subtitles, I told him to watch it at Seonghyeon Production. I told him to watch it while looking at a translated script.”
At my words, Junseong tilted his head, and Kim Eunha, who had been listening beside us, widened her eyes and asked,
“What… Chester!? The Chester I know?”
“Yeah, last year’s Cannes Film Festival jury president.”
“Are you insane? That guy is coming to Korea himself because of your movie?”
“That’s what he says. His name value is huge, but when you actually meet him, he’s just a neighborhood ahjussi who likes eating.”
At my words, Kim Eunha sat down with an unreadable expression.
“A neighborhood ahjussi? Do you know how many people got chased out of the film world by that man’s pen tip!”
As if calming her surprise, Kim Eunha even crunched the ice in the iced coffee in front of her and continued.
“No one even properly knows what he puts more emphasis on, mise en scène, story, or what! He’s a giant in the film world!”
“He’ll probably like your movie too. Since he’s coming, should we show him your movie as well?”
At my question, Kim Eunha shuddered and answered.
“What!? No way. Absolutely not.”
“Why? His evaluations are cold headed. I’m telling you, your movie is being underrated.”
“I’m totally fine with the evaluation I have right now, okay?”
“Come on, let’s show him once. A sort of one plus one event while we’re at it!”
Especially if this is a world where famous film directors disappeared.
Kim Eunha’s movie might not stop at being for domestic consumption like in the world I knew but spread out into the world.
“That’s enough. I’m scared. And after showing him your movie, you’re going to show him mine? That’s killing me twice!”
“Hm…”
I stared at Kim Eunha for a moment without saying anything.
Just imagining her movie being evaluated by Chester seemed to make her nervous, and I could see her hand trembling slightly.
Then, a line from a masterpiece I had watched quite a lot passed through my head.
“Why is the great Kim Eunha’s tongue so long?”
At my words, Junseong burst out laughing.
“That’s right, the great Kim Eunha. Why is your tongue so long? Hey, though, what movie line is that from? Why does it hit so hard?”
Kim Eunha frowned at my words.
From Kim Eunha’s standpoint, she had nothing to lose anyway.
Besides, Chester was not some lunatic who would write a harsh review about a movie shown to him as a favor.
Of course, from the standpoint of his public image, it might seem possible, but…
“…”
Kim Eunha kept frowning for a moment as if thinking.
Whether there was emotional turmoil in her or not.
Since I could not tell clearly, I had no choice but to give up and lean back in my chair.
But suddenly Junseong shoved his face toward her.
“What? Why?”
Junseong got ready, making his expression as annoying as possible.
His eyebrows lifted high, and his petty little mouth began twitching.
And then the magic word that came out from between those lips.
“Sscaaared?”
“You crazy bastard.”
Smack!
“Aaagh!”
Junseong ran over to me, maybe because his hand could not reach the spot he had just been hit on and turned his back to me.
“Hey, rub here for me. Aaagh! Feels like it’s on fire! Hwaaa…”
“Geez, you dumb bear. I told you, you’re supposed to do that while picking the right target.”
While Junseong let out a groaning sigh, Kim Eunha smiled as if she found it ridiculous.
Then, as if she had made up her mind, she said,
“Fine. Let’s do it once.”
“Hey! Then why did I get hit!”
“At that expression you just made, and you think that was all you deserved!”
At the same time, Taylor sat in front of the TV all day, trying somehow to understand Korean news she could not properly make out.
“Nick. Do you know what this means?”
“Taylor, your Korean is better than mine, you know? If you can’t understand it, do you think I can?”
“Ha…”
Taylor had to interpret the news like she was looking at a picture storybook, so it was hard to immediately understand everything the anchors said as it came out.
“Hoo… Korean is so hard.”
“Just give up. What, isn’t it enough if they show movie theaters packed with people?”
“They did show that earlier.”
“Then that’s enough. What are you waiting for?”
“Well… audience numbers?”
At Taylor’s answer, Nick snorted and replied.
“Taylor. It’s not that easy a job to total up the audience count. They have to combine and calculate theater by theater. Do you think that’s coming out on opening day?”
“But still…”
“I don’t know. I’m going to sleep.”
Nick went back to his room, and just then Taylor’s phone rang.
Ring-ring.
At the phone call interrupting her concentration, Taylor frowned and looked at her phone.
[Uncle Chester]
At the call from her uncle, Taylor rubbed her eyes and checked again, wondering if she had misread it.
Most of their contact was done through email.
Phone calls were unnecessarily expensive, and with email, you just had to send it and check once a day or so.
“Hello?”
“Uh, Taylor. Have you been well? I got your email.”
At Chester’s warm voice, Taylor said with a playful smile,
“No. It was so hard I almost died.”
“What? You almost died? What happened! Did someone bully you or something? Which son of a…”
As Chester raised his voice, doing the whole song and dance by himself, Taylor snorted and answered.
“It’s not like that. I mean we almost died because everyone worked so hard. Everyone was such good people, it was nice. I’m telling you, I think this is the first time I’ve ever worked like this.”
“Good grief… tsk. Don’t make jokes like that.”
Chester scolded Taylor with irritation in his voice.
“But why are you calling all of a sudden?”
“Ah, well.”
Suddenly Chester’s voice brightened up.
He sounded so excited that his voice even cracked a little.
“I’m going to Korea.”
“What? All of a sudden?”
“Space Vagabond opened, didn’t it. You said that in your email.”
“But coming all the way to Korea just because of that is a bit……”
“What, are you not confident?”
The reason she had not shown Chester the space CG she made years ago.
Back then, just as Chester asked, she was not confident.
But with the <Space Vagabond> she had made now, she was more confident than ever.
That even her uncle Chester would open his eyes wide if he saw this movie.
Taylor could be sure of that.
“What do you mean not confident! The theaters are packed with people trying to watch Space Vagabond!”
“Hehe, then why are you acting like that?”
At Chester’s probing voice, Taylor jumped up from her seat and shouted.
“Then come and watch it yourself! Ah, but… the translation isn’t ready yet…”
“Director Gyeong said I should watch it directly at Seonghyeon Production. He said they’d give me a translated script separately too.”
“Oh… that sounds good. If I watch it directly at the production company, we can pause it for a moment too. Hm…”
At Taylor’s words, Chester asked in a playful voice.
“Hehe. You really are confident, right?”
“I’m telling you, I am! This movie is going to become a classic of space opera films!”
Repeating Gyeong Chanhyeon’s words exactly, Taylor showed strong confidence.
“Yes. That’s my niece. Hehe. That’s fun. A classic of space opera films.”
Chester laughed to himself for a moment, then asked in an intentionally serious voice.
“Is the food okay? I eat samgyeopsal here now and then, you know.”
At Chester’s question, Taylor answered with a bright smile.
“I gained almost five kilos after coming here. I’ll have everything prepared in a way that suits your taste, Uncle.”
“Yes, that was the most important thing I called about. Hehe. Then let’s see each other soon.”
“Yes. Uncle. Ah, but can I tell Director Gyeong about the relationship between me and you now?”
At Taylor’s question, Chester said in a voice mixed with laughter,
“Since you’ve properly shown your ability too, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
“Yes. Then I’ll see you soon.”
“Do that.”
Click.
Taylor hung up and focused on the TV again.
The news showing theaters crowded with people.
At the scene that kept repeating, the corner of Taylor’s mouth slowly lifted.
“Hehe…”
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