A few days after <Space Vagabond> opened.
A real frenzy swept across all of LA.
The proper first beginning of a space opera perfectly hit the tastes of American nerds who had been starving for SF/ science fiction films.
But it was not just them.
Asians in America. They found the very news that a film made in Asia was opening in America fascinating, and people came crowding in.
Olivia, who had thought the world was deceiving her, gradually could no longer understand what exactly was happening right now.
She had not watched <Space Vagabond>, and had no intention of watching it in the future either.
Because she did not have the confidence to see with her own eyes what would become the one and only stain on her life as head of distribution at Everest Pictures.
“Haah….”
Olivia pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a deep sigh.
“Olivia?”
As if she had not heard her name echoing in the meeting room, Olivia gave no answer at all.
“Olivia?”
“…Ah, ah?”
“Did you perhaps see the newspaper?”
“…”
Even the LA papers were full of praise for <Space Vagabond>.
They were even calling it CG technology far superior to Hollywood’s, asking how on earth such a small country had been able to make a film like that with 25 million dollars.
The newspaper headline said that the strangest events, the kind that could not be explained in words, were happening in American film history.
“So Asians can suit space too, it turns out.”
The Asian employee sitting in front of her said that with a bright smile.
Olivia could not answer that at all.
At least right now, Everest Pictures was not suffering any losses because of <Space Vagabond>.
The film Everest Pictures would be releasing was scheduled to open two months later.
“…”
That was why getting angry here would only amount to admitting her own incompetence.
Olivia gritted her teeth and forced out a smile.
“Really? I still haven’t seen it, so I wouldn’t know. Is it really a film worth praising this much? And every film gets an opening burst like this, doesn’t it? No one knows when that will suddenly cool down again.”
At Olivia’s words, the Asian employee who had been smiling brightly nodded and said,
“Ah, I see. Then I guess the new Walt Pictures release didn’t even get an opening burst in LA. It looked like it got completely buried by Space Vagabond. Haha.”
At the bold Asian employee’s words, the other staff members rolled their eyes around without saying anything, and Olivia glared at him as she continued.
“Ah, what, is it because you’re Asian that you feel some kind of kinship with that Korean film?”
“Not that much, no. Haha. I guess Olivia feels kinship with every White person? I can’t even eat kimchi.”
A few of the Asian employees did not even try to hide their laughter, letting out muffled chuckles with expressions that looked openly satisfied.
At those expressions, Olivia closed the papers in front of her and stood up first.
“Let’s stop here for today. We’ll just watch how Space Vagabond ends up doing.”
At the same time.
After arriving at LAX, Lee Junseong stepped carefully off the plane.
His first step onto American soil.
As if to commemorate it, he first framed his own foot with his camera.
“Hehe.”
Head of Seonghyeon Production, or rather now the production company whose name had been changed to “Seonghyeon KMD Pictures.”
The first step he had taken toward establishing a production company in America was not a small thing to Lee Junseong.
It had happened much faster than expected.
So fast that it was hard to believe he had achieved this in just five years.
The important work in Korea had already been wrapped up, and even Gyeong Chanhyeon could handle minor miscellaneous tasks now, so Lee Junseong’s steps felt especially light.
Once he finished the immigration process and entered the arrivals hall, the Seonghyeon Production employees were standing there holding a huge sign.
[KMD Seonghyeon Pictures CEO Lee Junseong. Producer of <Space Vagabond>! Ultra stylish Lee Junseong is coming!]
“President! Over here!”
“Oh my! Everyone! You all worked so hard!”
The moment he saw the staff, Lee Junseong shouted and walked over with lively steps.
“One person coming to pick me up would have been enough… why did you all come?”
“Come on, how could we not, when our president is coming? Haha!”
Lee Junseong looked over their faces, then carefully asked,
“Couldn’t Chester come? I need to give him a deep bow at least once.”
“Ah, yesterday we all celebrated among ourselves and drank a bit too much.”
“Really? Haha! Well, what of it! Our film is shaking up LA and New York right now!”
Lee Junseong said that to them with a pleased smile.
“First, for adjusting to jet lag, maybe to the hotel…”
“Ah, no. First I need to thank Chester. Haha. He did it with complete sincerity for us.”
“Yes! Then let’s do that!”
At Chester’s house in LA.
Chester had heard that Lee Junseong was coming, but his hangover had not gone away, so he had come out into the yard and was watching the sun sink low.
“Hoo… I’m dying.”
He cut the tip off a thick cigar.
The tranquil early evening air, and the sunset painting the sky in red waves.
And on top of that, a fine Cuban cigar.
After lighting the cigar, he took a deep pull and blew out the smoke.
Around the time when the thick smoke had begun to scatter, the phone on the table rang.
Seeing the name of the TIC distributor representative, the one he had linked up with Gyeong Chanhyeon, Chester smiled.
“Hello.”
“Yes, Chester. This is Garricks. Haha! I’m calling to thank you. Thanks to you, it looks like we’re about to make big money. Right now New York and Los Angeles are in total chaos over Space Vagabond.”
“I know all that already, man. That’s why I proposed those terms. What, do I look like some thug to you? Hehe.”
“…”
When there was no answer, Chester frowned.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Ah, no. I just didn’t hear for a moment. Haha. But seriously, what in the world were this film director and producer thinking when they made a film like this?”
“A film not confined by language. That’s what I heard.”
“Well, it succeeded, at least. Haha. Thanks to that, we’ll get to pick up some huge scraps.”
At the distributor representative’s words, Chester also laughed loudly and answered,
“I told you, didn’t I? That director and that producer, neither one of them is ordinary. They’re only going to get even more impressive from here.”
“Yes. Chester, who recognized that, is impressive too… just how did you have that kind of insight…”
“That’s enough. Just get ready to properly eat the crumbs now. If you people handle the work like crap, that’s no different from smearing mud on my name.”
“Ah, yes. Nothing like that will happen.”
“Good, then.”
“But…”
The distributor representative seemed to have more to say and trailed off.
“What? What is it? Why start to speak and then stop?”
“Ah, yes. Haha. Shouldn’t you return to the front lines again? Your ability is just too… would you perhaps consider coming to our distributor too…”
“I told you, enough.”
Chester answered with his lips pouting, but the smile at the corners of his mouth did not fade easily.
It had been a long time.
It felt like going back to the past.
He had poured in every kind of effort and worked.
But instead he felt younger.
And the thrill of adrenaline that surged when the contract succeeded.
That thrill had lasted for days.
“And those toys were incredible too. They’re spreading like a full-blown syndrome. But the fact they made toys like that… does that mean they absolutely knew it would succeed? The initial capital must have been quite large…”
Hearing the admiration and awe in the voice over the phone, Chester let out a snort of laughter.
The eyes Gyeong Chanhyeon had when he watched <Space Vagabond> at Seonghyeon Production.
The emotion Chester had felt in those eyes still had not faded even after several days.
“It was obvious. Those were the eyes of someone in love with the film he made.”
“What?”
At the distributor representative’s question back, Chester looked at the cigar beside him, steadily growing shorter, and said,
“Hmm… no. I’ll hang up now. I’ve got something to do.”
“Yes, Chester. Have a good evening.”
“Yeah.”
Click.
The moment he hung up, Chester stretched broadly, hoping the hangover would finally go away.
“Keuuh…”
Good news.
Naturally, with <Space Vagabond> becoming a hit, Gyeong Chanhyeon would have gained at least a little foothold in America too.
And if it was KMD Group, a company doing quite well in Korea, then there was no way he would end up as a puppet…
But there was something else that worried him.
The problems inside Hollywood itself.
If Gyeong Chanhyeon were to come to know the reality of Hollywood, flashy on the outside but stinking inside like a flower gone rotten.
Would he be able to endure it?
The trash at the center of that flower.
As the images of that trash came to mind, Chester frowned.
“Hoo…”
The so-called star producers and directors he had met at film-related events.
The way they first reached out their hands to people of color, then quickly ran off to the bathroom.
The way they scrubbed their hands hard with soap, wearing expressions as if they had touched food waste, had been deeply burned into Chester’s mind.
And it was not just people like that.
Directors and actors with not a speck of ability, busy inflating only their own value and drifting from party to party.
And even people sick in the head with politics.
There were rumors about them that far surpassed imagination.
Could that foolish bear really survive among them?
“…Hehe.”
Chester looked as if he were considering it for a moment, then smiled.
There was at least one thing he could be sure of.
Because he was stubborn in proportion to how foolish he was, he would at least not be easily stained by that place.
If anything, he was the kind of man who made you feel even a sense of expectation that he might change Hollywood.
At that thought, Chester grinned and put the cigar back in his mouth.
“Chester!”
It was the production company employee visible from far away, and then came Lee Junseong appearing right behind him.
He came running over in a rush and dropped into a deep formal bow.
Chester blinked in surprise and could not say anything for a moment.
“Wh-what is this?”
“Ah, thank you so much, Chester. Thanks to you, things are going to be much easier! Hwahaha! The bow I just gave you is a special greeting we give to highly respected people.”
“A special greeting…?”
“Yes! Haha!”
At Lee Junseong’s easy charm, Chester smiled and held out his hand. Lee Junseong grasped Chester’s hand tightly with both of his and expressed his gratitude so intensely it became burdensome.
At Lee Junseong’s endless stream of words, Chester seemed to have even forgotten the cigar burning down in his hand.
“Haha, all right, enough now… my ears are going to start bleeding…”
“No, Chester! Aren’t you the one who opened the floodgates for what is happening now, and what will happen from here on?!”
A completely different atmosphere from Gyeong Chanhyeon.
Maybe because he had not grasped him properly before.
He had not even realized he was this kind of person.
‘Maybe the fact that they’re opposites is exactly why they work so well together.’
Watching Lee Junseong talking endlessly in front of him, Chester let out a snort of laughter.
“Right. How far along are things with setting up the production company in America?”
“Yes. The documents we need and things like that have all been taken care of by the people here. Haha, waiting on review and whatnot will probably take a few months. I came as the representative of the corporation.”
At Lee Junseong’s words, Chester grinned and nodded.
“It really didn’t take all that long to get to this point. Whether it’s Director Gyeong, or you.”
The first time Chester had met Lee Junseong and Gyeong Chanhyeon had been with <Jawol>, the film before <Space Vagabond>.
A producer and a film director who had grown their position this much in only about two years…
“Come on, what did I really do? Chanhyeon did it.”
“Haha, don’t say something you don’t even mean. If you hadn’t been there, there would be no Director Gyeong either.”
Lee Junseong grinned so wide his mouth nearly reached his ears and said while still holding Chester’s hand,
“Finally! Finally! I’m so happy to meet someone who recognizes my worth like this!”
The start of yet another routine.
Since James the bodyguard, Chester had never met anyone who talked this much, so all he could do was nod with an awkward smile.
“You’re the complete opposite of Director Gyeong.”
“Of course. He’s got a few screws loose, but I go around tightened all the way up!”
“Uh… haha, yes. Haha.”
Leave a Reply