—I sent a small gift. From, Dom.
‘Dom.’
Han Seongtae’s eyes could not pull away from those letters.
He knew all too well that there was only one person here who could be called Dom.
Dominic. He was the one who had left this gift behind.
‘Why did he give this to me…’
A trace of confusion appeared on Han Seongtae’s face as he examined the gift.
He was not close enough with Dominic to exchange gifts.
They had only met twice, once at the dinner table and once on set.
That was why he found it even harder to understand the meaning of the gift Dominic had left.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ looks at you with a strange smile.]
The being who clearly knew what this gift was was not explaining it.
As if he thought Han Seongtae would soon understand the meaning contained in Dominic’s gift on his own.
Han Seongtae blinked once as he looked at the box, then set it down on the desk.
Maybe because it was a gift from Dominic, even unwrapping it felt like something he had to do carefully.
He did not know what kind of gift it was, but it was true that it felt a little burdensome.
Han Seongtae stepped away from the gift.
‘First, I should pack.’
The fact that he had received a gift from Dominic was surprising, but there was something he needed to do before thinking about that gift.
He needed to pack to return to Korea.
His flight was tomorrow. He did not have time to hesitate.
“If I’d known this would happen, I should have unpacked less.”
In the hotel room he had stayed in for four weeks, Han Seongtae’s belongings were scattered all over the place.
He had known he would eventually return to Korea, but after living there for a little over a month, he had naturally started leaving things wherever they were easiest to use.
Han Seongtae let out a sigh as he looked at all the things he had to sort through.
Let’s get moving.
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
Han Seongtae, who had just stuffed all of his underwear into his suitcase, sprang to his feet at the sound of the doorbell echoing through the whole room.
“Hyung. You’re here?”
When he opened the door and stepped outside, Han Seongtae saw Emily peeking out from behind Jung Dusik and waving her hand.
At the sight of her, he blinked.
“Emily, you came too?”
“Yes! It’s your last day today, so of course I had to be here.”
Emily held up what she was carrying and smiled brightly at Han Seongtae.
There was a black bag in her hand.
He could hear cans clinking inside it.
“We were just going to have a light drink. That’s okay, right?”
“Yes, well, I don’t mind… but I was packing right now. Is that okay with you?”
“It’s fine. I’m really good at packing.”
‘I wasn’t asking you to help.’
At her words, Han Seongtae gave an awkward smile and opened the door wide.
Jung Dusik and Emily Lee came inside through the door he had opened.
“Looks like you already packed most of it.”
“I’ve been packing for about an hour.”
“Why did you do it alone? You should’ve called me.”
“I thought I could just do it casually on my own. It’s not like I had that much luggage.”
“Even so, it’s better to pack together than to do it alone.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae smiled and shrugged.
In truth, it was not that he had never thought of calling Jung Dusik.
It was just that it had gotten a little late, and calling him had felt like it would be a bother.
“Let’s do it together. Looks like there isn’t that much left anyway.”
“Okay. Thanks. Thank you too, Emily.”
“No, not at all. It’s an honor for me to be able to help our actor pack his things!”
Her teasing tone made him smile without meaning to.
They really were good people.
“Should this go in here?”
“The razor? It should have its own case. Just leave it on the desk and I’ll pack it.”
“Are you taking the script with you right now?”
“No. I’m carrying that separately.”
“I thought so.”
With the three of them moving together, the packing was finished very quickly.
Once they were done, they sat down on the sofa.
Beer and several kinds of alcohol were arranged on the table in front of it.
Han Seongtae drank only a single can of beer.
Maybe because it was over 500 milliliters, but even just that was enough to make him feel full.
“Seongtae.”
“Yes, hyung.”
When the mood had mellowed, Jung Dusik, with a flush of alcohol on his face, looked toward the kitchen and spoke.
“There was something I was going to ask earlier but didn’t. What’s that over there?”
What Jung Dusik was pointing at was the gift Dominic had sent.
Looking at it, Han Seongtae gave an awkward smile and answered.
“Dom sent it.”
“Dominic?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of gift is it? Did you check yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Then let’s check it now. You should know what it is ahead of time, so you can at least thank him properly if you see him later.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae nodded and stood up.
He brought over the gift and, without hesitating, unwrapped it.
“…It’s beer.”
“It’s beer.”
What Dominic had sent was beer.
Beer with an old sports car drawn on it.
Looking at the beer, whose brand he did not recognize, Han Seongtae tilted his head.
Why would he send beer as a gift?
“He must be kind of unusual. This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone wrap beer this carefully and send it as a gift.”
“Me too.”
Had Han Seongtae ever received a gift like this before?
As he was wondering what he should do with the beer,
Jung Dusik suddenly spoke as though something had just occurred to him.
“But don’t they ban bringing beer on the plane?”
“Ah.”
“You won’t be able to take that with you.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae paused.
Come to think of it, liquids over 100 milliliters were prohibited on international flights.
“Shouldn’t you drink it now? You can’t take it with you anyway, and it’s not like you can just throw away something you got as a gift.”
“I guess so. Still, since Dom gave it to me, I wanted to keep it as a memento, so that’s a little disappointing.”
Han Seongtae was fiddling with the beer and hesitating when Emily, who had been sipping alcohol beside him, saw the beer in his hand and hurriedly spoke.
“You can’t drink that!”
“Huh?”
At her sudden reaction, Han Seongtae and Jung Dusik turned to her in surprise.
Emily was staring at Dominic’s beer with slightly trembling eyes.
“The beer Dominic sends as a gift is an invitation!”
“An invitation?”
“Yes. If you look closely at that sports car, there should be some faint writing on it. That’s the date and time. And what’s written in front of the wheel is the address.”
“…”
At Emily’s words, Han Seongtae hurriedly looked over the beer and, just as she said, was able to find writing on it.
Jung Dusik, who was looking at it with him, let out a sigh of amazement.
“That’s incredible. Seriously.”
It was the first time for both Jung Dusik and Han Seongtae to see beer being used as an invitation.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ lets out a small laugh and says this is something you’ll need to get used to.]
If it was something like this, it would have been nice if he had explained it earlier.
Even while Han Seongtae was letting out a faint sigh, Emily kept explaining.
“I never thought I’d actually get to see Dominic’s beer. It’s incredibly famous in Hollywood. If you don’t have that beer, you can’t get inside even if you were invited.”
“Really?”
“Yes. People who get invited by Dominic bring that beer with them and drink it there.”
“That’s fascinating. Beer as an invitation.”
“Ah. Wait a second. Would you look at this?”
She took out her phone, searched for something, and suddenly held it out to Han Seongtae.
On the screen was a Hollywood actor’s OnStar.
—At Dominic’s place. #Dom’s beer.
She showed him other Hollywood actors’ OnStars too, and similar tags appeared on their posts.
“Even Hollywood actors want to go there but can’t. This is seriously amazing!”
At Emily’s words, Han Seongtae smiled and scratched his cheek.
It felt like he had somehow wandered into something completely unexpected.
Morning came.
Han Seongtae headed to the airport with his luggage packed, with Jung Dusik and Emily following behind him.
“Han. It was an honor to be able to guide you while you were in America.”
“I’m the one who should be more grateful that you were with me, Emily.”
“You really have such a lovely way of talking, Han. Ah, and don’t worry, I’m keeping the invitation safe. I’ll give it back to you the day you return.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
At Emily’s words, Han Seongtae smiled brightly, then left her behind and boarded the plane with Jung Dusik.
Just like when he had come to America, he was also able to sit in business class on the way back to Korea.
“So we’re going back now. The first thing I’m eating when I get there is kimchi stew.”
“That sounds good. Want to eat it together?”
“Of course. I know a really good kimchi stew place in Incheon. Let’s go there.”
“Sounds good.”
After chatting and laughing with Jung Dusik, Han Seongtae leaned back into his seat.
—Our flight is now…
The plane slowly began to rise along with the announcement.
Today was also the last day of his time in Boston.
‘It was fun. Everyone acted well.’
Han Seongtae had enjoyed filming in America.
There was a lot to learn, and there was also a lot to enjoy.
It had been a satisfying time.
‘And I even got Dominic’s invitation.’
He had even received Dominic’s invitation, something that even Hollywood actors had difficulty getting.
They said Dominic’s invitations were not easy to receive unless you were someone he was very close with.
And Han Seongtae had received one.
A situation he could never even have dreamed of in his past life.
A smile naturally rose to Han Seongtae’s face at how completely different his current life was from his previous one.
Now I really am living a different life.
—Our flight will soon arrive in Incheon…
After leaving America, Han Seongtae returned to his home ground, Korea.
For three days after returning to Korea, Han Seongtae spent his time busily.
Everyone who heard he had come back kept coming to see him, making plans and meeting up with him.
Even now, he still had several appointments lined up with various acquaintances.
“Today’s the day you’re meeting Director Choi, right?”
“Yes, hyung.”
“You’re really busy. You’ve already been running around for three straight days. Have you actually rested properly?”
“I’m sleeping well. My condition isn’t bad either.”
“What’s the use if you’re only sleeping? You still haven’t had proper rest. Ah. We’re here.”
Today was the day he was meeting Choi Yechan.
It was Choi Yechan who had asked about his schedule even before he returned to Korea, and who had made plans with him the moment he got back.
Han Seongtae got out of the car and entered the café where Choi Yechan was waiting.
He was in the private room on the second floor.
“Seongtae-ssi. Come in.”
“Hello, Director. You’ve been well, right?”
At the sight of Choi Yechan welcoming him warmly, Han Seongtae smiled and bowed his head.
Jung Dusik entered the private room as well.
Then Choi Yechan held out the script he had brought with him to Han Seongtae.
“This is the project I’m preparing right now. I’d like it if Seongtae-ssi could appear in it as a cameo.”
Han Seongtae’s expression turned strange as he looked down at the script.
He had not expected him to suddenly bring up a project.
He had been spending such a busy stretch of time that he had not even had a chance to take an interest in any new work.
“It’s not a very large part, but I think it would be good if Seongtae-ssi could take it.”
At Choi Yechan’s words, the corner of Han Seongtae’s mouth lifted slightly.
This was the director who had directed Han Seongtae’s very first film.
“I’ll do it. If it’s something Director Choi Yechan is directing, then of course I should.”
Han Seongtae had absolutely no intention of refusing.
For him, filming a project was a very natural thing.
All the more so if it was the work of someone he trusted.
There was no reason not to appear in it.
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