A few days later, filming progressed faster than expected.
Perhaps because a storm had passed through, the newly assembled crew had grown closer, and the rookie actors’ performances were improving by leaps and bounds every day.
“Ugh…”
However, the weather was turning chilly, and it began to rain.
Unlike the summer rainy season in Korea, it rained more frequently during the winter here.
‘Rain in January…’
Today’s shoot was canceled due to the downpour outside the window.
Since I hadn’t had a scheduled break in a while, I simply stayed in bed and slept to my heart’s content.
How long has it been since I’ve slept like this…?
It was an unavoidable cancellation, but just as I was starting to think that it wasn’t so bad…
Ding.
“Ugh…”
I pushed back the covers and searched for my phone.
Seeing a familiar name, I smacked my lips and answered the call.
“Is Korea treating you well?”
— Hehe. You bet, man. There’s a reason people say ‘local products are the best.’
Junseong had gone to Korea briefly for business.
“Why are you calling?”
— No reason. I was just worried you’d be bored without me. I heard you have no filming today. They say the rain will last until the day after tomorrow. What is a workaholic like you going to do when he’s bored?
“I’m perfectly fine on my own.”
— Oh, please. You’ve probably done nothing but sleep.
“…”
— Right? The fact that you can’t answer proves it.
Junseong continued in a playful, excited voice.
— Don’t just sleep, man. Seriously. While I’m gone, try making some friends you can actually hang out with in your private life. Okay?
“Forget it, man. If you’re going to talk nonsense, I’m hanging up.”
— Geez… nonsense? I’m just saying this because I’m worried about my friend…
“Hanging up now.”
— Wait…
Click-.
I hung up and stared at the ceiling for a moment.
Then, my eyes naturally began to close again.
Just as I was about to drift off, thinking it wouldn’t be bad to sleep some more, my phone rang again.
Ding.
Assuming it was Junseong again, I answered with my eyes still closed.
“Ugh, what now?”
— Hello?
“…Huh? Who is this?”
The name on the screen was Conan.
Startled by the sudden call, I bolted upright and answered properly.
“Ah, Mr. Conan. I’m sorry. Haha… I had a brief misunderstanding.”
— Ah. Yes. Is that a swear word in Korean? Why ‘what now’?
“Huh? Ah, it’s nothing like that. But what brings this sudden call…?”
— Well, so many interesting things have been happening lately.
Conan asked in a voice full of curiosity.
— It’s raining today, so do you have any plans? I heard there’s no filming schedule.
“Huh? Ah… well, I don’t have anything…”
— Then how about that meal I mentioned before? Let’s finally grab a bite.
“Pardon?”
— I mean, don’t you remember when the Late Night Show ended? I said we should eat together sometime.
“Ah… ah, right. Oh, that’s right. Haha. Yes.”
It seemed Conan had remembered the typical Korean polite invitation rather than brushing it off.
— I’ll text you my address. Come over. I’ll cook you something delicious.
“What? To your house?”
— Yes. There are more than one or two things I’m curious about. Whether you answer them is up to Director Gyeong, but I feel like a lot of interesting stories have piled up. Aren’t we comrades who fought against racism together? Right? And that fight is still ongoing. Right?
I let out a small chuckle at Conan’s playful tone.
“Yes. All right. I’ll be there.”
— Nice! See you later!
That evening.
Knock, knock.
Conan looked out the window with a wide smile on his face.
Outside stood Gyeong Chanhyeon, wearing an awkward smile and looking quite nervous.
“You’re here?”
“Yes. Haha, this is a gift.”
“What’s this for…?”
Conan took the gift and shook it slightly with a mischievous grin.
“It’s a bit heavy.”
“It’s nothing much. Haha, just something suitable for a dinner party.”
Gyeong Chanhyeon smiled brightly at Conan’s reaction.
Then, he glanced around the house and asked.
“Is there anyone else at home?”
“My wife took the daughter and son to visit her parents. She said she’s staying overnight, so I’m planning a party.”
“A party?”
When Gyeong Chanhyeon tilted his head in confusion, Conan raised an eyebrow with a playful expression and replied.
“Whenever two or more people gather, it’s called a party. It sets the mood, you know?”
“Ah, yes. Haha… that’s nice.”
“Is there anything you can’t eat?”
Conan asked as he guided Gyeong Chanhyeon toward the kitchen.
“No. I eat everything.”
“Hmm, that’s a relief. Let’s eat first. You’re hungry, right?”
“Of course.”
Conan took pork ribs out of the oven.
As the pungent aroma of barbecue sauce wafted through the air, a smile spread across Gyeong Chanhyeon’s face.
“When you live alone, it’s a pain to cook. Did you have lunch?”
“Ah… I just slept all day today.”
“Heh, haven’t you been sleeping well lately? Well… with the kind of incidents happening these days, I don’t think I could sleep either.”
Humming a tune, Conan placed the ribs in the center of the dining table.
“Let’s eat first and then talk. You can’t talk properly on an empty stomach.”
“Yes! Thank you for the meal.”
Gyeong Chanhyeon first cut the ribs, then picked them up with his hands and stripped the meat from the bone in an instant.
After licking the sauce off his fingers, he nodded as if savoring the taste.
A while later.
Having finished their meal, the two cleared the plates and sat facing each other at the table.
They had chatted about various things while eating, but Conan hadn’t yet brought up the things he was truly curious about.
“Heh…”
“You have a lot you want to ask, right?”
“Huh?”
“It’s written all over your face, Mr. Conan. That you’re incredibly curious.”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s smile, Conan rubbed his forehead and chuckled.
“I am curious about a lot. But I didn’t want to seem like some tacky reporter.”
“Please, feel free to ask. It’s fine.”
At those words, Conan’s eyes lit up.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“How on earth did you butter up that bastard Philip?”
Perhaps because it was a sensitive topic to start with, Gyeong Chanhyeon blinked in bewilderment.
“Wh-what?”
“Philip isn’t the type of guy to write an article like that. I know him a bit, and he’s not someone who moves that easily. I was shocked when that guy suddenly wrote such a positive piece about you.”
Conan already knew all about Philip’s strategy.
The strategy of lifting someone up only to sink them later.
It was a very classic media tactic, but it was effective for a reason.
However, Philip had only done the lifting and never the sinking; in fact, he had gone as far as helping resolve the incident involving Robert Penn.
“Ah… haha.”
“Was that too sensitive for a start?”
Gyeong Chanhyeon replied with an embarrassed smile.
“Well… yes. Haha. Mr. Philip is naturally a righteous…”
“Come on, everyone who knows him knows that’s just image making.”
“…”
“Forget it. It’s a bit hard to answer, isn’t it?”
Seeing Gyeong Chanhyeon’s troubled expression, Conan grinned.
“If it’s something you can’t even tell a comrade who fought racism with you… then it must be something incredibly sensitive.”
“Haha… thank you.”
Thinking it would be rude to dig further into someone so uncomfortable, Conan asked a different question.
“As a Korean director, how is it working in Hollywood? Is it okay?”
“Hmm… yes. Well, in reality, it’s being made mostly with Korean capital. It’s not much different from making a Korean film in America.”
Conan looked at Gyeong Chanhyeon with surprise.
“Even though it’s being made in Hollywood?”
“Yes.”
“Was that intentional?”
“Yes.”
Gyeong Chanhyeon answered without a shred of hesitation.
“Why?”
“Because the most important thing is to make a work successful while doing it exactly the way I want. If I had received investment from elsewhere for this project, I would never have been able to cast Robert Penn.”
“Hah…”
Conan nodded.
The project Gyeong Chanhyeon was currently making was a low-budget film by Hollywood standards.
If it had been a high-budget film, he would have had to accept investment from other companies, and he wouldn’t have been able to achieve the result of casting Robert Penn as the lead.
It was a custom and a history for investors to plug actors who suited their tastes in exchange for funding.
And Robert Penn was an actor that no one wanted.
“And I will prove it. That a movie can succeed if it proceeds exactly as I want. Only then will I be able to make movies that can survive the influence of investment firms.”
The eyes of Gyeong Chanhyeon, filled with the same conviction Conan had seen on the Late Night Show.
Seeing those eyes again, a smile naturally formed on Conan’s lips.
“Hmm… this movie definitely has to be a hit.”
“It will be. Definitely.”
“Haha. I like that. Really. Man, I really like that.”
After laughing loudly for a moment, Conan asked Gyeong Chanhyeon.
“By the way, what’s your dream as a film director? An Oscar? Awards like that?”
“It would be a lie to say I have no greed for awards… and it would be great to win an award in America… but you know, right?”
At the look in Gyeong Chanhyeon’s eyes, Conan nodded.
The Oscar is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an organization of American filmmakers.
While it can be seen as a festival for American filmmakers, it was practically a festival for white people.
“Hmm… that’s true. There are so many damn bastards in the world.”
“It’s a kind of politics.”
Film had a history of serving as a tool for political means from the start.
Hitler used film to create Nazi propaganda, and the effect was outstanding.
And Hollywood used film in a similar fashion.
Among the non-white characters in Hollywood films, Native Americans were once depicted most negatively.
The invaders of the American continent were clearly white, yet the white people in the movies were always the protectors.
But there was an actor who perfectly satirized this.
That actor’s name was Marlon Brando.
He became the best actor of the year for The Godfather, but he did not attend the awards ceremony, instead sending a little-known Native American actor to deliver his message.
“Because they turned their good intentions into crimes, and packaged our evil deeds as good intentions.”
With this single sentence, he expressed his respect for Native Americans.
‘But damn it, The Godfather doesn’t exist in this world. And such an event never happened.’
Gyeong Chanhyeon was smacking his lips at this thought.
“Ah, is the gift alcohol? It felt quite heavy.”
Sensing the heavy atmosphere, Conan forced a smile and spoke.
“Ah, yes. Haha. I thought you could share it with your wife later…”
“Eh, it’s okay. Our Elizabeth doesn’t drink. Since there’s no one else to drink it, let’s just have it ourselves.”
“Haha… yes. Let’s do that.”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s words, Conan hummed excitedly and unwrapped the gift.
“Wow, isn’t this incredibly expensive?”
It was a wine boasting quite luxurious wrapping paper.
Conan looked at Gyeong Chanhyeon with a smile playing on his lips.
“Come on, I should spend at least this much for Mr. Conan.”
“Ha… the wine is probably much more expensive than the cost of today’s meal.”
“One should never ask the price of a favor. How could I possibly put a price on a meal Mr. Conan cooked himself?”
Conan laughed loudly at Gyeong Chanhyeon’s smooth talk.
“Ha, I really like you. Let’s be friends. Man, this is more than just friendship.”
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