After Story 258

-Oppa, have you seen the news?

“I was wondering why you were calling. So, after months of nothing, the reason you’re calling is because of the news?”

-Why else would I call you? No news is good news, and I get your boring stories from time to time from unni so it doesn’t matter.

Bada kept asking what happened. Maru explained simply,

“Those articles were released after negotiation, so there are no problems.”

-So you are declaring that you’re dating to the public?

“There’s no reason to hide it.”

-Haneul-unni’s fans won’t stay still, you know? Even as a family member, I think that she’s wasted on you.

“Can’t you put it more nicely?”

-Anyway, you should carry yourself well. Don’t be an inconvenience to unni. You know that people will swear at both of you if one of you does something wrong, right?

“Does it ever come across your mind that Haneul might do something wrong?”

-What do you think the chances of the sun rising from the west are?

“Forget it, bye.”

He put down his phone and looked at the kitchen. Haneul was staring at him while holding a ladle.

“It’s my sister. She called because she’s worried about you. But wait, she could have called you directly if she was worried… why would she come grumbling at me?”

“She has a delicate side to her.”

“Be delicate twice and she might kill a man.”

“What did Bada say?”

“That I should carry myself well so that I don’t tarnish Miss Han Haneul’s reputation.”

“She’s not wrong, is she?”

Maru shook his head.

“No one’s on my side. Not to mention friends, even my family prioritize you over me.”

“That’s why I’m on your side. Come and taste test this. I tasted it so many times that I can’t tell whether it’s plain or salty.”

He had a taste of the jangjorim[1].

“It’s good. It’s perfect as it is now.”

“Your mother will like it too then.”

“I’m sure she will.”

His wife turned off the stove and spoke,

“My mom asked me when we’re setting the date as soon as she saw the news.”

“Mother-in-law said that?”

“She actually seems to be looking forward to it. Dad also messaged me about it too.”

“I guess it doesn’t look good in the eyes of the adults that we have been living together for a long time without getting married.”

“What do you think, sweetie?”

“About what?”

“Marriage.”

She closed the lid to the side dish case. The loud snap cut off their conversation for a moment. He stared at her for a while before speaking,

“Back when we just reunited, I thought that marriage would be in the far distant future. We were both planning to build a solid foundation and environment so that Gaeul could grow up without any insufficiencies before marriage. Not only that, both of us wanted to become actors, so it seemed like a far-fetched matter for both of us at the time.”

“I thought the same.”

“But looking at things now, we obtained a lot more things than we expected in a short period of time. It looks like experience is the best asset after all. I was prepared to slip up a few times, but things went better than ever.”

“There was also some luck involved as well.”

He nodded in agreement. Not everything they achieved until now was purely thanks to their skills. If the social trends had been different, if they hadn’t gotten suitable opportunities at suitable times, if there were anomalies in their health… all of those elements would have led to a different outcome.

“I think we have formed a baseline at least. One of the things we realized throughout our lives is that there is no satisfaction. A house that doesn’t have a loan, a company that produces steady income, enough saved-up money that wouldn’t run out for a while even if we play around, as well as investments that are producing meaningful profit —?with this much, both you and I should be able to be at ease even while providing everything our daughter needs in her growth.”

Haneul, who was listening to the story, reached her hand out and hung her arms around his neck. The sensation of the slender fingers that touched the back of his neck felt good.

“Then you have no objections to becoming my husband?”

“That’s how it is for me. How about you? Isn’t there anything you still want to do?”

“I thought about that. If I was an ordinary company employee, I wouldn’t have even talked about marriage. There aren’t many companies that are generous enough to let someone return after maternity leave, and even if there is, I wouldn’t do it because I don’t want to stay away from Gaeul.”

“Spending time that could be spent with baby Gaeul to earn money is definitely a waste.”

“My words exactly.”

He reached his hand out and stroked his wife’s hair upwards. He saw the black eyes hidden behind the light brown hair. Despite having seen it for so long, he kept wanting to look into those eyes.

“As you said, sweetie, satisfaction is always out of reach. It can’t exist.”

His wife’s gaze looked over the living room, then the veranda, then the bedroom, and then the cats roaming around.

“We were originally planning to move to a bigger neighborhood, but I don’t think this place is bad. There’s a school nearby too.”

“What about the plan to go to a more study-focused area?”

“I’ll see how things go. If she looks like she wants to study more, we should think about it then.”

“She’ll definitely say no.”

“If she says no, then it’s a no. It’s not like studying hard will feed you. At the current development rate, you know what will happen in the next 20 years, don’t you?”

“It definitely is an era where you just have to be good at one thing. There are a variety of platforms to display that too.”

“In some ways, I think this is the best era yet. It’s a really hard era if you don’t have money, but if you do, there’s no better time period.”

His wife, who swayed left and right, eventually smiled and let go of his neck.

“Since we’re at it, should we get it out of the way first?” Haneul said.

“I’m fine with whenever, so just tell me about it beforehand. Just don’t tell me to wear a tuxedo right after I wake up.”

That sounds fun too: she said while twitching her eyes.

He sighed because she looked serious.

* * *

“Yoo Daejoo is director Lee Yoonseok, me, and he can also be you. Ordinary worries, ordinary pains, ordinary breakups… he’s a character I thought a lot about as I acted. That’s why I’m more attached to him than usual.”

Maru finished his reply. The member of the audience that asked nodded with a satisfied expression. The mic was then handed over to the next person.

“Yes, the person next to him. Please ask,” the emcee said as he pointed at that person.

“First of all, I really enjoyed the film. It was almost as interesting as ‘Turbulence,’ that you appeared in recently.”

“Thank you,” Maru replied with a smile.

“I have a question for you. After I watched the film, it left me feeling… iffy, should I call it? There’s no refreshing ending. What were you feeling when you shot the last scene?”

“I didn’t feel refreshed either. When we finished shooting the last scene on the last day of the shoot, it felt like something had to follow up. Yoo Daejoo had tried his best but ended up returning to where he was originally. A sparkling gem that was tossed into his life — that is, his grandfather’s bookstore — only gave him a sense of emptiness after he was done running it.”

He looked at the broader audience.

“Yoo Daejoo wasn’t a special person but an individual that can be commonly seen around us. I inwardly hoped for a happy ending, but the director finished things off by just giving us what was happening. That’s why I felt depressed. I’m sure those who watched the film must have felt something similar.”

“I have a question for the director as well. What is the reason behind making the ending like that? You could’ve added a scene to relieve it.”

Yoonseok, who was next to him, picked up the mic,

“I wanted to show that things just continue, even after it’s all said and done. Of course, if I knew the perfect answer to life, then I wouldn’t have ended it like that. However, I do not know what will happen to Yoo Daejoo, so I had no choice but to leave it as ‘and so, life goes on.’ That’s just how it is.”

The emcee said that it was time to wrap things up and brought Maru and Yoonseok to the center of the stage. After a bit of time to take photos, the Q&A session with the audience ended.

“Now you’ve become used to talking in front of an audience,” Maru said as they left the stage.

“I’ve done the same thing over and over again, so I was bound to improve. But were there so many film festivals in Korea? There’s one every month and I’m invited to every single one of them.”

“There are many, big and small. Also, the reviews are good from the critics, so they find it worthwhile to invite you, and above all, you keep going to every single one of them, so don’t you think they’d send you an invitation at least?”

“I always thought it was strange why some directors refused to participate in film festivals, but with a schedule like this, I have no choice but to refuse some unless I have two bodies.”

They left through the door installed at the back of the stage and had some drinks in the corridor that were only used by the festival staff.

“Hyung. How are things right now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking what the atmosphere is like ever since you decided to reveal that you’re dating Haneul-noona.”

“What do you think it would be like?”

Yoonseok thought about it with his arms crossed before speaking,

“If it was me, I would be worried and be having a hard time. There were tons of articles talking about it. And the comments on them were…”

“Why are you looking at the comments when I’m not? There’s nothing good from looking at them.”

“Because it worries me. I wouldn’t care if it was anyone else, but you’re involved so I’m concerned. But hey, there were all sorts of crazy people. There are really a lot of people who say horrible things like it’s nothing. You should sue all of them.”

“Don’t get angry. Life is short even if you spend all of it looking at good things. Being concerned about each and every little thing that other people say about you is not worth it.”

“I would’ve filed a report right away. I think I’ll only be able to sleep if I can see what they look like.”

“It won’t do you any good, you know? They all look perfectly normal.”

Yoonseok nodded.

“Also, there’s a way to make all those people who don’t like me just because I’m dating quiet down.”

“What is it?”

“What do you think?”

He bumped Yoonseok and walked forward. Yoonseok, who was behind him, quickly followed up.

“Marriage? You’re getting married?”

“Isn’t it interesting? They would criticize idols like crazy if they were in a relationship, but when the idol announces their marriage, they become quiet after a while. In the entertainment industry, marriage is something like a pardon.”

“That’s because it feels like it turns from pure enjoyment to love. No, before that, are you really getting married?”

“Don’t be so surprised. It was going to happen sometime. We just needed to adjust the timing, and we judged that it was okay to pull it forward. It’s also better to go around boldly in public after declaring. It’s kind of a hassle to hide it too.”

“Holy shit. I found this out first, right?”

“Probably not.”

“What? That’s disappointing. If it’s something so important, you should’ve told this little brother about it first.”

“That’s why I’m telling you now.”

Yoonseok’s eyes twitched.

“Looks like I should buy a suit if I want to go to a celebrity wedding. Other celebrities will be there too, right? I should look neat.”

“Well, not many will come since we’re planning to have a small one. Just the people who would wholeheartedly congratulate us and the ones we’re really grateful to.”

“I’m not on the list?” Yoonseok asked without hiding his disappointment. He smiled and spoke,

“I’ll give you the invitation so just make sure to come.”

Maru smiled and walked off.

* * *

Haneul pushed the ground with her feet with all her power. The wheeled chair made dragging noises before starting to roll.

“What are you doing in someone else’s office? It’s irksome,” Daemyung said as he took his hands off the laptop.

“Since when was this place your office?”

“I work in it, so it’s my office.”

“Then why don’t you pay all the fees and taxes starting next month?”

“That’s one cruel response to a joke. Anyway, what happened for you to be here like this?”

Haneul put her feet on the ground and stopped the chair.

“I met an unexpected enemy. No, I did expect it, but I didn’t expect things to be this bad.”

“Enemy? What enemy?”

“My mom.”

“What did your mother do?”

“She’s opposed to having a small wedding.”

“What the heck does that mean?”

Haneul shook her head. Daemyung shrugged before picking up his phone.

“Hey, Han Maru. Your GF is causing a ruckus here. Please take her home. And buy me some dumplings on the way here. The ones you brought last time were good.”

Haneul looked at Daemyung after he finished the call.

“Hey, you want to eat dumplings when your friend is worried?”

“Your worries don’t feed me. Above all else, it’s unsightly. Are both of you making fun of a single like me or what?”

Daemyung glared at her. Haneul coughed awkwardly before looking away.

[1]?Soy-braised beef, usually with boiled quail eggs.