Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Accident (2)
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Bae Jongwook, the screenwriter, sprawled out on the ground.
The eyes of passersby on the street all focused in.
From inside the shop, Kim Seulgi, the CEO, along with the rest of the Atelier crew, the shop staff, and even Bae Jongwook's entourage all came rushing out.
"Screenwriter!"
"Gyeowol!"
"Jongwook!"
"C-Customers?!"
Things were escalating. Someone even pulled out their phone to start filming.
Of course, the designer had apparently been filming the whole time already.
At this point, part of me almost wished that the thing that had burst out from my pocket really had been a knife...
"I-I'm sorry!"
What was done was done. Like an arrow loosed from a bow or water spilled on the floor, it couldn't be undone.
I couldn't just pretend I hadn't elbowed him.
Maybe it was because I'd taken a sip of wine.
As the alcohol soaked into my brain, the latent violence buried within Jeong Gyeowol's female body might have surfaced.
I had no intention of claiming diminished capacity due to intoxication.
I planned to admit my guilt, repent, and keep apologizing until I was forgiven.
For starters, hospital bills, of course, plus compensation for the mental anguish of being wrongly branded a criminal.
I might even have to take out emergency loans on top of today's pay.
But it was all karma I deserved.
Bae Jongwook rose to his feet with help from his entourage.
He rolled his neck side to side, and it didn't look like he was seriously hurt.
No matter what he blamed me for, I intended to keep apologizing and accompany him to the hospital.
But the words that came out of Bae Jongwook's mouth were the last thing I expected.
"Ugh... What the hell was that just now?"
"My body moved on its own before I knew it... I'm truly sorry. Let's go to the hospital first..."
"Do you do martial arts or something? This is driving me crazy... Have you ever thought about acting for real? You'd have to audition, but you'd definitely pass! I'm on the panel, you know? You've got my vote locked in for sure..."
What the hell was this madman saying?
This guy had just taken an elbow to the temple from me.
He'd been assaulted by me.
And yet he was still spouting this nonsense.
He'd called himself an eccentric, and damn if he wasn't one.
Maybe his brain got rattled and something snapped in his head.
I had a bad feeling he'd need an MRI at the hospital.
Both our group and his looked utterly dumbfounded.
"...Sorry about that. He's not usually like this, but it looks like he's really hooked."
"No, we're the ones who should apologize... Why don't we clean up and head to the hospital first?"
Like a parent cleaning up after their kid's mess, Kim Seulgi the CEO was trying to handle my screw-up.
I had no face left to show her.
How was I supposed to do the shoot from now on...?
No, wait—before that, if Bae Jongwook didn't agree to settle, I'd end up with a criminal record.
Shoots seemed like the least of my problems.
For some inexplicable reason, my body had changed, and my life seemed to be shifting into easy mode.
But I'd gone and kicked it away myself, switching it to hard mode. Well played.
"Ah, no need for the hospital. It's not a big deal. Don't worry."
"I'm really sorry. This happened because of my mistake, so I'll take full responsibility somehow."
"No, it all started because of me. If anything, I'm sorry."
We kept bowing and apologizing to each other nonstop.
It was a beautiful scene of everyone united in calling for peace.
Were all the people in Jeong Gyeowol's world really this nice?
Right before my eyes existed love and peace, a genuine sense of humanity.
The situation flowed in a bizarre direction.
We tidied up the scene: Kim Seulgi the CEO and me from our side, Bae Jongwook and one of his friends from theirs.
The four of us wandered around looking for a bar we could all squeeze into.
Since it was still early in the day, it took quite a while before we found one.
"You sure you don't want to at least get it checked at the hospital?"
"I'm fine. See? No pain even when I press on it."
He said that, but he winced every time he pressed, so it was clear there was still pain.
Still, nagging someone who kept insisting he was fine to go to the hospital anyway felt rude.
I shut my mouth after that, deciding it was the last time.
While the three of them scouted ahead for an open bar,
I was shamelessly replaying the earlier incident in my head.
'...The script.'
The script Bae Jongwook had dropped lay open, flipped to about halfway through.
It had caught my eye in that instant. Just a split second, but I'd read the page.
Back then, I was too busy apologizing to pay it much mind... but now that things had settled, it kept coming back to me.
—
S#32. Company hallway.
Two people walk amid National Intelligence Service agents posing as office workers.
It's Ji-an and Manager Kim. The two, who had been walking down the hall with grim expressions, come to a stop.
Manager Kim hesitates for a long moment before speaking to Ji-an.
Manager Kim: Ha... Ji-an, this moment you're going through right now? It's the youngest you'll ever be in life. You think your dad would be happy seeing you waste such precious time like this?
Lee Ji-an: Something feels off. It doesn't seem like just an accident.
Manager Kim: No matter how much you dig, the police already ruled it an accident, and the autopsy's done. Don't waste your energy. Let's focus on the living. If you keep poking around, it puts me in a tough spot with the bosses too, you know?
Manager Kim speaks to Ji-an like he's delivering an ultimatum, his face troubled. Ji-an gazes at him with a strange expression.
(Cut to)
—
A script that had coincidentally fallen open amid coincidental chaos.
It was nothing special, just a scene flowing along clichéd lines.
But Manager Kim's words to Ji-an pierced deep into my chest.
'This moment you're going through right now? It's the youngest you'll ever be in life.'
The youngest day. The most beautiful time.
What the hell was I even doing?
Sure, I was job-hunting to pay rent and keep scarfing down triangle kimbap and cola.
But that just felt like drifting through life because I was alive.
Maybe because I'd never lived without a clear goal before.
The constant anxiety and irritability felt like puberty all over again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I'd thought it was a meeting to apologize.
Maybe a semi-business, semi-social gathering.
I was prepared to do whatever it took for an amicable settlement.
I'd even steeled myself to get on my knees...
"So you're saying that even in the pitch-black early morning, with a mask and hat on, you still recognized Gyeowol's beauty?"
"Ah, it's hard to explain... It was like getting hit by Cupid's arrow, you know? That kind of feeling."
In this odd daytime bar,
an mismatched group of two middle-aged guys and two young women,
exchanging the strangest conversations.
How could that guy say stuff like that without even blinking?
"He always twists his words weird like that... Don't misunderstand. It's like an occupational hazard—he gets that way whenever he sees someone who fits a character."
"I think it's cool, actually. You can feel how much he loves the scripts he writes."
Choi Jin-cheol, the PD who introduced himself as Bae Jongwook's friend from variety programming, was basically translating for the screenwriter.
And Kim Seulgi the CEO smoothly took the conversation from my fumbling responses, reacting perfectly.
Thanks to them, we were having a smooth(ish) chat with no misunderstandings.
Even with victim and perpetrator at the same table, the vibe wasn't bad.
"We're hitting forty now... Jongwook's been writing for over ten years, and seeing him still so passionate is honestly impressive."
"...F-Forty? I see."
Of course, there were a few awkward hitches.
I'd pegged him for at least fifty...
Kim Seulgi looked as surprised as me but recovered her expression quickly.
Maybe I should be the one acting, not her.
"The protagonist I wrote fit you perfectly... I was too weirded out to even talk to you, so I hemmed and hawed and lost my chance. Couldn't sleep that night. Kept circling the area hoping to run into you again. Finally happened today. Ah, sorry again. Looking back, I totally sound like a stalker."
"Ah... No, I think I was too sensitive. I should be the one apologizing."
"Man, we're going in circles. How about we skip the apologies—want to read this instead?"
In the cheerful(ish) atmosphere, Bae Jongwook offered me the script without batting an eye.
Because of my guilt, I couldn't refuse and started reading.
The three of them conversed in lower voices, probably out of consideration for me.
Thanks to that, I could read comfortably.
I tore through the pages quickly.
Still a pile of clichés and a stale plot, no change there.
But every character felt alive and breathing.
Not just fragments like in a movie or drama.
They felt like real people captured in the script.
I couldn't help immersing myself after just a few pages.
Scene 42. I read up to the part I'd glimpsed earlier and set the script down.
'...I want to do it.'
I loved the character Lee Ji-an. Her arc was captivating.
Every line from her and the others was pure gold.
Just reading the script, I could already visualize the action scenes in my head.
The emotions fired up by the script wouldn't settle down.
Was twelve years not enough? Acting was still trying to devour me.
Maybe because I'd chased the wine with beer before the buzz wore off.
Half-impulsive words burst out.
"Um... I'll give it a shot."
This body was just twenty. Young enough to bounce back even if I fell flat.
One year—that's all. If it doesn't pan out, I'll quit and try something else.
With my resolve set, the fog in my head cleared.
A sense of liberation washed over me. The nagging anxiety and irritability seemed gone.
Even as I'd tried to push it away, acting was still the driving force in my life.