Stalker (4)
A flood of articles poured out after the live.
"Ara…."
"Yes, Representative."
Jeong Yeo-un called her name with no strength left in his voice.
"This time PD Choi Jae-woo said it was fine and we got past it, but this could have become a real problem."
"Yes…. I'll be careful."
"Alright…. Please, I'm begging you."
"……."
Ara demurely lowered her gaze, putting on a show of remorse.
She should have gotten the message by now.
Jeong Yeo-un fell for the act completely.
"Anyway, that's done. It starts tomorrow, right?"
"Yes."
Tomorrow.
The day the Seoul Short Film Festival began.
"They said it'll be open to the public at Gigabox for seven days?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Got it. I'll stop by and watch when I have time."
"Yes. Thank you."
The guild master of Gil Ara's fan café, Giljabi.
No — President Baek Yi-seo was striding down the street with absolute swagger.
Her destination today was the Seoul Gigabox Art Hall.
The venue where the finalist works of the Seoul Short Film Festival were being screened.
Baek Yi-seo had been counting down the days for this moment with pure, desperate longing.
"Today I actually used something called 'annual leave'!"
How carefully, how thriftily she had hoarded those precious days.
Of course it was still only early summer — or late spring — just as the weather was starting to heat up, nowhere near the second half of the year.
She still had plenty of leave left, but more was always better.
There was one thing that still rankled her.
"Why!! Did she have to go live right when I was at work!!!"
She had completely missed Ara's live broadcast.
As guild master — no, as president — it was a catastrophic blow to her dignity.
So she had taken the day off today.
To be the very first to see the film in which Ara took her first leading role.
You had to watch it first if you wanted to run your mouth about it.
"Hehehe. The vice guild masters are all dead."
Baek Yi-seo let out a sly little laugh.
Becoming president of the fan café seemed to have twisted her personality a bit.
And there was one fact she had completely overlooked.
Most of Giljabi's vice guild masters were also heading to Gigabox right now to watch Ara's starring film.
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.
.
"Yes. For the Seoul Short Film Festival screenings, please enter Theater 5."
"Thank you."
Baek Yi-seo followed the usher's directions and entered the screening room.
She settled into her assigned seat and looked around.
This is my first film festival, but there are way more people than I expected. Interesting.
Even though it was a weekday morning, a surprising number of seats were already filled.
Rustle— rustle—
While Baek Yi-seo waited and munched on caramel popcorn, nine o'clock arrived.
Whoosh—
"Hello."
"Welcome to the Seoul Short Film Festival."
"Ticket holders may freely view all fifteen finalist films over the next seven days."
"A five-minute intermission will be provided after each film."
"No film exceeds forty minutes."
"Even if you miss a film you wanted to see, the rotation cycles daily, so you can catch it again."
"That concludes the announcements for Day One of the Seoul Short Film Festival. The screenings will now begin."
The woman's guidance ended.
Click—
The lights went out, and the theater was instantly swallowed by darkness.
It's starting! It's starting!
Munch munch—
When is Stalker? It'd be great if it was first…….
She hoped, but—
[Beginning]
A different film came on.
Wishes were only wishes.
What kind of title is that?
Smirk—
Baek Yi-seo let out a small scoff at the first film's title and settled in to watch properly.
.
.
.
Haaaaaaawn—
Watching movies nonstop is actually exhausting…….
Another short film had just ended.
Another five-minute break was given.
Streeeeetch—
Ugyagyagyagyagyagyagya
Baek Yi-seo let out a silent scream of a stretch.
It's already one o'clock?
All she had done was sit and watch movies, yet time had flown by.
At least I'm not hungry.
That was thanks to finishing off the caramel popcorn and drink she'd bought that morning.
Hmm…. Do they have croque-monsieur? Or pretzels? Butter squid would be good too!
Still, since she hadn't eaten a real meal, a faint hunger was starting to creep in.
She shot to her feet.
When you can't decide, just eat all three! And the drink refill is free service! And this is totally a meal substitute so it doesn't count as calories!
She activated mental victory mode and briefly left the theater.
.
.
Hmm-hmm ♬
She hummed a little tune as she sat back down.
Her hands were stacked high with every single food item she had just listed in her head.
Alright, time to start watching again!
.
.
.
Much later.
Baek Yi-seo stared at the ending credits of the film that had just finished and marveled.
Wow…. This was actually really good……?
[The Night the Scops Owl Cries]
The film that had just played was about independence fighters and delivered a serious level of immersion.
This one's definitely winning an award. Damn, that was intense.
She had now watched fourteen films.
There were fifteen finalists total.
In the end, the film she had come for was screening last.
So far the best ones are this and that other one.
The one that just ended — The Night the Scops Owl Cries.
And the very first one — Beginning.
Those two were currently her personal favorites.
Anyway, the film she had been waiting and waiting for was about to start.
Bathroom first!
Baek Yi-seo dashed to the restroom just in case of any emergency.
When she returned—
There are more people now?
It was four in the afternoon.
Probably people who took half-days or just showed up late.
Among them were a few who, like her, had been holding their seats from the very beginning.
Click—
Five minutes passed and the lights went out.
It's starting.
At last, Ara's first starring film began.
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.
.
[Stalker]
White letters rose against a black screen, revealing the film's title.
Baek Yi-seo felt a twinge of resistance just from the title.
They said it was a romance, but that title, really.
Whatever people thought, the film began.
The screen brightened and opened on an unfamiliar park.
From above, downward.
The camera moved until a man and a woman filled the same frame.
It's Gil Ara!
The Gil Ara she had so desperately wanted to see had finally appeared.
Ah! She's dating Kim Jae-jun. Then…. is Ryu Mi-so the stalker?
Baek Yi-seo made her own guess, but it was wrong.
Huh? They seem like really close friends? Then who's the stalker?
Separate from the stalker question, the meat they were eating looked incredibly delicious.
And so, with the stalker's identity still wrapped in mystery, the story continued to flow.
"……"
"……"
The two of them leaning against each other on a park bench with their eyes closed.
Before anyone realized it, the people in the theater had completely forgotten about any stalker.
Wow…. Something about this is so… fluttery…….
There wasn't anything special happening.
No particular skinship, no big lovey-dovey moments.
What came from the two of them was quietness and the small details of ordinary life.
The comfort that rose from that quietness was what pulled the flutter of excitement out of the audience.
And just as people were feeling that gentle, comfortable flutter while watching Cheon Eun-bin and Kim Ju-an—
Screeeeeech!! Crash!!!
Hup?!
It happened all at once.
Kim Ju-an was hit by a car, and Cheon Eun-bin woke from the dream.
Huuu—
Sighs of relief rose from the seats around her.
Ah, what the hell. It was a dream. Thank god….
Baek Yi-seo felt the same relief.
But then—
Kang Hui-ok???
With the appearance of Kang Hui-ok, the faces of the people who had just relaxed began to tighten with tension again.
Next came the past.
The story of Cheon Eun-bin began to unfold.
Divine energy……? Fate……?
And then the story of the dreams was revealed.
"So it's precognition…."
Precognition….
…….
Cheon Eun-bin began to tremble and cry.
Her sorrow punched straight through the screen and landed fully on the audience.
I-is there no way…?
It was the same for Baek Yi-seo.
Deeply immersed, she too was desperately searching for a solution on her own.
"…There is one way."
Th-thank god!
"You have to save him yourself…."
!!!
The faces of the audience brightened just like Cheon Eun-bin's.
"You would have to open a new path yourself through the straight road created by the rough current. However…."
"However…?"
However…?
The shaman Kang Hui-ok recited the side effects with a dark expression.
The more she saved the lover she loved, the more she would forget.
Th-that….
And the sin of leaking heaven's secrets.
"It will probably take the form you fear the most."
The faces of the audience darkened, while Cheon Eun-bin, on the contrary, brightened as if she had made some kind of resolve.
"I should close shop for today…."
The scene changed.
Cheon Eun-bin dreamed.
No — she foresaw.
She shattered what she herself had foreseen.
To save him.
"Oppa, it's been so long since we came here. It's so refreshing! Right?"
"Huh? This is our first time here? But it is refreshing!"
And so she was forgotten.
She dreamed again.
Cheon Eun-bin saved Kim Ju-an.
"Huh? You can't eat mushrooms?"
"Yeah…."
She was forgotten.
Cheon Eun-bin cried alone.
"It's still…. okay…."
She foresaw again.
"Eun-bin. This place is really nice."
She was forgotten.
"Yeah. It is!"
She showed nothing and took the wound.
And little by little.
Her eyes went dark.
Even so, she kept repeating it.
Why….
Yet she never once broke up with Kim Ju-an.
Why does she keep….
Baek Yi-seo searched for someone to blame.
The gods are not kind….
The words Kang Hui-ok had spoken.
But even if they weren't kind….
Th-they don't have to be this cruel….
"Eun-bin. Why did you call me?"
Park Seung-a met Cheon Eun-bin at a café.
"Seung-a."
"Yeah?"
"Ju-an oppa. Please take care of him…."
"?"
While Park Seung-a wore a puzzled face, Cheon Eun-bin rose from her seat.
Her steps looked careful, as if she could no longer see well.
And left alone in the café, Park Seung-a muttered to herself.
"What's with her? Calling me out of nowhere to say weird crap? I don't even remember talking to her much?"
She had been forgotten by the friend she had been so close to.
Ah….
And a little later.
Time seemed to have passed.
Cheon Eun-bin sat alone at a bus stop.
Not a single person in the world paid her any attention.
"It's okay now."
She closed her eyes and held on.
"The memories we shared."
She remembered those days.
"The future we drew together."
She recalled the food they had eaten that day.
"You forgot."
She thought of the park they had walked through that day.
"And I lost."
She repeated the promise they had made while holding hands tightly.
"Even if I've become blind like this and can never see again, still…."
She painted the face she had loved.
"It's okay. You lived. That's enough."
She sensed that the end was approaching now.
She closed her eyes, leaned on her cane, rose from the seat, and began to walk.
Thud—
Clatter!!
She failed to notice a raised paving stone and tripped, falling hard.
"Ugh……."
She suffered for a moment from the pain, but it was fine.
"Just this much. It's okay."
She was already covered in wounds, so this level of pain was nothing…….
And just as Cheon Eun-bin was sweeping the ground with her hands, searching for her cane—
"Are you alright?"
A man's voice reached toward Cheon Eun-bin.
"Should I call 119 for you?"
The voice she had buried deep in her heart reached her.
"Ah…."
"Oppa! What are you doing! You have to help her up first!"
The voice of the woman she had buried together with him reached her.
"Hold on. If she's hurt somewhere, moving her carelessly could be dangerous."
"Aha! Oppa, you're so smart!"
"Are you alright? Can you stand? Seung-a, pick up the cane for her."
"Yeah, here."
Park Seung-a held out the cane.
"Thank… you……. I'm fine…."
She deliberately refused the helping hands of Seung-a and Ju-an and stood up alone.
Because if she got involved with them for no reason, another tragedy might happen again.
"Then…. I'll be going…."
That was why Cheon Eun-bin hurried to leave the place.
Cheon Eun-bin quickened her steps with eyes that could not see.
"Looks like she wasn't hurt."
"Yeah, right?"
"Then should we go too? I'm hungry!"
"Yeah. Oppa! I suddenly really want meat? Should we get meat?"
"Oh really? I was just craving meat like crazy too!"
"Great! Let's go let's go!"
The scene shifted.
Thud—
Cheon Eun-bin sat alone on a park bench.
"Oppa. Do you remember this place?"
She looked up at a sky she could no longer see.
"This is where you first confessed to me."
Swoosh—
She stroked the bench with her palm.
"I came to the bench where we leaned against each other and fell asleep."
Haa—
"So this is really the end."
She thought of the two who had helped her.
"Even though I've been left alone like this, and even my eyes have gone dark…."
She thought of the two who had been so kind.
"Seung-a. And Ju-an oppa…."
The people I loved whom I sent away…….
"Goodbye."
I want to live….
"I'm glad you both seem to be doing well. You two look so good together."
Hic…. I'm scared….
"Truly…."
I want to be with you….
Water droplets fell one by one onto the tightly crumpled paper in her fist.
Cheon Eun-bin began to scatter little by little.
Ah…. Even at the very end, I….
Have to lie….
Afraid that harm might come to them, she left behind only a tiny scrap of paper that had never been able to deliver her true feelings, now damp with moisture.
[Take care of yourselves! Both of you!]
Flutter—
A strong wind carried it away.
.
.
.
"She's gone."
Jingle—
The shaman Kang Hui-ok rose from her seat.
She looked at the image of the god painted behind her.
"I dare to speak."
Jingle—
"Even you. Do you shed tears on a night like this?"
Jingle—
Only the sound of the bells answered; nothing came back.
The shaman carefully lit incense.
"I don't know who you were."
Jingle—
"Go well."
Jingle—
"You worked hard."
May you have attained Buddhahood.
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.
.
The meat restaurant that the now-forgotten and vanished Eun-bin had often visited with the three of them.
"Oppa, doesn't this place feel familiar somehow?"
"Right? It's our first time here, though? Weird."
"Must be my imagination?"
Park Seung-a simply picked up a piece of meat as if it were nothing special.
Then—
Trickle—
Park Seung-a shed a tear.
"Huh…?"
"Seung-a? What's wrong? Was it so good it made you cry?"
"Ah! Yeah! I guess so…."
Trickle—
Tears fell.
But this time it wasn't Park Seung-a.
"Oppa, it must've been really good for you too? Hehehe"
"Hahaha, right?"
Clack— clack—
Only the hurried sound of chopsticks could be heard.
[Stalker]