The Promising Sprout (2)
Thud— The practice room door closed.
Gu Yang-man smacked his lips as he stared at the spot where Kang Tae-san had just rushed out.
It wasn't that Kang Tae-san looked like a promising young sprout. The thought of that fragrant pine mushroom had simply whetted his appetite.
Still, he didn't hold out much hope.
"At best, he'll swing by Gyeongdong Market and buy one."
Gu Yang-man could already picture exactly how Kang Tae-san would react. For over a decade, countless agency heads had begged him to coach their actors. He rarely took on many students, and plenty of actors had fled his lessons after barely starting.
His teaching style was brutally harsh. If ordinary people witnessed it, they would be shocked by the sheer venom of his criticism. Only those with ironclad mental fortitude could endure it.
Yet every single actor who completed Gu Yang-man's full course had gone on to succeed. It was an open secret in the industry that many famous names had studied under him, which was why agencies paid handsomely to bring him in.
His curriculum wasn't something the public could easily imitate. But the very first lesson was universal.
Gu Yang-man's first assignment was always the same: bring him a wild pine mushroom.
Why pine mushrooms? Foraging for mushrooms in the mountains was an experience most people, let alone aspiring actors, rarely had. Bending at the waist, sometimes kneeling in the dirt and digging with both hands—it was work that anyone with an inflated sense of self-importance would refuse outright.
Of course, Gu Yang-man also simply enjoyed eating good pine mushrooms. But the visible reason was to teach actors to set aside their pride. The real reason ran deeper.
Agency heads familiar with his methods sometimes tried to cheat by buying wild pine mushrooms in advance for their actors. Those actors always washed out quickly.
"I wonder how long this one will last before he quits."
Some actors with a shred of sincerity bought expensive wild pine mushrooms from markets or online. The most memorable one had brought ordinary 3,000-won king oyster mushrooms from a supermarket, then tried to pass them off as the real thing while brushing nonexistent dirt off them. Gu Yang-man had laughed heartily and passed him anyway.
He never expected beginners who had never foraged before to actually bring real wild pine mushrooms. His true goal was to see them lie with absolute conviction: "I really went through hell to pick this wild pine mushroom."
One had to be able to sell a lie as truth and dress the truth as a lie. That same actor who had lied about supermarket mushrooms was now one of Chungmuro's hottest stars. His film from last year had surpassed ten million viewers, and he had delivered iconic lines like "There are two bullet holes here, aren't there? The Japanese shot them!" and "Do you people even understand how much my heart burns for my country?" while perfectly embodying the role of a Japanese collaborator.
"Well, I might as well take a nap."
Gu Yang-man flopped onto the floor and pulled his cap over his face. The empty practice room soon echoed with his loud snoring.
A few days later.
Ring ring— Gu Yang-man's old flip phone rang. He had just stepped out of the shower in a motel in Jongno when he answered.
"Yeah, Choi Hyung-tak."
-Yes, sir. Have you eaten yet?
"About to."
-Haha. There's an incredible Pyongyang naengmyeon place near where you are. Want to go together?
"Naengmyeon? Hmm. Not really craving it today."
-How about bulgogi then?
"Next time. I've got some work to do today."
-Work? Has Kang Tae-san come back by any chance?
Gu Yang-man picked at his teeth with a toothpick while looking at himself in the mirror on the yellowed wallpaper.
"I told you. That kid's going to run."
-Huh. He didn't seem like the type to give up so easily.
"Choi Hyung-tak, is your golden touch finally fading?"
Even at such blunt remarks, the great Choi Hyung-tak merely chuckled.
"We haven't been able to reach him either. If he comes to you, please let us know."
-Got it.
After hanging up, Choi Hyung-tak tilted his head. He hadn't heard from Kang Tae-san since sending him to the acting lesson. Even the manager assigned to him, Gong Jin-su, had no news. The phone was off, and there had been no other contact.
Choi Hyung-tak knew Gu Yang-man's methods well. He was aware of the bizarre first mission to bring back a wild pine mushroom, but he had no intention of giving Kang Tae-san any hints.
'I'm curious to see what that friend will come up with.'
He expected an answer different from ordinary actors. Yet four days had passed with no word from Kang Tae-san.
***
Odaesan in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province.
A mountain standing at 1,565 meters above sea level in the middle of the Baekdu Mountain Range. Nestled between Seoraksan and Taebaeksan, it was also called Cheonghaksan because its dramatic rock formations resembled cranes.
Kang Tae-san had read on a blog that wild pine mushrooms were a rare ingredient that only grew above 1,000 meters, thriving exclusively in pine forests over thirty years old—mushrooms so precious that money couldn't buy them.
Carrying a basket without a second thought, Tae-san had headed straight for Odaesan. On his third day, he was still wandering deep in the mountains.
"Huff, huff."
With little mountain-climbing experience, he had expected a grueling hike and prepared by taking Oranamin F and applying Uruos. Even with those two Smile-brand items, he was still short of breath. Hiking for three straight days was no easy task.
He had prepared thoroughly, bringing a power bank, lighting, food, and more. But searching every corner of the mountain instead of sticking to trails doubled or tripled the difficulty.
He hadn't realized foraging for wild pine mushrooms would be this hard. For a moment, he wondered why the teacher had given such a mission, but quickly dismissed the thought. If he was told to do it, he would do it. Thinking wouldn't solve anything. The best approach was to keep moving and keep searching.
"Whoa, whoa!"
Flutter— Thud thud thud—
While climbing a slope, Tae-san's foot slipped on dry leaves and he tumbled down. After rolling about ten meters, he crashed into a tree and stopped. Thanks to the Uruos, it didn't hurt.
Brushing off the dirt, Tae-san stood up. His appearance wasn't much different from Gu Yang-man's shabby look—stubbly beard, matted hair, and ragged clothes. Apparently, this was the inevitable OOTD for mushroom foraging.
Looking like a true simmani, Tae-san exhaled sharply and resumed climbing. He scoured the area but his phone had been dead for a long time, and the A4 printout of wild pine mushroom images was now tattered.
After wandering for several more hours, night fell again. Having spent two nights in the mountains, Tae-san carefully placed one foot in front of the other, relying on the headlamp on his forehead.
Somewhere in the distance, a wild dog barked. If the sound grew louder, animals might approach. Just in case they caught his scent, he smeared wet dirt all over himself. Even though he had applied Uruos, there was no guarantee it would protect him from a bite. He had no intention of testing its limits anyway.
Growl—
He was hungry. Tae-san crouched down, planning to eat a chocolate bar with another Oranamin F, when—
'This is bad!'
The bottle had broken when he fell earlier, soaking his bag. The effects wouldn't last more than a few hours. If he didn't drink it now, climbing or descending would become nearly impossible.
'Haa… What do I do?'
He looked around, but there was only pitch-black darkness.
"Huh? Over there…"
At that moment, a faint light appeared in the distance. Munching on his chocolate bar, Tae-san rustled forward. Hoping it might be someone else with a lantern, he approached and found a small cabin. Someone had left an oil lamp burning by the window.
Knock knock—
"Excuse me."
He opened the door and stepped inside. The watchman's hut contained two single beds, a stove for boiling water, cooking utensils, and a simple bathroom. It was a rest stop for herb gatherers.
"Phew— Thank goodness."
Tae-san set his bag down for a moment. Looking around, he spotted cup noodles in the cupboard and a note on the wall with a bank account number. He tried to transfer money, but his phone was dead.
Growl—
Giving up now felt wrong. After days of surviving on energy bars, his hunger was overwhelming.
"No choice."
Tae-san's hand reached for the red cup noodles. In their place, he left his remaining three chocolate bars.
Slurp— Slurp—
With the rich aroma of ramen and thoughts of refreshing kimchi, Tae-san ate heartily. The hot broth warmed his throat and stomach.
"That was good."
He was tired enough to sleep right away, but he had a conscience. After eating without paying, he had to clean up properly before resting. He swept the floor roughly and neatly organized the trash from the cup noodles. It wasn't much of a cleaning job—just basic tidying.
Or so he thought.
"Ugh, my whole body aches."
He chose the bed farther inside. It was positioned so anyone entering would see him immediately, reducing the chance of startling them. The old bed creaked but felt surprisingly cozy.
Just as Tae-san lay down and began to settle in—
'Wait a second.'
A familiar energy washed over him. A languid, spreading sensation from his toes. His mind grew distant, fading toward blackout. His phone was off, so no notification appeared, but if it had been on, this message would have shown:
Experiencing the life of a Simmani.
***
"Agh, I'm exhausted… Damn… I shouldn't have done that cleaning nonsense."
It didn't feel like he had slept at all. He had spent the entire night experiencing a simmani's life. Since he couldn't even use the Memorial Box, the mental fatigue felt like he had wandered the mountains for at least a year and turned into a wild man.
"Let's see, let's see… It was definitely around here somewhere."
As soon as dawn broke, Kang Tae-san went back out and resumed searching the mountains. In the simmani's memories, he had seen a pine tree he clearly remembered passing during his three days of wandering.
Back in his orphanage days, the head nun had loved flowers and trees and often took the children up the hill behind the orphanage to teach them about various plants. He especially remembered her explanation about pine trees with stripped bark. People sometimes peeled the bark to kill pine trees because crops wouldn't grow well in their shade.
While hiking the day before, he had spotted a pine tree with stripped bark and wondered if someone was trying to kill trees even in such deep mountains. Now he realized it had been a marker left by a simmani so only they would recognize it.
"Ah! Found it."
Tae-san passed the stripped tree and entered a grove of towering pine trees. Among them was a slightly shorter one, the third from the end. Beneath it was something small and rounded—a pine mushroom with a brown cap poking out.
Brushing aside pine needles and carefully loosening the surrounding soil, Tae-san dug up the mushroom. Holding the thick 10-centimeter pine mushroom, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I found it!"
The next day, in the private practice room on the fourth floor of Kidari Entertainment.
After finishing a bowl of broth at a Pyongyang naengmyeon restaurant in Euljiro, Gu Yang-man received a call from Choi Hyung-tak and hurried to Nonhyeon. When he entered the practice room, his eyes met those of a ragged beggar.
"Sir. I brought the pine mushroom."
Tae-san held out something white he had pulled from his rags. Wrapped carefully in a paper towel, it was… a real pine mushroom, the kind one could only hope to taste when autumn arrived!
"Y-you… How did you get this?"
"I found it on the slopes of Odaesan."
"……"
Gu Yang-man stared at Tae-san in disbelief. Yet the eyes looking straight back at him held nothing but pure truth, without a trace of falsehood.
"You… You picked this yourself? This precious thing?"
Gu Yang-man carefully accepted the mushroom from Kang Tae-san. The strong scent of pine mushroom made him swallow hard.
"I thought you might need it."
Tae-san also took out a bottle of sesame oil and salt he had brought. On the way back, he had stopped at a mill near the bus terminal and bought freshly pressed sesame oil.
Gu Yang-man's pupils dilated, black and intense, like a cat that had smelled catnip.
"This… crazy bastard."
It was the highest praise Gu Yang-man could give.