15
ch 15 ## Letters and Messages (3)
A few days later.
At the Finance Department of Jogyeong Trading.
It was just past lunchtime, and drowsiness hung over the office.
Some employees were desperately sipping coffee to stay awake.
Others were quietly slacking off while pretending to work.
Then...
"Mr. President!"
The company president suddenly walked into the finance office.
Everyone immediately tensed up.
He looked around, searching for someone.
"Where's Assistant Manager Yoon?"
He asked.
Section Chief Choi, who was standing beside him, answered.
"Assistant Manager Yoon is on leave today."
"Yoon?"
The president blinked in surprise.
"That Yoon Seongjun took a day off?"
Yoon Seongjun almost never used his annual leave.
He only took it when the whole company did.
Even when everyone else went on summer vacation or overseas trips...
He faithfully came to work every day.
Instead, he collected the unused leave payout.
"Hmm."
"Of all times to take leave..."
The president clicked his tongue.
"Someone from Finance, call Assistant Manager Yoon."
The moment he said that...
Everyone in the department exchanged awkward looks.
They all knew exactly how irritating it was to receive a work call on your day off.
"Sir... may I ask why you're looking for Assistant Manager Yoon?"
Section Chief Choi cautiously asked.
The president waved his hand.
"It's about that promotional video proposal and storyboard he made."
"It worked incredibly well."
That was the whole story.
The YouTube channel the company had hastily created...
Actually performed fairly well.
"Looks like we've climbed onto the tiger's back!"
The president laughed proudly.
The finance employees, however, all shared the same thought.
What a pointless thing to get obsessed with.
The video only did well...
For a hastily made small-company YouTube upload.
It wasn't worth making such a fuss over.
People watched those videos simply to kill time.
Even if someone enjoyed it...
They'd forget about it soon afterward.
"We should be improving the company itself instead of chasing nonsense."
"Why is someone from Finance doing marketing?"
"And now we're supposed to bother someone who's on leave just because of YouTube?"
Every time the president acted like this...
Everyone's desire to quit only grew stronger.
"So?"
"Is there anyone who can contact Assistant Manager Yoon?"
The president urged them again.
Just then...
Jin Yongsu stepped forward.
"I tried calling him."
"His phone is turned off."
"Hm?"
"It's been off since earlier."
"A few days ago he mentioned he was taking today off because he had something important to do with his daughter."
The moment the president heard the word "daughter"...
"I see."
"Then it can't be helped."
Even he knew how much Yoon Seongjun treasured Siwoo.
If he'd taken leave...
It had to be something important.
"Family comes first."
"Isn't that right?"
"Haha."
"...That's right, sir."
Section Chief Choi forced a laugh.
Everyone else awkwardly smiled as well.
"Fine."
"When Assistant Manager Yoon comes in tomorrow, send him to my office."
"Understood."
After the president left...
The finance staff immediately gathered around Jin Yongsu.
"What?"
"Was it really because of his daughter?"
"Is his daughter sick?"
Yongsu let out a sigh.
"No."
"Of course I lied."
"He didn't even tell me why."
In other words...
He had made it up on the spot.
Technically...
He had lied to the president.
"Good job."
"It wasn't anything important anyway."
No one minded.
The president's whims were nothing new.
"Even if it wasn't about his daughter..."
"If Assistant Manager Yoon took leave, then it must've been for something important."
Everyone simply hoped Seongjun could enjoy his rare day off.
The pay was terrible.
The workload was exhausting.
But the finance department was close-knit.
If they wanted to survive...
They had to take care of one another.
"Didn't you know why he took leave, Chief?"
"You approved it, didn't you?"
"No."
"He never told me."
"There has to be a reason."
"Maybe another company tried to recruit him?"
"Or maybe someone discovered him on the street and offered him a modeling contract."
Everyone was curious.
After all...
Office life became much more interesting whenever there was something to gossip about.
Meanwhile...
Yongsu quietly smiled to himself.
He knew the real reason.
Earlier he'd lied again when he claimed he didn't know.
Today...
Seongjun had a meeting with the National Theater.
His submitted play had won the Keyword Project.
And today was the meeting with the theater.
"As his theater senior..."
"I'm so proud."
No one else in the finance department knew.
Yoon Seongjun possessed incredible talent as a playwright.
"Hehe."
"So I'm the only one who knows his secret."
Seongjun had never actually asked him to keep it secret.
Yongsu simply wanted to.
It felt strangely satisfying.
Meanwhile...
The office conversation shifted.
"So what web novels are you reading these days?"
"Have you read Only 10 Seconds as a Genius Idol on MoonStory?"
"Huh?"
"You mean peaches? I prefer soft peaches."
"No!"
"I mean Only 10 Seconds as a Genius Idol!"
"It's really popular."
"I've never heard of it."
"Do you only read paid novels?"
"This one's incredible."
"The author even released ten bonus chapters."
"I'm reading it too."
"It's really good."
"Wait."
"Even you read idol novels, Chief?"
"What?"
"Am I not allowed to?"
"It's just a fun novel."
Even Jin Yongsu didn't know...
That the author everyone was talking about...
Was Yoon Seongjun.
---
I couldn't help smiling.
Not because I was happy...
But because it still felt unreal.
I never imagined there'd come a day when I'd use annual leave...
To meet with a theater company.
Weekends were reserved for spending time with Siwoo.
So I took a weekday off instead.
"I'm sure Yongsu will cover for me."
So far...
Only Yongsu knew I'd won.
He'd been the one who told me about the National Theater's project.
He'd helped me in many ways.
Come to think of it...
I never told him to keep it secret.
Still...
He wasn't the type to brag.
If anything...
He was probably enjoying having exclusive knowledge.
"I took time off work..."
"And the play I submitted actually won."
All my life...
Making a living had been my top priority.
That was why I'd chosen a finance vocational school instead of an arts high school.
Why I'd become an office worker instead of a writer.
But now...
Writing was gradually taking over a larger part of my life.
Only now...
When my daughter was already in her third year of middle school.
Normally...
I'd carefully plan my future.
Redesign my routines.
Create a new roadmap.
But...
"Things will work out somehow."
For now...
I simply wanted to go with the flow.
I hadn't quit my job.
I wasn't ready to devote myself entirely to writing.
Throwing everything away for such an uncertain future...
Was still too risky.
I had a daughter to support.
Even so...
I knew where my heart truly was.
"It feels like I've gone back to being a third-year middle school student."
Just then...
A KakaoTalk message arrived.
My Beloved Daughter:
Dad, is everything going well???
She was obviously at school.
My Beloved Daughter:
I'm studying hard. Hehe.
Me:
My dear daughter...
Me:
If you're studying, why are you messaging me?
My Beloved Daughter:
ㅡㅡ
My Beloved Daughter:
It's break time!
Hmph.
My Beloved Daughter:
Dad totally ruined my motivation to study.
Me:
Haha.
Don't study.
Do whatever you want.
My Beloved Daughter:
Really???
My Beloved Daughter:
I knew Dad was the best!
(Heart bear sticker)
I had only told Siwoo...
That I had something else to do today.
I'd thought long and hard about telling her I'd won.
She'd definitely be happier than anyone else.
But...
I wanted to keep it secret a little longer.
Yongsu had told me...
"Even if it's the National Theater, it'll still take months before the play actually reaches the stage."
So instead...
"I'll make it a surprise."
Showing her the finished performance...
Would be much more meaningful.
A play performed by the National Theater...
Written by her father.
What better present could there be...
For a daughter who loved stories?
"I'm here."
I'd arrived at the meeting place.
I pushed open the café door.
My heart was pounding with excitement.
---
At that same moment.
In a quiet café near Daehangno.
Unlike franchise cafés...
The tables were spaced far apart.
Perfect for private meetings.
Many theater companies around Daehangno used the place.
The National Theater was no exception.
"I guess I came too early."
Heo Seongman, who headed the National Theater, was already waiting.
Today's meeting was with the playwright behind the winning script...
Letters/Messages.
He'd arrived thirty minutes early.
Sitting beside him...
Was playwright Park Taehyung.
"Why did you come?"
Heo Seongman asked.
"A playwright wanting to meet another playwright is strange?"
"I'm part of the National Theater too."
"You usually refuse to leave your studio."
"What brought this on?"
Park Taehyung was famous for rarely meeting outsiders.
He spent almost all his time either writing...
Or watching plays.
"You must've enjoyed the winning script even more than I did."
"That's right."
"It stood far above the rest."
Park nodded without hesitation.
Compared to the other submissions...
Letters/Messages shone like an oasis in a desert.
Like a pearl buried in sand.
"But the best part..."
"Was the KakaoTalk messages and text conversations."
"The dialogue was incredible."
Or more accurately...
The messages.
The most important element in a play...
Was how alive the dialogue felt.
Whether it sounded natural when spoken.
Whether it conveyed genuine meaning to both actors and audience.
Yet the text conversations in Letters/Messages...
Felt exactly like real students chatting.
"Since they're KakaoTalk messages, they'd sound awkward if actors simply read them aloud."
"But as text..."
"They couldn't feel more natural."
That was because...
They were never intended to be spoken dialogue.
The messages functioned purely as text.
Even so...
The play retained all the literary depth expected of a stage script.
More than that...
It perfectly captured the emotions of modern students.
Through those conversations...
It explored a single theme.
Communication during youth.
Misunderstandings created conflict.
Repeated misunderstandings became comedy.
Sometimes...
They became the beginning of tragedy.
Even the emojis...
And the abbreviations...
Seemed to carry emotional weight.
"If this is brought to the stage..."
"It'll be an extraordinary play."
What did each message truly mean?
Interpreting them...
Was the actors' responsibility.
Their job was to breathe life into those words.
But in this play...
The actors didn't read the messages aloud.
Instead...
They acted using only facial expressions and body language.
The audience read the messages themselves.
"In a sense..."
"The audience becomes the actor."
It was an incredibly experimental approach.
And an incredibly fascinating one.
"I've produced countless plays."
"But I've never seen anything like this."
"I'm genuinely excited."
Even director Heo Seongman...
Was thrilled.
"It feels like we're beginners again."
"Starting from scratch."
"Exactly."
"This script reminds me of my younger days."
"Back then we used pagers."
The two men laughed.
That was how much energy the play carried.
"Judging by the skill..."
"The writer has to be an established playwright."
"And yet..."
"We can't find any information about him."
Playwriting was an incredibly specialized field.
Small enough...
That everyone knew everyone.
Yet nobody had ever heard of Yoon Seongjun.
Even online searches turned up nothing.
Which meant...
"A major new talent has appeared."
A fresh face capable of changing Korean theater.
Something Park Taehyung had waited a long time to see.
"When this play finally reaches the stage..."
"That student will be thrilled."
He suddenly remembered...
Yoon Siwoo.
The middle-school girl who'd become fascinated with theater after watching his play.
Young, passionate audience members like her...
Were becoming increasingly rare.
"Korean theater needs people like Writer Yoon Seongjun."
"And audiences like Yoon Siwoo."
"Funny."
"They're both named Yoon."
"Maybe they're father and daughter."
"Haha."
"What nonsense."
The two laughed.
Just then...
A handsome man entered the café.
He looked around...
Searching for someone.
"Over here!"
"Are you Writer Yoon Seongjun?"
Heo Seongman stood to greet him.
The man walked toward their table.
Park Taehyung narrowed his eyes.
"...Wait."
"I've seen him somewhere."
A memory surfaced.
When Yoon Siwoo had rushed over to ask for his autograph...
There had been a handsome man watching from behind.
Looking...
Almost jealous.
"Ah!"
Recognition struck.
There was no mistaking him.
A face that handsome was unforgettable.
"You're..."
"Yoon Siwoo's father?!"
Park's eyes widened.
The man smiled politely.
"It's good to see you again."
"I'm Writer Yoon Seongjun."
"And..."
"I'm Siwoo's father."
He bowed respectfully to the two men.