Living as an Actor (2)
Shin Young-su, who ran a small café in Jongno, recalled a troublesome thought that had been on his mind lately.
The customers were drying up.
With cheap coffee now in the ascendant, the profits of specialty cafés like his were falling fast.
Maybe it’s time to close up shop...
It was a painful thought.
But that didn’t mean he could keep operating while running the place at a loss.
He looked around his café.
The refined, spotless interior. The old-fashioned charm of the place made it feel like an extension of his own life; he had been running it for more than ten years, after all.
-Ding!
“Dad!”
The door opened and his daughter came in, her eyes shining with anticipation.
“But will Ibin really come?”
“Who knows?”
Shin Young-su thought back to the customer who had stopped by a few days earlier.
A young man who had introduced himself as Kang Noah.
All he had done was make coffee for him and his daughter, along with one latte for himself, but that had been enough for him to reveal a single future.
Ibin.
The actor he and his daughter both adored.
An actor beloved by many for his seasoned performances and admirable character.
And yet, would someone like that really come here?
“That guy Kang Noah. They say he’s really amazing, right?”
“Yeah.”
At first he’d thought Noah was a bit strange.
Still, he was just a neighborhood customer.
So Shin Young-su had gone along with it, acting as if he agreed, but Noah turned out to be far more impressive than he’d expected.
A dead-on fortune-teller.
The abilities he had shown on a livestream were so uncanny it was hardly an exaggeration to call them ghostlike.
In that case... I absolutely cannot serve the cake.
The almond pound cake was the dessert Shin Young-su made best.
But if something went wrong because of a cake he’d made, he couldn’t serve it under any circumstances.
So, having decided not to bake any cake that day at all, he brewed coffee with his daughter and kept sneaking glances toward the door.
-Ding!
“Welco—come in.”
The door opened and a man stepped inside.
He had his cap pulled low and wore thick black-rimmed glasses.
But neither Shin Young-su nor his daughter failed to recognize him.
Ibin.
Their favorite actor in the world was walking into their café.
“Can I get an espresso?”
“Y-yes!”
“And...”
The hooded man smiled faintly and raised one finger to his lips.
Did he want to enjoy his coffee quietly by himself?
Then they would keep their mouths shut.
Just meeting the actor they had admired all their lives was honor enough.
Shin Young-su nodded in a hurry and brewed the coffee with utmost care.
“D-dad...!”
“All right, all right. You take it over to him.”
He handed the coffee to his flustered daughter.
A strong espresso—the sort of drink only someone who truly appreciated coffee would order.
Carrying it carefully, she walked over to Ibin, who was seated alone at a corner by the window.
“Thank you.”
“Oh, no... and I really enjoy your films. I’ll always be rooting for you.”
“I’m truly grateful.”
He smiled and gave her a slight nod.
That alone left his daughter thrilled beyond words.
“But... I heard the almond pound cake here is really delicious. Do you not have any?”
“Ah. Well...”
Almond pound cake.
Her father’s best dessert.
But not today.
“Um, I’d recommend avoiding the almond cake if possible.”
“Huh? Why?”
“You might have an allergic reaction...”
“Ha ha ha. I’m not allergic to almonds.”
Ibin laughed.
An almond allergy?
He shook his head firmly.
“Uh... is that so?”
“Did someone tell you I had an almond allergy?”
“A man named Kang Noah...”
“Kang Noah...? Who’s that?”
“A famous streamer.”
Ibin tilted his head.
He’d thought it was some streamer digging up dirt on celebrities again, but that didn’t seem to be the case at all.
“An amazing fortune-teller...?”
“Yes. He even predicted that you’d come here today, Ibin. And he told us you’d get hospitalized from an allergic reaction after eating the almond cake.”
That was absurd.
He had only come because a friend had told him yesterday that the espresso here was the real deal, and he’d felt like stopping by on a whim.
And yet, someone had predicted days in advance that he would come?
That alone was astounding, but to say he’d have an allergic reaction from eating almonds...
“...I see. Thank you.”
“Not at all. Then please enjoy your time.”
After the daughter bowed politely and returned to the counter, Ibin sat there turning the espresso cup idly in his hands before taking a sip.
“...Hoo.”
It was good.
Exactly as he’d been told.
The rich flavor filled his mouth, and the settled sugar blended with the bitter espresso to create a complex taste.
Normally he would have focused on that flavor.
But the words he had just heard kept rising to the surface of his mind.
What on earth is going on?
He had been warned of danger through a prediction of the future.
If that man was right, then he would have eaten the almond cake here and ended up in the emergency room.
I should go straight to the hospital and get this checked out.
“It was delicious.”
Still unable to sort through his thoughts, he finished his coffee.
After enjoying the espresso, he went over to the counter.
“It was really excellent. May I come again sometime?”
“Of course. I’d be honored. And, if possible, could I ask you for an autograph?”
“Ha ha. Thank you.”
He quickly signed the paper Shin Young-su held out.
Then Lee Bin hesitated for a moment before asking, “That man Kang Noah—does he come to this café often?”
“Often... would be a stretch. I think he lives somewhere nearby, though...”
Shin Young-su told him about what had happened before.
How a man with a rough face and a huge build had knelt before him and pleaded.
After the customers had watched with amazement, his footsteps had all but disappeared from the place.
“I wouldn’t say he’s on bad terms with us. Sometimes I’ve seen the two of them together...”
Shin Young-su said it casually, mentioning that he had once seen them walking around together beyond the window.
“...I see.”
“Did you want to meet him, by any chance?”
“Yes. I’d like to speak with him at least once.”
“If he comes in, I’ll let you know.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Ibin smiled.
Would he really get to meet him again?
.
.
.
The meeting came far sooner than expected.
One week later, when Ibin visited the café again, he found a man in one corner sipping a latte with a beautiful black-haired woman.
Kang Noah.
The face he had seen online after hearing about him last time.
“Hello.”
“You’ve arrived, Ibin.”
The man seated in the corner, Kang Noah, greeted him coolly.
At Ibin’s approach, the black-haired beauty tilted her head in curiosity.
“Sorry to interrupt your date.”
“Ha ha. This isn’t a date. We just came out for coffee as friends. More importantly... if you came to find me in person, that means you have something to ask.”
“...That’s right.”
“Then please, have a seat.”
Where was he supposed to sit?
There was a small table between Noah and the black-haired woman.
Ordinarily he should sit across from Noah, but then he would be next to that woman.
“I’ll move for you.”
“Huh? You don’t need to do that, Yuna. Ah. You’re coming this way?”
The black-haired woman stood up.
Han Yu-na sat down confidently beside Kang Noah.
Apparently she had no intention of letting the two of them talk alone.
It wasn’t really a problem.
It wasn’t as if he was here to confess some shameful secret.
Ibin let out a heavy sigh, sat down across from Kang Noah, and asked seriously, “I’m worried about how to choose my next project.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Director Jang Hong-gi’s project and Director Gu Dae-hyung’s project. They’re both excellent. That’s why I’m really torn...”
“Ha ha. Ibin.”
“Yes?”
Kang Noah smiled faintly.
“That’s not what you came to ask me.”
Flinch.
Ibin’s shoulders jolted.
He swallowed hard.
The man leisurely sipping his latte had eyes that were astonishingly deep for someone who was only twenty years old.
Could this guy...
Know?
Know what he was really curious about?
After hesitating, he took a sip of the espresso he’d ordered.
The rich coffee aroma sharpened his mind.
“...Then, if you don’t mind, may I...”
He wasn’t sure if he should say it.
He glanced toward Han Yu-na.
“If this is personal, I’ll step away for a bit.”
“Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Han Yu-na responded casually and rose, moving over to the window.
Watching her go, Ibin hesitated a moment longer before opening his mouth.
“...Actually, it’s about my son.”
Ibin let out a heavy sigh.
“That idiot is making a fuss, saying he wants to become an actor too.”
Ibin was such a great actor that calling him a national treasure wouldn’t have been strange.
That was why he knew better than anyone how difficult and painful the path of an actor could be.
“I don’t want my son to walk the same road I did.”
There would be comparisons, inevitably.
People would measure him against his father, who had built up a magnificent career.
He’s not as good as his father.
He can’t even come close to his father.
How deeply would that wound his son?
That was why he wanted to stop him.
But as if blood really couldn’t be denied, his son refused to give up on becoming an actor.
“Kang Noah. Will my son ever be able to make a place for himself as an actor?”
At Ibin’s earnest question, Kang Noah silently held out a card.
When told to flip it over, Ibin carefully turned the card and looked down at it.
Kang Noah’s voice continued.
“Your son won’t keep acting.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
He won’t act.
Then would he end up getting a job at a company instead?
That might be better, honestly.
Just as relief was about to rise in Ibin’s chest, before he could say anything, Kang Noah went on in a calm voice.
What he said next was more than enough to turn Ibin’s spine cold.
“At the next shoot, you’ll lose the use of one arm and retire.”