Chapter 3
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Actors in the Box
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Even though I couldn't understand the language, one thing was crystal clear.
Those people inside that box were actors.
Did that mean this household was pretty well-off?
-What are we gonna do about this? The due date's already passed.
-...So that's how you wanna play it? After everything I've done for you!
-Hey, you gonna mix personal grudges with business? Like some amateur?
In 1572, Queen Elizabeth recognized acting as a legal profession under the Elizabethan Edict, granting England's actors official status.
Before that, actors had been treated like street urchins. From then on, they gradually gained patronage from nobles and earned real respect.
Soon enough, sponsoring theater troupes became a cultural staple among highborn families.
Our Duchess of Battenberg, ever the trendsetter, naturally couldn't stay on the sidelines.
Thanks to her, Battenberg Castle was always buzzing with actors putting on the latest plays.
Not that I got to watch every single one, of course.
To invite so many people every day...
Frankly, seeing this cramped, rundown house made it hard to picture.
Still, if I chalked it up to some unique local housing customs, it wasn't impossible to wrap my head around.
Where on earth were those actors performing?
The box right in front of me seemed a bit too small for a stage.
Maybe they were using mirrors or pulling off some eccentric stunt, but that wasn't the point right now.
Actors existed. Plays existed.
That fact alone set my heart racing.
-It's choose one or the other. Pay up now, or... hand over something else, right?
-Listen here, after all this...!
And here's the shocking part.
I had no clue what year it was, whether this era was just like that, or if it was some cultural quirk here, but there were tons of female actors.
That's right! This is it! This is how it should be!
Without thinking, I clenched my tiny fist tight.
Back when I performed with Oscar's Troupe, women weren't even allowed on stage.
Female roles went to young boys who hadn't hit puberty yet.
But here? Actual women were playing all the women's parts!
Wherever this place is, they've got their heads screwed on straight.
I nodded vigorously and dove back into the actors' performance in the little box.
-Slap!
-How dare you lay a hand on me!
Yes!
So satisfying.
I clapped my hands at the actress's bold, crisp action.
I couldn't understand the lines, but it still filled me with exhilaration.
Just think of it as a silent play.
Kyau! Woo!
Siu, you understanding all that dialogue right now?
My dad asked in surprise, munching on fruit beside me.
As if.
Woo-ah?
Haha, ha... Yeah. Of course not.
He muttered weakly and popped another fruit in his mouth.
Pleased that Dad had quieted down, I happily focused on the next act.
Mommy, wemote!
Hm? Siu, wanna watch TV again?
I finish all food awweady. I good now.
Mommy said it was okay to watch again after eating.
I pointed firmly at the little boxthat thing called a television.
Mom smiled at my polite request and handed over the remote control.
My new name was Han Siu.
Now just over two years old, I could roughly understand Koreanmy parents' native tongue.
Somehow.
No matter how hard I racked my brain, it was a language I didn't know.
Who'd have thought an Eastern country?
I'd dismissed it as some far-off land across the ocean, but the culture wasn't half bad.
And best of all...
-How could you do this to me?!
-Don't do this, Chohee. You can't do this to me! You hear?
-Why not! Why can't I!
-...I'm your father.
-Wh-what...? You bastard!
What a twist.
Bad guy!
I nearly hurled the precious remote across the room.
Whew, calm down.
The young master of Battenberg couldn't lose his cool over something so trivial.
Anyway, the shows from this country called Korea had the most shocking plots.
Unpredictable twists that fooled everyone.
Even Shakespeare would be wide-eyed watching this.
Siu, you're drooling again while you watch. Is the drama that good?
No!
Huh? Not good?
Oh, Mommy, that's not it.
How could this drama not be good?
I shook my head wildly at her puzzled look.
Fun! Yes!
Hm? Oh, no drool?
Mm-hm!
That's right, Mommy!
Even in this young body, after all my etiquette training, I'd never act like that.
Okay, got it. Our Siu's all grown up now, huh?
Mm-hm!
I planted my hands on my hips and nodded grandly.
Now that I could walk on my own, I was set.
I'd make sure this full-grown adult never needed to hold Mommy's hand again.
Click.
Just then.
Oh, Mommy!
No, Siu, you're just too cute. Let's send one to Daddy at work too.
Shii...
That was a cellphone.
One of the words I'd picked up quick.
Lately, Mommy kept snapping pics of me with ittotal headache.
Photos, was it?
One of her new obsessions.
Sigh, no helping it.
I tapped her shoulder as she grinned and fiddled with the phone.
Mommy, one mowe.
Wanna see it too, Siu?
The phone showed me standing tall in the middle of the living room.
Ah, rightthis culture called the parlor a living room.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
I'd memorized that word quick when Mommy told me.
The photo was... passable, anyway.
Pretty good.
You like it?
Nope.
Passable, but not satisfying.
Who knows what this photo thing even wassuch a hassle.
Considering my originally stunning looks, it was still pretty amateurish.
Mommy.
Yeah?
Wike this?
Meaning, I'd pose properly till she got a good one.
Shall we send Daddy an even cuter one, Siu? Here, look this way. One, two!
Click.
Where should we put this?
What about these boxes?
Just cram them all into that small room.
A bright morning.
Now five years old, I bolted upright.
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and plopped onto the living room sofa.
But before I could grab the remote, I got shooed to the bathroom to wash up.
Fine up to there.
It was only proper to cleanse body and mind before watching the actors.
I knew now that the television didn't actually contain real actors.
Once, I'd been blown away by an actor's killer performance.
After the play ended, I rushed over and called out loud for the vanished star.
But the actor ignored meor just didn't reappear!
Waaah!
Ignoring the young master of Battenberg?
This Korea place was utterly barbaricI was furious.
As I pounded the little box and wailed, Mommy rushed in.
That's when I learned the shocking truth.
No real actors inside.
Some device to replay past performances, though I didn't get the mechanics.
...Definitely not because I couldn't understand weird words like broadcast or signal.
No, it was 2006 now.
Nearly 400 years since I died, so anything was possible.
Ptoo, ptoo!
Even reborn young, I couldn't slack on this.
Mommy was changing my soaked pajama shirt after I finally washed up.
Ding-dong.
Guests?
I knew that sound meant strangers coming.
Han Siuthat was me.
I'd gotten pretty used to this culture.
Is this the Ji Dongwook residence?
Oh, yes, yes. You're early. This is the place.
And the relation...?
Oh, she's my older sister. Dongwook'll come later.
Ah, got it. We'll bring in the moving stuff then.
Unfamiliar words flew between Mommy and the strange man.
Then all hell broke loose.
Hey! Careful with that!
Hurry it up so we can hit the next house!
Shouts everywhereno escaping those movers' bellows in this tiny place.
Mommy noticed my foul mood and sat close, soothing me gently.
Siu, just hang in there a bit. The uncles will leave soon, okay?
Too noisy.
Yeah. Can't even hear the TV. Mommy'll let you watch all day tomorrow instead.
Really?
Of course. When has Mommy ever lied to you?
Never, Mommy.
Our kind, loving Mommy always kept her word to me.
I perked up and nodded big.
Lately, she always yanked the remote when I parked in front of the TV.
All day tomorrow?
I grinned through the racket, already hyped for it.
Wow, Siu? You've grown a ton!
Who was this guy?
You only saw him as a baby a few times. Of course he's this big now.
True. Kids grow so fast. Siu! It's Uncle. Your mom's little brother. We met when you were littleremember?
As if.
Among the heads poking over my crib back then, only Aunt Sunghee with her gifts stuck out.
Mommy's best friend, she'd said.
No way I'd remember some giftless nobody.
Hmph.
Uncle Ji DongwookMommy's baby brotherlaughed like I was cute and spread his arms wide.
My nephew! C'mere to Uncle.
No.
As if.
I whipped my head away.
...Huh?
What can ya do? Siu hates being picked up anyway. Guess he really doesn't like you.
No, why...?
Mom explained with a gentle smile.
Siu can't stand noise. And you bringing all this moving junk into our house stressed him out big time.
Oh...
Well, Mommy's all-day TV promise had mostly fixed that.
Just a tiny grudge left.
So hurry up and settle in, then get lost?
Yeah, yeah, I got it. Be quick, quick.
Quick? Got some gig lined up this time?
...Obviously.
Sounds like flyers again? Or mopping floors?
That's just how this biz works, sis.
Mom's brow furrowed at Uncle's cheeky shrug.
Before he could irk her more, I grabbed her pant leg.
Mommy, chamomile.
Hm? Oh, tea time for our Siu?
Tea...?
She checked her watch and stood.
Four p.m.
Perfect for afternoon tea.
A bit ago, hearing familiar words on TV had mesmerized me into sitting down.
My homeland, England, was on screen.
Showing 18th-century British culture.
It said nobles drank tea multiple times a day!
A trend after my death?
As a nobleman's son, I couldn't let that slide.
I'd politely asked Mommy right away.
Thankfully, she okayed caffeine-free tea: chamomile.
Oh, Siu insists on tea three times a day now. Copied it from some movie, but he says it's good for calming the mind and body.
...Isn't Siu five?
Yeah?
Mom answered plainly and headed to the kitchen.
I ignored Uncle's weird stare and waddled to the small room.
I toured it slowly, hands behind my back.
The dusty storage was still dusty.
Just more junk piled up now.
I bounced the thin mattress in the middle and flopped down.
This guy's... gonna live here from now on?
Exhausting just thinking about it.
Parents have their reasonsdon't complain, I told myself, rolling over.
Hm...?
A book caught my eye sharp and clear.
What's...?
I snatched it out.
Not from our house originally.
Must be Uncle's.
William...
That beloved name.
William Shakespeare!
Lost in longing, I cried it out loud.
What, what? S-Siu. What'd you just...?
Uncle rushed from the living room at my shout, but I didn't hear.
I flipped open the battered English book at random.
Real, it's real. His style.
Sis! Sis! C'mere quick. Siu's pronunciation!
Crash.
Uncle bolted behind me in a panic.
Whatever. I drowned in my idol's traces, ears deaf to the world.