A Son for Fifty Episodes
Black and White had been set seven or eight years in the past even when it was filmed, and by now it had become the kind of old drama that looked like a full-blown period piece. I watched it for a while, then said to Park Seonyoung,
"Grandpa. He was better-looking back when he was Grandpa."
"He was handsome when he was young, too."
Park Seonyoung chided me, but from the look on her face, she didn't seem to mind what I'd said.
We kept watching the drama for a good while longer, and then I asked,
"The CEO called, didn't he?"
"Yes. He did. I heard the whole story. Do whatever you want. I'll make sure you get to. Use a lawyer, if you need one."
When she said that, Park Seonyoung was holding back her anger.
Come to think of it, at the very beginning she had wanted to cancel my guardianship. But she'd read my heart—how I was simply waiting to turn twenty—and beyond turning the words around once, obliquely, she had never brought it up again.
Park Seonyoung continued.
"Have you made up your mind for certain?"
"Yes."
"Then that's how we'll do it."
Park Seonyoung looked calm as she said it.
But inside, she must have been turning it all over endlessly. I said,
"You know that if the guardianship is revoked, it's completely over with my uncle's side. There won't be anyone left to call family."
"...Yes. And you're still going to do it."
"Even knowing that, I'll do it. Even if I'm left alone in the universe, I'll do it."
"..."
"I'm just saying I know I'll be lonely."
Fine—I'll admit it.
I'm the type who gets lonely a lot.
Of course, being fundamentally an introvert, I genuinely need a great deal of time alone. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm someone who can't live somewhere cut off from the world.
The period after my contract renewal with Leader's fell through had been long and isolated. And even if my uncle kept bleeding me dry, I'd be just as isolated. So the answer was to cut it off now, cleanly. When I remembered that in my last life I'd only lived to thirty-two anyway, a strange sense of relief washed over me.
Along with that relief came the memory of the bucket list I'd meant to finish before dying. Traveling had been the first item on it, which was how I'd ended up here.
It was the first time in my life I'd ever boarded an express bus to go somewhere I actually wanted to go. For me, it was a genuinely big challenge.
And a good one, I thought. I watched the drama alone at Park Seonyoung's family home, right up to the very last scene of the night, then stepped out into the garden for a moment to watch the sunrise before returning to the guest room she had lent me.
My first trip was a success. Perhaps because the place was unfamiliar but the people in it weren't, sleep came easily.
Park Seonyoung, who had barely slept a wink, called her son the moment morning broke and said,
"I've been collecting materials for a while now."
"...You have, Mother?"
"Yes. There's no reason the guardianship can't be revoked. I'll cover every last bit of the lawyer's fees. If Heeyoon has made up his mind, what could possibly stand in the way?"
"A-are we really right to do whatever the kid says...?"
When CEO Gam Seongbeom voiced his worry, Park Seonyoung said,
"Seongbeom. Even if Heeyoon says no, you pull that man away from him. Heeyoon came to a hard decision. It's the adults' job to help him."
"Of course we'll help him. That was never in question."
"He mentioned the police, too. He won't stay quiet about it. Keep the company's security tight."
"We're already on it. Anyway, please tell him to stay there until things get sorted out on this end. No matter how late it runs, make sure he's back before the film opens. This movie's a small-scale release, so there won't be many screens—he'll have to catch it in theaters while he still can."
"All right. Understood."
With that, the call ended.
When she checked on him, Park Seonyoung found that Lee Heeyoon had truly stayed up all night watching Black and White before finally drifting off. His life really was nothing but acting—so very much like her late husband, Gam Ihyun.
I didn't wake until late in the afternoon.
I was still half asleep as I came down the stairs, when I spotted a stranger sitting in the spot where I'd drunk that dirt-flavored tea yesterday.
Ah—but while we had no acquaintance, I did know the face.
"Hello."
Had to greet him. If I didn't, Do Jaeyeon would be watching me with her third eye and delivering a flying kick.
At my greeting, the familiar face glanced my way.
That familiar face was Seo Joongsung—the child actor who had played Gam Ihyun's son in the drama Black and White I'd watched yesterday.
The Seo Joongsung who had been so adorable in his first scenes was forty-five years old this year. And truly, in the most literal sense possible—
he was a gangster-specialist actor.
Even the Demon was unnerved, apparently, because that's what he said.
Ah. Now that I thought about it, there was one role Seo Joongsung had ever played that wasn't a villain.
That movie where he exorcises demons with his fists...
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the Demon shrieked in horror.
[Ooh, horrific]
[Never in my existence have I seen a more terrifying film]
Oh.
Now that I thought about it, if I ever needed to put this guy in his place, I could just keep watching exorcist movies from now on.
Ignoring the Demon's grumbling beside me, I greeted Seo Joongsung again, since he hadn't accepted the first one.
"I said, hello."
Whoops. Dammit.
"Sorry, that came out wrong."
This was all the Demon's fault for constantly butting in. I'd nearly been rude just now.
Anyway, once I'd greeted him twice over, Seo Joongsung finally rose from his seat.
[Here it comes—fist exorcism]
While the Demon hollered like that, Seo Joongsung walked right up to me, wrapped me in an extremely awkward, half-crouched embrace, and patted my back.
"...You've been through a lot."
Then he let go, looking sheepish, and trudged back to his own seat.
[One step back to build momentum]
Worth greeting the man twice, I thought—but the Demon grumbled that there was no way that was what it was. Naturally, the Demon would be wrong. Nothing I ever did turned out wrong.
"Heeyoon, eat something. Anything."
"Yes, sir."
Having stayed up all night and slept in late, my stomach had gone empty for a long stretch, and I was starting to get hungry.
The table filled up with food in no time. Park Seonyoung was still sending me side dishes, so everything was familiar. And yet, bizarrely, every single dish tasted drastically different from the ones I'd pulled out of the fridge and zapped in the microwave.
Roughly three times as delicious. All of it had come out of the fridge too—I had no idea what made the difference.
So for the first time in a while, I ate a lot. Come to think of it, even at Wooheonjeong I'd barely eaten anything but the side dishes Park Seonyoung made. My palate had been spoiled, it seemed.
Seo Joongsung sat down across from me. He stole a glance my way a couple of times, then peeled the fruit he'd apparently brought from Seoul himself and arranged it on a plate. He was remarkably delicate about it.
And the moment my rice bowl was empty, he slid the plate smoothly in front of me.
"Eat."
That made seven words so far. Forget bluntness—the man simply didn't say anything beyond what needed saying. I couldn't fathom how someone like that ever headlined a film on his own.
I was slowly starting to accept that this mister probably didn't throw punches in daily life. Obviously he didn't, but it was oddly hard to swallow. Look at that face. For someone like me, accepting it this fast was quick going.
"Oh, bunnies."
He'd peeled every piece of fruit into the shape of a rabbit. For the fans who might yet spring up in the future, I was fully committed to embracing the rabbit concept, so I snapped a photo before starting in on the rabbit fruit.
While I ate, Seo Joongsung talked with Park Seonyoung.
"A weekend drama?"
"Yes. I figure it's time to do some gangster acting—ah, no, it's not that I dislike it. I've just never once played a warm role. This time, I really want to try."
"Then do it. What's there to worry about?"
"My face is a bit... like this, so I worry the viewers won't take to me. And it's a fifty-episode run. If a face they hate to look at shows up for all fifty episodes..."
I munched on my rabbit fruit and listened. Park Seonyoung said,
"Hate to look at, my foot. Joongsung has one of those faces people warm to. It's just the roles he plays that make people think otherwise."
"You and Teacher Seonyoung are the only ones who've ever said that. That, and Gam seonbae-nim."
"It's the truth. Do you have any idea how handsome our Joongsung is?"
Fifty episodes.
That number was all that remained in my head; the rest of the conversation faded away.
What would it feel like, to pour fifty episodes into a single drama? To have one drama occupy the very center of your life like that?
"Fifty episodes..."
When I murmured to myself, Park Seonyoung said,
"Doesn't that feel terribly long to you, Heeyoon?"
"I'd like to try a long one, too."
"Oh?"
At my words, Seo Joongsung's rate of glancing my way sped up slightly. He turned his head, coughed once, and said,
"So... I lose my son at one point, you see."
At that, Park Seonyoung applauded.
"Well, of course. Losing the kid once is a requirement for a fifty-episode run."
"That's how the divorce comes about."
"Is that so? And then? Does he find the child?"
"He finds him now, and then with his ex-wife..."
"A reconciliation?"
"Yes. They reconcile."
Truly, Park Seonyoung retained her teacher's habits even in retirement. Every time Seo Joongsung started wandering, she would toss him a keyword and skillfully let him finish the story himself. Apparently, no matter how many years you accumulated, life still required a teacher.
Anyway, this weekend drama followed a couple who lost their young son, failed to mend the rift, and divorced—only to reunite with that very son and slowly find their way back to each other. The losing of the son had been the work of certain villains, and those villains would get their comeuppance.
Running alongside that sprawling story were the wicked, the righteous, and a generous helping of melodrama—a fifty-episode weekend drama, all told.
Fifty episodes meant a lot of viewing, at least.
That was what I was thinking, when Seo Joongsung's glances in my direction grew faster and faster—until he was now looking at me roughly every thirty seconds.
While the Demon trembled in terror, Seo Joongsung finally spoke.
"So... I hear they're looking for someone to play the son."
"How old is the son?"
"Probably about your age."