Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: 15 Years of Obscurity (3)
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“Ugh, that damn guy.”
Oh Min-tae, passed out in the corner of the convenience store.
Since he couldn’t sleep inside the shop, Kang Han-do had set up a spot for him in the storage room.
There were some spare boxes handy. Kang Han-do sliced one open flat with a utility knife and laid Oh Min-tae on top of it.
Then he tore open another box and draped it over Oh Min-tae like a blanket.
It was quite the sight.
‘Not even a homeless person would top this.’
A laugh escaped him. Whether Oh Min-tae knew his current predicament or not, he mumbled in his sleep, letting out incomprehensible groans.
After making the makeshift bed for Oh Min-tae, Kang Han-do left the storage room and took his place at the register.
Kang Han-do hadn’t drunk much during his shift, but Oh Min-tae, upset from clashing with his parents that day, had knocked back soju bottle after soju bottle.
He’d way exceeded his limit. Less than an hour later, he was out cold.
‘If the manager catches wind of this later, I’m in for a lecture.’
Still, it was something he’d braced himself for.
Since he hadn’t drunk much himself, Kang Han-do sobered up quickly and switched back to work mode at 3 a.m.
As dawn broke.
“......Where the hell am I......?”
Oh Min-tae slinked out from the storage room door, scanning his surroundings.
No matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t his bedroom.
Just then, Kang Han-do, who was mopping the store floor, checked on him.
“You alive?”
“Hey, Han-do. Why the hell was I sleeping in your convenience store’s storage room?”
“I’ll explain later, so grab your clothes and get out before the manager shows up. You don’t want the nagging.”
“Already that time?!”
Realizing the sun had risen, Oh Min-tae scrambled to get ready and leave.
As he finished mopping, Kang Han-do spoke up as if he had more to say.
“Manager’s coming in ten minutes, so wait outside, have some coffee, and sober up. I’ll buy breakfast for your hangover.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
Oh Min-tae accepted a warm canned coffee as a bonus.
Was it Kang Han-do’s kindness? The corner of his mouth turned up.
“Got it. I’ll pull myself together, so switch shifts and come right out. What do you wanna eat?”
“You know that gukbap place we always go to nearby? Let’s hit that.”
“Alright. I’ll head there. Wait for me out front.”
“Yeah.”
After sending Min-tae off first.
Exactly ten minutes later, the manager opened the convenience store door and stepped inside to switch shifts with Kang Han-do.
The middle-aged manager, belly protruding proudly, narrowed his eyes.
“Hm?”
He sniffed the air slightly. Just that gesture alone was enough to turn the stomach.
“Smells like booze in the store.”
“......”
Even after ventilating, the alcohol stench hadn’t fully dissipated.
The traces of the drinking session had been caught by the manager’s keen nose.
But Kang Han-do calmly defused the situation.
“Some drunk customers went nuts in here late night. Probably that.”
“Went nuts?”
“Yeah. They didn’t buy a thing, just sat in the indoor chairs yapping away. I had to listen to them for a full two hours.”
“I see.”
Dealing with drunks was the toughest part of night shifts at convenience stores.
The manager knew it well, so he bought Kang Han-do’s story without question.
“Leave the door open when you go. Need more airing out.”
“Yes, sir!”
He changed out of his uniform and flung the store door wide open.
With that, Kang Han-do successfully wrapped up his first part-time job since returning to the past, 22 years ago.
* * *
“Auntie! Two bowls of gukbap here!”
“Coming right up.”
At 3,000 won a bowl, this place was a go-to for broke young guys like Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae.
About five minutes later.
“Here’s your gukbap!”
The kindly faced lady set two steaming bowls in front of the young men.
Oh Min-tae topped a spoonful of gukbap with neatly sliced kkakdugi and shoved it straight into his mouth.
“Ah, hot, hot, hot......”
Starved from crashing hard after all that booze, he tried to wolf it down and nearly scalded the roof of his mouth.
As he blew on it to cool it down, Kang Han-do spoke first.
“BLT public recruitment test is coming up soon. You got anything prepared?”
“Prepared? Just my personal skills, that’s it.”
“Figures.”
Kang Han-do had come from the future. He knew what lay ahead for Oh Min-tae.
At 44, Oh Min-tae would take a different path from Kang Han-do’s public recruitment comedian classmates.
Thanks to his sturdy build and manly looks, he’d switch from comedy to acting midway through.
He’d never cared about acting before. But while working as an entertainer, he stumbled upon the actor profession by chance, got hooked, and dove in deep.
44-year-old Oh Min-tae had a catchphrase he repeated often.
If only I’d discovered acting’s appeal sooner......
He’d fallen for acting at 40—way too late.
Had he chosen earlier, his life might’ve been different.
Of course, comedy was something he couldn’t give up either.
He wanted to do both acting and comedy.
But debuting as an actor so late meant his comedian image was too entrenched, limiting his roles.
Oh Min-tae always regretted that.
‘What if I suggested acting to Min-tae here?’
Would that let Oh Min-tae live without regrets?
Overstepping into a friend’s life could come off as nosy meddling.
But Kang Han-do didn’t want to see his precious friend full of regrets.
“Hey, Min-tae.”
“Yeah? What?”
“You ever think about acting?”
“Acting? What’s that out of nowhere?”
“I mean, learning acting on top of being a comedian.”
“Come on. Even becoming a public recruitment comedian’s tough—how am I supposed to handle acting too? That’s too much.”
“I’m saying try it after you make it as a comedian and have some breathing room. Not right now. Plus, acting skills help a ton in sketch comedy corners.”
“Well......”
Kang Han-do had a point.
Oh Min-tae didn’t outright reject it, falling silent for a bit.
Seizing the moment, Kang Han-do suggested again, casually.
“Just think about it. Who knows? You might have a knack for it.”
“Nah, no way.”
Coming from the future, Kang Han-do wanted to nudge Oh Min-tae toward acting too.
But there was no need to push hard from the start.
This was enough—for now, just plant the seed for the future.
First priority: pass the public recruitment test.
For Oh Min-tae, he could figure it out slowly after they both passed together.
* * *
As they neared the end of their gukbap.
“.......”
Oh Min-tae found Kang Han-do’s behavior oddly nagging today.
Suspicious, even.
Finally, he set down his spoon mid-bite.
“You’ve been weird since yesterday.”
“Must be your imagination.”
He brushed it off casually. But truth be told, Oh Min-tae was spot on.
After all, hadn’t his 44-year-old friend suddenly turned young again? It’d be weirder if it didn’t feel off.
“Something bothering you?”
“Bothering me.”
Of course he’d lie and say no.
But that’d be a lie.
Kang Han-do had returned to the past with a mission: become a star and raise the happiness index of Korea’s people.
Fail that, and his family—including Min-tae right here—along with all humanity would face divine extinction, a reset.
How could he not worry?
But he couldn’t just blurt that out.
‘First, I gotta become a star. A top star who can influence the masses!’
To do that, he had to pass the public recruitment test.
With his goal set firm, Kang Han-do made Oh Min-tae a proposal.
“Hey, wanna team up with me for this public recruitment test?”
“Team up?”
“Yeah.”
Back when they first tried the test, Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae had gone solo onstage.
Total flop.
Some comedians shine solo, drawing big laughs alone. Others thrive in groups, creating synergy. So BLT’s public recruitment policy allowed applicants to form teams for their gags.
Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae weren’t solo types. They were the kind who built laughs through interaction and synergy with fellow comedians.
Solo wouldn’t cut it. They needed another way to stand out to the judges.
One option: team play.
Switching to a team didn’t guarantee passing, but it beat going alone. Kang Han-do was 100% sure of that.
Now, just convince Oh Min-tae.
Kang Han-do’s mouth moved fast.
“You don’t have the confidence to make a bunch of strangers laugh solo anyway. And these judges? Pros with at least ten years in comedy. They’ve seen every decent gag out there—think you can crack them up?”
“Yeah, intimidating.”
“If you’re not confident, let’s team up.”
“I already submitted solo—can we change it?”
“It’s still in the change period, so fine.”
Kang Han-do reassured him. Then Oh Min-tae asked another question.
“You got any good ideas?”
“We’ll brainstorm from now.”
“This guy. So irresponsible.”
Still, he couldn’t resist Kang Han-do’s pitch.
Finally, Oh Min-tae nodded big, signaling agreement.
Prepping as a team with Kang Han-do felt less daunting than solo.
And sure, Kang Han-do must have something in mind to suggest this. That’s what Oh Min-tae figured.
“Alright, let’s do it!”
And so, the two vowed to team up.