A Peaceful Day (4)
A Peaceful Day (4)
Lately, because of drama filming, it had gotten harder to go home with Da-yeon.
Maybe that was why Da-yeon had gotten even more affectionate.
With Dad out of the country, Da-yeon lazed around at my place practically every day for my sake, since I'd be home alone.
"Si-yoon~"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna play Maple Leaf?"
"Should we?"
Other than Dad being overseas, most of our daily routine was about the same.
At school, Han Seok-hyeon, walking on eggshells, reported to me, and I listened while playing baduk on my phone.
Han Seok-hyeon only declared surrender crying over the phone after Han Ma-hyeon pulled two more of his teeth.
He said he'd hold out to the end, but if the worst came... to make it clean, so he wouldn't suffer.
I ate lunch with Da-yeon and then headed straight to the drama set.
Acting that required conveying sad emotions was my weak point.
Since I was more confident than anyone at being terrible at crying scenes...
But, when I acted by putting my own personality into it, I heard I was a genius at ad-libs.
They said my personality had been heavily reflected in the role of Joo Ha-rin, thanks to Director Yoo Dae-yeon's touch.
All I did was act with the feeling of, 'What would I have done if it were me?' after getting the script.
There were plenty of takes anyway.
We could shoot several versions and use the one we liked, so I just acted naturally without overthinking it.
Whenever there was a shortfall or an absolutely necessary part, Director Yoo Dae-yeon, who'd already worked on timing with me, prepared various videos in advance and showed them to me.
One difference from the film I'd shot before was that they only provided character bibles for characters who had a connection to each actor, and the rest was kept secret.
And since it was still early in filming, I hadn't even received all the secondary scripts yet to prevent spoilers.
If I, someone who'd read quite a lot of novels, were to evaluate the work up to the primary scripts... decent and fresh, maybe?
Well, honestly, I had no clue how the public would receive it.
Though, I was curious how my footage would transform when met with technical skill and overwhelming funding.
Every time I came home after acting, Da-yeon had food ready and was waiting for me.
It wasn't a candlelit, almost-wine-drinking kind of atmosphere, though.
We just naturally ate together and watched a movie or played games.
There was exactly one downside to sleeping with Da-yeon...
She went to sleep earlier than I expected and woke me up way too early.
Of course, if Da-yeon lay down and asked to sleep together, I was confident I could fall asleep within thirty seconds, but since I slept at school too, going to bed this early was disappointing.
Lately it already felt like time was flying...
So, when Da-yeon fell asleep first next to me, I listened to her breathing and fell asleep playing baduk on my phone.
First thing in the morning, Da-yeon shook me awake.
"Si-yoon~ wake up~"
"Mmn..."
"Mom says to eat at our place."
"Haaaahp... maybe five more minutes...?"
I pulled the covers up out of exhaustion, but Da-yeon grabbed my arm and hauled me up.
"Get up~!"
In the end, still in our pajamas, I headed to Da-yeon's house with her.
Ga-yeon, having gotten my excellent tutoring, had started to fear me more and more, and when I went dead serious he fidgeted like he was having PTSD.
"Si-yoon, you're here?"
Tired and not in the mood, I gave a perfunctory bow from the waist and sat down.
My hair was sticking out every which way, pricking my face, so I roughly tucked it behind my ears and spooned up dried pollack soup with eyes I could barely keep open.
"Really tired?"
"I'm okay..."
While I slurped it down, Lee Jin-seok looked at me.
"Grandfather was talking about Si-yoon?"
"About what..."
"I heard they called you a once-in-a-generation genius?"
I felt my throat, somewhat moistened by the pollack soup, and said,
"Tell him I know."
"Already told him that."
Lee Jin-seok, who considered me his tomboy daughter, said it with a fatherly smile.
"He said he originally thought you only had an outstanding memory."
I nodded vaguely and started eating, focusing on the meat side dishes.
Too lazy to even go home, after washing up at Da-yeon's place, Da-yeon and I dried each other's hair.
"Si-yoon, can I try tying it up?"
"Yeah."
My hair, longer than a bob but not quite long—stuck in the so-called "no-man's-land"—was revived under Da-yeon's treatment.
She was more dexterous than I'd thought.
"Oh, pretty."
"Right?! But Si-yoon, you suit anything~"
After finishing our hair, we went home and changed into our school uniforms.
I took out new shoes and put them on, careful not to touch Dad's collection.
"New shoes for the first time in a while~"
"Myang!"
Alpha and Beta, as if asking if we were going to leave them behind.
"You guys don't even like walks that much, what're you on about. Move, I have to go."
""Myang...""
Alpha and Beta made pitiful faces like Puss in Boots, but I was absolutely not falling for it.
I'd never done it, but after giving Dad that kind of look, their pupils would abruptly sharpen and they'd plant a nyang-nyang punch on him.
When I went outside like that, as always, Da-yeon was waiting.
"Just get through today and it's break~"
"You like break?"
"Yeah, but this break is kinda..."
"Why?"
"You'll be filming your drama so we can't hang out together..."
Just as Da-yeon said, this break my schedule was packed even through the weekends.
I was seriously busy, no time to blink.
Even after break ended and I became a second-year, the business would be the same.
This and tomorrow were probably the only time I could spend leisurely with Da-yeon before filming ended...
Tomorrow Dad would be back, so if I subtracted the time he'd spend clinging to me, today was practically it.
I promised to go to karaoke, an internet café, and shopping with Da-yeon today as we got on the elevator.
Left alone together in the enclosed space, I habitually wiggled my fingers.
Da-yeon, who'd been watching me, very slowly covered her chest and moved to a corner.
"Don't..."
"I'm gonna~"
"Don't..."
When I approached in earnest, Da-yeon's screams filled the elevator.
Early in the morning, a truck loaded with artworks was driving down the road.
The man sitting inside had been up all night, his eyelids constantly growing heavy, but he couldn't bring himself to rest and had to keep going.
Faced with the situation before me, the more I thought about it, the more hopeless it felt.
Sigh... Out of loyalty, I'd cosigned for a friend who said he was going into business.
I trusted him without a second thought, since he was a close friend.
But...
That son of a bitch, business my ass... he blew it all on that trendy coin stuff.
Shiba Inu Coin? He said the chairman of Tasla mentioned it, went in at the peak, and lost all the money.
I threw a raging fit, said I'd wring his neck right then and there... but...
Already... my friend, that friend, had also lost everything he had.
Money, home, family... his life.....
For some goddamn coin... you fucking bastard...
It was bleak enough to make my stomach turn, but...
If I had a single hope, it was only my wife, who blamed me but didn't abandon me.
With the dunning calls demanding I repay the debt, my struggling wife was probably working right about now too...
In this situation, how could I sleep...
How could I rest...
"Hyaam..."
To earn even one more won, I made time even while busy, moving cargo, then moving it again...
Sleeping four hours a day and doing work that overtaxed the body, lately I'd had the thought that maybe I was pushing myself too hard.
But even so, I couldn't stop working, sorry as I felt toward my wife.
Amidst all that, an extremely good opportunity from an acquaintance...
A job moving various artworks to a massive art museum operated by CGJ.
From Incheon to Deoksugung-gil in Jung-gu, Seoul, 200,000 won per trip.
Four trips today total—an incredible opportunity I absolutely could not refuse.
I'd been driving since 1 a.m., and before I knew it, it was the fourth trip.
The company side said the most valuable items were loaded, so I needed to exercise extreme caution...
So I drove safely and transported them.
While yawning, thinking I'd sleep a stretch at home after finishing the job and eat some meat with my wife who I only felt sorry toward and grateful for, I let out a chuckle. That was when...
An old woman was standing right in front of me.
"Oh, you fuck...!"
The vehicle lurched violently as I yanked the steering wheel.
It was largely my fault for not checking my surroundings since there was no signal, though blaming that old woman collapsed on the ground was an unavoidable next step.
Thankfully, I hadn't hit the old woman, but...
From behind came a chilling sound... of something being utterly destroyed.
"Ah....."
In my exhaustion... thinking only that I had to avoid the person, I'd blanked on what I was carrying.
Still, I got out of the car and approached the old woman, thinking I had to check on her.
People gathering around...
To an irritating degree, South Koreans were terribly interested in other people's business.
I was half out of my mind wanting to check the truck's cargo immediately, but I checked the old woman's condition first, thinking people came first.
"I failed to see you... I apologize. Are you all right?"
The old woman, considerably furious...
She'd crossed the centerline on a red light... sigh...
I had plenty I wanted to say, but that would only... drag things out longer.
With all my nerves fixed on the truck, I kept saying I was sorry.
"I'm sorry..."
Maybe it was students' commute time, because there were more people in school uniforms than I'd expected.
I told the old woman to go to the hospital and call me, gave her my business card, and quickly returned to the truck I'd pulled over to the shoulder.
And when I opened the door, my heart pounding with dread...
"Ah... ah..."
Even the securing equipment had toppled over; everything from the ceramics to the canvases was shattered and torn.
That was when the contract I'd signed at dawn came to mind.
The clause stating that, in the event of an accident, they would claim up to 10% in damages...
And the endless requests to add safety upon safety, saying the contents were truly precious items whose details couldn't even be disclosed for security reasons...
"Ah..."
I sank to the ground on the spot...
And the face of my wife, who'd be working right about now, came to mind...
Because of the winter chill, I wore a puffer jacket and walked with Da-yeon, enjoying the scenery around us.
That was when I saw, far off in the distance, an old woman crossing the street on a red light.
'Ugh... what's she thinking, an accident waiting to happen...'
And a massive truck heading toward the old woman, as if on cue.
I naturally covered Da-yeon's eyes, bracing for what came next.
But the driver must have been better than I'd expected, because he threw the truck into a drift and swerved around the old woman.
Skreeeeeech!!!
"Whoa..."
South Korea really was a good country to live in; people went over and checked on the old woman's condition.
And the young man getting out of the truck ran to the old woman, hurriedly ducking his head and checking her state.
In that situation, the old woman suddenly started yelling at the young man.
"...?"
She's the one who messed up, and now she's turning it around on him—that's really something... Even I, a completely uninvolved third party, found the sight absurd.
Still, the kind-hearted young man apologized repeatedly, gave the old woman his card and sent her off, then went to check on his vehicle.
And then he collapsed to the ground.
Were the items more expensive than expected?
The man grabbed his phone with trembling hands and called somewhere, then dropped the phone.
And, as if all the strength had drained from his entire body, he started to cry.
"What's going on?"
"How would I know?"
When we got right next to him, the young man was wearing an expression as if he'd lost everything, dark circles deep under his eyes.
I was just going to keep walking, but Da-yeon grabbed my wrist.
"Seems like something really bad happened. Should we help?"
If Da-yeon was saying that much, I had to help.
"Hey, you dropped your phone."
I picked up the phone with its shattered screen and pressed it into the hands of the man crying with his head bowed.
And I looked at the pictures filling the wide-open truck.
Pictures that were all too familiar.
They were the ones Farzier had recently sold for an average of about 2 billion won each.
"Huh? Those are my paintings."
And the expression of the man whose eyes met mine became tinged with shock.
"S... Si-yoon."
When I held out my hand to Tae-oh, he produced a handkerchief from his inside pocket.
I handed the handkerchief to the man and asked,
"Can I help you?"
The man, having rapidly assessed the situation, suddenly dropped to his knees before me.
It was a little... no, seriously uncomfortable, but he looked that desperate.
"Yes... I know it's shameless, but please... please..."
Park Ji-hoon quickly pulled the man to his feet and laughed.
"She does like that kind of thing, but get up. A lot of people are watching, you know?"
"Hey, when did I say I like it?"
"The fuck? You fucking love it when people kneel to you like a sadist. And you can't even refuse when someone begs like that."
"...?"
"...Sorry."
Going dead serious, I glared at Park Ji-hoon, then sighed and looked at my paintings inside the truck.
"Wow, I painted this one a year ago and sent it off to Switzerland. Long time no see."
While Da-yeon and I were looking at my torn-up paintings, it seemed the man got a call.
The man repeated only 'please' and 'I'm sorry'—it was practically a habit.
I casually snatched the phone.
"Ah...?"
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end sounded like a middle-aged man.
-"...Who is this?"
Suddenly, the sponge and starfish living under the sea that Dad had played for me when I was little came to mind.
"It's Si-yoon?"
-"Excuse me?"
"I said it's Si-yoon~"
-".....Don't joke around."
"Why would I joke when I'm telling you it's me?"
-"...What?"
"I'll get in touch at this number later, so go easy on him. The guy next to me is a sobbing, wailing mess right now."
I hung up lightly and returned the phone to the man.
"Ji-hoon, call Jong-hyeon."
"He's over there keeping an eye out. It'd probably be faster if you just yelled for him."
Dead serious, I rummaged through my pockets for anything useful and stared at Park Ji-hoon. He did an about-face and ran straight to where Jong-hyeon was.
I watched him go, then took my wallet out of the side pocket of my bag.
And when I opened it, eighty 50,000-won notes, stuffed full.
Excluding the checks, I took them all out and stuffed them into the pocket of the man, whose eyelids were red-rimmed above the deep dark circles.
"You've had a big shock, so go home and buy some beef or something to eat."
"...Excuse me? What?! N-no, I can't...!"
Before I knew it, Jong-hyeon had come over.
"You called?"
"Call Attorney Hwang, Da-yeon's direct counsel, and help this man out."
"Yes."
I looked at the man, who was completely at a loss.
"Bye, then~ Don't go cry somewhere; buy beef with your family, eat it, take a picture, and send it."
"...Yes... really... really... thank... you..."
Leaving the man, who was again pouring tears, behind us, we naturally continued on our way.
During the end-of-term ceremony, I got a text from Jong-hyeon.
When I checked, it was about how the communication with CGJ had gone.
Da-yeon got curious, so I told her.
"They were going to give ten percent as per the contract, but CGJ said they wouldn't take it."
"Oh... why?"
"Instead, they asked if I could just consider doing one CF shoot."
"Are you going to do it?!"
"Nah, not doing that kind of thing."
"...?"
"Originally, as long as there's no contract, a princess just says she'll think about it and doesn't actually have to do it."
"...Si-yoon... now you're calling yourself a princess..."
"Ah... no, it's not like that..."