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Chapter 360:

Chapter 360

Min Hee-kyung entered a movie production company with an awkward face.

She saw the employees running around busily since morning. 

She didn’t know who to talk to, and stood there with a puzzled expression. 

An employee approached her.

“How can I help you?”

“Uh, I have a script…”

As a movie production company, they could guess why she came as soon as they heard the word script. 

There were people who didn’t just send their scripts by mail or post, but came to the company in person to persuade them, saying that their stories would make them want to produce a movie.

They had developed a way to deal with them, as some directors showed up and made a fuss.

“There’s another director who came before you. Please wait here for a moment.”

The employee guided Min Hee-kyung to an office.

The office was divided into several tables by partitions. 

It seemed like they were used as makeshift meeting rooms. 

The partitions were not that big, so the conversations could be heard clearly, but no one seemed to care.

Min Hee-kyung sat down. 

She put her bag on the next seat and sighed.

She had sent her script to the movie production company, but there was no reply.

‘…They must have rejected it.’

But she thought she could at least try to convince them, so she came all the way here. 

Min Hee-kyung took out the script she brought from her bag. 

It was a script that was printed without any wrinkles or smudges on each page.

She was about to start reading the first page when she heard a voice from across the partition.

“This is it!”

Min Hee-kyung unconsciously listened to the confident voice. 

The loud voice kept talking.

“Do you know how much buzz Survivors created this summer? They made two endings from one story! And even though the Director’s Cut killed off all the characters that the audience loved, it still made a box office hit and was released in theaters!”

“Yes. It was an unexpected hit even for Hollywood producers.”

A voice that seemed to belong to an employee of the production company was heard. 

Unlike the passionate counterpart, it was calm and even boring.

“That’s right! So my script too…!”

“That’s Hollywood.”

The employee’s voice cut off the director’s words. 

There was a sneer in his voice, and Min Hee-kyung shrank her shoulders even though it wasn’t directed at her.

“They have Hollywood, Davis Garrett, and Lee Seo-jun. There’s no way they wouldn’t make a hit.”

“My script would also make a hit if top actors starred in it…!”

“And Jeffrey Rodex is a director who successfully finished his first commercial movie. That’s why ‘that’ Hollywood producer worked with him on his second commercial movie. I don’t understand why you don’t mention the director’s ability.”

Along with the employee’s sarcastic voice, there was a sound of paper flipping. 

Min Hee-kyung held her breath and moved her body to the right.

“All the characters die in the end. All the scripts and synopses that come in these days are like this. And there are rumors that there are movies that have started filming with similar endings.”

“That’s…”

“Shocking? Sure. But only when it’s the first time. The second time, the third time, everyone expects it. Oh, they’ll all die at the end, right?”

“…The ending where everyone dies is…not new for Survivors.”

“Survivors is the most famous one. Ah. If you can make a better work than that, then go ahead. Then you’ll be the first one.”

There was no voice from the director.

“I’ll review it and contact you later.”

There was a sound of a chair scraping the floor. 

Min Hee-kyung straightened her body in surprise.

She saw a man who looked like a director walking past with his shoulders slumped. 

She felt anxious that it would be her fate soon.

Soon, an employee appeared and sat down in front of Min Hee-kyung.

There was no greeting, but Min Hee-kyung was too nervous to notice.

“Let me see your synopsis first.”

“Oh, yes!”

Min Hee-kyung handed over her synopsis to the employee who sat down.

She held her breath and watched him flip through each page. 

The production company employee frowned as he saw the name written on the first page.

“Director Min Hee-kyung?”

“Yes.”

“Is this your debut commercial movie?”

“Oh, no. It’s my second one.”

Min Hee-kyung clenched and unclenched her fists on her knees. Her palms were sweaty.

“What’s your first work’s title?”

“Our Neighborhood…It is.”

She didn’t say it was a work from six years ago.

The employee who tried to recall the title rubbed the back of his neck. 

It seemed like he had never heard of it, so it must have flopped.

“Is that why?”

“…Pardon?”

The employee shook his head and put down the synopsis.

Min Hee-kyung glanced at the script next to it and then at the employee. 

She sighed at the script that was not even opened.

“The trend of works has changed these days.”

“…Yes?”

Min Hee-kyung blinked her eyes, and the employee continued.

“As you know, the reason why there was a boom of child actors was because of the superstar Lee Seo-jun. From the main character to the supporting characters, whenever there was a good or important role, they mostly put in a child actor. Just in case Lee Seo-jun would star in it.”

If Lee Seo-jun didn’t star in it, then the role would go to another child actor. 

As the demand increased, so did the supply. 

There were more child actors who could act well, and there were also more children who dreamed of becoming child actors after seeing them and Lee Seo-jun.

That’s how the child actor boom was created.

“Ah, yes.”

Min Hee-kyung also imagined Lee Seo-jun while writing her script. 

No, it wasn’t just imagination. 

She hoped that her script would appeal to Lee Seo-jun and that he would star in it.

‘It would be hard, though…’

Min Hee-kyung listened to the employee’s words.

“But Lee Seo-jun’s becoming an adult soon. He’s a sophomore in high school this year, and half a year has already passed. And when he becomes a senior, he might lose a year because of college entrance exams, auditions, or graduation performances at Mirinae High School.”

The employee drank some coffee and cleared his throat.

“He’s so famous that he’ll probably get into the theater and film department, but… Some actors value other experiences and go to different departments after taking the college entrance exam. If Lee Seo-jun does that too, then he’ll hardly be active next year. Then it’ll be either this year or the year after next when he starts filming, but there’s only a few months left this year… And he’ll be an adult by the year after next.”

“…Yes.”

The employee continued.

“He’s been restricted as a child actor for a while, so there weren’t many violent scenes or scenes where he got hurt, and there were no occupational movies at all, and playing a criminal was even more impossible. But those restrictions will be lifted. And he can still play a high school student role at 20. But don’t you think he wouldn’t be interested in playing a high school student role when he’s been doing that all this time?”

Min Hee-kyung slowly nodded her head and agreed.

The remaining time as a child actor.

She had never thought about it before, and her head went blank.

“Some production companies are still sending scripts to Cocoa Entertainment as usual, but most of them are collecting scripts for the year after next, aiming for Lee Seo-jun.”

The employee looked at the synopsis on the table. 

The age of the main character written on the first page caught his eye.

18 years old.

She was at the age when she had no choice but to aim for the 18-year-old actor Lee Seo-jun.

A failed director who wanted Lee Seo-jun as the lead.

A faint sneer crossed the employee’s face.

“So our production company only accepts works with adult protagonists.”

The employee pointed out the flaws in the synopsis. There were some parts that Min Hee-kyung had missed and some explanations that didn’t make sense. As she couldn’t find anything good in her synopsis, Min Hee-kyung’s shoulders slowly sank.

“Please change the protagonist to an adult and fix the parts I mentioned and send them to us. We’ll review them and contact you.”

Neither the employee nor Min Hee-kyung believed the words that they would contact her. Even if she revised and sent the script, it might end up in a warehouse or not even be printed.

“…Yes. I understand.”

The employee nodded lightly at Min Hee-kyung’s words and got up from his seat and headed straight to the newly arrived director. 

Min Hee-kyung, who was watching his back, sighed and picked up the script and synopsis that had never been opened and went outside.

The sun was high in the sky and it hurt her eyes.

It was so bright that she felt like crying.

***

“…Should I quit?”

Min Hee-kyung, who was sitting on a bench and staring blankly at the Han River, flinched at the words that came out of her mouth without knowing. 

It was a word that she had never uttered out loud no matter how hard it was. She felt like it would really happen if she said it out loud.

And she hated everything as she thought.

“…Let’s quit.”

Min Hee-kyung, who had a tired face, slowly moved her hand and took out a script from her bag.

She fiddled with the stapled script that she had carefully printed in case it would get crooked and then peeled it off one by one. 

She had to throw it away when she got home anyway. 

Min Hee-kyung neatly arranged the scripts that would become waste paper and put them in her bag.

It had been six years since her first commercial film failed.

There were no production companies or people who looked for her anymore. 

And when she was rejected for the script that she thought was her last chance, she felt like she couldn’t do anything.

“What should I do now…”

Min Hee-kyung, who was wondering what else she could do besides making movies, saw a group of kids rushing in.

They looked like high school students, chatting and unpacking their equipment that they brought with them. 

They seemed to be having fun as they smiled on their faces and some of them looked around with serious expressions for the background.

“It’s a good time…”

Min Hee-kyung, who was staring blankly at the kids for a moment, got up from the bench.

She decided to quit making movies anyway, so she had to go home and think about what to do next. 

Min Hee-kyung walked along the promenade to save some money and take a walk.

How long had she been walking?

“Excuse me…”

Someone tapped Min Hee-kyung’s arm lightly as she was wearing earphones.

Min Hee-kyung was surprised and took off her earphones and turned her eyes. 

A woman who seemed to have come out for a walk with a dog smiled awkwardly and pointed behind Min Hee-kyung with her finger.

“Is that okay… falling down?”

Min Hee-kyung’s head followed the woman’s finger behind her.

“Gasp…!”

Familiar papers were scattered on the floor. 

Min Hee-kyung quickly turned her bag around from her back.

“Oh no…”

The bag was wide open.

She must have lost her mind and forgot to close the zipper of her bag. 

The script that was not fixed with a staple flew like flyers and fell on the floor.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

Min Hee-kyung bent down awkwardly to pick up one of the scripts under her feet and stopped. 

There was no point in picking it up since she decided to quit making movies anyway.

She hesitated for a moment and then picked up the paper.

“…It’s mine anyway.”

It was easy to pick up the papers that fell on the promenade or nearby grass, but she didn’t know if there were any papers that flew further away. 

She just collected them as she saw them and saw a script with a heavy shoe print on it. 

She picked it up with pity.

As she went back along the promenade to collect the fallen papers, Min Hee-kyung was about to pick up a paper in front of her when a stranger’s hand came into her sight. She looked up in surprise and saw a familiar pile of papers first.

Oh.

She didn’t have to go all the way back.

“…Thank you for picking it up. I didn’t know my bag was open and I was walking…”

She thanked him involuntarily.

Then she looked up and saw a boy who looked like a student. 

He was wearing a hat that covered his face, but he smiled brightly. 

Min Hee-kyung smiled back at him without knowing.

***

“You were the director of Our Neighborhood. I saw it. Our Neighborhood.”

‘Would it be okay to talk here instead of following him?’

Seo-jun, who sat on the bench next to her, read the script that he had arranged in order with joy. 

There were some gaps here and there, but it was not enough to interfere with reading. 

He could tell what kind of story it was from the beginning.

“…Really?”

Where am I, who am I?

Min Hee-kyung blinked her eyes at Seo-jun’s smile. She had ended up sitting next to him on the bench and chatting with him.

‘I feel like I’m possessed by a ghost.’

They had exchanged information about being a director and an actor in a short time and became comfortable with each other. 

She decided to quit being a director, but she had nothing else to introduce herself with. 

She smiled with a bit of a sting and looked at the boy next to her.

He asked if he could see the script and his eyes sparkled. 

She couldn’t refuse. 

She gladly showed him the script that she had thrown away and that had been trampled by people.

‘But where have I seen that face before…’

She couldn’t remember even though it seemed familiar. 

Min Hee-kyung gave up trying to remember and opened her mouth.

“It must have been boring…”

“Hmm. It was true that the story was monotonous.”

Min Hee-kyung laughed bitterly at Seo-jun’s words.

It was a comment that she had heard a lot after releasing her first work. 

The content was composed of one story and it was too boring and predictable.

“But the directing was cool.”

Seo-jun looked at the script and talked about the directing that impressed him in Our Neighborhood.

He really saw Our Neighborhood. 

The scenes that she had put her heart and soul into came out of the young actor’s mouth and Min Hee-kyung’s eyes trembled.