The strange sense of dissonance I’d felt from around the time the movie ended—no, perhaps from when we entered the theater—continued all the way until we arrived at the restaurant for an early dinner.
‘Is it just my imagination?’
The first time I felt the subtle feeling was right when I stood up from my seat after we had thoroughly discussed the movie.
Even though it was a weekday afternoon, it was strange that there was no one but us in the screening room when it was a theater in the middle of downtown and probably the most popular movie these days.
When I looked around with a puzzled expression, Seo Nakil extended his hand to me and said nonchalantly.
‘I wanted to watch it leisurely without being conscious of other people.’
‘……’
‘Are you afraid of dark places?’
I didn’t particularly like dark places, but I wasn’t so scared that I didn’t know what to do. It was thanks to adapting slowly as I grew up.
However, I still hadn’t adapted to cramped places. Elevators went without saying. When absolutely necessary, I would squeeze my body in, but I would hold my breath to endure the moments when my body descended or rose, so by the time I got off, my head always felt fuzzy.
I know it’s not a rational reaction. To explain this fact, I would have to say how it came to be. It was too personal, and it might sound strange, so I hadn’t even opened up to the members yet.
While I was debating whether to mention it or leave it alone, Seo Nakil walked briskly toward the escalator with my hand in his. Even though it was 10 floors, meaning we’d have to move for quite a while going down the escalator.
I felt both relieved and puzzled at the same time. Come to think of it, we took the escalator when coming up too. Even though we could see the elevator box as soon as we entered the theater building.
Does he know something? But how could he know? There weren’t many people who knew the story that I was afraid of narrow, dark places, and the reason was an elevator accident I experienced when I was young. At most, my parents, the rescue team members who came to rescue me then, and the second young master who supposedly saved me—that was all.
In the end, I kept glancing at Seo Nakil not only while moving but even after getting off, when he suddenly reached out his arm and wrapped it around my waist, pulling me close.
“You’ll fall if you walk that way.”
When I checked my feet, unlike him who was stepping precisely on the paving stones, my feet were treading on gravel.
Even though walking on a bumpy path doesn’t make you fall immediately, Seo Nakil put strength into the arm wrapped around my waist. He guided me to the paving stones as if pulling me up.
“……Thank you.”
As we approached, an employee bowed and opened the door for us. It was a restaurant with an antique yet serene atmosphere, as if a large hanok had been slightly renovated in a modern style.
The neatly decorated garden, the employees in hanbok, and the appearance of the long row of private rooms all seemed unusual. As I awkwardly kept looking around, Seo Nakil pulled me close, having briefly let go, and patted my shoulder.
“It’s a good place to have a quiet conversation. The food is also clean, so it’ll suit your taste.”
“……”
“It looks expensive, right?”
He whispered quietly as if reading my thoughts.
“CEO Seon is paying.”
“……Why?”
“Why? The person coming out for business should pay.”
Well, strictly speaking, it was business. Does he mean he’ll use a corporate card? I forcibly cut off the chain of thoughts and toddled after him.
When we entered the room prepared at the very back, the man sitting there stood up.
“Your sense of time is scary no matter when I see it.”
Seo Nakil handed his coat to the employee next to him and replied lightly.
“Traffic was a bit backed up. Otherwise we would have looked around the garden a bit.”
“Why so suddenly? Gaehwagak’s garden is the same as usu… Ah, because it’s Ijae-ssi’s first time.”
The man who burst into laughter extended his hand to me.
“This is the first time meeting you in person, Ijae-ssi. I’m Seon Jeonghyeon, whom you met the other day.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Han Ijae.”
“I heard a lot from Nakil… No, maybe not a lot? Anyway, I heard an appropriate amount. As you know, I also heard about the agency-related story, and I heard a bit about recent developments. It means you don’t need to explain the uncomfortable circumstances.”
He took out a business card with a good-natured smile.
“This is my contact information. The office location is also written on it, so you can visit anytime. I’ve arranged it so you can enter anytime if you give your name, Ijae-ssi.”
Seo Nakil skillfully cut off Seon Jeonghyeon’s words as he was about to say more.
“Sit down and talk. Ijae-ssi, come here.”
“Huh.”
Seon Jeonghyeon sighed and shook his head as if he had seen something unbearable. Because Seo Nakil was pulling out my chair for me.
Seo Nakil, who breezily ignored his old friend’s reaction, pushed the chair in all the way.
“Since it’s your first time here, I asked them to bring out what they do best. For meat, you can choose between grilled or braised.”
“May I ask what you’ll have, actor-nim?”
“I’ll choose what Ijae-ssi doesn’t choose. I want you to try various things.”
I pretended not to notice Seon Jeonghyeon’s gaze and answered quietly.
“……I’ll have the braised.”
Soon, neatly presented welcoming dishes came out. We could taste in sequence: gangjeong made of thinly sliced burdock fried and coated in sweet sauce, a dish with yukhoe neatly filled inside savory twigak with caviar on top and mustard sauce on the side, and traditionally-made chaeran with a savory mushroom aroma.
The food meticulously crafted like a painting, piece by piece, was always difficult to get used to. As I hesitated while holding my chopsticks, Seo Nakil naturally showed me how to eat by taking bites with elegant manners.
What came next was naenghoe—various vegetables thinly sliced and wrapped in raw fish, then thoroughly soaked in sour broth. When I opened my eyes wide at the texture of the thin ice that melted smoothly as soon as it touched my tongue, he slid his plate over as if it were natural.
“Have another piece if it suits your taste.”
Instead of answering, I shook my head. Although it might seem disappointing because the portions seemed too small when eating immediately, such dishes came out endlessly, so if I got greedy, I wouldn’t be able to eat properly until the end.
After eating warm soup made with ground pine nuts and chestnuts, and grilled fish thinly coated with yujajeong, the main dish came out. As steamed rice filled in bamboo and galbijjim were served, I quietly raised my head and looked at Seon Jeonghyeon across from me.
“Um, CEO-nim.”
It was Seon Jeonghyeon who wanted to meet, and Seo Nakil who arranged the meeting. So I should be the one to speak first. That seemed like the best way to repay the two people’s sincerity.
“Thank you for helping solve the agency problem. If you and actor-nim hadn’t helped, it would have been difficult in many ways.”
I know. I’m ignorant of worldly affairs and emotional. As Seo Nakil pointed out before, I also have a tendency to act recklessly even knowing I’ll get hurt.
There’s no way I could have solved this problem alone. I would have been dragged around here and there while they used the 500 million won as an excuse, and I might have struggled because the excuse that I lost my memory and can’t be active wouldn’t work properly either.
But thanks to the two of them stepping forward, everything went surprisingly smoothly. Not only did the penalty fee disappear, but I could also wrap up Starium activities without making a big fuss. If I finish the remaining schedule until this year well, it won’t be difficult to explain that I’m wrapping up group activities due to agency transfer issues.
It was the first step away from that failure that had pushed me to the edge of a cliff.
“I think I’m indebted to you.”
I said calmly with sincerity.
“I also think it would be good if there was a way to repay you.”
Then Seon Jeonghyeon asked with a beaming smile.
“Are you that grateful?”
“Of course.”
“Grateful enough that you’d want to grant any request of mine if possible?”
I couldn’t promise five wish vouchers like I did to Seo Nakil, but still, there was nothing I couldn’t grant. I nodded my head vigorously.
“That’s good. As it happens, something came up where I’d like to rely on your goodwill.”
Seon Jeonghyeon, who adjusted his glasses, suddenly pulled over the bag he had placed beside him. What came out of the briefcase was a stack of papers a bit thicker than a document folder.
It was a booklet that looked familiar somewhere. Unlike ordinary books bound on the left, it was even more so because it was a horizontally long paper with the top clipped so you flip it upward……
‘No way.’
And Seon Jeonghyeon’s following words were as I expected.
“It’s a movie called <The Marsh Where the Moon Sets>. It’s Actor Seo Nakil’s next work.”
“……”
“I’d like you to take on the supporting role of ‘Yeojeong’ in this work.”
Hanok / 한옥 (traditional Korean house)
Hanbok / 한복 (traditional Korean clothing)
Gangjeong / 강정 (Korean sweet snack)
Twigak / 튀각 (fried seaweed crackers)
Yukhoe / 육회 (Korean beef tartare)
Chaeran / 채란 (traditional egg dish)
Naenghoe / 냉회 (cold raw fish dish)
Yujajeong / 유자청 (citron syrup)
Galbijjim / 갈비찜 (braised short ribs)
