“I’m okay.”
I said in a voice that had become a bit urgent.
“He’s someone I have to meet at least once anyway. I should thank him too.”
– I think it’s me who did something worthy of gratitude, not CEO Seon.
“That’s true, but……”
Even if CEO Seon merely granted Seo Nakil’s request, in the end it was the same as Revalue Entertainment moving because of his help.
“I’m rather sorry for making you bring it up first. Let’s meet on the weekend. I’ll make time.”
– You’re sweet.
How could those words fall so sweetly on my ears? I clenched and unclenched my hand for no reason and swallowed dry saliva.
After hanging up the phone saying he would contact CEO Seon and let me know the detailed appointment by text, I slipped into my blanket. I waited thinking he would discuss where and what time to meet and let me know…….
[Actor Seo Nakil: What movie genre do you like?]
“……Didn’t you say you were arranging a meal?”
Why is he suddenly asking about movie preferences?
Although I found it curious, there was no reason not to answer, so I conscientiously wrote down my response.
[I think I like romance works. I also like fantasy, but…… it seems a bit hard when there are loud sounds or scary things.]
[Actor Seo Nakil: Then I should exclude horror, thriller, and action. Between meat and seafood, which do you prefer?]
[I think I like them about the same.]
After thinking for a moment, I also wrote down something I was curious about and sent it.
[What does the CEO like? Since I’m meeting him for the first time, I feel like I should at least buy a gift to bring.]
Since they’ve known each other for a long time, couldn’t he tell me in a bit more detail about what he likes or dislikes? I asked thinking that.
‘Why isn’t he answering?’
Seo Nakil’s reply arrived only after quite a while.
[Actor Seo Nakil: Come empty-handed.]
[Still, I feel like I should make a good impression……]
[Actor Seo Nakil: If you make a better impression than this, he’ll suggest a lifetime contract. Are you thinking of doing that?]
[I’ll come empty-handed]
Somehow I could picture Seo Nakil beyond the phone laughing out loud.
[Actor Seo Nakil: What kind of house do you want to live in?]
[I don’t think I’ve thought about it.]
[Actor Seo Nakil: Then you can think about it now.]
Even after he said that, no scene came to mind immediately. So I was just blankly mulling over his words when I felt vibration in my palm again.
[Actor Seo Nakil: A detached house with a garden, an apartment with various conveniences, or there’s also an officetel in the middle of convenient facilities.]
Just as he had placed breakfast items one by one on my imaginary table, this time he started taking my hand and showing me houses one by one.
After hesitating, I tapped the keyboard with my thumb and sent it.
[It would be nice if there’s good sunlight]
[Is that too abstract?]
[Actor Seo Nakil: Abstract is good too.]
[Actor Seo Nakil: I’ll keep that in mind.]
“What is he going to keep in mind……”
I needed to answer but my eyelids kept getting heavy. Perhaps I still wasn’t used to moving around day and night, as sleep rushed at me fiercely as soon as I lay down a little.
I struggled fiercely with the approaching sleep and wrote a reply to send.
[Still just in case what the CEO likes]
[Let me know even later]
The reply arrived very late.
[Actor Seo Nakil: It’s okay, so just come out. Let’s meet at noon this Saturday.]
[Actor Seo Nakil: Sleep well.]
* * *
Saturday arrived before I knew it. Seo Nakil came to pick me up in front of the dorm right on time for our appointment.
When I opened the passenger door of the large SUV, the first thing I saw was none other than a document envelope.
“Ah.”
Seo Nakil, conscious of my gaze, picked up the paper envelope and moved it to the back seat.
“I stopped by somewhere. Get in.”
“You must have had a morning schedule.”
“I bought something.”
What did he buy that left documents? It didn’t seem to be a simple item.
As I sat quietly in my seat and fastened my seatbelt, he skillfully drove the car and asked.
“Do you like popcorn?”
At a question that felt not just sudden but even bizarre, I tilted my head.
“Maybe I eat it when it’s there?”
“You eat sweet things well too?”
“Probably?”
“Then caramel popcorn would be fine too.”
“……Are we eating caramel popcorn for lunch with CEO Seon?”
“Haha.”
Seo Nakil, who laughed out loud, reached his hand toward me. He playfully tapped my cheek as I looked puzzled at the incomprehensible situation, then opened the glove box.
Two long tickets inside caught my gaze.
“Jeonghyeon can only make time in the evening, so I thought we could go on a date until then.”
It was a ticket for a Broadway musical movie that had recently been released. I remembered wanting to see it when I had time because it received rave reviews for its sensuous mise-en-scène and moving soundtrack.
“Did I choose well enough?”
I nodded as if entranced. Because it was a movie I had only intended to watch before but ended up not seeing. I’ve been so busy with various things lately that I didn’t even know it was released.
“Do you like popcorn, actor-nim?”
Then Seo Nakil answered in an amused voice.
“I’m going to try liking it from now on.”
The movie was far more moving than I expected. I thought it would be an ordinary musical film praising life and love, but the ending of the two protagonists was a twist if anything. Because it ended with the two people, who seemed like they could overcome anything with just their feelings, who loved each other as if they were each other’s entire world, parting ways.
It felt like I had traveled through every moment of a love from its first moment to its last, and even to a distant future where that entire journey felt like a memory. Perhaps because of that, even after the ending credits finished rolling, I had to sit in my seat for a while.
“……It’s fascinating.”
Seo Nakil’s gaze settled on my face, precisely on my eyes, for a long time before falling away. I felt a bit embarrassed remembering that I cried a little, unable to overcome the lingering emotions of the ending.
“What does it feel like to have a love that remains a lifelong memory? Someone who is so unique that they can’t be replaced, and who remains as such a good ending that you can smile brightly whenever you think of them…… is that only possible because it’s a movie?”
“……”
“At the end, the scenes the two people shared together were just like a flashback.”
The flashback I actually saw wasn’t quite that pretty or romantic. Still, there was a commonality in that intense moments of life connected like film reels.
Seo Nakil, who had turned his body toward me, gently rubbed my eyes with his thumb.
“I wonder. Would it really be a lifelong memory?”
“You don’t think so?”
“Because they broke up in the end.”
“……”
“No matter how much they loved each other and still feel tender toward each other, the fact that the relationship ended means there’s no next. Unless it’s the coincidence permitted at the end of the movie, the two would have difficulty meeting, and then wouldn’t those great feelings turn into regret?”
So that’s how he thinks. I quietly listened to Seo Nakil’s voice while receiving his slow touch.
“I’m not saying it has no value because they couldn’t be together. However, very personally, I think an unfinished love is like a blade with a bent edge.”
“A bent blade……”
“Even if the part you’re touching now isn’t the blade, some part will ultimately be sharp and pointed. So wouldn’t you get stabbed at least once eventually? If not now, then in a few days, in a few years, or in the flashback before death, I think you’d regret it.”
It sounded like the words of someone who had been stabbed like that, hurt like that, and thus regretted it.
“If you were the male protagonist in that movie, what do you think you would have done?”
“For me, a good ending is just a momentary illusion and an excuse for the one left behind. So……”
His voice, which had become very low and small, was like a whisper woven from wind rather than a sound resonating from the throat.
“I would have held on.”
“……”
“I’d have to try persuading, begging, clinging. Of course, since a relationship isn’t just one person’s, I might fail. If an ending is given, I’d have to accept it eventually. However……”
The eyes of Seo Nakil saying that looked somehow very lonely.
“I don’t think I could smile as if relieved like that.”
So I briefly wondered what kind of comfort I should offer.
