“You’re my son, but you’re very cunning,” said Park Eun-Soo.

“There has to be at least one cunning person in our family,” Woo-Jin replied.

“You’re still a far cry from Woo-Hee when it comes to being crafty. Why are both my children like this… Ah, where did I go wrong?”

“You’ve raised us well, mom. So don’t worry.” Woo-Jin grabbed his mother’s right hand tightly with his left hand and shook it as he smiled at her.

Even though they had had financial difficulties, he was not lacking in the emotional wellbeing department. That was because he had his mother and sister, Woo-Hee, with whom he had shared great days. At this moment, Woo-Jin was happy.

“Woo-Jin, do you want to meet your maternal uncle?” Park Eun-Soo said suddenly.

Woo-Jin stopped walking upon hearing those words, which he could never have seen coming. He knew that his mother had severed ties with her family after the divorce, so he was very surprised to hear the word ‘maternal uncle’ coming out of nowhere.

“Because of your grandfather, I kept in touch with your uncle, albeit not very often. He’s helped us a lot. He gave us a lot of money as well, contributing a large portion to our current house.”

Originally, they had been paying monthly rent for their house. However, the owner of the house had said he needed a huge amount of money to buy a house for his recently married son. Subsequently, their lease agreement had been changed into a jeonse[1] one. The amount of deposit quoted by the landlord was rather high, but his mother had signed the contract without hesitation. At that time, she thought she had saved enough money for it, but that had not been the case.

“Now that you’ve grown up, I’ve been worried because there aren’t any other adults in the house to give you any advice, but your uncle said that he wanted to meet with you to congratulate you on getting discharged from the military.”

Shortly after Woo-Jin entered the entertainment industry in earnest, his mother had become very concerned. Since he had had some issues with the last agency, his mother met with her brother to consult him on potential legal issues and the like. At some point, his maternal uncle had probably brought up the suggestion of meeting with Woo-Jin.

“No. I’ll meet him another time. Please tell him I’ll treat him to a good meal when we meet,” Woo-Jin replied.

As surprising as this was, he was beyond grateful to his uncle. He was not grateful because the latter had given them money for their house, but rather because his uncle had continued to stay in contact with his mother despite his maternal grandfather’s rage. It was reassuring to know that his mother had someone to lean on in times of need, instead of being completely cut off from her family.

However, since his uncle was as rigid and stubborn as his grandfather, even if Woo-Jin met with him it would be of no use, since he already knew what his uncle was going to say. Just like his mother, his uncle was also unhappy with Woo-Jin’s decision to join the entertainment industry. If he was incompetent, it would have been a different story, but because Woo-Jin was smart, his uncle was going to try to convince him to take the Legal Education Eligibility Test (LEET).[2]

“Come to think of it, Yi-Yeon and Hee-Yeon must have taken their bar exam and LEET respectively.”

“Yeah, I heard both of them passed. Yi-Yeon was appointed as a prosecutor last year, and Hee-Yeon is going to law school this year.” 

Woo-Jin nodded when he heard that both his cousins Yi-Yeon and Hee-Yeon, who were the same age as Woo-Jin himself, had passed their exams. It was not surprising at all, due to their competence and circumstances. However, all he could do was smile awkwardly at his mother while feeling sorry toward her, and tell her that he was happy for them.

Park Eun-Soo still wanted Woo-Jin to take the LEET. Since everyone, including his grandfather and uncle, was a legal professional, naturally, she had hopes that he would follow in their footsteps.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I’ve already given up on persuading you. I’m pinning my hopes on Woo-Hee. She’s very interested in that field,” said Park Eun-Soo.

“Is that so?” asked Woo-Jin.

“She said she has to fulfill my wishes, so you can do what you want to do.”

Woo-Jin was at a loss for words, and was taken aback for a moment upon hearing Woo-Hee’s thoughts.

Park Eun-Soo looked at her son, who had a very surprised look in his eyes, and smiled. “You still don’t know what Woo-Hee is like? If she didn't want to do something, regardless of what anyone said, she would never do it. She knew saying that would make us feel bad, so she could use it to get some benefits. She used to look up to your maternal uncle, so much so that she became very interested in that field, but she always pretends she doesn’t. Anyway, she’s as cunning as a fox.”

What Park Eun-Soo said was so true that Woo-Jin nodded without realizing it. Brushing off the guilt he had had towards Woo-Hee for a moment, he was startled by a dark aura he felt behind him instantly.

“I’m sorry for being as cunning as a fox.” Woo-Hee, who had been heading home from cram school, overheard her mother and brother’s conversation in the alley and gave off dark and gloomy vibes as she spoke.

“I’m going to get mad!” she pouted, intentionally squeezing herself between her mother and Woo-Jin before storming off.

“She’s going to get mad at the slightest provocation,” said Park Eun-Soo.

“That’s because she’s going through puberty,” replied Woo-Jin.

“I’m not going through puberty!” Woo-Hee told them with pride that she had already been through the stormy period of adolescence and was now an intellectual who acted on reason rather than emotion. So, she snapped at Woo-Jin upon hearing what he said.

“Be quiet!” someone yelled in annoyance from one of the houses, after hearing Woo-Hee’s loud cry. Additionally, the sound of dogs barking echoed throughout the neighborhood.

Woo-Hee’s face turned red from embarrassment, as Park Eun-Soo joked to Woo-Jin that their neighborhood was safe because someone had responded to her scream right away.

On a warm spring evening, the wind carried the scent of flowers from somewhere else. With the sweet-smelling wind blowing in their faces, their silhouettes stretched across the alley under the moonlight.

***

“Cut! Bad take.” Director Choi’s sharp yell made the ambience extremely cold, bringing down the mood.

A week after the shooting began, the character Park Ji-Hyuk, who was being played by Kwon Sung-Min, suddenly fell apart. There had already been more than twenty bad takes for one scene. Additionally, they had prepared a water sprinkler for today’s outdoor shooting of a rainy day scene. Naturally, Kwon Sung-Min and Woo-Jin, who were being sprayed by the water sprinkler, were not in good physical condition.

“Kwon Sung-Min, let’s have a chat,” Choi Yi-Geon said.

When Choi Yi-Geon quietly left the set with Kwon Sung-Min, Woo-Jin went to a chair that had his name on it and sat down. One of the staff handed him a blanket and a towel. He thanked them and instinctively let out a sigh. Fortunately, he had used an umbrella in the scene, so his entire body was not drenched. However, there had been several bad takes over quite a long period of time, so it was cold and his clothes were wet.

Kwon Sung-Min also had a blanket over his shoulders as he followed behind Choi Yi-Geon. Even though he had makeup on his face, his lips had turned visibly blue. Without looking in the mirror, Woo-Jin assumed that he probably did not look that much different from Kwon Sung-Min. He carefully wiped his face with a towel.

“Sung-Min is a little out of it, more so today than before,” said the makeup artist who was drying Woo-Jin's hair as she cocked her head to the side. 

Despite being at the young age of 28, Kwon Sung-Min was rather good at acting. He was not an actor who would normally cause repeated bad takes of one scene like this. However, Woo-Jin felt that it was only normal, since Kwon Sung-Min had been messing up since yesterday. Woo-Jin rubbed the nape of his neck with his hand as he thought about yesterday’s shoot.

***

It was a scene where Park Ji-Hyuk and Na Mi-Yeon stopped in front of the festival held at their university while carrying their things with both hands. Na Mi-Yeon’s shoelaces had come untied, causing her shoe to slip off. The rich boy, Park Ji-Hyuk, hadn’t thought of putting down the things in his hands to tie her shoelaces for her. In the first place, he had no idea how to tie shoelaces.

Cha Hyun-Seung sighed as he approached the dumb couple who kept looking at each other, asking what they should do. Thereafter, he got down on one knee and tied Na Mi-Yeon’s shoelaces for her. Park Ji-Hyuk took his act for granted instead of feeling offended that some other guy had tied his lover’s shoelaces for her. To someone like him, who was accustomed to ordering other people around, there was absolutely nothing to be jealous of.

However, it was an agonizing moment for Cha Hyun-Seung, who could not hide his excitement and heart palpitations just from touching one of Na Mi-Yeon’s shoelaces. The camera caught Cha Hyun-Seung’s trembling fingers slipping a couple of times. Cha Hyun-Seung was embarrassed by the fact that he did not tie them properly. He looked flustered as he shifted his gaze to the side. That was when he caught the shadows of those two people kissing each other. 

The immature lover, Park Ji-Hyuk, could not hold himself back while waiting for the teaching assistant to be done with tying Na Mi-Yeon’s shoelaces. He thought that sneaking in a secret kiss was a romantic gesture. As usual, Cha Hyun-Seung was shattered by their action, and had to grit his teeth and close his eyes. Thereafter, with an expressionless face, he acted as though he had not seen anything, and hurriedly left.

Cha Hyun-Seung displayed his inferiority complex by being cold, looking at the couple from afar while being unable to get close to them with his fists clenched. It was as though he had been betrayed and gotten hurt. Who did he think he was, staring at the couple who loved each other?

Woo-Jin was grateful that he did not have to portray such a stupid character in such a manner. Woo-Jin's version of Cha Hyun-seung was a man who might have been taken aback from seeing the shadow of the person he loved on the ground, but chose not to close his eyes or turn his head away. His eyes became cold instantly, but soon, he felt that his own jealousy was so absurd and shook his head. His clear gaze turned into envy. It was not some kind of dark jealousy, or a sense of inferiority toward himself. It was jealousy that contained a pure sense of longing.

The reason he did not dare to confess to Na Mi-Yeon was not due to Park Ji-Hyuk being very handsome or the son of a wealthy family. It was because he knew that Na Mi-Yeon loved Park Ji-Hyuk so much that he could not come between them. After tying Na Mi-Yeon’s shoelaces, making sure they would not come loose again, Cha Hyun-Seung got up and took the things in her hands.

The surprised looks on Na Mi-Yeon and Park Ji-Hyuk’s faces were very real—they were not in the script. When Cha Hyun-Seung left with the items, Na Mi-Yeon was the first to snap out of it and come to her senses. She called his name and chased after him.

Instead of looking at the lovers pitifully from afar, he made her chase after him. Cha Hyun-Seung smiled pitifully as he felt Na Mi-Yeon’s presence behind him. Knowing this was as good as it could get for him, he lowered his head with his eyes closed, consoling himself with the thought that he was only frowning because of the hot sun. 

When the festival scene ended, the ambience was not bad. The ad-lib they had not discussed was done on impulse, so Woo-Jin apologized. Fortunately, Choi Yi-Geon was okay with it and let it be. The problem came after Kwon Sung-Min watched the video again on the preview monitor. Kwon Sung-Min frowned and asked for a re-shoot for the parts that he did not like, but his request was denied.

“It’s true that we were given a lot of money for production, but it’s not to the extent where we can afford to re-shoot a perfectly shot scene.” The director assertively denied Kwon Sung-Min’s request before moving on to the next scene without mercy.

From then on, Kwon Sung-Min’s displeasure was evident. He would immediately make sounds that showed how upset he was whenever Woo-Jin did something wrong that resulted in a bad take. Every time Woo-Jin asked the director or the staff a question because he lacked knowledge when it came to shooting, he would throw a jab and make comments about how it was hard to work with rookies because of that. Woo-Jin did not know the reason why, but he felt that Kwon Sung-Min did not like him.