Chapter 5: First Day (3)
Yoo-Jin gave an honest answer to Lee Ji-Yeon’s question and smiled brightly at me with a look that seemed to say ‘I did good, right?’
‘Why would she give me the credit instead of claiming it for herself to find favor with the writer?’
I was grateful yet perplexed by her naive honesty.
‘She should have just told the writer that she had practiced hard.’
I quickly responded to Lee Ji-Yeon, who was looking at me curiously.
“Yes, Ms. Lee. I just gave her a little advice because I’ve seen your dramas and read your scripts in the past.”
“Hmm, it’s very unusual for a talent agent to read my work. Do you want to be a writer by any chance?”
Lee Ji-Yeon still looked confused as if she didn’t understand.
“No. I read all your work simply because I’m a fan. I’ve read the scripts of ‘Mother’s Song’ and ‘The Story of You, Me, and Our Daughter.’”
Lee Ji-Yeon’s eyebrows twitched every time I mentioned the title of her work. It seemed like she was surprised a talent agent would know so much about her work.
To a writer, their work was no different from their own alter ego or a child. Therefore, it was only natural for her to feel happy when she received compliments for her work.
“Hm~. What was your favorite?”
“I liked ‘Mother’s Song’ the best.”
“You have a good eye. It took me five years to write that one.”
Lee Ji-Yeon fell into deep thoughts for a moment with a proud smile on her face, possibly reminiscing the time she wrote that piece of work.
Seeing this as an opportunity to make a good impression, I decided to seize the moment. After all, she really liked the coffee I made for her in the past life.
“Excuse me, Ms. Lee. The set is much colder than you think. I’m sure a hot cup of coffee will help you keep warm.”
Lee Ji-Yeon frowned slightly when she saw my thermal bottle.
“Coffee? No, no. I don’t drink coffee unless it’s Nespressure Ristretto~.”
When Lee Ji-Yeon shook her head, Kim Soll-Ip smiled broadly and gratefully accepted the offer instead.
“This is perfect. It was quite cold out here. I’ll take it.”
“Here you go, Ms. Kim.”
Kim Soll-Ip dismissively waved her hands as I poured coffee into her cup.
“Haha, Mr. Jung. You’re too kind. It feels good to be addressed that way, but I’m not a writer yet.”
“What do you mean, Soll-Ip~? You’re a writer for sure.”
Lee Ji-Yeon seemed annoyed by Kim Soll-Ip’s reply.
‘I guess these two have a good relationship. That’s surprising.’
Contrary to how it seemed, Lee Ji-Yeon was going out of her way to save face for Assistant Writer Kim Soll-Ip.
Drip, drip, drip.
“Hmm. This coffee smells amazing. Um, Mr. Jung. Do you mind if I grab another cup?” Kim Soll-Ip said as she took in the aroma of the coffee from her paper cup.
“Not at all. Have as much as you want.”
Lee Ji-Yeon, who was sniffing the smell of coffee without realizing it, exclaimed in a loud voice.
“Soll-Ip~. I told you I don’t want it!”
“Come on, Ms, Lee. You always say that but end up taking mine. That’s why I need to prepare yours in advance.”
“I’m not going to drink it! I mean it this time!”
Lee Ji-Yeon turned her head away like an upset child.
“Are you sure you don’t want to drink it? Fine. Then I’ll just drink both of them.”
“Shut up~. Why do you always make me repeat myself? You know I hate that!”
I was surprised to see how adeptly Kim Soll-Ip handled Lee Ji-Yeon’s sharp attitude. Then again, I recalled how Kim Soll-Ip had successfully served as Lee Ji-Yeon’s assistant for five years, a position known to be so challenging that made her predecessors quit after a month.
‘Thinking about it, she was quite impressive.’
Holding two cups of coffee, Kim Soll-Ip expressed her gratitude.
“Oh, right. I almost forgot. Mr. Jung. Could you give me your name card?”
“Of course, Ms. Kim.”
My seemingly useless name cards had already been handed out twice on my first day of traveling back in time.
‘I have a feeling things are going to go well.’
“Ah, just a second.”
Kim Soll-Ip bit on her paper cup to free her right hand so she could take my name card.
At that moment, I saw a group of producer directors and assistant directors rushing towards us from afar.
“Ms. Lee~!”
Producer Director Park called out in a flustered tone, out of breath from running upon seeing Lee Ji-Yeon.
“Oh my, I thought you would be too busy to come, huff, huff. What brings you to the set?”
“I just stopped by before heading to my office. Why? Am I not allowed to come here?”
“No, of course you can. Your joke always makes me laugh, hahaha.”
The staff paid no attention to me or Yoo-Jin and moved to the set with Lee Ji-Yeon, as if we didn’t exist.
After everyone had left, Yoo-Jin placed her hand over her heart and blushed.
“You did great. You passed.”
Yoo-Jin opened her eyes wide and looked at me, unsure of what I meant.
“I’m saying that Ms. Lee approved of your acting. You exceeded my expectations.”
Yoo-Jin’s face lit up.
“Really? You think so?”
“Yes. I bet no actress in Korea can play the role of Lee Seol-Ran better than you can right now. I guarantee it.”
Yoo-Jin smiled brightly as I gave her a thumbs-up.
“Hehe, I feel so good about myself.”
“Also, Ms. Lee rarely asks actors for their names. The fact that she asked for yours means you really stood out. Just keep up the good work and act with confidence, alright?”
“Okay!”
Confidence radiated from Yoo-Jin's face.
The conversation took longer than expected, but there was still about an hour and twenty minutes left before Miso’s accident would take place.
I sighed and checked my planner once again.
[Everyday V10]
[Date: December 12th, 2019]
-05:30 PM: Kangdongkyung University Hospital Funeral Hall. Miso died.
The schedule of Miso’s death still remained unchanged in the planner. The only way for me to rest assured was to bring Miso here myself.
“Yoo-Jin.”
“Yes?”
“Do you feel confident about the main shoot?”
Yoo-Jin contemplated for a moment before nodding.
“Yes. After acting in front of Ms. Lee, the main shoot doesn't seem like a big deal anymore.”
“Good. Just do as you did in front of Ms. Lee. I’m sorry to tell you this, but I need to step away for a bit. If I don’t return by 3 PM, take a cab to MBS studio. You remember Assistant Director Lee Chang-Hwan, right? Just follow his instructions on set.”
“Yes, I remember him from the last time I met him…but are you going somewhere far?”
Yoo-Jin asked anxiously.
“No. Another actor from our company is in the vicinity so I’m just checking in with them. I’m just giving you a heads-up in case I don’t come back in time. Sorry. I should be with you while you shoot, but…”
“Oppa, then what do we do about Miso? I thought we were going to show her around the broadcasting station today?”
“I’ll pick Miso up on my way back. I’ll take her straight to MBS if I end up being late, so don’t worry.”
Yoo-Jin nodded.
“Alright, I understand. But you’ll have to buy me and Miso a delicious meal for supper later!”
“Okay, got it.”
‘I guess I’ll let her start her diet tomorrow.’
Yoo-Jin responded with a fist pump and smiled broadly.
“Then dessert is on me after supper tonight.”
To me, what Yoo-Jin said sounded like ‘I want to have a delicious supper and also a dessert because I’ll start my diet tomorrow anyway.’
‘Fine. I’ll let her have it, but just for today.’
“Alright. But if Ms. Lee asks for coffee later, make sure you give her the one in the thermal bottle. Don’t forget to give some to Ms. Kim as well.”
I was confident that Lee Ji-Yeon would definitely want more coffee once she had tried it. After all, how we got close in my past life was thanks to her falling in love with the coffee I made. A hot cup of coffee would be perfect to warm her up since it was about to snow.
“Okay. Don’t worry about me and go ahead.”
I rushed to the parking lot, desperately hoping that nothing would happen to Miso.
‘Miso, I’m on my way.’
I drove to Lira Kindergarten in Cheonho-dong, while praying that nothing would happen.
***
While driving over to Cheonho-dong, I called the principal of the kindergarten.
It was then that I realized why the schedule for Everyday V10 hadn’t changed.
-A little while ago, I went to the kitchen for a moment while the kids and I were making a Christmas tree and it seems that Miso went home alone during that time.
‘I didn’t expect things to turn out like this.’
The principal kept apologizing in a perplexed voice.
-I’m sorry. I should have taken better care of Miso…
The principal explained that as much as she wanted to go and find Miso right away, she had to care for the other kids at the kindergarten.
“I’ll go to the house and check. In the meantime, please make sure to hold onto Miso if she returns to the kindergarten.”
-Of course, and I’m truly sorry, Mr. Jung.
I ended the call with the principal apologizing over and over.
“Is this why the schedule didn’t change?”
I was once again reminded of the movie ‘Destination’ and its message about how one cannot escape fate and events that were bound to happen. This left me with mixed feelings.
‘I might have to face the possibility of Miso’s death again if I don’t hurry.’
The thought of Miso’s death sent chills down my spine.
‘I need to hurry.’
I became anxious and tried to speed up, but the roads at the end of the year were no different from a busy parking lot. People’s voices and car horns blended together in the slow-moving traffic.
Honk~.
“Come on, move it!”
“Hey, don’t cut in line! Seriously!”
I also honked my horn out of frustration.
Honk~.
At that moment, the phone in my pocket started to ring.
Buzz.
It was a call from Kim Dong-Soo.
‘It had to be now of all times?’
“Well, this phone call didn’t change.”
I recalled receiving a call from Kim Dong-Soo around this time in my past life.
I debated whether to answer the call or not before deciding to do so as he would surely call Yoo-Jin next if I didn’t answer now.
“Yes, Mr. Kim.”
-You bastard. For a newbie, you sure take your time to answer your phone. Where the hell are you right now?
The sharp voice of the younger Kim Dong-Soo resounded through the phone. His voice was unpleasant as always.
At that moment, I vividly recalled the moments before my death as if it happened just yesterday. Before I died, I was told by the doctor at the hospital that there were five stages one would go through before coming to terms with their impending death.
I had angrily accused him of trying to scam me into psychological counseling to make more money, but I hadn’t realized that I was in the second stage back then.
[Denial-Anger-Bargaining-Depression-Acceptance]
It turned out that the doctor wasn’t a scammer, as I indeed went through all five stages before I died.
In other words, I had already released every bit of the anger and frustration inside me.
Thanks to that, I was able to keep my cool and be patient during the call with Kim Dong-Soo. Moreover, the future I had experienced in my first life wouldn’t come to pass since my second life started out differently.
I took a deep breath and answered calmly while trying to forget about the past.
“I’m currently at the Guri shooting set with Yoo-Jin.”
-Ah! Is that so? How convenient that you’re in Guri right now. Send Yoo-Jin to the next location by cab, and you go to Namyangju to pick up Yung-In.”
Ju Yung-In was my ex-wife and was currently a rising star in her third year. At this time, her popularity had skyrocketed like crazy right after signing a major soju commercial contract. Moreover, she had received amazing ratings for her role as a young genius female doctor in the drama Three Sisters War and proved she wasn’t just a pretty face but also a talented actress.
But of all days, today was the day when her talent agent Kim Chul-Jun would storm off the set and disappear. The reason turned out to be that he couldn’t tolerate Ju Yung-In’s selfish attitude any longer.
Anyway, what contributed to Miso’s accident in my first life was Kim Dong-Soo’s instruction to head to Namyangju. If it weren’t for his instruction, I would have brought Miso to Yoo-Jin—who cried and wanted to see Miso after being fired due to making several mistakes during the shoot. If I hadn't followed Kim Dong-Soo’s instructions to head to Namyangju, Miso wouldn’t have been caught in the gas explosion.
The horrific memory of Miso’s name being the only one written on the death roll still haunted me to this day.
Am I supposed to relive that regret once again just because I have to pick up the actress in Division 3 when I’m in Division 2? My ass.’
I took a deep breath and managed to suppress my anger.
“It’s difficult for me to leave the set and head to Namyangju right now given the current situation.”
Kim Dong-Soo remained silent on the other end of the line.
A first-year talent agent defying the chief’s orders was unheard of and unacceptable to Kim Dong-Soo.
-What? What the hell did you just say?
“I said it’s hard for me to leave the set right now.”
-Hey! Are you out of your mind!? You fucking…
Kim Dong-Soo began to pour out curses. I felt as if I’d gone deaf and wondered if this could be considered a workplace injury.
However, Kim Dong-Soo breathed angrily and continued to rant non-stop.
-I can’t believe this is happening. I’m so dumbfounded that I lost my words for a moment, you know that? I’ve always been generous to you and complimented you for being sharp for a newbie, but that seemed to have made you think this company is a joke. Do you know how much the company will lose if Yung-In’s schedule gets messed up? Do you really want to get fired?
There it was—Kim Dong-Soo’s catchphrase ‘Do you want to get fired?’ was thrown at me.
Around this time in my past life, I was always anxious, and wary of my superiors’ moods. It was only natural for me to feel that way because having no savings or parents, I would end up on the streets if I were to get fired.
That fear had made me unable to reject Kim Dong-Soo’s order, who wasn’t even from my department.
However, things were different now.
Because now, I was a ‘rookie talent agent who knows it all’ with over a decade of experience.
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