Chapter 29
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It was different from the shabby small theater with deteriorated facilities that I used to wander around alone when I first came to Korea four years ago. The building with its aesthetic structure that would have required meticulous design and construction belonged to a theater company.
Entering through the main entrance, there was a narrow but high-ceilinged hall at the center, with small souvenir shops, cafes, and independent bookstores located around it. Following current trends, it looked more like a comprehensive cultural space rather than just a simple performance venue.
There were still about 10 minutes left until my appointment with him. I started to feel occasional glances and thought about waiting in a corner seat at the cafe, but I wanted to enjoy this rare theater visit a little.
First, I walked toward the information board hanging on one wall of the hall to find out where Theater 3 was located. The building spanned from the second basement floor to the third floor above ground, housing a total of three theaters ranging from 150 to 500 seats. The play I would watch with him today was being performed in Theater 3, the largest one.
Actor Park Nami, 40th Anniversary Performance <Forget me, as beautifully as you can. As slowly as you can.>
Below the poster title that supposedly used the actor’s own handwriting, today’s protagonist was smiling with her gray-streaked straight hair falling below her shoulders. The smile of someone confident about the path they had walked, yet not arrogant before life. It was a smile that not everyone could have just because they reached that age.
What would it feel like to be able to not regret that time after walking one path for 40 years? Perhaps it would be too weighty to be expressed with the word ‘feeling’—I could only vaguely guess.
My heart raced in front of the poster.
At the same time, I wanted to run away, felt ashamed, and uncomfortable.
‘You seem like you’d be better suited for theater, so why did you come to TV?’ —Director Hwang Sooyoung’s casually thrown words, which felt like a surprise attack to me, became clear in my mind once again.
My gaze slid down the wall from the poster toward the floor.
《I’ll wait at the entrance to Theater 3.》
After sending him a message, I left the poster area as if fleeing and moved to the basement. Using the stairs to reach the second basement floor, I found the hall quite bustling even though there were still about 30 minutes until the performance started.
On one side of the hall, a large photo zone utilizing the poster’s design was set up, and next to it, a booth prepared by the actor’s fans was giving out free water and cookies. Everyone in the hall was enjoying the event in various ways even before the performance began.
Since it was a place I needed to visit for business relations, he had asked me to dress appropriately clean and neat. I chose a casual suit without a tie, and most people wandering around the hall wore similar attire. The women weren’t much different in atmosphere either.
Although everyone’s clothing was that of dignified adults, their expressions were childlike. When facing something they truly love, humans naturally reveal their emotions purely, breaking away from the education and norms they’ve learned.
A few people seemed to recognize me, but they didn’t look like they intended to approach. From experience, I knew that doing something was slightly better than standing around blankly to make it difficult for people to strike up conversations.
To kill time as well, I looked around the congratulatory flower wreaths lined up lengthily next to the entrance one by one. Chairman of ◦◦ Construction, Managing Director of △△ Electronics, CEO of ▫▫ Holdings… These were quite impressive names for congratulatory wreaths for a theater production. A wreath from Knox Hotel officials also occupied a spot. Knox Hotel CEO President Lee…
“Did you wait long?”
A voice approaching close behind me and whispering while wrapping around my shoulder made my body stiffen with surprise. The distance was excessively close. The thick, heavy scent emanating from him was enough to deeply overwhelm my breathing for a moment. I turned around to face him while naturally stepping back.
He was also dressed in a suit without a tie, with about two buttons of his shirt left unfastened. His face was slightly flushed, perhaps from hurrying after getting out of his car.
“Ah… there was much more traffic than expected. I wanted to arrive first.”
Because he made such a genuinely regretful expression while saying this, I ended up laughing. Even if it was just a light, bland laugh, it was certain that he had a talent for making me laugh somehow.
But when he properly faced my face, he furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes.
“Why, is something strange?”
“The glasses…”
“Ah…”
I unconsciously pushed up my black horn-rimmed glasses.
I didn’t want to seem like I was making a fuss just because my face had become somewhat known. Even if not a superstar like Yoon Juho, sometimes basic activities could be restricted depending on the situation. Baseball caps or thick-framed glasses were definitely effective. Since I couldn’t wear a baseball cap today, I chose glasses.
“Jung Jiin-ssi already looks young for his age, but wearing those makes you look much younger than me.”
It wasn’t a tone of complaint. Rather, he moved his upper body this way and that like someone who had discovered something interesting to look at, carefully examining my face from various angles. He was also wearing thin metal-framed glasses, and his eyes beyond the lenses sparkled with serious curiosity.
I didn’t dislike his gaze, but it was burdensome.
I fidgeted with the jacket draped over my arm unnecessarily and changed the subject.
“But. Was I older?”
“I really want to make this clear—I’m average. Jung Jiin-ssi is just too young-looking. You’re a celebrity and I’m not. Let’s not compare appearances.”
“If that’s how it sounded, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way, I was just asking to confirm since I didn’t know your age until now.”
To borrow public opinion, my appearance was delicate and glamorous. In contrast, his face was bold and decisive. We just had completely different atmospheres, but it was certain that he was an extremely handsome man. It might have been mixed with subjectivity since he was my type, but he was good enough to compare with any male actor I had worked with.
“Hmm.”
He shrugged his shoulders while stroking his chin as if he couldn’t believe it.
I let out a short sigh and casually placed my hand on his broad shoulders in front of me. He froze with wide eyes as if my action was unexpected.
“In Bangkok.”
“……”
“Why would I have responded to your temptation? Since it’s certain I didn’t fall for your character, have confidence in your appearance.”
“……”
After frowning for a moment, he tried not to burst into laughter the next moment, his face full of suppressed mirth. His broad shoulders were shaking from holding back laughter. I had no talent for making people laugh, and it wasn’t something I said to be funny, but I was glad he found it amusing.
As his eyes crinkled, his gaze sparkled, and his cheeks rose, his usual impression that could look somewhat aggressive completely changed.
I thought about telling him that he definitely looked younger when he smiled like this, but I quietly smiled to myself and swallowed the words.
Then, as he bumped into someone behind him, his steps were pushed toward me. Our chests touched like passengers on a crowded bus. The heavy scent transferring to my body gave me a momentary thrill.
Lightly grabbing my arm with a face still showing traces of laughter, he said,
“Shall we go inside for now?”
It wasn’t time for the audience to enter yet, but when he told the staff at the entrance his position and showed something that looked like a ticket, the staff opened the barrier belt for us.
Entering the performance hall and following the staff member who led the way up the dim stairs, he subtly grabbed my elbow.
“I’m four years younger than Jung Jiin-ssi.”
“……”
If he was four years younger, he was twenty-seven years old. Assuming he was an American citizen and hadn’t done military service in Korea, his promotion was quite fast. Knox itself was a Korean company headquartered in Seoul, but since he had worked at a branch in the US, perhaps more unconventional personnel decisions were possible.
Most customers of my mother’s ‘Mio palazzo’ were wealthy. Thanks to that, I had seen such cases quite often around me since childhood. Young people who received good education, had solid backgrounds, and achieved social success earlier than others.
From the beginning, he had given off the atmosphere of that type. The natural strength and composure characteristic of someone who had never known lack, never experienced servility, and had lived with decision-making power.
But I didn’t know he would be four years younger. It wasn’t a matter of appearance. The confidence, composure, and presence he exuded weren’t those of an ordinary twenty-seven-year-old. I, who had thought he would be younger by at most one or two years, was more surprised by his age itself than by his rapid promotion.
So that’s why he was sometimes so cute. It wasn’t incomprehensible either.
We were guided to balcony seats on the side of the second floor. The seats prepared in the narrow corridor-like balcony were at most about 10. At the entrance to the balcony stood a belt-type barricade along with a sign reading VIP ONLY. Our seats were the innermost among them, the two seats at the end of the balcony closest to the stage.
“Today is the first day of the performance. These are seats for those who help with the theater company’s operations.”
He, who had yielded the end seat to me, explained while taking off his jacket before sitting down. I nodded and looked down below the railing.
A piano on the left, a dressing room vanity on the right, and a black cube in the center. That was all the stage equipment. Against that simple stage backdrop, I was curious how impressive a performance the actor would show, and my mouth went slightly dry with anticipation.
“Have you been to this theater before?”
“Mm, I came to the opening production a very long time ago, and I think this is the second time.”
All the seats on the balcony that stretched long along the wall were arranged diagonally facing the stage, posing no problem for enjoying the performance.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
