The Famous Millionaire

After he came back to Seoul, Hyunwoo got back into the swings of things. Today, he went to the studio of Producer Mansoo Kim’s soap opera “Large Family,” the very producer most coveted by Hyunwoo.

The shooting was almost at an end. The final shooting would be done by the day after tomorrow at the latest, and then, he was supposed to start shooting the new soap opera “Wolf and Fox.”

While Hyunwoo was busy moving around here and there, he suddenly noticed something wrong in a place.

Producer Kim was shouting at somebody, quite upset.

“Who the hell left a laptop computer here? It just made our shooting cuts useless. Whose notebook is this?”

A middle-aged man hurriedly put away the notebook computer.

Kim continued to shout in an angry tone, “Was it yours, Jonghyon Yuk?”

“Sorry. I was writing something on it, but I had to run somewhere urgently…”

“Do you think ‘sorry’ is enough? How can I have all these actors do it again because of an extra’s mistake like you? That’s why you’re still an extra with ten years of acting under your belt.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Shut up! If you keep on acting like that, just stop it right away. Writing novels or acting, it’s your choice. You can’t do both good. You’re just too greedy, man.”

He vented his anger on him as much as he wanted, but Jonghyon just sat silent because it was his mistake anyway. He just kept repeating “sorry.”

To Hyunwoo, he seemed to be more talented as a voice actor, given his attractive tone.

Once again Kim’s rough voice was heard.

“Hey, let’s do it again. Look around carefully for anything like that. We have to shoot it again in that case.”

The shooting resumed, and Hyunwoo also moved, but Jonghyon’s image kept coming to his mind. Today, he only toured two studio sets.

Late at night, he went back to his lodging and sat down before the computer.

He found a message from Story Mecca in his inbox.

It was sent from a writer with the nickname Pilgaek. It was Pilgaek’s reply to the fifth message Hyunwoo sent him. Recently, Hyunwoo sent a message to him at dawn drunkenly, and the message might be related to it.

Hyunwoo opened it quickly.

To his unexpected surprise, Pilgaek also seemed to have composed the message early in the morning, pretty drunk, as if he was moaning.

Hyunwoo read it calmly and found out Pilgaek’s real job, “Oh, I see. He’s an extra guy of a soap opera.”

The message said he got severely rebuked by the producer for his laptop today, and that he worked for more than ten years as an extra to be an actor, his long-cherished dream as a child, but he was exhausted now.

At that moment, Hyunwoo’s eyes opened wide.

“Laptop? Extra? Rebuked by the producer?”

Hyunwoo recalled what happened during the day today. A middle-aged extra was scolded severely by producer Mansoo Kim because of his laptop.

“I guess they have a shooting plan in the field set in Namyangju tomorrow.”

The next day Hyunwoo headed for the Namyangju set on time with the shooting schedule.

As soon as he arrived, he checked out the casting members one by one to look for Jonghyon Yuk whom he saw the day before. Soon, he found him typing something on his laptop in a corner.

Hyunwoo cautiously approached him and asked, “Are you the writer Pilgaek on the Story Mecca homepage?”

At that moment, Jonghyon was startled and looked at Hyunwoo with an embarrassed look on his face. That was enough for Hyunwoo.

“How do you do? My name is Hyunwoo Jang.”

“Ah, that message…!”

Only then did he recognize Hyunwoo, with his embarrassment turning to pleasure and surprise, “How did you know my pen name is Pilgaek?”

“I saw you getting reprimanded severely by the producer yesterday.”

“Oh, I see. Haha, I feel just ashamed about it. Actually, I had some drink because I felt very bad yesterday,” said Jonghyon, scratching his head.

“It’s nothing to feel ashamed about, I think. You’re better than me as I’m pushed around here and there like a hawk.”

Both talked about various things. In Hyunwoo’s opinion, Jonghyon’s biggest strength was his clear and crisp voice ringing in medium and high tone when he was speaking.

“Have you worked as a voice actor?”

“No, never.”

“Really? Your voice is really sweet. I think you can be a great voice actor right away.”

“Well, I have heard about that before. Hahaha.”

He was all smiles when Hyunwoo heaped praise on him. Thanks to their encounter, they had a drink after the shooting.

Jonghyun liked drinking very much. He was an old bachelor, twelve years older Hyunwoo.

“I would like to treat you as my elder brother. Please teach me a lot, brother.”

“No problem, but I don’t think you can learn much from me. I’m just clumsy in everything.”

“Hey, brother. I think a man is in his element when he seizes the right opportunity. If you get such a chance, I’m sure you can crack the big time.”

“In your dreams. I wish I could.”

Hyunwoo came to know more about his family while he had a talk with him. Jonghyon served parents who’re over 70 years old. Until two years ago, his father worked as a security guard at an apartment complex and could make money, but since he retired, Jonghyon had to take care of them.

“I don’t have any savings, and these days I’m in the red. Looks like I’m going to drown in debt one of these days.”

“You could hit the jackpot with your web novels.”

“No way. I think I should not have started writing novels. It looks like I don’t have the talent.”

Jonghyon lamented his hard fate. Though he didn’t think of stopping writing novels right away, he seemed very exhausted. Every time he opened his mouth, he let out a sigh.

“Phew…I think I have to stop writing and find a job, but I don’t have any licenses.

Damn it! When did my life get messed up like this?”

The more he told about his life, the more Hyunwoo felt sorry for him. In Hyunwoo’s opinion, Jonghyon was not an ineffectual man. He just hadn’t found the right job for him.

“In fact, I’m doing business in Ansan.”

“Business? CEO? Are you not a salesman?”

Hyunwoo told him about Aurum and Ani & Funni, which surprised him a lot.

“Actually, I was attracted to the power of your web novel. If you write such a gripping story in the first parts of the novel, I think you can write excellent short stories.”

“I’ve never given it a thought.”

“If you need a job, please let me know.”

“Well, I’d like to achieve my goal at the moment. I think I will have lots of regrets later if I end my career like this. Anyway, thanks for considering me.”

“You should. No regrets, of course.”

Hyunwoo and Jonghyon smiled broadly.

Since then, Hyunwoo had a dialogue with him whenever he was available. So far Hyunwoo felt lonely as he was the only stranger in the studio set, but not now as he made friends with Jonghyon. On the last day of the shooting, there took place an expected thing.

Producer Kim approached him with a warm soft drink.

“I was sorry at that time. I was kind of nervous at the time.”

“No, sir. It was my mistake.”

It seemed the producer was kind-hearted.

Come to think of it, it would be very difficult for a producer like Producer Kim to have made such a great success without anybody’s help. That suggested his interpersonal relationship was the key factor. Producer Kim also paid attention to Hyunwoo for the first time.

“By the way, who is this gentleman. I don’t think he is our staff member, but I see him a lot in the field studio sets.”

Presenting his business card Hyunwoo introduced himself.

“Ah, you said you want to be a sponsor, right? As I have your business card I’ll give you a call if need be.”

That’s all. Then he went to other places to exchange greetings with the other staff and the actors. Though Hyunwoo gave him his business card, he didn’t expect a call because he knew what the producer said that just as pleasantries.

Still, Hyunwoo succeeded in getting Space Design known to him, and he was there for the purpose of sponsoring the soap opera he was filming. And thanks to Jonghyon’s help he found out the producer’s schedule tomorrow.

According to Jonghyon, Hyunwoo might have a golden chance to talk with the producer further tomorrow.

“Thanks, brother, let me repay what I owe you by all means.”

At 3 pm the next day, Hyunwoo headed to the headquarters of Korea Broadcasting in Youido. Though he usually moved alone, he was assisted by Youngsu Park, the sales executive of Space Design. Nami Yu, who got a call from Hyunwoo, was kind enough to greet them at the main gate. Thanks to her, they could easily get into the broadcasting company.

Youngsu was stunned, though. Though he knew Hyunwoo was on friendly terms with her, never did he expect that they were so close. It looked as if Nami was following him like her real brother. She was pretty enthusiastic about helping him, too.

“Can I relay your message to Producer Kim?”

Youngsu’s face brightened, as he thought Nami’s help would get things done easily, but Hyunwoo rejected it immediately.

“No, that will only backfire.”

“Backfire?”

“Yes, he will be disappointed in me because he might feel I’m trying to use you instead of making the best efforts on my own first, so I think I have to show him I’m doing my best now. If my efforts don’t pay off, let me ask you for help.”

“Got it.”

That’s where Nami could help them. Hyunwoo paced with Youngsu near a conference room. Finally, he could meet producer Kim. Heading for the conference room, Producer Kim was astonished to see Hyunwoo.

“Oh my, are you that person I saw yesterday…”

“How are you? This is Hyunwoo Jang with Space Design.”

“How did you come in here?”

“Well, I know someone here. This is the Sales Executive Youngsu Park.”

Hyunwoo introduced them to each other. Though Producer Kim had a perplexed expression, Youngsu quickly approached him and shook his hand. Youngsu had a wide network of people in Seoul. Since he moved to Space Design, it seemed he only worked on expanding his network, in particular finding someone who was related to Producer Kim.

“Do you happen to know Jaeho Cho in Ansan?”

“Yea, how do you know him? He’s my elementary school alumnus.”

“Oh, I see. He is my precious junior. I meet him sometimes for golf or drinks.”

“Really?”

As if to confirm what he said, Producer Kim called Jaeho directly. It was true both of them knew each other, but they were not that close as Youngsu boasted.

At that moment someone walking in the hall approached Kim and said, “Hey, Producer Kim. I hear you’re attending a conference.”

“Oh, Reporter Song. I’ve got some more time to go.”

Hearing their exchanges of pleasantries, it looked like they were close friends. At that moment Youngsu quickly approached Song and gave him a business card.

“I just overheard walking this way. Did you say you came from Ansan?”

“Yes, I did. I’m almost a native of Ansan city.”

“Well, I was looking for someone who knows very about Ansan anyway. Oops, let me introduce myself. My name is Jaeyol Song. I’m with the newsroom here.”

“Ah, reporter Song. Nice to meet you. What do you want to know about Ansan? I know the ropes around Ansan.”

“Do you happen to know the restaurant Hyunwoo’s Mom?”