Chapter 624 (2/2)

His body felt very drowsy immediately. When he felt a little better, his brain, which had stopped working because of all of the chaos, started working again. He was slightly worried that the strange phenomenon from before would happen once again, but the blue-themed office looked deadly still. While he sighed in relief, his brain replayed the fifty years of life he had experienced. Junmin watched his own life happen in his mind as though he was watching a movie. An elder who was struggling to live because of the failure he experienced in youth, the love that came to him too late after an early farewell, and even his middle ages when he burned even more passionately than his youth. It was riddled with trials, but he smartly overcame all of them and arrived at where he was now. Looking back, there were quite a few decisions he made that could only be described as luck. The past him made choices that the current him couldn’t understand at all, but as a result of that, he always saw profit. To be precise, he never made losses.

He wisely walked the curvy road that was his life as though he had been on it once before.

“Like a person who’s lived once again….”

Those words subconsciously escaped his mouth.

This life, in which he had gained clear success, despite the ups and downs, suddenly felt unfamiliar to him now. The life he lived until now felt like a well-made script all of a sudden. Thinking that he was following a script of a perfect life that was written over several iterations of editing, Junmin uttered.

“Looks like I’ll have to visit the hospital.”

He had heard of a mental disease that made one suddenly feel unfamiliar with oneself. Depersonalization, was it? He had just experienced realities where he was detached from himself. The sense of alienation and deprivation made him think that it might actually be symptoms of an illness rather than simply being tired.

Junmin called for his head manager, who should still be at the company. It was a stupid thing to ignore something that happened as nothing much. As sorry as he felt for his friend, he needed medical attention.

“Head manager Lee, can I ask you to drive?”

Calling the internal line, Junmin looked at his cell phone on the sofa. Haejoo’s face was still on the screen, which hadn’t been turned off yet.

* * *

“Were you always a good eater?”

“Don’t talk to me. I feel like I’m gonna burst.”

Maru looked at Jiseok and Daemyung, who tapped on their bellies. They ate lunch after watching one video, and these two ate tremendous amounts. Even Bada, who actually liked eating, declared forfeit midway in front of these two.

“I’ll get some sleep.”

“Sorry, Maru. I feel sleepy too.”

Jiseok went to the sofa and lay down on it, while Daemyung lay down in front of the window. Bada also crawled back to her room.

Maru shook his head and put away the dishes. He thought that there would be quite a lot left over after seeing all the food that Daemyung bought, but they actually managed to finish it all. When he returned after cleaning up, the two had fallen into a deep sleep. Maru brought some duvets from the bedroom and covered the two of them.

“Sleep. I guess that’s for the best.”

Maru put the next videotape in the VCR and played it. The previous video only contained the awkward-looking Junmin and Haejoo. There was a brief practice moment, but there weren’t that many differences as though it hadn’t been long since the coaching started.

Like always, Jincheol’s face appeared on the screen after a buzzy screen.

-Doesn’t Haejoo feel different now?

-Well, I didn’t notice.

-Really?

-How can her acting improve in just a few weeks? Also, honestly speaking, I don’t trust that Lee Junmin guy. He’s a nameless actor himself, and he wants to coach someone? Haejoo is way too nice to him. If it was me, I would’ve kicked him out without a second thought.

-Yes, yes. He looks quite capable though.

Just then, Jung Haejoo’s voice could be heard from outside the camera frame.

-There, there. Talk after you eat this kimbap!

-That again? Sheesh, you really like them, huh.

-There’s nothing better than it though.

People started gathering in front of the camera.