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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: All in the Eyes
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“Hello, Daepyonim.”
Hae-yeong greeted him when they ran into each other at the broadcasting station, and Tae-gon stopped.
“Ah, Director Jin. It’s been a while.”
“Yes. You’ve been well, I hope?”
“Well, I’m the same as always. Director Jin, you’ve been appearing all over the place lately. You should make sure to take care of yourself.”
He seemed to be referring to the new show she was scheduled to appear on. Hae-yeong smiled and retorted.
“You’re telling me. I’ve been taking a handful of supplements every morning. I’m not as young as I used to be. It’s tough.”
They stood in the middle of the hallway for a moment, making small talk. Tae-gon shoved his hands in his pockets and asked Hae-yeong.
“By the way, how’s our girl?”
“Sorry? Your girl? Ah, Ju-mi?”
Hae-yeong took a long, slow breath before speaking. It was a moment to warm up, to keep herself from blurting out whatever came to mind.
“She’s affable. Well, that’s about it?”
“Ju-mi is exclusively handling Eun-seong, right? Don’t give her anything else, just have her focus on him.”
“Didn’t you send her to me so I could teach her a thing or two?”
When Hae-yeong asked back, Tae-gon scoffed.
“Director Jin, you don’t seem to be very quick on the uptake. Did you really think I sent her to you because we have no one at our company to teach her?”
Tae-gon spoke as if frustrated, and Hae-yeong laughed. Did he think she didn’t know? She was just displeased with his ulterior motive of assigning someone to Eun-seong because he didn’t trust her team.
Anyway, there wasn’t a single thing she liked about the man.
“If that was the case, you should have sent someone who’s actually good at her job.”
“I told you to teach her, didn’t I? You said she was affable.”
“That’s just me putting it nicely. There’s no need for me to speak ill of your employee, Daepyonim.”
In the end, it meant the girl had no manners.
As Hae-yeong said her piece with a gentle smile, Tae-gon laughed along. *Jin Hae-yeong. I’ll crush you one day.*
“How’s the atmosphere on set these days?”
“The atmosphere is pretty good. Eun-seong is doing a great job of holding things together, so it comes naturally.”
“That kid who was just cast. Eun-seong’s son. What was his name again?”
Just mentioning ‘Eun-seong’s son’ stirred an unconscious feeling of displeasure. As Tae-gon furrowed his brow, trying to remember the name, Hae-yeong supplied it.
“Han-byeol.”
“Ah, right. I heard he’s a kid you know, Director Jin. You must have pulled some strings to get him in.”
Hearing his confident assertion that she had pulled strings, Hae-yeong made a disgruntled face, utterly dumbfounded.
It takes one to know one, I suppose.
“I’m just grateful you think so highly of my influence, Daepyonim. It’s quite encouraging, really.”
“If you didn’t pull strings, am I supposed to believe he was just cast off the street?”
“Wouldn’t that make it fate? It must have been his destiny to play Eun-seong’s son.”
Hearing that Go Yeon-joo’s son was fated to be with Eun-seong made his blood boil even more. He couldn’t even stand them being on the same set, and now this talk of fate.
“Oh my. Look at the time. I should get going, Daepyonim.”
“About that Han-byeol. What does his father do?”
As Hae-yeong started to walk past, Tae-gon continued.
“You said you were close. You must know, Director Jin.”
*
“Han-byeol!”
Dr. Joo, who was sitting in his office, looked up in surprise and greeted Han-byeol warmly as he entered. He had no on-set schedule today, so he was holding down the fort at the clinic.
“Welcome, Han-byeol. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Hello, Seonsaengnim. I came to get Yam’s medicine.”
“Ah, yes. I was just wondering if Yam was taking his medicine well and if his symptoms had improved. I was planning to ask next time I saw you.”
Han-byeol sat down opposite him with a mature posture and handed Yam over, and Dr. Joo took him. The small brown poodle, already well aware that this was a clinic, looked completely dejected.
“Did you come alone, Han-byeol?”
“Yes. My grandma’s at home. I just needed to pick up the medicine, so I came by myself.”
He seemed to have grown since the last time. Dr. Joo smiled as Han-byeol answered as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
“Alright, let’s take a look at Yam, shall we? Yam, have you been well? Did you miss me?”
As if to say, *Don’t be ridiculous*, Yam’s ears drooped.
*
Yam’s skin condition showed improvement from his previous symptoms, so Dr. Joo prescribed just a little more medicine. He packed an ointment that would be good to apply after baths and handed the medicine bag to Han-byeol, who took it.
“How’s the acting practice going?”
“Me? I’m working hard. But it’s a little difficult, to be honest.”
“What’s the hardest part?”
“Um, the acting coach keeps telling me to imagine things, but I’m not very good at imagining. So that’s a little hard.”
He had stepped into a world that only grew more difficult the deeper one went, so it was no surprise Han-byeol’s lessons weren’t going smoothly. As if regretting his complaint, Han-byeol swung his feet back and forth and added.
“But it’s fun.”
“Oh, I’m glad to hear it’s fun. The things that are hard to learn are usually more fun. Easy things are over too quickly.”
“What was the hardest thing for you, Seonsaengnim?”
“For me? Well, um…”
Hmm. Dr. Joo paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then, he grinned and said something unexpected.
“Figuring out what’s in a person’s heart was the hardest.”
“A person’s heart?”
Han-byeol asked back with a blank expression, and Dr. Joo nodded.
Today, a day he had spent lost in thoughts of Yeon-joo.
“You can’t see what’s in a person’s heart. Figuring out that unseen heart… that was the hardest thing for me.”
“But, Seonsaengnim, if you want to know, can’t you just ask them directly?”
“Ah? Ah. Well, that’s… true, isn’t it?”
Dr. Joo gave an awkward laugh at Han-byeol’s clear and simple answer. *Is Yeon-joo doing okay? Is she holding up alright by his side?*
Today, a day when he had only been piling up such thoughts.
“You’re right, Han-byeol. If you’re curious, you should just ask the person directly. Why is something so simple so difficult?”
Unable to even utter the words “I miss you,” he held onto her young son and spouted nonsense.
“Isn’t it hard to ask because you already know what they’re going to say?”
“Ah…”
“It’s like that for me, too. There’s a kid named Jeong-hoon in my class. I used to ask him to play all the time, but he always said no, so eventually, it got hard to ask. Because it was obvious he’d just say no again.”
Dr. Joo slowly closed his eyes, then opened them.
“It’s obvious, you know. But if I keep asking, Jeong-hoon will feel bad. So I don’t ask. Then later, when he can play, he’ll be the one to tell me.”
“Yes. I see.”
It’s hard to ask. It’s scary.
Because I already know the other person’s answer.
“That’s how it is for me, anyway. It might be different for you, Seonsaengnim.”
“No. Now that I think about it, I believe it’s for the same reason as you, Han-byeol.”
Dr. Joo smiled warmly, as if he’d had an epiphany. Han-byeol, who had been fiddling with the medicine bag, picked up Yam and stood.
“And my mom said this. She said a person’s eyes hold all the answers. That’s why you have to look people straight in the eye when you talk to them.”
“Yes. The answers are in their eyes.”
“That’s what she said. Since my mom told me, it must be true. If you’re really curious, try looking closely at that person’s eyes.”
“Your mother told you something wonderful. I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Han-byeol.”
As Dr. Joo expressed his thanks with a sincere look, Han-byeol puffed out his cheeks and blinked.
Tomorrow was the first day of filming. The day Hyo-do would meet the Money Ajussi again.
He didn’t much like the idea of seeing that strange, foolish man again, but a part of him wanted to.
When Hyo-do meets the Money Ajussi, I’ll have to ask.
“I’m going now, Seonsaengnim. Goodbye.”
“Alright, Han-byeol. Take care.”
*Did you, by any chance, miss me?*
*
“Hey, One Star!”
The next day. When Han-byeol arrived on set, Eun-seong called out to him in a loud voice.
The people around them burst out laughing, and Han-byeol scowled as he approached Eun-seong. He didn’t understand why the man insisted on using a nickname when he had a perfectly good name.
What a strange man.
“One Star. Did you practice a lot?”
“Hello.”
Han-byeol’s voice was heavy with the feeling that he was only greeting him out of obligation, and Eun-seong chuckled. He ruffled the boy’s hair messily and looked down at him with smiling eyes.
“Hey, why are you messing up my hair?”
“Because it’s someone else’s hair.”
Han-byeol raised both hands to cover his head, and Eun-seong playfully ruffled it wherever he found an opening. Han-byeol immediately shot him a huffy glare, and Hae-yeong, who was standing nearby, burst out laughing.
Eun-seong remembered Hae-yeong telling him that the boy had been so nervous on the way over that he hadn’t said a single word, and this was his way of helping him relax.
“If you don’t like it, you can hurry up and grow tall enough to mess up my hair. Though it’ll be tough for you to get as tall as me.”
“Grrr.”
His eyes filled with the injustice of being unable to retaliate, Han-byeol pouted, and Eun-seong tilted his head.
“One Star. You like jajangmyeon?”
“No?”
“Then how about some jjamppong with lots of fresh oysters and cheongyang peppers?”
“What’s that? I can’t really eat spicy food.”
As they talked, Han-byeol naturally let go of Hae-yeong’s hand. When Eun-seong held out his hand, Han-byeol took it without thinking.
“You have to eat before you can film. They don’t let people who’ve skipped meals in front of the camera here.”
“What did you eat then, Ajussi?”
“Me? I was waiting to eat with you.”
Eun-seong started walking forward at a leisurely pace, and Han-byeol followed with his shorter steps.
“Decide. Jjamppong or jajangmyeon.”
“Are those the only two options?”
“Beggars can’t be choosers, you know. There’s tangsuyuk too.”
“Well, there aren’t many choices then. I guess I’ll have the jajangmyeon.”
As Han-byeol calmly chose his meal, Eun-seong relayed the order to his manager, Dong-hwan.
On the way to Eun-seong’s dressing room, Eun-seong held Han-byeol’s hand and walked for a long time. Han-byeol followed along well, lost in the absurd thought that the Money Ajussi’s hands were as big as he was tall.
“One Star. Did you miss your dad?”
Han-byeol’s eyes went wide, and he let out a little gasp. Not knowing why, Eun-seong glanced down at him.
“Did you miss me or not? Tell me quickly.”
“No. I’m not telling.”
“You were dying to see me, weren’t you? One Star. It’s written all over your eyes.”
Gasp! Startled again, Han-byeol clamped his mouth shut like a clamshell. The sight was so cute that Eun-seong burst out laughing.
Having had his question stolen, Han-byeol entered the dressing room without ever giving an answer. Meanwhile, the tangsuyuk and jajangmyeon were on their way.
