Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity
Chapter 286
---
“Happy.”
As soon as I raised my hand, Happy immediately pressed his forehead against it.
“Woof!”
The way he took his position, even considering the angle, looked too familiar.
I gave a small laugh and patted his forehead.
“You've worked hard.”
“Pant, pant.”
A soft sensation touched my palm.
The warmth felt through the fur was as comforting as always.
“……I’ll miss you.”
This wouldn't be our last meeting.
When the movie was released, there would be interviews and events, and we would meet again then.
Still, on the off chance that something might happen, I couldn't casually say we’d meet again.
“Yeon-jae.”
At that moment, Happy's owner approached.
“Thank you for taking care of Happy all this time. I think this is the happiest I’ve ever seen him during filming.”
“I enjoyed filming with Happy as well.”
“You two seem to have become really close. I can already see how much Happy is going to miss you.”
I responded with a faint smile to the statement about not knowing how to console Happy.
I thought I'd feel the same way.
‘I feel strange.’
Happy’s filming scenes were all completed.
Of course, the entire movie “Shin Yu-young” wasn’t finished yet.
We still had to shoot scenes where Do Yoo-young, who had returned to his original self, chatted with Ji Hae-soo and Hong Jin-yeon, and record additional narration for the scenes where Do Yoo-young was in Shin’s body.
But today was the last time I would stand in front of the camera with Happy.
“Thank you, Happy.”
“...?”
Happy tilted his head while panting.
I smiled more broadly at how he seemed to understand my words.
‘Thank you.’
Thank you for listening to me talk about Mist.
Now, there are three people who know about Mist, but when I confided in Happy, no one else knew.
Because of Happy, I was able to endure the feeling of being adrift alone in the vast ocean.
‘Thanks to you, I was able to better understand the emotions Do Yoo-young has towards Shin.’
For Do Yoo-young, Shin always has a different meaning.
He is a god (神) that Do Yoo-young can lean on and rely on.
Every time he wavers, he becomes a belief (信) that helps him believe in himself.
And on the day Do Yoo-young is reborn in the future, he will be with him as the meaning of new (新).
‘Shin Yu-young.’
As suggested by Do Yoo-young’s mother, it was a name he could easily attain by taking his stepfather's surname.
But Do Yoo-young decided not to choose that path.
He interpreted that he could only become Shin Yu-young once he found the end of all his questions.
A newly reborn Yoo-young, as well as the dual meaning of being with Shin.
‘I wonder what the reaction will be when the movie is released.’
It was a movie that offered different flavors as one interpreted the title and characters' dialogues.
But since it was composed mainly of Shin's hearty eating scenes and funny moments, it could also be watched lightly without much thought.
‘I wonder what this feeling is.’
As I stroked Happy’s chin, I felt a strange emotion.
It was an unfamiliar feeling, difficult to describe in words.
Only after seeing Happy off from the filming set did I finally understand what this emotion was.
It was greed.
‘I hope the movie does well.’
I had never worried or cared about how successful a project would be.
But perhaps because I was so immersed in the character of Do Yoo-young.
Unconsciously, for the first time, I felt greed.
‘I hope Shin Yoo-young receives a lot of love from many people.’
I wanted Do Yoo-young and Shin to be happy because of it, such was my greed.
---
The day all filming at Goseong was completed.
After saying goodbye to each staff member I had worked with, an hour had already passed.
“Yeon-jae, you’ve worked hard.”
“Director, you’ve worked hard too.”
“I’ll contact you once the editing is roughly finished. Let’s do the narration while watching the video then.”
“Sure. Please let me know.”
After giving the director a final bow, I got into the car.
‘Ha, it’s cool.’
Thanks to Jin-bae hyung turning on the air conditioner in advance, I felt relieved.
Since it was midsummer, I was sweating even just standing outside.
“Actor, you’ve fastened your seatbelt, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, we’ll start driving.”
As the car moved, the lodging where we stayed during the filming gradually receded into the distance.
Seeing that made me feel oddly sentimental.
It’s really over.
“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”
“Pardon?”
“Your expression doesn’t look good.”
Ah.
In the gentle eyes looking at me through the rearview mirror, there was a hint of concern.
“I’m not sick, but I feel restless. I don’t know why.”
“It’s natural to feel that way. You’ve worked hard on the filming. You’ve done a great job.”
“You too, hyung.”
Even just staying still was hot in the summer, and this person waited for me at the filming set every day.
Whenever I seemed to feel hot, he would approach and hand me a water bottle, always kind.
“Thanks to you, I could focus on filming. Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I was just doing my job.”
“There’s nothing ‘just’ about it. Are you rejecting my gratitude?”
I put on a deliberately stern face.
Jin-bae hyung, now familiar with my teasing, smiled and responded with thanks.
In the past, he would have been very flustered by such jokes.
‘It’s a pity.’
Is there no way to see him again?
I was recalling the first impression of Jin-bae hyung, who had bowed to me at a 90-degree angle.
“Actor, you’re going to do a live broadcast today, right?”
“Hmm…. No.”
I shook my head after a moment of consideration, which made Jin-bae hyung look surprised.
“Really? I thought you would.”
“Hah, I would like to, but...”
After the company’s permission, I had been doing live broadcasts almost obsessively.
It was to the point where Noh Bi-hyuk even scolded me to stop.
‘Lee Yeon-jae, I want to sleep too. Stop broadcasting. It’s hard to keep up.’
‘Then don’t watch.’
‘I’d like to, but your fans inform me every time you go live.’
Apparently, even during his broadcasts, Noh Bi-hyuk’s fans would urge him to watch mine, flooding the comments to the point he couldn’t ignore them.
It was because I often mentioned Noh Bi-hyuk in my broadcasts.
Many fans were curious about his reactions to my mentions, which honestly puzzled me.
Why are they curious about that?
‘Maybe it’s because Noh Bi-hyuk fans are like Noh Bi-hyuk.’
They were quirky in a way.
Anyway, regardless of what he said, I kept broadcasting without a care.
Normally, I would spend my free time reading letters from Biyeon alone after finishing the script practice.
‘With just one button press, I can talk to Biyeon.’
Not doing it would be stranger.
‘Was it three days ago when I last did a broadcast?’
It was about time to do another one.
As I told Jin-bae hyung, I was dying to do it.
But....
“We’re meeting the producer this weekend, remember? I need to prepare for that.”
In two days, I was scheduled to meet the producer I had worked with on songs with Lily.
We were supposed to meet a few weeks ago, but the movie shooting schedule became tight, so we had to postpone it.
“Oh, you’re going to practice singing. Shall we go to the company then?”
“No, let’s go home first. I want to look up some videos.”
As soon as I got home, I planned to wash up and start playing Lily's songs on repeat.
I would think about how to sing them.
‘Can I do well?’
Having never really thought about how to sing well, I honestly felt quite anxious.
Lily had told me to meet the producer without any pressure, but how could I not feel pressured?
‘I have to think about the producer’s perspective too.’
If he was famous enough to work with Lily, he must be very prominent in the industry.
I felt burdened that someone like that was setting aside time for me.
“Actor, don’t worry too much.”
Perhaps noticing my troubled expression, Jin-bae hyung comforted me.
“It’s just a trial, as Lily said. You don’t need to do well or show anything special.”
“Yes, I know that...”
My anxiety didn’t subside.
I was worried that the producer might have expectations.
Though I planned to record the remix version as Lily suggested, I feared that my singing might fall far short of his expectations.
I was already worried about the mood of someone I hadn’t even met yet.
But two days later.
“(Hello.)”
The moment I first saw the producer, I immediately felt relieved.
“(I’m Thomas. You can call me Tom.)”
There was no hint of expectation on his face.
---
‘He looks like he was dragged here against his will.’
Tom’s expression clearly showed that he had come reluctantly, likely pushed by Lily.
In a dull tone, Tom asked.
“(I heard from Lily that this is your first time singing. Is that true?)”
“(Yes. I’ve never had any formal singing training.)”
“(Mm. I’ve seen videos of you singing. Your pitch and timing are accurate. It was... decent, nothing special.)”
“(Thank you.)”
“(Since we’re doing this, let’s have some fun.)”
Despite his words, his expression already seemed bored.
Even if I did a handstand in the recording booth, Tom looked like he wouldn’t care at all.
Thanks to that, I felt more at ease.
‘It really is just a casual meeting.’
I had worried for nothing.
In the last two days, I had practiced singing like a maniac out of an unnecessary sense of burden.
Focused solely on practicing because I thought I’d be meeting a professional, I hadn’t even considered whether I liked singing or not.
‘It’s clear they don’t have any expectations.’
I should take this opportunity to see if I have any interest in singing.
With a slightly lighter heart, I warmed up my voice.
“(Let’s start by singing the whole song once. Go into that room and put on the headphones.)”
“(Sure. Can I ask you something first?)”
“(Yeah, what is it?)”
Tom replied as he scratched his ear.
“(What kind of emotion should I sing with?)”
“(What?)”
“(Emotion. Should I just sing it my way?)”
Even though I didn’t know much about singing, I knew the singer’s emotion was important.
Even when I sang on live broadcasts, I never really sang with emotion.
I just sang while keeping pitch and timing.
‘This time, I’ll try adding emotion.’
Lily’s song was a pop song, not a musical.
I couldn’t get too emotional or recite it like a monologue.
It was natural that I would lack the skills to handle it properly, and the professional producer would point that out.
I just had to accept that feedback.
The remaining question was what kind of emotion to use while singing.
“(What do you mean by emotion?)”
Tom asked, puzzled.
“(The song I’m about to sing is about Lily’s unrequited love, right? Should I sing with the same emotion, or from the perspective of the person Lily had a crush on?)”
Especially since unrequited love involves a wide range of emotions.
“(Depending on the depth of affection, the tone or breath might change, so I prepared five different versions lightly. I’m wondering which emotion would be best to start with.)”
“(....)”
“(Tom, are you listening?)”
I tilted my head.
What’s with his expression?