After Story 234

She lifted her left leg and touched around her achilles heel. She could feel her rough skin instead of the bandaid she put on during the day.

No wonder it hurt. Haneul took off her heels and picked them up. Maybe she should get them fixed.

She got off the elevator. She inputted the pa.s.scode for the door and went inside. An unfamiliar pair of trainers was there. Haneul put her heels next to those trainers and set foot in the living room.

The first thing she saw was the neatly cleaned table. The living room sofa and table had been neatly cleaned as well.

He really was quite obsessed with cleanliness, alright. She took a sip of water before going inside the bedroom.

Her husband had fallen asleep with a book in his hand. It seemed he had been dragged to dreamland while he was reading a book while in bed. She put the book on the bedside table and changed her clothes.

After she took a shower and came back, she saw her husband greet her with a sleepy face.

Youre here.

I came back a while ago. You should get some sleep, you must be tired.

She sat down at the makeup desk and sprayed some facial mist. She could see the reflection of her husband through the mirror. He was blinking as though he was tired.

I was going to wait because I had to talk to you about something, but I guess I ended up falling asleep.

You got to cleaning as soon as you came home without even resting, so theres no way youd have enough energy, is there? You couldve left cleaning for tomorrow.

I couldnt just ignore what I saw. How about your work?

I finished things up. The sample will arrive at the factory tomorrow. Were back on schedule, so I think I can take a breather.

Good work.

.

Haneul applied some moisture cream on her face before going to bed. Her husband s.h.i.+fted to the left to make some s.p.a.ce for her.

What did you want to talk about?

Its related to money. I should talk to you about it first before proceeding, right?

Is it a large amount of money?

Im thinking around 200 million won maximum.

Are you buying a car?

No, I plan to invest in Yoonseok.

Haneul nodded. She heard the circ.u.mstances before, so she wasnt that surprised.

200 million isnt an amount you should be using for a short film. You wont be getting paid for it.

I expect it to be around an hour and thirty minutes. Well, the production budget will increase a lot depending on how the shoot goes.

Well, I guess 200 million is nothing if you want to pay proper human resources prices.

Haneul looked into his eyes and spoke,

Use it. Its money you need to spend. Its for times like this that we earned earnestly.

It might be money Im throwing into the void.

I guess youll have to shoot a few more commercials then.

Haneul covered herself with the thin duvet. 200 million: ?while it wasnt?a small sum, it wasnt something they couldnt afford to use either. It wasnt like he was saying he was going into debt and was using his own money, so there was no need to hold him back.

Whether it was her or her husband, they were earning enough so that there shouldnt be any problems with everyday life.

The house they moved into increased in price, and the stocks, American government bonds, and Chinese-related ETFs were making a profit as well. She had also looked into a few good real estate places.

Now that I think about it, we reached this point in just three years. I was worried when we just started after gaining our memories, but we managed to gain financial stability quite quickly.

You were just that good at business.

Most of it was luck.

Grabbing that luck is also skill.

She smiled as she felt her husband stroke her cheek.

Did you tell Yoonseok youd be investing in him?

I did, but I didnt tell him how much.

He would definitely be surprised if he found out youre thinking about 200 million.

Who knows? He might ask for more.

Haneul pushed a pillow under her neck. Sleep overwhelmed her.

She wanted to talk more, but she had musical practice in the morning. If she didnt get any sleep now, she would be singing drowsily in the morning.

You must be tired. Get some sleep, Maru said.

She yawned softly before closing her eyes.

Lets go get something delicious once I finish practice tomorrow.

What would you like?

I want sus.h.i.+.

Then we should go eat sus.h.i.+ and clam hotpot.

She turned around to face her husband and calmed down her breathing. The body heat she could feel next to her made her calm down. She didnt know how much time pa.s.sed, but she opened her eyes when she heard some snoring.

Haneul groaned and sat up slightly before looking next to her. Her husband was snoring with his mouth open.

She looked at him for a while before twisting his nose slightly.

...Sheesh.

The snoring stopped. Haneul fell on her pillow again and closed her eyes. Thankfully, she fell asleep soon.

* * *

You arent kidding me, are you? Yoonseok asked back in a daze.

Maru sipped some coffee and replied, Do you think Id be joking about money? Its my own money too.

Youre really going to invest 200 million won in me?

Thats the maximum. Itd be great if I could do less.

Its such a large amount of money that it feels unreal.

Youll realize its not that big once you start shooting. Once you sign official work contracts and start shooting, money will melt away like snow.

Contracts?

You have to write work contracts with the people youre hiring.

I heard they dont do that most of the time.

Normally, yeah. Thats why there are people who end up dying from overwork. I want to conform to standard labor laws for the movie Im investing in at least.

Yoonseok nodded.

What you need to do now is to plan a detailed roadmap. If the production budget isnt that high and you want to give people proper treatment, then you must waste as little money as possible. The most ideal situation would be to finish the shoot within the number of shots that youre expecting, but thatll probably be hard. If you want to have a plan on that level, your design must really be perfect.

Ill try my best so that you wont waste any of the money you invest in me.

Yoonseok made a resolute face, and Maru told him to listen while drinking. Yoonseok didnt have a single sip of the coffee while the ice was melting.

Despite being the investor, I dont plan to interfere with the contents of the film. Ill say a few things if I think it really isnt right, but the plot will be entirely up to you.

Okay.

If you keep working as a film director, this kind of experience wont be that common. Normally, both the production companies and distribution companies are bound to interfere. Of course, they say the director has the strongest say in movies, but the more investment money you receive, the more things youll have to yield. Right now, try everything you want as a director when you can.

My heart is racing already. I thought I was mostly ready, but now that youre telling me that Im getting money, its making my head spin.

You should talk to Jiseon a lot about the scheduling. It should help out a lot. You should set a schedule based on when youre renting the shooting location and then adjust to the actors schedules. Ill adjust mine to yours as much as possible, so dont worry about that.

You dont have anything in your schedule?

Not for quite a while. I plan to take a break until I finish shooting this film.

I really should do my utmost best, huh.

You have to do your best, but you also have to do well. You know that, right?

Ever since I heard that you were giving me money, whatever you say puts me on a rollercoaster. I dont want to be swayed by what you say, but I keep getting swayed anyway.

Maru smiled and looked at his phone. It was about time he got up.

Are you going to be holding the camera?

No, Im going to look for a cameraman in internet communities. I saw that there were many people who worked on films. Ill try contacting them. I dont know how the payment would go though.

Good. Once the scale of a film becomes big, the director cant be the one handling everything. You can write that you cast me when you put up the notice.

Can I do that?

You have to. What else would a professional see in you to draw them to partic.i.p.ate? Its the same when you recruit actors. If you find it necessary, hold an audition as well.

Okay.

Maru drank the rest of the coffee and stood up.

You wont have any time to rest for a while. You have to do a lot of the groundwork before the shoot in order to reduce the production fee and increase the quality of the final film. Give me a call if youre stuck on anything.

Ill call you only when its absolutely necessary. You solved the biggest problem, so Id be shameless to ask for more.

As you wish. I have an appointment, so Ill get going now. Also, call me when youre looking into commercial buildings. Ill give you some of my impressions as well.

I will.

They left the caf.

Yoonseok got on his bike with a flushed face. After telling him things like I wont disappoint you, Ill do my best, Ill make the best film and whatnot, he pedaled off.

Maru was filled half with worry and half with antic.i.p.ation to see how well the young director would do. He liked the scenario, but writing and producing a film was an entirely different story.

There were numerous directors who shot a disappointing film with a great scenario and script. This film should be a great opportunity to grasp Yoonseoks skills.

Maru drove to the office where Daemyung should be working. He bought some dumplings on the way.

He opened the door.

Are things going well? he asked Daemyung, who was sitting in front of a laptop.

No, I cant write any of the lines.

Dont keep holding onto what you cant do and eat first. Youre okay with dumplings, right?

Maru looked at Daemyung who ate a bunch of dumplings in a flash. He had gained some weight in just a few months. It seemed he was relieving his stress by eating.

You see this? Im gaining a lot of weight sitting at a desk all day after doing manual labor.

Its about time you start managing your weight then.

Haneul told me that too. She said shed forcefully send me to the gym if I gain any more weight.

Its free exercise, so its a good thing.

Maru picked up the script on the desk. The story that Haneul plotted out was a.s.suming a shape in the form of a script.

I need to polish it more.

Ill just skim through it.

Maru slowly flipped over the pages. It was the story of time and of a man and a woman. It was her story as well as his story. A fantasy, that was not a fantasy for the two people.

Would Groundhog Day feel like this from another angle? No, there are so many differences, so it cant be just explained with a difference in perspective.

He closed the script as he listened to Daemyungs words.

The lines are good. It portrays the personality of the characters.

It still feels somewhat lacking though. I want to make it stand out more. At the base, Im thinking about the two of you as I write the lines before adding some spice of film on top of it. This was my first time working on a script, so I was pretty nervous, but when I actually tried, I could write something.

Youre bound to get used to whatever you do.

He went to the rooftop of the building they were in. The sunlight was scorching, but the breeze was pretty cool.

This is something Ive been feeling as Im writing, but I think Haneul decided the male protagonist would be you from the first time she started writing. When I look at the script she wrote before, I can picture you saying the lines clearly in my head, Daemyung said.

Having returned to the office, Daemyung said that he needed to write and that they should have a drink next time.

Dont push yourself. Theres still time.

This is something I felt while writing, but youre bound to forget if you dont write when you think of something. You need to write when its time to write.

Work hard.

Maru closed the door and left. The things that started off small grew big and started taking shape.

It seemed that he was going to get busy in a while.

He waved his car keys as he went down the stairs.