TL: KSD
The shimring golden palm tree award is not just a glittering golden palm tree figurine.
It is an honor bestowed upon the world’s greatest actors, carefully chosen by the Cannes Film Festival jury.
The sa applies here.
At least in Korea, a Cannes Film Festival award is not just a Cannes Film Festival award.
When people look at the glimring Golden Palm figurine, they have more complex thoughts.
Before the terrible pandemic swept across the globe,
During the ti when the world praised Bong Joon-ho and ‘Parasite’,
That radiant era of national pride…
It’s a longing for that Belle Époque, those good old days.
“Please look this way, just once!”
“Congratulations on your award! If I could just ask one question…”
“Unnie, I love youuu!”
Therefore, the way people looked at Kim Byul wasn’t much different from back then.
This is why Kim Byul transford into K-Kim Byul. (TL: Korean- Kim Byul)
EP 10 – Starry Sky
The poster in the phone store? Kim Byul. The model in the costics ad plastered on the building? Kim Byul. The person on TV slurping down ran so neatly? Kim Byul.
The mont you go online, in the middle of the search engine page, smiling brightly in the mobile ga ad? Kim Byul. Passing the civil service exam? Kim Byul. Passing the real estate agent license? Kim Byul.
Kim Byul, Kim Byul, Kim Byul…
The whole world is Kim Byul.
Wherever you go, you see Kim Byul.
Kim Byul has taken over South Korea.
– Actress Kim Byul won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival on the 27th for her role in Director So Tae-woong’s film Sound…
– This marks the second ti a Korean actress has won the Best Actress Award at Cannes, and as an East Asian actress…
It’s the dazzling return of the Nation’s Little Sister.
What shocked people even more was that she was still young enough to bear the title Nation’s Little Sister.
The public goes wild for young prodigies. On that scale, talent is valued more than effort. In front of Kim Byul’s na, the light ‘prodigy’ label was attached.
However, South Korea has a warm tradition of putting up banners at the village entrance whenever a prodigy is born, so Kim Byul’s face printed on the side of a building could also be considered a kind of banner. ɽαＮ𝐎ʙÊṨ
“Sigh…”
This disrespectful person sighing heavily in the midst of this village festival is none other than Lim Yang-wook.
When asked what he was unhappy about, he opened his mouth as if he’d been waiting.
“When a literary genius appears, people just clap a little. But when a movie genius cos out, they’re doing cartwheels. This is industry discrimination. Industry discrimination.”
“You were sighing over such a pointless reason.”
“Why is it pointless? If you describe it in terms of cheers, it’s like the difference between ‘Ohh…’ and ‘Wooaaah-! Wooooh-!'”
“Please walk a bit further away, you’re embarrassing .”
Not wanting to look like I was with soone shouting “Wooooo!” in the middle of Gwanghwamun Square, I stepped a few paces away, but Lim Yang-wook stubbornly chased after , putting his arm around my shoulder.
“Aren’t you even a bit resentful? The reactions are so different! People glance at the literary genius as they pass by, but for the movie genius, they’re like… ‘Woooo!’, ‘Waaah!'”
“It’s just how things are.”
The salary of a top soccer player and a top Heroes of the Storm player can’t be the sa. Fa and money are directly proportional to public popularity.
It’s only natural for a movie prodigy to be more popular than a literary prodigy. Setting aside the fact that neither of us are actually prodigies.
But Lim Yang-wook didn’t take this as a given.
“No!”
Lim Yang-wook shouted at while pointing to Kim Byul’s face plastered on the side of the building he had stopped by.
“You can be like that too!”
“A costics ad is a bit…”
“You could have your face on buildings too!”
The finger that had been pointing at Kim Byul turned towards .
Lim Yang-wook’s finger, pointing right under my nose. Perhaps because of the vigor in his voice, or maybe due to the tily breeze, his necktie fluttered vigorously.
“We’re going to Arica!”
* * *
Contrary to Lim Yang-wook’s grand declaration, the works of novelist Moon In were already on Arican bookstore shelves.
It has been quite so ti since a partnership with an Arican publishing house was negotiated.
It all started, of course, with the Booker International Prize.
-Hmm… A Korean prodigy who made it onto the Booker International longlist, huh? Not bad. Let’s sign the contract.
The Booker Prize is a British literary award, but its influence extends across the entire Anglophone world, specifically the English-speaking world.
Especially since publishing houses play an active role in the judging committee, the mont Moon In was shortlisted for the Booker, Arican publishers detected the anomaly.
And around the ti the film Red Hunter gained popularity on OTT platforms, the first wave of interest arrived, with A Love Story, a novel set in Brooklyn, leading the charge.
The comrcial success back then wasn’t overwhelming, but it wasn’t aningless either.
Strategically speaking, a foothold was secured that would make it easier to land.
-Oh… This looks promising. It seems quite viable. We’ll actively promote it on our end as well.
At this point, the attitude of the Arican publishing house beca considerably more positive.
Although this business initially began with Lim Yang-wook and Baek Seol traveling back and forth to the U.S., pleading and negotiating, now they were able to approach it from a relatively equal position.
The Arican side even secured a highly influential literary magazine space (through lobbying) for an interview with Moon In.
However, Moon In’s interview has yet to be featured in any literary newspapers in the Anglophone world.
-Why on earth! Why aren’t you coming?!
-W-wait a second, we’re still adjusting the schedule…!
-Are you displeased with ? Korean editor? If you have complaints, co to California. Your complaints will be replaced by my Californian spicy fist.
Why does Lim Yang-wook repeatedly leave Arican publishers hanging?
Is it because he’s a Japanese money lover who has taken down the Arican flag waving in his heart and replaced it with a Japanese one, thus harboring so resentnt towards the Anglo-Arican world?
No.
Lim Yang-wook is a professional. He doesn’t make amateurish mistakes, like the CEO of Baekhak Publishing who lost the film adaptation rights due to a contractual error.
If sothing’s going wrong with Lim Yang-wook, the ticulous ace of Baekhak Publishing, the first thing to do is to point to Moon In, and that will probably lead you to the answer.
Indeed, this story also starts with the root of all evil at Baekhak Publishing.
-Um, Moon In… don’t you want to go to Arica?
-Just a mont. I’m reviewing Yu-na’s novel right now.
-Moon In… have you finished teaching Yu-na everything?
-Just a mont. I’ll go after I finish my next work.
-In-seop… have you finished the book?
-It’s harder than I thought. I’ll go into seclusion for a bit.
-In… In-seop? In-seop?!
And so, due to ‘schedule coordination’ issues between the publisher and the author, Moon In’s official trip to Arica kept getting pushed back, one quarter after another.
The Arican publisher’s anger grew more intense with each delay, and emails to Baekhak Publishing piled up day by day.
If it weren’t for Lim Yang-wook’s flexible backbone, the deal would have been long dead.
-Do you have a death wish? Human?
-I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!
But then, sothing unexpected happened.
Gradually, Lim Yang-wook’s back started straightening.
-When will the U.S. schedule be confird?
-Ah, apologies. Our Author Moon’s novel has been adapted into a film, and it’s selling so well in Japan… we’ll head over as soon as we wrap up the Japanese business!
-Long ti no see. Since you’ve successfully wrapped up your business in Japan, can you co this quarter?
-Oh dear- how should I apologize? Our Author Moon wrote a movie script as a side project, and it ended up getting invited to the Cannes Film Festival…
The U.S. had been waiting the longest, yet Moon In went to Japan and France first. It’s like Japan was wooing him, France was inviting him, and the U.S. was left anxiously waiting.
Of course, to a large Arican publisher, Moon In is just a kid from a far-off country. His absence wouldn’t cause major disruption to their business.
But to the editor who communicates with Lim Yang-wook, Moon In is far from insignificant. He has been observing Lim Yang-wook and Moon In’s actions from afar.
It wasn’t out of genuine interest that she kept watching; it was more like the way a creditor keeps an eye on a debtor who keeps breaking promises. But either way, she realized one thing for sure.
‘He’s not bluffing… that kid really is…’
Moon In is a genius, and he’s profitable.
If he goes to Arica, he’ll be even more profitable.
So she couldn’t give up.
In the end, Collins Press editor Rachel Surface made a decision.
“We’ll adjust the profit ratio.”
-We’ll co right away!
* * *
“So Manager Lim sold out…”
“In summary, yes!”
And so, while hastily preparing for the sudden trip to Arica, Moon In listened to Team Leader Kim Ga-ryung explain the whole story.
As for why it was Kim Ga-ryung accompanying Moon In instead of Lim Yang-wook, it was because Lim Yang-wook simply couldn’t make the trip to Arica due to scheduling conflicts.
Since Baek Seol ascended to the position of CEO, the status of the ‘Publishing Managent Departnt’ had beco sowhat ambiguous.
The entire departnt moved to the Baekhak Entertainnt building, officially becoming an in-house venture jointly funded by Baekhak Publishing and Baekhak Entertainnt.
Of course, in reality, they were just Baekhak Publishing employees dispatched to Baekhak Entertainnt. You could call it a kind of TF (Task Force) team. Even the CEO title that Lim Yang-wook carried around was just a nominal position.
But looking at it from another angle, Lim Yang-wook was doing the work of a CEO at a small to dium-sized company while still getting paid an manager’s salary.
On top of that, it was a brand-new venture company. If the CEO made a mistake, the entire company could fail. Lim was in a situation where having even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough.
That’s why he entrusted the task of accompanying Moon In to his most reliable (?) subordinate—none other than Team Leader Kim Ga-ryung, Lim Yang-wook’s right-hand man.
“I’m Manager Lim’s right-hand, and Manager Lim is CEO Baek Seol’s right-hand, so… you could say I’m the index finger of CEO Baek Seol’s right hand, couldn’t you?”
“……”
“Haha.”
Given that Kim Ga-ryung’s sense of humor was similar to Lim Yang-wook’s, it was undeniable that he truly was Lim’s right-hand man.
His career path was also similar to Lim Yang-wook’s. Originally from the publishing planning departnt at Baekhak Publishing, he had transferred to the Baekhak Entertainnt Publishing Managent TF Team, then returned to Baekhak Publishing, and now was back at Baekhak Entertainnt…
In short, he was a loyal companion who had endured all manner of trials and tribulations with Lim Yang-wook.
His competence was also beyond question.
“The tasks you and I need to accomplish in Arica can be divided into three main parts. First, the interview for the literary magazine; second, the TV interview for a variety show; and third, the offline events at various bookstores across the country. That’s it! Not too many, right?”
“I see…”
“You don’t need to prepare anything separately. Our staff will be with you the whole ti to help, so just stay calm and follow the script when you speak. Since everything will be translated, the interview pace will be nice and steady…”
With his reliable face, voice, and mannerisms, Kim Ga-ryung gradually eased the wariness of Moon In, who was as cautious as a wild animal.
Every editor Moon In had t in the publishing industry had so crazy side to them, so he naturally developed a bit of a prejudice. But little by little, he began to open up to Kim.
‘He seems like a reliable person. That’s rare…’
Had he known what kind of mindset lay behind Kim Ga-ryung’s gentle, squinting eyes, he would never have thought that.
In any case, preparations for the trip to Arica, together with the icon of trust, Kim Ga-ryung, progressed steadily from passport arrangents to learning the schedule. There really shouldn’t have been any issues. This was the work of a large corporation, after all, with more than just one or two people dedicated to it.
However, Moon In’s long-awaited trip to Arica, anticipated by both Baekhak Publishing and Collins Press, was thwarted once again.
“Ah.”
Because of a single obituary that had arrived from Japan.
* * *
The funeral hall was as crowded as the reputation of the deceased demanded.
Among those gathered were many prominent figures, naturally drawing the attention of reporters and guests alike.
But because of this, the usual intimate and private atmosphere unique to a funeral was lost, replaced instead by a coldness, as if everyone were rely performing their duties at a formal public event.
The scent of incense that should have lingered around the morial altar, mingling with sorrow, love, and warmth, seed instead to be overshadowed by the prestige of the attendees and the constant sound of cara shutters.
This was far from an ideal funeral setting.
That was the impression I felt upon taking my first step into the altar room.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
The quiet murmurs among the crowd, the whispers drifting through the sea of black suits, and the faintly audible Japanese that was difficult to understand.
Through the maze-like chaos, I soon found myself face-to-face with a familiar figure in a portrait.
“Ah…”
Eisaku Siedehara.
The great literary master of Japan was looking at from beyond the photograph.
*****
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