Chapter 1
[This station is Seongsu, Seongsu Station. The door to get off is…]
“Whoa…”
I sighed softly and got off the subway.
Wooooow.
At that ti, I received a text ssage on my cell phone, which usually doesn’t ring. It was the audition results text I had been waiting for so desperately.
——
Hello. This is the casting team for .
Thank you for applying to this audition.
Unfortunately, Jinseok Kang…
——
‘I failed again this ti. ‘When will the audition take place?’
I’ve already failed dozens of auditions. But I couldn’t get used to that feeling of loss.
[Door opens]
I got off the subway among office workers leaving work.
As I was going down the stairs as weak as usual, I saw the old woman with her back bent.
An old woman sitting on the stairs and gesturing to people.
Do you need help?
The grandmother beckoned to people passing by, but no one tried to help her.
As if the grandmother was invisible.
‘Should I help the grandmother…?’
But I didn’t feel like it right now. Maybe it was because I failed the audition, and I was so ntally and physically exhausted.
While I was thinking about that, I was suddenly passing by the grandmother.
By the ti I ca down the stairs like that.
“ha···.”
I couldn’t bear to pretend not to know.
It was because of my earnest desire to get at least a one-line part in the grandmother’s hand gestures as she anxiously called out to people passing by overlapped.
I went up the stairs again and asked the grandmother.
“Grandma, may I help you?”
He asked cautiously and the grandmother lifted her head.
The wrinkles on her face were full of worry.
In contrast, the white clothes she was wearing were surprisingly wrinkle-free and clean.
As I stared at her, the grandmother held out her hand to .
“Hey, I’m sorry, but can you help ?”
“Yes. “How can I help you?”
“I have to go ho, but I can’t go alone… “I’m sorry, but can you take
with you?”
What should you usually do in this situation?
Perhaps the best way would be to report it to a station employee.
But for so reason, I wanted to help in person today.
“Yes. “Hold my hand and stand up.”
“Thank you. thank you so much.”
I slowly helped the grandmother.
***
After passing through alleys and alleys, I crossed the main street and arrived at the grandmother’s house.
Even I, a Seongsu-dong native, had no idea a place like this existed.
“After···. “Is it over there?”
“We’re almost there.”
I carried the grandmother all the way to her house. He didn’t really know because it was his first ti carrying an old person, but the grandmother was quite heavy.
He says these days he only reads scripts and maybe it’s because he doesn’t exercise.
‘Even if I have to cut back on my part-ti job, I have to set aside ti to exercise…’
While I was thinking about this and that, I arrived in front of the house that the grandmother pointed to. It was a fairly old villa.
When he opened the old, rusty iron door at the entrance to the villa, there was a scraping sound of tal that he hated to hear.
When I opened the front door, I saw an old staircase that was suitable for an old villa.
The grandmother pointed to the stairs.
“I have to go to the second floor.”
“Yes. “You have family at ho, right?”
“Then. “I ca to see my son…”
Carried the grandmother up the stairs.
His legs were shaking, but he held on as best as he could, knowing that they would arrive soon.
He went up to the second floor and the grandmother pointed sowhere with her hand.
“There’s a big crock pot over there. “Please open that.”
“Yes···.”
To be honest, I wanted to open it quickly.
Every day, I worked part-ti, practiced acting, and even auditioned. I was extrely tired.
‘But now that I’ve started… I have to see the end of this.’
“This one?”
I stood in front of a particularly large crock pot and asked. Then the grandmother ca down from my back.
“Please open this for . And what’s inside is inside the house… “Please tell this to my son.”
“Yes? ? should you do it yourself?…”
It was then.
“What are doing!! “Who are you to ss around in soone else’s house?!”
A sharp and harsh voice was heard from behind.
A voice that surprised even , who has worked a lot in the construction industry.
I spoke without showing any signs of guilt as much as possible.
“Yes? Ah, that… This old lady says this is her ho…”
“What? Old Lady? Are you kidding ? What kind of grandmother is she when she just leaves you here alone?!”
“Yes? No, She is here…”
I urgently looked to the side.
But the grandmother, with whom he had been talking just a mont ago, was nowhere to be seen.
‘···What?’
Did I go crazy because I lived so hard?
But It was too realistic to dismiss it like that.
His legs hurt a lot from carrying the grandmother all the way here, and his arms were still numb.
As I stood there blankly, the man shouted again.
“You, you bastard! you are a thief and because you look decent you think you can just get away with this?! “How could you think of burgling a house like this?!”
“Oh, no. “I’m telling you the truth I was only helping the grandmother…”
At that ti, I suddenly rembered what the grandmother had asked
to do.
-Please open this. And what’s inside is inside the house… Please pass that on to my son.
‘I won’t believe you.’
“Why don’t you leave right now?! “Do I look easy?!”
The man was still pointing and shouting at him. Then the man opened the jar in front of him.
Inside the jar was a piece of paper, a bankbook, and a stamp.
‘What is this···.’
As if possessed by sothing, he took out a note from the jar. anwhile, the man shouted more excitedly than before.
“Isn’t this completely crazy? Hey man!!”
But for so reason, I felt like I had to read the note.
When I opened the neatly folded note, there was a letter written on it.
——
Son. It’s mom.
This is the money you saved up to pay for Mom’s surgery, but it was so precious that I had to hide it.
How can I spend this money?
I had a fight with you about this money, and I feel so sorry about this my son. Still, I couldn’t possibly spend this money. When you can find this note with my bankbook, you can study the course you always wanted and you want to eat well right eat as much as you like.
Sorry. And I always love you.
A truly wonderful and ugly mother.
——
A letter written in crooked handwriting. But she was conveying her feelings better that way.
While I was reading the letter, a man walked up to , grinning. He seed very angry. I handed the letter to him without saying a word.
“Try reading this, please. I think your mother left it.”
“What? Did this kid turn around? “How do you know my mother…”
“Read it first.”
The man laughed as if he was dumbfounded by my firm words. Then he took it away as if stealing a note.
Widely!
“What nonsense are you talking about? “What did mom leave behind?”
The man started reading the letter while muttering. And soon he started reading the notes tears kept falling from his eyes.
“Ah, it really is the old woman…”
The man could not speak properly.
Tears were streaming down his face as if his harsh words just now were a lie.
“Ha···.”
A man sighed deeply.
I could feel a thousand different emotions from his expression. Sadness, regret, gratitude, resentnt, and longing.
If I had to portray those emotions all at once, I thought I could imitate that man.
After a while, the man spoke.
“I didn’t know this either… How can I… .”
“… .”
“What is your relationship?” “With my mom…
How should I answer this?
No, if I say sothing, will this man believe it?
Even I can’t believe how I got here.
I knew what happened.
I ca all the way here with your grandmother’s.
‘Even if I say that, he won’t believe .’
After thinking for a while, he decided to answer like this.
“I knew your mother by chance. “It’s difficult to give details.”
The man who heard my answer looked at
blankly. Then he nodded his head as if he understood.
“That… I’m sorry about earlier. “I’m a bit impatient.”
“No. it’s okay. The bankbook is in the jar. “Then I’ll just leave…”
Since he wasn’t particularly angry at the man, he spoke lightly and tried to leave.
He slowly turned around and was about to go down the stairs when the man stopped him.
“Hey, let’s go and eat at least.”
“···.”
“It was fate that we t like this.”
***
“After···.”
After returning ho tired, I took a quick shower and lay down on the bed.
Then, suddenly, I rembered the story I had with the man when we were eating.
The man was originally studying for a doctorate in the United States, but his mother was in critical condition, so he gave up everything and ca back.
In a hurry, he borrowed money from various sources to pay for his mother’s surgery, but his mother stubbornly refused the surgery.
He said, ‘he tried to get surgery and life-sustaining treatnt for her mom, but she refused to the end and even hid her bank account.’
He briefly recalled his conversation with the man and then quickly went to sleep.
He had to sleep in a little longer to go to his part-ti job early in the morning and then audition for a small role.
‘I hope I go to the audition tomorrow.’
I fell asleep not long after I closed my eyes.
However.
‘···Why am I coming to my senses?’
Obviously, I fell asleep. But my mory was fine.
When I looked around, I found myself floating in so white space.
‘Are you saying this is a lucid dream where you can move at will in your dream?’
At that ti, a familiar voice was heard from behind. When he looked behind him, he saw the sa old lady he had seen during the day.
“Thank you so much earlier. Did the al suit your taste? “These are the side dishes I taught Jinsu.”
Although he was a little startled by the grandmother suddenly appearing behind him, he quickly cald down.
“Ah···. yes. It was really delicious. “Your son cried a lot.”
“I guess so. Even though Jinsu looks strong on the outside, he is really a soft kid. “I know everything.”
“Yes···.”
“Anyway, I really owe the young man a lot. So it’s not a big deal, but I’d like to help. “Is it okay?”
‘I’m in debt…’
I didn’t do anything great to deserve these words.
I don’t know what kind of help she was trying to give , but I shook my head because I had no intention of receiving excessive compensation.
“It’s okay. “I just did what I could.”
“Not many people do what they can. “I really want to help such a young man, so why not just accept my compensation?”
It was difficult for
to refuse when she said it that way. When I slightly nodded my head, the grandmother smiled.
“Yes. If grandmother says so, I will gratefully accept it.”
“Thank you. “There’s nothing I can give you, but it looks like the young man wants to beco an actor, so I’ll help him with that.”
“···Helps
beco an actor? Are you saying you teach acting?”
“Okay. But that doesn’t an I’m teaching you how to act. “I can’t do that.”
“······.”
“I can introduce you to my friends instead. First of all… is that your friend?”
The grandmother looked behind her as she spoke.
Then she waved her hand as if telling soone to co.
A little while later, a boy who appeared to be around middle school appeared.
As I quietly looked at the child, the child greeted
first.
“Hello. I heard a lot from grandmother. “My na is Minsu Kim.”
“Oh yeah. No, yes.”
He looked younger than , but I treated him with respect because he was deceased.
Minsu smiled brightly, probably because he found my reaction funny.
“It’s okay to speak comfortably. “When I was alive, I was younger than you brother.”
The phrase ‘when I was alive’ was really sad.
How could such a young child die so young?
While I was lost in thought, the grandmother said.
“The audition you’re seeing tomorrow, ‘The younger sister who was supposed to receive a kidney transplant from her mother gives the kidney to his older brother who suffers from the sa disease,’ right?”
“Yes. however… ”
After blurting out her words, he asked cautiously.
“How did you know that?”
“Dead people know everything. Rather, it’s Minsu. Don’t you have sothing to say to that brother too?”
“Ah yes! “I heard from grandmother that my brother has a very kind heart!”
“Not nice, just ordinary.”
“No way! Among all the people at the subway station, my older brother was the only one who helped grandmother, and he was very kind! So please help
too. “In return, I will help my brother.”
I asked back, a little hesitant at Minsu’s words.
“You’re helping
with my acting…?”
“Yes!”
Minsu smiled confidently at my question.
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