After Story 69

Maru, boy, little junior, little boy…. How many names did the elder call him by? The elder slowly walked up the stairs that connected the audience seats and the stage, combing his white hair back.

White trainer shoes, slightly baggy corduroy pants, a shirt with thick stripes, and horn-rimmed glasses to top it off… even in this life, he was trendy.

Maru’s eyes locked with the elder’s as he was walking up to the stage. The elder stopped on the spot and stared at him.

“Hyung, hyung.” Yoonseok tugged on Maru’s pants and called him out urgently.

It was only then that he realized that he was the only one standing and staring at the elder. Maru carefully bowed towards him before sitting down.

“What’s up with you all of a sudden?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

The elder stood in front of the mic with a smile.

Maru thought about the words he said: No, it’s nothing.

When he met Miso, he was surprised. When he saw Geunsoo today, he felt joyous.

And when he faced the elder, he felt agony.

He had lived an uncountably long time. He had formed an innumerable number of relationships and just as many broke. No matter how precious or how resentful of a relationship he had, it was bound to weather away with enough time.

He naturally became numb to everything since his mind wouldn’t be able to endure it if everyone was dear or resentful to him. It was a kind of formula that he used both consciously and subconsciously for the sake of survival. His wife was the only exception to this rule as she was the sole reason for his life which he had to cling to, even if it meant giving up on everything.

However, the moment he saw the elder, a wave of emotions went right over the wall and hit his head. He was unable to control his emotions, and his body reacted all by itself.

Maru stroked his face with his hand. As it turned out, there was one more person who held as much meaning to him as his wife.

He felt agonized and disappointed. Even though he knew that it was wrong to harbor such emotions and thoughts, it was hard to calm his mind. He felt like the elder would call out to him with ‘Maru’ at any moment. Despite knowing it was a delusion, it was hard to shake it off.

“I was suddenly asked to stand here. I guess I should introduce myself, right? I’m Yoon Moonjoong, an old actor.”

He’s still as lively as ever — Maru applauded the elder on stage.

For the past five months, he strived towards two things. One was a stable livelihood, and the other was pursuing his dream. His relationship with other people was no more than a process to achieve those two objectives.

However, right now, that process became his aim. He wanted to catch the elder’s eye. It was a young and immature desire, and an objective he would never give up.

“All the people gathered here have great energy. I feel that there will be many good films in the future. I’d like to give all the creators and actors sitting here the grand prize, however, since the stage isn’t so big, we’ll have one person get it as a representative. Do you all agree?”

Yes – people in the audience replied in unison. The elder smiled in satisfaction and looked at the cue card.

“Then let me announce the winner. 2008 Short Film Festival, Grand Prize. ‘The Form of Love,’ congratulations.”

Sound disappeared for a brief moment.

The elder on the stage looked straight at him. He then nodded towards him as though to urge him to come up.

He wasn’t mistaken. It was a definite signal. But how would he know that the director and actor of ‘The Form of Love’ were here?

“Yoonseok. Get going.”

“W-wait a minute.”

“Don’t be nervous. Quick.”

He really wished to stand on the stage in Yoonseok’s stead. He wanted to listen to the elder’s encouragement after getting an award from him. However, the stage wanted the director.

Yoonseok hastily went up to the stage. As he was looking at Yoonseok and the elder, someone spoke to him,

“Congratulations, senior.”

“Thanks.”

“I think the acting award is yours too. Take it.”

“Next time. I’ll take it in another award ceremony, so you can take that for now.”

“Sure. But there might not be a next time. I learn everything quickly.”

“I saw that. You have the talent. I’m sure you’ll do well. Compared to that, I’m closer to not having any talent. But you know, if someone without talent is given an unimaginable amount of time, they can surpass geniuses.”

“Time is limited.”

“You don’t say.”

Joohwan tilted his head in puzzlement. He congratulated Maru once again before turning around. He saw Jungah smiling awkwardly next to him. She kept looking at him apologetically.

Maru turned around to the stage again. Yoonseok was sitting down after getting the trophy. He seemed to be even more nervous because he got the prize while he was down, as indicated by his ruthlessly shaking knees. He had his mouth up to the mic under the pressure that he had to say something, but his mouth did not open.

“Shall we give the director some time?” The elder stepped in.

Relax, don’t be nervous, breathe — he just quietly watched him without any of those words.

The murmuring audience became calm again.

Yoonseok only spoke after around ten seconds,

“Sorry. I was so nervous because I got a prize I didn’t expect. I’m still nervous too. First of all, thank you for the prize. I gave up and just thought that I should enjoy myself when I didn’t get the prize from the melo section, but I got my hands on a trophy like this.”

Yoonseok wetted his lips.

“Everything was a new experience. A bunch of students who don’t even major in the relative fields learned everything by trial and error as we shot this film. It was terrible. Everything from A to Z made creaking noises. But it was fun. The fact that we were making something made us nervous.”

Yoonseok then looked at Maru.

“Actually, I was only able to finish this film thanks to Maru-hyung’s participation. Oh, Maru-hyung is… uhm, he’s the lead actor in the film. He told me not only things about acting but also the general aspects of filming as well, which allowed us to create this film. We really didn’t know anything. Hm, I can only say thank you to him. I never imagined in my wildest imaginations that I’d get the grand prize, so I didn’t prepare anything.”

Just as Yoonseok was waiting, the elder spoke, “Can junior Han Maru, the person our director thanks so much, come up to the stage as well?”

Maru stood up as soon as he heard those words. He was called, so there was no reason not to go up. He asked the people sitting next to him to make some room before leaving to the side. He got on the stage amidst the applause of the audience.

Light fell on his eyelashes. When he closed his eyes due to the sting and opened it again, he saw the elder standing right in front of him. When he looked at those wrinkly eyes, he felt all the nervousness drain from him as though he had returned to his hometown.

“Would you like to say something?” The elder handed him a mic. He calmed his breathing and grabbed the mic.

“Our director is quite feeble. He cries a lot. That’s why I like him.” Maru looked at Yoonseok who smiled at him before speaking again, “The afterparty will be late if I take too long, so I’ll make this short. ‘The Form of Love’ is not perfect, but it was an interesting film. The reason I was able to keep smiling throughout the shoot was thanks to the ingenuity that the film possessed. The director said that it was thanks to me that he shot it, but the only thing I lent him was some technical knowhow. It was he who sowed the seeds of art and grew its potential into a film. To be precise, it was the director and his friends. I managed to shoot something good with a group of good people. What can make me happier than that? On top of that, we got a prize, so there’s nothing for me to say. Thank you very much. I hope we can become a good director and an actor respectively.”

As soon as he put down the mic, a round of applause could be heard. The distant thunder of applause soon turned into that of cymbals. It was a noise that made his mind blank out. It was also a signal that his railroad of life was headed in the right direction.

He felt a sense of vertigo, a feeling like he was floating. Even he, who was used to getting prizes and standing on the stage, was getting dazed, so he could tell what state Yoonseok was in without even looking.

Just as he was about to step down with the dazed Yoonseok, a wrinkly hand appeared in front of him. Maru smiled at the owner of the hand before grabbing it.

“I hope you can become a better actor.”

“Yes. I definitely will.”

He let go and went down the stage. The faint residual heat from his palms faded away.

Maru clenched his hand and opened it again. What would Yoonseok say if he said that he was happier about the momentary handshake than getting the grand prize?

“Lastly, I’d like to bring up to the stage the helpers of the film festival who have worked hard throughout the festival. Please welcome them up to the stage.”

The helpers who worked throughout the festival came up on the stage. The audience who had been clapping quietly until now thanked them vocally.

Having returned to his seat, Maru calmed down his excited breathing and watched as the ceremony came to a close. The closing speech and the commemorative photo shoot were finished as well.

“Let us meet again next year. Well, then. That’s it!” Director Choi, the committee head, shouted into the mic.

At the same time, the lights in the theater were turned on. The exits opened up and the audience started leaving.

“Yoonseok!”

“Oppa!”

Jiseon and the others, who had left first, rushed over to them. They pushed away Yoonseok, who was drenched in emotions, and took away the trophy from him. They were all eager to take photos with it.

“Maru-oppa, come quick!”

The whole production crew for ‘The Form of Love’ stood in front of the large poster for the Short Film Festival.

Yoonseok, holding the trophy, stood in the middle, while Maru stood next to him.

“Thre, two, one, smile!”

After that, they installed a camera on a tripod and took a dozen more photos.

“It’s Hong Geunsoo! I’ll be off for a little.” Jiseon ran towards Geunsoo, who was walking past the lobby. Yoonseok was the one after that. The rest of them all rushed over as well.

The other members of the audience did the same. Geunsoo led a crowd of people like the pied piper.

That man hasn’t changed — Maru smiled and looked at the camera and the trophy in his hands. Even the grand prize trophy was given the cold shoulder in front of Hong Geunsoo.

A storm whizzed past. As soon as Geunsoo took the elevator and left, the cinema became totally empty.

“Do you think he’ll be there at the afterparty?”

“Doesn’t he have a shoot these days? I’m sure he’s busy.”

“I hope he comes. I wouldn’t have a wish if I could eat with him once.”

The film festival was over, but the afterparty with the participants had just begun. The bar in front of the Thintech mall was the venue.

They took their luggage and went to the bar. There was no list checking. It seemed they could just sit down at an empty table.

Maru sat down and looked around. Unfortunately, he could see neither Geunsoo nor the elder. Well, it couldn’t be helped since they were both busy people.

“Congratulations.”

The directors and actors who partook in the festival came over and congratulated him. Maru raised his glass with a smile. It was a pity that he couldn’t get a glass from the elder, but he found it plenty enjoyable.

“Well then, drink up! We still have some management funds left over,” director Choi Dongha shouted.

After that, people started ordering like crazy. It took exactly five minutes for director Choi to tell them to take it easy.

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