Chapter 66
“Ah, I do think we should include the scene where the lover dies in the future, even if it’s only through a flashback... Well, if we show it in close-up shots, we wouldn’t have to worry too much about the background. And maybe we could focus more on the characters that way...”
As expected of a writer.
I had only thrown out one small idea, yet stories and possibilities started pouring out of her like crazy.
With the script between us, we put our heads together again.
I quickly flipped through the pages and asked,
“Then what about this part? The scene where the woman keeps hearing the same story over and over when she’s young.”
“Ah, we absolutely have to keep that. It might seem insignificant, but it’s actually a scene that supports the concept of time in the story.”
“Yes, that’s what I thought too. That’s why I brought it up. I wondered if we should give the scene a little more weight so the audience doesn’t just brush past it...”
“No, I don’t think that’s necessary. If we put that much emphasis on every scene, the audience will get tired.”
“Ah... I guess that could happen. Then let’s leave this part as it is.”
Before I knew it, the script lying on the table was covered in sticky notes, and Writer Jo Aram kept typing nonstop on her laptop.
And so, one day, while we continued our meetings at a twenty-four-hour coffee shop without even realizing we had stayed up all night...
Tap, tap—
Rain began falling outside the window.
Exhausted from the meeting that had continued until dawn, Writer Jo Aram and I both turned toward the rain-covered window at almost the same time.
“By the way, Writer Jo, why did you write a story like this?”
“Isn’t the author’s intention written in the proposal...?”
“No, not something like that. I mean the real reason... Whenever I read your script, I get the feeling there’s a real reason you wanted to write this story, something other than the intention written in the proposal.”
Jo Aram stared at me for a moment.
Then she gave a small laugh.
“As expected, Producer Min has a sharp side to him. Actually... just like the protagonist of this story, if I could go back to the past, there’s someone I desperately want to save...”
‘As I thought...’
I had felt that way before.
The emotions behind the protagonist’s story were too vivid to have come from pure imagination alone.
They felt like emotions that could never have been expressed this deeply unless she had experienced something herself.
That was when she asked,
“What about you, Producer Min? If you could go back to the past, is there anything you’d want to change?”
The corner of my mouth rose before I even realized it.
“I’m already changing it.”
Jo Aram had no idea that I had returned to the past.
So when I told her I was already changing things, she simply thought I was joking and laughed it off.
A week passed.
Once we had finished deciding on the specific direction of the revisions, Writer Jo Aram finally began rewriting the script in earnest.
“From now on, it’s a battle I have to fight alone.”
“No. I’m right behind you, so don’t think you’re fighting alone.”
“Oh~ I didn’t know you could say something so sweet. Haha.”
“I can be pretty sweet, you know? Haha.”
Early October.
A cold wind blew along the coast of Haeundae.
The sea had not completely let go of the summer heat yet, but the night air had already become quite chilly.
The Busan Yacht Center, where the opening ceremony of the Busan International Film Festival was being held, was covered in dazzling lights.
Just like every year, thousands of spectators had gathered, filling the area completely.
Brilliant lights poured down onto the massive permanent stage.
A red carpet stretched across the audience area all the way to the stage.
Camera flashes exploded endlessly as actors, directors, producers, and film industry officials from Korea and overseas continued walking down the red carpet.
Among them, I spotted some familiar faces.
Director Song Jaehyun.
Jang Giltae, who played the gang boss.
Moon Hyunbin.
Gil Boyoung.
They were the cast of the movie Home Sweet Home.
The moment Moon Hyunbin appeared on the red carpet in a neat tuxedo with the rest of the group, loud cheers erupted all around them.
I had already taken my seat in the audience with the planning team and watched everything through the enormous screen above the stage.
Team Leader Kim Eunkyung had dragged all of us, including me, down to Busan because she needed to attend various business events throughout the festival.
When I saw Director Song Jaehyun and the actors receiving cheers from the crowd on the red carpet, a strange sense of pride filled my chest.
That was when—
“I think I heard that Gibaek worked on the production team for Home Sweet Home, right?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
Team Leader Kim Eunkyung was also watching the red carpet procession through the screen on the stage.
She asked,
“Then is the person standing beside Moon Hyunbin Director Song Jaehyun?”
“Yes. And the person walking beside Gil Boyoung behind Director Song is Jung Inbeom. He’s the producer of Director Song’s movie.”
As I was explaining it to Kim Eunkyung, the phone in my hand vibrated.
It was Moon Changsu.
I quickly answered.
<Gibaek hyung, behind you. Turn around and look behind you.>
I immediately turned around.
Moon Changsu and Ma Sanghee were sitting in seats near the aisle behind us, waving at me.
Happy to see them, I quickly raised my hand and waved back.
Ma Sanghee gestured for me to come out into the aisle for a moment.
I told Team Leader Kim Eunkyung that someone I knew had come and excused myself from my seat.
Ma Sanghee and Moon Changsu were already waiting in the aisle.
As soon as I approached, Moon Changsu suddenly pulled me into a hug.
“Hyung, I missed you!”
“Hey, hey. Get off me. That’s creepy. More importantly, how did you know where I was sitting?”
“I saw you looking for your seat earlier.”
I turned toward Ma Sanghee.
“But Manager Ma, is it okay for you to be here? What about Boyoung noona and Hyunbin hyung?”
“Yes. They have to keep moving around with Director Song right now anyway. I’ll join them again once the opening ceremony is over.”
