Chapter 102: Chapter 102
If someone were to ask me if I am a ‘professional novelist’, I would probably hesitate for a while, beating around the bush with my answer.
What is the criteria that separates professional novelists from amateur novelists? As a novelist, I am quite lacking. On the path of novel writing, there are no professionals or amateurs, only different ways of expression, and so on…
But in the end, I would answer ‘yes’.
Because I have staked my life on writing.
In the same vein, if someone asks me if I am a ‘professional entertainer’, I would definitely answer ‘no’.
I entered the entertainment industry unintentionally and I don’t particularly wish to walk this path,
As an artist, my tendencies are closer to those of a literature student studying novels than an entertainer who delights people.
But if someone asks me if I am an ‘amateur entertainer’?
“It’s just… I don’t like the new drama I’m joining this time.”
“Oh, is Kim sunbae joining a drama?”
Lately, she’s been seen often in movies and variety shows, but Kim Byul fundamentally is a drama actress. Wasn’t it a drama that made her famous when she was younger?
It naturally led me to think.
“Is that why you coldly rejected my suggestion to join ‘Let’s Become a Novelist!’ last time?”
It seems there was a reason she had so bluntly rejected the variety show I had particularly proposed.
But seeing Kim Byul sorrowfully sipping her apple juice, it seemed like things weren’t going well.
Kim Byul glanced around and then leaned towards me, murmuring as if sharing a secret.
“I went to the drama pre-meeting yesterday, you know…?”
“It was a total disaster…!”
Kim Byul, who typically harbors the instinct of a typical Korean high school student with a penchant for prefixes like ‘fucking-’ and ‘crazy-,’ is usually cautious with her words due to her public status.
If she used ‘fucking-‘ then it really must have been…
“It was a complete mess.”
“I’m telling you, it was a fucking disaster!”
Kim Byul was venting her frustrations rapidly. I wondered why she had even bothered looking around cautiously before.
“At the pre-meeting, seeing the leads fight in front of the PD, I thought they were crazy! They weren’t just arguing privately but outright attacking each other. Their combat power is no joke…”
“So, watching the two leads create chaos, writer Seong Min-suk got so angry she just left. The PD is so weak, he couldn’t even think of stopping the actors from fighting…”
“The Find your next favorite novel on NovelHub today! Of course, there was no dinner afterward, and now there’s talk that Yurim unnie might drop out of the drama. Ah! I’m! Really! Going crazy! Did I really choose the wrong project? Why is it always with me…”
Before she started venting, Kim Byul looked like a normal person, but now she looked as if she had been tearing at her hair, almost turning into a ball of fur rolling across the convenience store table.
I listened to her rant flow out from the gaps in her disheveled hair, letting it go in one ear and out the other.
But amidst Kim Byul’s whining cries, there was content that I couldn’t just let slip by.
“Now that I think about it, even the drama’s title is totally weird. What was it again? It was ridiculously long. Something Rosario? Rosaria? Rosaria in pat… ris? Weird, right? Right? They said it’s Latin. Who names a Korean drama in Latin…”
“…Is it by any chance ?”
“What, how did you know-!!!”
Kim Byul was so shocked that she jumped up like a mole in a whack-a-mole game.
And while I didn’t jump up like a mole in a whack-a-mole game, I was just as surprised.
Even to me, a time traveler without much practical gain, there are criteria for judging the success of a drama or movie.
It’s that if it’s a work whose name I know, it must be a blockbuster. If even I, who have lived solely engrossed in novels, know it, it must be a nationwide super-hit.
And was one of the few exceptions to this rule.
It was a drama I had actually watched.
But how could I have watched any drama at the ruthless New Light Spring Orphanage, where only the strong could get their hands on a remote control through sheer blood and sweat?
The reason was because of ‘mandatory viewing’.
Rosarium refers to the ‘rose garland’ and the Catholic Church’s ‘rosary’, and the subtitle means ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’.
In short, it’s a drama with a strong Christian theme.
At New Light Spring Orphanage, Director Moon Chung-jae encouraged (forced) all the children to watch the premiere of ‘Rosarium’ together to foster Christian ethical consciousness.
Any Christian suffering under societal oppression can’t help but show their children pro-Christian films with excitement. Anyone who has attended a church school or a Christian-affiliated orphanage would understand. We must sympathize with the poor adults who have been recycling The Passion of the Christ for 20 years…
However, contrary to the expectations of South Korea’s 83.2 million Christians, left behind a bizarre legacy of a ‘priest uniform fetish’, eliciting a statement of concern from the Central Council of the Catholic Church of Korea.
It caused a wild frenzy with handsome actors in priest costumes and became a major hit.
My mind, which had momentarily traveled to the past, returned to the present.
I spoke to Kim Byul, who was staring at me with a dazed expression.
“You absolutely must do Rosarium.”
“I have a good feeling about it, so you have to do it no matter what.”
“Ah, just do it if I tell you to do it!”
I tried to fully exercise my role as a time traveler for once, but this ungrateful Kim Byul wouldn’t obediently listen to me.
“What would a kid who knows nothing about dramas know!”
“Don’t regret it later, just do it when I tell you to.”
“Hmph! I don’t want to. It’s my decision, isn’t it?”
“Well, I’m telling you to do it.”
“Then at least give me a reason!”
“…It’s the universe’s energy—”
As we were arguing about whether or not to take on the drama project, someone poked my shoulder repeatedly.
Turning around, I saw a young girl with beige-colored hair looking down at me. She had a youthful appearance.
Then, the somewhat familiar-looking girl spoke up.
“Are you… Author Moon In-seop?”
“You… go to Baekhak Arts Middle School… right?”
I nodded at her awkwardly formal language.
The unnamed girl smiled shyly and made a small V-sign with her two fingers.
“You’re in the Creative Writing department… second year…?”
“Ah, I’m also in the second year…”
“In the Dance department, second year…”
“So… is it okay to speak informally with you…?”
Not fully understanding the situation, I nodded, and the girl awkwardly joined our table.
At that moment, I glanced at Kim Byul to gauge her reaction. Kim Byul was smiling at the girl benignly, like a Gilt-bronze Maitreya in Meditation.
Don’t be fooled by the Buddha-like smile. Kim Byul is a bit of an old fogy, even if she pretends not to be. That look means ‘let’s see if you greet me properly’.
Fortunately, the girl was quick to react to Kim Byul’s expression, and with a start, she bowed 90 degrees, narrowly escaping the subtle wrath of old fogy Kim Byul.
“Sunbae, may I sit here too?”
“Oh, sit down, sit down. No need to ask for permission. Make yourself comfortable.”
However, I was still clueless. Who was this girl, and why did she suddenly come looking for me?
Luckily, I soon found out the answer.
“Could you teach me how to write novels?!”