Chapter 148: Chapter 148
At Baekhak Arts Middle School’s Creative Writing Department, there lives a beast.
Whenever the beast roars, everyone trembles in fear.
That’s because this beast had once served as the Minister of Culture.
And the beast’s roar goes :
Park Chang-woon, the literature teacher with disheveled white hair and a beard resembling a lion’s mane, roared in a Gyeongsang dialect.
The booming voice of the old man echoed throughout not just the teachers’ office but all the way into the hallway.
“What nonsense is that! Why’s a perfectly healthy kid skipping school?!”
He was curious about it himself.
It could be the composure of someone who has reached the top of their industry, or perhaps the ennui of a middle-aged man in his fifties.
Ironically, he found the answer in a teenage boy.
“I guess nothing but movies makes your heart race now.”
It had been a long time since he had passengers in his beloved car. Moon In sat in the front passenger seat, and Kim Byul sat in the back.
The staff had already flown to France. The reason they were following later was to deal with the reporters waiting at the airport.
They weren’t going to do a formal interview at the airport. However, if they ignored the reporters and just left without a word, that would cause its own problems.
But So Tae-woong didn’t get angry with the reporters, who would pout and write malicious articles if they didn’t get their interviews.
He had spent far too long in the entertainment industry for that.
By now, it was second nature to send the staff ahead and delay the departure of those who would make for good interview material by a day later.
Taking Moon In and Kim Byul to the airport was part of the same logic. If the interview scene came out well, the reporters would be happy.
Perhaps it could be said that he had become accustomed to the nature of the entertainment industry.
While talking about such things, the conversation turned to awards.
When the talk of feeling no particular emotion came up, the boy in the passenger seat brought up something unexpected.
“I guess nothing but movies makes your heart race now.”
It was a bold statement.
And at the same time, strangely compelling.
He decided to listen a bit more.
When urged, the boy, who always kept his body and thoughts hidden beneath that blanket of his, for once opened up.
“There was probably a time when you fretted over every bit of investment money, right, Director?”
“I’ve even kneeled down begging for just 5 million won in investment.”
“But that’s not the case anymore, right?”
“Then money has become nothing but an illusion in your heart now.”
Hearing someone else speak the thoughts that had been vaguely forming in his own mind felt refreshing.
Perhaps because the boy was a novelist, his words were quite well-crafted.
And those words resonated deeply.
It began to rain. A light, drizzling shower.
Raindrops gathered on the window, and So Tae-woong pulled the lever behind the steering wheel.
The wipers moved back and forth, sweeping away the rain.
Glancing at the passenger seat, So Tae-woong saw that Moon In had closed his eyes.
It seemed he was listening to the sound of the rain.
Moon In continued speaking with his eyes closed.
“You’ve said it yourself, Director-nim. Not to get too swayed by public opinion. That fame comes and goes, right?”
“Just like you said, how fleeting is fame? In a world where if there are few viewers in the audience, and you’re a washed-up has-been, but if an invitation comes from France, suddenly you’re a big shot. In the end, fame is just another illusion, swayed by such things.”
So Tae-woong didn’t respond.
Not because he thought the boy’s words were wrong, but because they resonated too deeply.
The moment a person is most shaken is not when they hear something that goes against their inner thoughts. In those cases, whether right or wrong, it simply feels irritating and unpleasant.
No, a person is shaken when they hear words that align with an inner truth they hadn’t fully realized themselves. Such words are, in essence, an unspoken affirmation, “You are right.”
And since So Tae-woong was only human, he found himself shaken by the boy’s words.
For a brief moment, it seemed as though a holy light was shining behind the blanket-draped boy, who had closed his eyes to better listen to the rain.
So Tae-woong asked, with the feeling of a mortal who had found a great sage:
“Then, what is not an illusion?”
The boy replied without hesitation.
“That which is within me.”
“When everything outside feels like an empty illusion, in the end, we can only turn inward.”
At that moment, the three people inside the car each had different thoughts.
For So Tae-woong, the illusions were money and fame. And what was inside him, what truly mattered, were films and art. Thinking of that made his heart finally feel alive again.
But for Moon In, the illusions weren’t just money and fame. They included everything in this world. The only truth was the literature inside him, and yet, he was lost as to where that literature should lead him. To make matters worse, he was now grappling with the question of whether everything in this world was truly just an illusion. His second adolescence was proving to be even harsher than the first.
And Kim Byul? She didn’t care about illusions or philosophical musings, she just wanted to win an award. But after weeks of fretting, she was exhausted. She was hungry. She just wanted to eat…
As the silence continued due to each person’s own thoughts, Moon In, realizing that he might have gone a bit too deep with his musings under the influence of the rain, awkwardly wrapped up his words.
“So, what I mean is… whether we win an award or not, it doesn’t really matter… Let’s just stay calm… That’s the point I was trying to make. Haha.”
So Tae-woong followed the boy’s laugh with a light chuckle, though inwardly, he was impressed by the insight the young boy had shown.
And then, suddenly, So Tae-woong realized something, that the conversation they had just had was somewhat pointless.
When it came to the film industry, So Tae-woong was an expert among experts.
He wasn’t just one of those people invited to TV shows as “experts”- he was the real deal, with true expertise.
Therefore, even though he hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, he could make a rough guess about the outcome of the Cannes Film Festival.
He knew about the history of Cannes, he understood the preferences of the jury, and he was well aware of the direction the festival was heading.
From So Tae-woong’s perspective, the idea of ‘Sound’ winning the Palme d’Or was already out of reach.
The Grand Prix and Jury Prize, which function as the second and third place awards, were also out of the question. ‘Sound’ just wasn’t on that level.
As for the Best Screenplay award, that was even less likely. Cannes would never compromise its own authority. The moment they awarded a young novelist the Best Screenplay prize, screenwriters around the world would rise up in protest. If Moon In had been white, maybe things would be different…
So among these, the only one with a possibility of winning would probably be…
So Tae-woong glanced at Kim Byul in the rearview mirror.
The lead actress of ‘Sound’, looking visibly tired, was dozing off leaning against the window, softly mumbling in her sleep.