Returner’s Magic Laundry

When I came out of the bathroom with a dark face, when the movie started, Go Geon-soo and friends approached me with the words to enter.

Go Gun-soo recognized Park Jin-joo, who was standing next to me, and made a friendly face.

“Oh, what happened, Jinju! See you here.”

When Go Gun-soo pretended to know, Kim Sang-il and Kwak Ki-hyuk opened their eyes with a curious expression on who they were even though they were familiar.

Then he smiled broadly as if he remembered it.

“Oh, Jinju! Also, I didn't know it was Jinju because Ara Jung wasn't there. Because the two of them go together as a set. Hahaha."

At Kwak Ki-hyuk's words, Park Jin-joo greeted him casually, as if he had heard many such sounds.

"nice to meet you. It's been a while?"

“What happened to Jinju and Jung Ara? Now, once the film festival is selected, the actors have to participate in conversations with the audience, but I can’t communicate well.”

I wondered how many times Go Gun-soo had contacted him.

“Ara Jung joined a big agency.”

“Where?”

Go Gun-soo asked.

“It’s an agency called Trees and Forests.”

“Ah, trees and forests… … . Good for you. It is difficult to enter as a new actor.”

“I think an acquaintance connected me, and I think I did well in the audition. I cut out the parts I acted in director Ko’s work and put them in my portfolio.”

“Yes, I asked for it last time, so I edited it a little and gave it to me. It’s still a bit difficult to reveal the whole thing.”

For Ara Jung, it was an opportunity to win and win.

However, he could not know how much he would grow without Park Jin-joo by his side.

The story of Go Gun-soo and Park Jin-ju continued.

“I heard that the actors there are difficult to manage. If I get invited later, I might be a bit picky.”

“I think they are doing this to protect the actors.”

"Yeah. You'll have to think about that later, well. Our work has only just begun to be distributed. It may or may not be selected for the film festival, but I don’t think it’s something to worry about already.”

We rushed to the theater to hear that the audience had already entered the theater and that it was now closing.

As soon as everyone was seated, the stage greeting proceeded.

As the actors appeared, the audience blew a whistle and cheered.

In an instant, I remembered the days in my previous life when I greeted the stage as a film director.

That day, I was the main character.

During a week or two when the movie was hanging in theaters, requests for interviews from all kinds of media poured in, and the spotlight turned to me.

However, this too was like an illusion that disappeared in an instant when the movie collapsed.

Shin Se-yeon did not come to the stage greeting.

It was understandable that the stage was full with only the main and supporting actors, but I was worried about how much I would regret it.

Director Bong Tae-jin held up the microphone and talked about his feelings, and the microphone returned to the actors.

Following the greeting of director Bong Tae-jin, who seemed a little shy about this work, the microphone returned to the actors.

At that time, Se-yeon Shin, who was sitting in the front seat, suddenly ran out onto the stage.

The audience, the director, and the actors all looked puzzled.

Shin Se-yeon was also confused as if she had been suddenly pushed out.

From the looks of it, it must have been that Se-chan Jang, who was sitting next to him, was pushing it.

“It’s Shin Se-yeon.”

Go Gun-soo and his friends also recognized Shin Se-yeon.

At that time, director Bong Tae-jin accepted the microphone again and introduced Shin Se-yeon.

“Ah, sorry. We forgot to introduce one of our actors. Shin Se-yeon, who played a very important role in our film, although it was a minor role. Please welcome me with applause.”

The audience also applauded thanks to director Bong Tae-jin who made it not to panic.

Shin Se-yeon also barely said hello, went next to the actors and stood in the corner.

Jang Se-chan waved his arm toward Shin Se-yeon as if to stand in the middle.

‘That bastard!’

Because of a guy named Jang Se-chan, the stage greeting ended without knowing how it ended.

The excitement of seeing in the actual history of ‘Dog of Atlas’ has also disappeared.

Shin Se-yeon, who sat down after the greeting, was concerned.

Because it was a VIP premiere, many famous actors, famous directors, and reporters also came.

The other actors sat in the front seat, and director Bong Tae-jin was seen moving to the back seat.

I knew why Bong Tae-jin went to the back seat and sat down.

In a later interview, he said:

After his first movie was over, the ending credits were going up, but he said he was too shy to leave.

Today I will witness it and dry it.

As soon as the movie started, Koh Geon-soo and his friends fell in love with the movie, and I also fell in love with the movie directed by Bong Tae-jin when it was released in 2000 after a long, long time.

In my previous life, I missed seeing 'The Dog of Atlas' at the premiere, and later, after the release of the 10 million movie 'The Monster', I looked for the previous work.

After returning, it was good.

As soon as the ending credits went up after the movie was over, I saw director Bong Tae-jin, who was sitting at the very end of the back seat, running back and forth.

Whoops.

When the lights in the theater turned on, everyone stood up.

Se-yeon Shin, who was sitting in the front seat, was nowhere to be seen, and I hurried out of the theater, but could not find it.

Luckily, I got a call.

-Hello. Mr. Annam? Sorry. I got up first because I had to say hello to the directors.

―Why aren't you coming soon?

Jang Se-chan's voice came over the phone.

- Yes, let's go.

It was like going to the after-party where the premiere was ending.

It will be an after-party to which only film related people are invited.

“Seyeon, are you okay?”

—… … Yes, it was a mistake by the CEO earlier. I apologized too.

He wasn't the kind of person to apologize.

“Hey, why are you leaving so quickly?”

My friends went to the bathroom and came out late.

“Why, what’s going on?”

Go Geon-soo asked as if worried.

"Nothing. Go. Did you enjoy the movie?”

“Yeah, I had fun. But I hope it will be a hit.”

In fact, the film never crossed the break-even point and performed poorly.

However, this is only the first and last failure, and from the next work onwards, every work released will be a box office hit.

As I was leaving the theater with my friends, I saw director Bong Tae-jin having an interview at the entrance.

I had come to take a picture together on this historic day, but I don't feel like it right now.

“It’s still broad daylight, but let’s have a beer. I haven't seen you in a long time."

"okay."

“Good beer!”

Sending my friends first, I searched for Shin Se-yeon a little more and joined later.

I tried asking people who seemed to be involved, but I couldn't find a place to hang out.

I had some laundry left to do, so I ordered a drink instead of a beer.

While I was shaking my head and putting down my glass, I got a call from Jinju Park.

“Yes, how are you?”

- Mr. Annam, this is Jinju Park. I waited in the theater, but I didn't see it.

Oh, I forgot about Park Jin-joo because I was worried about Shin Se-yeon.

When a woman's voice came out of my cell phone, my friends put their ears close to my cell phone.

I had to push my friends' heads and get up and come out to be able to talk properly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Pearl Mr. I'm having a beer nearby with my friends right now, would you like to come over for a while?”

-no. It's okay. Can I go to the laundromat in the evening? I think I have something to say and I need to find the clothes I left.

"yes I'm okay. We'll be leaving in an hour from here, so come slow."

-Yes, I'll see you later.

After hanging up the phone, Go Gun-soo, Kim Sang-il, and Kwak Ki-hyuk looked at each other with curious eyes.

“Why do you get so many phone calls from women? In the past, if I only went in front of a woman, I would be sulky.”

“It’s Pearl Seed.”

“Park Jin-joo?”

"Huh."

“You know, we’ve known each other longer, but it’s not Ko Kun-su, why are you calling me?”

“I have a job. Hey, let's go have a drink and go."

After unwinding with my friends after a long time, I got up early.

Shin Se-yeon was worried and kept calling, but she didn't answer.

It was good to see how he was doing at the after-party.

‘Is there anything I can do to succeed on this floor?’

Even when I was a film director in my previous life, there were many new actors who came to take pictures of me everywhere I went.

The office desk was full of profiles sent by actors, but it was extremely rare to see them properly.

Rather than disappearing without a presence, it was the physiology of the floor where one had to reveal one's existence anyway.

Standing in the position of aspiring actress Shin Se-yeon, not a film director, I could see how difficult it was.

It was good to work hard, but I thought that I didn't want to get entangled in bad things.

As there are many people who want to succeed as entertainers, there are many agencies that use it to cheat or do bad things.

As I've seen a lot of actors who were scammed by agencies, I was a little worried.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

I should have told him to look into it and do it, but I regretted not doing it.

By the time the afterglow of the sunset almost disappeared in the sky, I was able to return to the laundry.

I rolled up the sign that said [closed] on the door of the laundry and went inside.

To clear his mind, he took out his clothes from the laundry bin and arranged them, and ironed the washed clothes with skill.

There was a lot of smoke coming out of the steam and the smell of laundry was a bit of a relief.

He spent his time looking for clothes for customers who came to find them occasionally, and in the spare time he looked out the window blankly.

After returning today, I went to someone's premiere for the first time, but I was a little unfamiliar with myself because I didn't feel like I wanted to go back to that time.

Was shooting a movie something you could let go of in an instant?

I couldn't have imagined myself trying to climb the pyramid for the sake of box office success.

Then I heard someone arguing outside the laundromat.

Apparently, two middle-aged men and women were flirting with each other holding a pot and a bag of chicken.

“No, what are you doing here to sharpen the knife properly?”

"You're the only one complaining about how I sharpened the knife. You can go somewhere else. Why are you dissatisfied with leaving it to me to meet?”

“Still, I felt sorry for raising one son alone, so I entrusted him with a knife that he didn’t use!”

“Why don’t you leave a knife that you won’t use? Don't worry about me, let's raise your daughter well!"

"huh!"

"huh!"

The woman holding the pot was Jinah Kim's mother, and the person holding the bag of chicken was Yongcheon's father.

As you can see, I was in the mood to take the food I brought back during a fight like that, so I opened the door quickly.

“What are you two doing up to here?”

The two of them turned their heads around each other like enemies and looked around in surprise.

“Ah, Annam. look at my mind I ran into this yangban here and forgot what I was going to do. Take this.”

The old woman held out her pot.

"What's this?"

“No, my Jin-ah comes here all the time and is just annoyed because she doesn’t study, but she… … . Ho Ho."

"Congratulations. Jina did a great job this time.”

“She said that Jin-ah was all thanks to the laundry man. She just said she likes japchae, so she made some japchae.”(Read more @ hotmtlnovel.xyz)

"Thank you."

When I took the pot, Yongcheon's father hid the chicken behind his back and was about to leave.

“Father, didn’t you bring that for me?”

“Oh, no. What. I bought it to eat later with Yongcheon, but I thought I wouldn’t be able to eat it today, so I gave Annam to go.”

“No, what are you hiding that it is shameful? I just saw that I bought it to give Annam.”

Her aunt came out with another tick-tick.

"Please stop it. You two look friendly... … .”

“What is your friend? There is nothing else.”

“Ugh, why did we meet here again? Annam eats this deliciously. I'm sorry about our Yongcheon, so I bought one. I will stop.”

He held me in my arms like my father would throw a bag of chicken, and he turned around and walked in stride.

The old woman who saw it also hurriedly bowed and followed.

“Annam-ah, eat well and leave the bowl to Jin-ah.”

"Yeah."

The aunt followed Yongcheon's father, and she started arguing with her again and flirting.

‘You two look very friendly, don’t you?’

Why is it so funny to see them shove each other?

After looking for a while, she saw it disappearing from sight and entered the laundry again.

Chicken and Japchae... … .

Normally, I would have licked the bowl enough to make a hole in it, but now the food didn't fall into my mouth because I was worried.

After taking a few bites, I put the leftover food in the refrigerator and walked around the laundry to think about it.

In fact, he was waiting for Park Jin-joo.

About an hour before the laundry closed, Park Jin-joo came to visit.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to this town, and the atmosphere has improved a lot. I also love the smell of coffee from the coffee shop in front. I think I will be in this town soon.”

"right? Can I get you a cup of coffee?”

“Yeah, the coffee I drank here at that time kept coming to mind.”

"Did you eat?"

"Yeah."

“It was so nice to see you at the theater today.”

"Me too. I thought I would meet people like this.”

There was silence for a moment while making coffee.

Park Jin-ju looked around the laundry and found Yong-cheon's book and started looking at it.

“Ah, my neighborhood kid sometimes comes here to study. No, it seems to come every day. Thanks to that, I am not bored and I am happy.”

"It's good. Cozy, comfortable, and generous enough for anyone to embrace, you can feel this laundromat. Outside, competition bleeds each other, but here time seems to have stopped.”

“Is that a compliment?”

"of course. Oh, I learned a bit about that person named Se-chan Jang. A friend of mine joined the entertainment department as a reporter intern.”

"Oh yeah?"

Read more @ hotmtlnovel.xyz. Chinese MTL Fan-Fiction/Second Element novel can be read @ HotMTLNovel for free.