The Famous Millionaire

Some elderly women said they would work for free, and an elderly woman even said she would ride a taxi right now to meet her. Every time she answered the call, she became more and more embarrassed.

“Oh, no! By heavens!”

Hyunwoo also felt the situation had grown more serious than he thought. The elderly women who were not called got really angry, but Hyunwoo didn’t mind. There were many potential elderly women who wanted to work any number of jobs at Jisook’s factory. In that case, competition among them was inevitable. With transparent competition, it was only natural to get the complaints.

That was the case of the elderly women. Those who didn’t get selected wouldn’t agree with Jisook’s way of hiring, complaining, “I can do better,” “I can work as much as others,” “Why do you think I’m inferior to others?”

So, Hyunwoo arranged a safety valve, which was none other than Mrs. Hong.

When Jisook was on the spot, Hyunwoo whispered into Mrs. Hong’s ear,

“If we have to hire another one, someone here must give way, and I think as you’re the most senior, you can…”

It was true Mrs. Hong was the oldest among the group, but she was not persuaded.

Obviously, her eyes opened wide at Hyonwoo’s words.

Besides, she had a fiery character. When she was in a cheerful mood, she was agreeable to everyone, but once she got angry, nobody could stop her.

As expected, Mrs. Hong was actively involved.

Reaching out to Jisook, she spoke in a low and heavy voice, “Give me the phone, please.”

As soon as she received the phone, Mrs. Hong raised her tone and said tersely, “Hey, this is Mrs. Hong. Who the hell are you?”

Hearing the other party’s name, she said in a tough voice with glaring eyes, “Mrs. Pae? Are you going to drive me out to get this job? Uh? No, you said no?”

From that moment it was Mrs. Hong’s job to handle the nagging calls from the elderly women.

Whenever Jisook received a call, she handed over her phone to Mrs. Hong, who played the role of a troubleshooter perfectly.

***

“I want to help you, but I’m afraid I’m not so good with everything,” said Jonghyon Yuk.

Then, he began to talk about himself, why he dreamed about being an actor and why he got the pen name ‘Pilgaek’ of his novel in Story Mecca.

His own episodes naturally started with his childhood days.

“Well, my father was a wandering poet and a womanizer. He roamed around the whole country since he was young, and everywhere he went, he caused trouble,” said Jonghyon.

Hyunwoo couldn’t believe that. As his father was handsome enough to get the attention of young women, his son Jonghyon must be as handsome, but he was not.

As if he read Hyunwoo’s mind, Jonghyon giggled and said, “Well, I think I partake of the voice and hair of my father’s, but I resemble my mother in the rest of the stuff. Don’t imagine my father from my looks. Ha ha ha,” said Jonghyon, giggling.

Hyunwoo giggled, too.

“My father didn’t want to have a baby because of his womanizing character, but my mother accidentally got pregnant.”

After all, Jonghyon’s parents reported to the vital records office about their marriage without even having a marriage ceremony and lived together.

Their parents managed to get by until Jonghyon entered elementary school. Around that time his father, who had itchy feet, stole out of the house for several days often and came back after a week or, sometimes, a month.

He repeated that kind of wandering life, and his mother had to make a decision, after all.

She also ended up being a wanderer like his father. Though it was a ridiculous decision for her, it was a wise one when Jonghyon came to think of it now.

This made Jonghyon stay with his grandmother most of his childhood days.

“Looks like you had a difficult time financially,” said Hyunwoo.

“Well, my father was a carpenter, so wherever he went he got a job quickly. Though we were not affluent at that time, we were not that poor.”

“Oh, I see…”

“And my father once worked as an actor. As he was handsome and had good acting skills, he was popular among the directors, but he was always given a minor role because of his womanizing temperament.”

“I think he could have been a star with a proper role,” said Hyunwoo.

“In my mind, he had great potential.”

Still, his father cultivated a network in the entertainment world, and that’s why Jonghyon dreamed about acting, but Jonghyon was different from his father in many aspects. He was not as handsome as his father, and his acting was not good enough. He could not succeed with his father’s network in the entertainment world alone.

Then, Jonghyon suddenly brought up the topic of movies.

“Have you ever heard about ‘Instinctive Hunter’?”

“Ah, yes.”

The movie had been a great box office hit. Though it was a low-budget movie, it topped the box office rankings at the time, raking in more money than other local movies or Hollywood films.

“At that time, I realized for the first time that I was talented at writing. Other writers recommended that I turn into a writer, saying I had more talent as a writer than an actor. So, I turned over a new leaf in writing.”

But the result was not good enough. Though he took the right direction, his method was not right.

Jonghyon was pretty much resourceful in ideas but had no writing ability to weave them into marketable stories. He reproached himself for that.

“Would you want to try a short animation story?”

“I’ve never tried it before.”

“Well, nobody started with that first. Just give it a try. At least, your ideas can hit gold, I think,” said Hyunwoo, thumbing up.

Hyunwoo continued to persuade him, and at last, he nodded his head.

“I don’t have a good story now, but if I hit upon one, let me try.”

“If the story is good, let me pay well for it.”

“Sure, you should.”

They clinked their cups together.

Their drinking continued into the wee hours.

“Hey, would you want to have one more drink at my house. It’s not far from here.”

“Is it spacious enough for me to hit the sack?”

“Don’t worry. My place is very spacious.”

Hyunwoo followed him to his house, which was a narrow condo.

Jonghyon’s parents were watching TV at the moment.

“How do you do? My name is Hyunwoo Jang.”

As soon as he saw Jonghyon’s father, he uttered an exclamation in his heart.

There was no exaggeration in Jonghyon’s words.

Hyunwoo couldn’t believe his father was over 70. He had a boyish face, his back was straight and his body was well built. Besides, his voice was pleasant.

“Nice to see you here. I guess this is a meaningful get-together, so let’s have a drink.”

Though it was quite late in the night, Hyunwoo didn’t care.

I think it’s a good thing I came here.

***

Whenever he had a chance, Hyunwoo contacted Nami Yu. He texted her a message that if she was in a difficult position to pick up his phone, she could call him.

However, she usually sent him a text message that she couldn’t take any time out as she was really busy. Finally, he got a message that she could meet him very briefly.

I really can’t make an appointment after dinner. I’m available during the day. I’m going to go to Namyangju this afternoon for a photoshoot.

They arranged a meeting at a cafe in Namyangju at 4 pm.

Hyunwoo arrived a bit earlier, and Nami came 20 minutes late, covering her face with sunglasses, hat, and mask.

Then, a little later a guy came into the cafe alone, covering his face with sunglasses like Nami.

Looking around the cafe furtively, he approached the table where Nami and Hyunwoo were seated. Then, he took a seat at an unoccupied table nearby, ordering a cup of coffee.

Neither Hyunwoo nor Nami paid any attention to that man.