Life, Once Again!

all and barely breathed like they were invertebrates made them look like they were completely drunk.
Their hands lifting their glasses looked unstable as though the glasses would slip out at any moment, and the way they loosened their jaws looked like they were drunk to the top of their heads.
She suddenly had the thought that they might do well even if they didn’t drink.
They didn’t open those bottles just because they wanted to drink, right?

“Hey, do you remember how I looked out for you in high school? Punk, I practically fed you throughout high school because you were dirt poor,” Sooil said while tapping on Maru’s cheek.

Maru snorted back at him.

“You call that looking out for me? You were just pitying me.
Don’t you remember what you said to me every time you treated me to food? You asked me what my parents were doing that they can’t even feed their own son.”

“I said that because I was worried goddammit.
So what, it’s not like I didn’t buy you food.
Heck, I even paid for traveling expenses, didn’t I? Without me, you would have been a wimp throughout all of high school.
Where else would you be able to find a friend like me? I taught you how to study, I treated you to food, and I brought you to a place like this.”

“Yeah, thanks.
I’m fucking moved to tears, punk.
But did you know? You’re doing that out of self-satisfaction.
I’m not some idiot.
Do you think I didn’t know? You just feel superior by helping me out, don’t you? Tell me honestly.”

“Punk.
That’s not something you say to a friend.”

“Like hell you’re a friend.”

Thorns grew out in what started off as a joking conversation.
Jiyoon bit on her thumbnails and watched the two actors.
Just ten minutes ago, they were talking about a trip they went on together, how they were scolded together by the teacher, and about how one helped out the other in confessing to a girl, but the friendship between the two became colder.
The distance between the two, which originally looked like they were going to toast at any moment, started widening.
The change was gradual, but once they started talking about money, the distance widened dramatically.
They came back from ad-libbing to the script.

“That was a little harsh, don’t you think?”

“What’d I do?”

“Hey.
You’re supposed to be thanking me when I brought an unemployed guy like you to somewhere so good.
Why are you acting so proud? Honestly, it’s because you had a friend like me that you can come to a place like this, you know? Without me, you would have become a dropout a long time ago.
No wait, you still can’t get a job, so you’re practically a dropout even now.”

“Shut your trap before I start saying cuss words.”

“Cuss words? From you? Now you’re getting angry at my jokes?”

Jiyoon looked at the script in front of her as she listened to the conversation between the two.
Even the lines that sounded like they were spat out spontaneously were precisely according to the script.
Every little detail down to each little space and comma was on the script.
Although they were speaking with heavy breaths and crooked lips, the words that hit her ears were crystal clear.
She knew from high school how hard it was to say the lines exactly according to the script.
She knew how tricky it was to get her words across.

She suddenly had the thought that perhaps Maru, who acted alongside her and the others on the 5th-floor hall a long time ago, might not have been able to bring out all of his skills.
Jiyoon honestly didn’t have the confidence to receive those words that were filled with emotions.
She had the thought that it was thanks to Sooil, an actor that could receive his words, being in front of him that he could bring out his full skills.
Actor – that word echoed inside her head.

The air given off by the two people became more and more vicious, and they looked like they were going to break out into a fight at any moment.
She was feeling nervous watching them even though she knew that they were just acting.
Eventually, their emotions reached their peak and broke out of the frame of patience that bottled them up.
Sooil kicked the soju glass with his foot.
The soju inside the glass spilled everywhere, and the glass rolled over and hit the wall next to Ando, who was holding the camera.
Neither the actors nor the camera director bat an eyelid.

“You’re a fucking beggar.”

Maru charged toward Sooil, who stood up and turned his back.
Jiyoon was able to see Maru’s face from the front.
His face, which she presumed would turn vicious, looked incredibly sad.
He smashed down the soju glass at the fallen Sooil’s head.
Jiyoon clenched her eyes shut.
She forgot that this was a shoot.
She was reminded of the cat that died because it was run over by a car a few days ago.
A sense of disgust spread out from the top of her head all the way down to her toes like a flash of lightning.

“Cut!”

Only after listening to Sora’s shout could she open her eyes again.
She saw Maru looking down at Sooil, still with those gloomy eyes.
Sooil also did not budge under him.
Just as she was thinking that something may have happened, both of them heaved a deep breath before standing up.

“That wasn’t bad, was it?”

“That was decent.
But you should have hit closer.
I could tell that you would miss.”

“If I did that, you would have a broken head.”

“If we get a good picture with a broken head, that sounds like profit to me.”

“The problem is that I would get two broken heads if you get one.
Director, how was that?”

The vicious atmosphere dissipated in an instant.
Jiyoon spat out the breath she was holding back.
For a few seconds after the cut sound, the two should have still remained as the characters in the film.
The disdain and rage in their emotions definitely remained after the cut sound.
She recalled how actors frequently had mental consultations.
She could understand why after looking at the two.
It would instead be strange if they were normal when they could act like that.

“Gosh, this is going to be hard to edit.
You two should have held back a little.
You’re trying to kill me by doing so well, aren’t you?”

Sora groaned in joy.
She seemed to have taken a liking to it.
Jiyoon looked at the two in a daze for a while before collecting herself and approaching the two.

“I’ll fix your makeup a little.”

Jiyoon thought as she wiped the sweat on her forehead that it was perhaps a good thing that she let go of her dream to become an actress while she was still in high school.
She didn’t have the confidence to do something like that.

“How was it?” Maru asked.

“You mean your acting?”

“Yes.”

“It was the best.”

Jiyoon put up her thumbs.