Even though he had left precisely to avoid the headache of dealing with Nam Yiwon, his back ached with tension as he braced himself to check the contest results. Throughout the day’s filming, he couldn’t count how many times he had glanced at his phone, constantly checking the time. Seungjun jumped in place a few times to quell his excitement, then pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He inhaled deeply, letting the acrid scent of tobacco clear away the lingering trace of Nam Yiwon’s scent on his clothes.
‘Effort doesn’t always guarantee reward.’ Seungjun repeated this inwardly, tempering his expectations. This wasn’t a script written specifically for a contest; rather, it was a work he had diligently crafted since his freshman year, driven by the desire to one day create his own complete piece. Having finally completed it, he had simply sought out a suitable contest to submit it to. Whether he won an award or not, he could simply consider it a valuable experience. Regardless of any accolades, the finished script itself was an invaluable asset, a testament to his growth.
‘Mind control complete.’ Seungjun took a deep breath and checked the announcement.
“Category… One-Act.”
In the announcement, which simply listed the results, he easily located the one-act category. One Grand Prize winner, two Excellence Award winners, and five Honorable Mentions. It took him less than ten seconds to scan the eight titles and their respective winners.
Though he couldn’t find the name Baek Seungjun, a familiar name caught his eye. Seungjun’s finger traced over the familiar name.
Nam Yiwon,
Excellence Award.
Seungjun stared silently at his phone for a long moment. The three characters of the name, neither blurring nor transforming into other words, remained starkly clear.
The thought, ‘Could it be a different person with the same name?’ flashed through his mind, but he knew it was impossible. It wasn’t a common name, and the contest was hosted by HBN. Even the title, ‘Jinx,’ sounded like something that guy would come up with.
He had mentioned participating in this contest directly to Nam Yiwon before. Usually, wouldn’t someone chime in and say they also participated? ‘Why hadn’t he said anything? Was it because his sister was the director of HBN’s drama department, and he wanted to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings?’
‘Or was it even a misunderstanding?’
Seungjun puffed out his chest, then released a long sigh. Already feeling annoyed at being mocked by Nam Yiwon, seeing his name among the contest winners stirred a strange mix of emotions within him. Jinx. He mulled over the intriguing title, idly speculating about its content, when suddenly, Nam Yiwon’s incessant declaration of ‘It’s boring’ echoed in his mind, furrowing his brow.
‘Would adding a lonely death ending truly make a difference? What if he had followed Nam Yiwon’s advice from the start? Could he have created a convincing production in ten minutes? Is a work’s value solely determined by how much it captures people’s interest? Was this why Professor Park Chan had mentioned Nam Yiwon?’
‘Even so, to suddenly suggest adding an elderly person dying alone and children smelling a decaying corpse as the ending?’
“Senior.”
Seungjun’s head snapped up at the sudden sound of his name being called. His mind had been so muddled with thoughts that he hadn’t even registered the passage of time.
Nam Yiwon approached leisurely from a distance. His gaze, attentive and cautious, was different from before. He glanced at the cigarette in Seungjun’s hand and asked,
“You weren’t coming, so I came out to check. Is something wrong?”
‘Why would he ask if something’s wrong? Am I really that bad at hiding my emotions?’ Seungjun roughly swept his bangs back, then puffed out his cheeks to relax his facial muscles.
‘Filming is almost over anyway. I won’t have to see him again after this, so let’s just finish things well. For now, I’ll wrap this up quickly and go drink alone.’ As he composed himself and looked up, Nam Yiwon raised an eyebrow.
“Give me one too.”
When Seungjun offered him the pack, he nodded slightly in thanks. As he put the cigarette to his lips, Seungjun immediately lit it for him, and Nam Yiwon began to smoke rather awkwardly. Seungjun swallowed a dry laugh and spoke first, feigning nonchalance.
“Shouldn’t we wrap up filming today? You won an award, you know. You should have a celebration party.”
“Oh… I completely forgot to check. I won an award? How did you know?”
Nam Yiwon’s eyes sparkling as he asked again. A flush spread across his cheeks, and his eyes glistened.
‘That look again. I feel like I’ve seen that face before.’ Seungjun licked his dry lips, trying to recall. His reaction seemed subtly off, not quite fitting someone joyful about winning an award. It was as if he was more interested in Seungjun’s reaction than in the fact that his own name was on the winner’s list. Nam Yiwon gently lowered his eyelids, watching Seungjun. Without a single blink.
‘Is he curious about what face a loser would make? Does he expect me to be wallowing in defeat? Arrogant bastard.’ Seungjun looked him squarely in the eye and replied,
“Everyone’s talking about it.”
“Oh, really?”
Nam Yiwon’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he asked again, his tone notably higher. His cheekbones rose, and his lips twitched as if he were about to burst into laughter, but he ultimately held it in. Instead, Nam Yiwon waved his hand dismissively with an air of playful cunning. The cigarette clutched between his fingers, barely smoked, was already crumbling to ash.
“It’s not even the Grand Prize, so why a party? Let’s just finish discussing the ending scene and then go.”
‘Just an Excellence Award, is that it? Is this guy clueless? No, that’s not right. Considering his directing ideas, he’s definitely not someone who misses context. Alright. Let’s do this then. I’ll create a work of such high quality that this guy, who consistently calls my ideas ‘boring,’ won’t even be able to offer a polite dismissal. Does he think I can’t do it? At this point, it’s all or nothing.’ Seungjun gritted his teeth and looked up.
“That lonely death ending scene you suggested earlier, let’s go with it.”
“…Really?”
Nam Yiwon replied with a look Seungjun had never seen before, clearly quite surprised. After seeing only his nauseatingly smirking face, watching him widen his eyes in astonishment brought a slight sense of relief to Seungjun’s chest.
“Let’s cast about three kids and film the additional scene as soon as we can find a suitable date. How about we each prepare storyboards and meet tomorrow to discuss? I think I can get mine done in a day.”
Even as he spoke, the scene was vividly unfolding in his mind. As Seungjun lifted his chin and asked, Nam Yiwon blinked blankly.
He licked his upper lip. His slightly parted lips curled inward, then slowly, tautly, stretched into a smile so wide it smoothed away every wrinkle.
Just as Seungjun was about to ask ‘What are you grinning at?’, Nam Yiwon unexpectedly took a light grip on his arm with one hand. Even though Seungjun’s arm was quite muscular and thick, Nam Yiwon’s long fingers and broad palm firmly encircled his forearm. When Seungjun looked up, Nam Yiwon’s gently lowered eyes were fixed on him.
“Excellent.”
He said, his face flushed with excitement. Within the depths of his dark eyes, an unquantifiable anticipation shimmered and swelled, densely woven.
****
“If we shoot this house from this angle, the new high-rise apartments in the background will be visible. I think it would be good to capture them.”
Seungjun wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and looked up at the sky. Perhaps because the sky was exceptionally clear that day, he only realized on the very last day of filming that the high-rise apartments happened to be perfectly framed beyond the old man’s house.
‘What luck.’ Seungjun squatted, stood, and tilted his head in various directions, searching for the perfect angle. Meanwhile, Nam Yiwon gazed at the apartments in the distance with an indifferent expression.
Even today, for the shoot, that guy had dressed ridiculously ostentatiously. ‘Did he think he was an actor, not a director?’ As if his elegant scarf touching the ground would be a catastrophe, all the kneeling and crawling on the floor fell to Seungjun.
‘Someone like him would never understand the intention behind including the apartments in the background.’ Seungjun added a further explanation.
“If we frame a poor old man dying alone with high-rise apartments in the background, it can capture the reality of wealth disparity.”
“Your ideas are quite good today, Senior.”
Nam Yiwon smiled, looking down at Seungjun who was kneeling. Even that guy, who had previously offered nothing but harsh criticism, was finally forced to acknowledge it. Feeling a mix of quiet satisfaction and disdain, Seungjun snorted.
Given the highly specific scenario, their storyboards weren’t vastly different, but Seungjun found his edge in his specialty: detail. The messages and symbolism Seungjun intended to weave into the visual composition were completely absent from Nam Yiwon’s storyboard. Ultimately, the additional ending scene was filmed according to Seungjun’s storyboard. Considering the final quality, it was the obvious decision.
Seungjun actively took the lead, offering his opinion.
“And for the scene where the kid is hiding in the corner, I want to shoot it from a downward angle from that second-floor railing.”
“The gap in the second-floor railing is too narrow. Let’s just stick to the storyboard for that part.”
Nam Yiwon tilted his head, arms crossed. His demeanor was as askew as his tilted head.
‘Arrogant bastard.’ Seungjun straightened his knees, stood up, and retorted,
“We need to shoot from above to see the waste paper in the cart.”
“Ah, speaking of the waste paper in the cart, Senior, you brought that today, didn’t you? Wouldn’t the cart be empty, since people sell all their waste paper to the junk dealer every day?”
True to his pampered upbringing, Nam Yiwon babbled on, completely clueless. Seungjun shook his head and explained,
“They would have collected the waste paper they found on their way home, intending to sell it the next day. These days, with the increase in delivery services, waste paper prices are high. The competition is fierce, so they’d want to pick up even one more sheet.”
“Hmm. I understand you’re meticulous about details, Senior, but it’s not worth climbing up there to shoot, especially without proper equipment. Or, how about we just pull the cart forward?”
“The gap is too narrow; if we pull the cart forward, the shot won’t work. I want that cart to be visible behind the crouching child. Even if we can’t get through the railing, I think we could sit on top of it to shoot.”
“Is seeing a few sheets of waste paper really that important?”