Chapter 5: The Routine of Returning Home
“Southern Town, wrap!”
After enduring twenty days of Thailand’s harsh weather, Kang Jae-hoon finally reached the wrap day.
The assistant director handed him a wilted plastic flower.
Before Jae-hoon could thank him, Kang Jung-min grabbed him by the back of the neck and lifted him up in front of Director Yoon Jae-kyun.
“Director, my kid’s not bad, right?”
After saying that, Kang Jung-min gave Jae-hoon a kick.
Realizing what was happening, Jae-hoon immediately bowed ninety degrees to Director Yoon:
“Thank you for your guidance during this time.”
Yoon Jae-kyun noticed the V-shaped sunburn line peeking from Jae-hoon’s tactical shirt collar, then subtly nodded:
“You’re Kang Jae-hoon, right?”
“Yes!”
“Not bad.”
Some things are best left unspoken; it was enough for Yoon Jae-kyun to remember Kang Jae-hoon.
“I’ll see him off.”
“Okay.”
While Kang Jung-min was packing Jae-hoon’s luggage, he suddenly found a bottle of sunscreen spray tucked inside.
“Hey, didn’t you say you didn’t bring any?”
Kang Jae-hoon was speechless.
“I’m confiscating this.”
Kang Jung-min pocketed the sunscreen spray.
“Mi-hye is performing Macbeth next Saturday. You’ll be playing Lady Macduff in a gender-bending role.”
“Okay… huh?”
“Except Lady Macbeth, all other roles are played by men.”
“Oh…”
The airport jet bridge’s air conditioning sent shivers down Jae-hoon’s spine.
Kang Jung-min tossed him his boarding pass.
“Passport on page three. Go home and rest today. Rehearsals start tomorrow at the drama club.”
“Understood.”
Spring in Seoul was experiencing a cold snap.
The chilly April wind at Incheon Airport extinguished the lingering heat from Thailand on Kang Jae-hoon.
As the taxi crossed the Han River Bridge, Jae-hoon searched on his phone and found that Lady Macduff’s role required mastering Scottish curses and the gait of a noblewoman.
By the time the car arrived at the apartment building, it was already eleven at night.
He looked up toward Lee Sung-kyung’s room—the light was still on.
“Sung-kyung—”
“Summoning souls?”
Although the face mask concealed Lee Sung-kyung’s expression perfectly, the sparkle in her eyes gave her away.
“The hallway’s motion sensor light is actually working again.”
“That’s because I replaced the bulb.”
“Oh—”
Kang Jae-hoon squatted down and opened his suitcase, pulling out elephant-patterned beach shorts.
“A Thai souvenir for you, Sung-kyung!”
“Throw it away.”
“It’s traditional Thai handicraft!”
Lee Sung-kyung squinted as she examined the tag on the shorts:
“This says ‘Made in China.’”
“…Chinese clothes have excellent breathability!”
“Keep it for yourself as a rag.”
“It can be pajamas too!”
“Kang Jae-hoon.”
“Hmm?”
“Go take a shower. You smell.”
“…”
Come to think of it, this was the most comfortable shower Kang Jae-hoon had taken in nearly a month.
Especially since it was a hot shower.
By the time he finished cleaning the bathroom and came out, Lee Sung-kyung’s bedroom light was already off.
On the living room coffee table sat a box of AmorePacific aloe vera gel.
The elephant-patterned shorts had mysteriously disappeared.
The next morning.
“Did the water heater go on strike today?”
Kang Jae-hoon poked his head out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.
Without looking up from her fashion magazine, Lee Sung-kyung said:
“You woke up seven minutes late.”
“I have to report to the drama club today.”
“So?”
“I need to borrow concealer to cover my sunburn…”
“Third from the left on the second shelf.”
Hearing this, Kang Jae-hoon pulled out a toothpaste-like tube from the acrylic organizer and squeezed some onto his face haphazardly.
His reflection instantly turned an eerie bluish-gray.
“Sung-kyung, this… doesn’t look right.”
Catching sight of his face resembling a cemented wall, Lee Sung-kyung quickly covered her smirking mouth with the magazine.
“That’s nail base coat. Can’t you tell left from right?”
“Argh…”
Kang Jae-hoon turned the tap to the strongest flow, scrubbing his face with the sound like he was skinning a catfish.
“Come here.”
Lee Sung-kyung snapped the magazine shut and squeezed concealer onto her fingertip.
“Look up.”
Kang Jae-hoon was forced to tilt his head back.
“Don’t move.”
“I’m not moving…”
“Your eyelashes are twitching like they’re having a spasm.”
The scent of citrus blended with lavender filled his nostrils. Kang Jae-hoon absentmindedly stared at the feather necklace swinging at her collar.
Suddenly, Lee Sung-kyung pressed harder on his cheekbone.
“Keep your eyes from wandering or I’ll gouge them out.”
“Sung-kyung, what perfume are you wearing…”
“Shut up.”
“…”
Moments later, Lee Sung-kyung stepped back to examine her work.
Kang Jae-hoon’s sunburn had been transformed into a subtle warm brown, like a gentle bite mark.
“By the way, Sung-kyung, I forgot to tell you yesterday—I have an agent now!”
Lee Sung-kyung pulled out a wet wipe from under the coffee table to clean her hands.
“So, did he get you any gigs?”
“Uh…”
“Which means zero.”
Rendered speechless, Kang Jae-hoon silently changed his shoes by the door.
Suddenly, Lee Sung-kyung stuffed a few packets of instant ginseng tea into his arms.
“For the seniors at the drama club.”
“Sung-kyung is the best—”
“Shut up, you’re going to be late.”
As the security door slammed shut, Kang Jae-hoon peeked through the crack again.
“Want to have kimchi stew tonight?”
“I don’t eat kimchi.”
“How about army stew?”
“We’ll see.”
The door slammed with a thunderous bang.
Lee Sung-kyung stood by the window, peeking down at him—he stumbled over the steps and nearly collided with a lamppost.
She bit her lip to stifle her laughter and casually shoved the elephant shorts into the washing machine.
“Beep beep beep—”
The honking of a car abruptly pierced the morning mist.
Kang Jae-hoon turned his head and nearly bumped into a side mirror—the white van labeled “Seong-ho Fried Chicken” was mounting the curb.
The driver’s window rolled down suddenly, and Kim Dae-won, toothpick clenched in his mouth, lifted his chin.
“Get in.”
Kang Jae-hoon curled up his long legs and squeezed into the passenger seat.
The cabin smelled thick with sauce and grease, but Kang Jae-hoon didn’t mind at all.
“How did you know where I live?”
“You told me at the airport yesterday.”
Just as Kang Jae-hoon opened his mouth, a plastic-sealed booklet suddenly landed on his knees.
“The damn Shakespeare play you’re in—”
“Shakespeare!”
“Whatever it is, I got this for you.”
Kang Jae-hoon looked down at the booklet, where several crooked, hand-drawn characters read: “Quick Guide to Peninsula Dialects.”
Although the peninsula isn’t large, its core dialect system is divided into six types, with over twenty varieties if subdivided.
“From Jeolla Province to Jeju Island, twenty-three tonal variations.”
Kim Dae-won raised an eyebrow at Kang Jae-hoon proudly:
“I don’t know much about theater, but I know the crying tone of Chungcheong Province and the cursing style of Gyeongsang Province can get you at least three more close-up shots.”
Flipping to page seven of the booklet, a simple sketch of an old lady blowing smoke rings accompanied the Jeolla dialect.
“Is this your ex-girlfriend?”
“Bullshit! That’s the bathhouse owner who scrubbed Cho Seung-woo’s back in ‘The Swindlers.’ She snagged three close-ups with the line, ‘You little bastard, don’t drink all the foot-washing water.’”
Kang Jae-hoon’s finger traced the ink under the plastic cover.
“The play requires standard language…”
“Standard language is useless! Look at those viral scenes in movies—who uses standard language? Remember your teacher’s line in ‘New World’: ‘Skinny old men, let’s go together!’ Who doesn’t know that?”
Kang Jung-min’s character, Jung-cheong, had many iconic scenes in “New World,” but only “Elevator God” and the oddly phrased “Skinny old men” went viral.
Jae-hoon suddenly flipped to the blank page for Jeju dialect.
“Why is there nothing here?”
“Because I can’t learn Jeju dialect.”
[PS: Signing the contract this afternoon. For those wanting to snag some crypto benefits, feel free to invest.]