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Chapter 2: Return

According to the doctor, my heart stopped for a moment due to the shock caused by the excessive bleeding in my stomach.

Before I could come back to my senses, I was given a shocking piece of news—I had terminal stomach cancer and had only a month left to live.

“Ha, hahaha. This is a joke, right, doctor?”

“I’m sorry. We did our best, but there’s nothing more we can do at this time...”

The doctor explained to me that, while there was only a one in a million chance of neurotic gastritis turning to cancer, I had unfortunately become that one person whose stomach issue had rapidly progressed to cancer.

‘But I’ve worked so hard just to reach the position I have right now.’

I protested in denial and demanded a retest, but the doctors simply assured me they would focus on managing any pain.

Nothing was going according to my will—neither my body nor mind.

‘I can’t believe I only have one month left to live. Is this a form of divine mercy, granting me a month to bid farewell to those I’m leaving behind?’

Yet, this divine mercy seemed to be more of a curse to me.

D-29.

The only people who visited me at the hospital were the junior staff.

I asked my wife, who was tidying up the fruit basket I received as a gift, about what I had heard from reporter Gu Min-Ji.

However, my wife simply turned away and left the room without saying a single word.

It didn’t take too long before I finally received the answer to my question.

D-25.

The divorce papers arrived.

Gu Min-Ji was right.

Ju Yung-In did indeed have an affair with Dong-Soo hyung, or rather, that asshole Kim Dong-Soo.

I was a fool.

‘No. I’m not a fool. Those who betrayed me are at fault, so I’m not going to blame myself. But still, sending divorce papers to a man who’s dying is too cruel, isn’t it?’

I wondered if I had worked so hard my entire life just for this.

D-14.

I felt bitter when none of the top stars, who had become famous through my efforts, visited me. ‘Their character is just...’

All I felt was disappointment that I ruined my health by caring for such people.

D-10.

A group named ‘Faithful to the people who hate Jung Yoon-Ho’[1] visited my hospital room.

Faithful was a group of actors and singers from my previous company, Hoop Entertainment, who disliked me. They were the ones who stayed loyal to the previous president and didn’t side with Dong-Soo and me.

When I asked why they had only included me and not Dong-Soo in the group name, a simple answer came back—They expected Dong-Soo to betray Hoop Entertainment one day, but they thought I’d remain loyal to Hoop Entertainment.

After Kim Dong-Soo and I left, Hoop Entertainment not only struggled financially and eventually shut down, but the president had suffered a stroke and passed away not long after.

That was why they resented me so much.

Yet, despite their resentment toward me, the members of Faithful were the only people who visited me in my final days. They even said they understood the reason I left Hoop Entertainment. Hearing them speak of changing the group’s name and their words of encouragement left me feeling deeply touched.

I was filled with regret—To think that I had left these people behind to follow Dong-Soo.

‘How wonderful it would have been if I had stayed and worked with them...’

I looked at everyone who visited me one by one.

Yoo Eun-Ah, Kim Sae-Ri, Lee Tae-Poong, Kang Ha-Na, Park Sang-Gyu, Choi Duk-Bae.

But the very first member of Faithful, Jung Yoo-Jin, hadn’t shown up. She was the actress whose life changed at the age of 23 after losing her daughter, Miso, to a tragic accident.

It seemed like she still didn’t want to see me, but I couldn’t blame her. After all, her life changed completely after Miso’s death.

And so did mine.

D-7.

As my breathing grew more labored, they decided to put me on a ventilator.

I no longer had the strength to write in my planner nor did I have any energy left to feel sad. The foreign sensation of the artificial respirator in my mouth felt very uncomfortable.

I wanted to spit it out, but I lacked the strength to do so.

Death felt imminent.

D-3.

My senses had faded into oblivion.

I really wanted to see Yoo-Jin before I died, but she still hadn’t visited yet.

Yet, even if she were to visit me, I wouldn’t know how to treat her.

D-1.

It was Christmas Eve.

I wished to visit the memorial park where Miso rested, a place I hadn’t visited in ten years.

‘Maybe Miso would still be alive if I hadn’t listened to Kim Dong-Soo back then...’

I could still vividly remember Miso’s smiling face.

Would I be able to see her again after I die?

D-Day.

They administered a substantial dosage of painkillers, rendering me blissfully pain-free. The only thing I felt was a sense of serenity and calmness.

Although I had once vehemently denied and resisted my impending death, I had now come to terms with it. After receiving my divorce papers, I spent away all my wealth recklessly.

I sponsored plays and independent films that Faithful oversaw and requested for my remaining wealth, after paying for the hospital bills, to be donated to other patients. After all, I didn’t want to leave a single dime for my ex-wife. I didn’t have a religion, but I somehow wanted to end up in heaven.

Yesterday evening, I signed the divorce papers and sent them to the court.

The thought of the divorce papers being successfully processed gave me a sense of liberation despite my impending death.

‘Would this mean I’d legally die as a bachelor?’

I felt my life coming to an end as I had such thoughts in my head.

My heartbeat grew slower, and my senses dimmed as my breath became weaker.

At that moment, I heard someone’s voice.

“Oppa!”

It was Yoo-Jin’s voice.

She was Jung Yoo-Jin, a 33 years old leading actress in Korea who had won the Hwangryong Film Association’s Best Actress award three times in a row and starred in five dramas with over a 30% viewer rating. The voice of a rare talent, who had even ventured into Hollywood, echoed in my ears.

This felt like a dream.

“What is this? Oppa! How did you end up like this!?”

Yoo-Jin’s voice filled with despair resonated throughout the room.

She reprimanded me for neglecting my health as she sobbed away.

“What happened to Miso isn’t your fault, Oppa. I blamed you back then because I was too overwhelmed, but I’m sorry. Miso appeared in my dream last night—she said she’s happy and enjoying herself in heaven. So oppa, get up. Get up! You can’t leave like this!”

‘Thanks for saying that. Both you and I would have been happier if that hadn’t happened back then.’

I pushed away the respirator to utter those words with all the strength I had left while gasping for breath.

“I’m...sorry. I’ll...take good care of Miso...up there...You live a long life...okay? We’ll meet...again.”

After finishing my words with difficulty, I took one last breath.

As the flatline on the heart monitor emitted its somber tone, I fell into the deep, dark abyss.

***

Brrr.

I felt a familiar vibration tickling my left hand.

‘What’s going on? I’m dead, so why am I feeling a phone vibrate in my hand? Ah, maybe it’s the buzzer for the heaven waitlist.’

I tried to turn my head to see what the buzzer looked like, but I couldn\'t see anything.

‘Oh, right. My eyes are still closed.’

“Ugh.”

I opened my eyes with difficulty and saw my phone vibrating in my left hand.

‘Is this an alarm to remind me to work even after death? But wait a minute. Why am I holding a Galaxy Note 10? This is an old model from ten years ago.’

Moreover, the date in the planner seemed strange.

[Everyday V1]

[Date: December 12th, 2019]

[Current Time: 12:25 PM, Gyeonggi Province Guri Set]

-12:30 PM: Gyeonggi Province Guri Set, Jung Yoo-Jin’s <The Morning Takes Off> first appearance on episode 21 (Alarm set.)

-04:00 PM: MBS Celebrity Quiz Quiz set. Jung Yoo-Jin’s guest appearance.

-08:00 PM: Jung Yoo-Jin’s acting lesson.

‘2019?’

I rubbed my eyes, thinking I might be delusional, but the numbers didn’t seem to change.

I couldn’t fathom why the date was precisely December 12th of 2019, the day of the terrible accident involving Yoo-Jin and Miso, her only family member. I recalled someone saying that one endlessly re-lives their most terrible day in the afterlife.

‘Am I in that state right now? Or is this some sort of a phenomenon where vivid memories from the past flash before one’s eyes right before death?’

At that moment, the scent of lily shampoo wafted into my senses.

“Yoon-Ho oppa?”

The soft whisper, as pleasant as the subtle scent of the shampoo, made me instinctively turn my head.

In front of my eyes was Yoo-Jin’s face when she was around 23 years old. Her lips gleamed with her bright pink lip gloss and her silky hair swayed as if she were a shampoo model.

“Oh my goodness!”

Yoo-Jin’s face was so close that I took a step back without realizing it. She adjusted her thick red parka and tilted her head in wonder.

“Oppa. Are you sick? Did you catch a cold?”

Yoo-Jin approached me closer and placed her slender hand on my forehead.

At that moment, I finally came to my senses.

‘What is this sensation? This isn\'t a dream. This sensation, this temperature, and this set I’m in where the cold wind of December blows is definitely real.’

Though I had no inkling of what was transpiring, one thing was unmistakable—I was very much alive.

I sat huddled on a concrete block in a corner of the parking lot about fifty meters away from the filming location with not even a proper chair or heater.

“Hm. That’s weird. You don’t have a fever or anything.”

Yoo-Jin tilted her head in confusion as she checked the temperature of her own forehead with her left hand and mine with her right hand.

‘Come to think of it, her cheeks were flushed red.’

I instinctively rummaged through my pocket and opened my mouth.

“Yoo-Jin. Take this hand warmer...”

However, there was no hand warmer in my pocket. This made me realize that I had gone back in time to my rookie days, my first year on the job when I couldn’t even remember to bring such basic supplies.

***

Cheonho-dong\'s Burger Maiden was Yoo-Jin’s nickname from a year ago when she worked part-time at the Burger Queen at Cheonho-dong.

Thanks to the influx of customers coming to catch a glimpse of her, the branch’s sales reportedly soared by 500% compared to the previous year. Her sudden popularity prompted executives from various entertainment agencies to scout her.

She declined all offers but to everyone’s surprise, accepted a proposal from President Kang Gam-Chan. I had expected her to debut quickly, given her popularity, but for some reason, President Kang Gam-Chan made Yoo-Jin take acting lessons for a year.

When I asked him why he wouldn’t let Yoo-Jin debut immediately, he told me that ‘a frog has to crouch down before it takes a leap.’

Anyway, Yoo-Jin’s fame as the ‘Cheonho-dong\'s Burger Maiden’ ended up fading away after a year.

Now, after a year’s wait, Yoo-Jin was about to take on her first role with actual lines and was waiting on set.

“I’m okay. I just didn’t get much sleep,” I reassured Yoo-Jin, gently removing her pale hand from my forehead as I struggled to steady my trembling hand.

‘Hiding my emotions was harder than I imagined.’

Yoo-Jin nodded with a relieved expression and began to talk about the lunch menu excitedly.

“They have a special fish cake soup entirely made of pollock meat for lunch today. Don’t you think it’ll taste great with a generous amount of chili powder in it?”

Perhaps it was because of the cold weather, but Yoo-Jin seemed to desperately crave hot soup as she gulped.

However, I remembered that Yoo-Jin was on a diet around this time.

“Wait. You’re on a diet right now, aren’t you?”

Yoo-Jin gave an awkward smile.

“T-that’s true...but I can start tomorrow. Diet always begins tomorrow. Haven’t you heard of that saying?”

I almost nodded my head when she playfully stuck out her tongue. Her eyes were evidently desperate, but I couldn’t give in.

“That’s what ordinary people say, but celebrities are always on a diet. You know that.”

“Aw, come on. Celebrity or not, we are all working to make money to eat...”

Yoo-Jin lowered her head and complained.

Her blouse hung loose, revealing her prominent collarbone on her slender frame. Yet, in spite of her slender frame, she was still obligated to lose weight.

Although she was 165 cm tall and weighed only 52 kg, the broadcast cameras always seemed to make anyone appear at least 5 kg heavier than they actually were.

As her talent agent, what I told her the most was ‘You need to lose weight!’

I didn’t feel comfortable nagging her to lose weight, but I couldn’t help it since she was a celebrity who was bound to spend the rest of her life in front of cameras.

“Ugh. But I really want fish cake soup today...I promise I will go on a diet starting from tomorrow.”

I sighed and replied to Yoo-Jin’s complaint.

“Fine. You can have some, but just the fish cake. No soup or sauce, okay?”

Yoo-Jin glared at me and shouted.

“You’re a devil! A real devil! That’s like telling someone to eat spicy rice cakes but without the gochujang!”

‘A devil? But at least I didn’t say she can’t eat it at all. Doesn’t that make me an angel?’

Seeing Yoo-Jin pout her lips, I couldn’t help but make a fatherly smile.

The bright-faced Yoo-Jin I had always dreamed of was standing right in front of me.

***

Currently, preparations for the MBS drama The Morning Takes Off, which would be broadcast every Monday and Tuesday, were underway just about 50 meters away from our location.

Written by the famous drama writer Lee Ji-Yeon, often referred to as the mother of drama,’ The Morning Takes Off‘ held the top spot for its time slot.

Yoo-Jin had been cast to play the role of Lee Seol-Ran, the friend of the main character, in episodes 21 and 22.

Beep-.

A sharp noise of the megaphone echoed from a distance, accompanied by Director Park’s scolding.

“Myung-Sik! Hold the reflector properly! You punk, are you more interested in the actor’s body than their face? Huh?”

“You too, Jung-Hun! Hold the mic properly! I can see all the fuzz on screen! Move it out of the camera’s angle right now.”

“All right. We are starting the shoot now. Keep quiet, everyone. Ready...Action!”

Although the set was 50 meters away, the echo from the mountains made every sound in the set so close and vivid.

However, I couldn’t focus on the set because I was busy thinking about what was about to unfold in a moment.

Soon, the events that completely changed both Yoo-Jin’s and my life were about to take place all at once.

1. Referred to as faithful ?