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Chapter 9: Star Jung (2)

Upon hearing my explanation, Kang Ji-Yung softened her stern expression and smiled.

“You would have been punished if there had been an accident on set, but fortunately, you managed to ensure things were in place before leaving...All right. Let’s forget about the written statement as well.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Well, you prevented a gas explosion and saved many people.”

I couldn’t help but smile when Kang Ji-Yung winked and removed the need for a written statement. Contrary to her stern appearance, Kang Ji-Yung was actually an understanding lady. However, I couldn’t accept her offer because Kim Dong-Soo was likely to kick up a fuss over this.

“Thank you, but it’s alright. I’ll write the statement.”

“Oh wow~. What a responsible man you are.”

Kang Ji-Yung, who made a joke, still reeked of alcohol.

“Okay, do as you please. By the way, I came here in the middle of a drinking session and can go for some more. Shall we move on to the third round? Hahaha. It’s on me tonight! Let’s go!”

Kang Ji-Yung began to sing, craving for more alcohol.

The cold image of the division chief had vanished and she seemed to be in a merry mood as if she might break into a dance at any moment.

‘Can she even dance in that tight Channy dress?’

But Gu Seong-Cheol turned down her suggestion.

“Yoon-Ho, you must be tired from everything that happened today. You can go home now.”

Gu Seong-Cheol sent me a signal with his eyes, telling me to leave before Kang Ji-Yung forced me to go with her.

“Huh? Sunbae, what are you doing right now? Come on. Let’s move on to the third round.”

“Yikes. Chief Kang, you are way too drunk for a third round. I’ll take you home. Sniff sniff. Ugh, you smell like alcohol.”

“Huh? I’m not drunk! I’m telling you, I’m not drunk~. Sunbae, let go of me. I said let go!”

“See? You are definitely drunk. Look at you staggering.”

Kang Ji-Yung refused and waved her hands, but Gu Seong-Cheol stepped in front of her to stop her.

At that moment, I remembered Kang Ji-Yung’s nickname.

‘Barrel.’

Barrel was a nickname given to Kang Ji-Yung because she would drink a whole barrel of alcohol all by herself once she started drinking.

‘I’m gonna die if I end up drinking with her!’

I quickly bowed and said goodbye.

“I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“No~. Take me with you~! Mr. Yoon-Ho, no, Star Jung! I’ll cut your salary again if you don’t take me with you~!”

“Hey, Chief Kang. Stop bothering a newbie. You’re not a kid anymore. Come on, I’ll take you home.”

‘She is simply drunk and spouting nonsense.’

I hurriedly took the elevator to the underground parking lot.

There, Team Lead Ju Yung-Hoon from Actor Division 2 was leaning against the wall with a teasing expression, waiting for me.

“Shall we go for a drink?”

***

When I arrived at Prada Chicken[1] and shared what had happened in the meeting room, my direct superior Team Lead Oh Duk-Gu was overjoyed as if Korea had won a soccer game against Japan[2].

“So, you crushed Chief Kim Dong-Soo’s pride?”

“Yes, sir.”

Then Ju Yung-Hoon started teasing me, asking how I would deal with the aftermath.

“By the way. What are you going to do about the consequences? Kim Dong-Soo is known for holding grudges, you know. Haha.”

“I should be fine as long as he doesn’t kill me.”

“Wow~ Yoon-Ho. You’ve become much braver after pulling off a big one, huh? What happened to you?”

“Ah, come on.”

‘Apart from the fact that I had traveled back in time, everything else remained the same.’

Everyone seemed slightly puzzled by my changed demeanor, but they warmly accepted it, saying they preferred how I was now than before.

It was evident that everyone was happy over the fact that Kim Dong-Soo, who always underestimated Division 2, was screwed over.

After about ten minutes, Gu Seong-Cheol joined us after sending Kang Ji-Yung off in a cab.

“Alright, enough with the chit-chat. Let’s fill our glasses.”

“Though it might be anti-climatic, we should head home to see our families on a good day like this. Let’s not drink too much, okay? Great work today, everyone.”

Hearing Gu Seong-Cheol’s words, I stood up and bowed.

“I apologize for causing trouble today.”

“What trouble?”

“Days like this happen once in a while when you’re working. Don’t worry about it!”

I was touched by the encouragement from my sunbaes in Actor Division 2. After all, these were things I had never experienced during my time at Top Entertainment.

At that moment, Lee Yung-Jin, my colleague, looked at me with a bright smile on his face.

“Thanks for the drinks, Star Jung!”

My heart began to pound.

‘Wait. I’m paying? How much do I even have?’

I immediately reached into my pocket to search for my wallet. I couldn’t remember the last time my wallet was this light. Now that I had returned to the past, I remembered I no longer had my old Hermos wallet which was always stuffed with 50,000 won and 100,000 won bills, and my face twitched upon seeing the price for the chicken and beer.

‘Jung Yoon-Ho, you are in your twenties now. Pull yourself together.’

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Although I only had 5 million won in my bank account at the moment, money shouldn’t be a serious issue for someone who knew the future like me.

“Don’t mention it. I’m sorry for causing trouble for everyone today. Please eat to your heart’s content!”

“Wow, Star Jung. You’ve become a new man after appearing on the broadcast.”

“Yes. Keep up with the good work. But try not to leave the set if possible, alright?”

Then three more orders of fried chicken were served.

I looked at the golden crispy fried chicken, the red seasoned chicken with ketchup base sprinkled with peanuts, and the oven-baked chicken with sliced garlic chips and soy sauce served on the table.

Everyone raised their glasses full of beer for a toast.

“Yoon-Ho. You lead the toast today,” Gu Seong-Cheol said.

I stood up and raised my glass.

“For Actor Division 2 of Hoop Entertainment~!”

“For Actor Division 2 of Hoop Entertainment~!”

After the toast, everyone hastily began to down their beer. I, likewise, gulped down my beer in one breath.

Gulp, gulp.

Fizz.

The creamy foam and the fizzy carbonation traveled down my throat as I downed the beer.

‘What a refreshing sensation! This is so good.’

I almost shed tears because I hadn’t been able to drink anything cold or carbonated in the month leading up to my death. After putting down the glass, I reached for a chicken drumstick. Consumed by my appetite, I transformed into a ravenous beast, tearing into the chicken drumstick.

As I bit into the tender, succulent meat, I felt like I had ascended into heaven.

This meal was my well-deserved reward for changing Yoo-Jin’s life and saving Miso.

And just like that, December 12th, which had once been my worst nightmare, was turning into a blessing.

***

It was 7:30 in the morning when I woke up in the Jimjilbang[3].

I had a nightmare that all of this was just a dream and quickly pinched my cheek just to be sure this was real.

“Ouch.”

‘It hurts, so it’s definitely not a dream.’

I quickly took a shower and left the Jimjilbang at almost 8 AM. When I called home, Yoo-Jin picked up the phone.

“Are you up?”

-Yes.

“Then do you want to come out? I’m almost home. We should grab something to eat.”

-Oppa, Miso and I already made breakfast! You can just come home and eat.

After parking my car in the alley, I walked to my studio apartment. But when I opened the door, I was at a loss for words.

‘What is this?’

My room was sparkling clean.

There was not a trace of dust in my 330-square-foot studio apartment, and the morning rays were shining into my room through the drawn curtains.

‘Just yesterday, all I could see through the window was piled up snow on the deck. I can’t believe I’m looking at this amazing view right now.’

“Oppa, you rarely sleep at home, do you? Your place was quite clean in the first place, but Miso and I love to clean, so we did some tidying up.”

“Uncle Yoon-Ho. I also helped with the cleaning!”

Miso raised her hand with a Powertuff Girls sticker on her fist.

‘Aw. This is so touching.’

“I wish I could do more to show my appreciation for you saving Miso, but this is all I could do. Thank you so much, oppa.”

“Thank you, Uncle Yoon-Ho!”

‘I should be the one thanking you for being alive—and smiling so brightly at me.’

“Ah, no. Don’t mention it.”

Thanks to both of them, I felt as though the heavy weight on my shoulders had been completely lifted.

“Alright, let’s sit down before the food gets cold.”

“Uncle Yoon-Ho, sit here!”

Miso pointed to a spot and led me to my seat. As I sat down at the low table, I could see three fried eggs and kimchi jjigae[4].

‘But there was only dried green onions and old kimchi in the fridge as far as I know. How did they manage to make all these?’

Come to think of it, it seemed like my poor eating habits were the root cause of my stomach cancer in my past life.

‘I should pay more attention to my eating habits from now on.’

“Okay. Shall we eat then?”

Slurp.

‘Huh? It’s actually delicious.’

I shared my honest feedback with Yoo-Jin, who was anxiously waiting for my review of her cooking.

“It’s delicious. It’s actually really good.”

It was surprising that she managed to make a delicious meal with so few ingredients.

“Yay!”

Yoo-Jin fist-pumped, exclaiming that her skills learned from working part-time at a restaurant for a year were not lost.

“But how did you make this? The fridge must have been empty.”

“It’s a secret!”

Yoo-Jin and Miso looked at each other and giggled.

At that moment, I saw a packet of MSG peeking out of Yoo-Jin’s pocket.

‘So that was the secret? Ah, who cares as long as it tastes good.’

Come to think of it, this was the first time someone had a meal with me in my apartment. Looking at Yoo-Jin and Miso’s happy faces, I couldn’t help but smile as well.

After I scooped a large spoonful of rice for myself, Yoo-Jin and Miso picked up their spoons and joined me.

‘Thanks guys.’

I felt as if the void in my heart was being filled.

***

After finishing the meal, I handed Yoo-Jin the script sent by Lee Ji-Yeon.

Yoo-Jin’s lines in the revised script for the Morning Takes Off from episode 23 onward had increased so much that it almost entirely replaced the lines of another actress.

“Wow. She really made a lot of changes.”

“I told you. Lee Ji-Yeon has taken a liking to you.”

Yoo-Jin seemed excited and let out a huge grin.

However, considering that Lee Ji-Yeon had made significant revisions to the script just for Yoo-Jin, making a mistake on set this time round would be a big deal compared to the first day.

‘If Yoo-Jin were to make a mistake, Lee Ji-Yeon might not just choose to fire her but also refuse to ever see her again.’

But I didn’t want to scare Yoo-Jin who was just starting her career.

At that moment, Miso, who had been looking at the script, slightly raised her head and asked.

“Auntie! Are you good at acting?”

Yoo-Jin tilted her head at Miso’s innocent question.

“Hmm? I don’t know if I’m good or not, but people tell me I’m good.”

“Hehe. I want to see auntie on TV soon.”

“It will be broadcast in a few days. Shall we watch it together while eating something delicious?”

“Yes!”

Both Miso and Yoo-Jin smiled brightly at each other.

For a moment, I felt like I had to tell Yoo-Jin that I had already known that Miso was registered as her daughter and prepare her for the articles regarding this that might be published soon.

However, practicing the script was the priority at the moment.

“Alright. Let’s go over the script now since we don’t have much time.”

“Okay~.”

After seating Miso on the bed, I started to help Yoo-Jin practice the revised script of the Morning Takes Off.

“Shall we start off nice and easy from scene 291 of the revised script? Just express what you felt from reading the script. It’s okay to make mistakes, so don’t feel pressured.”

“Hm. Okay.”

The moment Yoo-JIn began to act out the revised script, I could tell her excellent performance in front of Lee Ji-Yeon was no simple coincidence.

‘Whoa. Who is this?’

『You thought I didn’t know about the things you’ve done? Even if my friend forgives you, I would never!』

『I’m going to get you! I will destroy you!』

Yoo-Jin read her lines with intense emotion, expressing the heartfelt feelings of a character who cherished the female lead, her childhood friend, like no other. Tears streamed down her big eyes as if she had applied eye drops, and she began to tremble with a pale expression.

I couldn’t take my eyes off Yoo-Jin.

‘Her performance was just remarkable. This was amazing.’

Her voice projection was stable and her diction was clear. On top of that, her various facial expressions clearly conveyed her emotions.

She was so immersed in her acting that she didn’t realize it herself, but her acting skills were already comparable to that of a lead actress.

This meant that I had to review Yoo-Jin’s career plan.

‘This kid. Her talent is no joke. No wonder she became a top star in the future.’

Her performance was so good that I even started to doubt whether her true acting talent had been unrecognized because of her acting coach.

‘Now that I think about it, Coach Choi Hyun-Min gave her a harsh evaluation. Wait a minute. Didn’t he also graduate from Suhyaejong?’

At that moment, a hypothesis crossed my mind.

‘Occam’s razor—the simplest explanation could be the correct one!’

I felt chills running down my spine for a moment.

‘Could it be that he knew about Yoo-Jin’s talent all along from the beginning and tried to disrupt her career?

1. famous fried chicken chain in Korea ?

2. Korea gets very competitive in sports games against Japan ?

3. Korean sauna ?

4. Spicy kimchi stew ?