慈禧太后的秘密

It was 9 in the morning. She blocked the speaker part of the phone and looked at her husband lying down next to her. His eyes were twitching as he rolled around in bed.

She turned off the alarm and left the bed. She had turned on the heater for about two hours throughout the night, but there was a chill in the room. Winter sure was winter.

She took out some slippers from under the bed and put her feet inside. They were something that she only wore during the winter. Her feet were freezing like they were dipped in ice water.

She twitched her toes in a daze while sitting on the bed before turning on the heater. Then, she put on the old sweater that she put on the chair of her makeup desk and went out to the living room.

She yawned softly as she opened both the refrigerator and the freezer. She took out the portioned brown rice from the freezer, and eggs, broccoli, and bell peppers from the refrigerator. She microwaved the brown rice and placed a fried egg on top of it before sprinkling some sesame oil and soy sauce. This was the best combination when there was no soup to eat with the rice.

She placed some vegetables on a small plate and headed to the sofa. She took out her feet from the slippers to place them on the sofa and turned on the TV.

The cat came to the living room, seemingly woken up by the sounds she made. She yawned loudly before lying down again on the slippers Haneul had taken off. She seemed to have found them still warm from the heat from her feet.

She browsed through the channels as she ate the rice. Was there nothing interesting even though it was Sunday morning? Then her fingers stopped when the channel changed to YBS. ‘Movie Hike’ was just starting.

Movies or animals were the best way to start off a weekend morning. She lifted her rice bowl and looked at the screen.

-Today on movies that we look forward to, I’d like to introduce to you two Hollywood Blockbuster films that will soon be released. Many people are looking forward to them as they received lots of love in the country. We’ll go through these two one by one. They look similar at a glance but are different at heart.

It seemed that Hollywood movies based on original comics were going to go quite strong in this life as well. Looking back at her previous lives, it seemed to be a natural flow of things. The advancements in film technology broadened the horizons more than people could imagine.

Adapting the world of novels and comic books into video was probably fate.

She put the well-mixed egg rice in her mouth and chewed.

They were all movies that she felt like she’d seen before in a previous life, but she watched the movie introductions with focus. A hero overcomes hardships and eventually prevails – they were hero movies that could be summed down to just that one sentence, but she liked such movies.

After a comparison of blockbuster movies, the host briefly announced movies that would be released this week.

Next, the screen changed. Two men, sitting inside what seemed like a video editing room, appeared on the screen. Haneul looked at the cat that snuggled into her arms before moving her gaze back to the TV.

-A cruel killer is coming. There’s no revenge, no hatred. There’s only convenience and profit. Today on ‘That Movie’, we’d like to discuss ‘Depths of Evil’, which has shaken the hearts of thriller fans. I’m joined by director LIm Hwanggeun, who produced the movie. Director, please introduce yourself to the audience.

-It’s been a really long time since I last came here. Hello everyone, Lim Hwanggeun here.

It was her husband’s work. Haneul increased the TV volume a little.

-Director, before we start, I’d like to say this. Honestly, I really thought there would be a comedy skit in the middle.

Director Lim let out a chuckle.

-I heard that many times. It’s your movie, so you’ll probably try to make people laugh, so there might be a joke in the middle. But do I really look like I stake my life in comedy?

-It’s probably because all of your previous works involved comedy, right? I’m sure our audience will think of comedy when they think of director Lim Hwanggen.

-I think that’s why I went with an even plainer, or you could say, dryer method. Even the actors were telling me that I should insert a joke somewhere.

-But you didn’t add a single one. It wasn’t that there isn’t a refresher scene, but there aren’t any wordplay jokes or absurd situations that many people think of when they think of Lim Hwanggeun.

-Actually, I was quite worried as I was doing the shoot. Two hours is definitely not a short time. I was really worried that the audience might not take a liking to the dry progression or they might not find it fun. Fortunately, though, they did.

-Forget like, you’re receiving tons of love from everyone. The sales are already over 5 million at the time we’re shooting this now. Did you expect there to be this many sales?

-Not at all. Ever since I decided to drop the PG15 rating and opted to go with an adult rating after persuading the actors, I honestly didn’t have high hopes. No, I always had hope, but I didn’t have the confidence. I mean, statistics is a thing. But I feel really good since I received much more interest in my work than I had imagined.

Director Lim burst into laughter. The host asked a few more questions about director Lim’s recent matters before going over to the movie.

-We can’t leave out talking about the actors. Actor Kim Hyuk, were you confident that he’ll be suited to that kind of role? Personally, it was really unexpected for me since he always played innocent and just characters.

-Hyuk is a really clean kid. Not only on the set, he’s also very polite on private occasions too. He really doesn’t look like he would cause trouble. That was why I wanted to let him do it. What would it feel like if those innocent-looking eyes were colored in murder?

She nodded after listening to director Lim’s words.

Kim Hyuk was someone who digested his role just as well as her husband. The harmony between the two was what led to the current popularity.

-So you could say that casting actor Kim Hyuk was a form of challenge.

-Not really. Challenge isn’t really the right word. I was confident that Hyuk would do well, that he would act out a perfectly indifferent murderer. If we’re talking about challenges, casting Maru was the challenge instead.

Her husband’s name came out. She tensed her hug around the cat.

-We can’t leave out actor Han Maru’s name either. In some aspects, he was even more surprising than actor Kim Hyuk. It could be a difference of expectation, I guess I could say.

-Many people should’ve thought the same thing. Hyuk has shown a lot of things, but Maru doesn’t have that. Actually, I thought a lot when I cast the character Gomchi. There were some other actors who were quite suitable to play Gomchi as well.

-And yet, you decided to have actor Han Maru play the role of Gomchi. If you go as far as to call it a challenge, it must have been a really tough decision.

-It was. I held onto the audition tapes until the end at home. I couldn’t decide until the very end.

-Then what made you make the decision?

-It was thanks to my son. I was curious about what an ordinary member of the audience would feel when they see acting from their eyes without any information. My son told me about his impressions after watching the actors.

-What did he say when he looked at actor Han Maru’s acting?

-He said it was sickening. I know it’s a strange thing to say, but that was the best possible praise. I shed my worries after hearing that. I immediately called Maru and said that we should do this together.

“Director Lim has raised a good son,” Haneul whispered into the cat’s ear.

Director Lim managed to buy her husband’s acting skills for cheap thanks to his son. Considering the price of her husband in his prime, it was really chump change. Probably the difference between the first place in the lottery and third place.

-So that ended up being a splendid choice.

-I don’t have to say anything about that. He brought out the Gomchi that I wanted, no, even better than that.

-I didn’t know you’d compliment him that far. Wouldn’t the other actors be jealous?

-I’m pretty sure there isn\'t anyone who would feel jealous. Anyone who’s seen him and his acting on set would come to like him. He has a good attitude, so everyone liked him.

The host looked at the cue sheet and spoke,

-Kim Hyuk and Han Maru, these two actors actually have quite an age gap, huh?

-But they look like the same age when you see them on screen, right?

-I thought actor Han Maru could be in his early thirties, but he only turned out to be twenty-three. It’s surprising that such a young actor didn’t feel off despite working with actor Kim Hyuk.

-He’s an actor who can proficiently change his image. When I first held the audition, he was too skinny and didn’t suit Gomchi appearance-wise. But a few months after the audition, I met him in Daegu and he actually bulked up a little, even cutting his hair short.

-You didn’t ask him to do it, yet he did it on his own accord?

-Yes. Actually, I thought that I wouldn’t mind him being skinny. But when I saw him all big, I really felt that this was the guy. Then I found out that Maru was no ordinary guy at the first shoot. He really prepared a lot of things for Gomchi, like his habits and whatnot. Those trivial things made Gomchi look more complete, and thanks to that, the awkwardness coming from their age gap disappeared.

-When you put it like that, he seems like a really amazing actor.

-I really look forward to his next work.

-How about you work with him for your next work as well?

-I told him about it as well. But I’m not sure if he’d listen. I can guarantee that many people will start looking for him now. Had I known this would happen, I would’ve gotten confirmation from him.

-Why don’t you tell him your message through video at this opportunity?

Director Lim put on an awkward expression and looked at the camera.

-Maru. You know I cherish you, right? If I call you next time, don’t ignore it and pick up. I’ll give you a nice role.

I’m not joking — director Lim added with tensed eyes.

Just as the host and the director conversed while looking at some footage from the movie, the door to the bedroom opened and her husband walked out. Looking at his eyes, he hadn’t woken up properly.

“You should sleep some more. You should be tired.”

“I had enough sleep. What are you watching?”

She opened the blanket she placed on the sofa and put it around her before waving at her husband. Maru yawned and came over before sitting down. She wrapped the blanket around him as well so that he wasn’t cold.

“The director is praising you to no end. He said he wants to work together in his next work too.”

“He was telling me that yesterday too, while drinking.”

Maru had eaten out with the people from ‘Depths of Evil’ last night. She heard that it was to celebrate 7 million in sales.

It was just last week when they drank until late into the night to celebrate 5 million, and in just a few days, they had gained another two million.

“Good for you, rising to stardom in one leap.”

“I’m a star already?” He laughed.

“If you’ve got three interviews with three major magazines, then you’re a star alright. Oh, right, did you decide to take that commercial?”

“Yeah. But it’s really funny. A laundry detergent ad, huh.”

“The advertisers are way ahead of the game. Rather than an ad that looks totally ordinary, they know that one with a screw loose will work better. What did you say the theme was?”

“A clean detergent that a murderer uses. A super detergent that can erase traces of the crime.”

Maru laughed before lying down on the sofa. She passed the cat over to him before going over to the kitchen.

“How are you feeling?”

“So-so.”

“Are you good with bean sprout soup?”

“Sounds great. Are you making it for me?”

“You earned money, so, of course, I have to.”

“What if I haven’t?”

“I’ll still make some.”

Haneul opened the refrigerator.

* * *

“Throw the foam into the air and smile.”

Maru threw the foam on the rubber gloves into the air according to the signal. The shoot for the commercial only ended after the floor of the studio was covered in foam.

“Thanks for your work.”

He changed his clothes and left the studio. Yeonjin also came to the parking lot, seemingly having finished talking to the company.

“Good work.”

“This was harder than I expected,” Maru said as he sat in the back seat. His knees hurt after having jumped around all day with foam all over him.

“I’m sure you must be feeling tired, but there’s no time to rest. There’s an interview.”

“Right now?”

“Yes. Even this I barely managed to squeeze into the schedule.”

“It’s okay to take it easy.”

“Take it easy? You should row the boat when there’s still water.”

“I’m the type to see where the water goes when water flows in. If I row thinking that I’m going forward, there are times when I come across a waterfall and fall down.”

“Don’t worry about that. Who do you think looks after your schedule? It’s the president. Even if you jump down the waterfall, there will be a treasure chest at the bottom so you need to keep moving without rest.”

“For some reason, it looks like you’re more excited than I am.”

“Of course I am. The bigger you become, the more I earn. Well then, you got an exclusive manager now, so you need to work your bones off.”

Maru smiled and closed his eyes. He had to sleep now if he didn’t want to doze off during the interview.

“I’ll wake you up when we’re there.”

“Please do.”