Life, Once Again!

After Story 22

After Story 22

Haneul opened her eyes at the shaking. She was planning to get just a bit of shut-eye, but it had been an hour already. The bus was driving down a familiar road. She saw Suwon station outside the window. She brushed her eyes upwards to drive away the sleepiness.

The meeting with the aroma oils business went quite well, contrary to her expectations. For the sake of the mistress who listened to a bold college girl without looking down on her, as well as for her own sake, she wanted to make this successful.

The bus stopped. She got her bag and got off. A man and a woman rushed past her, excitedly dragging a carrier bag. She followed them with her eyes, and at the end, she saw a massive banner. What decorated the face of Suwon station was a health drink advertised by a popular actor. A man wearing a suit and a neat smile was looking forward with a drink in one hand.

Drinking this will change your day, or so the ad seemed to be whispering. That was the target that her blended oils should aim for. She had to emphasize that consuming the product would make the customer special.

In the past, she was a smart woman famous in the marketing industry. She was going to make the most use of her experience working in an industry where overtime work was everyone’s friend, and cuss words were like emergency medicine.

Of course, there was a clear limit to how far she could take it. The only things the twenty-two-year-old Han Haneul had were a face with an awkward smile, a body that lacked health, and a wallet that made her worry about next month’s rent. It was impossible to create an ad made with a massive budget. As such, she had to play her cards smartly.

As she walked, she looked into cameras that could take videos for internet formats. As it was a decisive factor in making the advertisements vibrant, she allocated a large portion of the budget. She also bought a microphone as internal mics wouldn’t cut it. When she added a relatively decent directional mic, she sighed at the sheer amount.

“Should we just join houses?” she said in the middle of the street. If she combined residences with Maru, she would be able to save up on various costs, not to mention monthly rent. Despite saying that she needed some time to redefine herself, all she could think about was saving money now that she was running short of it.

After thinking for a while, she started walking again. It was a little early to combine. Also, she decided not to be so hasty. She put her phone in her bag. She felt like staring at the small screen for a long time would make her feel stuffy.

It had only been a month. In the month after regaining her memories, she had changed a lot of things. While gaining speed was a good thing, overspeeding and falling over at a speed bump would mean even more losses.

She got on the city bus and returned to her house. She quickly erased her makeup and started drafting an email to the owners of the factory in Asan. She wrote down her sincere gratitude for not ignoring her and even joining hands with her, alongside sending them with some future plans.

She turned the music on and had dinner. Her dinner was some chicken breast she bought for cheap and in bulk online and some last-minute sales of sweet potatoes on the street. There were also some strange-shaped bananas that were on sale for 1,000 won a basket.

She put a mat in the living room and started exercising. As her body was so stiff, it couldn’t even get the basic moves of Pilates down. Despite having moved for 10 minutes, she was already sweating. This body was truly terrible.

The instructor in the video went on to the next move, but she was heaving deep breaths as she put her stomach on the ground.

“When I was in my prime…. Geez!”

Who could she blame? It was her own karma. She calmed down her breathing and started moving again.

It’s not my body that hurts, it’s my mind. This much is nothing. Feeling like I’ll die is proof that I can do more — she uttered words that she said out of habit during exercise sessions and kept putting more strength into her arms and legs. There was still a long way to go if she wanted to regain the flexibility and muscular strength.

It was about an hour later when she fell down after wrestling with her body which didn’t listen to her. She was fixing her squat position while soothing her stiff hip joint until she couldn’t handle anymore and fell down.

She flung her arms on the ground like a frog on a dissection table. Beads of sweat dripped down her cheeks. The instructor in the video told her that they should meet again next time. Haneul bitterly raised her hand and waved it. Good work, some instructor from the internet I don’t know the name of.

“Yes, sweetie.”

She crawled over to her phone which was ringing some distance away and picked it up.

-Why do you sound like you’re dying?

“I feel like I’m dying.”

-What were you up to?

“Exercise.”

-I understood that instantly.

“I can feel it now that I’m actually trying to exercise. This body really isn’t mine. No, wait, it is mine. Anyway, I think I’ll need a lot of time if I want to regain my body from before.”

-It’s impossible to change a body that you have abandoned for 22 years into its top shape overnight. But you will get used to it if you keep doing it. Memories are quite curious. It looks like the body follows the memories.

She drank some cold water while listening to her husband. She felt like she could live again with some moisture in her body.

“How was it at the shoot?”

-The director treated me like a decent prop. I’m definitely not at a satisfactory level, but I could control my body to an extent. I think getting a feel is really important.

“What’s your impression of standing in front of a camera?”

-Good. I can’t begin to describe it.

He spoke like an innocent child.

Bright lights, sparkly reflectors, large cameras on cranes, and a microphone hanging from the air. Murmuring staff, the snapping slate, and the moment of silence that comes with the cue sign.

She could vividly remember all of it like she was in the scene herself.

“That’s good.”

-What was that?

“I’m glad that we didn’t give up on being actors. As you said, I would’ve deeply regretted it later if I let go of my dream to become an actress. I might have deceived myself, thinking that I have no regrets. The path we are walking on might be a little difficult, but it’ll be fun, right?”

-It might be very difficult. But as you say, it will be fun like no other. Ah, right, didn’t you say you had something to do today?

“I did, and it went well. I’ll tell you what it is later. Little surprises are necessary from time to time, right?”

-Don’t surprise me too much. It’s bad for the heart.

Just as she was about to hang up, she remembered something. She spoke as she placed her hand on her aching waist,

“Hun, have you visited home yet?”

-Home?

“Your parents’ house.”

-I plan to do so soon.

“Go tomorrow. How can you be so ignorant?”

-I’m not ignorant. I’m extremely ordinary, and so I don’t really have to go and say hello.

“Don’t give me that and go meet them tomorrow. You know better than anyone how parents feel, but at times like this, you always….”

-Alright, alright. I’ll go tomorrow.

“Don’t forget to bring your mother’s favorite food. I don’t know anything right now, so I’ll leave that to you.”

-Alright, I’ll do as you say. But hey, I think you’re being too meddlesome when we haven’t even gotten married yet. What do you think, Miss Han Haneul?

“Do you want me to nag you? Is that what you want?”

-Of course not. You’re misunderstanding. I’m sure you must be tired, so you should get some sleep.

Her husband groaned. She would have pinched his waist if he was here.

After listening to her husband’s nonchalant laughter, she spoke again, “I should see your sister too. How is she in this life? Are you getting along with her?”

-Typical brother and sister. You know, the relationship where you are okay as long as you know they’re alive.

“That’s good. There were a lot of times when you were like enemies.”

-That’s right. Enemies like no other.

“Treat her well. You’re an adult. Don’t act immature and fight with her again.”

-You know that the older you get, the more proud you become, right?

“If you keep talking like that, I’ll give you a beating.”

-Geez, watch out what you say, will you? I need to give your lips a rebuke.

“How are you going to do that?”

-Well, I’ll get to the details on the bed.

“I heard someone tell me that family members shouldn’t do that with each other.”

She smiled and whispered to him good night. After hanging up, she put her phone on the table. She put away the mat she put in the living room and was just about to go to the bathroom when she heard a notification alarm. It was a message from Maru.

-I found a few auditions. There are some that are competitive and some that aren’t. You should have a look at them and apply if you want to.

The message even included links.

She sat down on a chair and had a look at them. As this was an audition released to the public, there weren’t any significant roles. The most numerous type was an audition for a commercial, followed by film, then dramas. She picked a few she took a liking to and took note of them.

While it was unlikely that she would pass any of them, she could never know what life had in store. She had seen numerous cases where small events opened the doors to opportunities. If a chance presented itself, she would not let go so easily.

Haneul put her phone down and went to the bathroom. She wanted to wash herself with some warm water before her body cooled down.

* * *

He realized in front of the supermarket how inattentive he was as a son. After contemplating for a while, he picked yellow melons. They were in season, and according to the data from his previous lives, his mother very often liked yellow melons. He could remember her buying yellow melons a few times in this life as well, so it should be fine.

With the black plastic bag with the yellow melons in it, he entered the residential area. When he went to where his feet led him, he found himself in front of a building. He went up to the 3rd floor and inputted the pin code before opening the door.

“Gosh, that startled me. I was wondering who it was.” Her mother peeked out from the kitchen with rubber gloves on.

Maru smiled and took off his shoes. “What are you doing?”

“What could I be doing? We ran out of kimchi, so I’m making some spicy radish salad. Though, summer radishes aren’t so good.”

“Should I buy some meat then, to go with it?”

“You want to eat meat?”

“No, I don’t really want to eat anything, but we used to eat a lot of boiled pork when you made things with radish.”

“That’s because you always nagged me for it.”

“Me? No way.” Maru put the plastic bag on the table.

Her mother, who had her hands in a big metal bowl, asked, “What’s that?”

“Yellow melons. It’s your favorite, isn’t it?”

“What’s gotten into you? You’re buying fruits.”

“It’s just a small token of filial piety.”

He picked up a strand of red radish and put it in his mouth. When he chewed on it, his mother stared at him. “Is it salty?”

“No, it’s just right. Your skills haven’t rusted at all.”

“It won’t go anywhere. Also, grab that kimchi container on top of the fridge for me.”

His mother put the spicy radish salad in the kimchi container and closed the lid with a satisfactory expression. After she took off the rubber gloves and put them in the bowl, she gave him a glance.

“I heard that children would only do something they don’t usually do when they get in trouble. So what is it? If you’re about to make me mad, then tell me now. Don’t take your time.”

“Why is my credibility so low in this house? It’s not like I go around causing trouble.”

“You do every once in a while. What, you ran out of money?”

“Do you take me for a loan shark? Coming here to get money? I just came to see your face, mom. And also to check if the house hasn’t collapsed yet.”

His mother chuckled. While he was not a son with a lot of filial piety, he was pretty cute. Even if he acted amicable, his mother only grumbled about being creeped out but did not find it unfamiliar.

“What’s Bada doing?”

“What’s up with you? Looking for your sister like that?”

“I was thinking I should see her after all this time.”

He probed back to his memories of this life.

“Should she be in cram school right now?”

“I’m not sure… if she went to cram school or somewhere else.”

“What’s with that answer? Did something happen?”

His mother looked diagonally down before raising her head. She spoke with a complex expression, “Your sister, how should I put this… she revealed her colors.”

“Revealed her colors?”

“She wants to become an actress.”

Her mother finished her words with a flabbergasted laugh.