My Girlfriend’s Fortune: 3,141,592,653,589

Chapter 34 - This Guy is Really a Crazy Bastard

Chapter 34: This Guy is Really a Crazy Bastard

The meeting with Park Ji-hoon ended much more smoothly than expected. It was because the script Kim Eun-ha wrote for me was almost perfect.

– Memorize this first.

– All of this?

– It’s already compressed to the maximum.

She said this while throwing a book at me. Inside it were Park Ji-hoon’s mindset and behavioral principles, as well as various expected questions and answers.

It felt like I was looking at a character setting book, and I couldn’t help but be amazed at Kim Eun-ha’s ability to create something like this in a day.

‘The problem was that I had to memorize it.’

As a result, I ended up studying everything from the major wine-producing regions, which I had never paid attention to before, to the histories of various families.

Even though I’m good at memorizing, I thought it would be impossible to cram that vast amount of information in a few days. This is where Kim Eun-ha was very helpful.

– It’s better than having a bullet lodged in your head, isn’t it?

Given that I had seen her shooting skills firsthand, I couldn’t take it as a mere joke. I had no choice but to memorize the setting book as if my life depended on it.

Naturally, my misplaced resentment turned towards Park Ji-hoon, which also surprisingly helped me immerse myself in the role.

– I’ll be beside you to teach you for a while.

Of course, Kim Eun-ha didn’t just make grim jokes. She even took a leave from the department store to correct my detailed actions.

For instance, I had previously learned table manners by skimming through a 1,000,000 won meal, but this time, I learned them properly.

– Now, this is a knife.

To someone who didn’t know, it might sound obvious, but the number of cutlery on my table outnumbered the dishes.

From the outside in, there were fish knives, butter knives, dinner knives, salad forks, dessert forks, dinner forks, dessert spoons, and so on.

It was only natural to miss the days when I could conquer all foods with just one pair of chopsticks.

‘Eating was complicated too.’

The direction in which to scoop soup differed depending on whether it was American or British style. You weren’t supposed to dip bread in the soup either. I had to memorize the reasons for these differences.

It felt like I had returned to my student days, as I shut myself in at home to study.

I was getting older, and fatigue quickly set in, but what kept me going was:

– Park Ji-hoon is used to European style, so let’s scoop the soup from the outside in.

– Is American style different?

– Yes, it’s the exact opposite.

The fact that Kim Eun-ha was right beside me like a tutor. She even took leave to invest time in my education.

According to Secretary Yoon, she had never taken leave since her appointment unless it was an absolute necessity.

– You should hold the wine glass like this.

Of course, she didn’t intend it, but the occasional touch was quite a stimulus for a healthy man in his twenties.

When I first contracted with her, I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal since I had already lived with a woman around. (TL Note: He is talking about his sister)

But spending time with Kim Eun-ha made me realize why she was paid so much.

‘It might be because I’ve become more relaxed.’

Recently, besides the matchmaking issue, the script of the drama changed suddenly, so I stayed up all night. But I experienced much worse things when I was a university student.

During exam periods, and even normally, I worked as a designated driver from late evening to early morning, so I was always short on sleep.

So staying up two nights was really nothing. At least, that’s what I thought.

“Ho, did something unpleasant happen···. Hieek-!”

The junior staff member who made eye contact with me backed away, startled. I didn’t do anything special. I just looked at him to call him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Yes, yes!? Ah… well… um…”

In response to my question, the staff member hesitated and mumbled, unable to give a clear answer. Then, the junior staff member glanced nervously behind him.

I also turned my head to look behind him and saw writer Jung Ha-rin and director Kang In-ho flinching and pretending to be busy.

Having spent a long time as a junior in the theater world, I could roughly guess what was happening.

Since I remained silent, the junior staff member started trembling even more.

“It’s alright.”

“Yes!? What did you just say…?”

“I just haven’t had enough sleep lately. I’ll make sure it doesn’t show once the cue is given, so you don’t need to worry.”

I gave the junior staff member a gentle smile, and she looked at me blankly for a moment before quickly nodding her head.

“Th-thank you!”

“Good job.”

She bowed politely, almost bending her waist, and then ran off towards Jung Ha-rin and Kang In-ho.

“Ahem! How are you feeling today?”

Kang In-ho cautiously approached me and asked. Behind him, Jung Ha-rin was clinging to his back like a turtle shell.

“I’m not much different from usual. It’s just that everyone seems to be avoiding me today, and I’m a bit curious about the reason.”

In fact, the junior staff member I had just spoken to wasn’t someone I was meeting for the first time.

During the poster shoot, she had cheerfully chatted with me.

Not only her but other fellow actors also seemed to be avoiding me. Even Kim Young-ho barely managed to greet me.

– Hello, sunbae-nim.

– Oh… um, yeah. Something going on?

– What?

– Ah, I think the makeup team said they needed to redo your makeup. Ahem… Sorry, but I’ll excuse myself first.

He said that and then left.

I thought it was just because everyone was tired and nervous about the first shoot. But seeing these two in front of me, it didn’t seem to be the case.

Kang In-ho quickly waved his hands in denial of my words. His expression was clearly flustered.

“No, no, there’s no reason for us to avoid you, Woo-ju ssi. It’s just that, well… the atmosphere feels sharper than usual.”

“Sharper?”

“No, no! Not a lot. Just a tiny bit?”

“……”

Even if I hadn’t studied people’s expressions for acting, I could easily tell that Kang In-ho’s words were a lie.

Even though I stayed up all night, I didn’t think I was much different from usual. What had changed? The answer came from Jung Ha-rin.

“You, you really seem like Kang Joo-heon!”

“Huh?”

I couldn’t understand what she meant for a moment, so I asked again, and Jung Ha-rin flinched noticeably and hid behind Kang In-ho again.

Then she barely stuck her head out (still avoiding eye contact) and continued speaking with difficulty.

“I mean… even before, you felt like Kang Joo-heon had stepped out of the script, but today, you really, really seem like him!”

“In what specific way?”

“Uhm, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly, but your overall behavior seems subtly more detailed?”

Hmm-

After listening to Jung Ha-rin’s words, I nodded slowly, thinking. It was probably the result of the training I did with Kim Eun-ha over the past few days.

Even before, the overall framework was similar, but thanks to her correction of very minute details, I had taken one step closer to the ‘real’ thing.

‘Just like this wristwatch.’

I glanced down at the watch I always wore. Kim Eun-ha had said before that it was at a level where even experts would find it hard to distinguish.

After a brief check, I found out that the original cost of the watch was, literally, in the billions. It was so intricately made that it was a brand that people wouldn’t even think to make replicas of.

Even if it was a knockoff, it would still be extremely expensive. I wondered who the old man at the watch shop was, who gave me such an item for free.

When I learned the truth and went back to find him, the shop had already disappeared. Despite its 50-year history, it vanished without a trace.

“…Woo-ju ssi?”

“Oh, my apologies.”

I finally snapped out of my thoughts at Jung Ha-rin’s cautious voice. What was important now wasn’t the watch but the shoot in front of me.

Of course, I couldn’t explain the series of events I experienced over the past few days, so I had to come up with a reasonable excuse.

“I stayed up all night memorizing the script, so I might be a bit sharper than usual. I didn’t realize it was noticeable enough for others to see.”

“I’m sorry!! Actually, when I saw you at the poster shoot, I got so inspired that I added a lot to the script. You must not have been able to memorize everything, so we’ll display the script for you…”

“I memorized it all.”

“What? Oh, the first scene? As expected, you’re amazing…”

I shook my head quietly at Jung Ha-rin’s words. She widened her eyes and stared at me.

I then placed the script I was holding on the table as if to show it off.

“This script.”

“You memorized all of that?”

“Yes.”

“All of it?”

“All of it.”

I responded to their incredulous expressions with a light smile.

* * *

As the actual filming began, Kang Woo-ju’s statement, which they half-thought was bravado, turned out to be true.

‘…He really memorized all of it.’

Jung Ha-rin was astounded as she watched Kang Woo-ju flawlessly deliver a one-minute monologue.

As she continued to watch, she realized that he had memorized not only his own lines but also those of his counterparts and the directing notes. Literally everything.

‘Honestly, I don’t even remember many of these things…’

Though she had written the script with the assistant writers, she only remembered the general flow and had to look at the script according to the scene numbers.

But since Kang Woo-ju placed the script on the table a moment ago, he hadn’t looked at it once.

“I’m sorry, can I look at the script again for a moment…”

“The next line is, ‘Are you always this unlucky?'”

“…Thank you.”

The actors were equally stunned by the fact that he had memorized their lines too.

In fact, they felt it even more. Despite the obvious difference in the volume of his lines, Kang Woo-ju handled it all seamlessly.

‘Did he receive the script in advance?’

Such thoughts dominated the actors’ minds. During the break, when Kang Woo-ju stepped away, they looked at his script and were all shocked.

“…Wow.”

“…This guy is really a crazy.”

“…Right. I thought I was working hard, but this makes me reflect a lot. You need to be at this level to perform like that.”

Kang Woo-ju’s script was so worn out after just a day that it was hard to believe.

The entire script was marked up to the point that it was difficult to decipher what was written.

Judging by the traces, he seemed to erase each line after memorizing it. Not only his memory but the level of effort was on a different scale.

“This… this is truly motivating for an old man like me.”

Ha ha ha—

Even Kim Young-ho, who hadn’t made a single mistake in his lines, couldn’t help but laugh heartily.

It was unimaginable how much effort Kang Woo-ju had put in behind the scenes.

“Alright, this is what it takes to get there, huh?”

In response, Park Soo-bin’s eyes lit up with determination. Having just received some unexpected help from Kang Woo-ju, her gaze became even fiercer.

Not only her, but all the other fellow actors also ignited a passion they had never shown before.

“Yeah, let’s show them what we’ve got.”

“We can sleep when we’re dead!”

“We may not win with money, but we won’t lose in passion.”

Oh-oh!

The actors shouted their fighting spirit among themselves. From a distance, director Kang In-ho and writer Jung Ha-rin watched them and smirked at each other.

“He really is an amazing person in many ways. Honestly, I thought he wouldn’t get along with anyone, but at this rate, even I might fall for him.”

“I can do that much too, you know?”

“Please, do.”

“…Just watch.”

Kang In-ho started to burn with a slightly different kind of passion. Watching him, Jung Ha-rin let out a light-hearted laugh.

******

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