035 Two Days and Three Nights

Fortunately, the day the Jeonju International Film Festival officially began was not rainy, although the skies remained overcast.

Yoon Woon-hui did not have the contact information for Hwang Ye-ji or Shin Yu-na. He did not know if they had gone to see the film, and naturally, he did not dwell on it. Shin Yu-na was still young, and no matter how one looked at her, Hwang Ye-ji seemed like the type of ordinary yet exceptionally hardworking good girl. Let good girls stay good; they were not a match for him, and Yoon Woon-hui had no intention of growing up alongside a girl.

"Ahem, the director looks quite dashing today."

Even the smallest film festival requires a red carpet walk. Director Lee Jung-kon had brought out his most formal attire. For a director like Lee, it was impossible to determine when his next film might come; it was possible the next project wouldn't even be a film at all. He would have to compromise with reality, taking whatever work he could find. Perhaps this edition of the Jeonju International Film Festival would be the absolute highlight of his career. Director Lee squeezed out a forced smile; after agonizing over it for a long time, he had finally chosen to leave his long hair down—it was artistic.

Out of respect for Director Lee, who had worked overtime to finish the final cut, Yoon Woon-hui hadn't dressed up much himself. He wore another simple, well-fitted off-the-rack suit and a pair of thin-soled leather shoes. He had no idea how many height-increasing insoles Director Lee had tucked into his own shoes. Beside them, Shin Shu-hyun wore a plain, nondescript gown.

The opening ceremony of the Jeonju International Film Festival was much like their crew’s attire—unremarkable. Only about half the seats in the Jeonju traditional arts performance hall were filled. There were, however, quite a few washed-up filmmakers in attendance—directors active in the previous century who had no works in this one, likely there because there was money to be made from attending such events.

The famous independent filmmaker Jung Sang-jin, who had introduced Director Lee to him, was also there—after all, his company was the distributor for *Not Out*. Under the guidance of this Director Jung, Yoon Woon-hui spent the entire festival being introduced to various seniors in the industry. Upon hearing that he was a rookie actor from Artist Entertainment, they were all quite polite. Unfortunately, Yoon Woon-hui did not run into Hwang Ye-ji or Shin Yu-na at the film festival.

Throughout the festival, the crew held roadshows for every screening of *Not Out*. Over the two days and three nights, they attracted over four thousand viewers. For an independent film where everyone from the director to the actors was a complete newcomer, and with no big names to back it, that was already quite good. One could not ask for more. The audience members who bought tickets to see an independent film at a festival were, naturally, true cinephiles.

His assistant, Ms. Jin, would occasionally show him comments and blog posts from online. Whenever *Not Out* was mentioned in relation to this year's Jeonju International Film Festival, people would almost always add a word about how the rookie actor named Yoon Woon-hui had solid acting skills.

Yoon Woon-hui was still a "nobody" that no one cared about, so these evaluations were naturally unbiased—if they said it was good, it was truly good.

The opening ceremony was yesterday morning, and the closing ceremony and awards gala were this evening. The reason for such a comical schedule was, of course, that the Jeonju City Hall, the organizer, was out of money. The current mayor had performed so poorly during his second term that he would certainly not win re-election. Yet, this man still had the leisure to attend the film festival, giving speeches at the opening and presenting awards at the closing.

*Not Out* won the Jury's Most Attention-Grabbing Local Feature Film Award and the Festival's Creative Support Award. I forgot to mention, all films participating in the Jeonju International Film Festival are either a director's debut or their second work, so it was quite an achievement for Lee Jung-kon to win these two awards. That Creative Support Award was essentially a grant from the organizing committee.

Yoon Woon-hui won the Best Male Actor Award. Don't laugh; even the smallest mosquito has meat, and the smallest trophy still counts as an award. At the very least, it was the first award Yoon Woon-hui had ever received, and it held great commemorative value.

Yoon Woon-hui was just an ordinary person. He set his goals to take things one step at a time; he never expected to become an overnight sensation. Moreover, being an overnight success wouldn't be good for him. To be suddenly surrounded by countless eyes would mean countless magnifying glasses focused on him, trying to figure out who he was. Given the gossiping prowess of netizens, Yoon Woon-hui didn't think his background could remain hidden for long.

Therefore, the marketing strategy he discussed with his company was to follow the path of an old-school film actor—at the very least, to leave the audience with the deep impression that this actor truly had talent—before considering the issue of becoming famous. The "Gangnam Leftist" logic applied here, too: so what if I have money? Just tell me whether or not I am a progressive. The future is promising!

Just like that, after the awards ceremony, the crew accepted an interview with a film magazine. They answered the pre-discussed questions in a routine manner, and Yoon Woon-hui emphasized why he wanted to be an actor. He mentioned those two senior alumni from Yonsei University, Woo Hyun and Ahn Nae-sang, and spoke of his experiences joining the student club, the Yonsei Dramatic Art Research Association. He candidly admitted that he came from a wealthy family, had excellent grades, a smooth-sailing life, and had even served as the student body president at Yonsei.

Because of this, after meeting Director Lee, he had developed a great interest in the director’s script. The protagonist of *Not Out* is a high school student who is ordinary in every way, with the only exception being that he is good at baseball. Yet, due to his own confusion, he loses his chance for higher education and turns to petty crime. In the end, the protagonist's father sells the family restaurant so that his son can enter university and continue playing baseball. Yoon Woon-hui expressed that he had a strong desire to play such a character.

Perfect.

He would be able to see this interview in a well-known film journal next month. Yoon Woon-hui did not intend to hide his stance. He could foresee that his career in the entertainment industry was destined to be filled with controversy and debate. But so what?

Yoon Woon-hui thought of the lines from his character in *The Penthouse*. When "Joo Seok-hoon" first saw "Bae Ro-na," he said: "But, she is pretty."

That is the national character of the Peninsula. Although one cannot treat K-dramas as history or reality, the issues reflected through the details are real.

The two-day, three-night trip to Jeonju ended there. Yoon Woon-hui had no attachment to this city where he had no friends, and he figured Hwang Ye-ji and Shin Yu-na had long since returned to Seoul.

Yoon Woon-hui returned to Seoul as well. He hadn't done anything, yet a sum of money was automatically deducted from his bank account. Damn it...

Admittedly, the five-year inheritance tax payment plan had greatly eased his cash flow pressure, but every repayment cycle was agonizing. *Not Out* was an independent film with no salary; he had even paid out of his own pocket to invest in it. And *The Penthouse* hadn't even started filming yet...

Yoon Woon-hui was already considering whether to temporarily cut back on unnecessary expenses. His life seemed simple on the surface, but when he looked at the bills, there was always a long string of zeros at the end.

Whatever, forget it. Time to go watch the former idol Bae Suzy's performance!