This Life is Splendid

Chapter 5

In the 1910s, the common people who joined the independence movement could not afford to live comfortably.

Even though she is a character with no common sense, Hye-young’s acting doesn’t make her seem like a daughter from a poor family.

“… … .”

Da-eun lowered her body and came near the hut, squatting down and pretending to glance inside the store.

The protagonist Lee Seon’s slumped shoulders and hesitant gaze portrayed how he was viewing the situation. Lee Seon knew. He knew what kind of crisis his country was facing.

Even though she knew her parents were raising money for independence and her family’s circumstances, she seemed to be so hungry that she couldn’t resist the food in front of her. Da-eun smacked her lips.

After chewing the inside of my mouth, I slowly lifted my hand and picked up the rice cake. I swallowed it in one bite, my mouth watering at the delicious smell.

“Inomu supporters!”

Hye-young, who had been watching Da-eun’s acting, shouted with a terrified face. Then, she struck Da-eun’s back with her vicious hands and pulled her up.

“Ahhh! Oh, Mom!”

Surprised at being caught, and with an apologetic expression for secretly eating the rice cake.

“My daughter is hungry, but why waste this food?”

Da-eun bit her lips and complained. Hye-young, who played the role of Lee-seon’s mother, bit her lips. She spoke in a voice that was seething with anger.

“How can you be so immature when you’re seventeen!”

What was that angry voice directed at? Da-eun blurted out sadly, her eyelids fluttering.

“How much do I eat if I eat it!”

It was a voice that seemed to be angry at me for knowing everything but not being able to hold it in. It wasn’t just ‘Lee Seon’ who was sad.

“Shouldn’t eating and living come first?”

It wasn’t just the lines that were spit out. Da-eun looked straight at Hye-young.

We’ve acted together like this a lot. I really cared for you.

Lee Sun-do must have been sad too. Even though they were my parents who cared for me, there were always things that came before me. Even though they acted immaturely, they must have been sad.

“Why do others always come first? Does independence feed you?!”

Then, as if to show off, he picked up another piece of rice cake and stuffed it into his mouth.

Hye-young ended up losing her lines while reading the script, watching Da-eun’s acting as she yearned for her parents’ love while also being angry at her own immature behavior with her resentful eyes.

“Hey, Inomu supporter!”

Her eyes were completely blank, and it seemed like she couldn’t see the words. Her gaze was constantly scanning the script, but Hye-young couldn’t come up with a proper line for her partner.

Hye-young, who was rolling her eyes here and there in embarrassment, hit Da-eun’s back two or three times.

“Oh, it hurts! Hey, Mom, wait a minute. Gulp! My daughter is sick. Huh?”

Da-eun’s voice was innocent and pretty, but somehow sad. It was enough to make my heart ache.

I never imagined that in a short audition, in a modern building, I would feel like I was in the 1910s.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Director Sami Hyun announced the end of the audition, and writer Ham Jun Seok faintly sank into silence.

When the director and writer’s expressions turned sour, Hye-young’s face brightened slightly.

Da-eun bowed her head with a complicated expression.

She did her best, and I don’t regret any of the character analysis and acting I did.

However, knowing the original that was released before the return, he acknowledged that his acting may not have been what the director and writer wanted.

“Thank you all for your hard work. I’ll contact you within today.”

The staff led Da-eun and Hye-young out of the audition room. Director Sa and Writer Ham nodded to each other, and as soon as the two left, they began to talk with heated faces.

As they were leaving the audition room, Hye-young called out to Da-eun.

“Hey, Kang Da-eun.”

Da-eun, who was looking at the corners of Hye-young’s lips that were rising gracefully, answered.

“why.”

“When I was in school… … .”

Hye-young, who had been quietly watching Da-eun, sighed and continued speaking.

“Even if we were ranked by grades, we could still consider each other as friends?”

Hye-young tilted her head slightly and glared at Da-eun. Her gaze was filled with complex emotions.

“But it’s different when you go out into society.”

Jealousy and discontent were clearly visible. They were things he had not been able to see in the past due to the burns he had suffered.

Hye-young felt pity and anger when she saw Da-eun’s scar at that time. It was all an act.

“You and I, who will win?”

Da-eun was also curious about that. Before the regression, Da-eun didn’t even have a chance.

No one knows. Will Hye-young take her place again? Will things change since Da-eun participated in the audition, unlike in the past?

The two people just stared at each other quietly, as if assessing each other.

The first to leave was Hye-young. Hye-young turned around without saying goodbye and disappeared from Da-eun’s sight without even looking back.

It had only been three years, but the street in front of the art school felt unfamiliar, as if ten years had passed.

Da-eun got off the bus and walked with a feeling of joy, longing, and a strange feeling.

The house she lived in was just a little ways away from the downtown area of ​​Yedae.

As I passed the streets bustling with students despite it being vacation and entered a quiet alley, I saw a familiar building in the distance.

There was a fairly large cafe and convenience store on the first floor, and above that was a residential officetel.

Da-eun’s parents had been living in New York for a long time because of their work. This was possible because Da-eun had been living in a dormitory ever since she entered the art school.

In the past, I almost gave up on this world more than a dozen times because of burns at that house, and after graduating, I lived with Hye-young, who saved my life, in a studio apartment for three years.

so.

“I thought I knew everything about Noh Hye-young.”

Da-eun sighed as her cheeks were touched by the burning sunlight.

Should I stop by a cafe and buy something cold to drink before going in? Da-eun stopped and stared at the ground where the sun was shining brightly.

I felt like I had trouble breathing for no reason. When I looked at the fog, I heard a hissing sound, like gas was leaking.

Da-eun bit her lips and walked into the cafe.

Daughter-.

The noise of the bustling crowd, along with the small ringing of the bell, pierced my ears.

It seemed like a birthday party was taking place, as four or five students wearing cone-shaped hats and holding lit cakes were singing at a table at the entrance.

“Happy birthday-! Happy birthday-!”

As I listened to the voices of the excited students in the cool air-conditioned room, my mood seemed to improve a little. It was the moment she stood in front of the counter to order.

Phew-!

It was a small sound. The thought crossed my mind that it was fireworks for a birthday celebration, but my body reacted on its own.

“Ugh!”

Da-eun felt her face as she unconsciously sat down with her legs giving out.

Beep-.

There was a dull noise along with the tinnitus. The employee at the counter came back and seemed to be saying something, but she couldn’t understand it.

I’m out of breath.

It was only two days ago. The gas accident had been avoided, but the fear seemed to remain. The afterimages of the return that had been buried in my memory came back to me.

“Ah, no… … .”

The terrible heat that had rushed in with the explosion, the pain that had taken over her brain a moment too late, and the feeling of her skin melting came crashing down on her once again.

My eyes clearly recognized that this was the cafe I had just entered, but my head couldn’t accept it.

A tall man approached Da-eun, pushing his way through the crowd of people milling about, wondering what to do.

“Kang Da-eun.”

The man sitting down, hugging her from behind, lifted Da-eun’s chin and made her lean her head on his shoulder, stretching her body. Then, the field whispered to Da-eun, who was exhaling.

“Look, look. Where is this place?”

Da-eun’s unfocused gaze moved slightly as she leaned against the man.

Yoon Joo-hyuk. It was him again.

Didn’t he help you two days ago?

“It’s okay. Breathe slowly and take deep breaths.”

She tried to calm her ragged breathing, but it didn’t work as well as she’d hoped.

At that moment, the employee who had been watching Da-eun with concern went back into the counter and came out with something.

“Will this help?”

“Thank you.”

What Joohyuk accepted as a greeting was a thin paper bag used to package cookies.

Joohyuk held the paper bag up to Da-eun’s nose and mouth. The faint smell of the paper bag seeped in.

“Whew- exhale. Inhale again.”

Slowly. After trying several times, relying on the soft voice, Da-eun’s breathing gradually began to stabilize. After a certain number of times, Joo-hyuk put the paper bag away.

“You’re doing well. Keep breathing.”

I finally regained my breathing, but I had no strength left in my body. I shamelessly leaned forward with all my weight on the ground, but I just couldn’t get the words out that I was okay.

“This won’t work. Let’s rest here for a bit and then go.”

“…yes.”

As Joohyuk grabbed her shoulder and stood up, Da-eun’s body was lifted up lightly. Only then did the people who had gathered disperse.

Da-eun tried to pull herself together as Joo-hyuk sat her down on the comfy sofa by the nearby window and went to the counter to thank the staff before returning.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Joo-hyuk sat next to Da-eun, blocking out the gazes of those around him who were filled with worry and curiosity.

“Thank you. How is this place… … .”

Da-eun asked while receiving a cool drink from Joo-hyuk.

I couldn’t figure out how he would show up and help me whenever I was in trouble.