Chapter 142: Spring, the Season of Harvest (3)
TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir
“Hey, it looks like the Alive screening is over.”
The people lined up for the snack bar turned their gazes. Noises began leaking from the silent Alive screening theatre. If they could hear noisy shouts outside, then they could guess how much a commotion there was inside. A man who paid for his popcorn brought his girlfriend over to the theatre entrance.
“Let’s see the people leaving. I’m curious.”
“Can you tell from the people leaving?”
“You can tell whether a movie was fun or boring from the audience’s reaction!”
Other people followed suit and began glancing at the entrance, even the employees popping popcorn and pouring drinks. A Korean blockbuster that was praised by reviewers and others in the industry, the amount of interest in Alive was quite high.
“I bet my hand that the audience didn’t like it.”
A man wearing glasses said while grabbing some popcorn from his friend.
“Reviewers said it was good so who are you to say that it’s bad?”
“That’s the problem. Reviewers hyped it up too much. The audience must have watched it expecting a Hollywood zombie movie, but that means they’ll be 100% disappointed. You need to watch it thinking, ‘This is good for a Korean movie.”
“Alive also had a huge budget though?”
“What are they going to do with 30 billion won? Hollywood blockbusters spend hundreds of billion won.”
“Uh, then they might actually be disa-“
He was cut off by the commotion. Viewers poured out from the theatre entrance.
Those waiting outside examined their faces. It was strange. There was some with serious expressions and others with despondent expressions. Either way, it was clear that there was a lot to talk about regarding this movie. The viewers began chatting with each other.
“I checked my phone three times at the end. To check the time.”
“Me too! I was wondering when it would end.”
Was the movie boring?
The people around them perked their ears.
“I checked thinking only an hour had passed but it was almost over. I thought I was seeing things.”
“The last 30 minutes passed by like it was three minutes. 150 minutes just passed by like that!”
“Crazy. I already want to go back in and watch it all over again. Is this normal?”
“I thought the same as soon as it ended. I need to watch it again!”
The people eavesdropping on their conversation exchanged looks.
“… They seem to like it?”
“Cut your hand off, man.”
The man who bet his hand that the viewers wouldn’t like it coughed.
With an incredibly curious expression, he mumbled,
“How did they make the movie for people to react like this?”
Nam Joyoon’s family was amongst the mass exodus of Alive viewers. They didn’t say a word even though the movie had ended. With dazed expressions, they simply walked while staring at the backs of people in front of them as though they were firmly entranced by something.
Suddenly, Nam Joyoon’s father looked beside him. Women were chatting.
“Who is it? Does his name not appear? Search for ‘Alive’s crazy bastard’.”
“Hold on. I’m searching… Huh, it looks like other people who watched the movie are looking too. There are posts wondering who the crazy bastard who threw the kid is.”
“Heeey! It’s here! Under movie information, Nam Joyoon!”
The moment she shouted his name, Nam Joyoon’s family flinched. Light returned to their dazed eyes.
“His profile picture looks completely normal? His ‘crazy guy’ acting in the movie was amazing though.”
“Ahh, he’s a villain yet I was completely absorbed whenever he appeared on screen. His voice was great too. Ah, it looks like he’s the one reviewers have been calling the scene-stealer and new menu item. His first appearance was so thrilling it made my heart race.”
“It’s my first time seeing him. Was he in plays before?”
“I bet he’ll become popular with this, right?”
Hiccup.
A strange noise cut in. Intermixed with suppressed sobs.
Nam Joyoon’s father turned around.
“Dear, are you crying?”
Nam Joyoon’s mother shook her lowered head. However, the hiccups were undoubtedly coming from her. When gazes began to gather on her, she hastily wiped her eyes with her sleeves.
“Are you seeing things? Who’s crying?”
“You are! You said I wasn’t acting my age before. Joyoon, your mother is crying!”
“Am not! My eyes are just dry from staring at the screen for so long!”
His mother slapped his father’s back. Yet, despite her words, her eyes were pooling with tears. Nam Joyoon, who was throwing out the popcorn and sodas, came over with widened eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Fine, of course, I am.”
When she nodded, the tears pooling in her eyes fell. That was the start. Her dripping tears began to flow like a faucet. Her suppressed sobs and hiccups were mixed in as well. Nam Joyoon’s teasing father was so shocked he shut his mouth. However, the one who was most surprised by this was the person herself.
“Ah, why am I like this all of a sudden?!”
She tried keeping her eyes open and even covering them with her palms. They were futile attempts.
A couple standing in front of the entrance mumbled,
“I think the movie is sad. That person’s sobbing.”
“What the heck? Is it like a melodrama? I can’t watch movies that make you cry. Should we not watch it?”
It seemed Nam Joyoon’s mother heard this even while trying to stop her tears as she hurriedly waved her hands.
“No, this isn’t a sad movie. You can watch it. Please watch it.”
“That’s right. There are almost no sad parts.”
The women who were talking about Nam Joyoon supported her claim.
They were about to throw out their popcorn and perfectly fine napkins when someone asked,
“Those napkins. If you’re not going to use them, could I…”
“Ah, yes! Here you go.”
One of the women turned around to hand it to the person.
Then her eyes met…
The same face she saw on the screen and profile picture.
“Huh?”
“Yes?”
The woman’s eyes bulged. At the same time, she screamed so loudly that the viewers, who continued to walk only looking in front of them, stopped in their steps from the surprise.
“Hey, are you crazy? Why are you-!”
Her friend’s mouth gaped when she saw Nam Joyoon’s face. Her trembling fingers repeatedly pointed at him. It only took a moment for the other viewers to recognize his face as well. A huge commotion erupted at the theatre entrance.
“Hey, hey, it’s him, right? The crazy bastard, I mean, man who threw the kid in the movie?”