LATEST UPDATES

Published at 5th of August 2022 05:39:49 AM


Chapter 22

If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again




People sometimes had absurd daydreams. In my case, it was that—a café atop a cliff, a shelter isolated from above and below and from the rest of the world.

“It’s hot…” As I stared at the hilly road before me, I fanned myself with the tricolor, Taegeuk-pattern fan that the captain gave me. A lot of people were already climbing that hill with their bags in hand.

The captain was right after all. On both sides of the road, there were bushes of hydrangeas, with deep pink globes of flowers. On other spots of the hill, there were a variety of wildflowers and camellia trees. Someone must have planted the camellias and the hydrangeas, but it looked like nobody took care of them.

I was certain now. The rich b*stard who built this villa practically threw away this island.

If I were that rich man, I would also not come here because of my hatred for this incline. There were no cars, bicycles, or buses on his faraway island. One had to solve everything with one’s two hands and feet, like back in prehistoric times. Money couldn’t solve this.

The sun shone brightly on the hilly road. There wasn’t a single tree for shade in sight. I knew that trees couldn’t grow big on such an island buffeted with the coastal wind, but this was still too much.

“Aren’t you going?” Hyehyun bumped into my shoulder, oblivious to my tumultuous thoughts. I let out a deep sigh and started walking. I hoped that at the villa situated on the end of this path, there would be the blessings of modern-day inventions, namely, an air conditioner.

The view of the surrounding ocean was quite breathtaking and refreshing, yet I couldn’t help but see the pale hands that sprung out from the surface of the water. The waves near the island were quite strong after all. It would be hard to even find a corpse if someone were to fall into the waters.

Act 3

The villa looked like Castletown House of Celbridge, County Kildare in Ireland. So instead of a “villa,” it looked more like a hotel one could see on the streets of London.

That wasn’t actually my impression, but just something that one of the female cast members who traveled outside the country for shoots said. As if she was in a scene of a drama the moment she saw the house, she exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, it looks just like Castletown House! It looks like a hotel, not a villa.”

I thought back to when I watched a British TV series set in London. As she said, it was quite similar to a townhouse that appeared on that show.

The thing about County Kildare, Ireland—or something or the other—was something one of the show’s scriptwriters told us. The owner of this vacation house fell in love with Castletown House and built a similar building on their island. It occurred to me that it must have been difficult to transport all the building materials since it was an island, yet they still managed to raise such a big structure.

They said the filming would last for one week, but the house was so big that we could be filming here for one month. Leaving aside the roof, the building was four stories tall, very wide, and greeted us with countless windows.

The early summer rays bounced off the long and narrow windows and sparkled like sand on a beach. In the center of the light grey exterior was a deep green door. Leading up to that were bleached-out marble stairs, and from those steps to the place we stood, there was a path laid with neat, white stones like someone used a brush to draw a line to connect us.

While walking down the stone path, people couldn’t take their eyes off the grandeur of the structure. Those who walked without distractions were members of the filming crew who had already finished investigating the house and prepared to film.

“It’s a lot more… all-out than I expected,” one man, who appeared to be a cast member, mumbled. I heard that he was the show host when we were on the boat, but I couldn’t remember his name. I think I saw him on a quiz show before while I was flipping channels.

I looked around. Contrary to what Hyehyun told me about the casting battle, I couldn’t recognize most of the people who were invited to the show. Then again, since I only watched bits of regularly scheduled shows, I wouldn’t be able to tell if these people were famous on cable TV anyway.

Well, I wasn’t surprised considering regular broadcasts and cable TV shows had a clear divide, so there was practically no overlap of activity. It was similar to how film actors rarely featured on television series.

Honestly, the only faces I recognized were those who appeared on the talk show recording from last week.

Woorim Eun, who had wished to become closer the following week, was obviously here. He and I met eyes, and he smiled cheekily as he waved his hand. I nodded in acknowledgment, just like last time. He seemed a bit glum at my indifferent greeting because he slowly put his hand down, but he was still smiling.

It seemed like their agency was pushing him and Seohang, who was with him, as a bundle. Seohang didn’t look too pleased today. If Woorim seemed to act out and bring attention in some way, Seohang frowned and looked in the opposite direction.

As I watched them, I had a feeling that those two would fight at some point while filming.




Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!


COMMENTS