episode_0063

The editing team for the short film ‘Sword’ was still immersed in lingering feelings.

“Haaah….”

Director Park Joon exhaled a deep breath.

It felt new and emotional. Because it’s been so tough.

However, the editing of ‘Sword’ was not included in the difficulties Park Joon recalled. Even though this project was particularly challenging, it was, after all, an exciting task that made him forget even fatigue and devote himself to it.

However.

‘It was hard. It was really hard.’

What Park Joon really felt was difficult were the moments when he had been on a downward spiral after a single hit. And now, finally, the sword to cut the rope of the curse was in his hand.

Coincidentally, it was titled ‘Sword.’

The editing team’s impressions, who had been with Park Joon all along, weren’t much different; their faces were subtly similar. Expressions of being saved just by the fact that they had finished. Some even had red eyes.

“Director Park, it’s perfect. You’ve really worked hard.” “I’m sure Soo-ah-ssi will absolutely love it!”

After that, they shared a long reunion, and only after a long time did the topic of conversation shift in another direction.

“By the way, Director Park, did you see? They say there are more than one or two changes to this year’s short film festival? It’s changing a lot.”

“Yeah, I was going to say that. Let’s all take a look together while we’re here.”

The editing team began to examine the differences of this year’s Busan International Short Film Festival in detail, and soon they had a lot to say.

“As expected, Director Kim Joon-gi is out. Who will they replace the signboard judge with? I heard it might be Director Go Tae-min?”

“Ah? If that’s the case, isn’t that good for us?”

Park Joon listened to their words while quietly thinking.

‘Director Go Tae-min…’

And soon shook his head.

“No. It’ll be even harder for us to win an award.”

“Why is that?”

“Director Go is very fair, and he’s even connected to me through the Right Path meeting. He’ll judge ‘Sword’ with several times stricter standards so that there’s no noise.”

“Ah…”

Everyone nodded, but Park Joon’s face showed no signs of anxiety. The same was true for those around him.

There was a reason for that.

“But.”

Park Joon said with a smile.

“We’re confident that we can win an award even under several times stricter standards. We have a secret weapon, don’t we?”

“That’s right!”

The editing team agreed in unison.

The reason they were confident was naturally ‘Sword.’ Even if the results were different from expectations, at least in their eyes, there was no better outcome than this.

An employee said in an excited voice.

“Soo-ah-ssi’s acting was so great, and I think it’s really worth aiming for an award. So, isn’t this change perfect for us now?”

“What change?”

“This part. The part about increasing the award categories.”

“…That’s right? Several have been added besides the Best Film award?”

Park Joon quickly scanned the contents.

It wasn’t difficult to understand. Unlike the past when only the work was awarded, now the director and actors would also be awarded.

Another editing team employee tilted their head.

“Why did they add the awards?”

“The higher-ups probably ordered it. There were already signs that they would push short films. Recently, the interest in short films compared to commercial films has been miserable. That’s not a good phenomenon.”

“Ah…”

“Anyway, we just need to understand it like this.”

Park Joon adjusted his hat once.

“This short film festival is seeing an unprecedented influx of water, and we may have prepared the sturdiest ship. In other words…”

“…All we have to do is row. No, is Soo-ah-ssi a motor?”

“She’s definitely something special. I’m already looking forward to it.”

Then an employee with a brighter face said.

“Should we keep this anticipation to ourselves? Or should we gather the people involved and have a small screening?”

“Of course, we need to have a test screening. We might see flaws that we didn’t see, and most importantly, we need to get Soo-ah-ssi’s final approval. Nothing is more important than Soo-ah-ssi’s opinion.”

“That’s true. It’s a movie that Soo-ah-ssi made.”

Park Joon immediately took out his cell phone from his pocket.

He makes a call. The other party is naturally Mystic CEO Kim I-seo.

Almost as soon as he made the call, Kim I-seo answered.

─Hello?

“Ah, CEO-nim. Have you been well?”

─Yes, I have.

“We finished editing ‘Sword.’ We’d like to hold a test screening with the people involved, and I’m politely asking if Mystic will do anything. I’d really like Soo-ah-ssi to come….”

“Okay. I’ll take Soo-ah and stop by for a bit.”

“Ah, what about Seon-il-ssi and Yeon-joo-ssi? Are they busy too? The two of them have contributed a lot to the work.”

“Yeon-joo is busy, and Seon-il is….”

Kim I-seo hesitated for a moment.

Currently, Kim Seon-il had hurriedly left for the hospital to check on his younger sister’s condition. However, this was not an easy fact to reveal, and Kim I-seo hesitated for a moment before answering.

“…Seon-il is busy too. As always.”

A little later, after hanging up the phone, Kim I-seo thought quietly.

‘Will it be okay? Today is the climax shooting….’

Today.

The climax shooting of Special Task Force 808 was scheduled.

◈◈◈◈◈

“What’s going on?”

Hospital.

Kim Seon-il asked the two doctors facing him.

The doctor opened his mouth with a rather serious expression.

“It’s the same as usual. She suddenly suffered from a high fever again.”

“So? Is it serious now?”

Fortunately, the doctor shook his head.

“We took quick fever-reducing measures, so she should be fine. Of course, having a high fever often is not a good phenomenon in itself, but at least it didn’t turn into something bigger. She’s fine for now.”

He meant that they had overcome the crisis well. Kim Seon-il then wiped his face with the palm of his hand. His face was already wet with sweat.

“…What’s the cause?”

Kim Seon-il asked more seriously than ever.

It’s been quite a while since Seon-il’s younger sister, Kim Yu-jin, started living in the hospital.

In fact, living in the hospital itself was not a big problem. Everyone gets sick at least once in their lives, and sometimes they have to rely on the hospital.

So the problem was something else.

“What’s the cause that keeps giving her a high fever?”

Not being able to pinpoint the exact cause of the high fever.

Kim Seon-il could do anything for his sister, but he was just frustrated by this situation where nothing improved. Because she often had a high fever, his younger sister couldn’t leave the hospital.

“That’s…”

Then the doctor hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth.

“Do you know about a phenomenon called Yips?”

“…Yips?”

Kim Seon-il soon nodded.

“I know about it. Isn’t it like a mental illness?”

“That’s right. Athletes often experience it. It’s like someone who has suffered a major injury can’t move courageously even after their body is completely healed. Because the memory of being injured keeps holding them back.”

A pianist can’t move their fingers because they are blocked by a mental problem, or a racing driver can’t turn the steering wheel as boldly as in the past….

Yips is like that. A mental obstacle.

Kim Seon-il had also encountered it in scripts and such.

He had worked on quite a few works that dealt with sports during filming. Yips was a common story among them.

But Kim Seon-il couldn’t understand.

“Are you saying that my sister is experiencing Yips?”

“Probably.”

“…I don’t understand. She’s not a child who uses her body.”

“No. You have to look at Yips broadly. You have to pay attention to the fact that a sick mind manifests as any symptom. Maybe that symptom is a high fever for Yu-jin.”

“….”

Kim Seon-il pondered for a moment.

And shook his head once more.

“Then I understand even less.”

He looked at the doctor with a serious look.

“Isn’t the beginning of Yips two things? Suffering a very big injury, or festering because you think the cause of some failure is your own.”

“That’s right. You know very accurately.”

“My younger sister has never suffered a very big injury, and she has never been so attached to something that she has failed. It doesn’t make sense.”

Kim Seon-il knew two causes of Yips.

After suffering a major injury, the terrible memories of that time come to mind and you can’t move your body properly. This is the first.

Or a heart that festers and rots because you think the cause of some failure is your own. This is the second. A mind that tries to develop by finding the cause in failure rather eats away at itself.

As far as Kim Seon-il knows, his younger sister doesn’t fall into either category.

That’s when it happened.

“Ah, about that…”

A woman wearing a gown, standing side by side with the doctor, parted her lips. She wasn’t a doctor, but a counselor.

“Yu-jin talks about her oppa a lot.” “Yes.” “She says oppa doesn’t seem happy. Because of her.” “…Yes?” “I think she’s blaming herself a little for that.”

Kim Seon-il frowned without realizing it.

It wasn’t because he thought the counselor’s story was absurd.

However, even now that everyone around him is saying that he looks unhappy, he didn’t know why he looked like that.

He couldn’t understand anything.

Why he looks unhappy. And what his sister is blaming herself for.

“You two.”

Kim Seon-il quietly looked at the two people in front of him.

“…Do I really look that unhappy?”

Of course, no suitable answer came back.

Kim Seon-il headed to his sister’s hospital room with a heavy heart.

.

.

.

.

.

Inside the hospital room.

“Oppa…”

She must have guessed who it was just by holding her hand. His younger sister greeted Kim Seon-il without hiding her joy.

But the situation was not good.

Kim Yu-jin’s body was hot as if it had become a ball of fire, and she couldn’t even open her eyes. The sweat droplets on her forehead made me guess her situation.

“….”

It was only natural that Kim Seon-il’s expression became serious.

Back then, Yu-jin was a lively and cheerful child.

But now she had become a child who seemed like she would break if he let go of her hand. When did this happen?

“Hoo…. Hoo….”

His younger sister took a few short breaths.

Just by looking at her, it was clear that she was out of breath and couldn’t even open her eyes.

Even if she opened her eyes, she wouldn’t be able to recognize her surroundings. Her vision would be dizzy and blurry from the high fever.

In that situation, his younger sister said.

“Oppa…How much time has passed…?”

“Time?”

Kim Seon-il hurriedly checked the time on his cell phone.

“That day, the day we talked on the phone, did the shooting go well…?”

His younger sister wanted to ask something else.

She seemed curious about whether Kim Seon-il had finished filming well on the day they had a video call, and Kim Seon-il immediately nodded.

“Yeah. I did well.”

So far so good. But.

“Did oppa act the best?”

“…Of course.”

An answer that came out without him realizing it.

It was a lie. On the day he grabbed the steering wheel and fought for control, Kim Seon-il didn’t think he did as well as Soo-ah.

But he didn’t want to disappoint his younger sister, who was making a voice full of expectations even in this painful situation.

─Yips, the cause is probably the mind.

Especially since he had heard such words from the doctor. He was worried that the situation might worsen if he didn’t get the answer he wanted. Because Yips is something that appears as a bigger symptom the more the mind is hurt.

A small hand tightly gripped Seon-il’s hand.

“Oppa, I’m not asking about skill.”

“Then?”

“Were you the happiest?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Hey, it sounds like a lie…”

“It’s not a lie.”

Kim Seon-il answered immediately.

“My happy face is already all recorded, and the drama production team is all here now. They said they want to see Seon-il-ssi’s sister. They said they’re curious about who the sister of someone who acts so happily is.”

“Really? Really…? They want to see me….”

“So you have to get well soon. You have to get well to see them.”

Kim Seon-il said urgently, as if urging her. Impatiently.

“Oppa, are you really happy?”

“Yeah. I told you. Stop asking now.”

“…Okay, I’m glad anyway.”

His younger sister smiled faintly while her face was covered in sweat.

“Our oppa will finally let go of his anger.” “Anger? What anger.” “My doll. Oppa was angry.”

Kim Seon-il’s gaze finally turned to one side of the hospital room.

An old teddy bear was sitting there as if to show off. Come to think of it, his younger sister had a doll like that.

Why did I completely forget? It seems like it was something his younger sister cherished.

Kim Seon-il tilted his head.

“Oppa…” “Yeah.”

Kim Seon-il’s voice brightened slightly without him realizing it.

Because his younger sister’s voice, which he had just heard, sounded much better than before. When he touched her forehead, her fever had already gone down a lot. Now she seemed to be falling asleep late.

His younger sister said as if she was talking in her sleep.

“…I want to see the scene where oppa did the best.”

“You can see it when you wake up.”

“I want to see your happy face too.”

“Yeah. That too.”

“I really want to see the people oppa brought…. Can I see them even if I wake up? Can you wait for me here?”

An absurd request unique to a young age.

But Kim Seon-il nodded.

“Yeah.”

And his sister seemed relieved by that lie.

“Okay. Oppa…I’m sleepy….”

“Go to sleep.”

“I’m really going to check when I wake up….”

“Okay.”

How much time had passed like that?

Snore— Snore—

Soon his younger sister fell asleep.

“Hoo….”

Kim Seon-il let out a sigh of relief.

But that relief didn’t last long.

“Haa….”

This time, his sigh was full of worries, and Kim Seon-il wiped his face with a troubled expression.

Because he had told his younger sister too many lies.

First of all, it was good that he reassured his younger sister and put her to sleep.

Yeah, that was good.

But.

‘I don’t know how to fix it.’

His sister, who woke up, would face reality.

The problem was that he was worried that his sister, who was disappointed by the reality that was different from what she had heard, would have a worse fever. Because Yips is something that appears as a bigger symptom the more the mind is hurt.

Woong— Woong—

The cell phone in his pocket began to vibrate.

It was a call from CEO Kim I-seo. He didn’t need to answer to know what it was about.

In fact, today was a particularly important day for Kim Seon-il and the Special Task Force 808 production team. Because today was the day of the climax shooting, which was the most important part of the scenario.

But Kim Seon-il fell into thought without answering the phone.

The lie that he acted the best.

The lie that he was happy.

First of all, these two lies were too big.

‘The only way not to disappoint my younger sister is….’

To shoot such a scene in today’s filming.

To show it to his awakened sister as if to show off.

It was an absurd story.

It was virtually impossible.

Woong— Woong—

The phone kept ringing.

In the end, Kim Seon-il answered the phone.

“Yes. I’m going now. I don’t think I’ll be late.”

Soon the footsteps he started moving were quite troubled.

‘Can I act out such a scene?’

A scene where he shines the most, and a happy scene.

He had to make it. But at the same time, he wasn’t confident.

Today’s Special Task Force 808 climax shooting.

Today, Kim Seon-il’s opponent was none other than Lee Soo-ah.