Chapter 14: Busan International Film Festival
Even after receiving the official invitation, they didn't leave for Busan immediately.
The submission deadline had been in early July.
The festival was held in autumn.
During that time, Geonwoo worked part-time at the café and rewrote two scripts he'd written in his previous life.
After checking them with Script Appraisal, the two scripts received scores of ninety-seven and ninety-eight.
"If the festival goes well, I can properly make these movies too."
At the same time, he prepared the materials requested by the festival.
He refined the English synopsis.
Checked the director and actor profiles.
Selected promotional stills.
Summer passed.
A hint of autumn slowly began entering the morning air.
And finally, the day came to leave for Busan.
Seoul Station was packed even early in the morning.
Geonwoo stood on one side of the platform with a backpack over his shoulder.
"I'm really going to Busan."
The feeling was strange.
Then a familiar voice came from behind.
"Hyung!"
Geonwoo turned.
Hyeonsu was running toward him holding a convenience-store bag.
"You're early."
"I was so excited I barely slept. What about you?"
Geonwoo laughed briefly.
"Same."
"Oh. Even the director is nervous."
"Of course I am."
Hyeonsu grinned and raised the bag.
"You didn't eat breakfast, did you?"
Geonwoo paused.
"I only had coffee."
"I knew it."
Hyeonsu shook the bag.
"I bought triangle gimbap and water. We'll eat on the train."
"I'm touched."
"The assistant director has to take care of our director."
"Then keep doing it from now on."
"That requires extra pay."
Geonwoo laughed.
A little later, Han Yura walked toward them.
She wore a black cap and mask, but they immediately recognized her.
Kang Taejun followed a little behind, adjusting the strap of his bag while looking around.
Yura raised a hand first.
"Have you been waiting long?"
"No. We just got here."
Taejun approached and bowed lightly.
"Morning."
Hyeonsu looked at both of them and laughed.
"Everyone has dark circles."
Taejun immediately answered.
"I barely slept last night."
Yura laughed quietly.
"Me too. I couldn't fall asleep."
"So we're all the same."
Hyeonsu looked around.
"I wish Dogyeom could've come with us today."
Geonwoo nodded.
"He has school, so today was difficult. His mother can't easily take time off on weekdays either."
Hyeonsu looked disappointed.
"Then he can't come at all?"
"No. He's coming on the day of the GV."
Geonwoo smiled.
"He needs to stand in front of the audience with us that day."
Hyeonsu breathed out in relief.
"Good. Our Seoyun can't miss the GV."
Yura smiled.
"He's going to be incredibly nervous."
Taejun chuckled.
"When he arrives, the first thing we should do is take his picture in front of the poster."
Geonwoo smiled.
"Yeah. Let's do that."
Soon, the train entered the platform.
The four picked up their luggage and boarded.
The moment they sat down, Hyeonsu distributed triangle gimbap.
"Busan-bound breakfast."
Taejun accepted his and laughed.
"Assistant Director, you're prepared."
"Of course. This team couldn't function without me."
Geonwoo opened his gimbap.
"I can't argue with that."
"Exactly."
Hyeonsu nodded proudly.
The train departed.
Yura looked outside.
"It still doesn't feel real. We were officially invited to the Busan International Film Festival."
Taejun spoke briefly.
"Same. But I'm also really nervous."
Geonwoo looked out the window.
In his previous life, he'd never experienced this.
Traveling to Busan with the people who had made his movie.
Eating triangle gimbap on the train.
Trading pointless jokes.
But this life was different.
Taejun kept looking outside as he spoke.
"There'll be a lot of real celebrities at the festival, right?"
Hyeonsu immediately reacted.
"Probably. The opening ceremony should have tons."
"I hope one or two famous people come watch our movie."
Yura looked at him.
"Isn't that greedy?"
Taejun shrugged.
"We've come all this way. We can be a little greedy."
He grinned.
"Honestly, if someone famous watches it and says one good thing, the atmosphere around the movie can change immediately."
Hyeonsu nodded.
"That's true. At festivals, even people saying 'So-and-so watched it' can spread quickly."
When they arrived at Busan Station, the air was slightly more humid than Seoul.
Hyeonsu adjusted the handle of his suitcase.
"Busan."
Geonwoo stopped walking too.
His heart was beating harder than when they'd left Seoul.
They were really here now.
"Let's go to the hotel and unpack first."
They moved to the festival's official sponsor hotel.
The festival had arranged the accommodation, but a rookie independent-film team wasn't going to receive luxurious rooms.
After getting the room keys at the front desk, Hyeonsu complained first.
"Yura noona has it good. She gets a room alone."
Yura immediately responded,
"Jealous? Want to share mine?"
"Really?!"
"You think I'm serious?"
Everyone laughed.
Geonwoo put away his key card.
"You two can use the two single beds. I don't mind sleeping on the sofa."
Hyeonsu's eyes lit up.
"Hyung... no, Director, are you serious?"
"Completely serious."
Geonwoo smiled.
"But if you ask me one more time, I might change my mind and decide I want the bed."
Hyeonsu immediately shut his mouth and picked up his luggage.
"Director. Let's go upstairs."
The four unpacked and rested briefly before heading to the opening-ceremony venue.
The moment they entered, Hyeonsu slowed down first.
"Whoa."
There was too much to see.
Festival banners.
Posters of official selections.
Audience members checking information boards.
People wearing passes around their necks.
Reporters moving around with cameras.
Geonwoo stopped for a moment too.
This was really a film festival.
Not a place he'd only seen in articles or videos.
He was standing here as the director of an invited film.
Even while waiting in line to receive their badges, Hyeonsu kept stretching his neck to look around.
Yura fidgeted with her water bottle.
Taejun quietly studied the faces of people passing by.
Geonwoo's turn arrived.
"Baek Geonwoo."
The staff member checked the list and handed him a badge.
Geonwoo looked down at it.
[Baek Geonwoo / Director]
For a long moment, he stared at the word Director.
A dream he had never achieved in his previous life.
"Hyung."
Hyeonsu quietly called him.
"What?"
"Your expression looks weird."
Geonwoo placed the badge around his neck and smiled.
"I'm just happy."
Hyeonsu grinned.
After receiving their badges, the four moved toward the wall displaying posters from the Vision section.
Hyeonsu found their poster first.
"Hyung!"
He pointed toward one side of the wall.
There it was.
The poster for Before the Light Reaches.
Geonwoo slowly stood in front of it.
The poster showed a dark alley.
Seorin's back stood at the end of it.
The old camcorder rested in her arms.
No one spoke for a moment.
Yura quietly stared at it.
Taejun remained silent too.
Hyeonsu took out his phone.
"We need a photo. Absolutely."
"Let's take another when Dogyeom gets here."
Yura spoke.
Hyeonsu immediately nodded.
"Of course. When Dogyeom arrives, we'll take a full team picture here."
Taejun looked toward the posters beside theirs.
"These are the movies competing with us in the Vision section this year, right?"
"Yeah."
Geonwoo slowly looked through them.
Some directors had names he'd heard before.
Others were already gaining attention within the festival as promising newcomers.
Taejun spoke quietly.
"So we're competing with all these people."
"That's right."
Hyeonsu looked at Geonwoo.
"It's still strange that we're standing beside people like this because of you."
Geonwoo smiled faintly.
"It feels strange to me too."
That evening, the opening ceremony began.
The lighting was even more extravagant than expected.
Camera flashes burst everywhere.
Actors in dresses and tuxedos walked the red carpet.
Hyeonsu looked half-dazed.
"This is crazy."
Taejun pretended to be calm, but his gaze lingered.
"It's bigger than I expected."
Yura looked around and spoke quietly.
"We're really at a film festival."
The ceremony began.
The host stepped onto the stage.
Han Eunchae.
A central member of Lumiel.
A girl-group star famous not only in Korea but overseas.
Recently, she had also begun acting.
The moment she appeared, the atmosphere surged again.
Hyeonsu whispered,
"Wow. She's really beautiful."
Taejun also admired her.
"Seriously. She's even prettier in person."
Han Eunchae looked completely comfortable on stage.
The glamorous dress.
The expression she maintained before countless cameras.
The smooth hosting.
Everything looked practiced.
But not every reaction around them was positive.
"Why is Han Eunchae hosting a film festival?"
"They want attention. That's all."
"Doesn't really fit a film festival."
"She got a lead role in a drama recently. She's technically an actress now."
"Her acting wasn't that impressive though. She's still kind of awkward as an actress."
Hearing the whispers, Yura quietly said,
"Even someone that famous hears things like that."
Taejun didn't look away from the stage.
"She's famous. That's probably why she hears even more."
The opening ceremony ended.
The next morning.
It was the first screening day for Before the Light Reaches.
Geonwoo, Hyeonsu, Yura, and Taejun headed toward the theater.
They were all quieter than the day before.
Hyeonsu folded and unfolded the schedule.
Yura kept fidgeting with her water bottle.
Taejun wasn't making his usual jokes.
Even while walking, Taejun kept looking around.
Actors wearing passes.
Directors preparing for interviews.
Familiar faces posing in front of cameras.
Taejun spoke quietly.
"That person who just passed us looked like an actor I've seen in a drama."
Hyeonsu immediately looked up.
"Who?"
"Already gone."
"Ah, why am I the only one who missed them?"
Taejun chuckled and looked toward the theater.
"I hope one or two people like that come watch our movie."
He smiled.
"At a film festival, rumors about who watched what spread pretty quickly."
When they reached the theater, Hyeonsu looked at the audience first.
His expression stiffened slightly.
"There are fewer people than I expected."
He didn't finish the sentence.
Geonwoo looked at the seats too.
It wasn't empty.
But it wasn't crowded either.
There were more empty seats than occupied ones.
"For a rookie director's film, this isn't bad."
Geonwoo spoke calmly.
Hyeonsu blinked.
"Really?"
"The screening that matters most for us is the GV screening."
Geonwoo looked toward the auditorium.
"If today's reaction is good, more people may come to the GV screening."
GV was short for Guest Visit, the discussion held between the audience, director, and actors after a screening.
Before the Light Reaches would screen twice first.
The third screening would include the GV.
Hyeonsu's expression relaxed slightly.
Geonwoo smiled.
"Let's prepare for the stage greeting."
At the same time.
Han Eunchae had just finished a short interview on another floor of the same building.
Her opening-ceremony hosting the previous night had gone smoothly.
She smiled in front of cameras.
Answered questions calmly.
But the questions continued to follow her.
"People say your idol image is still too strong for you as an actress. Does that put pressure on you?"
"What do you think about criticism of your acting?"
"Some people in the film industry seemed surprised that you were chosen to host the opening ceremony. What do you think about that?"
Han Eunchae smiled throughout the interview.
"It would be a lie to say I don't feel pressure."
"I'm still learning."
"I believe there are also many people who support me."
None of those answers were false.
But saying the right answer didn't mean her emotions disappeared.
When the interview-room door closed, Eunchae stared at the wall for a moment.
Her manager approached.
"Eunchae, we have a little time before the next schedule. Want to go back to the waiting room?"
"Unnie, can I be alone for a bit?"
Her manager looked worried.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I just feel a little suffocated."
"Don't go far. Answer immediately if I call."
"Okay."
Han Eunchae pulled her cap lower and raised her mask.
Then she walked toward a hallway that looked less crowded.
As she turned the corner, quiet voices reached her.
"Why Han Eunchae of all people?"
"The festival wants star marketing too."
"She's not really there as an actress yet."
"Still, Han Eunchae isn't someone who accepts anything."
"She does have a good eye for projects. Music, commercials, things like that."
"I'll give her that. But hosting a film festival is different."
Eunchae didn't stop walking.
She'd heard those words before.
But familiarity didn't make them stop hurting.
She pulled her cap even lower.
Right now, she didn't want to see anyone.
She didn't want anyone to recognize her.
She didn't want more questions.
She didn't want to smile and answer again.
She only wanted a dark place where she could breathe for a little while.
Then she noticed the entrance to a theater that didn't seem crowded.
Eunchae stopped briefly.
A sign beside the door showed the movie title.
She didn't properly read it.
Right now, she didn't need a movie.
She needed a dark seat where no one would look at her.
A staff member near the entrance checked the guest badge around her neck.
"Would you like to watch the screening?"
Eunchae looked into the theater instead of answering immediately.
"Would it be okay if I sit near the back for a little while?"
The staff member checked the seating chart and nodded.
"There are empty seats. The screening is about to begin, so please enter quietly from the back."
Eunchae bowed slightly.
"Thank you."
She lowered the brim of her cap and entered.
When she opened the door, three people were standing on the stage at the front.
A short stage greeting was in progress.
Eunchae quietly sat in an empty seat in the last row.
On stage, Geonwoo held the microphone.
"Hello. I'm rookie director Baek Geonwoo, director of Before the Light Reaches. Thank you for choosing our film among all the movies here today."
