Life, Once Again!

After Story 38

“Wait.” Haneul put down the camera and approached Yeonjoo.

Yeonjoo, who was explaining the effects of the product with the product in her hands, put down the bottle with an awkward smile. She seemed to know what she was doing wrong.

“Was I doing that again?” she said. Haneul patted her dejected friend on the shoulder.

“It’s like that for everyone at first. It’s especially hard for advertisements of this type, where instantaneous responses are important.”

“I tried to imitate you as much as possible, but it’s hard. I get confused as to whether I should keep looking at the camera or talk as I look at the product. I can’t even remember the simple script you wrote for me. Maybe this isn’t suited for me?”

“Of course it’s not suited to you. It feels awkward to wear new clothes at first, doesn’t it? It’s the same here. The start is hard. However, once you keep trying, you’ll find your own tricks and gain confidence until you’re eventually comfortable in front of the camera. I’m planning to support you until then. So there’s no need to feel worried at all. Didn’t I tell you that some awkwardness is acceptable? This is not a professional TV show. This is ultimately just a simple product review from an ordinary person who has used the product.”

“You know what’s strange? It feels really easy if you say it like that.”

“If you feel that it’s easy, then it will become easy in due time.”

After giving Yeonjoo some time to drink some water, they started the shoot again. The core of this advertisement was for Yeonjoo to use the product with high offline sales and express her honest opinion.

Her review was going to be written on the product page and not the blog. As they brought back the website, which almost died, it was time to make it active again, and Yeonjoo was the start.

Yeonjoo, who found talking to the air rather difficult, eventually managed to find her own tone through repeated shoots. She even sometimes said things that weren’t in the script. She was learning how to talk to a target she couldn’t see with her eyes.

“Personally, I didn’t like this one’s scent that much, but when I changed the diffusion method, it felt okay.”

Haneul excluded professional jargon as much as possible and had Yeonjoo express her opinions as simply as possible. This easy-to-approach video would become the bridge that connects the product to the consumers.

“Okay. Yeonjoo, come and have a look.”

She showed the video she just shot to Yeonjoo. She forcefully grabbed her, who was trying to walk away in embarrassment.

“You’re going to have to get used to this. If there’s any part you don’t like, you’ll have to tell me. This is not a video we made to keep between ourselves, but something we made in order to appeal to consumers.”

“Everything feels awkward.”

“Then should we reshoot everything?”

“Gosh! Alright, wait a sec. I’ll do something about the goosebumps on my arms first.”

This is work, focus Kim Yeonjoo — Yeonjoo rebuked herself and focused on the screen.

While her friend checked the video, Haneul looked at the blog. Ever since the products went on sale in offline stores, the number of daily visitors was increasing by the day. The fact that aromatherapy was introduced as an effective therapy for insomnia in the news a few days ago probably helped in gaining new visitors.

The flow of the trend was going just as she expected. It shouldn’t be long until low-cost aroma oil brands would be created in batches. They had to take root before that happened.

“I’ll stop here for the day. I’ll upload the video on a personal account, so you can have a look at it when you get home. Watch it and write down three things you want to change. This is my first homework for you.”

“Will I keep getting homework in the future?”

“If the student becomes proficient enough, then there wouldn’t be a need for one, will there?”

“It was just a few days ago that I dropped out of college and rejoiced that I was freed from assignments, but now a friend is giving me assignments. Fine, professor Han. I’ll analyze it in depth and get an A.” Yeonjoo got her bag and left the studio.

Looking around the studio with the lights still on, Haneul raised her phone. She had rented the studio for the whole weekend, so she had to use it as much as possible.

“Hey, where are you?”

Picking up the phone, Maru said that he would be here soon. Haneul looked at her watch. It was almost 7 p.m. Her husband really was punctual. He was someone who was never late to appointments even in the previous life.

While there were Han Marus of various personalities, there wasn’t a single one that was tardy. She had the absurd thought that maybe one of the elements that made up his soul was a clock.

Just then, her phone rang. Her husband had called her, saying that he had arrived nearby.

“Over here.”

She left the building and looked for Maru. He was looking around at the pedestrian crossing on the other side, and when he noticed, he walked over while waving his hand. There was a paper bag in his hand. She looked at the label and saw that it was a porridge brand.

“You haven’t had dinner yet, right?”

“I haven’t, but what porridge is it?”

“Pumpkin porridge.”

“I like sweet bean porridge better though.”

“But I like pumpkin.”

Poking Maru, who was smiling like a child, on the side, they entered the building together. Arriving at the studio, he looked around inside and spoke, “I wonder what honey is doing in a place like this. Did you actually create your own studio?”

“I rented this one. We’re shooting here every weekend. I want to create a studio for myself, but we don’t have that budget yet.”

“What kind of shoot is it?”

“I’ll explain everything today, so let’s eat first now. I’m hungry since I haven’t had breakfast because of the shoot.”

“You should’ve eaten.”

“You know me. Eating anything will show up on my face.”

“So what if it does? You’re pretty however you are.”

“Even if you flatter me, you won’t get anything.”

Haneul smiled and took out the plastic container with the porridge. Opening the warm lid, she found a reddish-brown porridge inside, not an orange one. It was sweet bean porridge.

“Didn’t you say it was pumpkin?”

“I know you love sweet bean, so I wouldn’t dare buy pumpkin for you. Give it to me.” Maru poured the porridge into a disposable bowl.

She took a spoonful of the sweet bean porridge with potato balls floating on it and put it in her mouth. A faint sweetness seeped into her body. The fatigue she felt during the day disappeared in an instant.

“You should have some of the side dishes too. Would you like some extra potato balls?”

She immediately held out her bowl. One’s appetite was something that was bearable when put away, but once provoked, it had the power to push aside all reason.

She kept eating the porridge without a word before raising her head. Her husband was staring at her. While it was a gaze she was used to, she felt embarrassed for some reason. If she had the appearance of an old woman, she would’ve told him to just keep eating, but right now, they were twenty-two in physical age.

Even a mature mind would change how it would accept its surroundings in a young body.

“What are you doing? Eat.”

“I was wondering if this was what it means to feel full without eating.”

Her face heated up all the way to her ears when she heard the embarrassing words. Ever since their memories returned, she had received several such jokes, but she was never as shaken as she was today. When she thought about why, she finally started noticing the things that changed about him.

Her husband’s impression and body had changed. He had been changing progressively over the past three months, and it was a face she was used to seeing, so she didn’t realize. The faint lighting also played a role in changing his impression.

“You lost a lot of weight, huh?” she said in a grumbling tone in order to hide her embarrassment.

When they first met and just regained their memories, Maru was chubby even on his chin. That was cute in its own way, but seeing his sharpened jawline like this made her think that this was better.

The rather indifferent expression had also softened up a lot. This was especially the case with his eyes. He seemed to have been conscious about it, as his eyes now looked a lot softer.

This wasn’t anything new, but she still realized something. His appearance wasn’t jaw-droppingly handsome or anything, but taking feature by feature, every little detail was perfect to her preferences.

Even his body had become a lot more streamlined. The various eye-catching muscles were pleasing to her eyes.

The refreshing smell around him instead of the smell of cigarettes was also good.

Her husband had removed all the elements that would be portrayed in a negative light.

“Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?” Maru asked as he touched his cheeks.

She was about to reply no but then remembered how sneaky he was. She put her chin on her palms and spoke in a gentle voice.

“I was looking at you because you were so cool, sweetie.”

Her husband, who never became flustered, suddenly exaggeratedly moved around and laughed awkwardly. He told her to stop, and she could see a blush on her man’s face even under the darkened lights.

That was when she realized: Oh, this man isn’t any different from me.

He also had the emotions of a twenty-two-year-old young man.

She looked at her hand. It was a fair hand without a single wrinkle. They were at an age where everything visual was calculated into charm. It was something they could only enjoy at this moment.

“Do you remember back when we first dated? You told me that my hands were pretty. It wasn’t even that big of a compliment, but it was really pleasing to hear.”

“That’s some unnecessary detail you’re remembering.”

“I know you remember it too.”

She reached out and touched his chin. She slowly moved her hand up to touch his cheeks and eventually stroked his eyelids and eyebrows with her thumb.

“I’ve seen you for so long. Why is it that you never bore me?”

“Because I try my best to not look boring. You told me this before, that we should put more effort into ourselves precisely because we are married, that we should try to look charming to each other.”

“I said that?” She smiled and took her hand off. She wanted to give him a kiss but then remembered that there was porridge on her lips.

A deep kiss should better be done in bed, not here.

“There’s something I have to show you.” Haneul opened her laptop and showed him everything that she had been preparing for the past three months: the offline store, the website, the blog…

After looking at the screen seriously for a while, he spoke, “You know how I feel right now?”

“I don’t.”

“I feel sorry because of all the things you did. I was planning on focusing on auditions until the end of the year, but you already managed to achieve these things.”

“Don’t say that. Why would you be sorry? This only happened because the trends turned out well. If it didn’t go well, I was planning to do part-time jobs until the end of the year and get ready for acting.”

He put on a complex expression. She could tell how he felt. If he was in her shoes, she would also have expressed her apologetic feelings to Maru. One person was striving toward their dream, so they would feel sorry if the other was busy preparing for their livelihood.

“Should I start working first after all?”

“You see, this is why I kept it a secret from you. I didn’t start this work just to earn money. I’m doing it because it’s also an opportunity to make myself known.”

She tickled Maru’s sides. Only then did he laugh. Even though the times had changed and so did the recognition of gender roles, Maru kept thinking that it was his job as the head of the household to become the support of the family. However, she did not want to scold him by saying that it was an old-fashioned patriarchal ideology.

He was always like that. He voluntarily did the hardest things himself but never asserted his authority. He was a gentle husband and a splendid father.

When he failed at his business, and when he was fired from his work, he did not cause a fuss or shift the blame to the family. He silently looked for another job. She had seen him do so countless times. He was someone who would tell her to get some rest if she rummaged through some job offer flyers to help out with the household.

“Sometimes, it’s not bad if I could feed Gaeul’s dad myself, you know?” She smiled.

Maru, who kept looking at her, started laughing out loud. After laughing for a long time, he spoke, “Yeah. I like that. Let me have an easy life with my wifey’s support.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself too early though. You know well that a business is something that could flop at the smallest event.”

“Well, I think that anything you do would be hugely successful. It puts me at ease. If I don’t become successful as an actor, I might as well be a delivery man for this place. If that ever happens, please take care of me, president.”

“Yeah, not happening.”

She wiped her mouth and called Maru. She didn’t call him to the studio just to eat dinner together, so they had to get work done now.

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