Chapter 35: The Documentary

The terrace seats at ‘Omega Coffee’.

I accepted the iced Americano that Cheon Na-young brought over.

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

“It’s not free, you know.”

Before she’d even finished speaking, Cheon Na-young pulled out the chair across from me and sat down, facing me.

She seemed to have something she wanted to say, but just sat there blankly, staring at me.

“Um, do you… have something to say?”

“Mister. My mom was a pretty successful actress back in her day, you know?”

Cheon Na-young brought up her own flaws, an old story, without any preamble.

“But after she got pregnant with me, she said her whole life went downhill. That’s why she wanted me to become an actress in her place.”

“An actress?”

I thought back to the woman from before.

Her appearance had been a mess, but those hazel eyes tinged with green, the madness blazing out of them—that was hardly something a normal person would have.

“I just wanted my mom to be happy. She always looked so happy when she watched me acting as a kid.”

“You were a child actress?”

“Yes. It was kind of fun… but the more successful I became, the more my mom fell apart.”

Cheon Na-young’s mother had apparently spent the money her young daughter earned on luxury and excess.

Her father, unable to bear watching his wife exploit their daughter, took Na-young and left home.

Whenever her mother ran out of money, she’d ask around the neighborhood, hunting down father and daughter to cause a scene.

After hearing about Cheon Na-young’s troubled past, I began to guess why she always wore a hat and a mask.

Maybe it was to hide from her mother, afraid she might show up.

But perhaps, with her striking looks, she simply didn’t want to get caught up in unnecessary trouble.

A beautiful face that would be a blessing to some might have felt like the very reason her family fell apart.

Cheon Na-young finished her story while looking off at the broadcasting station in the distance.

“But, you know… not all my childhood memories are bad. I actually liked acting.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Aren’t you curious why I’m telling you all this?”

But before I could answer, Cheon Na-young answered herself.

“Because you’re a total stranger. I felt so pent up, I just wanted to let it all out somewhere, like shouting into a bamboo grove.”

“Are you quitting your part-time job?”

“I should. When my mom sets her mind on something, she doesn’t stop.”

Cheon Na-young gave a scoffing laugh at her own predicament.

Normally, you’d expect tears in a situation like this, but I found her tough mentality impressive.

“Aren’t you curious why a pretty girl like me lives this way?”

“You’re that confident you’re pretty?”

“Of course. With my looks, I could’ve been a model or an actress. Didn’t you ask if I was an actress the first time you saw me?”

“Hmm…”

There are so many beautiful people in the world—wasn’t she a bit naive and conceited?

But honestly, I had to admit it.

I’ve spent years as a drama writer, seen plenty of celebrities, but someone whose looks alone grabbed your attention like this—she really was rare.

It was hardly the right moment to laugh at her brazen comment, but I couldn’t help it.

“You’ve got the looks, but you’ve got a thick skin too.”

“That’s the one thing my mom gave me. I’m not smart, and I’m not athletic, but I am seriously pretty. Gotta be grateful for that, right?”

“And your mental strength is something else.”

“That’s from my dad. My mom’s got schizophrenia and is an alcoholic.”

Whoa.

Every word she threw out landed with heavy weight.

It made my head spin—is this how young people talk these days?

Cheon Na-young stood up, as if she’d finished her business.

“Take care. Let’s call my story payment for the coffee.”

Without any regret, Cheon Na-young walked back inside the café.

It had only been a few days since I first saw her face, and only minutes since I’d learned her name.

Yet, she already felt much closer.

Maybe it was because I was moved by the hard life of such an earnest young person.

If there was anything I could do to help, I wanted to.

A new notification has arrived!

Just as the thought crossed my mind, my phone vibrated briefly in my pocket.

When I checked, a Godflix notification popped up.

Without hesitation, I opened the app at the rare alert.

Today’s recommended documentary!



- The documentary ‘Cheon Na-young’ is free to watch today only!

‘There’s a documentary about Cheon Na-young?’

With so many lists being updated as my level increased, I hadn’t noticed there was a documentary about her.

It was almost as if Godflix had heard my conversation with Cheon Na-young and made a perfectly timed recommendation.

Especially since this content, usually costing ten million won per episode, was being offered for free.

‘Godflix sure is calculated with its intent.’

I looked through the window at Cheon Na-young inside the café.

By watching the documentary on Cheon Na-young, I could learn more about the past she’d only hinted at and see the road ahead for her.

‘And if there’s a documentary, that means Cheon Na-young must become an actress again.’

I went back inside the café and walked over to Cheon Na-young, who was taking off her apron to tidy up.

Curious about what she was really thinking, I asked casually.

“Ms. Cheon Na-young. Are you really never going to act again?”

Cheon Na-young, who was alphabetizing coffee coupons, froze.

“Actress?”

“If you have even the slightest interest, I’ll help you.”

Instead of replying, Cheon Na-young just stared at me with an unreadable expression.

---

She should have refused flat-out, but why couldn’t she?

Sitting at her desk in her room, Cheon Na-young fiddled with the business card Lee Jung-hyuk, her regular customer, had given her.

He’d said he was a drama writer and didn’t have his own card, so he was giving her one from the production company’s head of production.

It was a card for Jo Min-sung of Ten Entertainment.

His words—“Contact me anytime if you’re interested”—were nothing new.

She’d heard it several times before.

Back in her school days, whenever she walked around in her uniform, she’d get countless business cards.

Usually, they were from casting managers at idol or actor agencies.

Each time, Cheon Na-young had flatly refused, saying she had no intention of appearing on TV.

It was only natural.

She didn’t want to disrupt the peaceful life she shared with her father.

But now, Cheon Na-young found herself worrying over a business card in a similar situation.

What had changed from back then was—

“It’s no fun.”

She wasn’t having fun anymore.

Studying, her part-time jobs, life itself—it was all dull.

She’d had friends to hang out with in middle and high school, but after taking her college entrance exams three times, even those contacts had dried up.

If she had a college she wanted to go to, or something she wanted to study, maybe she could throw herself into it.

It wasn’t because she was stupid.

She just didn’t have anything she wanted, so her grades suffered.

“But I can’t just do something for fun, either.”

Cheon Na-young crumpled up the card and tossed it in the trash.

It didn’t stay there long, though. Her father, Cheon Jin-man, picked it up while emptying her trash.

Curious, Cheon Jin-man was now searching Ten Entertainment, the drama production company, on his phone.

“Dad.”

“Na-young, this—”

Cheon Na-young, who’d just come back from the bathroom, hurriedly crumpled the card again as her father handed it over.

“It’s nothing.”

“Do you… want to act again?”

“No. Never. I like living with you, Dad.”

Cheon Jin-man was not so oblivious as to pretend not to know his daughter’s true feelings.

“I just want you to do what you want, Na-young. If that’s acting, I’d be happy for you. Don’t worry about your mom.”

Cheon Na-young hesitated for a moment.

But soon, she spoke firmly.

“I’ll never act again.”

---

After returning from the café to my studio, I sat right down at my desk and accessed the Godflix homepage on my laptop.

Just as the notification had said, I found Cheon Na-young’s name in the documentary section.

Out of dozens of works, her name appeared at the very bottom.

The thumbnail showed only the back of a beautiful actress with gorgeous hair, standing before the audience.

‘No wonder I never noticed, just from the thumbnail.’

Now that I knew her name, the back view in the thumbnail finally looked like her.

I clicked the play button on the documentary .

As a result, I ended up sitting in my studio all day, eyes bloodshot without realizing it, as I watched Cheon Na-young’s documentary.

“Writer. Are you okay? Your eyes are all red.”

Jung Tae-mi, who’d come in to work first, looked at me with concern.

“Did you cry? Your eyes look puffy.”

“Cry? It’s probably allergies. They’re itchy.”

The past Cheon Na-young had told me about herself was nothing compared to what I saw in the documentary.

It was the life story of actress Cheon Na-young in her forties, so tragic it was impossible to watch without tears.

After seeing the documentary, I could understand why she quit her part-time job so suddenly.

Schizophrenia, alcoholism, a mother whose obsession with her daughter went far beyond normal—because she was family, Cheon Na-young couldn’t even cut ties.

I couldn’t help but understand what kind of person Cheon Na-young was, and why she was so hesitant to become an actress again.

The problem was, now that I knew about her harsh past, it was even harder to ask her to act.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have watched it.’

In the documentary, Cheon Na-young only debuted as an actress in her late twenties, after learning of her mother’s death.

Guilt, resentment, grief—after experiencing all of that, she became a much deeper actress, as her interview said.

Once I’d finished watching the documentary, a new Godflix notification appeared, just as I’d expected.

[Surprise Quest Activated!]

Return Cheon Na-young to being an ‘actress’!

-Reward: One-week free Godflix subscription.

‘That’s an insane reward.’

If I really pushed it, I could probably watch a whole series a day on Godflix.

A week meant I could watch at least five or six dramas for free.

With a 16-episode series costing 160 million won, a week-long free pass was worth at least a billion won.

Reward aside, I honestly thought it would be perfect if Cheon Na-young would agree to play Ma Bok-soon’s mistress.

But I couldn’t help but wonder if returning to acting was really the best thing for her.

The moment she started acting again, she’d undoubtedly become entangled with her mother—her greatest trauma.

“I can’t just wait for her mom to die, either.”

“Huh?”

While getting water from the dispenser, my thoughts slipped out before I realized.

If a stranger overheard, they’d think I was making a monstrous remark—so Jung Tae-mi, my assistant writer steeping a green tea bag nearby, jumped in surprise.

“It’s nothing. Just thinking about a story.”

“Oh… okay.”

After a vague excuse, I went back to worrying about Cheon Na-young’s mother.

With Ahn Yoo-seok, things had worked out on their own, but this time, I couldn’t see a way to step in.

Cheon Na-young only debuted on screen in her early thirties, which meant I’d have to wait another ten years to clear Godflix’s surprise quest.

Of course, with Ahn Yoo-seok, my intervention had changed his life from what the documentary depicted—

“But it’s not like I can get rid of her mom myself.”

“Writer…?!”

I gulped down my ice water to calm myself.