“Senior, what if he’s really avoiding us? We even sent our script to actor Jeon Yeo-hoo’s agency. If he’s avoiding us because he didn’t like the script — “
So Si-in shook her hand firmly.
“There’s no way he knows our faces. We’re not that famous.”
Han Jae agreed.
“That’s true, I guess…”
Since they were an unknown director and an unknown assistant director, their faces hadn’t even been uploaded to internet portal sites.
‘It’s strange.’
The classroom where the cooking lesson was held was on the fourth floor, and the two of them had waited for Jeon Yeo-hoo on the third floor. They wondered if they had missed each other, but even if he took the elevator, he should have passed the third floor.
So Si-in, who had been sitting on the lobby sofa shaking her leg, finally couldn’t stand it anymore and headed back up the stairs to the fourth floor like a salmon swimming upstream.
‘Did he go by the stairs?’
She reached the glass wall of the fourth-floor classroom again.
“He—he’s here, Senior!”
Beyond the transparent glass wall, Jeon Yeo-hoo was visible.
He remained alone, cooking the seaweed soup he had learned in today’s class.
As Han Jae impatiently tried to go inside, So Si-in stopped him.
“Senior, why?”
“Wait a second.”
Her directorial instinct spoke to her.
Right now, this moment was incredibly important.
The neatly arranged dishes.
The fluid knife work as he blanched spinach for the japchae and sliced carrots.
Even the sound of his low humming.
That comfortable atmosphere made So Si-in feel peaceful as well.
‘It really feels as if Seon Je-min is standing there.’
In *The Secret to a Killer Recipe*, Seon Je-min was a young man who enjoyed his time cooking alone.
In fact, he might have been more accustomed to doing things ‘alone’ than the act of cooking itself.
Suddenly, a voice could be heard.
[I’ve always cooked alone.]
[I organize the ingredients like this. It’s a standard I set for myself.]
“Senior, this is…”
“Shh.”
She knew.
This wasn’t Jeon Yeo-hoo speaking.
This was Seon Je-min.
[If you’re okay with it, could you help me organize them like this?]
[How did you end up here, Brother? This is the deepest part of our neighborhood, so really, no one but the local elderly come here.]
[I’m only using good ingredients for the sake of the elderly’s health as well.]
[Look. They’re very fresh, right?]
[Now, let’s start with this first.]
It was Seon Je-min’s dialogue.
It was the first conversation he shared in the kitchen after meeting Lee Joo-hyung.
Seon Je-min spoke with flushed cheeks, unable to take his eyes off the cutting board as if he were embarrassed.
[Me? I… well. I wonder. Maybe it’s because I’m a coward.]
[I used to just stay cooped up at home. It’s a shameful past, but I once stole something from a supermarket. At that time, the grandmother who ran the place told me not to live like that and told me to take over the register instead. I kept working with her like that until she passed away and I took over the supermarket. The store wasn’t doing well, so I started running a restaurant too, and that’s how it ended up like this.]
[You saw the sign, right? I didn’t want to take it down, so I left it as it was. I was scared because Grandma wasn’t there anymore.]
[My parents aren’t around.]
[Yes, because my father killed someone.]
[He was on the news, and I was bullied at school, so I just left home.]
Seon Je-min calmly confessed his past.
She had originally considered adding a twist to this part.
It was usually better to reveal such a past in the middle or latter half of a movie to provide a plot twist.
However, So Si-in hadn’t done that.
Perhaps she had been unable to make Seon Je-min do that.
Seon Je-min was the kind of young man who would reveal his flaws first.
[If you’re scared of me, it’s okay to cancel your offer to work together.]
[I’ve worked alone all this time, so I’m fine.]
[I wonder if I shouldn’t have taken a job where I hold a knife, haha.]
He continued his calm knife work without taking his eyes off the cutting board.
In that way, he reassured the person beside him.
That he would be fine regardless of the choice they made.
After hearing everything Seon Je-min had to say, Lee Joo-hyung replied:
“……Should I put the carrots here?”
So Si-in muttered softly.
At that moment, whether he had heard her voice or was simply acting alone, a thick tear fell from Seon Je-min’s — no, Jeon Yeo-hoo’s — eyes at the same time as her voice.
Surprised by the tear that fell onto the board, Seon Je-min hurriedly moved the cutting board to the sink and spoke.
[Ah, yes! You can put them there!]
Regular customers entered before he could share any further conversation with Lee Joo-hyung.
Now, the movie transitioned to their story.
As the acting ended, Jeon Yeo-hoo continued with the remaining cooking.
So Si-in waited for him until he was finished.
She waited until she felt pins and needles in her cramped legs.
*Click.*
As soon as the cooking was finished and the stove was turned off, So Si-in jumped up and strode toward Jeon Yeo-hoo.
“Di—Director!”
The young man who had been right next to her also hurriedly ran after her.
Jeon Yeo-hoo, who was about to take off his apron, looked back and forth between So Si-in and the approaching Han Jae.
“Who are you?”
He looked completely different from the way he had kindly conversed with the other students, causing So Si-in to feel slightly intimidated.
‘Oh, did I make too awkward of an entrance?’
“Hello. My name is So Si-in. I was taking the class with you earlier. You are the actor Jeon Yeo-hoo, right?”
Jeon Yeo-hoo nodded.
“Have you been attending this cooking academy originally? I’ve been coming here for several months, but I never saw you before.”
“It’s an academy I used to attend, and I asked them to let me take a class for just one day. Is there some kind of problem — “
“Ah, no. That’s not it.”
She hurriedly waved her hands.
‘Should I say it? Should I? Seeing how he read the script and memorized it to this extent, he’s definitely interested in our movie.’
Just then, her phone rang loudly. The name of one of the agencies she had sent the script to appeared in large letters.
As soon as she saw the agency name in the preview, she let out a hollow laugh and looked at Jeon Yeo-hoo.
“A—a—are you by any chance in—interested in the movie *The Secret to a Killer Recipe*?”
“Pardon?”
“The—the—text message…….”
So Si-in held out her phone.
Jeon Yeo-hoo checked the name and number displayed on top.
He spoke.
“Yes. Then are you perhaps the people involved with—”
“Pass.”
“Excuse me?”
“Pass!”
“Director!!”
“Pa—ss—!!! Pass!!! Paaaaass!!! Mmph!!!”
“Stop, stop talking, Director!!”
***
Was this what they called a ‘fateful encounter’ in novels?
To think I would meet the director of *The Secret to a Killer Recipe* at an academy I visited for the first time in a while.
The system didn’t do something, did it?
**[No way.]**
“Let me introduce myself properly. I’m So Si-in. I wrote the screenplay and am the director for *The Secret to a Killer Recipe*. I’m really sorry about earlier. I just suddenly lost control.”
After repeatedly shouting “Pass!”, Director So Si-in had been silenced by the assistant director, Han Jae, who suggested they move to another location.
We moved to a nearby franchise cafe, and So Si-in even lent me a mask she had, fearing that someone might recognize me.
“No. I’m the one who should be sorry for not recognizing you, Director.”
“I am the assistant director, Han Jae!”
“Yes, hello.”
In fact, Han Jae liked the actor Jeon Yeo-hoo as much as So Si-in did.
It was because Jeon Yeo-hoo’s appearance during the cooking class had been excellent.
– Please let me know if you need any help.
– I’ll wash the knife and give it to you. Just a moment. Please step back for a second so you don’t get hurt.
– The shape comes out prettier if you slice it like this here.
The way he explained things kindly throughout the lesson made it seem like he would be the same during filming.
‘It would be really great if this person played the role of Seon Je-min.’
While Han Jae was lost in thought.
“Ahem.”
So Si-in cleared her throat and continued the conversation.
“As I said earlier, I want to cast Mr. Jeon Yeo-hoo as Seon Je-min immediately.”
“I’d like that, but… are you sure it’s okay?”
Even if they had sent the script to the agency, to cast a rookie with this little experience without even having him perform once…
“Aren’t there other good actors besides me?”
That was a lie.
In fact, there would never be an actor better than me.
I had already confirmed that in the past.
In the first place, there was no way there was an actor other than me who could act this well at a rookie level, and no actor with more experience than me had appeared in this movie before my regression. Furthermore, this would likely be the last time they could hire me for this kind of pay before *The Exorcist*.
‘Director So Si-in sure is lucky.’
**[The Regressor’s groundless confidence! I really like it.]**
Chattering away since earlier.
“It’s loud.”
“Pardon?”
“……The song. The music in this cafe is a bit loud.”
“Shall I go and ask them to turn it down?”
“No. It’s fine.”
“Yes, I understand. Then, to continue what I was saying, I really don’t mind. You have high recognition right now from the TAM commercial and other work, and I saw you acting earlier at the academy.”
“By the way, from when were you watching……?”
Han Jae suddenly cut in.
“From the beginning to the end!”
I hadn’t known that.
I had seen a shadow through the glass wall around the middle, so I knew someone was there.
“If you were watching from the beginning, it would have been fine to come in midway.”
“You were in the middle of cooking. Seon Je-min really hates being disturbed while he’s cooking.”
So Si-in smiled.
“Since today’s class menu was seaweed soup and japchae, your appearance while cooking really overlapped with Je-min. Those two dishes are the ones Je-min likes most. You knew that, right?”
Because those two dishes were included in the character description of the synopsis.
Jeon Yeo-hoo nodded.
“Yes. Though the reason wasn’t written down.”
“Do you think you know the reason?”
“I have my own theory.”
‘To think he’s already thought about the work to this extent!’
So Si-in’s eyes sparkled.
“By—by any chance, could I hear it?”
“It’s very simple, so you might be disappointed. Would that be okay?”
“Of course!”
To be honest, it was so easy to guess that it wouldn’t even count as a twist.
Seaweed soup and japchae.
Both dishes are representative Korean foods for birthdays.
‘Something must have happened on his birthday.’
However, if I explained it that simply, I wouldn’t be able to satisfy those eyes full of anticipation.
After thinking for a moment, I suddenly remembered that line I saw in the script. If she was a delicate director who cared this much about the content and characters, then surely that line was also foreshadowing.
[Because I don’t want to be a nuisance to others. I should do what I can do myself.]
…….
The cafe’s classical music filled the space around the three people’s table.
So Si-in was unable to speak for a moment, as if she had heard an unexpected answer.
It was the same for Han Jae.
Not long after, So Si-in stood up abruptly in the cafe. Then, she took a very deep breath.
“Se—Senior. You can’t do it here. This is a public place — “
“Pass.”
“Senior! No, I mean! Director!!”
“Pa—ss—!!! Pass!!! Paaaaass!!! Mmph!!!”
“Stop, stop!”
So Si-in, who had shouted loudly, was silenced once again.
Looking at her, I smiled, thinking, ‘Thirties these days really have great vocal projection.’
At any rate, a good thing was a good thing.
[Wh—what did I just hear?]
Of course, Boss Eun-in seemed very surprised by this unexpected stroke of fate.