The next morning, the crew started work and Ken was late as usual. He looked up and saw Jin smiling brilliantly, causing his mood to worsen. Smiling, what was so funny?
The assistant behind him was startled by this bright smile and whispered to Ken. "Ken hyung, does he want to borrow money from us?"
Or was it because Ken hyung gave food to this person every night, turning him silly?
"Ken hyung, good morning." Jin warmly greeted Ken and graciously handed him a bottle of mineral water provided by the crew. He also didn't forget to help unscrew the cap for Ken.
Ken saw the mineral water being handed to him and raised his chin, speaking in a cold manner. " No, I only drink imported water."
Jin hastily put away the bottle of water that was sold for less than two yuan. "Ken hyung has taste."
Very rich!
He clearly wanted to humiliate the other person for being poor. As a result, this person not only didn't feel humiliation but also showed admiration. Ken felt the frustration of hitting cotton and almost rolled his eyes toward the sky.
'Calm down Ken, you must be calm. Soon, you will be a popular male entertainer and won't have to know such a poor peasant.'
Thinking of this, he turned to walk away. he had only taken a few steps when he heard Jin's voice. "Ken hyung, walk slowly."
Hearing Jin's cheerful tone, Ken's assistant couldn't help looking back. The pair of clear eyes with a distinct smile touched his conscience. Smiling so happily, didn't he know that Ken hyung was acting against him? Too foolish.
In a corner of the crew, Director Lee looked at the monitor and was satisfied with Jin's performance. "SeokJin might not be a professional but the role he plays is very spiritual."
SeokJin had been selected to play the second male lead mainly because he looked extraordinarily good and was cheap. Among the alternative actors' list, he looked the best. An idol drama always wanted to see the face.
Director Lee felt that this casting would be more appropriate if it wasn't for Ken not wanting to play the first male lead and wanting to play the second male instead.
"All teams are ready. Let's get ready to shoot the next one." Director Lee stood up and coaxed Ken and the female star to film under the sun. They were the great ones and he was the little director who couldn't afford to offend them.
After shooting in the afternoon, Jin took the opportunity to talk to the staff of the crew. He said that his agent saw he was without an assistant and would enter the crew for the next half a month to take care of him.
The staff didn't think much about it and agreed on the spot. After all, who would've guessed that the male star of crew would bring his own agent for free food and drink?
He thought about how there would be one more person to wheedle a meal and Jin's face subconsciously brightened. Unfortunately, Ken was on leave from the crew that afternoon and no one gave him food at night.
Jin found he couldn't sleep at the hotel and opened a takeaway software on his mobile phone. He found that the nighttime delivery fee was two or three times what it was during the day and suddenly closed the takeaway app.
The takeaway delivery cost was a bit high. Jin was so hungry but he didn't want to call for takeaway. He was worried for a while before simply changing clothes to go out to find food.
There was a snack stall street near the hotel and this was very busy on summer nights. It was three or four in the morning but there were still many young people coming here to drink beer. Jin went to a store full of people and bought some stir-fried noodles and a few skewers. He hummed as he carried the box and headed back.
The night wind blew a bit of coolness on his face. He found a bench next to the pedestrian street and sat down, opening the plastic food box and preparing to eat.
The rich oil fragrance raised his appetite. Before he could use the disposable chopsticks to put the fried noodles in his mouth, he saw an old man with a dirty body and broken porcelain bowl nearby. The old man's eyes were focused on the fried noodles in his hand.
He sighed, got up and placed half of his fried noodles into the old man's bowl. He also gave two skewers. Seeing the old man slowly walk away while eating the skewer, Jin buried his head bitterly to eat.
Half a box of fried noodles couldn't fill up a 23 year old young man. Jin touched his stomach that didn't feel full and gnawed the meat clean on the skewer. He even licked the cumin powder on top a few more times. There was a saying that adolescents had a sudden increase in appetite due to physical needs. He wasn't an adolescent so he could only eat poorly.
On the day when Ken was away, Jin really missed him. Jin thought of the roasted chicken, the milk tea and the meat he sent. It would've been nice if he bought two steamed buns just now. Steamed buns with fried noodles were delicious and filling.
He got up and threw the garbage into the trash can. Jin let out a long sigh and prepared to go back to the hotel to sleep. Recently, the production crew had been in a bit of a hurry. In order to match Ken's schedules, the next two days were almost all his scenes.
He took two steps and couldn't help looking back at the popular snack stall street not far away. He wanted to go back to eat a bowl of fragrant beef noodles. Unfortunately, his poor wallet didn't allow him to spend money on a midnight snack.
The streets lights pulled Jin's shadow out into a long and lonely shadow, reaching all the way to the black car parked on the street. The shadow shook and followed its owner slowly.
The window of the black car slowly rolled down. Once the black shadow completely disappeared around the corner, the window rose back up again.
"Sir, you haven't eaten for 10 hours..."
"Hm?" The man sitting in the back of the car was a shadow. Only a white hand was exposed in the yellow light of the street lights. Then the hand soon returned to darkness. The car was quiet again.
Two days later, Jin's agent Jung Hoseok dragged a large suitcase and came to the crew. He acted as Jin's assistant and had fast hands and feet and a sweet mouth. Every time someone in the crew shared snacks, he always helped Jin get a share.
Ken's holiday ended on this day and the staff's mood was a bit low. They clearly hated this life where they had to keep smiling. It was really difficult. Thus, once Ken entered the crew, the first one to warmly greet him was Jin.
"Ken hyung is back, ken hyung has worked hard." Jin trotted over to Ken while Hoseok moved several plastic stools behind him. Then he asked Ken's assistant to sit down.
"Jin, during the two days I was shooting an advertisement, the manufacturer sent me the endorsement products." Ken had his assistant give Jin a whole box of chocolates. "Take it back and eat slowly. If it isn't enough, I have more here." Ken was content at the thought that he started shooting advertisements while Jin was still unknown.
He didn't believe that so many high-calorie chocolates couldn't make Jin fat.
"Thank you Ken hyung, you're a good man." Jin took the box containing the chocolates and looked at Ken's eyes, which seemed like there were stars shining.
Ken felt a bit guilty facing this look. He twisted his head to avoid Jin's line of sight and vaguely snorted. He closed his eyes so he would no longer see Jin. Hoseok looked at the chocolate in Jin's hand and opened his mouth to say something. Then he saw the smile on Jin's face and fell silent again. Jin was brought out by him so no one knew better than him how much Jin was afraid of hunger.
Days passed and filming was near completion. Jin also ushered in his 23th birthday. The crew was busy and chaotic so no one remembered his birthday.
Once the shooting ended at night, Hoseok dragged Jin out to eat noodle casserole.
"Jin ah, I'm sorry to you. I said I would bring you out to live a good life. I didn't expect the company to close down." Hoseok put a palm-sized cake box on the table and pushed it in front of Jin. He opened the packaging and enthusiastically arranged several candles on top, lighting them. "Happy 23th birthday."
"Thank you Hobi hyung." Jin scratched his head. "Hobi hyung, don't worry about what you said. If it wasn't for you, I would've lived a worse life than now."
Hoseok smiled bitterly. "Come on, make a wish before blowing out the candle."
Jin thought seriously with his hands pressed together, silently making a wish. He hoped that Hobi hyung wouldn't lose his job and that they could eat a lot of food in the future.
Hoseok only ate a small piece of the cake and the rest went into Jin's stomach. They came out of the rice casserole store and saw a high-end restaurant nearby with many beautiful flower baskets. The flower baskets had the balloons that children liked tied to them. On each balloon was written, 'Happy 25th birthday to Baekhyun.'
Seeing this scene, Hoseok couldn't help turning his head to look at Jin.
"Hyung, Hobi hyung!" Jin pointed not far away. "There are people there selling balloons." He finished speaking and trotted over.
Hoseok followed and heard Jin bargaining with the seller. A minute later, Jin bargained the 200 won price of a balloon down to 150 won.
"I think it is a good sign." Jin properly tied the balloon to his wrist. "This bodes well for my future. I will definitely be able to eat countless delicious dishes."
As a child, the entire institution only had one TV and he and the other children most liked to watch the cartoon. Everyone had drooled watching the dishes in the cartoon and dreamt about eating great food when growing up. To realize this dream, he needed to make more money.
"You're right." Hoseok patted Jin on the shoulder. "It will come true in the future once you are popular." He looked up at the uneven color of the balloon, showing it was an obviously inferior product, and felt a glimmer of hope for the future.
What if it happened?
That night, a roadside surveillance video was released by a government news media twitter. In the video, a young man gave half of his food to a homeless old man. Once the food was divided, the young man sat back on his seat and seemed very hungry. The official government news media sent this video to promote the goodness of human nature. It didn't expect many netizens to forward and discuss it.
Spring Day: The video isn't HD and I can't see the little brother's appearance. Still, my intuition is telling me that this is a handsome little guy.
Winter Bear : Watching the little brother sitting alone to eat, I inexplicably feel a bit distressed. He looks very young.
Can I Not Work Overtime Today: Isn't it only me who noticed the little brother is licking the meat skewer? There is an impulse to buy him food.
Rock Bison: After watching this video, I picked up my brother who was being a picky eater and hit him...
The author has something to say:
Birthday Wish God: Okay, I agree.