Chapter – 50
A few days later, at the office of Sumbit Film.
“…You say she turned down my meeting?”
Director Yeon froze in place at the shocking news.
“Yes, Director. Although Time Entertainment was truly honored by your proposal and definitely wanted to meet Ms. Ye-won, they replied that she currently doesn’t have the time to take on a new project,” the secretary explained.
Director Yeon couldn’t believe what he was hearing and repeated the words to himself several times.
“But… she clearly said she would come.”
She had said it in person, right in front of him.
The more shaken Director Yeon appeared, the more the secretary watched him with a puzzled expression.
It was shocking enough that the great Yeon Tae-jung was being rejected by a rookie child actor.
But what was even more surprising was that he was visibly rattled by it.
Yeon Tae-jung had never wavered, even when harsh criticism came from film critics, nor had he blinked an eye when film investors threatened to pull their funding.
Yet here he was, shaken by something so trivial?
The secretary, who had worked by his side for nearly ten years, had never seen him like this.
“Did that child actor really captivate you that much, Director? But the child actors needed for the current project have already been cast… and the filming is well underway. Could it be that you’re already thinking about your next project?”
In short, the secretary wondered why he was suddenly looking for a new actor when the current project wasn’t even finished.
At this reasonable question, Director Yeon could only stare silently at his desk.
He couldn’t tell anyone that the child actor in question was his granddaughter.
It was a secret known only to a very select few.
Even his secretary, who had been by his side for a decade, didn’t know.
“…Just… the sooner I prepare for my next project, the better,” he finally said.
The secretary’s suspicion deepened at this.
Normally, after finishing a film, he would vanish for 2–3 years, so why was he already talking about a new project before the current one was even wrapped?
It was clearly a lie.
There was definitely a reason he couldn’t reveal, but the secretary didn’t press further.
She knew well how fiercely private Director Yeon was about his personal life.
After all, he had debuted as a teenage actor and, even now in his 50s, had never been involved in a single scandal.
“Shall I make another request?”
The secretary asked, hiding her curiosity.
“No, leave it be. Someday… the right moment will come. I don’t want to put them in an awkward position.”
“Someday, huh… though it feels like you might just wait forever for that moment,” the secretary thought, trying to hold back a smile. She nodded.
“Understood.”
Once the secretary left, Director Yeon quietly sat and pulled a photograph from his drawer.
In it were images of his younger self, a little girl of about four or five, and a newborn held by actress Lee Ju-hyang.
“……”
Director Yeon gazed at the photo for a long moment, then finally spoke with difficulty.
“I shouldn’t have listened to you back then… I should’ve done whatever it took to stop it…”
Even with his grown son and the most beloved granddaughter before his eyes, he had found it difficult to speak a single word.
Director Yeon let out a long, weary sigh.
At the time, he didn’t realize it.
He didn’t know that that brilliance would one day become a fire that would consume him.
Their beginning had been ordinary.
A top actress of the era.
A young actor just starting to shine.
“Nice to meet you. You know my name, right?”
Looking back, he realized he had loved Ju-hyang from the very start.
Now, Tae-jung was recognized as a leading actor and acclaimed director, and Ju-hyang had become a once-famous actress who had largely faded from memory.
Back then, she had been a dazzling spotlight in the public eye, while Tae-jung was only a young actor on the verge of recognition.
For Tae-jung to hold Ju-hyang in his heart had been inconceivable.
Yet somehow, a miracle happened. Ju-hyang opened her heart to Tae-jung, and the two began to give themselves completely to each other.
“I’m pregnant.”
“!”
“I’m not asking you to take responsibility. I’m not taking responsibility either. We both have bright futures ahead—”
“If you can’t take responsibility, then I will. I will raise the child,” Tae-jung interrupted.
“…You really can’t be stopped.”
When Ju-hyang told him she was expecting, Tae-jung felt, for the first time, a desire not to film her life through the camera, but to take full responsibility for her life as a woman.
He went to her house, putting everything on the line, to ask for her hand.
And then he realized just how powerful her family was.
Her father was a sitting prosecutor general, her mother an art professor.
But Tae-jung, with little education, living with only his widowed mother, was a poor actor.
Knowing his own lack of status, he begged only for Ju-hyang and their child.
He promised to devote everything he had to them.
But reality was harsher than any film.
“Know your place. How dare you…! Get out of here! If you step foot in this house again, I’ll make sure you never succeed in films—or anywhere else!”
Despite being turned away so harshly, Tae-jung held on, believing that his sincerity would eventually reach her.
He hoped that in time, as his recognition grew, even the ironclad walls of her family might open.
So.
Tae-jung took Ju-hyang to Japan. It was the only way to protect her and their child.
The next day, newspapers splashed headlines about Ju-hyang, the top actress of the era, going to Japan to study acting.
Not a word was mentioned about Tae-jung.
At first, in Japan, the two were happy.
Poor and with nothing, yet happy.
They put acting aside and worked whatever jobs they could to survive.
In these times, their first child was born, and soon after, their second came along.
Amid all this…
“…A new project?”
Tae-jung received a call from a director in Korea he knew well.
“There’s a role that would suit you perfectly. Would you consider it?”
Tae-jung hesitated. He needed money to support his two children, and Japan made that almost impossible.
Their savings were nearly gone.
Perhaps accepting the offer was the right choice.
However…
“Tae…Tae-jung. I think something’s… wrong with me.”
Why did good news always come with disaster?
One day, Ju-hyang, who was pregnant, suddenly started bleeding.
“…The mother is pushing herself too hard during pregnancy. Nutrition is insufficient, and her body is too weak. She needs to be hospitalized to protect the baby,” the doctor said.
Tae-jung tried everything to earn money for Ju-hyang’s hospital bills, but it wasn’t enough.
Seeing Tae-jung’s struggles, Ju-hyang decided to act as the villain, sacrificing herself for the sake of their family and his future.
“I can’t do it, Tae-jung. If I return to my family… at least I can get proper treatment.”
It was a lie.
Tae-jung saw her eyes tremble but couldn’t stop her.
Because he knew, too well, that what she was saying was right.
Thus, Ju-hyang returned to Korea. Shortly after, Tae-jung received news that their second child, Do-ha, had been safely born.
He felt joy, thinking their family could finally be reunited—but then came the devastating news:
“…I plan to raise the children in the U.S.”
