Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3.1

― Oh, sorry, sorry! It’s Saturday afternoon, and everyone is crawling into Apgujeong-dong. Dongho Bridge is super congested. Ever since Seongsu Bridge collapsed*, everyone’s crowded here. I figured parking in Rodeo Alley would be tough, so I dropped the car at home and took a taxi. I’m in front of McDonald’s now, so just 10 minutes. No, wait, just 5 minutes. I’ll spread my wings and fly over, okay?

*TL Note: The Seongsu Bridge disaster was a deadly bridge collapse that occurred on the morning of October 21, 1994 in Seoul, South Korea.

Jieun, out of breath, made excuses while gently soothing the angry Miran.

“Oh, Ma Jieun. Always late, always!”

― I committed a grave sin. As an apology, I’m treating you to a full course from dinner to the nightclub tonight!

“Wow, you orange group*. Look at that rotten mentality trying to solve everything with money.”

*The Orange group (오렌지족) refers to wealthy children in Gangnam, particularly in Apgujeong-dong. It was formed in the 1990s by Generation X. It initially describes the affluent youth in Apgujeong, but now it broadly refers to a generation immersed in consumer culture.

― Oh, please stop that. It’s 1992? Let the orange group sing.”

In the freshman orientation for the Department of Theater and Film at Daeseongri. After a bowl ceremony in which they shared makgeolli(Korean rice wine) from a basin, patted each other on the back, and vomited, Miran and Jieun became best friends.

Jieun, who had retaken the college entrance exam twice, was two years older than Miran. She was from the Gangnam District 8 and drove her own car since she was a freshman, earning the nickname “Orange Group” instead of her real name. Miran C’s nickname came from a drunk Jieun, who, during a game of “I Am the Ground*” called her soda drink Miran C instead of “Oran C.”

*I Am the Ground is an action-based game that can be played by a group of people. Oran C is the drink in the image below.

They graduated from university six months ago, but they met whenever they could and hung out together.

“Ma Jieun, be prepared. I’m going to eat something expensive today! Like… Robatayaki* or something!”

*Robayataki is Japanese simple bbq skewers.

― Call. Shall we go to Jeonggun? Or Harang?

They intended to have something budget-friendly, like chicken ribs or squid bulgogi, but Jieun’s nonchalant acceptance of her impulsive suggestion made Miran even more flustered.

“It’s okay, just get here quickly. Run over. Go!”

― Okay, okay. Go… Oh! Hang up the phone—

The call was cut off by the pager’s beeping warning. As Miran hung up the receiver, she muttered.

“Ugh, what would I have done without pagers?”

Even though it was only a few years ago, she still had vague memories of waiting at appointments and leaving notes on the bulletin board if she was late or missed them.

‘Back then, I didn’t mind waiting for about 30 minutes.’’

After the invention of the pager, the world seemed to move faster. It was a world of difference compared to just a year or two ago. Patience dwindled, and anxiety increased. These days, Miran understood her older sister’s lament that the world had changed when she woke up and that it was scary to face the morning.

Miran sipped her coffee, her throat feeling sore, and looked around. The cafe was filled with cigarette smoke, resembling a raccoon’s den. Women her age occupied the tables, chattering incessantly while puffing out smoke non-stop.

Back in high school, Miran had learned to smoke, hanging out with rebellious friends. But the day she was caught smoking cigarettes in an alley with her friends, she saw her older sister beating her chest and crying bitterly, saying it was all her fault for teaching her wrong.

Miran never touched cigarettes again. They weren’t worth making her sister cry.

“Sigh…”

Miran let out a long, frustrated sigh. With so many worries lately, there were times she was tempted to smoke a cigarette. How desperate was she to even consider going to a fortune-telling cafe?

‘How can I fail every audition?’

It felt like just yesterday, but it had already been six months since graduation. During that time, Miran hadn’t even landed a supporting role, let alone a lead.

She occasionally received offers to be a beauty model for magazines or a model for department store flyers in newspapers. Combining this with her part-time job at a small hotel coffee shop, she could barely cover her living expenses.

However, in terms of acting, she couldn’t get past being an extra. There were instances where she often didn’t even know why she failed the audition. After much inquiry, she found reasons like “Her face stands out too much” or “She’s pretty but looks too exotic, and it makes the audience uncomfortable.”

She wanted to join the Daehakro Arts Theater and work her way up step by step, but there was no answer for her, as she was starving to death there.

“Should I save money for double eyelid surgery and a nose job?”

Miran muttered bitterly. She remembered hearing once that Jieun’s father was the most popular plastic surgeon in Gangnam.

‘His skills are so good that many celebrities come, and people even seek him out from abroad. As a close friend of his only daughter, maybe he’d offer a discount.’

Because of her distinct features and light brown eyes, Miran was often teased as a child for looking mixed-race. So, she somewhat understood the reasons for failing auditions.