The play went according to plan. The people accepted the comedic theme without any sense of rejection, and they were able to call people to the stage without difficulties. No one found any difficulties when participating in the play as they treated it as a small event or wanted to make memories with a lover. They came up easily and got along with the actors, and they soon laughed and enjoyed themselves. There were no difficulties regarding the progression of the play. Although there was a set script, it was plenty possible to add some ad-libbing in the middle. It was a time to play together; they weren’t doing a stiff stage but rather a light-hearted game of sorts. They confirmed that the play could progress without a hitch as long as the audience reacted well.

“Thank you, thank you. Please come again next time.”

“Thank you.”

Maru politely thanked the people who stayed in their seats until the end. Although they started off with around five people, now that they were at the curtain call, about forty people were with them. A lot of people joined at once mid-way, and that was because those in the audience who recognized Ganghwan and Sooil had called their friends here. This was why fame was useful.

Ganghwan and Sooil were taking photos with some people. As this was Daehak-ro, there were quite a lot of people who recognized Ganghwan.

“He’s popular, isn’t he?”

“He is. People recognize him more than Sooil.”

“It’s because they’re people who frequently watch plays. Although he has his downsides, Ganghwan-oppa is really good when it comes to plays alone.”

Maru could feel a sense of pride from Hanna’s words. He nodded. There shouldn’t be a lot of people in this country who could disdain Ganghwan when he stood on stage.

“But what brings you two here?”

Maru looked at Dojin and Iseul who stood in front of him. From how they were dressed up and everything, they seemed to be on a date.

“We’re of course here to play around,” Iseul replied.

“Are you going to grab a proper stage and do this?”

Iseul’s gaze was directed at Hanna. As the two women were both sociable, the two got along quickly.

“No, we’re going to keep doing this here. That oppa’s intention is to talk to as many people as possible.”

Hanna looked at Ganghwan.

“But it’s gotten a lot colder, hasn’t it?” Hanna said as she crossed her arms.

Even though the wind wasn’t blowing at all, it felt rather cold after staying outside for a long time. It seemed that autumn was autumn after all.

“Looks like we should prepare if we want to do it until late into the night. While we might be okay, we don’t want the audience to leave because they’re cold.”

“I guess we should provide a heater. Oh, and some blankets if we can.”

“We should get a hot water tank and some hot tea as well to attract some audience.”

“That’s a nice idea. It’s not like that costs a lot of money.”

Maru thought that all art had its purpose in being shown. Even the most perfect sculpture was just a stone if there was no one to appreciate it. The sculpture could only be called ‘art’ because the sculptor was the first viewer to appreciate it.

This play was set up with the purpose of communication. He wanted to attract as many people as possible. A heater, some tea, and some blankets. Although these were trivial things, they should help out a lot when it comes to attracting people here and making them stay.

“Let’s do some advertising as well. We don’t want too many people here, so we should hand out balloons around the park on the day of the performance. No, that might be too much work, so let’s go with something more practical.”

“I think handing out food is the easiest way. How about warm cans of coffee?”

“I guess we can write the characteristics of this play on those then. If people with the intention to share their worries come to the play, we’ll be able to more easily induce them to participate, and once we form an atmosphere where people are talking about themselves, it should be easier for them to talk.”

“Hm, Maru.”

“Yes?”

“Do you want to sell some tickets in front of our theater next time? I think you’ll do really well.”

“I’ll think about it if you give me hourly wages and incentives.”

Maru made a circle with his fingers. Hanna tapped on his shoulders to tell him that it was just a joke.

“What should we write then?”

“Free talk platform?”

“That’s too general.”

Hanna shook her head. Words that could attract a certain group of people. It’s good to have an audience with a variety of characters, but if they wanted things to go as Ganghwan intended then they needed an audience that could talk honestly about themselves.

The purpose of this play and the reason for its birth was to handle more sadness than happiness. What did they have to write in order to induce them into talking about their pains, or perhaps their embarrassments?

“What are you talking about?” Dojin, who was listening from the side, asked.

Maru was so focused on exchanging opinions with Hanna that he forgot about the two. He explained the basic outline to Dojin and Iseul.

“A play where you share your sadness huh. It sounds good, but would there be anyone who wants to do it?” Iseul asked in confusion.

“We’ll have to gather as many as we can. There are always people who want to complain about things. Or, they might want people to cry with them.”

“Why don’t you keep things simple and write ‘we’ll cry with you’, or something?” Dojin said.

While it got the meaning across really well, it was so blatant that it might actually arouse the antipathy of the audience instead. They were in Daehak-ro, the street of the young. Just how were they supposed to transfer an emotion that was the polar opposite of the vitality that this area had in order to make it sound less rejective?

“We’re going to perform here regularly from now on, so please come. Also, there are a lot of great things in Daehak-ro so please look around as well.”

“Like our play.”

Ganghwan and Sooil used their popularity to advertise the play. Although it looked like they would always have an audience thanks to those two, they required an audience with pent-up emotions if they wanted the pathos that Ganghwan wanted.

“Let’s eat some food for now,” Hanna said as she eased the wrinkles on her forehead.

“Sounds good. You two are….”

Maru looked at Iseul and Dojin.

“We’ll leave now. We’re on a date today, so we should make the most out of it,” Iseul said as she pulled Dojin’s arm.

“Alright, go on then.”

“Good luck with practice. Unni, I’ll definitely come and watch some time.”

Maru waved his hand at the couple that left the park.

“What should we do about lunch then?”

“Let’s just go to any place once those two come,” Hanna said as she looked at the two that were being held back by fans. Meanwhile, Maru folded up the chairs they used as props during their performance. Even if they officially started performing, there shouldn’t be a lot of props. Maybe a doctor’s gown and some medical charts?

“What about the other two?” Ganghwan asked after coming back from taking photos with his fans.

“They went to get lunch. We should get going as well.”

“Really? I was going to treat them though.”

“They came here on a date so we should let them be. Rather than that, where should we go?”

“Let’s go to the pork cutlet restaurant nearby. We should eat lightly and try it again in the evening.”

While they walked towards the restaurant, Hanna talked about the few ideas that came up during her conversation with Maru.

“That sounds good.”

Sooil suggested that they should hand out small presents to those that came up on stage. It was a great way to increase participation.

“I think we should go with souvenirs or discount tickets.”

“How about my autograph? No, we should get a hundred autographs of Geunsoo. That should work, it’ll be cheap too.”

“That’s a little….”

They walked into the restaurant while smiling. They each ordered a pork cutlet dish and while the food was being prepared, they started adding flesh to the ideas they talked about.

“Hey, that notepad is the same as the one the president carries with him,” Sooil said as he saw the notepad that Ganghwan was holding.

“Oh, this? He gave it to me. I usually don’t like writing stuff down, but he told me that even geniuses write notes. But I’m not a genius either. So that’s when I started carrying this around, writing various things. At this point, I feel rather awkward when I don’t have it with me.”

The worn-out leather cover seemed to signify Ganghwan’s efforts.

Maru clenched his fist before loosening it again. A notepad huh.

“What, Maru? You want one too?”

“I’m thinking about it. But I have a phone to write in instead, so I wonder if it’s really necessary.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to throw this away no matter how good those machines become. It’s a part of my body now.”

Ganghwan faintly smiled and wrote down the ideas that came up until now. He was writing quite quickly but his handwriting was pretty good. Looking at him writing neatly with even spacing, he was reminded of one person.

Maru took out his phone. Hanna looked at him wondering what he was going to do.

“I’m going to get some advice.”

“Some advice? What kind of advice?”

“About the promotion line.”

“From who?”

“I have a friend who is good at writing. Please wait a sec.”

Maru scrolled through his contacts and called Daemyung’s number. While the signal sounds could be heard, the pork cutlets came out. Daemyung picked up at the moment the plates were put on the table.

-Hello?

“Oh, Daemyung. It’s me, Maru.”

-Yeah, Maru.

“You busy?”

-No, the writer told me that we should go out for lunch.

“Are you at writer Bae Chulho’s house?”

-Yeah, I’m here with Joon-hyung. But what made you call me?

“I need your help with something. I need a line for something and you know I’m bad with stuff like this.”

Maru told the three people looking at him to start eating first before explaining the situation to Daemyung.

-Hm, I’m not confident with things like that either.

“I just need your opinion. There are four people here bringing up ideas, but we didn’t come up with anything good yet. Also, there’s no pressure. I’m not saying that we are going to use yours. If you think of anything, just send it via text.”

-Alright, alright. Have a nice meal.

“You too.”

He hung up before putting the phone on the table.

“Does he have any good ideas?” Hanna asked.

“He’ll give me a text once we wait a little while. He’s talented in writing, so he’ll come up with something better than me.”

“Alright, you should eat. It’s going to cool down soon,” Ganghwan said with his mouth full.

Hanna screeched when she saw the grains of rice flying everywhere and smashed Ganghwan’s back with her palm. The loud slap was loud enough to be heard across the whole store.

“Oh please!”

Ganghwan turned around and groaned.

“You’re a girl, why is your hand so spicy?”

“Let’s keep our manners, don’t spill food everywhere!”

“Soochan is the real buddha here.”

“I wonder if you’ll shut up if I smack you once more.”

When Hanna raised her hand, Ganghwan shut up. Maru felt like he was watching a scene from ‘Tom & Jerry’. It was just that Jerry’s power was so strong that Tom was practically unable to do anything.

They couldn’t think of anything good even after they finished eating. Ganghwan was able to deal with the blankets and the heater, so there was no problem with that, but they were stuck on something unexpected.

“Should we just go with ‘come and watch’?” Sooil said.

“That might be better, but it might be more promotion if we just write down the location.”

“Let’s just try it out anyway. We should hand out around 30 warm cans of coffee and see how many people come. Though, since the performance is done at night, people might have their own schedule so they’re not as likely to come,” Hanna said as she tapped on the chair.

At that moment, Maru received a text on his phone. Maru quickly checked the text.

-I want to listen to your story.

Maru tried reading it out loud. Although it didn’t sound cool or anything, it was definitely eye-catching. He told the other three the line he got.

“I want to listen to your story? That sounds good. The ‘I’ part really brings it to life. It’s just a story between us two - that’s what it sounds like. There’s a secretive feeling to it, and it also sounds cozy.”

Ganghwan wrote down the line on the notepad as he spoke. Hanna also closed her eyes and said it to herself several times before snapping her fingers and saying that it was good.

“I think it’s better than all sorts of flowery words.”

Sooil said as he pointed at the notepad in the middle of the table. That note had a lot of lines that they thought of while they ate. That one line touched the heart more than anything before it.

“I guess we should just write where we are performing below that. Wow, Maru, who told you this?”

“Yeah, who was it? I thought it was a friend of yours?”

Just as he was about to reply that it was Park Daemyung, he got another text.

-Joon-hyung came up with that line. He wants you to treat him to a meal later.

Ah, right. After checking that text, Maru said to the people sitting around him.

“The author of a best-seller came up with the line.”