The date of that performance was set for Monday, four days later.
Mondays were normally dark days for the theater.
Yet for a single audience member, the actors willingly gave up their day off. They did not ask for an explanation of what that person meant to Yu Myeong. They simply respected his wishes without hesitation.
It moved him deeply.
My people.
Yu Myeong looked at them with misty eyes.
As he reflected on it, he realized that in this new life, the thing he had gained alongside acting was something just as precious: a family and companions he could trust.
"...To go that far for a single person."
When they explained the decision behind the additional performance, Baek Yi Shin and the people at Theater Company July could not hide their surprise and immediately promised their full support. They seemed genuinely touched by the story.
And thanks to that support, the project gradually grew larger.
"Let's redesign the stage layout from the beginning."
Yu Myeong had never intended to simply move the audience seats closer.
His plan was to place the actors around the fan, surrounding them at the center. If the audience member became the point where all of the actors' energies intersected, they would be able to feel the vitality of the stage so vividly it would seem to touch their skin.
Originally, he had only intended to adjust the actors' movements. He had not even dared to consider altering the stage layout or lighting. There were regular performances the day before and the day after, after all.
But after hearing his idea, the head of July suggested changing the stage and lighting as well.
"The stage structure is simple enough anyway. We'll put a rotating chair in the center and arrange platforms for the three characters in a triangle around it. Adjusting all the lighting positions and then putting everything back afterward will be a bit of a hassle, but that's more than manageable."
"...Thank you, Director."
"No, I'm the one who should be grateful. I already owe you plenty. How could I not help when it's for something this meaningful? Though the acrylic case might be a problem. If we arrange everything in a triangle, it'll be difficult to suspend it from the stage bar and °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° adjust it."
"We shouldn't touch that anyway. Don't worry."
Three hectic days passed in the blink of an eye.
Whenever they had a spare moment, Yu Myeong and Ryu Shin huddled together, redesigning movement paths.
Unlike a regular production, these movements were not precisely choreographed down to the second. The actors would be moving around a spectator seated among them. Unexpected situations could arise at any moment during the performance.
What they were creating was the minimum framework necessary to prevent accidents.
"Let's place Ward A to the VIP's left and Ward B to the right. When moving from Ward A to Ward B, we'll pass close enough to almost brush by the VIP."
"Neverland and the CR isolation room should be on the north side of the stage, while the counseling room should be on the south side. It will emphasize the contrast between the world of adults and the world of children. Then, whenever someone moves from the CR to the counseling room, they'll pass by the VIP and get a closer look at their expressions."
VIP.
That was what they called the sole audience member invited to Monday's performance.
There was no shortage of people who envied that VIP.
"It'll be the most luxurious theater experience in the world..."
"Haha, not quite..."
"I'm serious. If I could watch that performance that way, I think I'd willingly pay hundreds of millions."
Yu Seok's voice was filled with genuine sincerity, causing Yu Myeong to laugh awkwardly.
"You're joking."
"I really am not. Though... I suppose there's no chance of letting me watch from the audience, even if it's from a regular seat...?"
Thus, a stage for one person steadily took shape.
As soon as the eighth performance ended, Theater Company July erupted into activity.
Thump. Thump.
Actors and crew worked as one, dismantling and moving pieces of the stage.
Whenever someone flinched at the loud noises coming from overhead and looked up, they would see lighting technicians crawling across the ceiling grid.
By the end of a single night, the theater had been completely transformed.
Then, at seven o'clock Monday evening, the VIP arrived.
"Um... isn't today supposed to be a dark day? I came because I was grateful for the invitation, but... is it possible there's been some sort of mistake?"
"Sir, actually... we've prepared a performance for you today."
"...What?"
The invited VIP, Jeon Byeong U, doubted his own ears as Yu Myeong carefully explained.
The performance of Peter Pan he had seen the previous week had been extraordinary.
Even with his limited vision, the atmosphere had been so vivid that it felt as though he could hear the actors breathing. It had lingered with him long after the curtain call.
Then, just as he was about to leave, one of the lead actors had suddenly run out and spoken to him.
That alone had been unforgettable.
And now that actor had invited him here.
A performance... for me? Why...?
"I once heard about you from a friend who performs in Daehakro. They said you truly love theater. That you watch the same productions again and again whenever you can."
"...That's true. I actually wanted more tickets for Peter Pan, but one was my limit. But who is this friend of yours?"
"...Someone very close to me. He said you wouldn't know who he is."
Yu Myeong smiled.
"He told me that someone like you, someone who genuinely loves theater, gave him tremendous courage. He asked me to repay even a small part of that kindness."
Completely bewildered, Jeon Byeong U followed him.
Then he became even more flustered when Yu Myeong led him onto the stage itself.
"Uh... this is the stage..."
"Your seat is on the stage tonight."
"No, but how..."
"If you sit here, you'll be able to watch comfortably. Actors will appear from multiple directions, so simply rotate the chair toward whichever side you'd like to see."
"Uh..."
"We'll do our best to make it a wonderful performance. I hope you enjoy it."
With a deep bow, Yu Myeong departed.
Still dazed, Jeon Byeong U carefully lowered himself into the chair.
It felt like a dream.
[The performance will begin shortly. Audience members, please take your seats.]
The familiar announcement played.
Then the lights went out.
The performance began.
Gradually, the background music swelled.
The stage brightened little by little.
Wow...
Heart pounding, Jeon Byeong U drank in the sight before him.
The stage props that had always appeared blurry from the audience were now far clearer.
The three platforms surrounding him were astonishingly close.
He could even feel the warmth of the lights shining down from overhead.
His heart raced.
Whoosh—
A silhouette appeared from the pocket stage to his left.
At first it was indistinct.
Then it sprang and tumbled forward until it stopped directly in front of his face.
The figure suddenly leaned in.
"Hello! I'm Peter Pan. As long as you think beautiful and wonderful thoughts, you won't fall while flying!"
He could see.
Clearly.
The mischievous, innocent face of Peter Pan.
At first he was startled.
Then emotion surged through his chest.
He had loved theater all his life.
He had seen countless performances.
Yet this was the first time an actor's face had ever imprinted itself so clearly in his vision.
Deep furrows lined his brow.
Even knowing he could not see well, he would unconsciously narrow his eyes whenever he heard a particularly good line or encountered an actor he liked.
Just a little more.
If only he could see a little more clearly.
But never once had an actor's face truly come into focus.
Whoosh— Whoosh—
Peter Pan performed a dazzling series of tumbles right beside him before landing on the platform facing the audience.
"Wendy! Over here! Over here!"
Then Wendy appeared.
She staggered in a circle around him.
What a beautiful actor.
It was a thought he had never experienced before.
The pale girl with eyes that seemed to draw him in left him trembling.
Then Captain Hook appeared from the opposite side.
With him seated between them, Peter Pan and Captain Hook faced off.
Hook swung his hook menacingly and barked threats at Peter Pan.
The rich resonance of his voice seemed to pass straight through Jeon Byeong U's chest before reaching its target.
It was exhilarating.
Now all three actors surrounded him.
No matter which direction he turned the chair, there were real actors before him, wholly immersed in their roles.
Then—
Bang.
A sound.
The mime of people trapped behind an invisible wall, pounding against it.
The struggling forms of the three actors reflected beneath the bright lights and struck directly against his retinas.
They cried.
They laughed.
They screamed.
And to senses already stretched to their limits, another stimulus was added.
Sound.
Ah.
He could feel it.
The tightly compressed air, swollen with tension, became stained with the colors of the actors themselves.
Three enormous pillars pushed and pulled around him.
To Jeon Byeong U, whose sensitivity to stage energy was unusually acute, the fierce and varied energies pouring from them felt like a banquet.
And for the first time in his life—
a banquet he could enjoy with his eyes as well.
This is the world I was always watching... yet never truly saw.
Suddenly, he could no longer see the actors.
Because tears filled his eyes.
He hurriedly wiped them away with a handkerchief.
He did not want to miss even a single course of this extravagant feast.
As Jeon Byeong U bowed deeply, Yu Myeong hurried to stop him and bowed even lower.
"No. Thank you for watching. It was a meaningful performance for us as well. We were able to attempt something entirely new. Did you enjoy it?"
"...I'll never forget today for the rest of my life."
"...I only hope I didn't do something irresponsible."
The expression that accompanied those words was heavy.
Seeing it, Yu Myeong's chest ached.
Even when he had first conceived the idea, he had worried.
What if this performance only deepened the man's sense of loss afterward?
If the old Shin Yu Myeong—the one whose presence on stage had once been so faint—had been granted a single opportunity to truly perform...
Would that have been a reward?
Or a punishment?
"How could it possibly be irresponsible?"
Jeon Byeong U rejected the idea immediately.
"This wasn't merely a performance that's easier to see. It was a performance where you could directly feel the actors' energy from the stage itself. Any theater fanatic would gladly give up their entire fortune to experience something like this."
He smiled.
"Of course, it's unfortunate that I may never have another opportunity like it. But honestly, that would be true even if my eyes were perfectly healthy."
Relief washed over Yu Myeong's face, and he nodded.
"And now that I know what real actors and real acting look like, from now on, even if all I can hear during a performance are voices, I'll be able to imagine the expressions that go with them."
His eyes softened.
"You've given me the material for that imagination.
Maybe I'm actually very lucky. No matter what performance I watch from now on, I'll be imagining the greatest acting possible."
The praise made Yu Myeong blush.
"You're giving us far too much credit. And..."
"...Yes?"
"Would you like to visit our rehearsal hall from time to time? We won't be able to prepare special performances like this very often, but you'll be able to watch acting from much closer up during rehearsals."
"...Why would you show me such undeserved kindness?"
As Jeon Byeong U looked at him with overwhelmed gratitude, Yu Myeong answered only in his heart.
If it hadn't been for you—the only fan I had back then—I might have given up acting entirely.
The reason I'm standing here today may very well be because of you.
Incheon International Airport.
Two foreigners stepped off a plane and boarded an airport limousine bound for Seoul.
One was a man in his fifties with thinning blond hair, a slight belly, and sunglasses covering his eyes.
Yet when he removed them, the bright blue eyes beneath carried a youthful vitality that seemed decades younger than the rest of him.
The other man was slim, with curly brown hair.
If not for the fine lines at the corners of his eyes, he could easily have been mistaken for someone ten years younger. Yet the sharpness and seriousness in his gaze hinted at long experience.
[Is this really worth a twelve hour flight?]
[Of course it is! Think about when I scheduled my vacation. I went to far more trouble than you did, Hugo.]
[That's true. Who did you abandon the film festival to?]
[Alice. When I told her I planned to start my vacation one week after the festival ended on May twenty eighth, she looked ready to strangle me.]
[Alice has remarkable patience. Only strangling you is restraint.]
They conversed in French.
Judging by the exchange, the blond man had been the one who dragged the other along.
[Anyway, it has been a long time since the two of us traveled together, my friend. This is a vacation. Let's enjoy the beauty of the East while we're here.]
[The beauty of the East? Where?]
The man called Hugo glanced out the window.
Beyond the airport limousine stretched a forest of towering skyscrapers.
The blond man burst out laughing at his sour expression.
[You're right. Poor choice of words. Since we're already here, let's enjoy this wonderfully chaotic country to the fullest. That performance is still a few days away.]
[I don't know anything, so you're responsible for everything, Vallon.]
The blond man's name was Vallon.
Vallon de Farouzier, chief programmer of the Cannes Film Festival, had returned to Korea.
This time, accompanied by a friend whose identity remained unknown.
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