April 3, 2001
9:03 AM
Jumin and Donghwa were in their studio apartment. Donghwa was trying to get some sleep, while Jumin was busy preparing a salad, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Who could that be now?" Jumin opened the door to find a man wearing what was clearly a uniform, bearing the logo of something called "Alabama Films & Series." "Excuse me, are you Kim Jumin and Kim Beomseok?" the man asked. Jumin nodded, while Donghwa looked on, appearing confused.
"Yes, that's us—I'm Kim Jumin, and he's Kim Beomseok." Jumin let the man in and offered him a cup of coffee. "Who the hell are you?" Donghwa asked. The man sat down in a comfortable spot near the balcony. "Well, we're preparing a BL film called *When*, and we've been looking for actors to play the leads. Several actors, like Yang Donggeun and Shim Jiho, turned down the role—and that's how, through Jiho, your names reached me," the man confirmed.
"And why specifically us?" Donghwa asked as the guy gave them two invitations "because he said you two looked like actors, now excuse me, I have to go" the guy left them both "I'm glad it's in this Alabama thing, because if it was up to the CEO, we'd do it on steam's crap" Donghwa laughed softly as Jumin left the letter in the drawer next to the bed and went back to the kitchen "not even if the CEO wanted to, Steam disaffiliated from Mirae, forgot?" Jumin warned
Steam Films (formerly CARMESIAN) is a South Korean film company founded by two friends named Kim Inchul (known by the pseudonym Kim Phenomenal) and Kang Haeho (known by the pseudonym Big nacHOs) in 1989, known for producing several films in the Gore, espionage, cyberpunk, parody, and action genres, such as Byeon Building (1989), Favorites (1996 - a parody of Clueless) and the award-winning Mandatory Exit (1994). in 1997, they joined Mirae Entertainment, in 1999 they released Cinderella Boy (in partnership with New Line Cinema), and the film almost took the studio down the hole (both financially and, almost, image), and they only didn't close their doors because in early 2000, after disagreements between Kim Phenomenal and Big nacHOs against the CEO, they separated from Mirae Entertainment and merged with a startup company called CUCKOO, in fact, according to the words of Big nacHOs himself, he and Kim Phenomenal regret to this day having signed a contract with Mirae Entertainment and that, if they had known that they were going to release Cinderella Boy, they would never have even joined it
"I know, you idiot," Donghwa replied, losing sleep once again as he scrolled through the TV channels; that day, even that felt far too boring.
"You know, Jumin," Donghwa began, "it would actually be pretty cool if we made a movie where you end up 'burning your donut'—" Donghwa laughed, which prompted Jumin to grab a dish towel and throw it at him. "Serves you right that people call you a pervert!" Jumin shouted, making Donghwa laugh even harder.
"It was just a joke," Donghwa justified himself, raising his hands. Jumin went back to slicing the cucumbers into paper-thin pieces. "I also hope you end up playing a character who hurt the donut," Jumin retorted. "Whoa, hang on a second there," Donghwa requested.