Actor Im Hyun-sik spent a solemn time looking at fellow actors who left before him.
On the 19th episode of MBN's "Exclusive World," a story was shown in which actor Im Hyun-sik leaves a final record.
After starting his day by clearing the snow that had piled up overnight, Im Hyun-sik said he noticed something was wrong when he unexpectedly lost a noticeable amount of weight starting last fall and that his body was not as intact as he thought. Im Hyun-sik said, "Living alone for a long time I wasn't regular. So the vascular department said we should treat it, and since I wasn't very active they said I needed a stent procedure," he said, sharing his recent condition.
Going out, Im Hyun-sik said, "I want to offer beautiful flowers to the teacher," and after holding flowers to his chest he visited the memorial hall of the late Lee Soon-jae. Im Hyun-sik, who could not be by Lee Soon-jae's side in his final moments three months after his passing, said, "I went during the funeral but I couldn't go in. I couldn't feel it was real that he had passed away, and I was afraid I would collapse and wail there, so I couldn't go in." He added, "When he acted on stage I was a student, and I was able to work as an extra on set with him. He was a person it was hard even to look at."
Im Hyun-sik said, "They say 'the living are mortal.' When the time comes everyone returns. Even someone like Kim Soo-mi did a lot of family performances, but when many people leave helplessly it doesn't feel like someone else's matter," and he showed tears.
After visiting Lee Soon-jae's memorial hall, Im Hyun-sik went outside to burn the scripts he had collected over time. Im Hyun-sik said, "I wonder what my daughters will think when they burn this after I'm gone," and after looking at the scripts again he couldn't bring himself to burn them and brought them back inside.
Trying to sort out his traces, Im Hyun-sik bought a camera at a camera shop downtown and explained, "to capture memories with this." Just then his daughter came home, and while they ate together he expressed his longing for his wife. Im Hyun-sik said, "My mother passed away and two years later my wife left. She left from cancer, and when she was going to receive cancer treatment my mind was in turmoil."
Im Hyun-sik created new memories by capturing his daughters' faces with the camera. Faced with a father who seemed to be preparing to close out his life, the daughters felt heavy-hearted. After his daughters left, Im Hyun-sik captured his memories with the camera and expressed regret, saying, "I want to photograph my heart too but I can't express it."
A few days later Im Hyun-sik met actor Park Eun-soo. Park Eun-soo said, "Seniors who aren't with us for many minutes are either about to pass away or not doing well. Senior Choi Bul-am is not well either; anyway the seniors' health is poor so I don't know what to do," she said. In response to Park Eun-soo's concern, Im Hyun-sik continued the conversation by talking about the things he had been sorting through as memories. Park Eun-soo encouraged Im Hyun-sik, saying, "We shouldn't keep folding things; we should open and look at them. We need to see what's inside, but we're folding them. We have a lot to do."
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