With his mouth agape, Geon quickly had a camera thrust in his direction by the director, as Yeongseok beside him asked whether Haileke's recent statement had been captured clearly.
"What does it mean to say that he is the teacher of the Lamas? And... the Dalai Lama... is that the Dalai Lama I know? Are we talking about the divine figure in Tibetan Buddhism?"
Haileke raised his hand dramatically before clasping them together in respect.
"Yes, that's correct. It refers to the Dalai Lama, the incarnation of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, who is reborn."
Seeing Yeongseok's jaw drop, Geon snapped back to reality and said,
"You mean the Dalai Lama addressed me directly?"
"Yes, that's right. All Tibetan Buddhists will now show you the same respect they would a guru."
Haileke then turned to the lined-up Lamas and commanded,
"Show respect to the Guru!"
Immediately, thirty Lamas bowed in unison with clasped hands.
"May Buddha's blessings be upon the Guru recognized by Gacho."
Geon, in a daze, bowed deeply and chanted this mantra.
"I am not someone great, Lamas! Please don't do this."
Suddenly, the Lamas began to kneel on the spot. As Geon and Yeongseok looked on bewildered, Haileke, the last to kneel, flapped his red robe and exclaimed,
"Respect to the teacher of all the Lamas in the world!"
After shouting loudly, Haileke placed his palms up and pressed his forehead to the ground, followed by the thirty Lamas doing the same, shouting in unison.
"Respect to the teacher of all the Lamas in the world!"
Geon looked stunned, but from the moment the Lamas appeared, the myriad of international cameras turned towards him were frantically flashing. Yeongseok quickly checked his camera. Even as the director gaped, he monitored the shoot.
"Don't do this, Venerable Lama, please get up," Geon pleaded, reaching out to Haileke.
Haileke looked up at Geon and smiled.
"Indeed, the Dalai Lama was right. You are unquestionably a Bodhisattva sent to this world by Buddha."
Haileke was helped up by Geon, but the thirty Lamas remained motionless, foreheads to the ground. Geon, looking uncomfortable, pleaded with Haileke.
"Venerable Lama, please ask them to get up. I'm really not comfortable with this!"
Haileke nodded slightly and then shouted,
"The Guru says, 'Rise.'"
The Lamas got up immediately without a word and stood upright. As they did, Geon, wiping sweat from his brow, said to Haileke,
"Please, let's not do this anymore. I'll make some tea, so let's go to the base camp, even though everyone might have to sit on the grass..."
"Under Buddha's grace, what place wouldn't be peaceful? I would consider it an honor to be offered a cup of tea by you, Guru."
"Please, Venerable Lama, don't call me Guru."
"Ha ha, how could I not follow the instructions given by the Dalai Lama?" Haileke chuckled.
"Let's go, then. The other Lamas, please come along."
Geon led the Lamas to the base camp. The base camp, a sizable ten-person tent, couldn't accommodate more than thirty Lamas, so they sat around on the grass outside as Geon busily made tea for them. Yeongseok, filming this, instructed his AD,
"Hey, this is going to be a hit once it airs. Look up what 'Guru' means in advance and add subtitles. And synthesize a picture of the current Dalai Lama."
"Yes, CP. I already noted it down. Oh? But there's something else coming. Ah! What is that?"
"What? What else is there? Ah!"
Yeongseok and the AD saw a wave of people ascending from the entrance of the Gorkha village. At first glance, it seemed like thousands of Nepalis, carrying food like chicken and rice cakes and wrapped items, were heading towards the Gorkha village. After Geon had served tea to the Lamas and sat next to Haileke, Haileke pointed to the people coming from afar and said,
"Here comes Timo."
"Eh? The village chief Timo? Where.. Ah?"
At the forefront of the approaching crowd, with a walking stick in hand, was Timo. Although he brightened upon seeing Geon sitting in front of the base camp, his expression soured upon noticing Haileke seated beside him. Raising his hand, Timo halted the moving crowd and approached the base camp alone. After a moment of staring at Haileke sitting on the
ground with a scowl, Timo bowed to Geon,
"Devasi, Timo has arrived."
Geon quickly stood up and helped Timo to his feet,
"Why are you doing this, Chief? Please stand up."
After straightening up, Timo glared at Haileke and spoke in Nepali,
"What business does a mountain monk have here?"
Haileke laughed heartily and sipped his tea,
"I was just partaking in the tea offered by the Guru. And what brings you here? Your village isn't far from here, is it?"
Stamping his walking stick on the ground, Timo said,
"Your village or mine, it's all the same, you mountain monk. A Guru under the deity of Hinduism! Are you looking down on the Dalai Lama?"
"Ha ha, I merely acted upon the Dalai Lama's instructions. I made no judgments."
As Timo glared fiercely at Haileke, Geon, sensing the odd tension despite not understanding, stepped in,
"Village Chief Timo. Why be upset after coming all this way? Here, have a seat. I'll make you some tea."
Timo's expression softened like melting snow, and he smiled,
"Devasi! Thank you for saving Nepal. The children of Brahma are eternally grateful to you, Devasi."
Geon waved his hands and said,
"I'm not Devasi, please. Here, take a seat, Chief. I'll quickly make some tea."
After offering his seat to Timo, Geon went inside the tent to prepare the tea, while Timo, now cold again, said to Haileke,
"Do not let Devasi grasp Buddha's hand, messenger of Brahma."
Haileke, with a kind smile, responded,
"Ha ha, how could humans fathom the will of the gods? It's enough to live as Buddha has destined."
Timo, enraged, sat and swung his walking stick,
"These damned monks, how dare you eye our Devasi? Get out of here, now!"
Timo's anger subsided upon seeing Geon return with tea, hiding his walking stick and sitting respectfully. Haileke, seeing this, smiled, thinking the two had reconciled, and Geon, smiling, offered tea to Timo,
"It seems you've made up, Chief. That's good to see. Here's the tea."
"Thank you, Devasi."
"Remember, I'm not Devasi."
As Geon sat waiting for Timo to take a sip of his tea, he asked,
"It's a long journey from Dewureli here by car, taking a whole day. What brings you, Chief?"
Timo looked at the thousands of people standing in respectful silence despite their numbers, all of them looking down in a reverent posture,
"As soon as I heard that a disaster had struck and Devasi was helping the Nepalis with all his might, I set off immediately. Along the way, so many Nepalis joined me, hoping to see Devasi, the savior of Nepal. It was only upon arriving that we reached."
Geon's eyes widened as he asked,
"Eh? You walked all the way from there? From that far?"
"Ha ha, yes, that's right."
Geon turned to see thousands of people,
"Are... are all these people here to see me?"
Timo nodded and stood up, raising his walking stick and shouting,
"Pay your respects to Devasi!"
Following Timo's command, a woman carefully approached with a wrapped item. Kneeling before Geon, sitting between the Lama and Timo, she respectfully offered the wrapped item. As Geon, puzzled, accepted it, the kneeling woman said,
"O savior of Nepal, O rescuer of the Nepalis. We praise you."
Tears welled up in her eyes as she clasped her hands and spoke. Geon, taken aback, tried to help her up, but Timo intervened,
"Let her be, Devasi. She's expressing her gratitude for your help to Nepal."
As the woman cautiously stood up and walked away without showing her back, Geon, holding the pink cloth, asked,
"What's this?"
"A sign of gratitude, most likely. They're probably giving things from their homes, livestock, or food."
Geon gaped at the thousands still waiting with items in their hands,
"Surely... they're not all going to give me something like this?"
Timo nodded with a gentle smile. That day, Geon received the most gifts he had ever received in his life. The base camp was filled to the brim with gifts from the Nepalis, leaving no room for anyone else. One by one, people approached Geon, offering gifts and praying for his future blessings from the gods. Even after giving their gifts, they returned to their spots, watching until all gifts had been delivered.
After
more than three hours of sweating profusely while dealing with the Nepalis, Timo, seeing that almost all gifts had been given, stood up and turned to Geon. As Geon placed the last living chicken beside him and stood up, Timo raised his hands high and then prostrated himself, shouting,
"May Brahma's blessings fill the future of Nepal's savior, the celestial!"
As Timo shouted, thousands of Nepalis hurriedly prostrated themselves, echoing,
"May Brahma's blessings fill the future of Nepal's savior, the celestial!"
The director, capturing the scene of thousands bowing to Geon with a drone, muttered,
"What's this... do these people really think Mr. Geon is a god?"
His camera captured the awkwardly bowing Geon and the heartily laughing Haileke.
Among the rubble of houses collapsed due to earthquake damage, laughter blossomed for the first time in a while. The feast had been organized by Geon, as it was difficult to dispose of the food and livestock gifted by the Nepalese. Many Nepalis who had arrived with Timo helped with the preparations for the feast. Geon, who had invited everyone from UNICEF and other sponsoring organizations to the school playground, generously shared delicious food with the hard-working volunteers, while ensuring that the patients received nutritious meals first.
As people ate, drank, and rested, Chae-eun approached Geon, who was assisting the remaining Nepalis at the feast, and offered him a piece of lamb.
"Geon, have some of this too. It's delicious."
Geon smiled and ate the meat Chae-eun fed him, saying, "Thanks, noona. Did you eat a lot too?"
Chae-eun laughed, sucking on her fingers smeared with meat juice, "Yes, I ate a lot. Hey, you should shave. What has happened to our handsome Geon's face?"
Geon received a plate of food graciously offered by a Nepali lady and waved it off, "It's okay. Everyone here lives like this. It would be weirder if I was the only one looking neat."
Chae-eun shook her head, taking the plate from Geon, "Anyway, give it here. I've eaten enough, so I'll take care of this. You go and eat."
Geon watched Chae-eun bustling among the people with a plate in her hands, laughing. Staff members capturing the people eating at the feast caught Geon's eye.
'I should prepare a meal in advance for Yeongseok hyung and the staff brothers.'
After asking a Nepali to set aside about ten servings of food at the base camp and returning, Geon saw many journalists at the school entrance taking photos. He shouted to them.
"If you're done taking photos, come in and have some food, everyone! There's too much food left; it's going to spoil!"
The journalists, touched by Geon's heart, joined the feast amidst laughter at his light joke. As new groups joined, the ladies bustling with food serving began to serve more actively. Feeling sorry, the journalists stood up to serve themselves food and sat down to eat. Kevin, watching the feast deepen and children running around happily with roasted goat legs, spotted Geon.
Geon was constantly laughing, playing with a boy in his arms. It was delightful how he communicated joyfully with the boy despite the language barrier, their faces filled with laughter. Sara approached Kevin upon noticing Geon at the end of his gaze.
"It's incredible... There exists such a person. Someone who only wishes to give without expecting anything in return."
Kevin nodded slightly, "Humans find satisfaction in helping others. That satisfaction prevents many from stopping their service. Kay must be intoxicated by the satisfaction he feels now. We should hope that continues."
"It's not just about satisfaction, Director. Did you see earlier? How the monks and Hindus treat Kay? As if he's a representative of the gods they worship."
"Yes, it's not just a religious stance; the people of Nepal must feel they owe Kay a great debt. I misspoke. If it were merely for his own satisfaction, he wouldn't have received such respect."
"When is Kay coming back?"
"Who knows? I saw on the news he's shooting all his commercials here. He'll stay a bit longer."
"It's impressive. It's been over two months, right? Look at that beard. He looks like he's been practicing in the mountains."
"Seeing that scruffy beard makes me reflect."
"Reflect on what?"
"Do you know why Kay doesn't shave?"
"No? I thought it was just because there's no need to dress up here."
"No, you see that camera? Everything happening here is broadcast in Korea."
"Really? And he's still looking like that? That's not the look of a celebrity."
"Yes. That's why I asked him."
"And what did he say?"
"He said he dislikes removing something given by God during a time he's trying to revive all living things."
"What does that mean?"
"Perhaps it's a superstition... He fears that touching anything living, even slightly, might harm Nepal, which he's trying to revive."
Sara turned to Geon with a shocked face, seeing him burst into laughter while holding the boy, against the evening sky. She watched Geon for a while then said to Kevin,
"That's remarkable... Such a mindset... I didn't know, and it makes me reflect too."
Kevin slowly nodded, not taking his eyes off Geon.
"A young man, but a teacher to all monks, called Deva by all Hindus, a man known as the angel of the poor in the world... That's Kay now."
Sara, too, couldn't take her eyes off Geon and chuckled after a while.
"Heh, he's wonderful. Desirable, indeed."
Kevin smirked at Sara, "A wonderful man, indeed. But remember, a woman standing next to a great man is unhappy because he doesn't look only at her. Be moderately greedy, Sara."
"Pfft, as if he would look at me even if I made a move."
"Haha, that's also true."
"What? What do you mean by that!"
"Ah, my mistake. Haha."
As the two bickered and laughed, laughter bloomed on many faces around them. A larger smile of happiness and satisfaction blossomed on Geon's face as he watched them. The beautiful Himalayan mountains faintly visible in the night sky, the warm body temperature of the child in his arms, the beautiful landscape of Nepal in the distance, the sound of laughter, and the bright expressions of the people remained in Geon's heart.
**
A few days later, a filming team from SJT Group arrived for a commercial shoot. They were cautious, seemingly instructed not to upset Geon. The shoot, meticulously planned in advance, was completed in six hours. SJT shot a video with Geon against the backdrop of the Himalayan mountains with their new smartphone, emphasizing its connectivity even in remote areas. After the shoot, unlike usual, they left Nepal without holding a dinner party because their courage was too small to drink with Geon, who was receiving global attention after a major disaster in Nepal.
Merci Benz also sent a filming team. They decided to replace the new model with CG and only captured Geon's natural volunteer work. They focused solely on brand marketing, aligning with Merci Company's involvement in Nepal's earthquake recovery. Geon, surprised at the smooth progression of the shoot, called Lynn.
"Hello, Director! It's Geon."
"Yes, I know, Mr. Geon. How did the shoot for Merci Benz go?"
"It just finished. They didn't do much, just captured my usual work."
"It was discussed beforehand. They wanted to focus on brand marketing rather than the new model."
"I see. Now, only the commercial requested by the U.S. government is left. I've seen many speculative articles guessing it's a public service advertisement, but I haven't heard anything."
"That's because... We couldn't believe it ourselves and had to check several times, but the counterpart flying to Nepal for the shoot with you is on their way."
"Oh, is that so? They must be coming from Pokhara Airport, right?"
"Probably."
"Is it a famous actor?"
"Famous... extremely famous indeed."
"Wow, I should get an autograph, haha. What time is their flight? I'll prepare to meet them."
"That's not necessary because they're not coming by a regular flight."
"Oh? Do they have a private jet?"
"Not a private jet. They're flying on Air Force One."
"Excuse me? What's that?"
"They're coming on Air Force One, the aircraft of the current U.S. President, Harold Winston."
"What did you say?"
"The counterpart is the U.S. President. We had to check multiple times because we couldn't believe it."
"The U.S. President?"
"Yes, that's correct. You'll be shooting a public service commercial directly with the president. The theme is 'Leading the World Together: The United States and the World's Treasure, Kay.' The agreement is to have a conversation sitting in front of the base camp, and the commercial will be based on that conversation. Of course, to ensure the conversation isn't distorted, both the original and the broadcast footage will be provided to us in advance."
"The U.S. President..."
"There's no need to be so nervous. He's one of the most approachable presidents. Just treat him as casually as you would a neighbor."
"How can that be? It's the U.S. President..."
"If he tries any weird leading questions or anything, cut the conversation and call me immediately. Given his personality, it's unlikely he'll try to exploit Kay, but you never know."
"Alright... Thank you, Director."
After hanging up, Geon sat on a rock, staring blankly into space. Yeongseok, having seen him from afar, approached with the camera director. Since they had agreed not to film Geon's call with Lynn, they had been a bit distant.
"What's with the face? Wasn't that a call with Director Lynn?"
Geon, with a vacant expression, said, "Hyung... The person coming from the U.S. to film..."
Yeongseok tilted his head, "The person?"
"U.S. President Harold Winston."
Yeongseok gasped in shock, and even the camera director was surprised, causing the camera to jerk.
"What!? The U.S. President is coming to Nepal?"
Geon weakly replied, "Yes... that's what they said."
Yeongseok stared blankly at Geon, and the camera director gulped
. After a moment of shock, Yeongseok finally spoke.
"Do the journalists know about this?"
Geon shook his head, "I just found out myself; how could they?"
Yeongseok asked urgently, "Can we film it too?"
"I don't mind, but we need their permission."
"Geon, you have to talk them into it! If the U.S. President appears on Korean variety, it'll be a ratings killer! Please!"
"Alright... I'll talk to them. But I can't make any promises. They might have their reasons."
Yeongseok lifted Geon up, shouting excitedly, "That's enough! Hahaha! You adorable guy! Pretty guy!! Hahaha!"