“...What the hell are you even saying....”
Unlike at that no-name idol audition where I’d first seen him, this really did seem to be our first meeting here.
I smiled even wider, deliberately greasy, and greeted him.
“Ahaha, sorry. I’ve seen you so often on TV that I must have acted too familiar. Nice to meet you, senior Lee Kangseok. My name is Seo Hoyun.”
“Ah, yes.”
Kangseok’s stiff face relaxed, only for a sneer to spread across it.
“I understand. Must be like how an ajumma drama fan greets me on the street, you just felt close to me. Well, Seo Hoyun, you are...”
Waving his hand up and down right in front of my face, he lowered his eyes with a look that almost pitied me.
“It’s just that you’re not very well known yet, so it can’t be helped. Isn’t that right, senior Min Jiheon?”
But Jiheon, whose name had been dragged into it, only stepped back another pace and gave a stiff, awkward smile, clearly unwilling to get involved.
“Sigh, I’m really so disappointed we couldn’t be in this project together, senior Min Jiheon, all because of something unexpected.”
But Kangseok kept talking on his own, clearly not bothered at all.
That “something unexpected” was obviously me taking the role.
“I should have just transferred agencies to WH instead, hahaha!”
That jab was aimed at me, since I’d been transferred from Daepaseong to WH Entertainment. The implication was clear: his acting was superior, but because WH was the bigger agency, I had stolen the part.
His intentions were so transparent I glanced at Jiheon. He too looked at me sidelong, as though finding the whole thing amusing.
‘Interesting.’
I too had trouble keeping the corners of my lips from twitching upward.
“Seo Hoyun, your acting is still... rough, isn’t it?”
“Mm~, rough, sure.”
“You did audition, didn’t you?”
“Did I?”
I let all his words slide by with a bright smile. Kangseok’s lips trembled.
“Haha, must be nice. Getting a role not by skill, but by sheer luck.”
“Oh, of course it’s nice.”
“......”
“Who would refuse when it’s handed out for free?”
“......”
Beside us, {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Jiheon let out a muffled laugh. I raised my voice a little.
“But senior Min Jiheon.”
“Yes, yes?”
“You didn’t audition either, did you?”
I tilted my head, putting on my most innocent look, and asked.
“I thought I got the role of Kim Wooho because they recognized my charm, but listening to senior Kangseok, maybe not...—”
Not “maybe.” It really wasn’t. I had been slotted in by arrangement.
And gratefully, I was devouring it whole.
“—by your logic, senior Kangseok, if someone is an actor from WH Entertainment and didn’t audition—”
As Kangseok’s face slowly drained of color, my eyes shone.
“—then senior Min Jiheon would also be a parachute case, wouldn’t he?”
“Wait, wait a minute, Seo Hoyun. When did I say that?!”
Flustered, he waved his hands frantically, his face flushing red.
“Senior Min Jiheon was cast!”
“Oh? And what about me?”
“......”
Kangseok nearly lumped Jiheon into the same insult before catching himself, left gaping, speechless.
“Wow...”
Jiheon, watching the whole exchange, let out an astonished murmur. Breathing heavily, Kangseok turned toward him.
“Ah, no, senior Min Jiheon, that’s not what I meant—”
At that moment—
“Excuse me, but this is a restricted area for authorized personnel only.”
An assistant director arrived, checking on the commotion.
Kangseok’s expression changed instantly, irritation radiating from him.
“...What? I am authorized personnel. Don’t you know my face?”
“Mr. Lee Kangseok, are you currently cast in Dead after Hope?”
“Well, no, but...”
“Then please leave.”
“...Wow, even the staff here are uptight.”
The atmosphere on set dropped like a rock.
“What is this, a royal palace? I can’t even step in for a minute? Do you people not know who I am?”
His voice rose, and everyone’s attention turned on him. In their eyes was barely suppressed annoyance: We’re busy enough already, and this bastard?! But no one wanted to openly clash with a rising star like him.
Even the assistant director, flustered by his endless ranting, didn’t know what to do.
So I stepped forward, blocking Kangseok’s view, and spoke.
“Senior Lee Kangseok, please, enough. I truly appreciate you coming to see me—”
“What??”
“—but I told you it makes me uncomfortable. If you keep doing this, it really troubles me.”
I lowered my long lashes, sighed faintly, and made myself look as flustered as possible.
Might as well put my recently polished acting skills to use.
“W-what?”
Kangseok’s expression shattered.
Seizing the chance, I motioned behind my back for the assistant director to withdraw.
“In reality, this is our first meeting. What nonsense are you spouting?!”
“Next time, if you really want to see me, give me notice first. Understand?”
“...!!”
As his blood pressure seemed to spike, clutching at his neck, I leaned in slightly, meeting his eyes.
“Shall we go, Kangseok-ah?”
It was intentional, to get under his skin.
With his face turning red, then pale, I slung an arm around his neck and half-dragged him out of the set.
“You—you just used banmal to me....”
“Oh, right! By the way, I appear in Dead after Hope today. Make sure you watch the broadcast.”
“Are you insane? Why would I watch that?!”
Why else?
Brushing off my sleeve where his arm had touched, I answered kindly.
“Because then you’ll understand why I got the role over you, and you won’t feel so resentful.”
“...Reason?”
“Yeah.”
His narrowed eyes followed me as he rubbed his neck.
I just shrugged and added calmly,
“Because I act better than you.”
If he were someone born with natural talent like Min Jiheon, maybe I’d hesitate.
But compared to Lee Kangseok, I could absolutely grasp and portray a man clinging desperately to life for the sake of his younger sibling.
Just like the role of Lee Junghoon in Bring Me the Camera.
“...You—you bastard! Do you want to die? Stop right there!”
“Nope, not stopping~.”
Ignoring his shouting behind me, I walked off.
Ding!
[......Looking good.]
[Like a fish in water.]
Exactly. Acting freely without worrying about others felt cathartic.
As I reentered the set, Jiheon was there, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, clearly having followed me.
“...Truly, no one can win against a madman. He didn’t stand a chance.”
“That’s why I play with you.”
I answered with a bright smile, waving back at a staffer bowing to me from afar.
Though I needed to return to the waiting room to change costumes and fix makeup for the next shoot, Jiheon kept circling around, glancing my way.
“Hey.”
Finding him pathetic, I decided to be generous and open the conversation first.
“If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Don’t dither.”
“...It’s just surprising. Everyone’s been praising how kind you are to the staff....”
So what.
Jiheon studied the tilt of my eyes.
“...But from how you treated Lee Kangseok just now, and the way you act toward me, you don’t exactly seem like someone with a good personality.”
“Why? I can’t be good to the staff?”
“I’m just saying it’s unexpected. Shouldn’t you be more suspicious, Seo Hoyun?”
“Honorifics.”
“...Sir.”
Jiheon pouted, then quickly looked back at the bustling set.
“I prefer peace. That’s why someone like you, radiating dangerous vibes, makes me uncomfortable.”
“Dangerous?”
He gestured vaguely at the air around me.
“That dark, sticky aura clinging around you—it doesn’t look like anything good.”
Of course. That’d be the accumulated Infamy points.
“You’re not wrong.”
Since he had the nerve to circle me first and then complain, I decided to share one little truth he didn’t know yet.
“Oh, Jiheon, you’ve got an interview coming up soon, right?”
“...That’s what I heard. With the director, maybe?”
“I think you’re going with me. The director pushed for it, said it’d make waves.”
When I smiled, Jiheon’s face stiffened.
“...Do I really... have to go with you? Must it be that way?”
“If you don’t like it, go make headlines yourself. Open a YouTube channel, do a mukbang or something.”
“...Should I?”
Should your ass, pig.
***
Meanwhile, Lee Kangseok was pacing his house, gnawing at his nails.
“That son of a bitch....”
Before Jiheon had solidified his standing as an actor, back when he was still bouncing around the theater scene, Kangseok had been a fan. He had been thrilled at the chance to film a drama together.
But some stray mutt had snatched that chance away.
“Well, whatever. It’s just Seo Hoyun.”
In his fury over losing the role, he’d checked out Hoyun’s web dramas and indie films to see what kind of nobody he was.
And as expected—book-reading intonation, awkward eye focus, weak emotion delivery.
Kangseok had been certain the public would chew him up and spit him out. That face of his would just get mocked—Never even frowns, who does he think he is, some idol?
He had dismissed him lightly.
“...Shit.”
But after episode 3 of Dead after Hope aired—
《Dead after Hope: A Miracle Performance, Kim Wooho Appears》
《Highlight Scene—Kim Wooho Saves Min Hanjun!》
《Seo Hoyun and Min Jiheon’s ‘Extreme Chemistry’ Captivates Viewers》
Articles poured out like wildfire. Far too many to have been bought with money.
[Holy shit]
The viewer reactions he checked were even worse for his nerves.
[Seo Hoyun acts so fucking well;;;;]
Lee Kangseok—was now deeply unsettled.
