Chapter 131
Seol Seung-jun was a middle-aged actor with a solid fanbase in the film industry.
He had a face well-suited for noir or action films, but his exceptional acting skills allowed him to appear in comedies and dramas as well.
I had seen all his works, but I didn’t know anything about him beyond that. I wasn’t interested, either.
Still, it was shocking to learn that his real personality was such a mess.
“Did you see him hit someone yourself?”
“The other day, a male actor came as an extra… he suddenly slapped him during a scene.”
“Why?”
“Just… told him to act properly.”
“……”
“He also occasionally hits the junior staff on the head… All the ones I saw were men. He doesn’t do that to women.”
Sung Lee-jun hesitated but continued speaking.
“He verbally harasses women.”
“……Ha.”
A sigh of exasperation escaped me.
I wasn’t dumb enough not to understand what it meant to verbally harass someone.
Violence and sexual harassment? He really was a scumbag not worth associating with.
I had a lot to say, but there were too many eyes watching.
“For now, let’s just get through today’s shoot, hyung.”
“Yeah…”
Regardless of how I felt, there was work to be done.
The staff must be holding back their emotions as well. Everyone was enduring it with great difficulty.
I knew reality wasn’t so lenient, but today it felt particularly bitter.
‘Is there really nothing I can do?’
After a brief contemplation, I turned on my phone.
I opened the memo app and began to write slowly.
[Mist, I need your help.]
* * *
“Yeon-jae!”
As soon as I opened my eyes, I hugged Mist tightly.
My body, which had been tense all day, finally relaxed.
Seeing I wasn’t letting go, Mist seemed flustered for a moment but then giggled and hugged me back.
“You really missed me!”
“Yeah. Today was such a hard day.”
“That guy is the worst! I was so mad too! We couldn’t even shoot because of him!”
That’s right. Just thinking about it made me angry again.
Seol Seung-jun didn’t come out even after the assistant director knocked for a long time.
After an hour, Seol Seung-jun’s manager came out and said this.
‘He’s too tired today. Let’s reschedule.’
‘We have a tight schedule, so if we do that, the whole timeline will―.’
‘Aren’t we paying for everything anyway?’
‘……Alright.’
The assistant director gritted his teeth but eventually said nothing and smiled.
You could tell he was holding back his emotions just by looking at his reddened neck.
All the staff left in silence.
When the assistant director cautiously asked if I could come again, I immediately agreed.
His face was full of complex emotions as he murmured his thanks.
‘Making money really isn’t easy.’
Burying my head into Mist’s shoulder, he gently patted my head.
“Yeon-jae. Aren’t you tired? Should we lie down?”
“Just a bit longer like this.”
Despite being furious, I couldn’t help but smile at Mist’s clumsy attempts to comfort me.
Why is everything he does so awkward?
“Mist. Did you see the notes I asked you about earlier?”
“Of course! I checked everything you asked without missing a thing!”
“Thank you.”
“Hehe!”
Mist’s soft voice felt like a marshmallow, making me relax.
I wanted to just lie down like this… but I had to stay focused.
“So, can you show me Seol Seung-jun’s memories?”
“Sure!”
What I asked Mist to do was to read Seol Seung-jun’s overall memories.
I wasn’t sure how I would use this information, but it was better than having no weapon at all.
“But Yeon-jae, I’m curious about something!”
“Yeah?”
“Remember when I showed you that singing guy’s memory before?”
Singing guy?
“You mean singer Kang Se-hyun from Space?”
“Yeah! You didn’t like seeing other people’s memories back then. Is it okay with this guy?”
“……”
I was at a loss for words for a moment.
That’s true. Even though Seol Seung-jun was a terrible person, reading his memories was still an invasion of privacy.
Seeing me lost in thought, Mist seemed flustered.
“I’m not trying to criticize you! It’s just that last time, you looked so upset after seeing that guy’s memories. I was worried it might happen again!”
“Yeah. I know. Thanks.”
I felt conflicted. As I spread my arms, Mist familiarly snuggled into them.
I stroked Noh Bi-hyuk’s unique curly hair, organizing my thoughts.
‘Is it right for me to read someone else’s memories?’
Of course, it wasn’t ethically right. But was there anything I could do without doing this?
I still didn’t understand why my fans liked me.
But thinking logically, the reason people liked celebrities was simple.
‘Because they can’t see them easily.’
A specialness that can’t be found anywhere else.
In this world, if you didn’t meet that condition, you couldn’t survive.
Being a good actor? That was just a given.
Starring in successful works? That was something investors cared about.
The only reasonable answer I could come up with was to maintain the image my fans currently had of me for as long as possible.
When you search for Lee Yeon-jae, what words commonly appear?
‘What were they.’
Handsome, genius, kind, gentle, soft, polite…
It made me blush, but my feelings weren’t important right now.
‘I can’t lose the look in their eyes from the fan meeting.’
To keep those blush-inducing words attached to me, just acting well wasn’t enough.
I also had to be mindful of my reputation, including which actors I was close with and whether I had conflicts with other actors.
‘I’ve been lucky so far.’
There would be countless people like Seol Seung-jun.
I would keep encountering them, over and over again.
I didn’t have time to delay, worrying about how they might affect my image and how that would reach my fans. So…
“Up to here.”
“Huh?”
I decided, hearing Mist’s puzzled voice. The worrying stops here.
Ethically wrong? That’s a luxury.
No matter what the situation, I always had to be prepared.
I had to preemptively block any potential scandals.
Using everything I had at my disposal.
“……I’m ready. Can you show me Seol Seung-jun’s memories?”
Even if it meant bringing about someone’s downfall.
* * *
The youngest staff member of ‘Dogs on Leashes’ sighed.
‘I hope today’s shoot goes smoothly.’
He had known for a long time that celebrities’ personalities could be different from what they showed on TV.
But even the staff who had been through the wringer for years were shocked by the kind of person Seol Seung-jun was.
There were rumors that he had run someone over with his car and buried them in the mountains, and that he had covered up cases that should have gone to court with money.
Still, since they were just rumors, he thought he couldn’t completely believe them. Not until he experienced it himself.
A staff member who had been hit hard enough for a loud noise to echo just because he touched Seol Seung-jun’s clothes with dirty hands had a complicated expression.
‘I’d like to post something on the internet…’
There were so many people who had suffered because of Seol Seung-jun that there had been posts about him before.
But they always disappeared without a trace, possibly because of his powerful connections.
People who had complained about Seol Seung-jun started to keep quiet more and more.
His reputation grew worse, and the powerless staff could only endure.
“Hello.”
While he was mindlessly taking out equipment, a calm voice reached his ears.
“Oh! Hello.”
“You must be working hard since morning. Have a drink while you work.”
Lee Yeon-jae handed him a drink. The plastic cup contained a strawberry latte.
‘How did he know I liked strawberry lattes?’
Lee Yeon-jae, seemingly reading the confusion on his face, smiled.
“I think I saw you with a strawberry latte last time. We talked two days ago, remember?”
Wow, he remembered that. It was such a brief moment.
Muttering a thank you in a daze, the staff member was still bewildered.
“There’s a coffee truck outside the building right now. They have strawberry juice too. Just ask if you need anything.”
“Oh… did you arrange that?”
“Yes. When I was filming a movie last time, Jin-woo hyung also sent me one. Even though you’re busy, make sure to take breaks and drink up.”
With the perfect look of a polite young man, he bowed his head and disappeared.
The staff member stood there, dazed as if bewitched.
Only after the water droplets from the plastic cup fell on his hand did he snap out of it.
‘The kid is really kind…’
Would such a kind kid turn into someone like Seol Seung-jun after working for a long time?
It was a bitter thought.
But contrary to his bitter thoughts, the strawberry latte was sweet and delicious.
‘…Let’s just get through today.’
Sucking up the strawberry latte like it was life-giving water, the staff member prepared for the shoot with renewed energy.
Thanks to the coffee truck Lee Yeon-jae had arranged, the atmosphere on set was warmer than usual.
Laughing and chatting with the staff, massaging Sung Lee-jun’s shoulders to relieve his tension, Lee Yeon-jae looked very kind.
The main PD, a huge fan of Sung Lee-jun, seemed slightly irritated by this.
However, even he ended up patting Lee Yeon-jae’s shoulder
with a satisfied smile after exchanging a few words with him.
‘Today’s shoot might actually go well.’
The influence of one person could be this significant.
The cheerful atmosphere was shattered in an instant.
“PD, let’s switch him out with someone else.”
“……Seung-jun, why all of a sudden? The main writer has been looking forward to this scene. Your acting is going to elevate it!”
“Doesn’t matter, he bothers me. He’s just an extra anyway. Let’s replace him.”
The current scene was one where Han Seung-min tries to extort money from Student 1 but hesitates upon seeing his submissive expression.
Passing by indifferently, Lee Jan-hyuk notices the guilt on Han Seung-min’s face and becomes interested.
‘He looks like someone worth keeping around,’ Lee Jan-hyuk approaches the two, using his power on Student 1.
Lee Jan-hyuk’s ability was ‘memory erasure.’
When Student 1 regains his senses with a blank look, he’s left alone in the alleyway. End of scene.
It was a simple shoot that could be done in two hours if everything went well.
The problem was Seol Seung-jun’s stubbornness.
The actor, who had been joking about the coffee sent by the polite junior, stiffened upon seeing Lee Yeon-jae’s performance.
Then he insisted on replacing the actor.
‘That’s some serious jealousy.’
It was obvious to anyone that it was a case of inferiority complex. Why was he acting like that with a much younger actor when he wasn’t even bad at acting himself?
The staff looked at him with disdain, but they could somewhat understand.
Lee Yeon-jae’s performance was exceptionally good.
The moment he was dominated by Han Seung-min, the clarity in his eyes faded.
‘……’
His expression went blank, his gaze entranced. His lips slackened.
Within a very short time, his expression changed completely, and a sound seemed to echo in the onlookers’ ears.
The sound of a barely-held thread snapping, vivid as if it were real.
It was a flawless performance, without the need for additional sound effects.
“Seung-jun, let’s be reasonable, okay?”
“PD, do you not understand what I’m saying? Do you need more money?”
“……”
Feeling deeply insulted, the main PD fell silent, and the set went quiet.
The staff looked at Lee Yeon-jae with sympathy.
And then they froze in shock.
“…?”
Blinking, they saw Lee Yeon-jae with a troubled face.
Ah, what was that? I must have imagined it.
‘Yeah, there’s no way he would make such a cold expression.’