T/N: “Jeolkwondo” -> “Jeet Kune Do” for clarity.
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of turning pages and a faint breath filled the quiet room.
In the stillness, as he studied the script, Han Seongtae turned his head at a vibration beside him.
The smartphone he’d left on the bed was buzzing to tell him a call was coming in.
[‘The One of a Thousand Faces’ murmurs that it’s a shame your focus got broken.]
[‘The Founder of Jeet Kune Do’ says that to focus on your work, you need to make everything else quiet.]
At the gods’ messages, Han Seongtae nodded.
‘I forgot.’
He’d forgotten to set his phone to silent.
Letting out a long sigh, he reached for the phone—and the familiar name on the screen made the corner of his mouth lift.
“Hey, Min-seok.”
—What were you doing to answer this late?
“I was practicing.”
—Acting practice?
“Yeah.”
At Han’s answer, Kim Min-seok let out a little sound of admiration. “Huh.”
—Don’t you ever get tired? You said you were practicing yesterday too.
“Wouldn’t it be weirder not to practice today just because I did yesterday?”
—Still, shouldn’t you rest a bit? If you only ever practice, it’s exhausting.
“I’m not tired.”
Far from tiring, the more he practiced, the more fun it became.
That was how sincere Han Seongtae was about acting.
If you don’t get tired and you’re having fun, what’s so hard about it?
—Amazing, amazing. How’d the audition go?
“The result isn’t out yet, but I think the reaction was good.”
—Yeah? If it’s you, of course it went well.
It felt like Min-seok didn’t even consider the possibility of a bad result.
His reaction said that if it was Han Seongtae, he’d definitely pass.
At that, Han smiled faintly.
“How’s your movie prep going? You said you’ve been struggling with the script lately.”
—Ah, that. That’s actually why I called.
“What, did something happen?”
At Min-seok’s words, Han tilted his head.
He knew Min-seok was having a hard time writing the script.
—I finished the script, but I’m stuck on what to do about casting.
“What about the actors?”
—For the male lead, I can use you, but the problem is who to cast as the female lead. I can’t just use anyone. I want someone proper.
“Ah…”
It was a problem worth worrying about.
No matter how well the script was written, without actors you couldn’t make a project.
—I think I’ll just have to mull this over a bit more. It’s not something I can solve right away, and there’s no need to rush. There’s still plenty of time before the competition.
“Competition?”
—Oh, did I not say? I’m planning to submit this to a competition. Honestly, given the current situation, I don’t know how it’ll go, but if I’m going to do it, I want to do it right.
“That makes sense.”
What Min-seok was saying wasn’t exactly wrong.
Submitting to a competition wouldn’t harm Han in any way, either.
—I wanted to talk it over with you anyway. If you’ve got time, come by my place. I’ll give you the script and we can chat. Mom’s curious what you’ve been up to lately, too.
“Alright. Let’s pick a day.”
Han made plans with Min-seok and ended the call.
Setting the phone aside, he looked down at the script.
“Hoo…”
With a soft exhale, he picked it up and began to read.
Han didn’t only practice at home.
“Race Start” was a crime–action drama.
It mostly dealt with street racing, but there were hand-to-hand and weapon-based action scenes as well.
Since Jeong Jae-in had given him permission to drop by and train anytime, Han headed to the action school whenever he could and worked in sync with other stunt performers.
They weren’t going to be in the same project together, but the experience helped him a lot.
[‘The Founder of Jeet Kune Do’ says to keep your arms straight.]
[‘The Founder of Jeet Kune Do’ advises that to produce explosive power in an instant, you need to add rotational force starting from the toes.]
With an elder of action right at his side, there were no major problems with his training.
Pang, pa-ang!
As he set his stance, pounding the heavy bag, Han turned at the presence approaching from beside him.
“Take it easy. You’ll collapse at that rate.”
At some point, Kim Dae-hyeon had come over, handing him an ion drink.
“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Sure.”
Han took a water break.
He’d been practicing under the gods of acting and lost track of time—turns out it had been over three hours since he started.
“When do the audition results come out?”
“I’m not sure yet. They did say within two weeks, so I guess I just wait till then?”
“True.”
Dae-hyeon nodded. As Han smiled at the sight, he turned on his phone to see if there were any messages.
Bzzz, bzz-bzzz!
Notifications flooded the top of the screen.
—‘Hansung Lee’ has followed you.
—‘James’ has followed you.
—‘Love_Lee’ has followed you.
Alerts that people had followed Han’s Onsta.
“Oh, what? Is your Onsta blowing up lately?”
Catching a glimpse of the screen, Dae-hyeon looked at Han in surprise.
Right up until before the shoot, Han hadn’t even used Onsta properly.
The notifications popping up the moment he unlocked the phone were enough to raise eyebrows.
“My followers just went up a bit.”
“How much?”
“Now it’s five hundred twenty… Ah, two more just got added.”
“…What?”
Dae-hyeon’s face went blank at Han’s words.
Five hundred wasn’t a small number.
Even after more than a year on Onsta, Dae-hyeon still hadn’t cracked a thousand.
Han’s follower count was rising abnormally fast.
“Wait… why’s it going up that fast? What did you do?”
“Nothing. I didn’t do anything. I just posted some photos.”
“You’re telling me it shoots up that fast just from photos? That makes no sense…”
Watching Dae-hyeon flustered, Han blinked.
The reason the follower count was jumping…
“Oh, this. Probably because Senior Kim Mu-cheol followed me.”
“Mu-cheol hyung followed you?”
“Yeah. Somehow he found me and followed me last week.”
“If that’s it, I’m the one who told him… Man, that guy’s too much. When I asked him to follow me, he absolutely refused. Guess you really caught his eye.”
Kim Mu-cheol’s Onsta had over a hundred thousand followers.
If someone like that followed you, of course it would have an effect.
“Shall we get back to practice?”
Still wearing a deflated look as he stared at Han’s phone, Dae-hyeon snapped out of it and stood up.
“Sounds good. Can you be my partner?”
“…Huh?”
“Since you’re here anyway, better to work out together, right?”
At Han’s words, Dae-hyeon faltered and edged back.
Seeing that, Han stepped in close and grabbed his arm.
“Let’s spar. I needed a partner anyway. Perfect timing.”
“No, I…”
As Dae-hyeon tried to make his escape, Han held on tight.
[‘The Founder of Jeet Kune Do’ grins fiercely, saying there’s nothing more helpful than having a sparring partner.]
Dae-hyeon’s scream rang through the gym.
Contrary to that scream, a smile hung on Han’s lips.
Time passed like that, and then a message arrived from Jeong Du-sik.
—They said it’s the drug courier role.
The news Jeong brought was exactly what Han had been waiting for.
He’d landed a role through the audition—and it was the very role he wanted.
‘Nice.’
He was already excited at the thought of showing the fruits of his practice.
Bzzzz.
Han glanced at his phone’s screen.
A message from Kim Min-seok.
“I’m heading down now.”
—Okay. Hurry up. I’m waiting.
Today, he was set to have dinner with Min-seok’s family.
“What’d you buy?”
“Just something simple. I can’t show up empty-handed.”
“You really didn’t need to bring anything.”
Walking with Min-seok, Han let out a laugh.
[‘He Who Defined His Era’ says going empty-handed would be bad manners.]
The gods’ messages followed Han’s steps.
They arrived at Min-seok’s place.
Not his studio apartment but his family home—where Lee Hye-yoon and Kim Mi-so were waiting.
“Hello, Professor. I brought this.”
“Thank you. You didn’t have to. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Seongtae, come on in.”
Lee Hye-yoon and Kim Mi-so greeted him warmly.
Dinner with the Kim family was delightful.
The dishes Hye-yoon cooked were delicious, and they made sure Han felt at ease.
“I heard you landed a role?”
“Yes, a bit part—as a drug courier.”
“Even if it’s a bit part, winning a role through an audition is what matters. Each and every one of those roles goes on your profile. You always work hard, so I’m not worried.”
“Why are you looking at me?”
When she said “worried,” Hye-yoon glanced sidelong at Min-seok, and at that look, he flinched.
“It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t sound like nothing.”
Min-seok muttered a complaint under his breath.
Watching, a small smile tugged at Han’s lips.
“Seongtae, here’s a gift from me. If you’re going to keep acting, you’ll need lots of clothes.”
“Oh, I wasn’t trying to get a present…”
“Just try it on. I’m giving it because I want to.”
She handed him a shopping bag, and Han accepted it a bit awkwardly.
[‘He Who Defined His Era’ brightens, saying the clothes have real flair.]
The clothes Mi-so gave him were a dark navy short-sleeve hoodie.
It had a teddy bear on it, quite a cute look.
If he mixed and matched it with what he already had, it would work nicely.
“Min-seok, how’s it going for you? You said you were thinking about the acting path.”
“Ah, that… I’m still thinking.”
Answering, Min-seok glanced at Hye-yoon.
Han followed his gaze and saw Hye-yoon’s face set firm.
She knew Min-seok wanted to produce a film, but she didn’t oppose him as flatly as before.
It felt like she intended to watch and let him do what he wanted.
“What is it?”
“Oh—remember how I said I was going to produce a movie?”
At Mi-so’s question, Min-seok answered.
“Yeah.”
“There’s a snag with casting. Seongtae can do the male lead, but I’m stuck on who to cast as the female lead.”
“A female lead?”
“Yeah.”
“Mm… If that’s the case, why not ask Ms. Ha-rin?”
At her words, both Han and Min-seok paused at the same time.
Seo Ha-rin.
How had they forgotten her?
The one who would become a famous actor in the future.
“Ha-rin… She’s the model from last time, right?”
“Yeah.”
“…She does have the vibe. I’ll think about it.”
The decision was Min-seok’s, but Han felt it was a real possibility.
After dinner with the Kim family,
Han returned home and amid continued practice, the shoot day arrived.
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