[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ stares at you, asking if you are not getting too excited.]
A message from the god of acting.
Walking down a street that had turned a bit cool despite it being summer, Han Seongtae lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
Clear weather.
Somehow, it feels like something good is going to happen today.
[‘The One Who Defined an Era’ points with a raised finger, saying isn’t it over there.]
With messages blocking his view, Han Seongtae turned his head and looked at the cafe.
A cafe called “Dalbam.”
‘But is it really okay to just come to any random cafe like this?’
A question settled on his face as he looked at it.
Everyone coming today was famous.
Actors who would draw fans the moment they showed their faces.
People like that were in a cafe.
No matter how much they rented a cafe in some out of the way place, they would inevitably get found out because of customers who came by.
And once that happened, people would have no choice but to gather.
“Hey, Seongtae’s here?”
That question vanished completely the moment he opened the cafe door and stepped inside.
A cafe with no one in it.
And there were faces Han Seongtae knew well.
Jo Seokjeong and Kim Mucheol, and Song Ganghun….
“…Huh?”
Spotting someone sitting beside Kim Mucheol, Han Seongtae’s body stiffened hard.
If he had not just seen wrong, Song Ganghun was definitely sitting there.
‘If it’s Song Ganghun, isn’t he overseas right now?’
From the Academy to the Cannes Film Festival.
Someone who absolutely should not have been here was sitting in this seat.
He could not believe it, and Han Seongtae, standing there blankly, could not move easily.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ taps your cheek, telling you to snap out of it.]
[‘The One Who Made Laughter from Tragedy’ stares at you, asking if you are going to keep standing there.]
With the gods of acting’s help, Han Seongtae barely came to his senses and walked awkwardly toward where the actors were gathered.
“What are you doing just standing there spaced out. Come here and sit.”
“Senior, this is Seongtae. I filmed a drama with him this time, you know? He’s a good kid and he acts well.”
At Kim Mucheol’s words, Song Ganghun smiled and nodded.
“I’m Song Ganghun. Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, yes! I’m Han Seongtae! Please take good care of me!”
A great actor produced by Korea, Song Ganghun.
He had filmed several ten-million-viewer movies, and he was a great actor recognized even overseas.
He was an actor fundamentally different from Han Seongtae by birth, and he was also someone who now stood at the position Han Seongtae was chasing.
That was why meeting Song Ganghun was even more shocking.
‘He’s the actor I respected the most.’
He could not help being even more surprised, because he never imagined he would meet him like this.
“Seongtae, you’re surprised, right?”
“Yes, a little… no, a lot.”
At Jo Seokjeong’s playful expression, Han Seongtae could only let out a hollow laugh.
They had not told him that Song Ganghun would be coming today.
They had probably meant to surprise him.
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ chuckles, saying your surprised face was something to see.]
Their intention succeeded perfectly.
Han Seongtae thought that, out of the past year, this might be the most shocked he had been.
“Senior, have you seen what Seongtae filmed? He did insanely well and the response was good too.”
“Isn’t that you bragging? You were the lead.”
“Um… is it obvious?”
“Very.”
At Song Ganghun’s words, Kim Mucheol scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.
“Still, your acting was good. Your acting where you restrained your anger improved a lot.”
“Right? I practiced just like you advised me last time.”
“It felt good.”
Song Ganghun reached out and patted Kim Mucheol’s shoulder.
At his words, Kim Mucheol smiled like a kid being praised.
“You’re Seongtae, right?”
“Yes, senior. Speak comfortably.”
“Is that okay?”
“Of course!”
If Song Ganghun said he would drop honorifics, who could possibly refuse.
Han Seongtae immediately nodded and looked at him.
“I watched War of the Villains. Your acting was good. You handled the emotional line well, and your pronunciation is good.”
“Thank you!”
“Have you ever learned acting separately? That kind of acting isn’t easy to do alone.”
At those words, Han Seongtae smiled.
Had he ever learned acting?
[‘The Actor of Eternal Youth’ glances at you.]
[‘The One Who Defined an Era’ smiles at you.]
Of course.
There were excellent teachers around him.
“I taught myself by watching videos. From great actors, and from every actor who has acted up to now.”
“You taught yourself?”
“Yes, senior. Seongtae’s one tough guy. I don’t know what he practices and studies so much by himself.”
“That’s right. When I first saw Seongtae, I told you, it was the first time I’d seen someone as tough as him.”
The answer came not from Han Seongtae, but from elsewhere.
At Kim Mucheol and Jo Seokjeong’s words, Song Ganghun smiled as if interested and nodded.
“Someone who works hard is not bad. And I’ve never seen someone who works hard fail, either.”
“Ah….”
At that, Han Seongtae let out a bitter smile.
In his past life, he worked very hard, so why did he fail?
‘No. Because I worked that hard… is that why I got another chance?’
And on top of that, he had those who could help him succeed.
“If you work hard, you get rewarded somehow.”
‘I think I’m receiving that reward right now.’
“Later, it might be nice to act together. Your acting was quite good.”
“If you would do that, it would be a great honor.”
There are many people who want to act with Song Ganghun.
Because there are not many cases of failing when you are with him.
“Seokjeong.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“Have you ever seen Song senior talk this much with a kid he’s meeting for the first time?”
“No. This is my first time seeing him like that too. Even when I first met him, he stayed quiet, you know.”
“Same for me. He’s not the type to drop speech that quickly.”
At the voices coming from the side, Han Seongtae could not help but laugh.
They were looking at Han Seongtae with envy.
At that, Han Seongtae shrugged.
“He’s really something.”
“Seriously. In my first year, I was busy just trying to land one minor role…”
Watching him, Kim Mucheol and Jo Seokjeong let out hollow laughs.
“Seongtae, you worked hard today and get home safely.”
Late evening.
A street that had grown dark as the sun set.
Kim Mucheol waved his hand to see Han Seongtae off.
If it were up to him, he wanted to drink together or spend more time.
‘He has to go in early because he has to go to school. That kid really is something.’
Han Seongtae’s appearance, always finishing what he was given, even felt impressive.
“Seongtae left?”
“Yes, he just left.”
“Yeah? That’s a shame. I wanted to say goodbye.”
“It can’t be helped. How’s your stomach?”
At Kim Mucheol’s question, Song Ganghun gave a bitter smile and rubbed his stomach.
“It feels like it’s okay, but… I’m not sure.”
“Right. Eat properly. Don’t just eat anything because you’re practicing.”
“Try getting older. Cooking for yourself gets annoying now.”
“But acting isn’t annoying?”
“Acting is everything to me. How could it be annoying.”
At Song Ganghun’s words, Kim Mucheol let out a small chuckle.
Kim Mucheol also had overflowing passion for acting, but in front of Song Ganghun, he could not dare speak about passion.
‘Come to think of it, Seongtae’s passion is incredible too. He’s kind of similar to senior.’
Han Seongtae had passion, and he had talent.
Especially his passion, to the point even Kim Mucheol found it hard to keep up.
“How is Seongtae?”
“He’s decent. Looks kind, and he’s sincere about acting.”
“I didn’t think you’d like him right away, senior.”
At Kim Mucheol’s words, Song Ganghun took a sip of water.
“When you get older, you start seeing things. That kid Seongtae is… impressive. The way he treats acting seems even better than me. Acting is…”
Song Ganghun could not bring himself to say, “I catch glimpses of great figures.”
Han Seongtae’s acting still lacked too much to stand shoulder to shoulder with the greats.
But what about after he grows a little more?
“Seongtae’s lucky. He caught your eye, senior. You’ve always had a precise eye for actors.”
At Kim Mucheol’s words, Song Ganghun shrugged.
Han Seongtae was someone who could become even more impressive than he was now.
—Hey, what are you doing right now?
Looking over his script, Han Seongtae let out a laugh at the call from Kim Minseok.
“I was reading the script. You?”
—I’m preparing for auditions right now. You really are going to be a judge, right?
“Yeah, I’m going to.”
If it was the gods of acting, they would be able to find good actors.
Han Seongtae had a strong certainty that, with the gods of acting, it was possible.
—Okay. I’ll tell the director.
“Yeah, thanks.”
—Ah, and what are you going to do for Halloween?
“…Halloween?”
—Yeah. You didn’t do Halloween last year either. Shouldn’t you do it once before you get even busier?
“I haven’t thought about it.”
At Kim Minseok’s words, Han Seongtae scratched his cheek and turned his head.
A calendar on the desk.
October 31, Halloween.
He had not thought of it at all, because he had no interest.
“I’ll think about it.”
—Don’t just think about it. Let’s do it once. If you dress up, everyone will love it.
“Who would even see it.”
—What do you mean who? You’ve got fans, at least.
“Okay. I’ll seriously think about it. For now, I’m going to focus more on the script.”
It was a project with Netflix.
With halfhearted effort, he would not be able to show the acting he wanted.
Han Seongtae intended to show proper acting in Haru with Netflix.
Taking a short break from practicing the script, Han Seongtae was looking through Onstar.
The photo of Yeonwoo he had uploaded recently.
Under it, countless comments were posted.
—Puppy: Isn’t he seriously so charming? This is insane. Seriously.
—SleepinessIsComing: I never get tired of Yeonwoo no matter how many times I see him. How can someone be this cute and handsome?
—TungTung: Starting today, I’m checking in every single day.
—GoingBackwards: It’s almost Halloween. Is he not going to do cosplay? It’d be nice if he did. I think it would suit him so well.
Once again, people were bringing up Halloween.
It seemed he had really been too absorbed in acting.
He needed to look around at the world too.
Of course, that did not mean he intended to reduce his focus on acting.
‘But I do need to communicate a little.’
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ suggests a cyborg costume.]
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ pats your shoulder, saying they have an idea.]
This Halloween, it feels like he will not be able to stay quiet.
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