Han Seongtae visited the agency at least once a month.
Even aside from contracts for projects, commercials, variety shows, and the like, he tended to come by the agency even just to look for new work.
He had been coming to this place for over a year.
Normally, it was somewhere he walked into without thinking, familiar.
But today, it felt different.
“Whew.”
Standing at the entrance to the Actor Team 2 office, Han Seongtae let out a deep breath.
When he slowly stepped inside, the employees’ gazes poured toward him.
“They’re waiting in the meeting room.”
One staff member spoke to him, and at her words, Han Seongtae nodded and opened the meeting room door.
“I saw it…”
There were familiar faces, and faces he was seeing for the first time.
Min Najung, Jung Dusik, Britton Lee… and one person he did not recognize.
“Our Actor Han is here.”
At the sight of him, Min Najung stood up quickly with a bright, welcoming smile.
She always greeted him warmly, but right now she was smiling even more than usual.
Anyone could tell from her expression that something good had happened, so Han Seongtae gave an awkward smile, bowed his head, and greeted her.
“Hello, Team Leader.”
“Yes. Actor Han, welcome. This is Director Britton Lee. You’ve met before, right?”
“Yes, it’s been two weeks. Director Britton Lee, this is our first time since the drive last time, right?”
“I’m so glad we can meet like this.”
Director Britton Lee smiled and held out his hand to Han Seongtae.
Han Seongtae also smiled, reached out, and shook hands.
Team Leader Min Najung continued the introductions.
“And this is…”
“My name is David. I’ve heard a lot about you, Mr. Han.”
Taking David’s offered hand, Han Seongtae smiled.
“You can just call me David.”
“Yes, David.”
“Then shall we sit?”
At Min Najung’s words, the people who were standing nodded.
Han Seongtae took a seat between Min Najung and Jung Dusik, and across from him were David and Britton Lee.
He did not know what they had been talking about before he arrived, but after Han Seongtae came, the conversation centered around him.
“Mr. Han, I heard from the director. He said your acting left a very strong impression.”
“I’m only grateful that the director thought well of me.”
“You’re humble.”
At that, Han Seongtae let out a small laugh.
“The director said we absolutely had to bring you in. He even said he would not make the film if we didn’t. That surprised me. There aren’t many actors the director pays this much attention to.”
“Ah.”
“Honestly, I don’t know yet. I haven’t watched you for long, and I think it would be unreasonable to judge. So I also have questions about why we must bring you in.”
David spoke calmly and frankly.
Just because Britton Lee wanted Han Seongtae did not mean David was going to insist they had to take him no matter what.
David was assessing the situation coolly, thinking realistically.
‘This is better.’
It was far better than someone saying things they did not mean.
Listening to David, Han Seongtae nodded.
David was saying he still could not trust him, and Han Seongtae knew that, but he did not feel offended.
Because the doubts David held could be resolved through acting.
“Yes, I understand. If I were David, I would have thought the same.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Of course. It’s only natural.”
“Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m saying we won’t cast you. I trust the director. I trust his eye.”
David glanced toward Britton Lee.
Seeing that, Han Seongtae smiled faintly.
If David had doubts about Han Seongtae, he had deep trust in Britton Lee.
“<Rampage> connects its world with <Instinctive Rush>.’ Have you seen it?”
“Yes, I have.”
Han Seongtae was someone who had practically studied the entire <Instinctive Rush>’ series multiple times.
He could talk about the contents of each installment right now if he had to.
“We have high expectations for <Rampage>. Investors feel the same.”
“Yes.”
“Han, I intend to make a blockbuster film.”
Britton Lee, who had been silent beside David, spoke.
At those words, Han Seongtae slowly nodded.
He understood exactly what they meant.
Because he knew the future.
‘Hadn’t I already seen how incredible <Rampage> would become?’
Just the fact that he could participate was enough to satisfy Han Seongtae.
“I want Han to join me on my journey.”
“I do too. I want to work with you, Director.”
“Then there’s no problem at all.”
At Han Seongtae’s reply, Britton Lee nodded with a satisfied face.
The moment their exchange ended, as if he had been waiting, David slid a contract toward Han Seongtae.
“This is the most we can do for Mr. Han.”
You could tell Min Najung had pulled strings for these conditions.
There were no terms that would disadvantage Han Seongtae.
As Han Seongtae read through the contract, his eyes stopped at the appearance fee and he froze.
“Huh?”
For a moment, Han Seongtae could not help doubting his own eyes.
He could barely believe the amount written under the fee.
‘They’re giving me a hundred thousand dollars?’
Even compared to every fee Han Seongtae had earned so far, nothing could beat what <Rampage> was offering.
It was more than twice what he had received for <Haru>, which had been his highest-paying project until now.
[‘The One Who Defined an Era’ nods, saying this is not a bad offer.]
[‘The One Who Defined an Era’s eyes sparkle, saying you could buy better clothes.]
[‘The One Who Made Laughter from Tragedy’ says it was about time your value went up.]
Glancing at the gods’ messages, Han Seongtae immediately took the pen.
Just being able to join <Rampage> was something to be grateful for, and with a fee like this, it would be stranger not to do it.
Scribble.
Han Seongtae signed without hesitation.
A hundred thousand dollars.
In Korean won, it was more than a hundred million.
A sum he once could only imagine, now becoming reality.
Up until now, only his acting and inner world had changed.
Now his life itself was changing.
“Thank you in advance. I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes. Let’s do well together.”
At Han Seongtae’s words, Britton Lee smiled.
Han Seongtae nodded, and his smile grew deeper.
“Thanks for your hard work taking photos.”
At the voice beside him, Han Seongtae smiled and nodded.
A photo studio he had come to in order to make a passport.
The shoot had lasted a bit over thirty minutes.
“Could you come here and take a look at the photos?”
“Yes.”
The photographer showed Han Seongtae the monitor.
“You photograph so well that everything came out nicely. It’s hard to pick just one. But among these, I think the fifth and seventh are the best. What do you think?”
“I think so too. They came out well.”
At the photographer’s words, Han Seongtae swept his gaze over the photos and nodded.
“It’ll take about ten minutes to print them. Please wait a moment.”
“Yes.”
Han Seongtae sat in a lobby chair and immediately opened his script.
The script Britton Lee had given him.
Reading the English script, Han Seongtae was studying English and practicing at the same time.
Tap, tap.
“Hey, hey, did you see this?”
Seongtae, who was reading, turned at Jung Dusik’s touch, and he saw the smartphone screen Jung Dusik held out.
「[I think Han Seongtae lives next door to us?]
My place is a tiny one-room near Hanguk University.
It’s in a super back-alley spot, but the rent was so cheap I moved in.
Soundproofing isn’t great, but I’m living okay anyway.
Because it’s cheap.
But I didn’t know a celebrity would live here.
I overslept and rushed out, and Han Seongtae came out of the unit right next to mine.
Wow… I literally stopped breathing for a second.
I have no idea why he lives here.
I mean, I’m grateful I got to see him in person.
It was wild, so I’m posting.」
—666: Isn’t this fake? Why would a celebrity live in a dump like that. Nice bait.
—BottleCap: Not bait. That alley by the convenience store entrance, right? I saw Han Seongtae there too. This is real.
—Earphones: This is fact. I have a friend at Hanguk U and they said Seongtae lives in a one-room. They said he’s an orphan, didn’t have money, so he rented the cheapest one nearby. Lucky. Should I move over there too? I want to see him.
—SleepIsHitting: Wow…… why is this real? I should go check it out. What’s the exact location? Let’s do a pilgrimage.
“…”
As Han Seongtae read the post and comments, his brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
His home location, people saying they would come find him.
None of it was something he could take lightly.
Who would ever be happy about people coming all the way to their house, their private space?
“I really do need to move.”
“Yeah. Move fast. That place you live now, the security is weak too, so I’ve been worried. It’s better to go quickly.”
“Yes.”
He had been thinking he should move, but now it had gone beyond just thinking.
“With the signing money you’ll get, look for a good place with that.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae nodded right away.
He was being paid over one hundred million won now, so moving somewhere decent would not be a problem.
“But now that I think about it, it really is insane. They just hand you a hundred million. So it wasn’t an exaggeration that they invested forty million dollars.”
“Because it’s a spin-off of Instinctive Rush.”
“Right…”
Watching Jung Dusik nod like he understood, Han Seongtae smiled faintly.
Han Seongtae, who had lived through the future, already knew how much money was going into <Rampage>.
More than forty million dollars.
In fact, that figure was only the production budget.
If you added marketing and everything else, it would be far more.
‘I heard it made five times the investment in profit.’
And he had been cast into that.
It was something he could be proud of, and something he should be happy about.
“The photos are ready. Let’s go make your passport.”
“Yes.”
Han Seongtae stood and followed Jung Dusik.
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ looks at you and says this is only the beginning.]
[‘The One Who Made Laughter from Tragedy’ says you’ll probably be shaking too much, and that they’ll shake for you instead.]
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ cheers you on, saying it’s time to go out into the world.]
The gods watched his back and encouraged him.
Seeing their messages, a smile spread across Han Seongtae’s lips.
He was ready to write a new story.
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