Time passed, and the day to depart arrived.
Moving for the filming of <Rampage>, Han Seongtae let out a faint sigh.
It wasn’t that he’d never been abroad before, but for some reason, he felt more nervous than usual today.
‘The location is Boston.’
On the airport ticket Jung Dusik had given him, the destination was written as Boston Logan International Airport.
The place where Seongtae’s lodging and the set were.
He gripped his passport and ticket tightly.
Right now, the reason he was nervous was probably because he was moving to film <Rampage>.
“Ah, that’s us. Let’s go.”
“Yes, hyung.”
Following Jung Dusik, Seongtae stood up from his seat and headed straight for the gate.
Up ahead, he could see staff checking passports and tickets.
“We’re over there.”
Seongtae followed Jung Dusik as they walked toward the plane.
Beyond the glass of the corridor leading to the plane, multiple aircraft were visible.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ smacks his lips, saying there’s a special thrill in jumping from a plane in midair.]
‘Why would you jump out of a plane?’
Reading the message, Seongtae couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded.
At his reaction, the gods of acting laughed.
Seeing their reaction, Seongtae paused for a split second.
“What is it?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Let’s go, hyung.”
Under Jung Dusik’s gaze that seemed to find it strange, Seongtae let out a faint breath and shook his head.
Seongtae’s seat was in business class.
A class of seat so expensive he’d never once been able to ride it in his past life.
“Wow. I’m actually riding business class. Thanks, man.”
“What did I do?”
“They booked business because it’s you. If it were some other actor, it’d be economy right away. Business is pretty expensive, you know. Even when I went on my first overseas business trip, I flew economy.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Seongtae smiled and nodded.
This seat he was in had been arranged by PAN Entertainment.
Saying an actor shouldn’t have to travel uncomfortably.
“The lodging is going to be arranged by them. We were going to book it ourselves originally, but the production company said they rented out an entire hotel for the actors.”
“Ah…”
“Maybe when we get there, you’ll run into other actors.”
“Yes.”
If they were using the same hotel, it would be stranger not to run into them.
Seongtae nodded, and Jung Dusik swallowed once before continuing.
“I told you the schedule last time, right? If we go now, we’ll be there for three weeks, then come back to Korea briefly. In Korea, I think we’ll be there for under a week. Just think of it as resting and then going back to work. The next shoot will probably be about four weeks.”
“Yes.”
“And they said there might be additional shooting after that, but… we’ll have to see how things look then. From what I heard, if there’s extra shooting, it takes about two weeks.”
“Yes, I know.”
Seongtae was a supporting actor.
So his filming time was less than the lead’s.
It was also possible there wouldn’t be any additional shooting.
“Anyway, that’s roughly the schedule, and it can change depending on circumstances, so you can think of it as about three months.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Seongtae nodded right away.
What his manager was telling him now was a schedule he’d already heard once before.
They’d discussed it before locking it in.
“Oh, right. And the production company says they’re assigning one person to you. They’ll be waiting to pick you up when we arrive, so just follow that person.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“It takes more than twelve hours to get there, so get some sleep.”
“Yes. You rest too, hyung.”
“Yeah, money really is nice. When it’s comfortable, you fall asleep easy.”
Seeing Jung Dusik pull a blanket over himself and even put on an eye mask, Seongtae let out a quiet chuckle.
‘If it’s twelve hours… I can finish reading the script.’
Seongtae took the script out of his bag.
The flight was long, but just the fact that he had the script meant Seongtae didn’t care about the time.
Because he could go over the script at his leisure.
Rustle.
As Jung Dusik tried to sleep, only the sound of turning pages could be heard around him.
In this moment, where even breathing sounded faint, Seongtae could focus entirely on the script.
In <Rampage>, the role Seongtae was playing was someone closely tied to the protagonist.
The protagonist’s rival, mentor, and a friend who was like family—that was the role he was taking.
The role’s name was “Yu.”
A character setting where he grew up sleeping under a bridge, and watching sports cars race across the bridge above made him dream of becoming a racer.
A character whose personality and “character-ness” could shift depending on how he acted it.
Seongtae intended to embody that role perfectly.
Twelve hours to Boston—Seongtae sank deeply into the script.
—Ladies and gentlemen, our aircraft will be arriving shortly at Boston Logan International Airport.
An announcement came that they had arrived in Boston.
At the sound, Seongtae snapped the script shut and packed his bag.
How long had he been packing?
Beside him came the sound of Jung Dusik stirring, and in Seongtae’s view, Jung Dusik stretched long.
“Ghhk!”
“Did you sleep well?”
“I slept, but my back hurts a bit. Did I sit too long? Did you sleep at all?”
“Yeah… Well, I rested a bit.”
At Jung Dusik’s question, Seongtae smiled and brushed it off.
If he said he’d been reading the script the entire time from departure to arrival, Jung Dusik would definitely worry.
Seongtae didn’t want to worry him.
(T/N: For context, if flying from Seoul, it would take 13 hours to get to their destination)
“You packed everything, right?”
“Yes. What about you, hyung?”
“Me too. Let’s go.”
Seongtae moved together with Jung Dusik and came face-to-face with a flight attendant standing at the exit.
“Thank you for flying with us.”
With a gentle smile, she bowed her head to the people getting off.
Seongtae drew closer to her, and—
“Please keep making great projects from now on, too.”
He paused at what she said from behind as they were getting off.
Turning around, he saw her smiling and bowing her head.
Tap, tap.
As Seongtae gave her a small bow back, Jung Dusik tapped his arm and spoke from beside him.
“Wow. Even in the U.S., there are people who recognize you?”
“Hyung, she’s Korean too.”
“Still, America is America.”
At his calm remark, Seongtae felt dumbfounded and let out a hollow laugh.
Sometimes he really does say random stuff.
Shaking his head, Seongtae walked on with Jung Dusik.
“They said someone would come pick us up. They said they’d be holding a sign with your name on it. Want to look for it?”
“Hyung, isn’t that it?”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Seongtae immediately pointed toward one spot.
As they came out to the entrance, there was a signboard visible.
A sign that read, “Welcome, Han Seongtae, safe entry,” written in Korean.
Anyone could tell it was meant to point them to him.
“That’s it.”
Jung Dusik nodded when he spotted the sign, and the two of them walked toward it.
“Ms. Emily?”
“Yes!”
The sign tipped to the side, revealing a small face that had been hidden behind it the whole time.
She held up her smartphone and alternated between looking at Seongtae and her screen.
Then her face brightened widely.
“Hello. Welcome, Actor Han Seongtae!”
Clumsy Korean came out.
After finishing, she looked at Seongtae with a proud smile.
Watching that, Seongtae and Jung Dusik looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Seems like an interesting person got assigned to them.
“You’re Ms. Emily, right? Nice to meet you. I’m Han Seongtae.”
“Oh! Your English is good?”
“I studied because of acting.”
“That’s amazing!”
Maybe she was surprised that Seongtae could speak English.
Her eyes widened for a moment, then she smiled brightly and held out her hand.
The instant Seongtae took it, she shook his hand up and down enthusiastically.
“Welcome, Mr. Han!”
“Yes, thank you for welcoming me.”
Seongtae smiled gently and nodded.
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am that Mr. Han can speak English. I did study Korean, but I’m not super good at it. I told the company I was confident, but once I came out here, I was so nervous…”
She was a talkative person.
From leaving the airport to getting into the car, her mouth didn’t stop moving, as if she never got tired.
“What is she saying?”
“She says she’s happy to meet us.”
Seongtae answered Jung Dusik right away.
Hearing that, Jung Dusik went, “Ah,” and pulled out his phone.
Jung Dusik was typing something into it.
Seeing him mutter softly, Seongtae let out a small chuckle.
Jung Dusik wasn’t good at English.
He had enough English for daily life, but he couldn’t speak fluently.
It seemed like he’d been studying lately because they were going abroad, but he still had many weak points.
“Looks like International hires staff by face.”
“What?”
“At that level, she could be a celebrity.”
Just like Jung Dusik said, Emily was quite a charming person.
A small face, big eyes, and clean skin without blemishes.
Seongtae could somewhat understand why Jung Dusik would say that.
Maybe she couldn’t understand their conversation, because Emily didn’t stop chatting.
“Originally, an interpreter was supposed to come too, but the person who was going to come suddenly got sick, so I came alone.”
“I see. I hope they recover quickly.”
“Still, my Korean earlier wasn’t bad, was it? I have a Korean language certificate, you know?”
“That’s impressive. Studying must’ve been hard.”
“No, no. Anyone can study. The actor is more impressive. Acting isn’t something you can do just because you want to. You need talent for that.”
At her words, Seongtae smiled faintly and shrugged.
Could she still say that if she knew Seongtae’s past life?
Probably not.
Chatting with Emily, they arrived at the lodging before they even realized time had passed.
One of the biggest and best hotels in Boston.
It was clear the production company for <Rampage>, International Film, had really put in the effort.
“Wow… This is insane. International really must have money.”
“Seriously.”
Seongtae was also admiring the lodging.
He hadn’t expected them to book something this good.
“On the same floor as Mr. Han, there are other main and supporting actors too, so it would be good for you to know in advance.”
“Yes, Emily. Thank you for bringing us to the hotel today.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s something I’m supposed to do.”
She smiled brightly at Seongtae’s words.
“If you need me later, you can contact me here.”
“Yes.”
“The manager is on the floor right below Mr. Han. Here are the keys.”
Seongtae and Jung Dusik took the keys from her and headed to their rooms.
“Go on up. I’ll drop my luggage and come up.”
“Yes.”
Jung Dusik got off first, and Seongtae got off on the floor above.
There were only six rooms on the floor.
That meant all those rooms were being used by other actors.
‘I’ll probably meet them later.’
Seongtae slowly looked over the doors and walked to his room.
He opened the door with the key card and stepped inside, then had no choice but to freeze at the sight of the interior.
This is a room for one person?
The room assigned to him was far bigger than he’d imagined.
There were three bedrooms, and the toilet and bath were separated.
Even just the living room was twice as large as the studio apartment he lived in back in Korea.
“Wow…”
Setting his luggage down in the living room, Seongtae slowly looked around the lodging.
Each bedroom was about the size of a studio apartment.
After looking through the entire place, Seongtae turned to a glass wall on one side.
Beyond the glass, he could see the sea.
‘So this is why people go on about views.’
Ding-dong.
As he stood there blankly for a while, the doorbell rang.
Jung Dusik came in, looked around, and didn’t hold back his amazement.
“This is way too nice. It’s totally different from my room. They really treat actors well here.”
Jung Dusik’s room, he said, was the type where the living room and bedroom were combined.
Even so, it was better than most two- or three-star hotels.
“Aren’t you hungry? They say there’s a restaurant in the basement. Let’s go. They say it’s free for guests.”
“Let’s go. I was hungry anyway.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Seongtae nodded immediately.
From the plane to the hotel, all Seongtae had eaten was a few pieces of steak on the plane.
The restaurant on Basement Level 1, which they went to with Jung Dusik, had the same luxurious atmosphere as the hotel.
Seongtae and Jung Dusik picked a seat.
“I’ve never been somewhere like this.”
“Me neither. You really never know how long you’ll live, do you.”
As Seongtae nodded at Jung Dusik’s words, his gaze fixed on one spot.
‘Huh?’
Behind Jung Dusik, he saw someone.
At that sight, Seongtae reflexively rose from his seat.
“What is it?”
“Over there…”
Jung Dusik looked at him in confusion, but Seongtae’s gaze was locked entirely on the man.
“…?”
Maybe he sensed Seongtae’s stare.
The man also turned to look at Seongtae and blinked.
Beside him, a person who looked like his manager leaned in and whispered something.
“…!”
At the manager’s words, the man’s eyes widened, and he strode quickly toward Seongtae.
“Nice to meet you.”
Holding out his hand to Seongtae was Rogers, the protagonist of <Rampage>.”
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