‘What a coward.’
Michael clicked his tongue briefly as he looked at Han Seongtae.
He had disliked Han Seongtae from the moment he first saw him.
It could not be helped. Michael thought he was a better actor than Han Seongtae.
Was Han Seongtae a good actor?
He admitted that.
Wasn’t he also good at driving?
When Han Seongtae drifted, even Michael had no choice but to admire it.
What deserved acknowledgment had to be acknowledged.
If he had not acknowledged it, he would have gone straight to the director and argued about it.
The reason he had not done that was because there were parts of Han Seongtae’s acting that deserved recognition too.
But even so, the fact that he still did not like him was unavoidable.
He was the better actor.
And yet, the one with the bigger role was Han Seongtae.
That alone already bothered him, but the reactions of the actors around them made him dislike him even more.
‘What do they even like so much about that bastard that they keep fawning over him?’
He was the one who acted better, but the director and the leads were praising only Han Seongtae’s acting.
Looking at the way they kept lifting Han Seongtae up, it even made him wonder who the real lead was.
‘He’s way too arrogant for an Asian.’
He also did not like the way Han Seongtae accepted the other actors’ reactions as though they were only natural.
At lunch, he had only said a word out of concern, and even the way Han Seongtae fired right back at him irritated him.
There was a need to take Han Seongtae down a peg at least once.
He just had to show that he was the better actor.
That opportunity came quickly.
“Michael. Are you all ready?”
“Yes, I’m done.”
“The uniform looks great on you. The director is waiting, so you can come right out.”
“I’ll finish this and head out right away.”
There was a scene where he would be acting with Han Seongtae.
A chance to crush Han Seongtae through acting.
Michael was certain that if it came to acting, he could utterly overwhelm Han Seongtae.
When he headed toward the set, he saw Han Seongtae talking with Britton Lee.
Han Seongtae was discussing the scene they had just shot.
Watching him, Michael slowly walked over and spoke to the director.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“No, not at all. You’re not late. Are you all ready?”
“Yes, I can go right now if needed.”
“Great. Han, let’s do well again this time.”
At the sight of the director saying only a few words to him and then immediately turning his attention back to Han Seongtae, Michael’s eyebrow twitched.
Britton Lee’s eyes were full of favor as he looked at Han Seongtae.
‘That won’t last much longer either.’
Michael believed without a shred of doubt that if he showed he was the more remarkable one, Britton Lee’s favor would turn toward him.
“Michael, let’s do well. Let’s make a good scene.”
“……”
He stared at the hand Han Seongtae held out to him, then turned away.
He did not want to take Han Seongtae’s hand.
Leaving Han Seongtae behind, Michael went straight up onto the set.
Behind him, Han Seongtae awkwardly smiled and withdrew his hand.
“Alright, alright. This is the last shoot of the day, so let’s focus just a little more!”
Britton Lee’s voice rang out, and Han Seongtae stood in front of Michael.
At the sound signaling the start of filming, Michael let out a long breath.
‘I need to crush Han Seongtae properly.’
So that no one can even bring up that he is good at acting.
“Action!”
Filming began.
“…!”
Michael’s face twisted badly.
The moment he faced Han Seongtae’s acting, he knew at once.
Han Seongtae’s acting was not inferior to his own.
It was only for a moment, but Han Seongtae’s acting overwhelmed him.
[‘The Actor of Eternal Youth’ says it feels like your face is about to be pierced through.]
‘It does, doesn’t it?’
Han Seongtae smiled awkwardly at Michael’s stare.
From a while ago, both Michael’s actions and even his gaze had been far too blatant.
He was staring so hard that Han Seongtae’s face practically stung.
“Ready…”
Britton Lee’s voice rang out, and Han Seongtae cleared his mind of stray thoughts.
Stray thoughts did not help when acting.
“…Action!”
With the director’s voice, Han Seongtae became Yu.
Vroooom!
Yu was driving down the road with Daniel.
Weaving through the cars on the road, the two of them fled at full speed, but they could not shake off the police cars chasing them from behind.
“Stop! Move and we will open fire!”
Police cars had them surrounded on all sides.
Several officers were standing around them, guns drawn.
No matter how good their driving was, there was no way they could break through that.
“Move!”
Yu and Daniel were ultimately caught.
While they were being escorted in the police cars, the two of them could not say a single word.
Police officers were glaring at them from every side.
Yu and Daniel only looked at each other quietly.
“Get out!”
“Try anything funny, and I’ll put a hole right through your head!”
The way the police treated them was rough.
At the sight of them even sticking guns in their faces, Yu’s brow furrowed.
Daniel was looking around with a frown as if he were searching for someone.
But perhaps he could not find what he wanted, because Daniel’s expression soured.
The two of them were taken together all the way to the interrogation room.
The two men sat down with handcuffs on.
Creak.
The door opened, and a police officer stepped inside.
“So we finally caught these two sons of bitches. Good work. Everyone else, get out.”
Snap!
At his words, the other officers saluted and quickly left the interrogation room.
Yu knew exactly who the man was.
A face any Boston racer would recognize.
Boston detective, Hans.
If you were a racer, you would see his face at least once.
In Yu’s case especially, he was well known even among the police.
Normally, Hans would have spoken to Yu, but this time was different.
“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“……”
“If you’re thinking of asking for a lawyer, it would be best to stop. Things aren’t going very well for that side right now either.”
Hans showed interest only in Daniel.
Without sparing Yu even a glance, he continued speaking only with Daniel.
Watching that, Yu sat there with a sullen expression.
“So, you should have known better than to show off so much, Daniel. Thanks to you, I think I’ll be able to climb even higher. But as for what happens to you, who knows.”
Hans smiled viciously as he spoke to Daniel.
Yu quietly watched the scene.
Through the conversation between the two, he was able to roughly grasp the situation.
The reason the police had been chasing them so viciously, more than usual, was because of Daniel.
Because a rival company to the one run by Daniel’s father wanted this.
‘A common story.’
Not every cop was righteous.
A tired, obvious story of joining hands with villains in order to climb higher and earn more money.
Yu had no interest in things like that.
“Looks like this is something the two of you need to settle. So why don’t you send me back?”
“……”
“You…”
At Yu’s words, Daniel looked baffled, and Hans frowned.
Daniel was looking at him as if to say, Is that really something to say? But what did Yu care?
‘He’s not my person.’
Yu and Daniel were not people who had known each other for a long time.
They had only met on the street, through racing.
He had no loyalty that would make him go to prison with him.
“Right. There was you too.”
“Can’t you just send me back? I don’t want to get mixed up in the business between the two of you.”
“Sorry, but that’ll be difficult. You already know too much.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. You know me well. You know I’m not the kind of person who goes around spreading that sort of thing. I know my own life is precious too.”
“Normally, I would’ve just let you go. But this time I can’t. Orders came down from above.”
Hans continued with a smile.
“To begin with, I never liked you. An Asian, and yet you strutted around too much. A bastard orphan who grew up under a bridge……”
“…Hey.”
“…?”
“If you don’t want that tongue torn out, you’d better stop running your mouth. I’m not scared just because you’re a cop.”
“Ha… you arrogant bastard. Fine, keep posturing to the very end. All the same, you’ll rot in prison for the rest of your life.”
“…If I get out, you’d better watch that face of yours.”
Yu bared his teeth and glared savagely.
At that sight, Hans flinched.
But only for a moment.
As if he could not bear to admit that he had been frightened, Hans leaped to his feet.
“You’ll never leave that place for the rest of your life!”
Police officers came in and dragged Yu and Daniel away.
Even while he was being dragged off by the police, Yu kept glaring at Hans.
“That fucking bastard.”
Left alone in the interrogation room, Hans muttered under his breath.
The hand hidden beneath the desk was trembling.
“You damn bastard!”
“Can’t you calm down?”
“Calm down? If it were you, could you calm down? I’m looking at rotting in prison for life!”
“That part still isn’t decided.”
“What? Is there some kind of way out?”
“Who knows.”
At Daniel’s evasive answer, Yu’s eyes narrowed.
There was clearly something there, but Daniel did not seem inclined to explain any further.
At that, Yu cursed under his breath and sat down.
Then Daniel spoke to him.
“Yu.”
“What?”
“Can you teach me how to drive? I’ll make sure the payment won’t disappoint you.”
“…What?”
“Teach me how to drive.”
“You’re looking at rotting in prison for life, and you’re asking me to teach you how to drive?”
“Yeah. I need to learn how to drive.”
“Ha. You’re insane. How are you supposed to drive in here? This is prison. You think the guards are going to let you drive?”
“I can solve that part. You just have to decide whether you can teach me how to drive.”
At Daniel’s words, Yu tapped his knee with his finger.
Teach him how to drive in prison?
To begin with, would it even be possible to drive here?
All kinds of thoughts came to mind.
His head was getting complicated.
‘Since when did I start thinking about things like this?’
After agonizing over it for a while, Yu let out a deep sigh and raised his head.
“You’re crazy. You know that?”
At Yu’s words, Daniel laughed.
Watching him, Yu let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
“Fine. Do whatever you want.”
Looks like I’m about to end up playing teacher for no damn reason.
Yu muttered quietly, and then…
“Cut!”
The director’s voice rang out across the entire set.
“This is insane. Seriously insane.”
Watching Han Seongtae, Britton Lee clenched his fist tight.
When he had seen Han Seongtae’s acting in Korea, he had thought it was good.
He had even become convinced that this actor would be able to portray Yu well.
But he had never imagined it would be to this degree.
That was not acting, it was Yu himself.
‘He drives well, and he acts well too. Where in the world did an actor like that come from?’
Britton Lee found himself astonished every time he filmed with Han Seongtae.
The driving feats he showed made him think that even if they used a stuntman, they would not get a better result.
And the emotional acting he showed with the other actor drew you in automatically.
Every time he filmed Han Seongtae’s acting, he could not help but feel a strong conviction that an all-time great scene was about to come out.
That was how satisfied Britton Lee was.
“Dom is going to love this.”
Britton Lee muttered quietly, the corner of his mouth lifting.
He had been so busy lately that he had not even been able to contact him properly.
Now, though, he finally had a reason to contact his partner.
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