In front of Han Seongtae, Ivy was blinking her eyes.
“…Han?”
A beat later, he heard her finally speak to him.
Ivy also looked slightly surprised, as if she had not expected to run into Han Seongtae here.
As Han Seongtae was looking at her, Rogers, who was beside him, placed a hand on his shoulder.
“What, is there something over there?”
Instead of answering, Han Seongtae pointed in Ivy’s direction at Rogers’s question.
Following his finger, Rogers turned his head, spotted Ivy, and his eyes lit up.
“Ivy! I didn’t expect to see you here too. What are you here to buy?”
“There’s no filming tomorrow, so I was just going to buy a little alcohol and have a drink. What about you, Rogers?”
“Me too. Ah, instead of that, do you want to join us? We were going to drink in Han’s room.”
“Huh? I’d be grateful if I could!”
“Han’s fine with it too.”
‘…Since when?’
At Rogers’s words, Han Seongtae looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
Han Seongtae had not said anything at all, yet Rogers was already speaking as if permission had naturally been granted.
[‘The Founder of Jeet Kune Do’ says he likes that he’s so straightforward.]
Yeah, he really does make decisions boldly.
‘Without my opinion in it.’
Seeing that Ivy had joined them before he even knew it, Han Seongtae let out a hollow laugh.
Well, what did it matter if one more person was added.
Ivy was also his colleague in <Rampage>.
Although the way she joined was a little bewildering, Han Seongtae welcomed her too.
“Han. Today was seriously so good. Even after I got back earlier, because of your acting, I couldn’t put the script down.”
“You were like that too, Ivy? Me too. It was really incredible.”
“Exactly. I think I can see why Director Lee likes Han so much.”
“I do too. Ah, Ivy, did you know this? It’s only been two years since Han started acting.”
“Really?”
“It’s true. Right, Han?”
At the sight of Rogers looking back at him, Han Seongtae gave an awkward smile and nodded.
He had never expected that story to come up here.
“Wow… I heard you had talent too, but I guess the real genius was someone else.”
“Exactly. If Han isn’t a genius, then who is?”
At their words, Han Seongtae did not know what kind of reaction to give, so he only smiled.
To be honest, hearing the word genius from them was embarrassing in itself.
In his previous life, Han Seongtae had been famous for lacking talent.
In contrast, the actors in front of him were genuine geniuses recognized by the world, each and every one of them.
‘The reason I was able to stand alongside them isn’t because my talent is so great.’
Han Seongtae moved his eyes and glanced slightly upward.
He could see the shining blue messages of the gods.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ is confident that with him beside you, you can drive even better.]
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ is sure that with them beside you, you can act even better.]
If they had not been there, he would not have been able to stand here.
Han Seongtae knew that fact too well, and because of that, he never became arrogant.
[‘The One Who Defined an Era’ says that it is because of your own effort that you were able to come this far.]
[‘The One Who Made Laughter from Tragedy’ says you are someone who is allowed to have confidence.]
‘Thank you.’
Their words were a great help to Han Seongtae as well.
Han Seongtae and the other two bought beer and snacks and headed back to the hotel.
The three of them talked in a lively atmosphere.
The main subject of their conversation was acting.
Better acting, acting going forward.
They talked about one another’s acting, praising each other and giving advice.
Han Seongtae also did not hesitate to say the things he knew.
“When I’m acting with Han, it feels like I’m actually inside the script.”
“I know what you mean. It’s like it becomes so easy to immerse yourself.”
At their praise, Han Seongtae smiled awkwardly.
“He would have liked you if he had seen you. That’s a shame.”
‘He?’
At Rogers’s words, Han Seongtae tilted his head.
He looked at Rogers with a face full of questions, but Rogers immediately changed the subject.
At that, Han Seongtae quickly stopped paying attention to it.
Because right now, this moment was more enjoyable.
The time the three of them spent together ripened more and more.
Inside a car running down the road.
Han Seongtae was sitting in the back seat, looking over the script.
Rustle, rustle.
When the only sound filling the car was the turning of his script pages,
Jung Dusik, who glanced at Han Seongtae through the rearview mirror, spoke up.
“Seongtae.”
“Yes.”
“Before you got in earlier, Director Choi Yechan called.”
“…Director Choi?”
“Yeah. He asked about your schedule. So I told him you’d be going back to Korea in a week. That’s okay, right?”
“There’s no problem, but what would Director Choi want?”
At the mention of a call from Choi Yechan, Han Seongtae nodded.
As far as he knew, Choi Yechan was currently very busy preparing a project.
What kind of reason would a man too busy even preparing a production have to call and ask about his schedule?
“Well. It’s been a long time since he’s seen your face, so maybe he just wants to meet you once.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s what I think. You didn’t see him again after filming that project. And lately you’ve been here in the States, so there wasn’t really any chance to see each other.”
“That’s true.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae nodded slowly.
Honestly, he still did not really understand Choi Yechan’s call.
If it were only about checking in, he could have simply asked how he was doing, but asking about the schedule meant there was some kind of reason.
‘It’s not something I need to worry about right now.’
Han Seongtae shook his head and cleared away the stray thoughts.
Even if he worried about it now, it was not as if he would immediately know the answer.
“Ah. We’re almost there. I can see the set over there.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae turned his head and looked out the window, and he was able to see the <Rampage> set.
Cars were lined up beside the set.
Looking at those cars, Han Seongtae fiddled with the script in his hands.
Even though there was that momentary question, there was something else more important right now.
While he was in America, Han Seongtae intended to focus entirely on acting.
Laella.
Unlike Hans, she was a righteous police officer who cried out for justice.
She worked as a police officer directly under Hans, but she never once committed corruption.
She had conviction.
The will to clean up Boston as a police officer.
Laella moved solely by that will and conviction.
As she lived as a police officer, gaining experience and rising little by little through the ranks, people appeared before her who would change her life.
Daniel and Yu.
Racers whose notoriety and fame filled all of Boston.
Whenever the two of them appeared on the road, racers all over the streets would erupt with excitement.
And because of those racers, the police had no choice but to become busy.
The roads would be paralyzed and accidents would occur because of the races the two of them ran.
Laella also moved busily to catch the two of them.
She could not just stand by and watch those two ruin Boston’s public safety.
‘But this isn’t right.’
She was able to see the two of them being brought in because of Hans.
At first, she had thought they were simply caught while racing.
She had even been glad, thinking that at last Boston’s tyrant and the recently rising troublemaker had been captured.
“Sunbae-nim. What did you just say?”
“Huh? Ah. You were here too.”
“I didn’t mishear that just now, right?”
“Hear what?”
“Just now, you said something strange. About the committee and even a promotion!”
Laella happened to overhear Hans’s phone call, and through that call, she learned a shocking truth.
That Daniel and Yu had been taken in unjustly.
That unless something extraordinary happened, they would not be able to leave prison, and that all of it was because of Hans’s greed for promotion.
“How can you do this? You talked to me about justice!”
“You can only speak of justice if you have power!”
At Laella’s words, Hans’s face twisted.
He let out a deep sigh, rubbed his face, and slowly approached Laella as he continued.
“What do you think justice is?”
“Of course it’s helping innocent people and catching criminals…!”
“And what’s your standard for calling someone a criminal?”
“Excuse me…?”
What in the world was this person saying right now?
A faint look of confusion appeared on Laella’s face.
“In the end, criminals are made by those above us. If they brand someone a criminal, then that person becomes a criminal.”
“That’s…!”
“You need power in order to speak of justice. Justice without power is only dead justice in the end.”
At Hans’s words, Laella clenched her fist tightly.
She realized that her superior was someone she could never reason with.
If he were someone reason could reach, then he would never have committed corruption in the first place.
‘I have to do this alone.’
From that moment on, Laella began digging into Hans.
She looked into the reason Daniel and Yu had been arrested and discovered that there was a drug cartel behind it.
The reason they had gone to prison was also because of that drug cartel.
The cartel wanted to swallow up Daniel’s family.
To them, Daniel was a hostage.
‘I can’t just sit still like this.’
After learning the truth, Laella went straight to Daniel and Yu.
There was no longer any justice among the police.
And even if there was, it was not a justice Laella could move with.
“You didn’t like us, did you?”
“I didn’t.”
At Yu’s question, she did not deny it.
Until just a few months ago, Laella had hated him for disrupting order on the roads.
“So why are you trying to help us?”
“Exactly. Every day you went on and on about justice, and now I don’t know what kind of wind blew through you.”
“Because there is no justice here.”
At their mockery, Laella answered firmly.
At her words, Yu and Daniel both paused.
“Laella, I never thought I’d hear those words from you.”
“….”
At her words, Yu gave a crooked, sneering smile.
Daniel remained quiet.
He thought for a moment, then slowly spoke.
“So how are you planning to help us?”
“I’ve already prepared everything.”
At her confident smile, Yu and Daniel turned to look at one another.
It did not take them long to understand what Laella meant.
“Ha….”
“She’s crazy.”
In front of the two of them were two cars.
And behind them, Laella stood with a proud expression on her face.
“If it’s you two, this should be enough for you to escape, right?”
At Laella’s question, the two looked at one another.
A smile began to spread over their dazed lips.
“If I answer twice, that’d be overkill.”
“Ha. Looks like I’ll get to shake the cops off again after a long time.”
Yu and Daniel smiled viciously.
The two of them got into the cars.
Vroooom!
Spitting out thick, acrid smoke, the two cars shot out from the prison.
—Cut!
At the director’s voice, Han Seongtae let out a sigh and released the steering wheel.
Maybe because the filming had gone on for a long time, his body felt slightly languid.
Han Seongtae slowly got out of the driver’s seat and walked toward the monitor.
“Han, good work.”
“You worked hard too, Director.”
“The scene came out unbelievably well, you know? Take a look.”
At Britton Lee’s words, Han Seongtae nodded and looked at the monitor.
On the screen was the scene Han Seongtae had just acted.
Watching his own acting, he nodded in satisfaction.
It was such a good performance that he could fully understand why the director said it had come out well.
Just as Han Seongtae finished checking the monitor and turned to go back,
“Han. Do you have time tonight?”
“Tonight?”
“Yes. I thought it might be nice if we had dinner together then.”
Han Seongtae paused at his words, then soon smiled and nodded.
Dinner with Britton Lee was something he welcomed.
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