“Can I sit here?”
At Dominic’s question, Britton Lee immediately nodded and gave up the seat beside him.
Dominic sat next to the director with his arms folded and looked ahead.
Vroom, vroom.
On the set, a police car and a sports car could be seen.
The car Han Seongtae was driving was on the straightaway, and the police car was at the corner.
As Dominic quietly watched them positioned diagonally from each other, Britton Lee’s voice sounded from beside him.
“Action!”
The director’s voice rang out through the loudspeaker.
Vroooom!
At the same time, a sports car shot forward at high speed.
The sports car reached the corner in an instant, swung into the left turn in a drift, and then tore off just like that.
“Hah…”
A faint sound of admiration slipped from Dominic’s mouth as he watched.
The car Han Seongtae was driving was cutting past the cars ahead at a dangerously high speed.
It was moving so tensely that, even knowing all of it was staged, his body still twitched.
‘There was an actor who could act like this?’
Before he knew it, Dominic had unfolded his arms and clasped both hands together.
There was great force in those interlocked hands.
“What do you think? Isn’t it just like I told you?”
“It is. I didn’t know he’d be this good.”
At Britton Lee’s words, Dominic immediately nodded.
He had heard a lot from Britton Lee about Han Seongtae.
That he was an amazing actor.
That he was someone who acted well and drove incredibly well too.
That he was an actor they had only just barely found in Korea.
Back when he first heard all that, Dominic had only thought, ‘I see’.
He had been living the life of an actor for thirty years.
How many actors had he met during that long time?
Among them were actors who could drive well and act well too.
He knew that Britton Lee had a good eye for people and was capable.
But it had not concerned him all that deeply.
Because Dominic already had colleagues by his side that he absolutely could not lose.
It definitely should have stayed that way.
Screeeech!
At the sight of the car taking the corner at such terrifying speed, a strange expression came over Dominic’s face.
Han Seongtae never reduced speed when he drove.
He only kept pushing it higher.
He even drifted through the corner without slowing down.
It was tremendous driving skill, and bravery that made admiration spill out.
Watching that speed-crazed appearance, Dominic found himself clenching his fist for no reason.
‘He resembles him.’
A man who had once been his brother, and a friend he could no longer see.
Strangely enough, Han Seongtae’s acting and driving resembled him.
That was part of why his gaze kept being drawn there as well.
“Doesn’t he look just like him?”
“Yes. He does.”
That was why he could only nod blankly at what the director was saying.
Because Britton Lee was feeling the same thing Dominic was.
Just like Dominic, Britton Lee too had once made a film together with that friend.
The very first Instinctive Rush series.
“Looks like I’ve found someone to give a bottle of beer to.”
Hearing Dominic’s quiet murmur, Britton Lee’s expression turned strange.
He knew what Dominic meant by that beer.
“Han’s lucky, then.”
At Britton Lee’s words, Dominic grinned.
Vroooom!
The car was racing at an incredible speed, and the sound of the engine pounded hard against Han Seongtae’s heart.
It felt as if his blood was racing just as fast as the car.
‘Hot.’
Han Seongtae stepped on the accelerator and gripped the steering wheel tight.
Maybe because he was driving so fast and cranking the wheel so hard, it felt as if the heat from the tires was reaching all the way up to him.
It even felt a little like he could smell the tires burning.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ says running is the best after all, and asks you how it feels.]
‘Just… insane.’
At the god’s message, Han Seongtae could not help but laugh.
Every time he raised the speed, adrenaline poured through him.
The things around him flashed by at blinding speed, and every time he drifted, the fear that he could crash at any moment swallowed his body whole.
Han Seongtae was enjoying all of it.
At this moment, he could say with certainty that he had become Yu himself.
Yu, in the work, was someone who yearned for speed.
Because when he was young, all he could do was stare blankly at cars racing past.
Because he had never once been able to feel real speed due to having no money.
He had a fierce longing to run fast like this.
Han Seongtae, Yu, was now fully releasing that longing.
The sensation of shooting forward as fast as he stepped on the accelerator naturally lifted the corner of his mouth.
It was this exciting, this enjoyable.
How could he not be happy?
Wee-woo, wee-woo!
Even the siren of the police car from behind was gradually growing distant now.
Yu was able to feel an intense exhilaration he had never felt before.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ says everyone can only go mad in the face of speed.]
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ smiles and says only speed can get you across the finish line faster.]
At ‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’s’ message, Han Seongtae smiled and nodded.
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ asks if that’s why you went ahead so fast.]
At the next message that appeared, he paused.
Starting with ‘The One With a Thousand Faces,’ the gods began bickering among themselves.
Tearing his gaze away from their messages, Han Seongtae looked behind him through the rearview mirror.
While everyone else had dropped away, only a single police car was still chasing him.
Inside that police car sat a familiar face.
Hans, played by Michael.
The corrupt cop was chasing after Yu with desperate determination.
At the sight of him twisted with rage and losing his temper, Yu finally burst out laughing.
Just seeing that unlucky face getting angry created enjoyment all by itself.
“Stop right now! Stop right now, you fuck!”
At the sight of him finally swearing and pounding on the steering wheel, Yu curled his lip.
“Like I’d stop for the likes of you, dumbass.”
Maybe he heard his voice, because Hans started taking his anger out on the poor car.
Watching him in that furious state, Yu was able to pull away at ease.
“Cut!”
The director’s booming voice reached Han Seongtae’s ears as he passed under the bridge.
At that, Han Seongtae eased off the speed and slowly returned to where he had originally been.
Thud.
The moment he got out of the car, people came running over with fire extinguishers and sprayed powder onto the tires.
He had not noticed it while driving.
But the wheels of the car Han Seongtae had been driving were smoking from the heat, and parts of them had melted.
“Hoo…”
After stepping out of the car, Han Seongtae looked at the extinguisher powder being blasted onto the tires and slowly let out a breath.
He had been so focused on the acting and driving that he had not even been breathing properly.
“Han. How did you do that drift just now? My heart was in my throat the whole time.”
At the sight of Rogers coming over and speaking to him before he knew it, Han Seongtae turned with a small laugh.
Beyond the car Rogers had been riding in, he could see the police car Michael had been driving.
Michael was still inside it, not even having gotten out yet.
Thump, thump!
It almost felt like the sound of him pounding on the steering wheel could be heard all the way over here.
He must have been unbelievably frustrated, because even the staff could not easily approach him with the way his face was twisted up.
“Michael really must have immersed himself properly. Then again, from what I saw earlier, he was doing method acting.”
“Exactly. I didn’t know Michael could act that well either.”
At Rogers and Ivy’s voices from beside him, Han Seongtae could not say much.
Because to him, Michael looked genuinely angry, not like he was acting.
[‘The Founder of Jeet Kune Do’ shows a bit of interest, saying car action might not be bad.]
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ says that if you want, he can teach you as much as you like.]
Separate from all that, Han Seongtae was satisfied with his acting.
Even in his own opinion, the driving and acting he had just shown were very good.
At this level, maybe even Dominic would have thought well of it.
Han Seongtae turned his head and looked toward where the director was.
‘Dominic’s gone.’
He could see that the chair beside Britton Lee was empty.
Following Han Seongtae’s gaze, Rogers turned and looked at the place where Dominic had been sitting and spoke.
“Ah. If you mean Dominic, he left earlier.”
“He left?”
“Yeah. He said something urgent came up.”
“Ah.”
At Rogers’s words, Han Seongtae let out a faint sigh.
He had thought he might get to talk with Dominic after filming ended.
It felt a little disappointing that he would not get to talk with him about acting.
“Han. They’re going into the next shoot.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s hang in there till the end.”
At Rogers’s words, Han Seongtae smiled and nodded.
With only a little filming left in Boston,
Han Seongtae did not let his attention drift elsewhere and focused only on acting.
“So it’s over.”
Back at the hotel, Han Seongtae looked around with a strange expression.
He slowly walked over and sat down on the sofa.
The bright evening over the hotel he had returned to after filming had now fully settled into night.
‘This place is ending for me too.’
As of today, filming in Boston had come to an end.
Now he would soon have to return to Korea.
It felt strange that he had come to Boston only yesterday, and yet already had to leave.
“I’ll… pack tomorrow.”
Was it because filming had ended?
There was still more Rampage filming left, but even so, there was no helping how unsettled he felt.
Tap, tap.
Han Seongtae, who had been sitting on the sofa tapping his knee, was just about to stand up to go to bed.
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
At the sound of the doorbell, he turned his head.
‘Who could it be?’
Rogers and Ivy had said they were going back to their family homes after filming ended.
And Jung Dusik had said he would not come by today and that Han Seongtae should just get some good rest.
There was no one who should be coming at this hour.
Tilting his head, Han Seongtae walked over to the door.
When he opened it, a hotel employee was standing there holding an elegantly wrapped box.
“Someone asked me to deliver this to you.”
“To me?”
“Yes.”
“Can I ask who it’s from?”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t know either.”
At the employee’s words, Han Seongtae smiled, said it was fine, and sent them away.
There was no point asking them to find out something even they did not know.
‘Who sent this?’
The box, about the size of a forearm, was wrapped in expensive-looking paper in a very elegant way.
As he was wondering who could have sent something like this, his eyes caught sight of a small note attached to the side of the box.
—I sent a small gift. From, Dom.
Han Seongtae’s eyes gradually widened as he read what was on the note.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ lets out a small laugh at the note, saying he’s still the same as ever.]
It was a gift from Dominic.
Leave a Reply