Across both his previous and current lives, the occasions on which Han Seongtae had personally met Lee Seunghyeon could be counted on one hand.
This was the first time he had seen Lee Seunghyeon since returning to the past.
That made Lee Seunghyeon’s question all the more bewildering.
They had only just met. It made no sense for him to ask, What the hell are you?
‘I haven’t done anything wrong. Why is he acting like this?’
Han Seongtae genuinely could not understand Lee Seunghyeon’s intentions.
Even the way Lee Seunghyeon looked at him felt as though he were interrogating him.
What answer was he supposed to give?
Han Seongtae considered the question seriously. After a brief silence, he opened his mouth.
“I’m an actor.”
He was an actor.
There was nothing else he could say.
Han Seongtae thought he had given the best possible answer, but apparently it was not the correct one.
“Who doesn’t know that? You’re a real piece of work.”
Seeing Lee Seunghyeon look so dumbfounded left Han Seongtae equally speechless.
He had done his best to answer a question thrown at him without warning.
“Then again, I suppose there isn’t a good actor who isn’t strange.”
“…”
“Whatever. More importantly, how the hell do you act like that?”
Han Seongtae tilted his head at Lee Seunghyeon’s question.
How did he act?
He practiced as hard as he could and devoted himself fully whenever filming began.
There had never been a time when Han Seongtae had failed to give his best while acting.
“I looked up everything you’ve done so far. You were completely different in every project. It was hard to believe the same person had played all those roles.”
“Oh.”
“I pride myself on being able to perform a fairly wide variety of roles too, but not to your extent. How do you act like that?”
Was this supposed to be a compliment?
Han Seongtae blinked as he stared at Lee Seunghyeon.
His manner of speaking was unpleasant, but there was nothing malicious in what he meant.
They were questions only someone who lived thinking solely about acting could ask.
“At first, I thought you were a boring bastard. But I think you might be interesting.”
“…”
“Come with me.”
Lee Seunghyeon held out his hand toward Han Seongtae.
His expression was filled with confidence that Han Seongtae would never refuse.
Han Seongtae looked back and forth between his face and his outstretched hand before answering.
“I don’t want to.”
He had no desire to spend time with someone who thought and spoke only of himself.
Especially not someone like Lee Seunghyeon, who gave no consideration to anyone else.
“I’ll be going first, sunbaenim.”
Han Seongtae left, leaving Lee Seunghyeon alone in the private room.
Lee Seunghyeon sat back down with a blank expression.
“…Did he just turn me down?”
He muttered quietly as he stared in the direction Han Seongtae had gone.
It was impossible.
Although Lee Seunghyeon had not worked for an entire year, people still talked about his performances.
More importantly, to Han Seongtae, Lee Seunghyeon was an extremely senior actor.
How could a junior refuse a senior’s offer?
“Interesting.”
He was not offended.
The broad smile covering his lips spoke for his mood.
—I don’t believe in things like yokai. But I’ll try believing in you.
A video was playing on his smartphone, and Ji Yeonwoo’s voice from Baeknyeoncho could be heard.
Listening to it, Lee Seunghyeon picked up his chopsticks.
Han Seongtae.
He looked forward to the time they would spend together.
Kim Minseok came to Han Seongtae’s home.
Holding a bag of fried chicken in one hand, Kim Minseok opened the front door and entered with an utterly exhausted face.
“You’re here?”
“Ugh, I’m exhausted. Were you reading the script?”
Han Seongtae smiled and nodded as Kim Minseok collapsed onto the sofa the moment he arrived.
He pushed aside the script he had been holding and opened the fried chicken Kim Minseok had brought.
“So, what kind of person is Lee Seunghyeon?”
On his way there, Kim Minseok had heard a general account of Han Seongtae’s situation over the phone.
He knew Han Seongtae had met Lee Seunghyeon and had even ended up having dinner with the CEO.
“Lee Seunghyeon-sunbaenim? He’s a little unusual. You never know what direction he’ll go in, and that makes you nervous.”
Han Seongtae explained everything that had happened with Lee Seunghyeon in detail.
Kim Minseok’s expression changed constantly as he listened, while the bag gradually filled with bones stripped clean of meat.
When Han Seongtae finished his story, Kim Minseok, who had listened quietly the entire time, finally spoke.
“He’s insane.”
“He is.”
What other description could they possibly use?
Han Seongtae still could not forget the way Lee Seunghyeon had behaved in front of Jang Panseok.
As the two discussed Lee Seunghyeon, Kim Minseok changed the subject with a question.
“Is there anything you want? Something you need would be fine too.”
“Something I want? I don’t know. Not really.”
Ever since Han Seongtae had begun earning a great deal of money, he simply bought anything he needed immediately.
Kim Minseok should have known that, so why was he asking?
Han Seongtae turned toward him.
“Why are you asking?”
“I was just curious. Don’t worry about it and eat.”
Han Seongtae tilted his head as Kim Minseok vaguely brushed off the question.
Whenever Kim Minseok spoke like this, there was always something behind it.
Just as Han Seongtae was about to question him in more detail, Kim Minseok hurriedly continued.
“Filming starts soon. Are you confident? You know you’re the most important part of this movie, right?”
“I know. I’m confident too. Don’t you know me? I’m Han Seongtae.”
“Wow. That was unbelievably obnoxious, but somehow reassuring.”
Han Seongtae laughed at his friend’s reaction.
Their time together stretched deep into the night.
After the dinner with the CEO, Han Seongtae’s greatest concern had been that Lee Seunghyeon might begin bothering him.
Fortunately, nothing like that happened.
“You said he hasn’t contacted you since the dinner, right?”
“No. Not even once.”
Three days had passed since the meal with the CEO, but there had been no further news from Lee Seunghyeon.
At first, Han Seongtae had worried that the man might appear without warning, but he no longer gave it much thought.
“Today’s your first day of filming. Are you confident?”
“I’m always confident.”
Today was the first day of filming for Youth My Way.
He had spent day after day piling effort upon effort into his preparations, so he was looking forward to it.
What kind of wonderful scene could he create this time?
In this project, Han Seongtae intended to surpass the version of himself who had acted in Rampage.
“This is the place. Do you want to go ahead? I’ll park the car and join you.”
“I’ll go on ahead.”
Han Seongtae immediately stepped out of the car and walked toward the set.
A group of people stood in front of it.
There appeared to be at least twenty of them, and various pieces of camera equipment filled the area before them.
They were the director and staff of Youth My Way.
Han Seongtae exchanged warm greetings with them while examining the set.
‘It really is small.’
Compared to Rampage and City of Criminals, the set for Youth My Way was not impressive enough to be called good.
It was moderately sized, and there was nothing particularly remarkable about its quality.
However, none of the actors there looked at the set with dissatisfaction.
The film had begun with practically no investment funds.
Considering how carefully they had to conserve every resource, obtaining even a set of this quality was impressive.
They also did not believe the quality of the set would make an enormous difference to the finished film.
‘People are coming to watch the actors perform, not to look at the surroundings.’
Every actor present also had faith in their own ability.
Because they possessed both belief and confidence, they could feel anticipation rather than dissatisfaction.
‘The atmosphere really is excellent, though.’
Han Seongtae smiled as he observed the mood on set.
The actors and staff were in high spirits.
They greeted one another with smiles and clearly tried to help each other.
“All right, everyone. Thank you for gathering.”
At Kim Minseok’s direction, the people assembled around him.
Han Seongtae stood with them and looked at Kim Minseok.
Seeing his friend as a proper director rather than someone’s assistant gave him a strange feeling.
“You may find it difficult to trust a rookie director. But I promise I will never disappoint you. Let’s all get ourselves fired up and begin filming!”
“Sounds good. Let’s do it!”
Han Seongtae actively supported Kim Minseok’s words.
Kim Minseok thanked him with a look.
Han Seongtae smiled and returned it.
“One, two, three. Fighting!”
“Fighting!”
They shouted loudly and smiled brightly.
Han Seongtae stepped onto the filming set with the other actors.
It was time to begin acting again.
“Whew.”
Han Seongtae released a long breath and glanced toward the camera.
Kim Minseok raised a thumb toward him.
Han Seongtae nodded and closed his eyes, preparing to act.
[‘The One with a Thousand Faces’ says that it is time to do this properly.]
[‘The Actor of Eternal Youth’ says that it is time to make a proper work.]
Together with the gods, Han Seongtae slowly took a deep breath.
When he opened his eyes again, his gaze had changed.
“He’s good.”
Jung Dusik watched Han Seongtae with a pleased smile.
Whenever he watched Han Seongtae act, he could feel his sincerity.
Han Seongtae was someone who loved acting in every moment.
Because of that, he could not help but shine whenever he stepped onto a set.
Jung Dusik therefore believed that discovering Han Seongtae was the greatest thing he had done in his entire life.
“Huh?”
“What the hell? No one said that person was coming.”
Jung Dusik turned his head toward the commotion behind him.
He immediately froze.
Someone who should not have come had appeared at the filming set.
Min Najung entered the CEO’s office at PAN Entertainment.
Rather than sitting in the seat of honor, Jang Panseok sat in the seat beside it and welcomed her.
The moment she sat across from him, he asked a question.
“I heard filming for the movie begins today. Do you believe it will do well, Department Head Min?”
“It will. Actor Han has never failed before.”
The CEO smiled in satisfaction and nodded at Min Najung’s firm answer.
He did not think Youth My Way was likely to fail either.
Naturally, it would be even better if it became a massive hit.
“What we should be worrying about now isn’t whether the project succeeds, but how we can keep Actor Han with us, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Mm.”
“Actor Han’s market value is continuing to rise. Once Rampage opens in Korea and City of Criminals is released, his value will increase enormously. I believe it would be best to secure his contract renewal before Youth My Way opens.”
Jang Panseok slowly nodded at her words.
Even in his estimation, Han Seongtae’s market value had grown beyond imagination.
Who could look at the current Han Seongtae and call him merely a fourth-year actor?
“What do you think we would have to offer in order to keep him, Department Head Min?”
“That… I honestly don’t know. Actor Han has grown so quickly that I believe we’ll need to give it serious thought.”
“Very well. Let’s consider it carefully. We can move on from that. I also heard that Lee Seunghyeon has returned. What has he been doing lately?”
“He doesn’t appear to have any intention of taking on a new project yet…”
Min Najung was in the middle of explaining when it happened.
Bzzzt.
Her smartphone rang, and Jang Panseok raised a hand, gesturing for her to answer it.
Min Najung’s expression became peculiar as she listened.
“…Why is that man there?”
The call informed her that Lee Seunghyeon had gone to the filming set of Youth My Way.
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