‘What are we doing, making dried pollock? Freezing and thawing it, then freezing and thawing it again?’
Every time the atmosphere seemed about to improve, someone had to come along and ruin it.
Whether he realized how chilly the atmosphere had become or not, the person who had thrown cold water on the mood spoke up.
“Do you have any idea how sensitive the public is about image these days? If you cast an actor with problems, you might even end up losing your broadcast slot. Think how much money you’d lose if viewers boycotted the entire production because of one person. Don’t you agree?”
Even the timing of his interruption was suspicious.
And the look he directed at Rowoon was practically dripping with hostility.
Rowoon had no difficulty recognizing him.
‘He’s the one who kept glaring at me during the script reading.’
As the rehearsal progressed, most of the gazes directed at Rowoon had gradually turned favorable.
Yet even amid all that, one person had stubbornly continued looking at him with disapproval.
That person was Ha Jihwan, the actor playing Baekja.
As luck would have it, Baekja was also one of the two goblins under Haemuk’s command, which meant he had an unusually large number of exchanges with Rowoon.
‘He kept glaring at me like he wanted to bore a hole through my face every time we spoke……’
Still, Rowoon hadn’t expected him to display such open hostility, even at the cast dinner.
‘Did he have some bad history with the original owner of this body?’
Just how many enemies had that damn original owner made?
Rowoon didn’t know the details, but one thing was certain.
If he simply sat there and did nothing, he would only be treated like a pushover.
It was a painful lesson Rowoon had learned after experiencing death.
And since the other man’s attack was clearly aimed at him, now was precisely the time to speak up.
Of course…
“That’s true. Having a problematic actor in the cast would certainly be troublesome.”
Only amateurs would bare their teeth and respond with the same hostility.
Rowoon smiled as he looked at Ha Jihwan.
“You must really care about this production, Mr. Ha.”
“Ha! Isn’t that obvious? That’s why I agreed to appear in it.”
At that answer, Rowoon tilted his head slightly and asked another question.
“Then you have nothing to worry about. You said it would be troublesome if there were a problematic actor, but we don’t have anyone like that in our cast. So it’s a relief that we won’t be boycotted. Isn’t that right?”
When Rowoon finished with a bright smile, Ha Jihwan’s face turned so red it looked ready to burst.
“Ha. Who do you think I’m talking about right now……?”
“Who are you talking about?”
Rowoon blinked as though he genuinely had no idea. Ha Jihwan let out a sharp, incredulous snort.
But regardless of his reaction, Rowoon simply continued staring at him with a smile.
There was an old saying that you couldn’t spit in a smiling face.
The original owner of this body had slightly upturned eyes, which made him look cold and unfriendly when he wasn’t smiling. But when he smiled, that impression changed a full 180 degrees.
Even Rowoon, who had been saddled with the original owner’s Karma, had acknowledged that much about his appearance.
“N-no. I mean!”
Apparently, Ha Jihwan was no exception. As though he’d been stunned, he couldn’t manage to get a proper sentence out.
Just then, some supporting fire came from beside them.
“Exactly. Has anyone here caused some kind of scandal? If so, now’s the time to confess.”
It was Seo Wooju, sitting across from them, his eyes shining with interest.
The others who had been watching the exchange finally began chiming in, one after another.
“Oh, come on. Who doesn’t know how important image is these days?”
“PD Jo has staked practically everything on this production. Do you really think he’d cast an actor with problems?”
“Exactly. He’s been working himself to the bone over this. Surely he wouldn’t make such a basic mistake.”
As the conversation continued, someone suddenly asked,
“But why did this topic come up out of nowhere?”
Another person responded.
“Who knows? Sounds like Baekja has something he wants to say.”
Immediately, everyone’s attention shifted toward Ha Jihwan.
“No, it’s just… I mean, of course we have to pay attention to image… That’s why, I mean, anyone with problems should withdraw from the production……!”
With everyone openly giving him the opportunity to explain himself, Ha Jihwan’s stammering only grew worse.
‘I think I have a pretty good idea what he’s trying to say.’
After all, the criticism had been aimed at Rowoon from the very beginning.
He had probably intended to bring up the subject of reputation and then use Rowoon’s angry reaction to turn the situation against him.
Unfortunately, there was something Ha Jihwan had overlooked.
‘I’m not the original owner of this body, so there’s nothing for me to get worked up about.’
He had probably expected the original owner, who had behaved like an unruly troublemaker, to start arguing with him.
‘Didn’t you do enough research?’
To think he’d come here without even bothering to learn about the person he intended to attack.
Rowoon didn’t particularly want to indulge such a one-dimensional provocation, but he couldn’t simply let it pass either.
Although everyone was pretending otherwise, he could sense that they were quietly waiting to see how he would respond.
After all, the fact that they’d glanced at Rowoon when Ha Jihwan spoke was practically an indication that they agreed with his words to some extent.
“True. You’re right, Mr. Ha. Anyone with problems really should withdraw from the production.”
“Exactly! So you should…!”
“But we’re very fortunate that there’s no one like that in our production. Don’t you think?”
“…?”
Ha Jihwan, whose eyes had lit up as though he’d finally found his opportunity, was once again left speechless by Rowoon’s response.
“Or do you happen to have some information about someone, Mr. Ha? If there really is such a person, wouldn’t it be better to tell the PD immediately?”
“No, wait. Hold on a second.”
When Rowoon behaved as though he were about to stand up that very moment, Ha Jihwan panicked and waved his hands.
You! I’m talking about you!
That was what his eyes seemed to be desperately shouting, but Rowoon merely blinked, pretending not to understand.
“Why? The PD happens to be right over there. I’ll go bring him over.”
As Rowoon began to rise from his seat while feigning ignorance, Ha Jihwan hurriedly stopped him.
“No, there’s no need to go that far…!”
“Ah. You must find it difficult to talk about this publicly. In that case, I’ll have a quiet word with the PD.”
“Wait, just…!”
“Or surely you weren’t trying to go after an innocent person based on nothing but rumors, without any actual evidence?”
“Well…”
As Rowoon lifted the corners of his mouth into a smooth smile, Ha Jihwan’s eyes began trembling uncontrollably.
At this rate, he was in danger of making himself look like a villain who had tried to force a fellow actor out of the production based solely on rumors, without a shred of evidence.
Of course, things would be different if there were solid evidence. But both Ha Jihwan and Rowoon knew the truth.
‘There’s no way he has any evidence.’
Come to think of it, although the original owner of this body had behaved like an absolute troublemaker, he had never actually committed a crime.
Besides, his reputation had already been at rock bottom. There was no image left to ruin.
So Rowoon had absolutely no reason to adopt a submissive attitude.
‘Judging by his behavior, he’ll probably keep picking fights with me unless I put a firm stop to it. I’m already busy enough focusing on this production. I don’t have the time or energy to waste on pointless arguments like this.’
Strong against the weak, weak against the strong.
There was a reason that saying existed.
If you behaved meekly, people would only look down on you.
‘Let’s see what you’ll do now.’
As Rowoon continued staring directly at Ha Jihwan with a pleasant smile, the other man’s confidence gradually dwindled into something increasingly pitiful.
“Well….”
Perhaps feeling sorry for Ha Jihwan, who had drawn his sword only to find himself unable to cut even a radish, another actor watching the exchange cautiously intervened.
“Come on. Surely Jihwan didn’t mean it like that. He was probably just saying that those kinds of situations can happen, you know?”
“Y-yes, exactly.”
Ha Jihwan nodded frantically, as though he’d just been thrown a lifeline.
That was effectively the moment the victor and loser were decided.
“You made it sound so serious that I thought there really was someone like that here~”
“Exactly. Who in this industry doesn’t have at least one rumor about them? This is a business where even a chimney without a fire can give off smoke. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s right, that’s right. Anyway, we’re only just getting started, so I was worried we’d already run into trouble. Turns out Jihwan was simply worrying too much, huh?”
There were barbs hidden beneath the laughter and cheerful remarks.
At that moment, one thing became certain.
Ha Jihwan would never be able to bring up this subject again.
After all, he’d created an image of himself as someone who ran his mouth without even having the nerve to bring his concerns to the PD.
‘That’s what you get for picking a fight for no reason.’
His second chance at life had been hard-won.
And Rowoon was no saint who would quietly stand by while someone tried to ruin that opportunity.
“Ah, so that’s what you meant. I suppose I was worrying too much. I’m sorry if I startled you, Jihwan.”
“W-well… Haa. It’s all right….”
When Rowoon delivered that final blow with a smile, Ha Jihwan, now looking as though he’d been reduced to pale ashes, let out a deep sigh.
It was a declaration of complete defeat.
“It’s nice to see that there are people who care about this production from so many different angles.”
Of course, that hadn’t been Ha Jihwan’s intention at all, but nobody seemed to care.
“Honestly, unless something’s serious enough to make the news, it’s generally better to have someone who can actually act. Let’s face it, even if someone’s a wonderful person, nobody’s going to cast them if their acting is complete garbage, right? And if they can’t act and they’re troublemakers, they might as well drop dead.”
Seo Wooju’s additional remarks only made Ha Jihwan’s already miserable expression twist even further.
‘It feels like he’s been helping me for a while now. Or am I imagining things?’
Seo Wooju had certainly been the person whose attitude toward Rowoon had changed most noticeably after the script reading.
And what he’d just said was quite clearly a statement in Rowoon’s defense.
‘Now I understand why Kang Chaheon called Seo Wooju an acting fanatic.’
Seo Wooju’s words had effectively struck Ha Jihwan down a second time. At the same time, they were practically a declaration that he would prioritize acting ability even if an actor was surrounded by controversy.
‘Of course, that also means he won’t give anyone a pass if they can’t act.’
Acting fanatic really was the perfect description for him.
Just as Ha Jihwan’s already wretched expression contorted even further at Seo Wooju’s words…
“Oh dear! Why has the atmosphere gotten so gloomy? This is supposed to be such a wonderful first cast dinner!”
Perhaps deciding that the situation had more or less settled, the affable Park Chungseon changed the subject.
His character, Ssaribi, was quite the smooth talker, but apparently the actor himself was just as sociable. His ability to change the atmosphere was no ordinary skill.
“Speaking of which, everyone’s read our original novel, right?”
As though the atmosphere had never frozen over in the first place, the conversation once again grew lively, with people chatting freely about this and that.
Then someone brought up the original novel.
“Of course we’ve all read it. How can you act in an adaptation without reading the original? It’s one thing if there isn’t an original work, but when there is, you ought to read it.”
“Now I understand why it’s such a famous bestseller. I got so completely absorbed in it that I finished the whole thing without even realizing how much time had passed!”
As though they’d been waiting for the opportunity, everyone began enthusiastically sharing their impressions of the novel.
Then…
“By the way, wasn’t it a little scary? Or was I the only one who found it kind of creepy?”
One actor exaggeratedly shuddered, claiming that the novel had even given him nightmares.
“Well, since the story deals with supernatural beings, I have to admit there were times late at night when I felt an inexplicable chill down the back of my neck.”
“Whoa, I thought I was the only one! There are ghosts in it too, you know. Whew. The author wrote everything so realistically that it almost feels like those things might actually exist somewhere.”
They probably really do exist, though, don’t they?
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