Chapter 58
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 058
Chapter Title: Filming Someone Else's Hell (6)
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"Alright, everyone, wrap it up in five minutes...!"
To prepare for the next scene right away, Director Gil Mi-jin quickly started clearing the area.
Shin Yi-han watched the set.
The second floor of Lucky House, drenched in blood.
Ban Ki-hyuk, who had taken in every last moment of Geum Seong-je's death until the end.
He was about to stand alone in front of the camera.
Of course, I'd be lying at his feet.
"Sunbae."
Taking advantage of the brief break, Shin Yi-han slipped over to Baek Eun-won.
To Baek Eun-won, who wore a grave expression after witnessing Geum Seong-je's death scene.
"Huh...?"
Baek Eun-won looked up at Shin Yi-han, who had approached him.
His face still showed traces of defeat.
Shin Yi-han hoped that expression would ease up. There was no need for it anymore.
"Now."
Shin Yi-han said with a bright smile.
"You're free."
Baek Eun-won truly was free now.
In truth, Shin Yi-han hadn't said it on purpose, but throughout their scenes together, he'd pushed harder than usual.
Hard enough to make anyone flinch.
So that Baek Eun-won could feel the alien, monstrous Geum Seong-je with his entire body.
That's right. Even though Shin Yi-han could have easily matched Baek Eun-won's acting, he hadn't.
He'd made it so the flow wouldn't go his way, forcing him to chase the emotions over and over, building that frustration.
Just like Ban Ki-hyuk, the protagonist who'd lived suppressing everything.
Forcing him to be held down.
But not anymore.
Geum Seong-je was dead, and Baek Eun-won wouldn't share the frame with actor Shin Yi-han again.
All Baek Eun-won had to do was act as he always did.
With the partner who'd frustrated him throughout the shoot gone.
Running wild on his own, just like before.
Like the moment you untie the heavy sandbag from your ankle after running with it and feel that liberation.
Feeling that sense of release.
"Uh..."
And at that single word—freedom—Baek Eun-won's eyes widened slightly.
"Come to think of it."
Baek Eun-won looked at Shin Yi-han, then at the set where he'd stand alone before the camera.
"Is that how it is...?"
Baek Eun-won murmured, as if realizing something.
That was enough. Shin Yi-han smiled in anticipation.
Waiting for the Baek Eun-won who would fully inhabit that space.
"Resuming filming!"
Director Gil Mi-jin's voice rang out soon after.
Shin Yi-han and Baek Eun-won moved to their positions.
Shin Yi-han lay on the floor, becoming a gradually cooling corpse.
"Ready."
Baek Eun-won stood before the camera, gripping the hand axe dripping with blood.
And the moment the camera rolled...
Baek Eun-won's eyes changed.
"Action!"
The shock of killing a person for the first time in his life.
The vivid sensation from his fingertips.
Flesh tearing, bones shattering.
Huff, huff! Ban Ki-hyuk gasped for breath roughly, yet strangely, he began to calm down.
"......"
Ban Ki-hyuk raised his head.
Beyond the glass blocked by wooden planks, he saw his own reflection wavering.
That image was so...
'Geum Seong-je...'
The fact that it resembled Geum Seong-je.
'So this is it?'
Pfft. He burst out laughing.
Finally, Ban Ki-hyuk felt a refreshing clarity.
Like all the grime had been scrubbed away.
This exhilaration was so delightful. Why did laughter keep bubbling up?
And Baek Eun-won, now embodying Ban Ki-hyuk, felt the same.
Suddenly, it felt so refreshingly clear.
...Freedom?
That's what it felt like.
When he first read this script, he'd thought this emotional arc was the toughest.
He'd agonized over how to pull it off. It wasn't something an ordinary person could easily grasp.
But now...
'Why is becoming Ban Ki-hyuk this easy?'
It was miraculous.
To Baek Eun-won, Geum Seong-je had been that kind of existence for Ban Ki-hyuk.
'How do I become like you?'
'How do I catch up to you?'
A friend who'd been with him since childhood—the closest yet most distant.
The object of envy, constantly compared.
But now, that target of admiration was gone.
He'd killed a friend like family.
What would that feel like?
Hmm.
'Of course.'
Baek Eun-won crossed the center of the room as Ban Ki-hyuk.
Passing right by Geum Seong-je as if he never existed.
Unable to surpass him, he'd eliminated him instead.
That oppressive problem gone.
'A sense of relief.'
Relieved.
No more actors weighing themselves against a partner's performance here.
Baek Eun-won realized he was the only one captured by the camera now.
Unlike moments ago.
In the end, he was the only one left.
No need to be swayed by anyone—just continue acting freely as before.
Baek Eun-won opened his eyes fully as the complete Ban Ki-hyuk.
Of course, this Ban Ki-hyuk was gone forever too.
His first murder.
Having crossed the uncrossable line, Ban Ki-hyuk could never be the same.
This irreversible truth was, absurdly...
Thrilling.
Ah.
Ban Ki-hyuk grinned widely, his lips nearly reaching his ears.
Yeah. This is the best.
This is it.
The reason you enjoyed it so much.
There was no reason not to enjoy it!
No need to hold back!
Thud, thud. Ban Ki-hyuk approached his girlfriend, still hanging dead by the noose.
Even this corpse held no fear.
The fact was hilarious.
But when Ban Ki-hyuk grabbed his girlfriend's leg...
Rustle.
......Huh?
Something felt off in texture.
"Mannequin...?"
He looked up and met the eyeless gaze of a mannequin.
A crude doll dressed in his girlfriend's clothes, covered in long hair that might belong to someone, soaked in blood.
In slightly brighter light, he wouldn't have mistaken it.
And behind it, a door slightly ajar.
Ban Ki-hyuk reached out toward it, entranced.
Creeak—.
There...
"Mmph, mmph...!"
His girlfriend, who'd discovered her boyfriend turned murderer.
"Mmph...!"
A woman was bound there.
Aside from the ropes tightly binding her limbs, preventing movement.
She looked remarkably intact—the very reason Ban Ki-hyuk had come here.
But in her eyes...
Not hope for a savior come to rescue her.
But despair.
Despair at finding the killer who would end her.
At that, Ban Ki-hyuk realized it.
All of Geum Seong-je's scheme.
"You."
But whether intention or plan, knowing it changed nothing.
"Y-You saw it all, huh?"
Creak—.
Ban Ki-hyuk just laughed again.
With the exact same smile as Geum Seong-je's moments before death.
"...Cut!"
Director Gil Mi-jin's voice called out, ending Baek Eun-won's solo scene.
This wrapped up all the scenes here.
Yet everyone could easily imagine what followed, even without filming or showing it.
Crack—!
It felt like the second victim's life was ending right now.
Ban Ki-hyuk, having crossed the line.
Would he let his girlfriend—who'd taken all his money and vanished—go free?
Everyone shuddered at the brutality.
But they also sighed in relief.
The day's highlight scenes were done.
Gulp. Even as they swallowed...
"Great work, everyone!"
At Director Gil Mi-jin's shout, the onlookers exchanged glances.
As if wanting to shake off the chills.
Clap, clap.
One by one, applause began.
Clap clap clap—! Cheers erupted for the two actors who'd achieved the impossible in one take.
The staff's admiration and cheers were a given.
"Whoa! I really thought it was over for me!"
"Scariest ever! Insane! Totally insane!"
"This brutal, what are viewers supposed to do?!"
"Do? It's a thriller—we watch for the chills!"
"Oh, right. Pfft!"
The set's mood brightened instantly.
In truth... they overdid it to dispel the goosebumps that wouldn't fade otherwise.
But amid the reactions, Baek Eun-won remained rooted in place.
The aftertaste lingered.
Baek Eun-won looked down at his hand gripping the axe, replaying the scene in his mind.
Not the Ban Ki-hyuk he'd created.
But the moment his body had moved as Ban Ki-hyuk himself.
And that was possible because of...
Baek Eun-won's gaze naturally turned to one side.
Staring at Shin Yi-han, now mingling with the crowd, smiling warmly.
Shin Yi-han.
Now Baek Eun-won was certain. Everything made sense.
'What do you think? Of the current me.'
'Perfect.'
From that "perfect" before filming started today.
'Sunbae.'
'Now you're free.'
To the words just before this scene.
All of it.
In the frame they'd just fiercely filled together.
The moment he was alone in it.
Only then did relief wash over him.
'So that's what it was.'
Perfect.
Because he and Ban Ki-hyuk had both groaned sleeplessly, bound by the same thing.
Experiencing the moment it vanished.
Yes, that relief he'd thought of earlier.
More precisely...
A sticky relief, perhaps.
Like the fake blood clinging to his shoes now.
Yeah. Ban Ki-hyuk would never forget Geum Seong-je for the rest of his life.
And while acting from now on, neither would he fully forget Shin Yi-han's monstrous performance.
But now, alone, it was enough to fully reveal himself.
Enough to lighten his heavy steps.
Baek Eun-won smiled faintly at the realization.
He was glad to have matched breaths with actor Shin Yi-han.
It had been incredibly tough, but still.
Even monitoring that scene earlier felt the same.
- You.
- Y-You saw it all, huh?
Baek Eun-won even felt a strange thrill at how his acting differed from his usual style.
It definitely was different. More suited to Ban Ki-hyuk.
If alone, he never could have drawn this Ban Ki-hyuk from himself.
How could he, who'd never tasted defeat, understand Ban Ki-hyuk?
He'd have shaped him arbitrarily, clueless.
"Whoa."
And at that moment.
"As expected."
It was Shin Yi-han, monitoring beside him, letting out admiration.
"That's Baek Eun-won."
Shin Yi-han raised his hand joyfully.
"This is too good."
Slap. He high-fived Baek Eun-won.
Baek Eun-won's eyes widened.
Shin Yi-han laughed.
Shin Yi-han was thrilled at the result beyond imagination. A scene impossible in his past life.
Something had properly passed on.
The monster he possessed...
To the next batter.
Perfectly.
Shin Yi-han grinned again.
The connection between characters impossible alone. He loved it.
And Baek Eun-won felt great too.
"......!"
At the high-five from Shin Yi-han, Baek Eun-won unwittingly beamed.
Praise from the very person he'd admired—not someone else.
It felt amazing.
Proof he'd nailed it. Joyful.
"Thanks to you."
Baek Eun-won said with his brightest smile lately.
And someone watched the heartwarming pair, Shin Yi-han and Baek Eun-won.
'Well, well.'
It was Gu Do-jin, playing the main villain. He couldn't help chuckling.
A top actor beaming like that from a rookie's praise.
Funny, but undeniable.
Gu Do-jin let out a hollow laugh.
Of course, who would believe this scene?
A rookie who'd just debuted leading a drama? Absurd.
Especially if it was... phenomenal.
Ugh—. Gu Do-jin recalled the earlier scene and rubbed his arms.
Especially Geum Seong-je's final moments.
How could dying be that horrific?
"Brutal. More brutal than me."
As the main villain, the pressure mounted.
"Exactly."
Gu Do-jin's manager beside him shivered, chiming in.
"Look at those two smiling. So fresh. Their default faces aren't thriller material at all, right? Totally different from hyungnim, who's intimidating even standing still."
Glancing at Shin Yi-han and Baek Eun-won, Gu Do-jin's manager marveled.
"Wow. How did they do that earlier? The gap is insane."
What? So I'm not fresh? Gu Do-jin slyly draped an arm over his manager's shoulder.
Naturally choking him.
Gasp gasp. Honestly, hyungnim is far from fresh... Gurk.
"Whatever."
Gu Do-jin ignored him.
"When I act... I'll be that brutal too. Probably."
Even if not.
He had to try catching up.
No matter how confident he was as a top actor specializing in villains.
After seeing that, he couldn't help feeling urgent.
The bar for main villain had just risen.
"Huh? But Min-su, where'd the writer go?"
Gu Do-jin tilted his head. She'd been there when filming started, but now gone.
"Oh, the writer?"
Apparently, Gu Do-jin wasn't the only one changing his mind.
"She muttered something about needing to write and dashed off."
"......?"
Of course, others were nearby too.
Jennifer Kim from Newflix headquarters was deep in thought.
"......If I hadn't seen this, it would've been a huge miss."
"Our drama has this...?"
"I... couldn't even watch properly. Ever since Shin Yi-han smiled earlier, my stomach churned."
The Korean branch staff's chatter barely registered.
Jennifer Kim was stunned.
From the start of today's shoot until now.
Not a word from her.
As a Newflix employee, she'd seen countless contents.
Honestly, she'd thought Korean content was cooling off lately.
The hype was temporary; now lacking to captivate the world.
That's why she'd been picky with the lineup.
Top actors, top writers, genius directors.
But... far from cooling.
A blazing inferno erupted.
'Really. I knew, but...'
Even she, ultimately American despite her mixed heritage, was swept up.
'To this extent...?'
In the US flooded with horror and thrillers, she'd seen it all.
'This chilling?'
Jennifer Kim rubbed her neck. Geum Seong-je's smile and blood still vivid.
If I'm like this...
What about others?
"They might go mad."
Jennifer Kim had to make another call.
She needed to tell the team.
'Korea's about to flip the board again after so long.'
Soon, her English flowed.
[Jennifer? What's up suddenly?]
It was teammate Brian.
"I think it's worth getting excited about this time."
[Huh?]
"And we should push more promo in the US too. Billboards, whatever."
[In the US?]
Brian sounded puzzled.
[You said you saw the highlight today? That good?]
"Beyond just good."
[But will an Eastern thriller sell in the US? That low-budget Korean drama?]
"Yes."
Jennifer Kim was firm.
She'd even fly to the US to convince Brian now.
Just showing today's scenes would suffice.
And this was...
A moment diverging sharply from what Shin Yi-han remembered.