Chapter 180
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: Replacement
Titan Armaments Headquarters Director Lee Tae-seong picked up on the gist of the situation while listening to the joint investigation team's detective grumble.
"From his reaction, it looks like Mr. Na Gang-in was involved in this incident too..."
Lee Tae-seong recalled the other cases Na Gang-in had been tangled up in. Even from what he knew, there were plenty of major ones.
Lee Tae-seong offered some words of comfort.
"You've had a rough time."
The detective slipped in a request.
"We've confirmed a few missile parts that should have been scrapped have leaked out. Could you please do a thorough inventory check at Titan Armaments to make sure there's no leakage issue? Don't just look at the paperwork—check the actual components in person."
"Er... I can hear the staff griping about overtime already."
Shin Eun-ha slammed her fist on the table at the film set on the outskirts of Namyangju.
"Is he seriously doing this? Oppa has filming tonight too, so he couldn't have scheduled anything else! That means there has to be time to eat together, right?!"
Lee Bo-ra, sitting across from her, asked,
"What's up? Still not picking up? Got stood up again?"
Shin Eun-ha shot back immediately.
"I didn't get stood up!"
"Then he's cheating?"
"Hey! Get out!"
"I came to eat with you, and this is how you treat me?"
"That's not it! You just showed up thinking it'd be the two of us!"
Yi Yeon-ji, munching on her lunchbox between them, chimed in.
"Eat instead of fighting. This sushi lunchbox is seriously good."
"I asked Park Manager to swing by a nice place since he was stopping here today—for Oppa and me, so of course it had to be good."
"Must've been from a really good spot. It melts in your mouth."
Shin Eun-ha asked,
"But Yeon-ji, why are you eating here? Your scenes are done, aren't they? Why not head home?"
"Mom and Dad said they had something urgent come up, so I should eat on my own."
"I see. Even on a Saturday, huh."
"Probably an emergency surgery. We order out a lot when that happens."
Yi Yeon-ji had already polished off one sushi lunchbox and smacked her lips.
"Everything's great, but the portions are too small. Guess I'll hit the food truck for seconds."
Lee Bo-ra ate less than usual during shoots. As she shared some sushi, she asked,
"You really pack it away. Even for a high schooler, shouldn't you gain some weight eating like that?"
"I used to, but not this much. Since the surgery, I can eat more and not gain weight—my stamina just goes up."
"You've got total idol metabolism now?"
"Right? Heh heh heh."
Shin Eun-ha looked worried.
"You're not hiding some other illness, are you?"
"Nah. Dad's a doctor—he ran every test. Said I'm perfectly healthy."
Lee Bo-ra struggled with dieting during shoots. She asked urgently,
"Hold on. So after the surgery, you don't have to diet anymore? What was the surgery? Can I get it too?"
"It's not that kind of surgery. It's like... um... not a side effect. Probably from the illness I had. The bad parts got removed, good stuff stayed."
"That good illness—is it contagious?"
"It's not contagious!"
Kwon Su-yeon's surgery was finally over.
Lee Jeong-ho stared blankly and muttered,
"What did we just witness...?"
Kwon Dong-jin shed tears nonstop.
"Forty-eight minutes."
The best practice time had been 39 minutes and 59 seconds.
But that was just for the model organs section.
The overall surgery cutoff was an hour. Same as with Yi Yeon-ji.
Today's full surgery took 48 minutes total. The practiced part wrapped in 32 minutes—an 8-minute improvement.
The rest was expected to take 20, but finished in 16. Another 4 minutes shaved off.
Kwon Dong-jin wept as he eyed the two digital stopwatches. One read 32 minutes, the other 48.
"Thank you. Thank you all so much..."
Na Gang-in said,
"I'll step out first. Got a schedule."
Kwon Dong-jin, voice cracking, replied,
"Go ahead, Gang-in. No, Dr. No Name. I don't know how to repay this kindness."
"Su-yeon's my friend. Just doing what needed doing."
"Right? Ha, haha. Sniff."
Na Gang-in left the OR first. Nothing left for him in the next stages anyway.
Kwon Dong-jin asked,
"Dr. Lee, the surgery went well, right? No issues?"
Lee Jeong-ho, still dazed, answered,
"Of course. Way better than I expected."
Surgeon Kim Jung-seok muttered beside them,
"How do human hands move like that? How do you suture so fast and perfectly in spots you can't even see? Director, I just can't wrap my head around it."
"Me neither. Visibility was zero, but it was like he was seeing right through the body while suturing."
"What if it's X-ray vision?"
"You, a doctor...?"
"That's how unbelievable the skill was."
"Probably analyzing internals through fingertip sensation."
"Is that even possible?"
"A vessel or two, sure, I could manage..."
"Wasn't just one or two."
"Theoretically possible, but no human could actually do it... And he did."
Technique mattered to them, but something else weighed far heavier on Kwon Dong-jin. He asked,
"What now to make sure my daughter recovers fully?"
Lee Jeong-ho replied,
"She'll recover here today. We'll monitor closely, so no worries."
"I'll stay too. I'll handle the family."
"Sounds good. We'll observe overnight, transfer to our hospital tomorrow. Then you can bring the family."
Na Gang-in arrived at the Fate's Spear set on Namyangju's outskirts.
He notified the on-site staff of his arrival, then looked around.
"Atmosphere feels off."
People's expressions have lost their usual ease.
Director Byeon Hyeong-chan rushed over upon hearing Na Gang-in had arrived.
"Gang-in! Your phone went dark suddenly—I was panicking."
"Emergency came up. Couldn't be helped."
Na Gang-in had one precondition when joining the film: if something truly urgent arose for him, they'd prioritize rescheduling around it.
"On my way here, you said you could push my scenes back?"
"Right. Your parts are later anyway—plenty of time. Glad you called ahead at least."
"Sorry for the hassle."
Byeon Hyeong-chan waved it off.
"Nah. Another actor's MIA too—we're in chaos. Even if you'd come on time, we couldn't shoot."
After Byeon Hyeong-chan headed back to set, Na Gang-in scanned the area again.
"That explains the vibe."
Agent.
"Yeah?"
Grab some cup ramen at least.
"Oh. You hungry too?"
Of course. When you're hungry, I am too.
Na Gang-in hadn't eaten since finishing surgery and rushing here.
The food truck had already packed up after serving.
Instead, there were cup ramen and an electric kettle with hot water off to the side—for late-night snacks.
Na Gang-in went to the kettle, tore open a cup ramen, and poured hot water.
"Too bad no raw egg."
Cup ramen with a raw egg changes the taste but softens the broth. I like it too.
Na Gang-in took the steaming cup ramen and chopsticks, sitting off to one side.
"Su-yeon should be fine, right?"
No news is good news in times like this.
Everyone in the secret surgery had left phones elsewhere or powered them off before arriving.
If anything urgent happened with Kwon Su-yeon, they'd call Na Gang-in via hospital landline. No call meant all good.
"Yeah. We nailed it today."
We gave it our all.
Shin Eun-ha approached after wrapping her scene.
"Huh? What? Didn't you eat out? Why cup ramen?"
"This is my dinner."
Shin Eun-ha whipped around to Lee Bo-ra.
"See! Told you he wasn't on a date!"
Lee Bo-ra bristled instantly.
"Hey, why turn this on me?!"
"You were the one doubting Oppa!"
"I didn't! I was just teasing you earlier!"
Na Gang-in said,
"Feels like you filmed a whole drama without me."
Shin Eun-ha nodded.
"We did shoot our movie today."
Yi Yeon-ji smacked her lips nearby.
"Ramen looks tasty."
Lee Bo-ra asked,
"Didn't you eat two sushi boxes? Hungry again?"
"Growth spurt."
Shin Eun-ha suggested to Na Gang-in,
"Don't eat that. I'll order dinner. Delivery works here somewhere."
"Nah. Don't wanna sour the mood more. Things already feel tense."
"But cup ramen for dinner... Fine."
She sat beside Na Gang-in.
"The actor who needs to film opposite Yu-chan Oppa is AWOL. Schedule's messed up, and if we can't shoot today, tomorrow's total chaos."
"Hm... This film's gone smooth so far, right?"
"Yeah. Great vibe too. Just you and that actor today... Huh?"
Shin Eun-ha turned to Na Gang-in sharply.
"Ah! Gang-in Oppa, you didn't go shooting terrorists or armed robbers again, did you? That's why you're late?"
The Paldang Palseong Tech warehouse fight ended yesterday—joint team investigating now. Today was Kwon Su-yeon's secret surgery causing the delay, no shooting.
"Not from a fight."
"Good."
The assistant director yelled their way,
"Eun-ha! Bo-ra! Let's go!"
Shin Eun-ha stood, saying,
"No more dangerous stuff from now on. Bullets don't have eyes."
Filming resumed.
Na Gang-in slurped his cup ramen alone, watching Shin Eun-ha act.
"Her performance is on fire."
You can tell?
"Obviously. I've watched tons of movies and dramas—trained my eye. I'm an excellent audience member and viewer."
Staff and cast faces soured more. Even reshuffled, the missing actor wasn't answering.
All other shoots were done.
Byeon Hyeong-chan clawed at his hair.
"Did we cast the wrong actor? This is too much."
The assistant director's phone buzzed quietly. He checked the caller and bolted up.
"Huh?"
He answered and snapped,
"No, you can't do this. Director's furious right now... What?"
Face paling, he walked straight to Byeon Hyeong-chan.
"Director, take this call."
"Why? Who?"
Byeon Hyeong-chan took the phone. He erupted at the voice.
"Huh? Why contact now? I'm in the middle of... What?"
Sorry. On the way to set, oncoming car crossed the median and crashed. I blacked out...
"Pardon?"
Hard to stay mad in that scenario.
"A-Are you badly hurt?"
Other car plowed into our lane—four cars wrecked just on ours.
"Gasp!"
I passed out but no life threat. Toe’s broken though... Need a cast.
Byeon Hyeong-chan rubbed his face. Clearing his throat forcibly,
"Ah. I see. Good you're not seriously injured. So, when can you rejoin...?"
Sorry. Doc says 4 weeks minimum to remove cast, 3 at best.
The film's shoot was 4 weeks total. Already mid-production. Cast removal would be post-wrap.
"Sigh. Can't be helped. We'll manage somehow."
Truly sorry. I'll drop out. Film with someone better.
The actor apologized repeatedly.
Byeon Hyeong-chan felt stifled.
Oncoming vehicle crossed median—not the actor's fault.
After hanging up, Byeon Hyeong-chan sighed heavily.
"What now?"
Other scheduled shoots were done. Cast and crew gathered, seeing his grave call.
Byeon Hyeong-chan summarized briefly.
Everyone was stunned.
Lead actor Kim Yu-chan said, looking flustered,
"Major accident."
Byeon Hyeong-chan tore at his hair.
"If we can't shoot today, whole schedule unravels. Where do I find an actor who can ride, do action, and act—right now?"