Chapter 44
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Getting Cold Feet?
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The characters, events, and places appearing in this story are works of fiction created for the novel and may differ from reality.
Scene 44
Getting Cold Feet?
After a light sparring session that stopped short of breaking bones, the two men, father and son, ran back from the farm toward the main house.
In front of the main house, the dawn shoot was in full swing.
As Kang Man-dong and Yu-hyeon approached, Kim Seong-hui, wearing a grave expression, greeted them.
“Something not going well? You look troubled.”
At Kang Man-dong’s words, Kim Seong-hui nodded, her face drained of energy.
“The axe-chopping.”
“What about it?”
“He’s been missing for twenty minutes straight. I’m going crazy.”
The two walked with Kim Seong-hui to the backyard set. There, drenched in what could have been either a cold sweat or nervous sweat, Jo Seong-hyeon was panting heavily.
“Seong-hyeon. This is a really important scene.”
Yu Han-seong tore at his hair in frustration. His face said he’d lost count of how many times they’d shot the same scene.
“I’m sorry. It feels like I’m about to get it, but…”
Jo Seong-hyeon sighed repeatedly, his expression sheepish.
After a short break, Jo Seong-hyeon once again picked up the axe and began to chop firewood.
“Cut!”
“I’m sorry. I’ll do it again.”
Kim Seong-hui kept glancing at Yu-hyeon, her expression pleading, ‘Could you demonstrate…?’ As if reading her mind, Yu-hyeon nodded.
“Should I?”
“Really?”
“We can’t have delays in filming.”
As Yu-hyeon offered to help, Kang Man-dong looked at him as if to say, ‘What’s gotten into this kid?’ His son wasn’t the type to offer help so readily.
“Ah, Writer-nim. You’re here.”
When Yu Han-seong spotted Yu-hyeon and greeted him, the staff and actors followed suit.
“Would it be all right if I lent a hand?”
“You, Writer-nim?”
Yu Han-seong quickly looked for Kim Seong-hui. She nodded with a look of conviction.
“I’d appreciate it. If this were a scene we could just gloss over, it would be different. But it’s the male lead’s entrance scene.”
Yu-hyeon nodded as if he already knew and approached Jo Seong-hyeon.
“Seong-hyeon.”
“Ah. Writer… Hyung-nim.”
“The axe.”
“Sorry?”
“I’ll show you how it’s done. Try to follow me.”
“Ah. Yes.”
As Seong-hyeon handed over the axe and stepped back, Yu-hyeon stood before the camera.
‘CP Yu. Should I film this?’
The director of photography, Bae Cheol-su, quietly suggested.
‘We’ll just get another earful.’
Yu Han-seong shook his head, recalling the previous day’s incident. Bae Cheol-su licked his lips, muttering, ‘What a waste.’
Yu-hyeon lifted the axe and brought it down with a light *thwack!* The log, which had stubbornly dodged all of Jo Seong-hyeon’s efforts, split in two with a satisfying *crack!*
“Oh…”
“What the. Why did it split so easily?”
Everyone looked bewildered. Jo Seong-hyeon, looking embarrassed, picked up the axe again. But his shoulders were tense, and his swing missed the mark once more.
“Ah…”
As people let out sounds of pity, Jo Seong-hyeon’s face flushed red.
‘Dammit, why does this keep happening!’
He had even practiced beforehand, knowing there was a wood-chopping scene, but for some reason, he kept fumbling during the actual take. If they just needed a shot of wood being chopped, they could have cut it together, but this scene was a full-shot, one-take scene that showed his entire body, so that wasn’t an option.
‘Seriously. This is driving me nuts!’
Yu-hyeon, who had been watching silently, approached Yu Han-seong.
“CP-nim. Would it be possible to shoot the face and body separately?”
“Sorry? What do you mean by that?”
“It’s going to get bright soon. If that happens, this scene will have to be pushed to tomorrow, won’t it?”
“I suppose. That’s likely.”
“So. Let me do the axe-chopping shots. And Seong-hyeon can do the parts that require acting, for his face.”
At Yu-hyeon’s words, everyone looked stunned. It was something they could try in an emergency when time was running out, but for something like this to happen on the first day could affect the lead actor’s morale.
“Chopping wood might not seem like a big deal, but if you keep at it like that, you can get sick from exhaustion. Can’t you see Seong-hyeon’s arm trembling?”
Jo Seong-hyeon waved his hand as if to say he was fine, but on second thought, Yu-hyeon had a point.
“Just think of me as a stunt double. A stunt double. I do this all the time, so it’s not particularly dangerous.”
“Ah.”
The mention of a stunt double shifted the mood in Yu-hyeon’s favor, as Yu Han-seong and the staff thought, ‘Well, we do use doubles for dangerous scenes.’
“Seong-hyeon.”
“Yes. Writ… Hyung-nim.”
“If you keep swinging that axe, you won’t even be able to lift a spoon by lunchtime. So. Stop being stubborn and let’s do it my way.”
“Uh… well.”
Seong-hyeon hesitated, his pride making it difficult to decide.
“Right now, I’m not speaking as your hyung, but as the writer of this drama. So, listen to me.”
When Yu-hyeon pulled rank as the writer, Seong-hyeon could no longer be stubborn and stepped aside.
Yu-hyeon compared his hair length to Seong-hyeon’s and nodded. Even with the extensions, it didn’t look awkward.
As Yu-hyeon stood with the axe, Yu Han-seong opened his mouth, a doubtful expression on his face.
“Yu-hyeon-ssi. You have to take your shirt off, too…”
He wasn’t sure about the axe skills, but frankly, he was worried about the body hidden under the clothes. Seong-hyeon, being an actor, had diligently maintained his physique and had no problem showing off his muscles, but Yu-hyeon was a different story.
However, Yu Han-seong’s worries evaporated in an instant.
When Yu-hyeon took off his athletic top and the t-shirt underneath, a chorus of “Woah!” erupted from all sides.
‘What kind of body is that…?’
Jo Seong-hyeon had a great body, but Yu-hyeon’s was… different. It overflowed with a raw, wild beauty. If Seong-hyeon’s body was sculpted beautifully in a gym, Yu-hyeon’s gave off the complete opposite impression.
On top of that, whatever he had been doing, beads of sweat dotted his body, and a faint steam rose from his skin.
Yu Han-seong, who had been staring blankly at Yu-hyeon’s body, snapped back to reality only when Director Bae Cheol-su nudged him in the ribs.
“L-Let’s go.”
Yu-hyeon stood with his back to the camera and gripped the axe handle. And just like that day when Kim Seong-hui had hidden between the walls and watched with bated breath, this time it was Lee Ha-na who watched Yu-hyeon with the same look in her eyes.
*Whoosh! Crack! Thud!*
*Whoosh! Crack! Thud!*
The proper sounds of an axe splitting wood, not the feeble *thwacks* and *ticks* from before, filled the backyard.
Yu-hyeon’s axe-swinging was on a different level from Jo Seong-hyeon’s mere flailing. The lines of his waist and back muscles, his bulging shoulders, and the veins popping on his forearms.
The movement, a beautiful arc that plunged downward, felt like a work of art.
Jo Seong-hyeon, who had secretly planned to rest for a bit and try again, let go of his ambition after seeing Yu-hyeon’s form. He realized that no matter what he did, he could never replicate that movement.
Continuing his dynamic chopping, Yu-hyeon took a band from his wrist and tied his hair up. It was an action straight from the script, but everyone understood in an instant.
‘Oh my, what is this.’
‘The Axe Man… he was a real person!’
‘This wasn’t a story from imagination; Writer Kim Seong-hui wrote about what she experienced here!’
***
At the same time Yu-hyeon was engrossed in his role as a body double, HS Energy President Lee Jae-yoon, along with his sister Lee Jae-eun, his secretarial staff, and dozens of armed men, began their drive toward Farm Camu.
Their movements did not escape Marcos’s sight and were immediately reported to Yu-hyeon.
***
Having deftly handled the first shoot’s potential delay by acting as a double, Yu-hyeon returned to the house and received a call from Marcos.
—Professor. I think this is about to get big.
“Did he bring mercenaries or something?”
—…
“He’s crazy. He actually brought mercenaries?”
He had expected security firms or bodyguards, but the news that Jae-yoon had even hired a PMC made Yu-hyeon let out a dry laugh.
—Two Italian security firms and one PMC have been contracted. The numbers are twenty security guards and five PMC operators. What are your orders? Should we stop them before they enter the farm…
“Give me a moment to think.”
—Yes.
As Marcos said, if that many people were coming, it would certainly cause a commotion at the farm.
If Marcos stepped in to handle it, would they simply back down?
‘They’ll probably try some other method.’
He had gone so far as to volunteer as a body double, something he would never normally do, just to prevent delays. The last thing he wanted was more problems.
‘Dad seems to be enjoying a taste of the old days for the first time in a while, and I can’t let him down. And if I can score some points with actress Han Mi-ra in the process…’
“Marcos.”
—Yes, Professor.
“You know the warehouse inside the farm. The one we use as a gym.”
—Yes, of course I do.
“Escort them there. Politely.”
—Instead of that, if we just take care of it…
“The security firms and the PMC are your responsibility, of course, Marcos. Surely you didn’t think I was going to deal with them myself?”
—What? No. Of course, they are our responsibility.
“So. Let’s meet at the warehouse. The security and PMC are yours, Marcos. HS is for me and my father. Okay?”
Marcos responded with reluctance, but Yu-hyeon repeated the order and ended the call.
Then, he suddenly recalled the morning’s sparring session.
“Nah, it can’t be. He was probably just in a good mood, sparring with his son after a long time.”
After showering, Yu-hyeon went down to the dining room and briefly explained the HS situation over breakfast.
“Well done.”
“Sorry? What do you mean?”
“Matters between the parties involved should be resolved face-to-face. You can’t just end things with brute force like that fool Marcos would.”
“Yes. If we handle it like that, HS won’t just let it go. It’s best for everyone if we settle this definitively with their president.”
“When do they say they’ll arrive?”
Yu-hyeon checked the time.
“They should be here in about an hour.”
“Call Mi-ra-ssi, too.”
An unwilling expression crossed Yu-hyeon’s face.
“What? Let’s just handle it ourselves.”
“That won’t do. I told you. I can help from the side, but the parties involved must tie up the loose ends themselves.”
“What if she sees something rough…”
“Who? Me?”
Kang Man-dong’s eyes widened.
“It’s going to be a gathering of tough guys from both sides, isn’t it? If the atmosphere gets hostile, something unexpected could happen.”
He had scored major points with his cool fatherly image yesterday; he worried that showing a rough side might make him lose all of them. As the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished.
Whether he knew what was on Yu-hyeon’s mind or not, Kang Man-dong was relentless.
“Then I’ll have to kick that bastard Marcos’s ass first. He’ll have to step down as head of the merchant association, too.”
“Aigoo. Dad, you’re getting worked up again. Gently. Let’s talk it out, nice and easy.”
“Hmph. I’d like to.”
“Alright, I get it. I’ll ask Aunt Mi-ra and see what she wants to do. Who knows? She might not even want to see that president’s face.”
“Hmm. True. That could be the case.”
***
Lee Jae-yoon’s party, which had set out for the farm in high spirits, was intercepted halfway.
“They say they will guide us themselves.”
“They knew we were coming?”
“Malta is a small place.”
“Tell them to lead the way.”
“Sir. Do we really need to go to a place of their choosing…?”
“Look here, Chief Secretary Jeong.”
“Yes, President.”
“You just said it yourself. Malta is a small place.”
“…..?”
“If we back down here, is there anywhere else for us to go?”
“Ahem. Still, this is…”
“I want to see the leaders of the security and mercenary teams.”
“Yes, President.”
A moment later, the two security team leaders and the mercenary team leader appeared before Jae-yoon. After hearing the explanation, the three men seemed to ponder for a moment before looking toward Marcos’s group.
“Would it be alright if we made a decision after talking with them?”
When Lee Jae-yoon nodded, the mercenary leader approached Marcos’s group. He returned after a lengthy conversation.
“They don’t want a direct confrontation either. The farm owner wants to speak with President Lee Jae-yoon directly.”
At the leader’s words, the chief secretary shook his head.
“They cannot be trusted.”
To the chief secretary’s comment, the mercenary leader added one more thing.
“The farm owner asked me to pass on a message.”
“What is it?”
“‘Jjellimyeon deiji danga?’ He said it was Korean, but I’m not sure if I delivered it correctly.”
“‘Jjellimyeon deiji danga?’ What does that mean…”
Lee Jae-yoon’s brow furrowed at the mercenary leader’s words, then his expression hardened. The pronunciation was clumsy, but any Korean would understand what it meant.
“Hahaha.”
Lee Jae-yoon let out a laugh of disbelief, then gestured for Chief Secretary Jeong to move forward.
“Sir… let’s just wrap this up here, at a reasonable point.”
“Hey, Chief Secretary Jeong. I’m the president of HS Energy. The heir to HS Group! And you want me to run away because I’m scared of some countryside farm owner? Huh? Huh? Huh? And wrap it up? How should I wrap it up? Should I call them right now and say, ‘I’m sorry. I was wrong. You scared and threatened my little sister, but I’m sure you had your reasons. So, could you please delete the video of my little sister?’ Is that what I should do! Are you telling me to fold out of fear before I’ve even played my hand?”
“I apologize, sir. We will proceed immediately!”