Chapter 75
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: A Man of Endless Talent
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Scene 75
"It's taking longer than I thought. I heard Malta wasn't that big of an island."
At Im Han-sol's remark, Choi Pil-yeon nodded.
"It's not the size, it's the traffic. It'd be a different story if they had an Autobahn, but you saw on the way here. The roads aren't that great."
"How much farther do we have to go?"
"We're almost there. About ten minutes?"
"That's a relief. I was starting to feel nauseous."
"You still get carsick?"
"Well, I was born with it."
"Born with it, my ass. After all the hell you went through on the road because of it."
"Oh, here we go again with that story."
"Anyway, congratulations. I was quite worried when Line Art was on the verge of bankruptcy."
"Well, it's all thanks to Jennifer. You could say I got lucky."
'Wait a minute. Should I ask him for help with the situation in the States?'
Choi Pil-yeon had extensive connections not only in the Korean entertainment industry but also abroad.
"Um, Director Choi. No... sunbae."
"What now?"
"Could I ask you for a favor?"
"All of a sudden?"
"Well... you know how it is, sunbae."
"Give me the whole story. How am I supposed to understand what you mean when you talk like that?"
"It's about what happened before Jennifer came to Korea."
Im Han-sol laid out the problem that had been troubling him lately and asked Choi Pil-yeon for advice.
"Hmm. Sounds pretty serious."
"I thought about trying to solve it on my own, but it's like finding a needle in a haystack. My connections over there are weak."
Choi Pil-yeon wore a thoughtful expression for a moment.
"If it were about TNT, I couldn't help."
"Oh, come on, hyung-nim. Please help me out. Line Art was on its last legs and just barely recovered. If Jennifer's image gets dragged through the mud now..."
"A music video."
"Sorry?"
"There has to be some give and take."
"Deal. I don't know about anyone else, but I'll do whatever it takes to make Ye-rim a star. I'll even get on my knees and beg Jennifer to save her career."
"Okay. You'd better keep your promise."
*
When Kang Man-dong announced he would treat everyone to a Korean meal for the first time in a while, the group cheered.
The food provided at the pension was satisfying enough, but honestly, they were all starting to miss the smell of doenjang stew and the scent of gochujang.
Elizabeth had claimed a spot at the table, and Jo Seong-hyeon, as if he had been waiting, immediately slid into the seat next to her.
Elizabeth watched Jo Seong-hyeon chattering away beside her and thought.
'This man is so frivolous and talks way too much.'
At first, he had approached her hesitantly, cautiously gauging her reaction, which made her wonder if he was interested in her.
He was supposedly a popular actor in Korea, but to Elizabeth, he was just one of many 'ordinary' men, so she had ignored him appropriately.
But whether the man was clueless or just thick-skinned, he persisted in his approach despite her obvious disinterest.
Just as she decided to draw a firm line before things got annoying, he asked an unexpected question.
"Um... Elizabeth-nim. Are you very close with my hyung?"
*My hyung? Camu doesn't have any brothers.*
As she tilted her head at Jo Seong-hyeon's claim, he asked again.
"It's just that I haven't known hyung for very long."
Jo Seong-hyeon continued with an awkward expression.
"I mean, I'm one half of the 'Hyeon-Hyeon' brothers, but I know so little about him."
He left out the part about, *It makes it really hard to brag on social media.*
*Hyeon-Hyeon? Ah, Yu-hyeon, Seong-hyeon.*
Elizabeth couldn't help but let out a small, derisive laugh. She understood wanting to get close to Camu, but Seong-hyeon's attempt to force a connection by mashing their names together was just silly.
"If you don't mind, could you tell me a little about him?"
When she gave him a look that said, "Why would you be curious about that?" Jo Seong-hyeon smiled awkwardly and began to speak.
"I'm considered pretty popular myself in Korea, but I can't even hold a candle to him. At first, I was like, 'What kind of person is this?'"
And now?
"But now, I have nothing but complete respect for him."
*Well, anyone who gets to know Camu can't help but respect him.*
Hearing Jo Seong-hyeon say he had come to like and respect Camu, Elizabeth felt a sense of inner satisfaction.
"He's a great writer. A great speaker. He's fluent in foreign languages. And that action stunt!"
Jo Seong-hyeon, with a slightly dazed look in his eyes, rattled off praises for Camu.
His reaction made Elizabeth feel as pleased as if she were the one being complimented.
She gestured with her chin as if to say, "Go on."
Perhaps it was because Elizabeth, who had been warily watching him with a sour expression, was now nodding with a pleased look on her face. Jo Seong-hyeon immediately became more talkative.
"I'm a handsome guy myself, but hyung-nim... even from a man's perspective, he has a world-class face, don't you think? And that body when he was chopping wood. I still have no idea how he built that physique."
*Body? He saw his body? When?*
"Oh? Elizabeth-nim, you haven't seen it?"
*Of course not, there aren't any shirtless scenes in Urus Club!*
But was there even a scene like that in this drama?
Elizabeth briefly tried to recall the script.
*The wood-chopping scene... that's a scene with Jo Seong-hyeon, not Camu. Why would Camu have taken his shirt off for that?*
Elizabeth tilted her head, even more confused.
Jo Seong-hyeon, in turn, looked bewildered, as if he couldn't believe she hadn't seen it yet.
"You haven't seen it? What a shame. It was a work of art."
Hearing that Elizabeth had never seen Yu-hyeon's bare body, Jo Seong-hyeon wore a smug smile, as if he finally had one up on her.
*What is with this guy? Is he actually happy that he, a man, saw another man's body?*
*Could he be... gay?*
Seeing Jo Seong-hyeon's proud expression, the corners of Elizabeth's eyes tightened with displeasure.
So his desire to know Camu, to get closer to him, wasn't just about 'respect' but had 'something' more as its goal!
'I haven't even touched him yet, and he, a man, is going to be first...?'
*I heard same-sex relationships aren't easy in Korea. Is he planning to come out to Camu?*
*If you're going to crash and burn, do it alone!*
*Don't you dare try to drag him down with you!*
If something like that happened, or if strange rumors started to spread, Camu's image would take a huge hit.
'That can't happen!'
Just as Elizabeth was about to tell him not to even dream of such a foolish thing, Jo Seong-hyeon spoke first again.
"Actually, it was my scene to shoot, but I just couldn't get the hang of chopping wood."
Jo Seong-hyeon even used gestures, mimicking the motion of swinging an axe.
"But then hyung-nim appeared out of nowhere and said, 'Use your face. I'll be the body double for you.' And then he started chopping, and man... the axe just had to touch the logs and they'd split wide open!"
What was he talking about?
"Ah, it's a bit embarrassing, but hyung-nim was my body double for the wood-chopping scene that time. Hahaha."
Jo Seong-hyeon let out an awkward laugh.
"Anyway, back then, I felt a little weird about it. I'm an actor known for having a good body, but after seeing his... well. It was probably our drama's first special effect: a separate face and body."
*Oh... so that's what he meant. And here I was...*
She had thought he was about to come out. Realizing it was just an anecdote from filming, she felt a wave of relief.
"Elizabeth-nim, don't just listen. You should tell us some stories too. You're closer to him than I am, and you worked on *Urus Club* together. You must have seen a lot of his cool moments."
Like a member of a fan club, Jo Seong-hyeon was eager to get even a single tidbit about Yu-hyeon.
"I've seen plenty."
As Elizabeth nodded and began to speak, not only Jo Seong-hyeon but also Lee Ha-na and Seong Ye-rim, who had been feigning indifference, perked up their ears.
"Let's start with something we can all agree on... his looks?"
"The writer... is unreasonably handsome."
Seong Ye-rim immediately nodded in agreement.
"And there's no machine he can't handle."
"Machines? What kind of..."
"Computers, for one."
At the mention of Yu-hyeon being good with computers, Seong Ye-rim's eyes sparkled. She had been racking her brain for a way to get closer to him, and now an opportunity to use her "engineering goddess" image had appeared.
"Regular machinery too. And among vehicles, he can handle cars, motorcycles, and yachts, of course. He can even fly a plane."
"A plane?"
They could accept the yacht, but the claim that he could fly a plane left everyone with a look of astonishment.
"He says he can fly a fighter jet too."
When the words "fighter jet" came out of Elizabeth's mouth, everyone's expression shifted to 'Come on, that's going a bit too far.'
"I haven't seen it myself, but there's no reason for him to lie. As you know from working with him, Camu isn't the type to make things up."
At Elizabeth's words, everyone looked conflicted, thinking, 'That's true, but...' Still, the idea of a civilian flying a fighter jet was something they couldn't logically comprehend.
As far as they knew, only professionally trained 'soldiers' could fly fighter jets.
"And then there's his seamless conversational skills, his elegant and boundless knowledge. And music."
"Music?"
"Check who composed the main theme for *Urus Club*."
At Elizabeth's suggestion, everyone quickly pulled out their smartphones and started searching.
"YH? Is this, by any chance..."
"The screenplay is credited to KM, Camu's initials. So what do you think YH stands for?"
At Elizabeth's question, Lee Ha-na whispered Yu-hyeon's name, almost inaudibly.
"Yu... Hyeon?"
Elizabeth nodded and continued.
"At first, I wondered why it was YH instead of KM. Then I found out Camu's Korean name is Yu-hyeon."
"My hyung-nim! He's a great writer, great at action, and a musician on top of it all! Oh, that's my hyung-nim for you!"
Jo Seong-hyeon couldn't hide his proud expression, acting as if he himself were Yu-hyeon. And he kept tacking on "Hyeon-Hyeon brother" at the end of every sentence.
"But the skill I rate the highest is something else."
At Elizabeth's words, everyone's eyes lit up. What she had listed so far already put him in a league of his own, but there was a skill she rated even higher?
"Well, this is just my personal preference, of course."
"Personal is fine! Please tell us about hyung-nim's hidden talent!"
Jo Seong-hyeon panted like an eager puppy, ready for anything.
"I've only seen it once. Or perhaps I should say, I've only heard it once."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You know what busking is, right?"
"You mean singing on the street?"
Jo Seong-hyeon answered immediately.
"It was a day we didn't have any filming. I was leaving the set and heading home."
"And?"
"I saw a familiar person holding a guitar. At first, I thought I was mistaken, but something felt off, so I went back to check."
"Hyung-nim was busking on the street?"
"It was less like busking and more like a fight had broken out."
"What? A fight?"
"I was watching in secret, so I don't know the exact situation. But the sound of Camu's guitar and his singing at that moment..."
Elizabeth's expression turned dreamy, just as Jo Seong-hyeon's had earlier.
"I can still never forget it."
Kim Seong-hui, who had arrived late, tilted her head at the atmosphere around the table.
"Ye-rim?"
"Oh, Writer-nim, you're here."
"What were you all talking about to have such expressions on your faces?"
At Kim Seong-hui's question, Seong Ye-rim excitedly recounted the conversation they just had.
Like the others, Kim Seong-hui took out her smartphone and checked the composer for the *Urus Club* soundtrack.
"This... is Yu-hyeon?"
"That's what Elizabeth said."
"Wow... I... seriously. This man."
She had been surprised when she heard he was the original author of *Urus Club*. She was surprised again when she learned he wrote the screenplay. She was surprised yet again when he acted in it and even participated in directing. And now, he was involved in the music too.
"I'm not just some extra. Why do I have to hear this from someone else?"
Kim Seong-hui looked genuinely hurt.
If she had known this sooner...
'Did he keep quiet because he knew I wouldn't just let it be?'
As Seong-hui was lost in thought while looking at her phone, Seong Ye-rim added more information.
"And apparently, the writer is also a great guitarist and an amazing singer."
"Guitar and singing?"
"Yes. Seong-hyeon kept pestering Elizabeth because he wanted to know more about the writer, so she told us all sorts of things. She said what she rates highest are his guitar and singing skills."
Seong-hui recalled the day she first met Yu-hyeon.
'The man with the guitar, walking through the vineyard at dusk! Ah! Why didn't I remember this until now?'
At the news that Yu-hyeon could play the guitar and sing... no, that he was exceptionally good at it...
New ideas began bursting forth in Seong-hui's mind.
'We already brought Jennifer in for the OST and the promotional music video... If M himself participates in this...'
She was debating whether to run back to her room and open her laptop right that moment when FD Lee Ji-eun rushed over to the table.
"Writer-nim. She's here."
"....."
"Writer-nim!"
"Huh? Oh? What?"
"Jennifer."
"Ah! Jennifer. She just arrived? Where is she?"
With Yu Han-seong absent, greeting the new guest was Kim Seong-hui's responsibility.
"A car is pulling in over there."
Following FD Lee Ji-eun's gesture toward the farm, Kim Seong-hui immediately rose from her seat.