4
Chapter 4
“Anger Management Disorder……?”
By the time I came to my senses, I had already said it.
Wait.
Ah. Aaaaaah.
Only now did I remember.
Right, it was Prince Syndrome!
I had clearly thought there was no need to memorize it back in the waiting room!
Of course, I had no idea whether Park Songhoo actually had anger management disorder or not, but from my perspective, it
certainly looked that way!
He got angry every time something happened in the hospital room!
The studio seemed to have suddenly entered a vacuum.
Without realizing it, I stopped breathing.
Should I just run?
My brain began calculating an escape route.
About fifteen meters to that door, three seconds if I sprinted at full speed, then through the hallway to the emergency
exit……
“Puhahahahaha!!!!”
Laughter exploded.
And it came from everyone at once.
“Ah, shit, is this going on air? Hey, this is really going to be broadcast, right?”
“Uwahaha, wahaha!”
“Wow, I’m going crazy……”
All the cast members started cracking up.
Some were practically crying from laughing so hard.
……?
The production staff were much the same.
The PD was massaging his cheekbones, while the staff were hitting each other in excitement.
……Did I survive?
It was still too early to tell, but the atmosphere didn’t seem bad.
In other words, they weren't laughing at me…… They genuinely seemed to find it funny.
Then…… did things actually work out?
“Hey, Songhoo!”
“……Yeah, why?”
The person who called me was a man known as a national MC, but according to the show's concept, everyone was supposed to
speak informally.
“You really are Park Songhoo, right?”
!
My heart nearly stopped, but I soon realized he was joking around.
Even though I had spent most of my life shut away in my room, I wasn't that socially clueless.
“I saw that video. Your personality sure is fiery!”
“……”
I wasn't sure about that, but I did know that my face was burning right now.
Then Jeon Jaemin asked the MC with a half-lidded gaze.
“Hyung, weren't you also pretty notorious for having a fiery personality? Didn't you yell at a senior because you lost a
wrestling match?”
“……You're bringing that up again right now?”
“Hahahahaha!”
After that, the conversation continued smoothly without any dead air.
And I had only said one sentence.
Wow, but can I really just sit here shamelessly doing nothing?
It felt like a game where everyone had been assigned a role according to their position.
They already had a system that ran perfectly on its own, so all I had to do was stand there and do absolutely nothing.
For the record, Park Songhoo had promised to give me his entire appearance fee for today……
This is insanely good value for money?!
Then, after watching them trade jokes and bounce off one another for a while, I laughed at just the right moment.
“Pfft.”
I covered my mouth with my hand as I laughed.
I even gave a slight eye-smile.
Whenever I saw Park Songhoo on variety shows, he always made reactions like this at least once.
“Songhoo.”
Jeon Jaemin looked at me.
There was a peculiar mischievousness in his eyes.
“I know exactly how to cure that disease of yours.”
“……How?”
He pointed straight at the MC without saying anything.
The MC tilted his head.
“It'll disappear the moment this guy stands in front of you.”
The flow of the script had long since gone off course.
Originally, there was supposed to be a question-and-answer session about Prince Syndrome, but since things had gone
differently from the very beginning, everything from here on was ad-lib.
Perhaps because of that, a situation that wasn't even in the script began unfolding.
“Let's check and see!”
“……!”
The large-built MC suddenly got up from his seat and started walking toward me with long strides!
I instinctively covered my face with both arms.
Just like I had done to Park Songhoo.
Eeeek!
“I, I have excellent anger control! I do!”
“Uahahahahaha!”
“Hahaha, see! His disease was cured in an instant, right?”
“Wow…… Songhoo is seriously amazing. He's not the Park Songhoo I knew!”
I had simply been following my survival instincts.
……And once again, the entire studio erupted into laughter.
***
After the opening ended, we took a short break before going back in.
The staff were whispering among themselves everywhere.
There was only one topic.
“This shoot has a good feeling, right?”
“Yeah, he's responding way better than I expected.”
“His reactions are good, and he's good at playing along too. There's not a single moment of dead air.”
It was Park Songhoo.
“That's not all…… He actually greeted every single one of us in the hallway earlier.”
The camera staff's eyes widened.
“Really? The last time I met Park Songhoo on another program, he didn't even make eye contact with me.”
“Exactly. He was famous for being aloof. It was like there was an invisible wall around him.”
“I'm telling you, he's a completely different person today. I heard the fans waiting outside the broadcasting station
went crazy too.”
The PD stroked his chin with an intrigued expression.
As the staff had said, there wasn't a single person in this industry who didn't know about Park Songhoo's temper.
But now……
Park Songhoo could be seen in the distance.
He awkwardly laughed at the jokes the cast members threw his way, constantly taking little sips of water.
Somehow, he looked almost like a rookie who had just debuted.
And there was one person among the cast who was watching him closely.
What's this? His variety show instincts are no joke.
Jeon Jaemin observed Park Songhoo while drinking water.
He never expected the aloof Park Songhoo to make a self-deprecating joke.
That method is actually pretty good.
People?
They liked it, saying it was refreshing.
You could even call it a straightforward approach to dealing with the controversy.
But most celebrities couldn't bring themselves to let go of their image.
Especially an actor like Park Songhoo, who made his living off his image, would be even more reluctant.
Did he change his mindset during his period of self-reflection? Still, quick thinking wasn't something that suddenly
appeared out of nowhere.
In fact, the Park Songhoo he knew had been pretty bad at variety shows.
Even when he appeared on one, he couldn't really play off the others. All he did was react.
Of course, thanks to his handsome looks, female cast members would lose their minds even over the most ordinary
comments.
But this is different from what I expected. If things go well, he might actually be able to carry the show. Though I
don't know what will happen after this.
Meanwhile, the break ended.
The cast members gradually returned to their places, and filming began again.
“Everyone seems curious about our new patient, so how about we take some time to ask him questions one by one?”
A simple question-and-answer session followed.
“What’s your MBTI?”
“…ENTJ…?”
Park Songhoo, or rather, Park Songmin, desperately recalled what he had seen on Namuwiki and managed to answer.
He had meticulously read through and memorized everything last night for this exact moment.
Fortunately, unlike the Prince Syndrome line, his mind didn't go completely blank.
Perhaps he had at least gotten somewhat used to the situation by now.
Then the MC suddenly slapped his knee.
“Ah, right. Songhoo. We ran into each other once before, remember?”
“……”
Park Songmin was momentarily flustered.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
We ran into each other? When? Where? How am I supposed to know that……
Even digging through Namuwiki wouldn't reveal something like this.
Besides, Park Songhoo hadn't told me anything about it either.
Various possibilities rapidly raced through my head.
If I said I remembered, I'd be screwed if he started asking for details. But if I said I didn't remember, I'd look like
I was ignoring him……
There was a fork in the road right in front of me, but whichever path I chose felt like walking through a field of
thorns.
What should I do?
I didn't know, but there was one thing I was certain about.
“……I'm sorry about that time.”
If Park Songhoo's personality was really as awful as it seemed, he must have done something wrong.
Maybe he had acted arrogantly toward a senior, or simply greeted him with a nod of his chin.
So let's apologize first.
“……”
“……”
Silence settled over the studio.
The MC blinked.
“You gave me a doughnut that day. Why are you sorry?”
“……Ah.”
Park Songhoo could do something like that?!
Flustered, Park Songmin fumbled for an answer.
“……I should have given you a bigger doughnut.”
The moment he said that—
“Puhahahahaha!”
“That's right, this hyung isn't satisfied with ordinary-sized doughnuts.”
“Wow, this is a whole different level of apology. I've never seen someone apologize over the size!”
“Uhehehehe! Is he insane?”
The entire cast burst into laughter.
“How long have you been holding a grudge over one doughnut? That's some serious resentment.”
The conversation naturally shifted toward the MC's appetite.
The MC scratched his head and said,
“Songhoo, the doughnut had a hole in it that day. Want to apologize for that too?”
“……Next time, I'll prepare one without a hole.”
“Uahahahaha! Then it wouldn't be a doughnut!”
The studio once again erupted.
Park Songmin secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness that went smoothly……
***
JH Entertainment, CEO's Office.
Baek Hoseon leaned his chair all the way back and stared at the ceiling.
There was a simple reason he had sent that long message.
It was because of what he had heard from Jo Yonggi.
“Hyung Songhoo…… He was much more humble than before. I seriously thought he was a completely different person.”
“A different person……”
Park Songhoo.
Baek Hoseon had first cast that guy seven years ago.
He had spotted his face on the street and immediately handed him a business card, but even the way he accepted it was
unusual.
He had glanced at the card, scanned Baek Hoseon from head to toe, and then walked away indifferently.
With a company of their caliber, most people would either openly show their excitement on their faces or accept the card
awkwardly and nervously.
That's when he knew.
This guy had incredible guts.
He never got intimidated in front of his seniors, said whatever he wanted to directors, and whenever another actor
didn't mesh well with him, he openly showed it on his face.
He had heard the word arrogant so many times from people in the industry that it practically rang in his ears, but the
reason that arrogance could somehow be packaged as charm was purely because of his face.
“For a guy like that to have become a decent human being……”
Had he spent his year-long period of self-reflection shut inside his room eating nothing but mugwort and garlic?
During his time in the industry, Baek Hoseon had seen countless celebrities return after periods of self-reflection.
Self-reflection?
What a joke.
They usually went overseas, took some time to relax, and came back.
Only a tiny minority actually changed.
Could Park Songhoo be one of that tiny minority?
He looked out the window.
The sun was setting.
By now, filming for <Our Hospital> should be nearing its end.
Did the shoot go well?
Did he make the broadcast entertaining?
To be honest, there was no way he had.
Park Songhoo had never been a funny person.
That was Baek Hoseon's cold assessment as his agency CEO.
That guy lived off his face, not his mouth.
Becoming more humble didn't suddenly make someone entertaining on a variety show.
The most realistic scenario was that he would quietly sit there reacting to things until the broadcast ended.
I wonder if he just spent the whole thing reacting again.
Still, at least the buzz surrounding his return would guarantee some ratings.
Even if the show wasn't entertaining, the name Park Songhoo carried weight.
I should take things a little slower from now on.
Park Songhoo had always been so unpredictable that Baek Hoseon kept a very tight rein on him.
For example, he had openly gotten into arguments with directors during filming three times.
That was why Baek Hoseon personally managed his schedules and projects, cramming his calendar and narrowing down his
choices.
But if Jo Yonggi was right and he really had changed……
Baek Hoseon was willing to loosen the reins.
If he showed signs of reverting to his old self, though, everything would immediately go back to the way it was.
At least he has terrible taste in choosing projects.
Whenever Baek Hoseon thought about the projects Park Songhoo himself had brought to him saying he wanted to do them,
his head began to ache.
Every single one had been a box-office disaster.
At the very least, he should choose projects that could make use of his looks. How did he manage to step on nothing
but landmines every single time?
But that wasn't important right now.
Before worrying about box-office results, he needed to confirm whether this change was genuine.
Baek Hoseon was worried that all of this might simply be another performance by Park Songhoo.
Then again, his acting was so terrible that if it really was an act, it would probably be exposed pretty soon……
Just then, his phone buzzed.
It was the PD in charge of <Our Hospital>.
The filming must be over.
“Hello.”
The moment he answered, an excited voice poured through the speaker.
“CEO!”
What was this?
Had he caused some kind of accident?
“What's the deal with Park Songhoo?!”
Sigh.
I knew it. You can't fix someone who doesn't want to be fixed……
“I've been a PD for years, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've laughed this much on set!”