Who Do You Like Best? (2)
220 kg.
That was the weight her little brother had just deadlifted right in front of Jeong Su-ryeon's eyes.
As far as she knew, anything over 170 kg—more than his own body weight—was elite-level lifting.
Yet her brother, who hardly ever worked out, had casually repped it out twelve times and set it down like it was nothing.
Am I seeing things right now?
During the filming of Illegal, there'd been a minor accident on the Han River bridge when the rope winch malfunctioned.
Her brother had scaled the wall back then using just his arm strength, lightly kicking off it like it was no big deal.
She'd chalked it up to all the rappelling he'd done in the military and let it slide.
But 220 kg deadlift? No way.
"Did you secretly train at the gym instead of studying for the CSAT or something? Or were you the general's kid doing special workouts?"
"What are you talking about?"
"This doesn't make sense. You barely exercised, just studied like a machine, and now you're pulling 220 kg?"
"Guess I was born strong."
"Your face isn't even flushed, no sweat at all. Can you lift even heavier?"
Jeong Su-ryeon had already whipped out her phone, ready to record.
"Come on, try it. Load on more plates and go until you can't. I'll drop this on B-Lab Community and snag the top post today."
"Nah, I'm done. It was tiring enough."
"Hey, why? Let's add more! Fans will lose their minds— they'll be up all night if we bait 'em with this."
"I don't want attention for this. I want recognition for my acting."
"Says the guy who leveraged his grad school card for ratings firepower."
"Muscle dude image isn't my vibe."
"Oh ho, scared it'll ruin your brainiac sex god aesthetic, so no dice on this concept?"
Jeong Su-ryeon regretfully pocketed her phone.
"Fine, whatever. Still a shame, though. This could've been prime content, nicely packaged and sold."
"If you're really desperate to sell something later, do it then. But why'd you come down here? Not like you're working out."
The home gym on the first floor had been built by their father for the kids' health, but their mother was the only one who'd ever used it.
She focused on flexibility over weights, so the barbells and dumbbells had been best friends with dust for years.
"You got home ages ago, but I couldn't find you anywhere, so I went looking."
"Why were you looking for me?"
"What'd you talk about with Lee Seo-hyeon at the outdoor table earlier?"
"Just acting, colleagues, next projects. Why?"
"Someone snuck a pic and posted it on SNS. Don't know whose account, but reporters waiting for bait snatched it up and spun scandal stories."
"Another scandal?"
Jeong Su-ryeon showed him the scandal article on her phone.
"Communities are buzzing and sharing it everywhere, but reactions are meh. Maybe because we faked one on B-Lab last time and let off some steam? Either way, whether it's real or fake, 'Jeong Seo-hoon the actress killer not having scandals would be weirder'—that's the vibe."
At first, scandals had caused a huge uproar every time, but now if one didn't drop, it felt almost boring. Routine.
"Fandom reaction?"
"They're already eating it up. But this is key—there was a photo that went up with yours and Lee Seo-hyeon's at the table, then got hastily deleted. Fans here screenshotted it."
The photo Jeong Su-ryeon showed was of the Grand Prince and his wife kissing.
From today's shoot.
"Hey, know what this means?"
"The original leaker's an insider?"
"Bingo!"
Jeong Su-ryeon excitedly spat as she rushed on.
"Lighting guy Park Sang-o! It was him! After you left today, the whole crew flipped out!"
"How'd they figure it?"
"Downloaded the deleted photos—only the shooting info wasn't scrubbed from those. PD saw it and rounded up the entire crew for a surprise phone check."
"They can do that? Privacy invasion much?"
"Nah, just asked to see the device model numbers. Said they'd compare to the ones embedded in the photo info."
No handing over phones or exposing files—just flashing model numbers. Everyone would've complied easily.
"Lighting's Park Sang-o kept dodging, saying he lost his phone. But the assistant director had a photo from a recent dinner—Park sent it from his own phone—and checked the shooting info..."
"Model numbers matched."
"Yup. Caught red-handed, head down, full confession."
"So during Illegal, when we..."
"Yeah. He was the one who fed the sibling scandal leak when we snuck out."
Jeong Seo-hoon remembered the man's face clearly.
Early thirties, quiet but friendly, hardworking type.
"Why'd he do it?"
"Won't say, but PD thinks someone paid him to leak internal info."
"If it started with Illegal, probably not targeting the PD. Writer maybe?"
"Who knows? But he fed the sibling scandal too, so it's you, dummy."
"Me? Why?"
"Beats me. Could be someone quietly burned by you, plotting since Illegal."
Jeong Su-ryeon looked relieved, like a bad tooth finally pulled.
"Always suspected sabotage, but now it's cleared up clean. Park Sang-o's off the crew immediately."
"No other actions?"
"Not suing or anything—no point. Won't stop you if you go personal, but dragging it out won't help your image."
Rumors spread like wildfire in this industry. Park Sang-o was done for.
All those years chasing lighting director dreams, crumbled in a blink. No more rice bowl.
"All that fuss over just this?"
"Studio was chaos today because of it. PD said if you can't show your model number, deal with the suspicions yourself. Brutal."
"You too?"
"Nah, blood sister's exempt."
"Lucky the real perp surfaced. Otherwise, words would've flown."
"Pixel phone saved me."
"They count that as a phone? Wild."
Jeong Su-ryeon, having vented everything, headed out of the gym feeling refreshed.
Now she'd hit B-Lab Community anonymously, spinning a plausible tale from stitched-up rumors.
That's when Yoo Jeong-ah called.
"I heard about the lighting guy too. Glad it got sorted, even if late."
"Yeah. No clue why he did it."
"That's this industry. From the moment you blew up with Illegal, Seo-hoon, you made enemies everywhere."
"I get it, but I don't. Why hold onto petty hate? So wasteful."
"Don't let your guard down just because you nabbed one. Second, third Park Sang-os are lurking, hiding their motives. Top star life's exhausting."
"Noted."
"But that photo that blew it open—the one you accidentally posted and deleted quick."
"Yeah."
He could guess where this was going.
"Kissing Lee Seo-hyeon unnie? Looked real sweet."
"PD and writer pushed hard—said it'd hit 40% ratings for sure."
"Sigh. Writer Kim Sang-hee wasn't like that before you. Why's she pushing now?"
"......"
"She's famous for no kiss scenes, no romance. But twice already with you. If she's doing it, why not make it tender in Illegal too?"
Hwang Sun-hye the prosecutor and Private Lee Jin-uk were cat-and-mouse pursuers—no room for tenderness...
"Was it good? Be honest."
"Nailed the intimate couple vibe, solid scene. Satisfied."
"Slippery as an eel, dodging like always. I won't tell, so spill raw—honestly?"
This was the real point.
Yoo Jeong-ah, probing every gap, finally wore down without a breach.
"Next time, let's sync as a sweet couple."
"Sure. Looking forward to it."
"Don't just look—send me the new script when it drops."
"You knew."
"Any actor not hearing that rumor should retire. I'll wait."
Jeong Seo-hoon ended the call, exhaled lightly, and scanned the equipment.
He loaded more plates onto the 220 kg barbell.
Bar included, total hit 300 kg.
The cold bite of cooled iron, confidence surging with one breath that it would lift easy.
Staring into the full-length mirror, Jeong Seo-hoon gripped the bar simply with both hands and pulled.
The weight defying gravity barely taxed his muscles.
340 kg. Same story.
100 kg, 200, 300—differences in heft registered, but the strain felt identical.
Fiddling with extra plates, debating more, Jeong Seo-hoon glanced at the mirror.
Sleek, lean, toned muscles—hard to believe they'd just hoisted 340 kg effortlessly.
Strength's growing. No—the whole body's getting stronger nonstop.
Not just muscle power.
More like supernatural enhancement etching into every fiber, beyond medical explanation.
Rashid wasn't even this level.
Battle-hardened Rashid was a human weapon, but not transcending humanity like this.
Jeong Seo-hoon pondered testing further, then quietly disassembled the plates and reset everything.
"Eh, more strength can't hurt. No downside in life."
He muttered self-deprecatingly.
* * *
Production company setup was underway.
The disheveled grad student who'd driven the Rolls-Royce Phantom last time showed up at Paju Studio.
First sighting had sparked chaos—everyone thought Professor Lee Se-jong had arrived—but it was just the grad student solo.
"Which one's PD Jang Seung-won?"
"Uh, that's me..."
Jang Seung-won couldn't continue, stunned by the man's state.
Zombie apocalypse?
"Sign everything here. Corporate formation docs."
"Ah, yes. Got it."
"And Seo-hoon? You too—sign it all now."
Jeong Seo-hoon startled mid-reach for the thick envelope.
"You know me?"
"It's me, dude. Hwang Gi-tae."
"Hyung? Gi-tae hyung?"
Jeong Seo-hoon stood, surprised.
"Hyung, what happened? Even when I was around, it wasn't this bad..."
"Your lab domination days were paradise. Should've skipped army, come straight to grad school. You could've deferred."
Realizing they knew each other—and how wrecked Hwang Gi-tae looked—Jang Seung-won's expression shifted oddly.
Is sending Seo-hoon to grad school okay...?
"PhD's doable. Well, looking back, it was. Finishing with triplets? Killing me."
"You got married, hyung?"
"While you were enlisted. Born December last year—triplets make lab life look easy. You should've been there..."
Jang Seung-won couldn't hold back.
"Raising three kids while doing PhD? Sorry, but how do you manage living expenses, childcare?"
Rich family? Nah—shoes too worn.
"Prof hooks us up with salary plus child allowances for three. Lab tradition."
"......"
In the solemn air, Jang Seung-won and Jeong Seo-hoon silently finished signing.
Hwang Gi-tae shuffled the envelope away.
"Submitting to the lawyer today. Thanks. Seo-hoon, catch you in lab later."
Jang Seung-won shuddered faintly.