He Only Plays Villains - Episode 12: Do I Really Die in Episode 2? (2)
Jeong Seo-hoon washed his face with cold water.
He lifted his head, water still dripping, and stared into the mirror.
The young man reflected there wasn't some ordinary college student—he still wore the bloodstained expression of a soldier.
'It's the camera.'
The 'soldier' reached that conclusion with firm conviction.
Twice now, he'd experienced this bizarre phenomenon.
Everything except his scene partner vanished, replaced by visions infused with the soldier's life.
Both times, it had happened precisely when the main camera rolled.
There could be other causes, but for now, that was the only common factor.
'Not just any camera, though.'
It hadn't occurred with the cameras his sister had set up for content, nor with the making-of film camera.
'Does it only react to the head director's camera?'
Song Jeong-woo, the PD, was the command tower overseeing the entire drama.
Whether he held the camera himself or not, did the phenomenon only trigger when he was seriously capturing the acting and the scene?
More than confusion, he wanted to know.
What conditions triggered it, and...
"If I can see it again, over and over..."
Deep inside him, the soldier's heart loomed larger and stronger.
He missed his fallen comrades. He yearned for the living ones.
One moment he'd been in the thick of battle, blood pouring everywhere, and suddenly he'd been ejected back to 'reality.' Were his comrades in trouble now?
Had he been marked as a deserter, or listed as missing in action?
Thinking of the young soldier whose left arm had been shredded by artillery, howling in agony, made his chest ache.
"If I keep acting, if I keep touching that place..."
Could he return there someday?
His fingertips trembled faintly.
Who in their right mind would want to go back to that hellish battlefield?
For Jeong Seo-hoon, it would be horrifying.
But the soldier's heart longed for his comrades, his subordinates—for everything there.
"If I keep standing in front of that camera..."
Not just the past he'd lived through there.
Maybe he could even reach the reality he'd escaped from.
Was this baseless hope?
He let out a wry chuckle, calming his boiling emotions.
The soldier's mind soothed Jeong Seo-hoon's.
"Don't worry, Jeong Seo-hoon. I'm just... curious about that place. I miss it, that's all. Relax."
Because the time spent there was part of his life, too.
When she'd heard about his drama role, his mother had reacted more nonchalantly than expected.
"Oh? A minor part?"
"Yeah, Mom. Just one or two episodes."
"You aren't thinking..."
"It's just for fun. Plus, the pay will get me a MacBook. I've gotta go back to school eventually, and I can't use that old one from before the army."
"Fine, whatever. You'll figure your life out, Seo-hoon."
"Ugh, you know your precious daughter gets stabbed by the thorns in your casual words, right?"
"Precious daughter? You gave me years of grief with your celebrity delusions. Don't go filling Seo-hoon's head with nonsense. Our Seo-hoon will be a tenured MIT professor someday."
"MIT doesn't take just anyone. If it was possible, I'd have gone already. Mom, love your son all you want, but maybe set realistic dreams?"
"What? Dreams should always be big."
"How about Asia's top star, then? No money worries for generations. That famous Hong Kong noir actor's worth like 8 trillion won."
"Trying to plant ideas again. Get out, I can't even look at you."
Dismissed like that, Jeong Su-ryeon didn't leave alone.
She grabbed Jeong Seo-hoon's wrist, dragged him to his room, and shut the door.
"Did the PD say anything today? Like, fix this, that kind of direction?"
"Nope. Why?"
"Just... heard something weird. That Lee Min-soo sunbaenim. Said your acting's not bad, but it doesn't fit the role's vibe."
Jeong Seo-hoon recalled the PD's monitoring of his performance.
-It's great. Just keep doing exactly that.
"He said just keep doing what I'm doing."
"Really? Then maybe Lee Min-soo sunbaenim misjudged... Well, he's getting on in years; his read on trends might be off."
Jeong Su-ryeon didn't know Lee Jin-wook was actually the main villain driving the plot.
Only the PD, writer, assistant director, and heads of cinematography and art knew for now.
In the teaser and promos, Lee Jin-wook appeared at the end with the extras.
Writer Kim Sang-hee was lost in delightful fantasies of flipping viewer expectations.
-Dies in episode 2, reappears at the end of 4, reveals his true nature in 6. That's when the tension really ramps up.
The role that starts as a pitiful victim squeezing sympathy from housewives turns out to be the mastermind behind every crime.
Without meeting Jeong Seo-hoon, Lee Jin-wook's character would've been a forgettable extra, stripped of its identity.
"Anyway, something to ask."
"What?"
"Hwang Ra-hee. She told me since she sticks around till the end, even if I die in episode 2, let's get along until then."
"Is she messing with you?"
"Figured as much?"
"But Hwang Ra-hee's not the type to troll anyone. She's pretty straightforward. Think positive—maybe she just wants to get along while it lasts."
"Not bothered. Just curious."
"Shooting starts tomorrow, so rest up. Gotta nail it. Historic moment for Jeong Su-ryeon's PD squad's first assault."
"Newbie already playing division commander? Earn some stripes first."
"You're the newbie, Seo-hoon. I'm at least officer rank. Anyway, sleep."
Jeong Su-ryeon shut the door and snorted in disbelief.
"Hwang Ra-hee, that hag. Who does she think she is, wagging her tail at anyone?"
He wasn't excited or nervous for his first shooting day.
There was a slight thrill, though.
Would it happen again when the main camera rolled? The chance to verify his conviction had arrived.
Jeong Su-ryeon had to arrive way earlier than the actors, so Jeong Seo-hoon rode with her at dawn.
"You should've slept more. Makeup won't hold otherwise. How many hours?"
"Enough. Not tired. Feeling good."
"If your makeup cakes, it'll look weird on screen. Ugh, that's why I said I could drive."
"This time, total write-off instead of just the bumper?"
They arrived at the set before long.
Staff already bustled about, prepping.
Jeong Su-ryeon slipped into the crowd; Jeong Seo-hoon found an empty chair.
Shouts calling each other, heavy drags, cranes hauling lights...
Watching the sweaty chaos, memories of soldiers working the deck surfaced unbidden.
An impulse tingled in his fingertips. Without thinking, he pulled out his sketchbook.
His pencil hand flew, shading contrasts.
Marines dashing across the deck sprang to life.
Flip. New page, another scene.
An officer aiming a pistol at reluctant subordinates, ordering them into the meat grinder.
At the paper's center, the muzzle hovered over a demonic glare demanding obedience.
Flip. Now a soldier, dead comrades on his back, wailing.
Etching that screaming self-portrait, his hand twitched like a trauma flashback.
But he didn't stop.
Shading furiously, pausing to burn past visions onto his retinas—
"Art school grad?"
A stranger's perfume settled beside him.
He'd thought she'd pass, but she lingered, then spoke.
Only then did he turn, feigning sudden awareness.
"Draws really well. Marines?"
"Served in Seoul."
"Oh, thought Marines at least. So vivid. Especially the landing."
It was Yoo Jeong-ah, the drama's female lead.
Prosecutor chasing cases against lawyer Cha Do-jin, hunting the culprit.
At 27, riding a career high, her worth was probably a hundred times his.
She had no idea the main villain she'd pursue throughout was right in front of her.
"Do you sketch to get into character?"
"Not really. Just calming my mind."
"Should be a writer, not an actor. Heard looks boost book sales these days? Dying in episode 2, but taking it so seriously. Still early, showing up like this."
Jeong Seo-hoon wondered again.
Trolling, or bored killing time?
Staff and lesser-known actors whispered, surprised the top-star lead approached an unknown first.
"But seriously, do I really die in episode 2? Not sticking around?"
This guy's the real culprit, right? (1)
