Major Buzz? Major Blaze? (1)
The next morning when Jeong Seo-hoon opened his eyes, he felt refreshingly clear-headed for the first time in ages.
During the final shoot of the drama, the vivid memory of visiting Rashid's world for just over a year lingered sharply.
The moment they succeeded in the last operation without a single sacrifice, laughing together on the transport plane as they headed to the resort.
Maybe it was because he'd had his fill of fun there before returning here. His heart felt light.
He'd even dreamed last night of sweeping up stragglers with his squad mates.
My head feels crystal clear.
It was as if all the grime built up in his mind had been wiped clean.
It might be temporary. He could face grueling pain again if thrown back into the battlefield.
But for now, he could savor this clarity of mind.
And...
I want to stand in front of the camera.
A new thirst had taken root in his chest.
It wasn't like before.
This wasn't the dark longing that denied Jeong Seo-hoon's life and yearned only for that world.
The last sight of his squad mates had been them blissfully surrounded by booze, music, and women at the resort.
I want to act.
The special scenery visible only before the camera, the ecstatic immersion it led to.
He wanted to fully experience that sense of unity.
Not just born from Rashid's deprivation, but to quench Jeong Seo-hoon's own thirst.
This was Jeong Seo-hoon's thirst—and the weary lieutenant's secret hope, sketched in hiding.
The lieutenant had surely envied them while watching the resort's theater stage.
Jeong Seo-hoon habitually checked his phone schedule and let out a wry smile.
"What the hell am I doing? The shoot's over—no, the drama's done."
He'd been mumbling like an idiot about what time today's shoot was.
He hadn't searched viewer reactions. He wasn't curious.
What he wanted wasn't how he appeared in their eyes.
Just that special scenery visible only before the camera, and to taste that ecstasy again.
Suddenly, Kim Sang-hee's laughter came to mind.
'Don't forget that feeling right now—cherish it specially. Seo-hoon, you've just completed one world, one life. How many finished worlds do you think are in my laptop?'
He could understand her pride now.
"That place is precious and missed, but so is life here."
When he'd first returned from the battlefield, he'd started acting out of denial of this world, desperate to go back.
Believing the camera showing that world's scenery would someday return him there.
His mindset had changed now.
This life, Jeong Seo-hoon's, had become just as precious as that one.
"It's a shame we didn't hit 30%, but 29.9% is still a massive hit. You know that, right?"
"Yeah? I don't really get ratings."
"This is a real blockbuster. Ah, that 0.1% stings though. Still, 3 and 2 in the tens place feel totally different."
"You just said they were basically the same."
"Anyway! Your value's skyrocketed. The whole drama scene's in a Jeong Il-byeong frenzy right now. Bet you've got a truckload of scripts incoming."
"I haven't even seen them. You have?"
Jeong Su-ryeon shrugged.
"Nah, me neither. Just heard the talk. Ah, we gotta get you an agency quick. Dad's coming today of all days."
Jeong Su-ryeon showed him a summary of viewer reactions still lingering in the aftermath.
At least she's got a knack for this stuff.
He kept the thought to himself—she'd screech if he said it aloud—and checked what she'd compiled.
"These reactions won't last a thousand years. Wake up. At best a week, usually two or three days and it's all forgotten. Viewers gotta get back to real life too."
"Kinda empty for the production team, huh."
"Why empty? Ratings and name value last forever. Illegal will follow you in your filmography till you die—or civilization collapses."
Jeong Su-ryeon kept showing drama reactions as she continued.
"So no slacking off. Strike while your name's hot and jump into the next project. Agency first."
"Writer noona already seems set on me for hers."
"Obviously do that. But Kim Sang-hee needs a break too, right? Think at least a year. Grab something good in the meantime. Not playtime."
"She planning that long a hiatus?"
"That's short. Writers usually take longer. Creativity ain't Saudi oil—you can't just pump it endlessly. Right, business phone lately?"
"Haven't checked in ages. Too many messages."
"Damn, at least check on time even if you don't reply. Gimme."
Jeong Su-ryeon snatched Jeong Seo-hoon's main phone and checked the logs.
Her face paled at the endless missed calls and text bombs.
"No clue where to start."
"You set dinner plans? Gotta clear out tonight—Dad's coming."
"Oh right. Gotta bounce before he arrives."
On the day Dad came home, the siblings always vacated for parents' alone time.
"Ah, crap. Nowhere to go? What to kill time with."
"Stay home then. Hole up in your second-floor room, pretend you're out."
"Too stuffy. Hey, wanna drink all night?"
"Why drink all night with my sister."
"Who said it's fun? No plans outta nowhere."
"Broadcast life's wasted. Stuck around that long and your network's still trash."
"What about you? Got something?"
Jeong Seo-hoon's meaningful smile narrowed Jeong Su-ryeon's eyes.
"No way Yoo Jeong-ah?"
"Nah. Writer noona, PD hyung, and me."
"Hey, include me. We all worked together."
Jeong Su-ryeon was the junior AD.
No group dinner, no drinks with those two.
"Wanna get close to writer noona too. Lemme leech off my bro."
"I'll ask."
Song Jeong-woo and Kim Sang-hee agreed readily.
Staff who'd made the drama together, and Jeong Seo-hoon's actual sister—no reason to refuse.
The siblings headed straight to Kim Sang-hee's Cheongdam-dong bar.
Besides PD and writer, one unfamiliar man.
Kim Sang-hee greeted warmly.
"Come on in. Su-ryeon, long time."
"Hi, writer noona."
"Still keeping you two under wraps?"
"Yeah, somehow."
The stranger piped up curiously.
"You two a couple? Wow, figures. Yoo Jeong-ah scandal was just noise then."
The siblings whipped around, stone-faced.
"We're siblings."
"Siblings."
The man awkwardly laughed it off.
"Ah, sorry. You don't look alike at all—couldn't imagine."
Kim Sang-hee chimed in.
"Right? Both visuals on point, but never seen siblings this unalike."
"He's Dad's spitting image, I'm Mom's. Mom loves him way more—says it's like a time machine to young Dad."
Song Jeong-woo boomed a laugh.
"So Su-ryeon, you get all Dad's love then?"
"Nah, PD. Dad prefers him a bit, but not like Mom. She buys him whatever, skips me."
"Sis, same here. Sounds like I got everything growing up."
The stranger, Hwang In-jun, scratched his head introducing himself.
"Anyway, nice to meet you both. Hwang In-jun. Make my living in movies."
Jeong Su-ryeon clapped, thrilled.
"Ah! Knew it! Face rang a bell—Director Hwang In-jun of Black Valley?"
"Yes, that's me."
"So thrilled! Loved that film. I'm Jeong Su-ryeon."
"Nice to meet you. You an actress like your brother? Killer visuals."
Jeong Su-ryeon shook her head brightly.
"No. Learning directing under PD Song. Junior AD now."
"She's talented. Future powerhouse PD, Director Hwang."
"Didn't you say no head for it, can't even be AD?"
"That's tough love to push you."
"Still admit it's verbal abuse."
"Everyone grows through it. This industry's brutal—you know. Mine's gentlemanly soft though..."
Ice broken in a flash, the five chatted like old pals.
As drinks loosened tongues, Song Jeong-woo teased.
"Truth? In-jun begged to meet Seo-hoon once."
"Thanks."
"Worry more than thanks. He's a Yoo Jeong-ah sasaeng."
"Hyung, come on—not a sasaeng."
"You turned from stan to hater. Blackened into full stalker. Who doesn't know Director Hwang's her sasaeng?"
Kim Sang-hee cackled, backing him.
"Ex-fans turned haters are scariest. One 'nim' and they blacklist you."
"You two... Seo-hoon might misunderstand. I'm no sasaeng. Still good with Jeong-ah. Please don't."
Jeong Seo-hoon replied calmly.
"No misunderstanding. Don't worry, Director."
"Who knows the jealousy he's hiding. Might slur drunk, 'How was kissing my Jeong-ah?'"
"Sigh, gotta date or marry quick. Anyway, Seo-hoon, loved Illegal. Binged straight through."
"Not here for the scandal then."
Jeong Seo-hoon smiled leisurely, but inwardly flames flickered.
Because the man was a film director.
Su-ryeon's excitement meant he was big-name.
PD and director.
Both could sate his acting hunger.
Such a presence reignited forgotten thirst, dopamine surging.
"So many questions. Rookie, right?"
"Yes."
"Never practiced acting before?"
"No."
"No rhetoric or vocal training?"
"Not that, but practiced enunciation alone. Referenced announcer techniques for presentations."
Precisely, learned in Rashid's world.
From sergeant up, leading troops meant army-wide training in commands and leadership.
Propaganda officers stationed daily; standouts drafted to propaganda units.
In shell-riddled fields, loud volume and precise mouth shapes were vital.
"Explains the clear diction. Acting was even better. Know what I thought of Lee Jin-wook?"
"What?"
"How many people has actor Jeong Seo-hoon butchered and dissected in his head, and how brutally? That."
Jeong Seo-hoon calmly sipped, alcohol sliding down his throat.
Hwang In-jun, unable to hide excitement, clenched and unclenched fingers, leaning in.
"How'd you control emotions for Lee Jin-wook?"
Jeong Seo-hoon recalled the vivid battlefield scenery always visible before the camera.
And answered leisurely.
"I imagine corpses I've killed piled around me."
"..."
"This is my 'workshop,' treasure vault stuffed with trophies. Picture the scenery like that."
"...Incredibly specific."
"Always was—Lee Jin-wook always."
Hwang In-jun swallowed dryly, soundless.
Major Buzz? Major Blaze? (2)