101. I Don't Want to Ruin the Shoot
He was the sort of man who swore like it was a term of endearment.
But anyone who could see a youkai was clearly no ordinary person, and the man seemed every bit as startled that Rembrary had seen one too. Still, Rembrary held his tongue and simply stood there.
Yeomra had said that in the other world there were groups who hunted Saints — and did they not hunt youkai and evil spirits besides? That spear-wielding man might very well be a Saint hunter himself.
"Huh? Why aren't you answering?"
When Rembrary just stood there staring blankly, the man tilted his head — then, with a sudden "Oh!" of realization, hastily hid the broken spear behind his back. He flashed a crooked grin and pressed on.
"Man, you've got some nerve, though. You saw that thing and just chased after it? Doesn't it look obviously dangerous to you?"
Rembrary continued to regard him in silence, and the man grew flustered, stammering out a question.
"Can you... not see it? No, that can't be it. You chased after it plain as day."
When the silence stretched on, the man rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Is this about how people treat you like a freak if you admit you can see 'that kind of thing'? Hey, no worries. I can see them too. I mean, sure, folks who claim they see that stuff do tend to get written off as attention-seekers."
Just then, a voice rang out from a distance. "Yeon-woo!"
It was Jong-woo.
As if the voice were some kind of exorcism talisman, the spear-wielding man flinched, spun on his heel, and bolted in the opposite direction — like someone desperate not to have his face seen.
Rembrary stared after him for a moment, then turned and walked back toward Jong-woo's voice.
"Where'd you run off to? You're up. They said to wait standby."
"There was a strange man wandering around, so I went to investigate."
"You're the strangest person I've ever met, so it's terrifying to hear that *you* found someone strange."
"He was carrying a broken spear."
"Shouldn't we report that?"
"Yes. Do report it."
While Jong-woo flailed in alarm, Rembrary quietly leaned over to Sa Gam-jae.
"The Ox-Headed Monster that tried to attack Lim Yu-han earlier has appeared again."
"Is that why you went after it?"
"It is. But someone else was attacking the creature. He was carrying a spear."
"A spear?"
"It didn't seem to be that organization you mentioned before — Nakru, was it?"
"I will look into it."
Sa Gam-jae gave a curt nod, then — taking out not his manager-work phone but a battered old handset — slipped away to a spot where no one was around.
Got back from the shoot earlier... and there's a lot on my mind right now.
Not anything related to the shoot,
Hmm. If I ask whether I can even tell this story... the answer is probably no.
Anyway, my heart is feeling rather complicated in all sorts of ways.
Ah, let's talk about romance, then.
Actually, the PD called me at noon today and said this: put more of my true feelings into the romance and everyday-life segments, because that's the only way they'll have enough cutaway footage to fill the screen.
But haven't I always talked plenty about Ms. Jang Tae-ri and Mr. Shin Jo-woon?
I don't know what more they want me to say.
True feelings, they say. True feelings. I'm fairly certain I've shared a great many of those already.
For instance: that Mr. Shin Jo-woon is a whale-anchovy. Or an anchovy-whale.
The PD called again. Apparently "talk about your true feelings" actually meant "please stop talking about food."
Did I really talk about food that much?
Our dorm might be changing.
Jong-woo hyung dropped a hint about it once before, but now the thing itself has marched right up to our doorstep.
Nothing's decided yet — they're scouting locations now, and every candidate house they've shortlisted is apparently too cramped for all five of us to live in together.
It's already too cramped for five. Five people, one bedroom, one bathroom.
In my original world, a house like this wouldn't even count as a house. It would be a single room.
"And where exactly is your original world?"
That question just now came from Taein, who pushed open the bathroom door and walked in mid-recording.
That's just how he is. A person will be in the bathroom, and he'll periodically open the door and stroll in.
At this point it has to be deliberate. An absolute pervert...
Continuing on —
Taein tried to delete the footage, but there is no delete function on this thing.
He stormed out grumbling, and I am now recording again.
Ah, and the "original world" I mentioned earlier refers to my past life, everyone.
Anyway, back to the matter of the dorm.
The five of us are already packed into a house that's too small, and now, when we move, we're being told to split into two groups because even that won't fit?
I have no idea where they intend for us to move. A doghouse?
In any case, I declared that if we're dividing up the members, I would share a house with Jungseo.
Jungseo agreed without hesitation,
and Hye-gyeol scrambled to latch onto our side as well, insisting he'd room with me and Jungseo.
So I thought that would be the end of it — but surprisingly, Taein and Cathy both declared they refuse to live in a house together, just the two of them.
When Jong-woo hyung asked who they *would* want to live with, Taein said Jungseo, and Cathy said me.
Their opinions refused to align, and in the end no decision was reached. This is a disaster.
I consulted Mr. Shin Jo-woon about all this, and he says he has a spare room and that I should come live with him.
He even claims he can provide pizza with a different topping every meal.
When I asked why he was offering such suspiciously generous terms, he said the pig at his house — the one who looked just like me — has passed away and ascended to heaven.
He says looking at me reminds him of that pig, and that we should live together... It feels like an insult, and yet I am somewhat tempted.
Two in the afternoon.
This morning at eleven, Jong-woo hyung phoned Mr. Shin Jo-woon and scolded him: do not lure me away with food.
Mr. Shin Jo-woon apparently replied by asking whether he could instead lure me away with a contract, or something to that effect.
Jong-woo hyung hung up in a panic, then sternly reminded us that we still have plenty of time left on our own contract.
Hearing that, it occurred to me: Mr. Shin Jo-woon is the CEO of another entertainment agency, isn't he.
I keep forgetting, because the whale image is so strong.
Five in the afternoon.
I was summoned by the CEO.
He asked whether I was planning to defect to Mr. Shin Jo-woon's agency, so I demanded two bathrooms, one private bedroom, and pizza with a different topping every meal if he wanted to keep me — and got scolded for it.
Ten at night.
I asked Cathy, point-blank.
"We're not even close. Why do you want to share a room with me?"
And Cathy... one moment. There's something down below.
Rembrary switched off the self-cam and looked down over the veranda railing.
A man stood below — someone he had a vague feeling he'd seen before — waving up at him.
But the face wouldn't come to mind right away, and as Rembrary stood there squinting down at him, the man began fishing something out and holding it up.
A spear. An unbroken one.
It clicked. It was the man who had been chasing the Ox-Headed Monster during the filming of Dear God.
The moment it became clear that Rembrary had recognized him, the man gestured for him to come down.
Rembrary stared down at him for a long moment, then went back inside, entered his bedroom, and went to sleep.
Rembrary ran into that man again the next day, at a Madeline Cosmetics promotional event.
He had dropped by briefly to lend his face to the cosmetics he endorsed, and the man was there.
The man wore a forced smile over an angry scowl, and the moment an opportunity arose for the two of them to speak privately, he dropped the smile and hissed under his breath.
"What country's etiquette says it's fine to slam the window and walk off when someone asks you to come down for a minute?"
"You're a stranger. You could be a stalker."
"You know full well I'm not."
"A man I glimpsed once shows up under my window in the middle of the night — anyone would call that a stalker."
At Rembrary's flat reply, the man thought, huh, fair point? — and, though it clearly rankled, he conceded.
"I mean... yeah. I guess it could look that way."
Rembrary silently cursed Sa Gam-jae in his heart.
He had asked the reaper to find out whether this man was Nakru or not — so what on earth had the man been doing all this time, letting his target approach him first?
A truly degenerate grim reaper, that one, who did nothing but diligently collect swimwear.
At any rate, Rembrary looked down at the man, calm and unconcerned.
Even if this man wasn't Nakru, he couldn't possibly know that Rembrary was a High Priest — and even if he did know, he wouldn't dare try anything with this many people around.
He was right. The man had no idea whatsoever that Rembrary was a High Priest.
He had simply heard that the idol famous for being a total weirdo could see a youkai no ordinary person could see — and had even chased after it — and his curiosity had gotten the better of him. That was all.
And yet...
"You chased after that Ox-Headed Monster before, didn't you?"
At the man's words, Rembrary's mouth — which had been opening readily enough just a moment ago — clamped shut like a pot lid.
The man exhaled and pressed a hand to his temple.
"I watched the whole chase. That's why I'm asking."
"If someone with a cow's head comes running past, anyone would follow."
"No. Normally, people run the other way."
"..."
"Anyway, you weren't scared at all. Am I right?"
"I was scared, though."
"No, you weren't scared one bit — you went after it. And listen, that thing is ugly enough to startle even people with the 'Eyes.' But you didn't bat an eye. Which means you'd seen that cow head before. Am I right?"
Rembrary let out a sigh and answered in a tone of utter tedium.
"I heard what people like you are called."
In that instant, the man flinched.
Then he fixed Rembrary with a tense, wary stare.
"You know my identity?"
"I do."
Apparently, people like him were called answer-fishers — folks who ask a question with the answer already set in their heads.
Thanks to his diligent studies of the internet, the newly shrewd Rembrary knew such terms as well.
Perhaps that answer had startled him more than anything else. The man tensed and took half a step back.
He looked Rembrary up and down, then asked.
"What exactly are you?"
"An idol."
"Then how does an idol know my identity?"
"Anyone could tell after three sentences of conversation with you."
"Do I... give it away that badly?"
"Yep."
The man blinked several times and muttered that this was troubling. Then, in a voice barely audible, he grumbled on to himself for a while, raked both hands wildly through his hair, and said to Rembrary:
"Fine. Then I'll skip the games. You seem to know a thing or two about this side of the world anyway. Help me out."
"I'd rather not."
"And how do you know what I'm going to ask for?"
"What would you ask for?"
"To catch the Ox-Headed Monster. Only the thing's gone into hiding — it barely shows itself anymore."
"I'd still rather not."
At Rembrary's flat refusal, the man bristled, his face twisting.
"You know who I am, and you still won't help?"
When Rembrary only stared at him blankly, the man spat out a curse in irritation and pressed on.
"Even if you couldn't care less about helping me, you'd still want to keep your shoot from falling apart, wouldn't you? So help."
"What do you mean, my shoot could fall apart?"
"That Ox-Headed Monster — the fact that you recognized it tells me it's shown up around that film set more than once. Am I wrong?"
"?"
Rembrary raised one eyebrow in a sharp, skeptical slant.
It had appeared exactly twice, in fact...
But what did that have to do with the shoot?
"The thing it's hunting seems to be one of the cast members of the drama you're filming right now. So help me out — you wouldn't want production shut down because a cast member ended up dead, would you?"
End of Chapter 101: You Don't Want to Ruin the Shoot, Do You?