Ah. It's Broken.
Ha Il-gwon thought.
…Is that thing really a prop?
He asked the assistant director, who thankfully confirmed it was.
Which left the second question.
Was this actually acting?
Gil Ara was one thing. They had cast her through auditions, and she had already shown something extraordinary at the script reading.
The problem was the victim — a bit-part actress.
Fuck…. That doesn't look like acting…
No matter how he looked at it, it was the same. Her body trembling, tears and snot streaming, her expression and screams far too natural. If that really was acting, she had no business doing bit parts.
That was also why the first question had crossed his mind.
And now the third.
Kyaaaaaaaah!!
This is going to pass review, right…?
That face — not so much as blinking at the flying blood, instead steeped in pure happiness. It wasn't even a particularly brutal scene, and that was exactly what made it so chilling.
As a producer, he was more than satisfied. The worry, though, was unavoidable.
Preserve as much of the raw footage as possible in the edit and somehow make it work.
Everyone watching the set was thinking roughly the same thing. And without quite realizing it, they tried to shrink their own presence — an instinctive act, the prey's urge not to catch a mad predator's eye.
Hahahahaha!
Gulp—
On a set that had descended into frenzy because of a single actress, the prey could only manage to swallow dry spit.
And so the filming continued.
Thud—
!!!
The head of the victim mid-performance(?) suddenly dropped. The problem was that the timing was far too early. Cast and crew knew it too, and the sudden development left them all stunned.
Wh-what the hell!!
An emergency. An unexpected situation. Safety came before filming, so Ha Il-gwon was about to call cut — his mouth opened, but action was faster than words.
!!!!
Two fingers, still beaded with bright red blood, went to the victim's neck and checked her pulse.
Everyone froze at the sudden move.
A moment later, Lee Eun-ju's mouth opened as she withdrew her hand.
An expression of lost interest. Gone was the madness in her eyes, the breathing that couldn't contain its excitement. The frenzy that had ruled the set vanished without a sound.
.
.
.
A brief silence.
"M-medical team!! Hurry!!"
"Y-yes!!"
The set turned into chaos in an instant.
Filming was halted.
People rushed over to check on the victim actress, and fortunately they said it was just a simple faint. Of course, Ara hadn't heard that directly. She'd just been standing awkwardly nearby and overheard it.
"Oh! She's up! Are you okay?!"
The woman came to her senses quickly.
"Ugh……. What happened…?"
Lying on the floor, she clutched her head and sat up.
Oh? She's up. Thank goodness.
Ara was relieved. Even if it was just a simple faint, seeing someone collapsed like that was bound to worry her. And since it had happened while acting with her, she couldn't help feeling uneasy.
I should ask if she's okay and apologize.
Even she thought she'd gone too far.
So Ara approached her.
Step— step—
And the woman saw her.
Tremble-tremble-tremble—
Her body started shaking again.
"Huh? What's wrong!"
The medical staff's words beside her no longer registered. Blood still beaded at the tips of her hair. The knife in her hand already had dried bloodstains. And those two yellow eyes were drawing closer and closer.
I-I'm gonna die!!
"Ah……."
Thud—
She fainted again.
"Uh. Uh?"
.
.
.
In the end, she got an earful from the medical staff on set.
Ara was wiping the blood off her entire body with a towel Nam Tae-woo had handed her.
Hoo—
The towel was so thoroughly stained red it was about to lose its original color.
"A-Ara. If you're done with that, h-hand it over…."
"?"
Why is he suddenly stuttering?
Nam Tae-woo, who usually had such a soft image, was somehow stiff, even stammering.
"Ha.ha. Ara. I've been way too rude to you this whole time, haven't I? I'm sorry."
Well now.
Yu Ha-yeong also suddenly came over and awkwardly asked for forgiveness. Jang Min-a had already taken a step back.
Come to think of it…
Ara looked around.
Flinch—
People who met Ara's eyes flinched for a moment and looked away.
At first she'd just figured that was how it was. Her looks were so good, she'd assumed they were just staring. But Ara wasn't completely oblivious either.
I think they're under some massive misunderstanding……?
This wouldn't do. If there was a misunderstanding, it needed to be cleared up right away.
But how?
If she just blurted out that she wasn't crazy, wouldn't that make her sound even crazier? Crazy people always insisted they weren't crazy. So she was stuck.
Of all things, my first role had to be a psychopath……
The privilege she'd thought of as a cheat ability was working against her instead. Still, she at least tried.
"It's a misunderstanding."
"Huh?"
"Whatever you're thinking, it's a misunderstanding."
"R-right, okay."
She'd made her case, at least. Nam Tae-woo had stuttered, but he had said he understood.
"So then…."
"?"
Nam Tae-woo hemmed and hawed, then continued.
"Th-the, the knife. Can you hand over the knife. And if you're done wiping the blood, the towel too…."
"Ah."
Damn. She'd forgotten she was still holding the knife.
"Director. The actress has woken up again and is resting now."
"Good. Got it. Make sure she gets home safely later."
"Yes."
Fortunately, it hadn't escalated into an accident.
Ha Il-gwon, Kim Eun-bi, and Lee Young-min gathered in one place.
"Everyone seems pretty shaken, so let's review among ourselves first."
"Yes."
"Yes."
They began rewatching the flashback scene Ara had just filmed from every angle, one by one. Rear and front. Side and full shot. Even the perpetrator's and victim's POVs. It wasn't a long scene, so they had enough time to go through each one.
"Alright, let's start with this one."
And once again, they made contact with the madness.
"Hmm……."
"Whoa……."
"Uh……."
Kim Eun-bi was genuinely stunned.
What kind of character was Lee Eun-ju? Why had casting her been such an ordeal?
The victim who had fainted. In the story, she was as good as dead. And Lee Eun-ju, watching that, returning to a blank expression in an instant. The madness didn't spill elsewhere — it retreated back into her body. Madness that was thoroughly controlled the moment its target disappeared. As if a switch had been flipped on and off, there was no residual emotion or aftertaste left on her face.
It was a character Kim Eun-bi herself had conceived, but it was a bit absurd. You can write anything on the page. If you write a million-strong army, then a million-strong army exists in the writing. What you describe on the page and what you portray in reality are worlds apart.
That was why this one had a slightly different texture from existing psychopaths, and why casting had been so difficult. They'd even opened auditions to unknowns of either gender, for crying out loud. It had been an audition opened with gritted teeth, and if they still couldn't find anyone there, they were going to compromise in the end.
And then they had seen it. Something thoroughly controlled that no other actor had managed. In that, they had seen a possibility they'd never felt before. They cast her immediately and signed the contract. They were certain on the day of the script reading, and time passed until the day of filming.
Today, they had witnessed the true Lee Eun-ju. The Lee Eun-ju who had only existed in the script of Kim Eun-bi's imagination had burst into reality and dominated the space.
What a shame.
That was what Kim Eun-bi thought.
What if she had been some other profession instead of a hairdresser?
Because the focus had been on the psychopathic serial killer, she hadn't paid much attention to the occupation. She hadn't had the luxury either. What if she'd been a doctor? Knowing the human body so well, wouldn't the cruelty have overflowed even more? What if she'd been a prosecutor or a judge, using the gaps in the law and her power to do something? What if she'd been a cop, completely toying with her colleagues?
Countless inspirations passed through her mind.
Sigh—
Kim Eun-bi let out a breath.
"Hm? Writer Kim, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just… it's a shame. I think I set up Lee Eun-ju too hastily."
"Can't be helped. We didn't have time."
"Yeah. Or I can just write something else later."
"Right! That works. Then you can work with Ara again on that project, yeah?"
"Is that so? Hmm…. I'll think about that later, though…."
"I get it."
"Alright, last one — let's look at the victim's POV."
Just as the three of them were about to play the last clip—
"Mind if I watch with you?"
Lee Seo-jun approached them.
"Ah. Of course, Seo-jun."
"Thank you."
Lee Seo-jun took a seat beside them.
On set that day, he had watched Ara's performance. Because next was his turn.
That day. After the script reading, Min-hyeok hyung had said:
"Seo-jun. Be careful."
"Sorry? Of what?"
"The real Lee Eun-ju might show up."
"I know."
At the time, he had understood what that meant, but he'd been fine. Fifteen years of acting already. Countless experience, effort, and talent filled him. If he fell short, he just had to work even more viciously to fill the gap. In fact, he had seen fragments of Gil Ara's acting and been overwhelmed, but that had only driven him to practice even harder and boldly request a rematch.
And today, he had seen it.
Can I deliver a complete performance against that?
A question he threw at himself. Unshackled, she was a monster. It had even led to an accident where the victim couldn't withstand the psychological damage and fainted. His tightly clenched palms were soaked, deep nail marks pressed into them.
Now it was his turn. He had to face the monster. But how? He didn't know. Damn it all — his role was one where his hands and feet were bound and he had to be toyed with. The problem was set, but he had no answer.
First, look at the problem again.
Lee Seo-jun was always an actor who sought the right answer. And further, an actor who made it his own. An actor mad for acting. That was why he had joined the monitoring session.
"Hey, come over here and look, Seo-jun."
It happened to be the victim's POV.
"Alright, playing it?"
The time limit was a single day. That was all the time he had been given.
Filming continued, and before anyone knew it the sun was announcing the end of the day, but under the bright lights people were still as busy as ever.
Time passed into a darkened evening. The end of episode 3 was being filmed.
A fingernail found lodged in the fifth victim's palate. The first clue pointing to a suspect. On top of that, the discovery of an abandoned factory suspected as a nearby crime scene — and the countless footprints left there. DNA analysis had successfully identified a suspect, and based on the crime scenes they had narrowed down the range of activity.
Under the direction of Team Choi Jin-cheol and the chief, the assembled personnel had pulled all-nighters on stakeout, and at last they had spotted a suspicious person who appeared to be the suspect.
What followed was a chase — hunter and hunted. Rain made the visibility poor. The target had their whole body covered in a raincoat, and their movements were anything but sluggish.
Thud!!
Aaagh!!!
And they showed no mercy with their hands. If someone blocked the way, they stabbed without hesitation and fled. But that didn't last long either. A single person's stamina couldn't handle dozens of police.
A dead-end alley blocked by iron bars. The criminal stared quietly at the barred dead end, and behind them dozens of police had already closed the net.
Click—
Guns were leveled, and the suspect raised both hands above their head.
"Give it up already. Let's not waste each other's energy — come quietly."
Team Leader Choi Jin-cheol stepped forward.
Click—
Choi Jin-cheol succeeded in cuffing both hands behind the back.
"Listen carefully from now on. You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say can and will be used against you. You also have the right to an attorney."
Choi Jin-cheol recited the Miranda rights to the criminal.
"Let's go. Yoon Seung-ho. You son of a bitch."
When he pulled off the raincoat hood, the face of a grimy, middle-aged man in his forties appeared.
"Okay!"