Rehabilitation
The dark alleyway in front of the meat restaurant echoed with a dull thud.
“Damn it.”
Kim Chan-uk kicked an innocent trash can in irritation.
‘This kind of crap…’
Even within his idol group, a subtle distance had formed between him and the other members because of his acting activities. He’d even heard snide remarks like, “He’s caught the acting bug.”
But on set, he had always believed his performance was the best.
“Damn it…”
On the other hand, that no-name actor Kim Doyun. A mere supporting actor, yet he had the entire staff wrapped around his finger, standing at the center of the production.
Everyone burst into laughter at his every word, showing nothing but goodwill.
‘What the hell is so great about that bastard?’
Even though Chan-uk was the lead, he felt like an outsider on set, while the supporting actor Kim Doyun mingled comfortably with everyone.
And above all else—Kim Doyun’s acting.
During the audition, he had been about to leave because of his schedule when something about the atmosphere slipping through the crack in the door had pulled him in. He had peeked inside. It was acting so magnetic he couldn’t look away.
From that moment on, he had been unable to stop paying attention to Kim Doyun.
He was already taking heat for pursuing both idol activities and acting. If he ended up being completely devoured in terms of skill by a supporting actor…
And then there was the realization that he had only kept his lead role because of Kim Doyun’s concession, not because of his own ability. That was what had truly broken Kim Chan-uk.
All the anxiety and resentment that had built up inside him finally exploded tonight, fueled by alcohol.
“Mr. Kim Chan-uk. What do you think you’re doing?”
When I grabbed his arm as he tried to storm out, he violently shook me off. So he was going full rogue now?
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Why don’t we go back inside and talk it out?”
If you leave, the play is doomed.
I forced the corners of my mouth upward into a smile. In response, Kim Chan-uk’s face twisted in disgust.
“Misunderstanding? I’m Kim Chan-uk. Number one on the music charts this month. A top idol. You seem to be under the delusion that the people around you are hyping you up, but…”
“You really are impressive.”
His agency would pull whatever strings necessary to get him on stage, but if he went up in this state, it was obvious he would ruin not only Lee Se-rin’s immersion but my perfect debut performance as well.
I smiled soothingly.
“For now, let’s just finish the stage properly. You can still take back your decision to quit, right?”
“Who the hell are you? I never wanted to do this stupid play in the first place. I’m doing just fine without it!”
For a moment, irritation surged through me.
Did he have any idea that there were people who had faced countless failures yet still desperately longed for even a single opportunity like this?
“Then just quit.”
“What?”
My sudden change in attitude seemed to catch Kim Chan-uk off guard. He lifted his head, and his swaying body froze for a second.
“Quit. If you can handle the consequences.”
“I don’t need you to tell me…”
I cut him off.
“Quitting a week before the live broadcast? What about the penalty fee?”
“I can just pay that back later.”
This kid is a real piece of work. No, if he weren’t still basically a kid, he probably wouldn’t have caused this mess in the first place.
I let out a sigh.
“Has it even been a year since you debuted? Everyone’s praising you as a top idol, so you’ve lost your damn mind, huh?”
“I don’t need to hear that from the likes of you.”
I cut off Kim Chan-uk’s words and continued coldly.
“Have you ever received a proper settlement? Your entire value belongs to the company. If you were a real top star, maybe it’d be different. But you’re just a mediocre idol, so they sold you off to this play.”
“That wasn’t being sold off, I—!”
“Fine, let’s say you somehow handle that. But after this, you won’t even be able to show your face on any KBC programs.”
“Even if it’s not KBC… I can just go to another network…”
Did he really not understand how the industry worked? Of course he did. He was just in the middle of a mental victory lap.
I nodded.
“Sure, you can just keep running away like that. Running away and throwing everything aside the moment your precious pride gets a little bruised—that suits you perfectly.”
Kim Chan-uk’s face crumpled in an instant as he lunged at me. His expression was a mix of rage and humiliation.
“My pride?! You think I’m doing this because of someone like you?!”
I knew the truth. No matter who he was, right now Kim Chan-uk was just an idol-turned-actor. On set, people were probably badmouthing him behind his back for being a forced casting thanks to his fandom. Within his team, they likely saw him as a nuisance who was ruining things by trying to act.
I had heard it all in the Cinema Interview Kim Chan-uk episode.
‘I didn’t realize it was happening right now, though.’
So what did he want me to do? Feel sorry for him?
Not a chance.
I stared at Kim Chan-uk with an expressionless face.
Throughout history, east and west, there had always been one surefire way to make someone who had run away pick up the fight again.
Teabagging.
Looking at Kim Chan-uk, I gave him the faintest smile possible—one that radiated pure contempt.
“You really should have done better.”
“What?”
“If you had proven yourself with skill, none of this would have been a problem, right?”
Anyway, it was obvious he was acting like this because he was drunk. The important thing was to make him genuinely care about this play. That was my goal.
“Are you really running away with your tail between your legs because you’re scared of getting crushed on stage by a nameless actor who used to roll around in the gutters and becoming nothing but a background prop?”
“You son of a—!”
Kim Chan-uk charged forward and grabbed me by the collar.
“You’re the one who grabbed my collar first, remember?”
I slammed down on the arm holding my collar and lightly swept his leg out from under him.
“…!”
Kim Chan-uk lost his balance and collapsed onto the alley floor, staring up at me.
I reached down and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper that had been sticking out of his fallen jacket. It was a memo covered in creases and fold marks.
“Give it back…!”
“You said you were quitting anyway. You don’t need something like this, do you?”
I easily dodged his outstretched hand and unfolded the paper.
It was filled with notes related to the play. The handwriting was dense, with countless erased and rewritten sections. He must have revised his thoughts and practiced over and over.
‘Just as I thought.’
Even if his current form was completely off, in twenty years Kim Chan-uk would rise to become a top-tier actor.
There was no way someone who hated acting could ever reach that level. Kim Chan-uk was, without a doubt, someone who loved acting with a filthy passion.
‘I need to teach him properly.’
Kim Chan-uk would probably become a renowned actor someday even if he kept practicing like this. But not with this play.
“Look.”
I tossed my own tattered script at his face.
“…Ugh.”
“It’s my script.”
“What the… Why does it have notes for parts that aren’t even your role…?”
I crouched down in front of him, met his eyes, and spoke in a low voice.
“Your acting was really good. So good that at some point, I found myself acting in every single moment of my life.”
“What are you…”
“There are people who fail even after living like that for decades.”
“……”
Kim Chan-uk looked back and forth between the script and me without saying a word.
I pulled the speechless man to his feet.
“I don’t care what happened to you. Just like you don’t care what happened to me.”
“…”
“Does it feel unfair? Are you angry?”
“Kgh…”
“Stop whining. If you have something to say, say it with your acting on stage.”
So please, just come back to the stage. Come back and give it everything you’ve got. I need to get through this performance without any accidents, you know?
Don’t ruin my stage.
As that thought crossed my mind, blood vessels bulged in Kim Chan-uk’s eyes.
“Fine. I’ll show you. I’m a hundreds of times better actor than you…”
The sense of injustice vanished from Kim Chan-uk’s face, replaced by pure venom.
Good. If he was going to become a ten-million-view actor in the future, he needed at least that much poison. After all, truly great actors were the kind of people who carried a bit of madness and mental illness with them.
Kim Chan-uk shouted, as if spitting out everything that had been building up inside him. It wasn’t the alcohol talking anymore—it was genuine.
“Doyun, what about Actor Kim Chan-uk?”
When I returned to the restaurant, Writer Yun Song-i asked urgently. I simply shrugged.
“He’ll be here soon. Don’t worry.”
With that, I sat down across from Lee Se-rin again. Her eyes were still cold.
“What were you doing?”
“Rehabilitation.”
At Kim Doyun’s answer, Lee Se-rin tilted her head in confusion, but then her eyes widened as she looked toward the entrance.
“Chan-uk? Uh, he looks even more messed up than before.”
“Doyun…?”
“Did you two fight or something?”
No, we didn’t exactly fight.
Kim Chan-uk, who had run his hand through his hair as he entered, looked pale. However, the drunken staggering from earlier was gone.
Instead, his eyes were now sharp with venom.
Kim Chan-uk suddenly bowed deeply. Ninety degrees.
“I’m sorry for causing a disturbance. I couldn’t hold my liquor and said some things I shouldn’t have.”
The pathetic behavior from before had vanished, replaced by a perfectly calculated apology.
The frozen atmosphere in the room softened at the sight.
“Aigoo, I’ve never even heard that Chan-uk drinks, but you really went hard tonight.”
“It’s your first time drinking, so mistakes are bound to happen.”
“Just sit down, sit down. It’s fine.”
The staff smiled as if to say it was no big deal.
Even so, Kim Chan-uk continued, as if he still felt it wasn’t enough.
“It’s not just about today. I hated the ‘idol’ label, but I used it as a shield.”
The staff began murmuring in confusion at Kim Chan-uk’s sudden change in attitude. Honestly, I was surprised too.
Did I go too far? He seems completely broken now.
“I!”
Kim Chan-uk clenched his fist and continued.
“Blamed my schedule, didn’t fully commit to practice, and took the play lightly. It was all my fault. I’m sorry.”
“No, well, since Chan-uk is an idol…”
At one staff member’s voice, Kim Chan-uk shouted.
“I am not an idol! I am an actor! I will tell my agency my true intentions. I will be recognized as an actor!”
Huh? The situation seemed to be spiraling in a strange direction. I never told him to go this far. He was probably tied up in all sorts of complicated contract issues because he was an idol.
Hey, maybe don’t do that?
“Thanks to Mr. Kim Doyun, I realized this. Thank you.”
When Kim Chan-uk finished speaking and bowed his head, the dinner table fell silent for a moment.
After a brief pause, one of the staff let out a small exclamation.
“Wow, I never thought Chan-uk would say something like that.”
Baek Hyeon-jin marveled.
“Doyun, you didn’t drag him out and beat him up, did you?”
At those words, Kim Chan-uk simply lowered his head in embarrassment.
“No, that’s not it. Mr. Kim Doyun isn’t that kind of person.”
Hey, don’t deny it so ambiguously. Now they really think I beat you up.
Besides, I’m the one who got grabbed by the collar, remember?
Lee Se-rin looked at me with a dazed expression.
“What exactly did you do out there? This is what you call rehabilitation…?”
“I have no idea either.”
Lee Se-rin smiled.
“Congratulations. This week’s top entertainment news headline is definitely going to be you. ‘Kim Chan-uk, influenced by Actor Kim Doyun, announces retirement from idol career.’”
“Please stop…”
After the dinner ended, we all stepped outside.
People split off to go for second rounds or head home. Kim Chan-uk finished his light goodbyes and approached me.
“What is it?”
His voice was low enough that only I could hear.
“You probably have no idea how much effort I put in to become an actor. You’ve never lived as fiercely as I have.”
Kim Chan-uk glared at me as he continued.
“Don’t look forward to the broadcast day. No one will be paying attention to you. The lead is me.”
Kim Chan-uk had said whatever he wanted without restraint.
‘A little disappointing.’
The venom. It still wasn’t quite enough.
At Kim Chan-uk’s pathetic provocation, I let out a short, dry laugh.
“You’re laughing?”
With my hands in my pockets, I looked down at him and twisted the corner of my mouth upward.
“Do your best. Go ahead and struggle with everything you’ve got.”
“What?”
Now he was finally showing his true colors. Kim Chan-uk, with that same face.
“No matter how hard you fly or run, on this stage, you’ll end up as nothing but my background prop.”
At my arrogantly certain words, Kim Chan-uk’s face trembled.
“You think you can beat me with acting? You? If you think you can, then try it.”
I lightly patted his shoulder twice and turned away without hesitation. Behind me, I could clearly hear the sound of Kim Chan-uk grinding his teeth.
“See you on broadcast day. I will definitely crush you…!”
The voice coming from behind me was thick with venom—the determination to kill me on that stage no matter what.
‘This should do it.’
It was a hundred times better than some half-hearted reflection.
With this, Lee Se-rin’s immersion wouldn’t be broken, and my stage wouldn’t be ruined.
Of course, I had no intention of letting Kim Chan-uk be the only one who benefited.
‘I will succeed.’
Not a single word I had said to him was a lie. I would turn the protagonist Min-woo into a mere extra.
And on that stage, I would kill him too. Kim Chan-uk.