Finding the Landmine
The dinner party opened with a toast from Director Hwang Min-gwon.
"Here's to smooth sailing—and not a single person getting hurt on set!"
"Cheers!"
With that hearty toast, everyone raised their glasses. Yeon-woo looked across the table at Han Byeol.
"First time at one of these?"
"Yes! It feels weird—like I've suddenly become an adult."
Talking with her on set, Yeon-woo had learned she'd only ever done bit parts as a child actress in single-episode dramas, never a major role like this.
He smiled at her.
"I was still a minor when we shot Summer's Closet. I always poured cider into my glass."
"Ah! I watched that when I was in elementary school."
"Huh? Elementary school?"
Yeon-woo scratched the back of his head at her answer. She was in her second year of middle school now, so when Summer's Closet aired, she would have been finishing elementary school.
We had the wrap party on Independence Day, so it finished before she started middle school.
It struck him all over again how long he'd been acting—and how real the age gap with Han Byeol actually was.
He was still turning that over when a voice called from beside him.
"Hyung-nim."
"Hm? Yes?"
It was Dong-ha from Axis. Yeon-woo looked at him and smiled faintly.
"'Hyung-nim' feels a little stiff for one year of difference."
"Ah—then would it be all right if I just called you hyung? Senior?"
Yeon-woo nodded readily.
"Sure. That's fine with me."
"Then please speak comfortably with me too, hyung."
Thinking about it, Yeon-woo had always heard "oppa" from his little sister—but since starting this new life, "hyung" was a first.
"All right. Let's do that."
"Yeon-woo hyung. When we shot music videos, I always thought I was one of the better actors among the members. But the second I'm actually on a drama set, my mind just goes blank. It's been really weighing on me."
Watching Dong-ha pout and sigh, Yeon-woo clapped him on the shoulder.
"Before the dinner started, I talked with Director Jeong Yo-han for a bit. He said he's been editing your solo footage lately."
Dong-ha's ears practically pricked up.
"My footage?"
"Yeah. He said your acting's solid—he's pretty satisfied."
"F-for real?"
Yeon-woo nodded, confirming it for the disbelieving Dong-ha.
"Yeah. He said so clearly. And your solo scenes are almost done, right?"
"Yes! About five scenes left."
"Then most of what's left is scenes with me. I'll look over them with you whenever I can."
The actor sitting in front of him was no ordinary co-star. From his debut onward, he had never once failed—an unbroken legend. If you asked anyone to name the top young actor of his generation, Ryu Yeon-woo would win by an overwhelming majority.
Hearing that Yeon-woo would coach his acting, Dong-ha looked like he'd just gained a thousand allies. Every worry that had been eating at him seemed to dissolve, and his eyes shone bright.
"Thank you so much, hyung-nim!"
"I told you—'hyung-nim' is weird for one year."
Watching them, Han Byeol seemed to feel a twinge of envy and shot her hand straight up.
"Me! What about me?!"
"Hm? You're already doing great, Byeol."
"Still, please look at mine too!"
At that forceful cry, Yeon-woo nodded.
"All right. I'll look."
"Hehe."
Jeong Su-yeon, watching the exchange, looked on with a faintly envious gaze.
"Must be nice. I'm just doing voice work until the later half—we don't even have scenes together."
The narrator role Su-yeon had been cast in was important, but story-wise her character only appeared in the second half, so they wouldn't share a set for months.
Seeing her droop, Yeon-woo spoke up.
"We don't have scenes together, but come by the set when you have time and cheer us on. If you watch the earlier scenes before you dub, your performance will land even better, don't you think?"
"You think so? Is it okay if I just drop by?"
Yeon-woo snorted a quiet laugh.
"'Drop by'? You're part of the School Lunch Brigade too. Don't talk like it's someone else's set."
The actors around them all tilted their heads at once.
"School Lunch Brigade?"
"School lunch?"
Yeon-woo nodded at their questions.
"Our average age is under twenty, isn't it?"
"Whoa. You're right."
Su-yeon laughed and pinched Han Byeol's soft, rice-cake cheeks.
"It's because of Byeol, huh?"
"Uwaaah— Unnieee."
At the next table, Jeon Gi-hun—who played Dipangdal and had been deep in stock talk with the camera director—turned around.
"Hey, juniors—I'm on the expedition too. Doesn't that shoot the average age way up?"
The surrounding staff laughed. Yeon-woo answered the joke with a cool little smile and a nod.
"You're right, senior."
Jeon Gi-hun turned back, lifted his soju glass, and resumed talking stocks. Yeon-woo watched his back with eyes that held no warmth at all.
This guy. Confirmed. Baeksol's planted landmine.
He'd felt it the moment the man walked in.
Elevated body temperature leading to heavy sweating, chills, and dehydration. Muscle atrophy that left the teeth brittle, so he chewed carefully without opening his mouth wide. Stepping from bright light into dimness triggered a momentary visual distortion like rippling waves, dulling his depth perception.
When Jeon Gi-hun had come into the restaurant and reached out to shake hands, he'd made the classic mistake of people on drugs—stretching his hand into empty air where Yeon-woo's wasn't, then shaking his head to pull himself together.
And above all else—
He reeks of junkie.
The NIS overseas division ran two main types of operations: intelligence work monitoring the North, and hunting down drug offenders who'd fled abroad. In his previous life, if you wanted someone who'd busted more narcotics cases than Yeon-woo, you'd have to comb through the entire police and prosecution just to count them on one hand.
Plenty of tells had stood out, but the gut hit had been instant.
This man was Baeksol's drug-soaked landmine.
Jeon Gi-hun was famous as one of the celebrities who did a lot of volunteer work. Given that reputation, even LN Entertainment—which cross-checked casting two or three times to avoid noise—could easily have missed it.
The problem is how to put him away.
First, he needed a properly issued search-and-seizure warrant.
Hae-un's been reassigned to Seoul, so that part should be easy enough.
Still, a warrant required evidence that justified it. He couldn't just point at the man like some shaman and declare him a drug offender.
I'll watch him ruthlessly on set, and have Hae-un put people on him too.
They would play the Jeon Gi-hun card either near the end of filming or right before the Netflix launch.
If it were me, I'd pick the latter.
That way the damage would be locked in and maximized.
Which meant that knowing their move in advance left him with plenty of time to counter it.
We haven't even started shooting scenes with Jeon Gi-hun yet.
While Yeon-woo laid out plans, time slipped past until it was nearly ten. Underage Han Byeol had been picked up by her father mid-dinner and left early. Looking around, it was clearly time to wrap up.
"Hic. Ugh—we started so early, and it's only ten, but I'm already wiped."
Director Hwang Min-gwon, who had sworn off even his beloved drinks to throw himself into the shoot with renewed resolve, had used tonight as an excuse to drink his fill.
Beside him, CG Director Jeong Yo-han stood and clapped his hands to gather attention.
"All right, everyone up. We've got filming tomorrow."
The next morning, Yeon-woo checked his phone and found a message from Han Hae-un waiting from early on.
Yeon-woo nodded at the message, got up, and prepared to head out.
Because of the dinner, filming was scheduled to start in the afternoon. He was using the free window for a long-overdue lunch with CEO Kim Ju-seong.
Hmm. Same place as always.
He drove himself to the upscale Korean restaurant where he and Kim Ju-seong had eaten twice before. A staff member guided him to a private room deep inside, and Kim Ju-seong rose with a smile.
"Actor Ryu."
"Have you been waiting long, sir?"
"Not at all. I just got here myself."
Once they were seated, the dishes began to arrive, and Kim Ju-seong spoke.
"How's the White Blood shoot going? I put Executive Director Yoon Mi-yeon in charge of making sure everything runs without a hitch."
For a moment Baeksol's landmine—Jeon Gi-hun—flashed through Yeon-woo's mind, but he smiled and nodded.
"Every staff member is a top-tier veteran, and the sets are perfectly built. Thanks to your care, sir, filming is going very smoothly."
"That's a relief, then."
Kim Ju-seong smiled with satisfaction and continued.
"What do you think of this project? Will it be a hit? Your eye for these things predicted Sketch's success from the script alone, didn't it?"
In truth, Yeon-woo had accepted that one without even reading the script—but he smiled lightly.
"Your eye is far sharper than mine, sir. But I'm even more confident about this one than I was with Sketch. We've been pouring a great deal of effort into it."
Effort as an actor, yes—but also every kind of effort Baeksol's schemes were forcing him to make.
"Haha. Is that so? That's reassuring."
Kim Ju-seong picked up a piece of the high-end sea bream with his chopsticks, ate it, then frowned slightly.
"Once a company grows, the number of cooks in the kitchen grows with it. The board is less than thrilled about this project—they're skeptical of the fantasy genre."
"Is that so. Then I'll just have to work even harder."
As if telling him not to worry about it, Kim Ju-seong's expression stayed unbothered as he lifted his chopsticks again for more sea bream.
"I have complete faith in Actor Ryu's judgment and skill. The board is just a bit of a nuisance. And now I have to find another outside director from somewhere. There aren't many suitable people."
He was muttering more to himself than expecting an answer, but Yeon-woo picked up on it.
"You need to appoint an outside director?"
"Hm? Ah, yes. The board has a real talent for making life difficult. They want a prominent figure who isn't from this industry—as if those grow on trees. The board side appoints one, and my side appoints one."
Hearing that, one name rose immediately in Yeon-woo's mind.
Someone easy to keep in hand, reasonably prominent, and not from the entertainment industry.
His university classmate from his previous life—and his academic advisor in this one: Professor Kim Tae-gyeong.
"Then I have someone I can recommend. For the outside director seat."
Kim Ju-seong tilted his head at the completely unexpected offer.
"You, Actor Ryu? An outside director?"
"Yes. A professor in the economics department at Hankuk University, where I attend."
"Oh-ho. That's right. You are a Hankuk University student."
The company would handle any dual-appointment paperwork for faculty on its own. University professors serving as outside directors was common enough. And given Kim Tae-gyeong's fondness for external activities, he was likely to accept.
Baeksol's moves against LN Entertainment had been looking ominous lately. Sliding someone Yeon-woo could easily work with into one of the outside director seats could only help—never hurt.