The Mercenary
After reading through the script Ju-hyeong had sent over and loosening up with some light exercise, Yeon-woo headed out for Daehangno once the time felt about right.
Climbing to the second floor and pushing open the door, he found his friends hunched over cup ramen.
"Why are you eating cup ramen? There's barely any nutrition in that."
"Oh, Yeon-woo's here."
"I already had dinner, but I got hungry again out of nowhere. There's one more left—want me to cook it for you?"
Yeon-woo shook his head at Jun-su's offer.
"No, I'm good."
"How was the American talk show? Different from ours?"
At Seong-sik's question, Yeon-woo cast his mind back for a moment.
"Hard to say? We just talked normally and that was it. I've never even been on a Korean talk show, honestly."
"Ah, is that right?"
Come to think of it, the only variety work Yeon-woo had ever done was the early promotional appearances for his debut drama, Summer's Closet. He'd shown up on YouTube a couple of times in between, but that hardly counted as television variety. So really, just the one.
"The episode should air next Saturday. You won't be able to watch it here unless you've got a subscription to the channel."
"It'll be up on YouTube with subtitles in no time anyway. At your level you're basically in the 'Do You Know Club' now."
Yeon-woo tilted his head at Ju-hyeong's remark.
"What's the Do You Know Club?"
"Do you know Ryu Yeon-woo? Do you know kimchi?"
The short answer was enough for Yeon-woo to catch the joke; he let out a quiet snort of laughter.
"Come on. I'm nowhere near that famous yet. This project just got lucky and blew up."
"Dude. Humility is a disease. At your level you should just accept the popularity and enjoy it."
"Is that so."
Of course Yeon-woo wasn't actually oblivious to how popular he'd become. Since the topic had come up, he started laying out the plan going forward.
"So, once we finish rehearsing and put the play on stage, audiences are going to show up, right?"
"Yeah."
"We're amateurs, so doing multiple shows a day like the real theater companies is probably too much. I was thinking one performance a day—starting at seven in the evening. How does that sound?"
"I just do whatever the company director tells me."
Jun-su and Ju-hyeong both nodded along with Seong-sik.
Watching them, Yeon-woo pointed a finger at himself.
"Company director? Me?"
"Yeah. Obviously you're the company director."
He'd never really thought of himself that way—they'd always just been doing this together—but if you looked at it properly, the title fit. Yeon-woo gave a small laugh and continued.
"Everyone read the script?"
"Of course. Had no idea Ju-hyeong had this kind of talent in him."
When the others turned to look at him, Ju-hyeong's face went red; he scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.
"I haven't even told my family. The only people who've seen the script so far are the five of us, including Yu-han."
Yeon-woo picked up from there.
"Speaking of family—if you guys are okay with it, I was thinking we could do one extra special performance on the weekend and invite family, friends, and some of Yu-han's and my fans. What do you think?"
"Hell yes."
Seong-sik shot his hand up.
"Hey. Give me like five tickets too. I've got a decent number of fans on my Stargram."
Jun-su immediately smacked him on the back.
"Those aren't your fans, you idiot—they're Yeon-woo's. This bastard's trying to raffle five tickets as giveaways just to farm more followers."
"Heh heh. Busted. Just kidding."
Ju-hyeong shook his head at the display.
"Follower-obsessed maniac."
"Kwahaha—if I were a Joseon king, my posthumous name would be Attention Whore—"
"Shut up and stop the brain rot."
Yeon-woo smiled as he watched his friends bicker.
Just then the office door opened and Jin Yu-han walked in.
"Yu-han's here?"
"Sorry. Running a little late."
Yeon-woo shook his head at the apology.
"Nothing to be sorry for. You not tired? You had a musical performance today too, right?"
"I'm used to it now, so it's fine. The first week after opening was rough, but it's fully in my body at this point."
Yeon-woo nodded as he looked at him.
"You guys need to practice until it's in your bodies the way it is for Yu-han."
"But we're just extras with almost no lines."
Yeon-woo flashed a sharp grin at Seong-sik.
"Oh-ho? Looking down on extras, are we? Is this the start of an 'I don't have to try hard' attitude scandal? Or is it just a beginner's reckless confidence that half-assing it is fine?"
Ever since high school—whether it was soccer or basketball against the neighboring class—losing had always been acceptable. The second anyone showed an attitude of not giving their all, though, they got to meet Yeon-woo possessed by a demon drill instructor. Jun-su and Seong-sik had learned that lesson with their bodies long ago. Sensing the sudden activation of "Roast Mode Yeon-woo," Seong-sik plastered on an exaggerated smile and scrambled to cover.
"Haha! What are you talking about, sir? This humble one was just about to head downstairs. What are you guys standing around for? Let's go already."
Down in the basement theater, Yeon-woo and the company members stayed late into the night, coaching the others' acting while everyone absorbed the script together. As expected, though, Yeon-woo had no real gift for teaching performance, so most of that work fell to Jin Yu-han.
Watching him, Yeon-woo couldn't help but marvel.
"How do you make teaching acting look so easy? Is being a real genius just a different thing entirely?"
Jin Yu-han shook his head right back at him.
"In my opinion the real genius is you. I'm just a hard worker who's been grinding as a child actor since I was little. That's why I can teach other people."
"Hmm, well…"
If we're talking effort, I put in more than a decade of it myself. Just in a completely different direction.
Literally just to stay alive…
The slight difference being that the moment your "acting" slipped, you got dragged underground for torture or took a bullet to the head on the spot. But he couldn't exactly say that out loud, so once again Yeon-woo had no choice but to swallow the words.
The next day Yeon-woo called Team Leader Jeong Hyeok.
"Oh, Yeon-woo—what brings you to call me first?"
"Team Leader. Have you heard of 'Achedae'?"
"Come on, don't treat me like such an old man. Even if we're an actors' agency, of course I know it. Idol Sports Competition, right?"
Back on the plane when Dong-ha first mentioned it, Yeon-woo had thought it was the name of a university. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
So if you don't know it, you're officially an old man…
The sudden deep strike made Yeon-woo clear his throat.
"Ahem. Team Leader Jeong. On the flight back from the States, Dong-ha from Axis made me an offer. They want to bring me on as a mercenary for the futsal event at the Idol Sports Competition."
"Is that so? What do you think about it, Yeon-woo?"
"I think it's fine. Sounds fun."
Jeong Hyeok's bright voice came through the receiver.
"I've actually been racking my brain over which variety shows would be good for you, and this is one I never even considered. Whatever program you want to do is the best choice. From the company's side, no problem at all."
"Really? That's a relief. Then I'll let Dong-ha know I'm in."
"Yes, sir! I'll take it as confirmed. The production side will probably contact the company, so I'll handle everything from there."
Yeon-woo added one more thing.
"Ah, Team Leader. If they call to confirm the booking, could you put one condition on it?"
"I don't know the details, but if they can actually land you, that PD will say yes to almost anything. What is it?"
Yeon-woo nodded and continued.
"Variety appearances are ultimately fan service, so I'd like them to set aside some audience tickets so my fans can get in."
"Ah, of course. Understood!"
After hanging up, Yeon-woo immediately dialed Dong-ha. The ring tone sounded only a few times before Dong-ha picked up.
"Oh! Hyung Yeon-woo!"
"Whoa. No way. Dong-ha, is that Actor Ryu Yeon-woo calling right now?"
He must have been with the members—other voices mixed in with Dong-ha's.
"Yeah. Dong-ha, what were you up to?"
"We've got a comeback coming up soon, so we were practicing!"
Yeon-woo nodded at that.
Hmm, comeback's almost here. Actors usually send coffee trucks or something—wonder if there's anything I can do for them.
He decided to think about it later and got to the point of the call.
"About what we talked about last time."
"Yes? Which conversation do you mean?"
"The futsal thing."
"Ah! Yes!"
Yeon-woo smiled as he went on.
"I talked it over with the company. I'm going out as a mercenary for your team."
"Ugh—!"
"What? What is it? What did Actor Ryu Yeon-woo say that made you yell like that?"
Dong-ha's shriek and the curious voices of the other members tumbled through the phone together. A moment later Dong-ha recovered enough to speak again.
"Hyung! Thank you so much! Really, truly!"
"Don't mention it. I was planning to do some variety for the fans anyway."
"Yes! Hyung. Go ahead and hang up!"
The second the call with Yeon-woo ended, Dong-ha started bouncing in place.
"Hey, why do you keep making such a huge fuss? Let us in on it too!"
"Yeah, Dong-ha, what is it?"
Dong-ha collected himself and delivered the good news to the members.
"Okay! So on the flight back from America I asked Yeon-woo hyung, without really expecting anything—"
"Asked him what?"
"About being a mercenary for us at Achedae!"
The members' expressions flipped instantly.
"Holy— You asked Actor Ryu Yeon-woo? To be a futsal mercenary?"
"…For real?"
Dong-ha grinned, looking extremely pleased with himself in front of them.
"He said he'll do it. Mercenary."
"Waaaaah!"
"Insane! For real? That Ryu Yeon-woo is going to be our team's mercenary?"
The members swarmed around Dong-ha, spinning him in circles.
"Wooooah!"
"Dong-ha, you absolute legend!"
"Hey, this isn't the time! Call the manager right now and report it!"
Axis was only in their fourth year since debut—not exactly senior in the idol world—but they'd all debuted young, so they understood the industry better than anyone. The calculations finished in their heads instantly.
With this, rankings at Achedae became meaningless. Even if they got eliminated early in that event, the cameras would still swing toward Ryu Yeon-woo and Axis while they sat around watching. That was the kind of presence Ryu Yeon-woo had in the broadcast industry right now.
Everyone knew he existed, yet almost no one in television had ever actually seen him.
"Dude, we have to swear loyalty to Actor Ryu Yeon-woo after this."
"Yeon-woo hyung is seriously a good person."
Watching Dong-ha casually call him "Yeon-woo hyung," the leader Do-jun shot him a look of pure envy.
"I want to call him Yeon-woo hyung too."
"Huh? You're the same age as Do-jun hyung."
"If you're handsome and successful, you're automatically hyung."
Meanwhile, Axis weren't the only ones who found the news hard to believe.
"Um, PD-nim. I think I misheard something—you should probably take this call yourself."
At the writer's words, PD Kim Hang-gon looked over.
"About what?"
"So, KN Entertainment called… and they said the mercenary for Axis's futsal team this time is Ryu Yeon-woo…?"
Kim Hang-gon snorted.
"Ryu Yeon-woo? You mean the actor?"
"Yes."
"That doesn't make any sense. Did you mishear Yu Jeong-woo from Beasty? They're under the same agency."
The writer shook her head.
"I double-checked twice. Asked if it was really that Ryu Yeon-woo."
Kim Hang-gon's face turned serious.
"Put the call through."
The writer dialed and handed him the phone. As he took it, Kim Hang-gon asked,
"What's the contact's name?"
"Manager Choi from KN."
The line connected.
"Yes, Writer-nim. I received your call."
"Manager Choi, this is Kim Hang-gon."
"Ah, yes. PD Kim."
"So our writer was talking about Actor Ryu Yeon-woo…"
As if he'd already guessed why they were calling, the answer came right back.
"Yes, that's correct. I was surprised myself, but it really is that Ryu Yeon-woo. You'll want to contact LN Entertainment first."
The immediate confirmation left Kim Hang-gon looking completely blank.
"…Ah. Yes. Understood for now."
He hung up and stared at the writer with a dazed expression.
"What on earth is going on?"