Star Beyond the River - Script Reading (1)
Judging by the absence of their prearranged code phrase, this wasn't a call made under duress or coercion from someone else.
"Han Hae-un, where are you? Tell me your current location."
"Incheon Metropolitan City..., Bupyeong-gu..."
Han Hae-un's labored breathing came through the receiver as he gave the address. Yeon-woo hung up at once and left the house. He headed down to the parking garage, got behind the wheel, and drove at high speed.
After a long stretch of road he arrived at the address he'd been given—a columbarium. The day had already grown dim; the mourners' cars were gone, leaving only Han Hae-un's silver SUV sitting alone in the lot. Yeon-woo carefully checked inside the vehicle, but no one was there.
He started walking toward the entrance to the columbarium when a faint sound reached him from the grass beside the path. Yeon-woo followed it, moving carefully into a defensive stance. After pushing a little farther through the undergrowth, he found Han Hae-un slumped against a tree, a notebook clutched in his hand.
Yeon-woo closed the distance quickly, checked his pulse, and examined him from head to toe.
Pulse is normal, no signs of bleeding—doesn't look like he was attacked.
Han Hae-un had said he collapsed every time he recovered more of his memories. Perhaps something had triggered another piece of them.
Yeon-woo pried the notebook free and opened it. Even unconscious, Hae-un had refused to let go of the precious thing. The pages were filled with sentences Yeon-woo couldn't decipher—written in a cipher only the owner could read.
"So why collapse out here of all places?"
For the moment, Ryu Yeon-woo half-carried, half-supported Han Hae-un back to the parking lot and the silver SUV. He dug the smart key from Hae-un's pocket, unlocked the rear door with a soft beep, and laid him across the back seat. Hae-un stirred like a man half-drunk, consciousness slowly returning. Yeon-woo debated taking him to a hospital, then decided he would wake soon enough. He climbed into the front passenger seat and switched off the dashcam.
A few minutes later Han Hae-un came around.
"Ugh..."
He clutched his head and groaned.
"Prosecutor Han. You with me?"
"Ah—former Team... no, Team Leader Ryu."
That day in the basement of the National Theater of the Arts they had agreed, just in case anyone was listening, to stick to the names Han Hae-un and Ryu Yeon-woo. Calling him Team Leader Ryu rather defeated the purpose, Yeon-woo thought dryly.
"Looks like you called me right before you went down. I got here as fast as I could and put you in the car."
"Ah—thank you."
Han Hae-un bowed his head in thanks, then frantically patted himself down.
"If you're looking for the notebook, it's right here."
Yeon-woo passed it back over the seat.
"Ah, thank goodness."
Han Hae-un took the notebook and cradled it against his chest. Still grimacing from the headache, he spoke.
"This is the investigation notebook I kept when I was Baek Yu-hyeon... Looking at the last entry I wrote just before that Middle East deployment, a few pieces are starting to fall into place."
Yeon-woo listened in silence. Hae-un continued.
"I still don't know the exact identity, but even high-level people inside the NIS suspected there might be a private organization operating within the agency itself."
Fighting the pain, he opened the notebook again and studied the final page.
"That's why I was sent out—to quietly investigate the overseas-division agents."
"I'd already guessed as much."
"I figured you had."
No one had requested additional personnel, yet a new agent had been dispatched. And instead of coming straight to the safe house, he had stopped at the embassy first and only arrived two days later. All of it had smelled wrong. Even so, Jeon Su-hwan had never done anything behind the agency's back during his entire career except a few film extra gigs, so he hadn't worried much. If they were going to send him free labor, he intended to wring every drop of use out of it. That was also why, even when they met again in the National Theater basement garage, he hadn't fully dropped his suspicion of Han Hae-un.
"The problem is I was low-level. I have no idea how far up the chain the order came from. Right now the only person I can still trust is you, Team Leader."
In a way, the Jeon Su-hwan of Hae-un's past life had proven his innocence by dying—by becoming a target for elimination just like him.
"Then start with the name I gave you last time. Getting an answer out of him won't be easy, but if you mention my name you should at least walk away alive and have a conversation."
Han Hae-un recalled the name Yeon-woo had written in the diary that night under the theater.
"You mean 'Baek Noya' in Busan. I'll move on it as soon as possible. I had some personal matters to settle first, so I was delayed."
A shadow crossed his face as he thought of Jeong Hae-min. Once more time had passed and Hae-un looked steadier, the two of them climbed out of the car. Yeon-woo saw the darkness still lingering on Hae-un's face and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't overthink it. There's a reason you got this new life too—if it's the will of God, like you said."
"Yes, former Team Leader."
The old title slipped out unconsciously. Ryu Yeon-woo shook his head left and right.
"I'm Ryu Yeon-woo. You're Han Hae-un."
"Ah—yes. Team Leader Ryu."
Watching Hae-un stubbornly keep the "Team Leader," Yeon-woo let out a helpless sigh. Then something occurred to him.
"By the way, what's your main field?"
"Pardon?"
"Prosecutors each have their own specialty, right?"
Hae-un nodded, understanding the question.
"Western District Prosecutors' Office, Criminal Division Two. It lines up almost exactly with what Domestic Team Three handled at the NIS."
"...Team Three covers narcotics too, doesn't it? Hmm. In that case I've got something for you to look into."
With an intrigued expression, Ryu Yeon-woo pulled out his phone and sent a message through a secure app.
"Check into this side of things—only as far as you can without drawing heat. It might be nothing, but my gut's twitching."
Han Hae-un glanced at the screen and nodded.
"Understood. I'll report as soon as I have anything."
Seo Ji-eun stopped by the café in front of her building the way she did every day and ordered her usual takeout coffee. She accepted the cup with a bright smile and a polite little bow.
"Thank you."
"Yes, have a good day."
The part-timer watched her leave. The manager jabbed him in the ribs and grinned.
"Hey, that girl's pretty cute, right? Look at you—brain's already gone soft."
"...Yeah, she is."
He tore his gaze away and went back to wiping cups.
Seo Ji-eun was riding the elevator up with her coffee when her phone rang.
"Hmm?"
It was the vice president—first call in a long while. After the last project had flopped, casting offers had dried up and her break had stretched on. Their small mid-tier management usually had the vice president out pounding the pavement at networks and Chungmuro himself; when he called like this, it meant an offer had come in. Hope fluttering, she answered.
"Yes, Vice President."
"Ji-eun, what are you up to?"
"Just heading home right now."
"Perfect timing. Go tell your mother the good news."
Her heart started hammering.
"A project? What kind of casting?"
"Hahaha. Female lead in a KBC historical drama. It's a sageuk, so you'll suffer plenty, but you're okay with that, right?"
The elevator doors opened. Seo Ji-eun threw both arms up in the hallway.
"Yes! Ow-hot—!"
"What was that? You okay?"
In her joy she had spilled coffee all over her hand. Luckily it had cooled enough that she only nearly got burned.
"Hehe. I was so happy I dumped coffee on myself. What's the title?"
"It's called Star Beyond the River—KBC1 historical. And brace yourself, Ji-eun."
"Why? Why? I don't think I can get any more surprised right now."
"Male lead is Ryu Yeon-woo. Second male lead is Jin Yu-han."
Seo Ji-eun dumped the entire cup.
"Whaaat?! Aah—it's hot—!"
She finished the call and bolted for her door, flinging it open.
"Mom! Can I have a towel or rag I can throw away?"
"You little—what did you spill this time?"
"Hehe. Coffee."
"What? Did you burn your hand?"
Seo Ji-eun took the rag her mother held out and showed her palm.
"Tough as nails. I'm just gonna wipe the hallway. And I've got good news too!"
Han Hae-un returned to Busan and began his investigation. Before long, the script-reading day for Star Beyond the River arrived. The articles that had already dropped sent the internet into a frenzy.
The moment the articles went live, the comment sections exploded with barely contained excitement.
"Hahaha. Look at this. Young people these days leave such entertaining comments."
Director Lee Sang-hun kept refreshing the article comments, thoroughly entertained. In truth none of them were especially witty, but for a man who had spent his career making grand historical dramas aimed at older viewers, working with young actors for the first time and watching the online buzz pour in felt brand-new and exciting.
"Ah—they should be arriving any minute. Everything ready?"
The assistant director nodded.
"Yes, Director. We're rolling from the elevator on up."
Lee Sang-hun had always felt a quiet envy watching other networks shoot making-of footage for their dramas. His own grand historicals had their own charm and strengths, of course, but the average age of the casts ran high, and KBC1's rather rigid culture had never given him much room to experiment. That old regret still lingered.
"Film every single second. We'll drop breadcrumbs all over YouTube."
Right then Yeon-woo walked in, cameras hanging off him like ornaments. True to the assistant director's word, the making-film crew had stuck to him from the KBC main-building elevators all the way here.
"Aigoo, Actor Ryu."
Director Lee had shot countless productions, yet he himself had rarely been on the other side of the lens; he approached Yeon-woo a little stiffly. Yeon-woo smiled and offered both hands for a handshake.
"Director. Good to see you."
"Of course. Every single day has been happiness for me."
Something in the director's tone rang so sincere that Ryu Yeon-woo's smile deepened a fraction.
Then the door opened again and another man entered, cameras swarming around him as well.