Chapter 35
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 35
“About Han-byeol… what does his dad do? You two are close, Director Jin. You must know.”
Hae-young suddenly recalled her conversation with Tae-gon, her brow furrowing slightly.
“Why did I say that…?”
The moment Tae-gon had asked, she’d remembered Yeon-ju’s request to hide the absence of the child’s father. As if possessed, Hae-young had blurted out an answer without thinking.
“His father runs an animal hospital.”
She could have just said he was an ordinary office worker, but the moment she’d opened her mouth to answer, Dr. Ju had suddenly popped into her head, and the utter nonsense had just slipped out.
“I’m losing my mind, seriously. Ugh, why did that jerk of a CEO have to ask something like that out of nowhere?”
Sigh. Hae-young let out a short sigh as she retraced her memories. An unsettling feeling crept in, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.
Then, she recalled the sight of Eun-seong walking away while holding Han-byeol’s hand just a moment ago. Their matching strides, his warm gaze… He was a natural-born actor, so he was probably just immersed in his role as Han-byeol’s father, but in that fleeting moment, he truly looked like the boy’s real dad.
“…I shouldn’t be sitting around like this. What am I thinking?”
Hae-young picked up her phone and dialed Dr. Ju.
“Hello? Doctor, it’s Director Jin. Are you at the clinic?”
—Yes, Director. I’m at the clinic. Is something the matter?
“No, it’s nothing serious. Today is Han-byeol’s first day of filming. To celebrate, we’re thinking of having a party at his place afterward. Since you live in the same neighborhood, I was wondering if you’d like to join us.”
—Pardon? Ah, me? To Han-byeol’s house?
“Yes. Would that be uncomfortable for you? I’ll be there, and, well, Yeon-ju would love it too.”
As soon as she put extra emphasis on “Yeon-ju would love it too,” a loud clattering noise came from the other end of the line.
“Doctor, are you alright?”
—Ah, yes. My chair just tipped over. I’m fine.
Just how startled was he for a perfectly good chair to flip over…?
Hae-young chuckled, sensing Dr. Ju’s flustered state. She wrapped up the call by suggesting they have a simple pork belly party.
Dr. Ju was so obvious with his feelings, but she wondered if the clueless Yeon-ju had even an inkling.
“I wish those two would just get together already. I’m the one getting impatient here.”
Hae-young hummed a tune, excited at the thought of grilling pork belly at Yeon-ju’s place for the first time in a while. Just then, Ju-mi, from Tae-gon’s agency, approached her, warily scanning her surroundings.
Suspecting that Ju-mi had dumped her chores on Yeon-ju again to slack off, Hae-young’s expression quickly hardened.
“Director, are you busy?”
“No. Why?”
“I have something I’m curious about.”
When Ju-mi asked, Hae-young arched an eyebrow and gestured for her to speak.
“It’s about Go Yeon-ju. How did she get hired? I heard she’s an acquaintance of yours, Director.”
Hae-young gave her a strange look at the sudden mention of Yeon-ju. Seeing this, Ju-mi put on an expression of righteous indignation.
“Why bring up Go Yeon-ju all of a sudden?”
“I was just curious. I’ve been watching her for a few days, and she doesn’t really seem to fit in with the rest of us at the agency.”
“In what way?”
“You know the type. Always pulling rank because she’s older? And she seems to have a bit of an inferiority complex.”
Hae-young took a sip of her warm coffee. It was a silent signal for Ju-mi to continue.
“She brags constantly about her son making his debut. And she bosses me around just because I’m younger. I think Go Yeon-ju is really bad for team discipline.”
“Really? Is that so?”
She took another sip of her coffee. As Hae-young simply stared at her while sipping her drink, Ju-mi offered a coy smile and flipped her hair.
“There are plenty of people like that. Two-faced. She even talks behind your back, Director. You didn’t know that, did you?”
“Ah. Of course I wouldn’t know. How could I know what’s said behind my back?”
“Exactly. She calls you ‘Unni, Unni’ to your face, then subtly brags about her connection to you in front of everyone else. I felt like you didn’t really know what kind of person Go Yeon-ju is, Director. I wanted to let you know so you could be careful.”
“Ah, careful. Right. Being careful is good. I really should be careful.”
Hae-young hummed noncommittally. Staring at Ju-mi, who was still smiling amiably, Hae-young offered a sweet smile in return.
“Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“And the other day, Go Yeon-ju was aggressively throwing herself at Actor Im Eun-seong. She even locked the waiting room door.”
Hae-young, who had been about to turn away, froze in her tracks. As Ju-mi straightened her clothes as if she had just tossed out a trivial piece of gossip, Hae-young stepped closer to her.
“Ju-mi. What did you just say?”
* * *
Filming was a cycle of starting and stopping, over and over again.
Because they had to shoot the same scene dozens of times from different angles, it took incredible mental fortitude just to maintain one's energy.
As time passed, it was obvious that Han-byeol’s stamina was draining. His concentration wavered, and mistakes began to pile up.
Though he was a child and a novice, everyone in front of the camera was an actor. If they weren’t ready, they kept going until they were; if they were ready, they kept going until it was perfect. The camera's red light rolled on and on.
The acting coach sent by Chang-rok coached Han-byeol between takes, making him practice even during breaks as the shoot neared its end.
After wrapping up his scenes, Han-byeol walked into the waiting room. His already fair face looked even paler than usual.
Eun-seong, who had stayed behind even after his own shoot was finished, approached him.
“One Star. You okay?”
“Yes… Huh? Yes.”
He looked completely drained. Eun-seong patted Han-byeol on the shoulder.
“You did great. Why the long face?”
“I don’t know. I’m not happy with it. I did much better when I practiced by myself.”
“Exactly. You shouldn’t be satisfied just because you did well. If you don’t work harder, the best you’ll ever be is a universal superstar.”
Han-byeol barely listened, squirming a bit. Then, he slid over on the sofa and patted the empty space beside him.
Eun-seong raised an eyebrow.
“What? You want me to sit here?”
“Stop talking to me. I’m tired.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know the feeling. Watch out—when you get home, you won’t even have the strength to lift a spoon.”
Eun-seong plopped down and glanced at Han-byeol. Seeing the boy’s pale face made him feel uneasy, so he began to fidget with the chocolate in his pocket.
Sigh… I don’t just give this to anyone…
I haven’t even eaten it myself because it’s too precious…
“You probably don’t know this, but your blood sugar is dropping. Here, eat this.”
Here. As Eun-seong handed over the chocolate, Han-byeol stared at it, then pulled the exact same chocolate from his own pocket.
“I have one too.”
“…Where did you get that?”
“Mom gave it to me yesterday.”
Go Yeon-ju… regifting my chocolate…
Ugh. Eun-seong cleared his throat softly, unwrapped the chocolate, and popped it into the boy’s mouth. The child readily accepted it, his eyes fluttering as he blinked sleepily.
He seemed completely drained of energy.
“Hey, One Star. Wake up. You have to go home.”
“Later… I’m going with Mom and Auntie Hae-young.”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Later… with Grandma, Mom, and Auntie Hae-young… we’re going to grill pork belly…”
The boy’s voice trailed off.
“Ah. Pork belly is great.”
As Eun-seong muttered quietly, Han-byeol mumbled weakly, trying to finish his sentence.
“The animal hospital doctor too… at our house… grilling together…”
“Hey. One Star. One Star! Open your eyes. What are you saying? Who is going? Where?”
Eun-seong shook the shoulders of Han-byeol, who was on the verge of falling asleep. The boy’s head lolled back and forth, his eyes half-closed.
“Wake up. Finish what you were saying before you sleep. Who is coming? Where?”
“Ah… pork belly… sleepy…”
“Hey. Hey, One Star. You’re killing me here. Your sleepiness isn’t the issue right now. One Star!”
“I don’t know… I want to sleep…”
Han-byeol plopped his head onto Eun-seong’s lap and lay down. As the boy suddenly claimed his lap, Eun-seong let out a soft groan.
The child fell fast asleep the moment he lay down. He must have been exhausted. It was his first shoot, after all; it must have been incredibly tiring.
…But that wasn’t the problem! Why on earth was Dr. Ju grilling pork belly with them?!
“Sigh…”
Eun-seong let out a deep sigh and looked up at the ceiling. Are they already close enough to visit each other’s houses?
Gently stroking the boy’s hair, Eun-seong muttered to himself.
“One Star. Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
“Mmm…”
“You see, normally, when a lead actor works with a child actor, they do a Home Visit. You know what a Home Visit is, right? It’s extremely important. Do you get it or not?”
“Mmm-hmm…”
“Right. You know it well. Around the time of the first shoot, you’re supposed to do a Home Visit, an Environment Check, and, well, look into their background and stuff. You have to do those things. It’s written right there in the amended South African Performance Act or whatever. You wouldn’t know, but since I’m a global star, I respect the laws of all nations.”
The child was fast asleep, but Eun-seong kept talking.
“Of course, I’m not particularly thrilled about it either, but what can I do if that’s the law? I have no choice. Today seems like the perfect day for the lead actor to carry out a Home Visit for the child actor. What do you think?”
“Mumble… mumble…”
“Exactly. You’re on board. Then we’ve reached an agreement. To be precise, you invited me, and I had no choice but to accept.”
Eun-seong finalized the one-sided agreement while continuing to stroke the sleeping child’s hair.
“One Star, you just keep sleeping on my lap. I’ll be grilling pork belly later.”
“…”
“I’ll give you one last chance. If you don’t want me to go, say so within three seconds. One, two, three.”
“…”
“Thanks. Sleep well.”
Han-byeol drifted deeper into sleep. Having forced Han-byeol’s consent, Eun-seong smirked, celebrating the successful arrangement of his Home Visit.
A moment later, Hae-young and Yeon-ju entered the waiting room. Eun-seong gestured for them to be quiet, whispering “Shh” to indicate the child was asleep. Yeon-ju’s eyes widened.
“Thank you, Eun-seong. We’ll take Han-byeol now.”
As Hae-young stepped forward to pick him up, Eun-seong declined, signaling that since the boy had fallen asleep on his lap, he would take responsibility.
“He’s fast asleep. Let’s just leave him be.”
“But you need to go home, Eun-seong.”
“Well, Han-byeol practically begged me not to leave, so I stayed.”
Huh? Hae-young raised her eyebrows in disbelief, but Eun-seong maintained a perfectly nonchalant expression as he looked at Yeon-ju.
“I heard you’re having a party to celebrate Han-byeol’s first day of filming.”
“Ah? Yes? How did you know about that?”
“Han-byeol invited me, so I couldn’t possibly refuse.”
“Ah… I see…”
Yeon-ju and Hae-young’s mouths parted slightly in surprise. Meanwhile, Han-byeol was completely oblivious, wandering deep in dreamland.
Eun-seong smiled as if he were doing them a massive favor.
“How could I miss a celebration for the kid’s first shoot? Sure, I’ll go.”
With those words, he stood up, effortlessly scooping the child into his arms.
“By the way, where is it? I didn’t get to hear that part from Han-byeol.”
It was a flawless alibi.