Unchanged
As soon as Yoon Jay finished his Avatar Playing, he headed straight for another studio. This time it was a music channel with over five million subscribers.
"Hyung!"
It was a chance to see the three actors from Agitato again after so long. When all four of them gathered in one place, the staff of the music channel let out a low chorus of admiration.
"The masks all look great on them."
"And I heard they're playing the instruments themselves..."
Kang Hajun, a former idol trainee, was handsome enough, and Baek Dokyung, who played Min Joon-young, had a clean-cut look of his own. Nam Chan-hee, with his chubby cheeks, had a face overflowing with character. And Yoon Jay hardly needed mentioning.
Based on how each character's personality and relationships played out within the film, the production company had a hunch that Agitato itself would take off, so they scheduled far more group promotion events than they would for another movie.
The actors' own dedication helped too — they had deliberately left their schedules loose for the sake of the film.
"It's been a while. Everyone been well?"
"Busy practicing. Want to see the calluses on my hands?"
"Oh..."
During filming the three of them had only done hand-syncing, but for the promotion of Intermission, they had reportedly practiced several of Agitato's songs from the movie until their fingers knew every note.
When they ran a brief rehearsal before the shoot, they turned out even better than expected.
"You're good. You must have practiced a lot, huh."
"The three of us put in the work."
"Excluding me? I'm a little hurt."
"You were always good, hyung."
Besides, he'd been busy. Kang Hajun bumped his fist lightly against Yoon Jay's outstretched one.
"Didn't you have promo events this morning too? Everything go all right?"
"I think I met the director's old teacher."
"Really? Oh, right. I didn't notice much during filming, but our director's kind of a big deal, isn't he?"
"He is."
A man once hailed as a genius, now all but forgotten. Shin Ji-won and Yoon Jay resembled each other more than a little.
The only difference was that Shin Ji-won was making a fresh start as a film director, while Yoon Jay was returning to the acting he had once run from and turned his back on.
Thinking of Shin Ji-won, Yoon Jay's mind drifted to Professor Park Heeseon, who had radiated regret and longing.
A teacher, huh...
The only person he could truly call a teacher was Lee Youngchang.
He'll probably come to the premiere, too.
What impressions would the man leave on a film that was only just beginning again?
After working through one promotional event after another, the release was finally right around the corner. Celebrities attending the VIP premiere, renowned critics, and journalists filed into the screening room.
"Ahh, I'm so nervous I could die. What do I do?"
The cast of Intermission, gathered in the waiting room, sat trembling in their seats.
Baek Dokyung, who played Min Joon-young, was so pale his face had gone green, and Nam Chan-hee, who played Oh In-soo, was no better. His once-chubby cheeks looked so hollow it was almost an optical illusion.
"You're not nervous, Director?"
"That's exactly why. Have one each."
Director Shin pulled a box of Chillsinhwan herbal pills from his pocket. Kang Hajun grabbed one first.
"What about you, Jay?"
"I'm fine."
Not that he wasn't nervous. This was his first leading role in a film since restarting his life as Yoon Jay — and back in the day, events like this hadn't really existed for him.
His birth mother had objected on the grounds that he was too young, so he had never even gone on a promotional tour.
I wonder how many tickets it'll sell.
He was only human; he had the ambition to do well, at the very least. Perhaps it was because the benchmark living in his heart was The Child.
"Well, you have been through worse situations than this."
"Director, we did Soldiers K for promo variety, remember? This guy was absolutely insane on it."
"Really? When can I watch that?"
"It should air this week? They said everything's going to drop during the release period."
The four of them mistook Yoon Jay's composure for nerves of steel forged by the controversy over his past.
Well... it's a bit different from that, actually.
Yoon Jay simply let them believe it.
In the heart of the vast movie theater complex, crowds who had heard about the event pressed against the barriers beside the photowall and red carpet, phones raised, waiting for the actors to arrive.
"Ugh, stop pushing."
"Tell that to the people shoving from behind."
It was Yoon Jay's first leading role since his debut, and his buzz had always been exceptional — plus word had it that his idol-group siblings would be showing up. The crowd was packed shoulder to shoulder.
"They're releasing the OST as soon as it premieres, right?"
"Can't wait."
There was already built-up anticipation on top of that, from the final performance scene they'd released in advance.
"Yes! The director of Intermission, Shin Ji-won, along with the cast, is now arriving!"
At the emcee's announcement, the four actors of Intermission and director Shin Ji-won stepped onto the red carpet. Behind director Shin came Yoon Jay.
"Gasp...!"
"Whoa, holy—!"
The very people who'd been in a bad mood from all the shoving forgot everything the moment they saw Yoon Jay and scrambled to photograph him. The crowd's roar swelled and rolled across the venue.
"KYAAA!"
"Here! Over here too!"
The crowd pressed right up against the edge of the red carpet, close enough to touch.
Yoon Jay pressed his hand to the hands people held out to him, offering his thanks. The heat of the crowd reached him. He was, honestly, quite happy.
"The energy is already electric! Director, a word, please!"
"Uh... hello, everyone."
Shin Ji-won had made his name in the indie film scene from his very first work. But this was his first taste of major-corporate capital. The hand gripping his microphone was trembling almost imperceptibly.
"Surely you're used to stages like this, Director? You must have competed in plenty of classical competitions."
"It's... been a while, that's all."
"Shall we hear from the actors first, if you're uncomfortable?"
"No, it's fine. Um... Intermission is a film that stands as a declaration of my new beginning as a director. It carries my own personal colors. The actors gave it their all in every performance, so I hope you'll enjoy watching it."
Having barely finished, Shin Ji-won passed the microphone to Yoon Jay.
"Hello, I'm Yoon Jay, playing Yoo Tae-hy—"
"KYAAAAA!"
"—hyuk."
Yoon Jay couldn't get a single sentence out in full. The crowd roared and shouted personal fan chants from every direction. Skillfully tuning it all out, he simply added a request for everyone to enjoy the film.
"Whoa, did you see that?"
"He's insane in person."
The remaining actors each said their piece, then stepped off the photowall.
One by one, the invited guests entered and posed before the cameras. Moon Chang-min never missed an occasion like this — he had always been the great senior who championed Yoon Jay.
Kwon Min-jae and Baek Da-eun, Yoon Jay's same-age friends whose close personal relationship was public knowledge thanks to tabloid articles, also attended. Others who had worked with him on various projects showed up as well. Even director Lee Han-lim of Permafrost was there.
"Director Lee Han-lim, what brings you to an occasion like this?"
"I came to see the first leading role of an actor I've had my eye on. I have high expectations."
He even let a joke-wrapped truth slip out. At that brazen answer, the journalists hammering away at their keyboards in real time only typed harder.
"Seung-woo, aren't you going up there?"
"I'm on duty."
Jung Seung-woo, now fully devoted to close-protection detail for Yoon Jay, had become something of a celebrity himself, drawing sideways glances from the people around him.
Everything's been fine so far, I guess...
Jung Seung-woo declined a fan's outstretched hand with an apologetic gesture while keeping a careful eye on Yoon Jay, who stood greeting guests at the entrance of the screening room.
"KYAAAAA!"
Then came a scream on a completely different order of magnitude from before, startling him inwardly. He looked toward the entrance.
Having wrapped a whirlwind stretch of album promotions and tours, Yoon Dohwa had finally entered a rest period — and she and every single member of her group showed up, not one missing.
"Oppa!"
"You came."
The moment Yoon Jay spotted her, his sister sprinted over, and he pulled her into a tight hug. Even in heels she was petite despite her height, fitting neatly into his arms. He nodded a greeting to the members trailing behind her.
Baek Dokyung and Nam Chan-hee forgot their nerves entirely and craned their necks like meerkats to gawk at the FLAVA members.
"That's my little sister."
"We're genuine fans, sir."
Baek Dokyung and Nam Chan-hee, who had both fallen for FLAVA back during their military service, greeted them shyly.
Just then, another commotion erupted outside.
"Whoa, what now? Who's arriving?"
"Looks like Dojun."
And sure enough, Yoon Dojun and the members of Buster came bounding over to Yoon Jay, all sparkles and energy. Within seconds, Yoon Jay was surrounded.
"Hajun-hyung."
"Hey, you made it."
Buster's leader Yoo Jihyuk, who had been close with Kang Hajun back in their idol trainee days, exchanged an awkward greeting with him.
"Those guys came to cheer for Jay-hyung, but I came to cheer for you, hyung."
"...Thanks for coming."
Ever since filming the scene where Jung Yihyun smashed through his own window and walked out of the house, Kang Hajun had been quietly avoiding Yoo Jihyuk's calls — until finally reaching out first himself.
That scene had been the moment Jung Yihyun at last found his freedom, and it had shattered the inferiority complex Kang Hajun had been carrying all this time.
"Wait, is that... Director Lee Youngchang?"
"That Lee? He comes to places like this?"
Just as the premiere was about to begin, a truly unexpected figure was treading the red carpet. The reporters snapped photo after photo while whispering among themselves.
"Lee Seo-won connection, maybe?"
"Well, Lee Seo-won does bend over backwards for Yoon Jay."
"Could be Jo Youkyeong's doing — look, she's right behind him."
Ever since learning Yoon Jay's true identity, Lee Seo-won had sent official letters to the media outlets and shielded him to the point of excess; the whole industry knew about it by now.
"Well, this is truly unexpected. Might I ask what brings you here today?"
"I'm here in my capacity as an investor and distributor. This director, meanwhile, was kind enough to indulge my insistence that he come along."
"I've been feeling of late the absence of young directors in the film industry. I hope to see a new director emerge who can carry on what I've built."
Even if he had revealed his identity to those close to Lee Seo-won, it remained a secret to nearly everyone else. So Lee Youngchang answered instead that he had come to support director Shin Ji-won.
The two men, stepping down from the photowall, spotted Yoon Jay and walked over slowly.
"Jay."
"You came."
Yoon Jay steered the two of them toward a quiet, out-of-the-way spot, shutting out unnecessary eyes. But not every pair of eyes could be escaped.
It's Lee Youngchang and Yoon Jay again.
Reporter Kang Chang-hoon — who had been eavesdropping on their conversation in the bathroom during the re-release of The Child and had been quietly tailing the two men ever since — covertly captured the scene.
What on earth is their connection?
It shared no point of contact whatsoever with anything known so far about Yoon Jay's past. It seemed odd to chalk it up to Jo Youkyeong's or Lee Seo-won's connections, either. During The Child's re-release, hadn't Yoon Jay been nothing more than Bodyguard Number One?
"Sometimes I've wondered whether all of us are putting too much weight on you because of your past."
"Why would you say that? I'm hardly anybody special."
Ever since Lee Seo-won had learned who Yoon Jay really was, he had shielded him with almost brazen enthusiasm, and Jo Youkyeong had made her expectations plain with gushing promotion of the film. It gnawed at Lee Youngchang.
"It's not a burden, sir. I took it as encouragement."
"Is that so?"
"Thank you for supporting me. Auntie."
Encouraged by his precious family and good people, Yoon Jay's heart had gone soft and warm — but the moment his eyes met Lee Youngchang's, tension flooded back in.
He had known for a long time that Lee Youngchang was probing him.
Reading the article afterward, he had guessed that the "one person" of the film dedicated to a single soul was himself — but he hadn't let himself hope.
If anything, he had assumed that article marked the beginning of an audition, Lee Youngchang's long evaluation of him. He felt like a hopeful candidate who had wandered onto the judges' stage without meaning to.
"You once said you wanted to walk a red carpet with me someday."
"I did."
He had said he wanted to stand here not as a celebrity attending an event, but as the actor and director of one work.
"Does that wish still hold?"
"It will never change."
Lee Youngchang gazed into Yoon Jay's resolute eyes. He was a master director whom countless actors dreamed of working with — and the sight of Yoon Jay, nerves taut and leaning on nothing from their old bond, struck him as genuinely admirable.
Lee Youngchang smiled and gave Yoon Jay's shoulder a light pat.
"I'll watch it well."
"Enjoy the film, sir."
And so every invited guest took their seats inside the screening room. Yoon Jay sat down with the rest of the cast.
They had held a press screening with its share of question-and-answer sessions, but this was the first time they would all sit together and watch the finished film as an audience.