Fixing the Barn After the Fire
They had come to mend the barn after the horse was long gone.
If there were two things Yoon Jay feared, it was the past he had buried swallowing him whole—and fire. He hated fire, and he hated people who set them.
Having read affirmation in the criminal's laughter, Yoon Jay's presence turned even more menacing.
"Heh heh, urk...."
The man had been about to laugh his fill, but he swallowed hard at the murderous glint in Yoon Jay's eyes. Merely holding that gaze made his breathing go strangely wrong.
A wave of fear washed over him—the fear that this man might actually kill him.
Yoon Jay twisted the corner of his mouth. It was almost laughable how the man, after tormenting others so ruthlessly, folded like a wet paper the moment he got one look in the eye.
"Um...."
Kwon Min-jae, who had been about to call out to Yoon Jay, hesitated. Even without checking his expression, he could feel on his skin that the whole atmosphere had shifted.
"Jay."
"Yeah."
"They said the police are outside."
Yoon Jay squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them. Easing his killing intent, he peeled the man off the wall and waited for the police.
"Where is he?"
"Right here."
Yoon Jay handed the man over and lightly dusted off his hands. Freed from that suffocating aura, the stoker writhed and began to shout.
"Min-jae! Min-jae!"
The man called desperately for Kwon Min-jae. But even that was cut short by Yoon Jay blocking his way.
"You belong here! You don't belong with those people! You should have listened to me!"
Despite the man's constant warnings through letters and messages, Kwon Min-jae had grown close to Baek Da-eun, who fell short of his standards, and had surrounded himself with friends whose dangerous pasts peeked through the cracks.
He must have been watching Kwon Min-jae from somewhere, terrified for him.
The fury of watching someone he believed was in his grasp slip out of his control must have swelled. His emotions had careened off into extremes, clouding his judgment—which was why he'd tried to burn down the entire set, just to make sure Kwon Min-jae would never appear in Permafrost.
"Well, well. Strong one, aren't you?"
The detective assigned to Kwon Min-jae's stalking case was leading the rather powerfully built man toward the exit when he glanced sideways at Yoon Jay.
Was this the actor the manager had mentioned? What had impressed him most was how the man had pinned down a grown adult male with a single hand.
"So it's really over now?"
With the police and the criminal gone from the set, the three of them stood in silence. It felt as though a storm had passed. Tension bleeding out of him at Baek Da-eun's murmured remark, Kwon Min-jae let out a long, deep breath.
"Thank you."
It was a short sentence, but it carried a great deal. All this time, he had been tormented by a stranger and had nowhere to turn. Weaknesses invited scavengers—his had been torn at from every direction more than once. He hadn't shown it, but he'd been under crushing mental strain for months.
"Don't mention it."
Yoon Jay answered as if it were nothing. At that, Kwon Min-jae broke into a bright smile. When had he last smiled like this?
And so the three of them finished the shoot as if nothing had happened. Wrapping the day's filming, they headed to the local police station for questioning, together with the key staff members.
"This is... what on earth is going on."
Director Lee Han-lim muttered in disbelief as he stepped into the police station. Yoon Jay sat down first, across from the detective in charge.
"It's just a routine witness interview. No need to be nervous."
"Yes, sir."
"How exactly did you end up catching him?"
Yoon Jay repeated what he had told Baek Da-eun—the man's habitual early arrivals, and how he had memorized every staff member's face and name.
"You could really memorize all of them?"
"Yes."
"That's quite a lot of people, though...."
The detective frowned, clearly skeptical. It was the same reaction Baek Da-eun had shown. Yoon Jay, unbothered, continued.
"I'd heard recently that Min-jae was being hounded by a stalker."
"Ah, right, that was reported."
"So when I saw a suspicious man wearing one of our staff badges following him, I trailed him just in case—and caught him."
In truth, he had caught the man before anything could happen to Kwon Min-jae, but he dressed the story up to say he had subdued him for attempting to threaten him. Kwon Min-jae and Baek Da-eun then gave matching statements.
When every witness said the same thing, there was little room for doubt. On top of that, the phone contained abundant evidence of Kwon Min-jae's stalking, along with circumstantial proof that the man had been on the verge of setting fire to the set.
"By the way—Im Sang-woo. Do you know him?"
"You mean Min-jae's manager?"
"Yes. He said he'd been getting all sorts of advice from a fellow actor on set. Could that be relevant?"
"Just someone puffing himself up."
Yoon Jay answered with a light laugh, but the detective didn't believe it. Hmm. For a man merely trying to look impressive, his reasoning had been awfully sound—almost like a professional's.
"In any case, you've been through a great deal."
Though Yoon Jay hardly looked like he'd struggled at all, it was entirely thanks to him that a potential catastrophe had been averted.
"Well, about that...."
The detective found himself caught in Yoon Jay's peculiar gaze. It seemed to press: And where were you all while I was catching the criminal?
He'd received that kind of look plenty of times over the years, and could easily have ignored it—but his mouth opened on its own.
"Honestly, we hadn't just thrown our hands up. It's just that the victim is a celebrity, and he didn't want his identity known either. We can't exactly tail a person twenty-four hours a day. And for a criminal like this, the worst that usually comes out of it is a fine, so...."
"I understand."
"I shouldn't be saying you worked hard—I should be thanking you. Thank you."
And word of what had happened on set went straight to someone's ears.
"Um, Madam Vice Chairwoman. You instructed us to report anything involving Yoon Jay immediately...?"
"...What happened?"
Cho Youkyeong heard the full situation through her secretary.
The moment she learned that it was Yoon Jay who had personally caught the man attempting arson on set, she was so shocked she came in person.
After hearing the whole story from Kwon Min-jae, she stood in the police station corridor before Yoon Jay, who sat alone on a bench, and looked down at him.
"What would you have done if it hadn't been him?"
"I was confident."
"Jay."
Cho Youkyeong sighed, unsure what else to add.
"We handled it quietly so it wouldn't disrupt the shoot."
"And that's the problem?"
What did a mere filming schedule matter? If Yoon Jay had been caught up in something that disrupted production, she could have reimbursed the lost budget tenfold and thrown her full weight behind him.
"I was worried about you."
"Auntie."
Cho Youkyeong frowned. Did the boy know that being called 'auntie' softened her up, and was using it on purpose?
"You know as well as I do. I can take care of myself."
"Sure. Like anyone could hold you down."
It had already been revealed on television, so Cho Youkyeong knew all about Yoon Jay's unusual résumé. And she knew he was as sharply honed as ever, even now.
"What I was worried about was that history might repeat itself for you."
A pen can kill a person. So can a keyboard. Yoon Jae-hee had taken the full weight of the rough-edged early-2000s media and the malice of the crowd on his own small body.
Was now really so different? The chorus of midnight voices had only grown louder; the age of contempt was still alive and well.
Cho Youkyeong worried that Yoon Jay might get tangled up in something like his past, dredging up the memories of his childhood.
"I know you worry about me. And I know it's because you care."
Yoon Jay glanced sidelong at Cho Youkyeong, who had sat down beside him. He knew perfectly well that she doted on him the way she would a real nephew.
"But even if things had gone wrong, I would have been fine. I'm all grown up now."
"Hoo.... You knew exactly how I felt, didn't you?"
"I just wanted to help. That's all."
In truth, Yoon Jay wasn't the type to stick his nose into other people's business. He'd always lived by letting people come and go as they pleased, never barring the door, never holding anyone back.
Then why? Because Kwon Min-jae was a beneficiary of the Yoon Jae-hee Special Act? Or because of the fleeting connection between them as children?
He had decided to stop being so afraid of losing things that he refused to begin anything at all. His wandering was over; he was putting down roots in this work now.
Kwon Min-jae was someone he considered a friend. That was reason enough to help him.
"Well, in any case—what's done right is done right. Good work. You've prevented a case that could have turned very ugly."
"Will the criminal be released quickly?"
Ever since deciding to help Kwon Min-jae, Yoon Jay had looked into all sorts of things.
The environments in America and Korea were different, so it had been a matter of preparation—but he also knew very well how weak Korea's related penalties were.
"It'll be different if I apply a little pressure."
Catching the implication in his words, Cho Youkyeong answered with complete confidence. This was the eldest daughter of the KE Group and its next chairwoman speaking. Kwon Min-jae would be safe from now on.
Did—did she just say 'auntie'?
At the end of the corridor, the director and assistant director, having missed their window to slip out unnoticed, stared at each other. Lee Seo-won and Cho Youkyeong were related, weren't they? Which would make Yoon Jay too... chaebol stock?
No wonder CEO Lee kept dragging things out. He's trying to shoehorn in a relative?
And so the misunderstandings piled higher.
Kwon Min-jae and Yoon Jay spotted at police station — "Just routine witness questioning"
For a project this eagerly anticipated, news leaked off the set fast.
On the other hand, the fact that Kwon Min-jae's stalker had nearly carried out the crime never came to light. Kwon Min-jae hated having his name dragged through incidents like this, and Yoon Jay—who had contributed to catching the criminal—didn't want the credit either.
"Jay, over here!"
Every face that came his way was beaming. He had always kept to call times and delivered his takes cleanly, wrapping shoots early, so the crew's affection for him had been high to begin with.
Besides, word had spread that Yoon Jay was the one who had stopped disaster before it could strike the set.
"Really—really, thank you so much."
"I only stepped in because I didn't want the shoot to fall apart."
"Still, that's not an easy thing to do, is it? The fact that you stepped up at all is what's impressive."
With the article out, there was no hiding it from the rest of the staff anyway. Director Lee Han-lim decided to tout him openly.
Great actor, great personality, and connected enough to call Cho Youkyeong of all people his auntie? A flawless actor who could pull in investment on top of it? Best to build a good relationship now.
"Did you seriously memorize all of our names?"
"Yes."
Yoon Jay rattled off the names of passing staff members as if it were nothing. Everyone went oooooh in collective awe.
"The set feels a bit tense today, though."
"Hm? Ah... there's been talk about set security. Those gentlemen over there—word is they know you too?"
Those gentlemen? When Yoon Jay turned around, he saw a set of familiar faces.
"Hyung-nim."
"...Jung Seung-woo?"
Jung Seung-woo gave a nod in lieu of a greeting. Unlike his usual bouncy self, he was silent and businesslike—which meant he was here to work. On this set?
"Jay."
"Hyung."
Among the people sweeping the set were Choi Tae-yang and even Park Chul-woo. Yoon Jay cocked his head, puzzled.
"Came late to fix the barn, huh. Heard something happened here."
"Ah...."
The criminal had already been caught, and there was no further danger—yet Cho Youkyeong had gone ahead and hired a security firm anyway. That it happened to be Wings Company was a bit of a coincidence.
"So I'll finally get to watch you act in person, huh."
"Don't you have work to do?"
"I'm on leave today. Just invited myself along since it's your film."
Park Chul-woo grinned with unmistakable pride. It radiated off him in waves—this kid's ours.
"And I hear you pulled off another feat?"
"It was nothing."
"Hard to say whether to call it good luck or a knack for getting tangled up in trouble."
He'd caught a fire at Along Along too, didn't he? And now catching a would-be criminal on top of it.... Park Chul-woo let out a hearty laugh.
"Hey, look—a celebrity. An actual celebrity."
Beside him, the rarely-flustered Choi Tae-yang tapped Yoon Jay on the arm, making a quiet fuss. Um, technically I'm a celebrity too? Yoon Jay let out a laugh.
"Jay!"
"You're here?"
"Who are these gentlemen?"
Having caught the criminal together, he and Baek Da-eun were now on speaking terms. For a moment, Choi Tae-yang had the strange illusion that the air around Baek Da-eun was glowing.
"Coworkers from my old job."
"Nice to meet you. Don't tell me... you came because of all this?"
"Looks like it."
Baek Da-eun bowed politely, said she'd be in their care, and headed off elsewhere.
"Man, she's gorgeous. Seems sweet too. There's nothing going on between you two?"
"Worry less about my love life and go do your job?"
"What kind of slander is this from my best friend? You caught celebrity disease already? Gonna start keeping your distance from me?"
"How'd you guess? Take care out there."
Trading jokes and laughs with Choi Tae-yang, Yoon Jay gave his former colleagues each a pat on the shoulder and left for makeup.
The Wings Company bodyguards dispersed to their assigned positions to do their actual jobs, leaving only Park Chul-woo—off-duty by his own admission—to wander the set taking in the sights.
"Um, CEO sir. Hello."
"You're Jay's manager, aren't you?"
"Yes. I heard you two are very close, sir...."
"He actually said that? Clever kid. Well, you might as well call us brothers."
Han Jin-woo stepped up beside Park Chul-woo. Off in the distance, Yoon Jay, fresh out of makeup, was listening to the director's notes. Loosened up by Park Chul-woo's easy banter, Han Jin-woo spoke carefully.
"I know it's a bit awkward to ask you this right now."
"Oh, I just tagged along after my staff. Go ahead."
"Um... you're a former soldier too, right, sir?"
"That's right, but...."
Park Chul-woo felt a flicker of puzzlement at the question. Why did this feel like it had something to do with Yoon Jay? His expression hardened at once.
"...Did something happen?"
"Well, something did happen, actually."
Han Jin-woo agonized over whether he should say this at all—then let out a long sigh.