Intermission (1)
With the crank-in for Intermission just one day away, Yoon Jay received an invitation to the premiere of Director Lee Young-chang's film, Horizon.
"How do you know Director Lee?"
"Vice Chairman Jo introduced us, and he was an acquaintance of my birth father."
"Ah, so that's why he was at the restaurant that day..."
So that was when they'd crossed paths. Yoon Jay forced himself to ignore his stinging conscience and fixed his eyes on his phone screen. It was an interview with Lee Young-chang, published the moment the film hit theaters.
His thumb, scrolling slowly through the piece, stopped at a certain point.
More than twenty years had passed, and countless masterpieces had been born in that time. Plenty of former child actors—Kwon Min-jae and Baek Da-eun among them—had gone on to fame, and yet people were still searching for Yoon Jae-hee... Yoon Jay couldn't make sense of it.
He knew as well that Lee Young-chang had been agonizing over his next film. What answer had he given? Just as Yoon Jay was about to scroll down, he lifted his head at Han Jin-woo's voice.
"Hyung, we're here."
"Right."
He switched off the screen and slipped the phone into his pocket. The answer to the question he never got to read—Intermission filming had seen to that—was this:
A tribute film from a master of Lee Young-chang's stature—who on earth could be the protagonist of such an honor? The actors dreaming of a role in one of his films read the interview and envied that nameless someone.
Knowing nothing of any of it, Yoon Jay walked into the premiere venue.
"Jay! Over here, please!"
"This way next!"
After a short wait, Yoon Jay took his place on the photo line as well. His hair—grown out for Yoo Tae-hyuk of Intermission, with even a slight wave worked in—spilled loose at the sides despite the neat half-up tie.
A performance venue near Hongdae. It was earlier than the usual showtime, yet a crowd had already gathered to wait.
"Has everyone signed the confidentiality agreement?"
"Here you go."
They were audience extras hired for a film shoot. Staff members bustled about collecting the paperwork.
"If someone you know shows up in there, don't let on that you recognize them. Just enjoy the show and call out the names written on your sheets."
"A few of the audience will be filming the performance on their phones—those are our staff. Don't you dare start filming just because you see them doing it."
The extras skimmed the information sheets they'd been handed. The band's name was Agitato; the vocalist, who also played bass, was Yoo Tae-hyuk. Min Joon-young on guitar, Oh In-soo on drums. Since the vocalist was the popular one in the story, the instructions said to chant his name above all.
"So who is this guy, anyway?"
"No idea."
The bored extras whispered among themselves as they waited. They didn't take this kind of gig often, but this one was more organized than most sets they'd seen.
Security was so thorough, in fact, that they'd been made to power off their phones before even entering the venue.
"You think someone famous is coming?"
Before the official announcement of Intermission, the production team had recruited audience members in advance to lend the concert scene a sense of reality. Casting news hadn't broken yet, so recruitment had fallen short of its target.
Refusing to give up, the team had made the rounds of indie venues, courting regular concertgoers. The moment word spread that they'd actually be paid to watch a show, people flocked to sign up.
"I looked it up, and the only thing shooting this time of year is 'Intermission.'"
"Didn't they say Yoon Jay's in that?"
"Who's Yoon Jay?"
"The guy who went viral on Cookietok with that unhinged dance. You haven't seen the coffee ad? Word is he's a hot actor right now."
"Who's that again?"
"Wait, THAT guy is Yoon Jay?"
Even with Yoon Jay rising through the industry at speed and busy cementing his name recognition, it stood to reason that some people still had no idea who he was. They looked him up and, first thing, gasped at his face.
"Damn, he's gorgeous."
"Wait, so that's what we're filming today?"
"Oh, come on. No way."
"It's probably just some indie film."
As it happened, that "no way" was dead on. Yoon Jay, fully transformed into Yoo Tae-hyuk, was being filmed from behind as he climbed the steps to the stage.
"Please file in orderly!"
Escorted in by the staff, the audience extras swallowed hard at the sight of the tall, striking man waiting for them onstage.
In indie venues like this one, the seats and the stage sit practically on top of each other. The people pressed right up against it were extras cast in advance, playing the die-hard fans of Agitato, the band from Intermission.
"Oh my god!"
"It's really him?!"
Even with bodies packed in front of them, the distance was nothing. The extras who had come expecting an ordinary audience gig gaped at Yoon Jay in the flesh—a face they'd only ever seen on a screen.
Now do they get it? Yoon Jay rapped a finger against the microphone fixed to its stand.
"Ah, ah. Hello, everyone—actor Yoon Jay here. Pretty hot out there today, isn't it?"
"Wow..."
"It's boiling!"
The crowd answered a beat late, still stunned by the appearance of someone none of them had expected. Yoon Jay swept the hair falling into his eyes back with a show of mild annoyance. It had been a while since he'd worn it long, and it tickled his face.
"Thank you all for coming out for our film. You'll keep the secret until release day, right?"
"Yes!"
"You're the very first people in the world to hear me play and sing. So this stays strictly between us. Not a word to anyone—what happens in this room stays in this room. Got it?"
"Yes!"
"Shall we practice our cheering first? What's my name?"
"Yoon Jay!"
"Yoo Tae-hyuk!"
Yoon Jay shook his head side to side at the ones who'd called his own name. The comically wounded expression set off ripples of laughter through the room.
"Not Yoon Jay. Again—what's my name?"
"Yoo Tae-hyuk!"
"There we go. One more time, everyone."
Director Shin Ji-won and Choi Sujin let out a low gasp of admiration. There had never been any chance the two would refuse the lead actor's request to greet the audience beforehand for the sake of authenticity.
But they hadn't dreamed he'd be this polished. Even if Yoon Jay played at an absurdly overpowered level, playing well alone wasn't enough. They'd assumed the heat and rhythm of a live crowd would still be foreign territory to him.
"Isn't this his first time performing live? He's handling them like a pro."
"I heard he got coaching from his younger siblings."
"Really?"
"The man is genuinely infuriating."
Despite the words, a smile had settled on Shin Ji-won's lips. The extras, half-electrified by the sudden appearance of a celebrity, were being steered by Yoon Jay's easy command—gradually, imperceptibly—from hired audience into actual Agitato fans.
And not just them. Even the seasoned fan-actors recruited in advance, who had known all along it would be Yoon Jay, found themselves getting swept up in the current.
"Standby in five!"
At the staff member's call, Yoon Jay waved—see you in a bit—and stepped off the stage. The actors on drums and guitar pretended to tune their instruments. The audience they'd left behind murmured.
"Are they actually going to play?"
"No way."
"Rolling! Ready, and—action!"
The youngest staffer clapped the slate and darted off into a corner of the stage. The drummer and guitarist exchanged anxious glances—their leader was still nowhere to be seen, even with the house this full.
"Where the hell is Yoo Tae-hyuk?"
"No clue. He's not picking up."
And then—BANG! The door flew open, and out strode Yoo Tae-hyuk. The crowd screamed on pure reflex. At the hired actors' cries of Tae-hyuk!, a good portion of the audience shouted along.
The Yoon Jay who had so gently worked the room minutes ago was gone. Heavy footfalls, an expression raw with nerves and irritation. Yoo Tae-hyuk shouldered aside the guitarist coming toward him.
"Why are you so late?"
"We're starting."
Can one person's whole atmosphere really flip like that? Before the crowd could even murmur, the first song crashed in.
The drums thundered, and hearts thundered with them. Thanks to the sound system the production team had labored over, the audience forgot this was a film shoot and simply lost themselves in the show.
This was a soundtrack built on Director Shin Ji-won's collaboration with a small army of composers. He had known they would love it.
"Holy shit!"
"KYAAAAAH!"
And the one who devoured that energy whole was Yoon Jay. His fingers flew across the bass in a flamboyant slap, and his voice—husky, smoldering—was pure magnetism.
And then, behind the frenzied crowd, Kang Ha-jun made his entrance—Jung Yi-hyun now, in this moment.
His neat, buttoned-up clothes clashed with everything around them, and the way he scanned the venue this way and that, like a stranger to it all, said everything: this was his first time in a place like this.
Wow...
Even he, for this one moment, was not Jung Yi-hyun. The real Kang Ha-jun had surfaced without his permission, staring at the stage.
He couldn't tear his eyes away—Yoon Jay, commanding the crowd, acting and playing and singing with such effortless mastery.
"Cut! Beautiful!"
"We'll take a short break, then go again!"
This was the performance scene that would seize the film's opening. The plan was to shoot it from every angle and stitch it together in the edit.
"That was insane!"
"God, the song is so good, right?"
"Unbelievable..."
Fortunately, the audience showed no sign of running dry. What do I do—we've got three more takes after this... Shin Ji-won called out anyway.
"Here we go again!"
And so the performance began again. And again. And again.
The crowd found it harder and harder to summon the cheers and heat of that first round. Even a three-minute idol pre-recording leaves you drained, exhausted, and dying to go home by the third take. The performance footage they needed for the film ran twenty minutes.
"This is brutal..."
"I've got nothing left in this voice."
No wonder the pay was so high for a "simple" gig! The audience waited, hollow-eyed, for the director's okay. And then, at last—liberation.
"Okay! Wonderful work, everyone! You're free to go!"
"Finally!"
"At last!"
Feeling unexpectedly guilty, Yoon Jay stepped close to the front row and crouched down to their level.
"Rough day, wasn't it?"
"Yes..."
"Thank you for your hard work. Get home safe, all of you."
Fortified by his encouragement, the audience streamed out of the venue. Their stamina was spent—but something small had shifted. The same people who'd been muttering Yoon Jay? Who's that? before the show were buzzing now.
"That man was Yoon Jay, right?"
"Yep."
"What's he been in? He doesn't do Balloon or anything, does he?"
"Ooh! Ooh, I know this one!"
Among them was an actual fan of Yoon Jay. Having stumbled into the opportunity of a lifetime, she pushed forward to do her sacred duty and sing her actor's praises.
And so the audience went home—but the shoot went on.
The show over, the band Agitato carried their instruments out of the venue.
"Hey. Drummer."
"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Oh In-soo, not 'drummer'—"
SLAM!
Yoo Tae-hyuk's forearm crushed against Oh In-soo's throat. Pinned to the wall in an instant, Oh In-soo let out a strangled groan.
"Fuck. Didn't I tell you to keep the goddamn beat?"
"Hey, Yoo Tae-hyuk. In-soo did fine. What's your problem?"
Min Joon-young, the guitarist, rushed in and grabbed at Yoo Tae-hyuk's arm. It was like trying to move a wall. Yoo Tae-hyuk stared Oh In-soo down without so much as a blink. He looked like a beast that had never once been tamed.
"Did fine, my ass. His beat was dragging the whole set."
"Ugh... let—let go of me!"
"If all you've got is that garbage, quit playing."
"Hey, let In-soo go. Now."
Min Joon-young was Yoo Tae-hyuk's high school classmate and oldest friend. Under his intervention, Yoo Tae-hyuk finally released him.
"Fuck, am I your slave? How long am I supposed to keep kissing your ass?"
"Kissing my ass? Hey—if you can't play, don't play. Is gassing out and dragging the beat any way for a drummer to play?"
"I'm not even a real member, I'm a fill-in, remember?! What exactly is there to quit?!"
Oh In-soo wouldn't be around after tomorrow anyway, so he threw down the threat like a gauntlet—go on then, see how far you get without a drummer.
"And deposit my gig money today, or I'm coming back with a bat."
"Piss off."
"Dipshit."
Yoo Tae-hyuk and Oh In-soo flipped each other the bird. Oh In-soo stomped off out of the alley, still grumbling, and the two who remained lit their cigarettes.
Agitato—a band on the rise in the indie scene, with a fanbase larger than most—was on the verge of collapse.
"You need to cut the crap. Seriously."
"Why should I?"
"Haah..."
It was all because of Yoo Tae-hyuk's godawful personality.