A Web Drama, of All Things
I spun around right away.
Noh Bihyeok, wrapped in a blanket, was staring at me with a bewildered expression.
"You…."
I took a step closer. His eyes darted busily.
Only after sweeping my gaze over him from head to toe and confirming there was nothing visibly wrong did my breath finally come loose.
Then I clenched my teeth. When I glared at him, feeling the vein bulge above my temple, he flinched.
"You said you got in a car accident."
"No, I did! I did—it happened right in front of me, seriously, right in front of me."
"Then you should have said it properly. I thought you were the one who got hit―."
Heat flared all the way up to the crown of my head.
I wanted to argue more, but it was only then that my ragged breathing burst out of me.
Noh Bihyeok had been stumbling backward, but when I started coughing like I was about to hack up blood, he came over half-crouching, unsure of himself.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Khh."
My throat stung.
At the same time, I pressed down on my fever-bright eyes and swallowed the anger.
"From now on, say things properly. Don't scare people like that."
"……You're the one who hung up without even listening to what I said."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Noh Bihyeok quickly averted his eyes.
He roughly wiped the beads of sweat that had sprung up on his forehead in the meantime.
"Yeonjae…! Hah—what do you think you're doing, running like that! Hah… where's Bihyeok?"
"He's fine. Apparently the accident just happened in front of him."
Within seconds, Seong Ijun and Nam Inhu came puffing into view.
While Noh Bihyeok watched them with a what-on-earth-is-going-on look, a police officer approached him.
"We'll need a witness statement. Could you leave your parents' contact information?"
"Ah… I can just give you mine. If you contact me directly, that works."
"All right. Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"
"Yes. It really all happened in front of me. I only watched."
While Noh Bihyeok and the officer talked, I looked around.
From the car debris scattered everywhere, it clearly hadn't been a minor collision. That really must have scared him.
For a moment I'd panicked, thinking it had happened because of me.
Think it through, and there was no way that could be the case.
"Hey. Isn't that kid the one Seohee has a crush on?"
"No way. Just someone who looks like him."
"Whoa. Isn't that Seong Ijun behind him? I think it is!"
At the whispering of the people gathered around the accident, I hurriedly turned away.
Come to think of it, I'd also broken my promise to Manager Ahn Jinbae.
Haah. I should make that call first.
***
I climbed into Manager Ahn Jinbae's car, which had come racing over, and sat beside him.
"Actor-nim―."
"I'm really fine."
The moment I got into the passenger seat, I rushed to tell him I was okay.
He couldn't seem to believe it at all, fidgeting with a pale face, so I offered my body up for his inspection.
Only after checking me over this way and that and finding not a single wound did Manager Ahn Jinbae let out a long sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry for breaking our promise."
"It's fine. You really aren't hurt anywhere, right?"
"No. I wasn't even there when the accident happened."
It being a car accident of all things seemed to have startled him all the more.
I had made the subject crystal clear on the phone specifically to avoid any misunderstanding, but the moment I heard him suck in a breath through the receiver, I'd been startled too.
Manager Ahn Jinbae asked Noh Bihyeok whether he didn't need a hospital, but the kid insisted vehemently that he was truly unharmed.
After a final word of relief, a heavy silence settled over the car.
"……Um. I'm sorry I misunderstood earlier."
"Sorry?"
Fortunately, Nam Inhu apologized first, before long.
He explained point by point exactly what he'd misunderstood, and once he said he was genuinely sorry, Noh Bihyeok, after a brief silence, broke into a bright smile.
"It's fine, hyung-nim! I'm sorry too for messing up the mood over nothing."
"It wasn't nothing. This all really happened because of me. I'm sorry. And… just talk however you're comfortable. We're only a year apart."
Noh Bihyeok dropped the formality immediately.
When he cheerfully shot back that he was going to demolish the pizza the moment they got back, Nam Inhu smiled in return.
The two chatted away freely, as if they'd never fought at all.
On the surface, everything looked fine….
Surprising. I thought those two would get along well.
The sight of Noh Bihyeok's smile in the rearview mirror felt strangely artificial somehow. Like it had been seasoned heavily with social polish?
Well, Nam Inhu didn't seem to notice, so it shouldn't matter. Not my problem.
With that quiet chatter as background music, we arrived home.
"Aw, the pizza's gone cold."
"Just nuke it in the microwave. Go on in ahead of me."
The microwaved pizza wasn't quite as good as when it had first arrived, but it was still delicious.
And once that conversation got going, no matter how many times the clock hands circled, there was no sign of it ending.
In the end, just like last time, we dragged the mattress into my room and talked ourselves to the very edge of sleep.
It was a strangely ticklish feeling, but not at all a bad one.
***
"Still, seeing a big accident happen right in front of you must have shaken him, but your friend says he's fine?"
"I've asked him a few times since, and he says he's okay. He told me compared to watching me get in a car accident, it was nothing."
"Ah, so that friend was there when you had your car accident?"
"Yes. We were in the same class."
The doctor scribbled something down with a hmm-like look on his face.
I didn't think it was anything meaningful, so I didn't bother paying attention.
Just to be safe, I'd sneaked a glance last time—it was stuff like 'What should I eat later… curry? Rice and side dishes?'
"I see…."
As expected, his follow-up was just a meaningless murmur of agreement.
His somewhere-hazy eyes didn't even seem to be looking directly at me.
Ordinarily, I'd have wondered what on earth he was doing after charging such an expensive counseling fee, but right now it was actually relaxing.
All the more so since Director Yoon had told me to keep up the sessions for at least three more months after filming wrapped.
As I was kneading my loosely slumped shoulder, the doctor gave a loud, deliberate cough.
It was a kind of signal.
A signal that, since he had to earn his fee, he would now ask the token questions.
I straightened my back to show I was ready. By this point, it was honestly funny.
"You remember, don't you? A few months ago, during your hyperventilation episode—you said you'd been having nightmares about losing a friend."
"Yes."
"Shall we run a little simulation? Using the guardian who drives you here every single time."
"You mean Jinbae hyung?"
"Yes. How would you feel if he disappeared?"
It was a rather loaded question, but something about his delivery drained it of any weight.
So I didn't bother racking my brain and just said whatever came to mind.
"There wouldn't be anything I could do about it. It would be sad, but I think I'd understand. He might want a different actor, or he might move on to another job… that's his freedom."
The doctor was silent for a moment.
"Hmm… I said disappear, though."
"Sorry?"
"The things you just listed only apply to situations where the manager is leaving you of his own accord."
Were there other situations?
I frowned for a moment, then caught myself a beat too late.
"Ah—right. If it were a case of him going missing, I'd have to report it to the police right away."
"……Yes. Quite."
Maybe that wasn't it either. The doctor's expression was so subtle it was hard to read.
The session ended with a word that we'd stop here for today, and I headed straight to the company.
Some scripts weren't allowed to leave the building, so it felt easier to just read them there.
I sat down in the seat that had somehow become my assigned spot and was about to open the script when Manager Ahn Jinbae sat down across from me.
No meetings today?
It seemed like he'd been in back-to-back meetings with Team Leader Woo lately.
Well, none of my business, apparently, so I looked back down.
The rustle of paper filled the silences here and there. It was comfortable.
"Actor-nim. May I ask you something?"
It was so comfortable I was getting drowsy, so when Manager Ahn Jinbae carefully broached the conversation, I was almost grateful.
"Of course."
"Do you like the script you're reading right now?"
"Mm… I'd say it's just decent, I guess. Want me to hand it over?"
"No. That's not what I meant."
Manager Ahn Jinbae looked somewhat at a loss.
I couldn't understand why he was making that face, so I tilted my head, and after a moment's hesitation he took a short breath and looked at me.
With eyes that had hardened, as if he'd made some kind of resolution.
"You can be honest with me."
"Sorry?"
"Say whatever's on your mind. I've already laid the groundwork with Team Leader Woo."
"……What are you talking about right now?"
When I dumbly echoed his baffling words, Manager Ahn Jinbae pointed out that the script in my hands was one I'd been holding onto for nearly two weeks.
His question—wasn't I reading it over and over because you wanted to film it?—made me falter.
"Honestly, I think you should be resting for three months, Actor-nim. But I've never seen you fixate on a single script like this before."
"I haven't been reading it that long…."
"You have. You've finished it at least three times and are reading it again right now."
It was five.
Too embarrassed to correct him, I just let my lips flap uselessly.
"Starting from your extra appearances all the way up to filming Twins recently… there isn't a single project you chose because you wanted to do it. If you want it, Actor-nim, I'll move heaven and earth to get you confirmed―."
"It's fine, hyung. That's not why I've been reading it."
"No?"
It was nothing, really, but for some reason it felt too awkward to bring up at this particular moment.
When I hesitated, Manager Ahn Jinbae apparently took it for an evasive lie and tried to persuade me again.
"Don't worry, Actor-nim. I'll go speak with them myself."
"No, really, you don't have to. There's just one scene that left an impression on me, and that's why I keep coming back to it."
Even after I said all that, the look in his eyes had already lost its trust in me.
He declared he was going to report to Team Leader Woo this instant and leapt up like some hero who'd just received a quest, and I had to frantically push him back into his seat.
Even after that, he kept trying to slip off to the Team 1 office at every opportunity, and I had to talk him down again and again.
"Hyung, I really didn't read it because I want to film it. There's no role in it for me anyway."
"……Understood."
Only after I repeated myself several more times did he finally nod.
Then he sighed and said we should head home—because if we stayed here any longer, he was liable to let his guard down and go make his report.
Fortunately, Manager Ahn Jinbae silently grabbed the car keys, and that was how we ended up at home.
***
"It's a hundred percent."
"That certain, huh?"
"Yes. If he truly didn't want to film it, he would have just given an empty smile. If it were anything else, there'd be no need to deny it that hard."
Unfortunately for him, Ahn Jinbae had come straight to the company the moment he confirmed Yeonjae had fallen asleep.
Team Leader Woo, perhaps concerned about an actor left home alone, watched him speak unusually fast, and sighed.
"Haah… well, if he really wants it, there's nothing to be done. I'll reach out to the production side tomorrow."
"Thank you. Let me know when the audition schedule comes out."
"Audition, my foot. The moment I call them tomorrow, they'll come running straight here. You'd better be ready to greet them at the door."
"Knowing Actor-nim's personality, without an audition he'll refuse to do it at all. It's better to create the opportunity for him."
At his resolute words, Team Leader Woo groaned.
"Jinbae, his last project was a Yoon Kangyeon film. A one-man lead, no less. It's already killing me that an actor who's supposed to be walking a Cannes red carpet next year is following up with—what, a web drama? And you want him to audition for it on top of that?"
"……."
"I can't allow it. My pride won't let me. If the CEO finds out, all hell will break loose."
Ahn Jinbae chose silence, unable to find anything to say.
Team Leader Woo's muttered grumbling, as she sighed like her head was about to split, filled the gap.
"If he's going to get hooked on something, why does it have to be that. Why, of all things, does it have to be a web drama."