The Demon's King
I grimaced, shivering at the demon whispering in my ear. From the sound of it, he was reading Hebrew backwards.
[Our…… king…… has…… arrived]
[Huh?]
So demons really were demons after all.
The demon kept muttering on.
[What, you're playing our king?]
[Well, your face is satisfactory, I'll admit. A king with a face like that will make far more people worship the demon……]
[But your personality! Your personality is the problem!]
A demon, lecturing me about character. Then again, if the demon's personality was broken, wasn't that actually a good thing? Come to think of it, people had been telling me I'd gotten nicer since I regressed.
His relentless clattering was getting on my nerves, so I plugged both ears. Then I mentioned what the shaman grandmother had said about the big guest, and Jang Chaerin looked at me with openly envious eyes.
"……Must be nice."
I had no idea what she was jealous of, but then, fully understanding Jang Chaerin had always been impossible. I could barely keep up with ordinary people, let alone this strange creature.
The further we got through the school year, the more I noticed something: Jang Chaerin wasn't actually that absorbed in acting itself.
Few works matched the world she loved, and she had zero interest in any role she didn't love. Being that picky about projects was a serious flaw in an actor. But lately, a different thought kept creeping in—maybe as a creator, it was different.
I'd never understood Jang Chaerin's world. But while filming Strange Fate, I'd started to wonder: perhaps that taste of hers, so singular and far from universal, could build something…… beautiful.
Anyway, Jang Chaerin really was an occult expert. Her advice had helped my preparation enormously.
After my crash course in the occult from Jang Chaerin, I met with Director Jeon Changhwan for the second time. I showed him the reversed Hebrew and asked:
"So my role is the king of the demons?"
At my question, Director Jeon's eyes went wide with emotion.
"H-how did you know? That was my bait!"
"A girl from my school—not exactly a friend—told me."
So it was the Demon King role.
Only then did Director Jeon come clean.
"Honestly, our actor Heeyoon's part is a bit…… I want it to make a serious impact."
"You said it was a friendly cameo."
"And it is! Which means you only shoot for two episodes, less than three minutes of screen time. Actor Heeyoon, all you have to do is stand there looking worshippable."
Off to the side, Seo Joongsung couldn't even lift his head, too sorry for me. I wasn't angry, exactly—playing a demon just felt a little off. That meant someday I'd have to get exorcised, didn't it?
Then I got my hands on the script and noticed that in part two, my character actually came back to life, and his presence only grew heading into part three. Which meant my appearance in the third film was practically confirmed already, wasn't it?
I had plenty of questions, but with Seo Joongsung having vouched for me, I let it go for now. Pay and screen time were Leader Actors' problem to fight over. They were a loosey-goosey bunch, but never when money was on the line.
Director Jeon turned to me.
"So this friend of yours—she's really into the occult, huh."
"Oh, Jang Chaerin? Former child actress."
"Hmm, don't know her……"
"She's the daughter of Nine Lives' CEO, Jang Hyosik."
"Ah, Nine Lives! Of course I know them."
So occult, horror, slasher, and zombie people all knew one another after all. I'd planned to pass her name along anyway, so I repeated myself to the director.
"She's the one who introduced me to Strange Fate, too. Said it was a script she treasured."
"She clearly has an eye for material, that one."
"She writes scripts herself, actually."
"Oh? She writes?"
Just as expected, Director Jeon took the bait. Once the introduction was made, I collected the script and headed home.
Playing a demon, of all things.
It felt deeply unfamiliar to me—but mercifully, right beside me was an insufferably chatty model.
[I'll make you into a magnificent demon]
'Not needed.'
[You're our face from now on! Fighting!]
Annoying, sure. But it would probably help.
Seo Joongsung, star of the Exorcism Investigator series as Sergeant Hwang Dongwan—the leader of the Korean National Police Agency's only squad for paranormal incidents, the Exorcism Squad—had spent days worrying about Lee Heeyoon, whom he'd roped into the friendly cameo.
After the scene where the Exorcism Squad battled a demon-possessed criminal, the set was drenched head to toe in stage blood.
"Ugh, it's sticky."
Baek Geonwoo, the squad's youngest—a former Baekdu-class ssireum champion turned actor, affectionately nicknamed "Cutie"—scrunched his face at the blood coating his whole body. Then Kim Ian, the squad's second-youngest and a former lacrosse player, chimed in.
"Suck it up, Cutie. Do a cute face."
"Ah, noona, how am I supposed to do a cute face in this situation……"
Baek Geonwoo whined, but a senior from the athletics world had spoken, so he had no choice—he put on his cutest expression. Joining him in wiping blood off the floor were Park Gu-on, the model-turned-actor, and Seo Joongsung himself. Every last one of them had a face that could stop a heart.
Kim Ian glanced around at the men of her team and turned to Director Jeon.
"Isn't the energy here a bit too intense? Can a high schooler really hold his own against this vibe? I'm worried he'll get devoured."
"You just have to trust him. Seo Joongsung vouched for him."
At that, Seo Joongsung jolted in alarm.
"You're the one who told me to ask, Director……"
Director Jeon, feigning ignorance, had dumped the blame squarely on him. Now that filming had actually started, it seemed the combined menace of the Exorcism Squad's faces exceeded even what the director remembered.
Slowly, Director Jeon began to fret.
"Joongsung, actor Heeyoon…… he can act, right? From what I've seen, he's good."
"Acting? Of course. That's not even worth worrying about."
"Is he maybe, um, high-strung?"
"I've never once seen him scared of anything."
That was where Director Jeon finally found a sliver of relief.
Whenever Seo Joongsung talked about actor Lee Heeyoon, there wasn't a shred of doubt in his words. He believed in him, utterly and completely.
'Joongsung isn't a man who vouches for hollow talent.'
Today was the day of Lee Heeyoon's first appearance.
Ordinarily, they'd have run rehearsal after rehearsal, but Director Jeon had forbidden any rehearsal whatsoever for the first meeting between the demon commander and the squad. He hadn't even let Lee Heeyoon and the Exorcism Squad cross paths.
Because he wanted maximum impact from this scene.
Before actor Lee Heeyoon's arrival, Director Jeon stepped outside the set for a moment. Beyond the filming studio—a renovated scrap-paper warehouse—stretched a landscape so desolate there wasn't even a rice paddy in sight.
The only thing out here was a chive field. It was the local specialty.
Which was why every single thing the crew brought back from town contained chives. Chive bread, chive cream cheese, chive kimchi, and on and on……
And then he spotted something truly inedible.
"……Chive tea?"
When Director Jeon recoiled, one of the staff explained.
"It's for actor Heeyoon. He says he drinks chive tea often."
"Is that even tea?"
"We think so, anyway. Apparently it's an in-house tradition at Leader Actors……"
Just what kind of company was Leader Actors? As Director Jeon shook his head, a car pulled up well ahead of schedule—Lee Heeyoon had arrived.
Director Jeon handed the freshly made-up actor a cup of chive tea and asked:
"Do you actually drink this stuff? Nobody's bullying you, are they?"
"My team leader says I have to ward off ghosts, so he insists I drink it."
"Shouldn't that be garlic?"
"I asked the same thing, and he said garlic is technically in the chive family. Then I said garlic wards off vampires, and he said, well, we flew it across the ocean to Korea anyway, so just drink it."
……That company. They're really not bullying this kid, are they?
Still somewhat uneasy, Director Jeon looked Lee Heeyoon up and down.
He felt guilty that even a friendly cameo demanded so much preparation, so he'd done his best to schedule things so the actor had no waiting time at all.
The makeup for this shoot was simple: the role of a twenty-year-old, the only young man in the village. The rest of the cast were all middle-aged at the youngest—the village's sole youth.
An ordinary plaid shirt, cotton pants, a pair of glasses. And yet Lee Heeyoon looked, honestly—
"……How can someone dress this plain and still look this much like a celebrity?"
He looked like a celebrity. If anything, the modest outfit made his face shine even brighter. Vice President Gam Soohan, who'd ended up driving the car himself because the other staff were too intimidated to come, heard his own face get complimented and immediately came scurrying over to wedge himself into the conversation.
"We did a fitting and were very pleased with the results. We look forward to working with you, Director."
"Well, he'll probably turn out fine on his own…… Actor Heeyoon, listen. Inside there's nothing but scary grown men. You can't let that energy eat you alive. That set is yours to grip by the throat. Can you do it?"
Director Jeon's worry made his words run long, and Lee Heeyoon glanced sideways at him.
"If you thought I couldn't, you shouldn't have cast me."
"Sorry?"
"If you've already decided to cast me, then trust me."
My goodness.
The kid wasn't weak-willed at all.
If anything, that cockiness eased Director Jeon's mind a little. Only Gam Soohan kept fidgeting at his side, hands clasped tightly together, silently begging, 'Heeyoon, please, say something sweet……'
But Lee Heeyoon didn't spare a single glance for anyone else's expression. And Director Jeon found that he liked that.
This scene—the Demon King's first appearance before the Exorcism Squad—was one he wanted, truly and truly, to burn an unforgettable impression into.
When Director Jeon returned to the Exorcism Squad set, Baek Geonwoo spoke up.
"Director, what do we do? Should we act a little scared?"
"Ah, no…… just let it come out naturally. Like tea."
'Our tea IS chive tea'—that Leader Actors house culture had stuck in his memory, and the words slipped out before he could stop them. Baek Geonwoo blinked and asked back.
"Tea? Like, drinking tea?"
"Chives are tea, so…… ah, hold on a second."
Somehow, Director Jeon felt like he'd been bewitched by Lee Heeyoon just now. Maybe that was why—when it came time to prepare the shot of Lee Heeyoon entering the Exorcism Squad office from the hallway, he felt a strange tightness in the air.
Among the Exorcism Squad actors, the only one with no worries about Lee Heeyoon was Seo Joongsung, who'd acted alongside him before. What Seo Joongsung worried about was something else entirely. He went around to the crew and the actors and said:
"If our Heeyoon says something a bit cheeky, please don't take offense—he talks that big because he has the skill to back it up, so……"
That was him getting his apologies in early.
"We should get started soon……"
Late at night, long after the sun had fully set, the Demon King's entrance scene was filmed. With no rehearsal at all.
Director Jeon reminded everyone one last time: keep acting until he called cut.
The Exorcism Squad was laughing, joking around, bantering mid-conversation—when the squad room door creaked open.
Director Jeon shot a quick hand signal toward the sound team, who had nearly missed their cue.
The demon, in his utterly ordinary clothes, walked like a demon to anyone who watched. Moved like a demon. The Exorcism Squad didn't even need to act—staring at that figure stepping inside with those uncanny footsteps and that unreadable gaze, they simply gaped, hollow-eyed.
They said an actor needed strong presence. In all his years, Director Jeon had never felt energy like this.