Chapter 107
Chapter 107
Auditory Hallucinations
-Hey, who said Yu Yeon-seo was starring in Director Cheon’s movie?
Nothing was confirmed, but you all jumped to conclusions based on your own fantasies, dragged him through the mud, and then just said ‘oops, sorry, guess I was wrong.’ Think that’s all it takes? You should all get ready for a lawsuit.
-Yu Yeon-seo was just doing his job, and he’s getting attacked from all sides.
Thanks to this, I’m realizing just how many people are trying to keep him down.
└There were always a lot, but it’s gotten insane lately.
└It’s understandable lol. He was already successful, and now he’s grabbing power in the industry too lol.
-I knew this would happen.
I was wondering when the people who blindly bash Yu Yeon-seo just because it’s him would show up.
└Seriously, the poor actor is the only one getting hit ㅠㅠ I’m not even a fan of Yu Yeon-seo, but I feel bad for him.
└The problem is the perception that it’s okay to attack him just because he’s Yu Yeon-seo. No matter how much the actor himself says he’s fine, you never know what he’s really feeling inside.
└└I agree.
└I didn’t join the flame war, but I hope they sue everyone.
└└I don’t think you need to worry about that.
I wasn’t bothered at all. In fact, I was only thinking about how to use this opportunity.
‘...Still, it feels nice.’
After this incident, the number of people leaving messages of support for me on the fan cafe increased. Having people who support you feels good, no matter what. How can these people like me so much just from seeing the version of me shown in the media?
[Exclusive] ‘Emperor of Cannes’ Director Cheon Seong-min to Return... Auditions to be Held Soon, Accepting Applicant Profiles
JSENM Yu Yeon-seo-Led Comeback Film for Director Cheon: “Large-Scale Auditions Opening Soon”
Director Cheon’s project officially entered pre-production, the preparation stage. Most things are decided at this stage, so it’s rare for issues to pop up on set during filming. And during this period, the investment production company footing the bill holds immense power.
“Have we secured an assistant director?”
“The terms are excellent, and since it’s Director Cheon, I believe they’ll sign without much difficulty.”
Director Cheon had been away from the film industry for quite a while, so finding a talented assistant director was the priority. If the director is the one who focuses solely on directing, the assistant director handles other miscellaneous tasks like schedule management and location scouting.
These days, the position of an assistant director has become more influential, as how they plan the schedule can make a massive difference in production costs.
‘No matter how much money we have, we have to stop it from leaking away.’
Yu Yeon-seo prioritized recruiting a high-priced assistant director known for their skill in the industry.
“I will organize the schedule as soon as it’s available and send it to you, Director.”
In any case, he hadn’t been very involved; the person Choi Yu-jin assigned to him had handled everything. I heard quite a few people applied to be his secretary... Well, for them, serving a boss who rarely comes to the office and has a separate main job would be convenient.
“Good work. You may leave.”
“Yes, sir.”
His argument that he didn’t have to do anything since he was prioritizing his acting career didn’t work on Choi Yu-jin. In the end, Yu Yeon-seo, who had been given a director’s office at the JSENM headquarters, leaned back in his chair as if lying down. As expected of a major corporation, this chair is even better than CEO Han’s.
“Im Seung-hyeon, what’s the status on what I asked you to look into?”
“Here it is. But... I didn’t find much.”
Im Seung-hyeon held out a tablet. The screen listed information about Lee Hui-seo’s group at the time, Twinkle, their agency, and its employees.
“Don’t tell me this is all you found.”
“Yes.”
Im Seung-hyeon wore an apologetic expression. Yu Yeon-seo let out a small sigh. Then again, the internet wasn’t well-developed back then, and the agency’s president from that time would be an old man by now. Anyone who knew anything would have retired.
‘I wonder if CEO Han knows anything?’
Is he from a different generation? Still, they were in the same industry. He might know someone who knows someone. Yu Yeon-seo smoothed his furrowed brow.
They said CEO Han’s face lit up when he stopped visiting the agency after getting his own director’s office. I should drop by just to piss him off.
“What about the stalker?”
“We found one more person in addition to the three we initially identified, but we haven’t found any solid leads.”
“Who is that one person?”
“He’s said to be a former elementary school classmate of the late Lee Hui-seo. He currently lives in the United States. His personal details are on the next page.”
The more I dig, the more comes up. It never ends. Yu Yeon-seo stared intently at the photo on the screen. He wasn’t sure if this person was the real culprit or not. Since then, he hadn’t received any synchronized memories of that day, and the only suspicious part was his younger self pointing to a ‘man I’ve never seen before’.
“Young Master.”
“Huh?”
“You’ll scratch your ear if you keep doing that.”
Yu Yeon-seo, who had been scratching his ear out of habit, paused. His ear had been feeling strange lately. The hospital said there was nothing wrong, but....
“You’ve been scratching it a lot recently.”
“I know, it keeps bothering me. Is someone talking behind my back?”
He whipped his head around. Lee Tae-gyeom, who had been admiring the office interior, glared at him.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Lee Tae-gyeom has grown up a lot. In the past, he would have flailed his arms and stammered in panic, ‘It-it wasn’t me!’ He’d matured strangely after learning about Yu Yeon-seo’s unexplained bleeding. Which made it no fun to tease him anymore.
“...Tsk, you’re no fun.”
“Hey, did you take your medicine?”
“Young Master, surely you haven’t forgotten to take it?”
Now the two of them are starting to gang up on me. Yu Yeon-seo sighed and took a small pill case from his pocket. Im Seung-hyeon had practically forced it on him.
“I’ll take it, okay? I’m taking it.”
As if this will stop me from coughing up blood. They don’t know anything. He swallowed the iron supplements and other vitamins without water.
“Hey, isn’t that bitter to swallow all at once?”
Lee Tae-gyeom quickly offered him a water bottle. Yu Yeon-seo took it and drank. He couldn’t tease him anymore, but he did like how quick on his feet he’d become.
“What’s my schedule?”
“This is all for today.”
The answer came from Im Seung-hyeon. Yu Yeon-seo shot up from his seat and opened the office door.
“Are you going home?”
“No, to the agency.”
Might as well take care of it now that I’ve thought of it.
“Director. Are you leaving?”
“Finish up what you’re doing and head home.”
Ah, I told them not to do this. It’s so burdensome. Waving his hand to stop his secretary from jumping to his feet, Yu Yeon-seo frowned slightly and left the company building.
That day, a photo of Yu Yeon-seo at the company was posted on an office worker community site. Many of the comments were positive, saying that even his frown had a sensitive charm.
“Twinkle’s agency?”
“To be precise, the late Lee Hui-seo’s agency.”
CEO Han’s eyes widened in surprise. Younger people these days might not know much about Twinkle, but for someone of CEO Han’s generation, Twinkle—and especially Lee Hui-seo—was an icon who had dominated an era, so he was very familiar with her.
“Uh... is it okay to talk about this so openly now?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
CEO Han had a vague inkling that Yu Yeon-seo became emotional when it came to matters related to Lee Hui-seo. He had clearly guessed it from the circumstances surrounding the director change for ‘Emergency’.
“Hmm... if you look for people who were active back then and later started their own agencies, you’ll probably find a few.”
“Really?”
That was a pretty hopeful answer. Yu Yeon-seo sank into his chair, lost in thought.
“Well, the old geezer over at S Entertainment was active back then... I’ll look into it. But why do you need it?”
“There’s something I’m curious about. Anyway, I’m counting on you. It’s important.”
“So I just need to dig up stuff about that company?”
Im Seung-hyeon had already investigated all the basic information. That wasn’t what he wanted to know.
“It would be even better if you could find out what happened to the managers who worked there at the time.”
“And?”
“What the agency’s CEO at the time was trying to do using my mother, how many stalkers there were, and if anyone knows anything about it. Basically, anything suspicious.”
CEO Han opened his mouth to say something, then closed it.
“No one should know that I’m the one digging into this. Just drop subtle hints, you get it?”
“I know. You want me to fish for information without being obvious. I used to be an actor, you know, kid.”
Weren’t you just a bit-part actor, though? Yu Yeon-seo narrowed his eyes and stared at CEO Han. Faced with that suspicious gaze, CEO Han let out a dry laugh.
“Hey, where would I go blabbing about this? What if I get thrown into the sea off Busan for carelessly talking about something related to you?”
“CEO Han, do you think I’m some gangster from a movie? Isn’t your imagination a little wild?”
“Your very existence is a violent force in this industry. Anyway, I get it.”
“Don’t say a word to anyone.”
“Yeah, I got it. But why are you suddenly investigating that company? It’s been over 40 years....”
“I’ll tell you later.”
CEO Han, who had been looking at Yu Yeon-seo suspiciously, broke into a wide grin when he was told that the more information he dug up, the greater his reward would be.
“I’m leaving then.”
“Alright, get going. And from now on, stop showing up and just call me!”
“Don’t want to.”
Lee Tae-gyeom watched blankly as Yu Yeon-seo headed for the parking lot without saying a single nice thing to CEO Han until the very end.
“...But, can I ask you one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Why are you investigating stuff related to Twinkle?”
Lee Tae-gyeom, whose years of experience serving Yu Yeon-seo had not been for nothing, thought to himself. This is when the ‘clueless bastard’ strategy works best.
“...Why am I doing it?”
“Yeah.”
At his question, even Im Seung-hyeon perked up his ears and looked at Yu Yeon-seo.
‘It should be okay to tell them now.’
After all, these two already knew the secret he had tried to hide. Besides, after seeing them for a few years, the chances of them betraying him were slim... After a moment’s hesitation, Yu Yeon-seo opened his mouth.
“It’s about my biological mother.”
“Oh, right, her. What about her?”
Seeing that he was about to speak willingly, Lee Tae-gyeom excitedly egged him on.
“I don’t think it was a suicide.”
“What?”
Having dropped the bombshell, Yu Yeon-seo walked on ahead. Stunned into place, Lee Tae-gyeom and Im Seung-hyeon followed him a beat later.
“R-Really?”
“Im Seung-hyeon, get him away from me.”
“No! But, seriously, for real... Does that even make sense? Do you have any suspicions?”
No, but, seriously, honestly. He’d hit all the major filler words. Yu Yeon-seo had the nonsensical thought as he retorted curtly.
“I’m investigating because I have them, aren’t I?”
...Though to be honest, I don’t remember everything either.
And so, January 2021 was spent learning the ropes to properly fill his role as an internal director at JSENM and proceeding with Director Cheon’s pre-production. He also spent it busy with promotional interview shoots for the upcoming release of ‘People Who Lack, Season 2’.
<Random Memory Synchronization Complete, Synchronization Rate 43.16%>
He had been receiving memories in his spare time, but since he had to learn the entire 26 years of a person’s life, he was synchronizing with all sorts of trivial details.
Today’s memory yielded no significant breakthroughs either. When will I finally find a clue about the culprit...?
“Ugh....”
The apparitions of Lee Hui-seo had been appearing frequently, and though he’d end up spitting up a little blood later, and the feeling at the time was quite foul... well, when his soul’s healthy mentality recovered, that nasty feeling would vanish completely, so it was somewhat bearable.
[Yeon-seo.]
But today was different.
‘What the...’
What was that just now?
Having finished cleaning up, Yu Yeon-seo turned around. As expected, there was nothing there. He scratched his ear nervously and walked out into the living room. His whole body ached as if pricked by needles.
[Yeon-seo.]
Yu Yeon-seo turned his head this way and that, scanning his surroundings, before his body froze, fixed on one spot. The figure, which he had now grown accustomed to, was hanging from the ornate chandelier. He swallowed hard at the sound of the female voice calling his name again.
So, if I didn’t mishear that, this is....
“Ah, goddammit.”
What the hell, Yu Yeon-seo? Are you having auditory hallucinations now, too?