Chapter 13
Chapter 13
You’re the First
I’ve always wanted to say something like this.
Yu Yeon-seo climbed into a sports car so flashy that even passersby would have stopped to stare.
[Haaa······.]
This car was probably······ his third? Kang Jin-hu, now Yu Yeon-seo, who was watching the memory, narrowed his eyes as he thought about the price of the car, observing what the past Yu Yeon-seo was up to.
[Fuck······ Fuck!]
After burying his head in the steering wheel for a long moment, Yu Yeon-seo suddenly started punching it. The horn blared naturally, and people nearby turned their gazes to the car he was in.
[Nobody understands me!]
But Yu Yeon-seo, who never cared for the opinions of others, only hit the steering wheel more violently. The bull emblem in the center of the wheel looked unusually grim.
<Danger to the body detected. Terminating memory synchronization.>
“What the, is he insane······.”
As Yu Yeon-seo uttered those words, a stream of blood trickled from his mouth.
<Random memory synchronization complete. Synchronization rate: 7.38%>
And then he lost consciousness.
This damn memory synchronization just kept showing me stranger memories as the days went by. Did Beta only collect useless ones? The moment I thought that, Beta spoke.
<That is incorrect.>
‘······Beta, can’t you just sync the past memories I actually need?’
Ah, so that’s why the memory synchronization was shown from a third-person perspective, not a first-person one. Yu Yeon-seo nodded. Once Beta’s learning was complete, I’d be able to search for and sync only the prime memories. I didn’t know when that would be, but I’d have to be patient until then.
‘Well, if it can’t be helped.’
I had, to some extent, grown accustomed to the pain of vomiting blood. If I kept syncing like this, I might stumble upon a decent memory eventually. As long as I didn’t die from excessive bleeding······. Forcing himself to think optimistically, Yu Yeon-seo opened the door to the practice room.
“Hello, Ms. Park.”
“Welcome.”
Park Hyeon-jeong was sitting in the center of the practice room, waiting for him. Yu Yeon-seo glanced at his wristwatch. He had arrived ten minutes earlier than the requested time, but Park Hyeon-jeong was already there.
“I came a little early. I figured it would take quite a while to teach you.”
Yu Yeon-seo awkwardly sat down across from Park Hyeon-jeong. When he offered her an energy drink he’d gotten from a vending machine, she looked at him with an expression of surprise.
“Before we begin the acting lesson······ do you know what the problem with your acting is?”
“What is it?”
“Everything.”
“Ev-everything?”
Yu Yeon-seo, who had been sipping his drink, barely managed to keep from choking.
“Yes. In that vein, I’ve chosen the absolute worst of all the acting you’ve done so far.”
“Uh, ma’am, we don’t have to do that······.”
The Yu Yeon-seo from back then and the Yu Yeon-seo of now are completely different people, you know? He quickly waved his hands in dismissal.
But Park Hyeon-jeong assumed he was doing this to avoid a difficult situation.
Park Hyeon-jeong held out a tablet she had prepared. Yu Yeon-seo leaned back, but he didn’t look away from the screen.
(W.h.a.t. a.r.e. y.o.u. d.o.i.n.g. n.o.w?)
(W.a.n.t. t.o. c.o.m.e. t.o. m.e? I. w.i.l.l. t.r.e.a.t. y.o.u. w.e.l.l.)
Wow, were those lines actually delivered by a human?
The fact that I was feeling secondhand embarrassment meant I had at least come to terms with being Yu Yeon-seo. He forced himself to watch the video Park Hyeon-jeong showed him to the very end.
Was it stage fright? His acting was so stiff it looked like he was terrified of the camera. Based on the costumes and settings, they were from different projects, yet he delivered the exact same performance in all of them.
Moreover, the video itself had been edited and uploaded by someone on MyTube. The title was a whopping [Yu Yeon-seo’s Awful Acting Compilation Vol. 1]. Did that mean there was a Vol. 2 and a Vol. 3 as well?
“So, what do you think the problem is?”
Can’t you see my hands curling up from the cringe? Yu Yeon-seo let out a deep sigh.
“It’s everything.”
“Yes, that’s right. From your breathing to your diction······ was this post-dubbed?”
Knowing the original owner’s personality, he probably didn’t even participate properly in the post-dubbing sessions. Yu Yeon-seo silently shook his head.
“Anyway, your use of your body, too······ you just lack the fundamentals entirely.”
“······.”
“Your vocal projection is tolerable at best, but it still falls short of expectations.”
At least his past as an idol’s main vocalist meant he knew how to use his diaphragm. Was it a relief to have salvaged at least one thing? The criticism for something he hadn’t even done left Yu Yeon-seo reeling with secondhand embarrassment.
When Park Hyeon-jeong stood up abruptly, Yu Yeon-seo followed suit. Standing before a large mirror, like one in a dance studio, he fixed his gaze on her.
“Then let’s officially begin the lesson. First, let’s stretch.”
“Stretching?”
Yu Yeon-seo’s eyes widened.
“You really······ have never had an acting lesson before, have you?”
Park Hyeon-jeong narrowed her eyes. Her tone was chiding, but inwardly, she didn’t think badly of him. Despite the rumors about his terrible personality, Yu Yeon-seo had been creating opportunities for rookie writers, directors, and actors to debut ever since he started his acting career.
“Well······ no.”
“We’re warming up before we start physical training. Walking is a true fundamental of acting.”
Park Hyeon-jeong felt a sense of dread about the long road ahead, but she appreciated his willingness to learn, even if it was just starting now.
‘So you don’t just start by reading the script.’
It was different from the acting lessons he had imagined. It turned out that warming up, walking, and breathing required much more practice than he thought.
‘I have to work hard.’
He followed Park Hyeon-jeong’s lead, stretching his arms high above his head. There was still plenty of time before filming began.
The man who answered the phone with an overjoyed expression hung up and immediately shouted.
“Waaaaah! It-it’s happening! It’s happening!”
“What is?!”
“Yu Yeon-seo agreed to do our movie!”
“Really?!”
Two burly men hugged each other and cheered loudly. They were a senior and junior who had met in the same university, still fledgling filmmakers who had yet to debut.
After sending their script to production companies and twiddling their thumbs, they had gladly grasped the lifeline thrown to them by Yu Yeon-seo.
“Does this mean our production is confirmed?”
“Yeah, Halo Media contacted us. They want to meet and prepare for filming.”
CEO Han had decided to produce one of the scripts Yu Yeon-seo chose to commemorate his discharge from the hospital. In truth, there was no reason not to. The production costs would be covered by either Yu Yeon-seo or the Juseong Group behind him.
“Haaa······ it’s great that our long-shelved project is finally going into production, but to think the lead is Yu Yeon-seo.”
“We can only film because of him. We can’t just let the script rot away······.”
“That’s true.”
In any case, debuting was the priority. After spinning around for a while in a celebratory toast, they calmed down for a moment.
“But he said he wants a supporting role, not the lead?”
“Huh? What’s gotten into him? Well, that’s a plus for us, but······.”
They sat down and looked over the list of actors they had in mind. The project Yu Yeon-seo had chosen was given a hands-off approach by the production company; as long as the lead role was secured, they didn’t care what the writer and director decided for the rest. As long as one could ignore the lead’s on-set tyranny and terrible acting, it was a perfect environment.
“Who would be good? Jin Su-ho?”
“Ah, he won’t work. He’s a bigger name than Yu Yeon-seo.”
Rumor had it that Yu Yeon-seo hated working on the same project as actors more famous than him. In other words, he intended to act like a king on set.
Naturally, top stars were out, leaving only actors of a similar level or rookies.
“What about using an idol? That guy these days······ who was it?”
The man slated to be the director searched for someone.
“Right, this kid. I saw him in a one-act play before, and he was a good actor.”
The director, who had no interest in idols, especially male ones, casually pointed to a figure. It was a member of One Seven.
“Let’s make sure there are no more unfortunate incidents like what happened in the past.”
“Well, that’s······ it’s a job, so of course. I’m a responsible person, you know.”
“You were still under contract on the day you abandoned the Young Master on the street.”
“Th-that was······ ah, you really have to experience what a pain in the ass he is to understand, you know?”
Lee Tae-gyeom had caved to the offer of a salary much higher than what he made as a delivery rider.
“I understand that well enough. I didn’t say much when you quit like that, did I?”
“Yes, Manager. I’m sorry about that······.”
“Here, sign the contract. Let’s work together for a long time this time.”
“······I’m really just trusting your word that he’s changed.”
Lee Tae-gyeom hesitated but signed the contract nonetheless.
“Don’t worry about that. He’s really become a new person.”
As Manager Park said this, he looked at Im Seung-hyeon with wonder. How on earth did he convince that guy?
[I really can’t do it! I’m sorry to the CEO and the Manager, but I’m just going to quit!]
[His face is decent, but everything else about him is complete trash! I’ve been so stressed lately that my hair is falling out in clumps!]
Considering the tantrum Lee Tae-gyeom had thrown when he quit, his return was nothing short of a miracle. And he had even signed the contract without a fuss. As expected, there was something different about being affiliated with the Juseong Group.
After reviewing the fully signed contract and confirming its validity, Im Seung-hyeon opened the door to the conference room.
“Young Master, I’ve secured his signature.”
“Good work.”
Yu Yeon-seo patted Im Seung-hyeon’s shoulder as if dusting it off, then sat across from Lee Tae-gyeom. His legs naturally went up on the desk, a gesture the original owner must have made often.
As a bonus, that arrogant attitude made Lee Tae-gyeom frown.
“Long time no see?”
“······Heard you were in an accident. You okay?”
See, I told you he has a soft spot. Even after they parted on such bad terms, he still asked how I was doing. Yu Yeon-seo laughed out loud.
“Didn’t I tell you you’d get stabbed someday?”
“It was a car accident, not a stabbing.”
“Whatever. I knew you’d get what was coming to you for living like that.”
“Tsk, tsk, watch your mouth when speaking to your god-like employer.”
Yu Yeon-seo picked up the contract Lee Tae-gyeom had signed and waved it. Lee Tae-gyeom inwardly cursed his impulsive nature with a groan.
“So why did you call for me? I mean, I came because I need the money, but you shouldn’t have any lingering attachments to me.”
“Well······.”
Yu Yeon-seo thought deeply. What would the original owner have said?
‘Oh, right. I’ve always wanted to say something like this.’
Yu Yeon-seo grinned. At the sight of that demonic smile, Lee Tae-gyeom and Manager Park flinched.
“You’re the first bastard to ever pull that shit on me.”
“What?”
“Take responsibility.”
“Whaaat?!”
What is he talking about?! Lee Tae-gyeom shot up from his seat. Goosebumps erupted on his arms. Something felt terribly wrong.
“You dare abandon me on the street? I’ll work you to the bone.”
“W-wait a minute! Hey! Yu Yeon-seo!”
With those final words, Yu Yeon-seo walked out of the conference room. Left behind, Lee Tae-gyeom could only clutch his head in despair. Damn it, I’ve been had!
“So, how did you manage to coax him?”
Yu Yeon-seo hummed cheerfully as he walked to his car. He casually asked Im Seung-hyeon, who had been following him silently.
[You just need to tell him a customer filed a complaint and that he shouldn’t come anymore.]
[But······ is it okay to do this?]
[Don’t worry, other companies have done the same without any issues. I’ll even throw in extra money.]
Im Seung-hyeon simply smiled.
“That’s a secret.”