Chapter 182
Chapter 182
Erasing Myself
“Ahem, you’re here?”
Chairman Yu, who had been admiring the flowers in his garden, looked at his family entering the main gate as if he hadn’t expected them.
It was amusing how he pretended not to know, even though he must have already heard about their arrival in Korea from his aides.
“Yes, we’re here.”
“Haven’t you lost some weight?”
“No, I haven’t.”
Yu Yeon-seo gave his grandfather a sudden hug. He had learned from his synchronized memories that acting affectionate first would improve his temperamental grandfather’s mood.
“Did you cause trouble again?!”
Thanks to his tactic, the arrow was aimed at Yu Geon-min, who had thrown a loud welcoming party. But Yu Geon-min wasn’t intimidated. Last year, a business venture he had undertaken with his son, Yu Eun-ho, had yielded unexpectedly great results.
“What did I do?”
“A man who’s about to become chairman, acting so undignified!”
“Father, it’s time for Juseong to embrace new-generation marketing.”
“Don’t talk back!”
The more Yu Geon-min openly expressed his love for his son, the better his public image became. Moreover, as he was showing results and solidifying his position as the next chairman, Chairman Yu pleasantly backed down.
“Alright, are you staying the night?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Your aunts said they’re coming tomorrow, so…”
It seemed the entire extended family was gathering, as if for the New Year, to celebrate Yu Yeon-seo’s return to Korea.
‘Grandmother said she suspects her two sons-in-law…’
She was certain it wasn’t her own daughters. Although blood is thicker than water, the years they had spent together made her words impossible to dismiss.
Yu Yeon-seo followed his family and sat on the sofa.
“While you were there, why didn’t you visit another hospital?”
“I felt suffocated.”
“You should have endured it even if you felt suffocated! Is there something wrong with your body, yet you’re not worried at all?!”
“In any case, isn’t it a good thing if the test results show nothing’s wrong?”
“What’s good about it, considering what I’ve heard?!”
Chairman Yu bellowed. Ah, so even sweet-talking Lee Hui-seo’s mother hadn’t been enough to avoid this…
When Park Geum-ju intervened, saying he was being too loud, Chairman Yu’s voice softened slightly. As expected, his grandmother was the one truly in charge.
“Anyway, I’ll handle it myself. Please don’t force me to go to the hospital.”
“You, you… it’s because you can’t even take care of your own body that I have to step in!”
“Grandfather, it’s my body. I’ll go later, later.”
As Yu Yeon-seo said this with a wave of his hand, Chairman Yu gave up trying to persuade him and sighed. If his grandson had done as he was told, he would have quit the entertainment industry long ago.
“Our eldest grandson is here!”
Indeed, the eldest grandson who caused no trouble was better. Chairman Yu gave an overly warm welcome to Yu Eun-ho as he entered the living room.
“You’re here?”
“How’s your body?”
“Well, same as always.”
Yu Yeon-seo shrugged. Yu Eun-ho tapped his brother’s shoulder and whispered lowly.
“Seo-jun caught them all. They’re at the place you set up.”
“Really?”
With this, all the ‘tails’ had been secured. All that remained was the ‘head’; the end was in sight. A sigh escaped him naturally.
‘I can’t neglect the soul adjustment either…’
His deadline was next summer. He needed to move diligently.
Having dinner with his family for the first time in a while, Yu Yeon-seo was brought back to the present by Choi Yu-jin’s words.
“Father, have you finished watching the movie?”
“I have.”
A movie? As far as he knew, his grandfather preferred operas or orchestras to movies and dramas.
“What movie?”
“The one you’re in.”
Choi Yu-jin grinned at Yu Yeon-seo’s bewildered question.
‘Filicide’ was produced by Choi Yu-jin’s company. Since his grandfather’s mansion had a private cinema, it wasn’t surprising that he had seen it in advance.
“You might not know it, but he makes sure to watch everything you’re in.”
“Ahem, let’s not talk about such things.”
What was surprising was the fact that his grandfather had watched all the projects he had participated in.
“...What did you think of the movie?”
“It was just so-so. Why did you film such a depressing movie?”
“I liked the story.”
“Anyway, I thought it was just so-so.”
Despite his complaints, the corners of his mouth were twitching, suggesting he had quite liked it. Yu Yeon-seo felt a strange sensation. His grandfather was paying much more attention to him than he had thought.
“I’ll head in first.”
As he walked to his room, Yu Yeon-seo mulled over the conversation he’d had with Park Geum-ju.
(I suspect my two sons-in-law.)
He guessed this was related to the business proposal Lee Hui-seo had supposedly written.
‘It just so happens that both of them started new businesses around that time.’
His older uncle-in-law had entered the fashion business with his older aunt and was said to be frequently involved. His younger uncle-in-law had started a cosmetics business…
‘First, I need to go to the annex…’
The annex. The thought of the place where Lee Hui-seo had died made his heart churn, and he let out a sigh. But he couldn’t put it off any longer.
In the dead of night, when everyone was asleep, Yu Yeon-seo carefully opened his window and jumped without hesitation. It was the third floor, but he wasn’t worried. The soul adjustment wasn’t complete yet, so his future physical data was still intact.
“Ugh…”
Still, he couldn’t help but feel the impact. He used to perform high-level action scenes without a scratch…
‘Beta?’
<This is also an effect of the soul adjustment.>
‘What exactly are you adjusting?’
Stealthily approaching the front of the annex, Yu Yeon-seo forced the locked front door open. Crack. The door swung open with the sound of splintering wood.
<The soul adjustment is the process of erasing the influences of the future soul from you, Master.>
‘…Does that mean Kang Jin-hu’s memories will also disappear?’
<They will not disappear completely. The future information will be cleanly erased, leaving only enough for you to think, ‘Something like that happened,’ as if it were a dream.>
Yu Yeon-seo stopped in his tracks.
‘Erasing myself…’
A strange feeling washed over him.
-Didn’t Filicide do really well at the box office, despite the mixed reviews?
└The international reviews were good too. They said if the timing was right, it could have been an Oscar contender.
└└An Oscar contender? Lmao, are you part of the Dark Yu Yeon-seo Squad? Stop overhyping him.
└Separately, I liked the movie. Though more than half of it was just Yu Yeon-seo’s face being entertaining lol.
-What was the final audience count for Filicide?
└A little over 4 million, I think.
└└Oh, that’s a good number.
└Well, it should sell well when they monopolized the screens like that. Didn’t it also get the New Year’s boost?
└└What monopoly? It had about the same number of screens as other movies.
-Filicide urgently needs to be re-evaluated.
To think a masterpiece like this only got 4 million… the general public really knows nothing about movies, their standards are so low ㅉㅉ
└Dude, it’s so obvious.
└I can tell the person who wrote this is definitely not a Yu Yeon-seo fan lol.
└Are you from the Dark Yu Yeon-seo Squad?
└Why are there so many people like this these days?
Those who insisted, “You who don’t know the greatness of ‘Filicide’ are pitiful,” earned the title of the Dark Yu Yeon-seo Squad.
Specifically, it referred to people who, during the first week of ‘Filicide’s’ release, rode the wave of Yu Yeon-seo’s fans’ adoration, cosplayed as fans, and put down other actors.
CEO Han watched these debates with amusement. It was all just online drama confined to internet communities anyway, and the general public’s perception was that ‘Filicide’ had made them see Yu Yeon-seo in a new light.
Within the industry, he was already the top choice for casting, so it was a moot point. Except for the fact that the number of directors and writers seeking him out had increased significantly due to his broadened acting spectrum.
“Ah, you scared me.”
CEO Han, who was checking online reactions, flinched when he saw someone sitting in his chair. He let out a sigh of relief upon realizing it was Yu Yeon-seo.
“You should, you know, call before you come.”
“This is more fun. Here, a gift.”
Yu Yeon-seo pushed a paper bag on CEO Han’s desk. It was heavy, filled with many items, but it slid easily with a single push from Yu Yeon-seo. Forgetting his surprise, CEO Han gleefully began to unpack the souvenirs.
“Did anything happen while I was gone?”
“Nothing much. Except for ‘Filicide’ becoming a hit and getting a lot of buzz. Oh, and ‘Scent of the Wind’ was selected as the opening film. You heard, right?”
‘Scent of the Wind’ was the film by director Cheon Seong-min, in which Yu Yeon-seo had invested as a producer. And, as expected, it was set to receive a warm welcome at the Cannes Film Festival.
Yu Yeon-seo would be participating as the producer and lead actor of ‘Filicide’, and as the CEO of the production company for ‘Scent of the Wind’.
“I heard. Guess I’ll have to get a new suit.”
“Oh, right.”
CEO Han’s eyes sparkled at the sight of a luxury brand wallet before he whipped his head around.
“Some weirdo who’s been doing media play about looking like you got on TV.”
“Is this the first or second time someone’s gotten media attention for being my look-alike?”
There had been a truckload of people trying to get attention using his name since long ago.
Early in his debut, he had gained popularity for his resemblance to the beauty of the century, Lee Hui-seo, and was showered with praise for having a face that even plastic surgery couldn’t replicate.
…‘A beauty that resembles Yu Yeon-seo’ becomes a hot topic
Dazzling looks rivaling Yu Yeon-seo draw attention
Proportionally, the media play linking him to others had also increased.
At first, they would link a newly debuted rookie with Yu Yeon-seo to generate buzz about their looks. Then, as Yu Yeon-seo’s own attention-seeking antics increased his presence on portal sites and community forums, they started using his name in all sorts of contexts, not just for looks.
“This one’s pretty persistent. His name is already all over the related search terms, I had to request a correction from the portal site.”
“So, what do you think, CEO Han? Does he look like me?”
“Look like you? Please. He looks like he ripped his pants trying to copy you.”
Of course, he would. Yu Yeon-seo dismissed it as unimportant.
“Anyone can see they don’t look alike, but he seems to genuinely believe he does. He keeps making absurd claims, and the reporters just eat it up… Why on earth do they do that?”
“Probably trying to get more SNS followers by being associated with me. Maybe he wants to become an influencer?”
“Ugh, kids these days… it’s the end of the world.”
“You sound like a real old-timer now, CEO Han.”
“I do not! But are you just going to let it be?”
“We’ll see.”
If I show any interest, they’ll just make a bigger fuss. Honestly, I don’t care.
“And a lot of scripts came in specifically for you. The lineup of directors and writers is spectacular.”
“Ah, I forgot to tell you not to accept those.”
“…Not to accept them?”
CEO Han’s eyes widened in surprise at his matter-of-fact tone. Wasn’t the whole point of earning Director Cheon’s favor to star in a master’s work?
The people who had sent scripts specifically for Yu Yeon-seo were all big names.
“Why? I thought you wanted to be in projects by people like them.”
“I’m going to rest for a bit. It’s not like there’s another actor like me, right? Just tell them to wait a little.”
There was no one who could replace Yu Yeon-seo now. An actor who could also invest and produce, with the looks, the buzz, and the acting skills to back it all up. Hearing those confident words, CEO Han habitually searched for a counterargument but found none.
“That’s true, but you still need to keep working to… No, right. If you’re sick, you should rest.”
He had been hospitalized in America, after all. He needed to take care of his health first. CEO Han reluctantly backed down.
“Right. I found the extra you asked me to look into.”
“Who is it?”
Yu Yeon-seo had contacted Lee Hui-seo’s former manager through CEO Han and had been searching for the stalker who approached Lee Hui-seo as an extra in ‘Under the Persimmon Tree’.
“Here, his name is… Min Seong-cheol.”
Looking at the list of extras for ‘Under the Persimmon Tree’ that CEO Han handed him, Yu Yeon-seo felt the hair on his body stand on end.
‘This is the guy.’
Was it the effect of the insight perk from Beta? The moment he heard the name, Yu Yeon-seo’s eyes glinted sharply.
CEO Han took a step back. Why does he suddenly seem so menacing? He pointed to the diary on the desk, trying to lighten the mood.
“By the way, what’s that?”
“A diary.”
“Is it yours? It looks old…”
Yu Yeon-seo didn’t answer CEO Han’s question and simply scanned Lee Hui-seo’s diary. He hadn’t opened it yet, but his mind grew calm just by looking at it.
‘I went through hell to get this.’