Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Those Who Stayed Behind
Do I have to be the one to solve this?
“Hurry up and go.”
“Yes, sir! Hold on tight.”
Lee Tae-gyeom, who had hastily fastened his seatbelt, stomped on the accelerator without hesitation. Confident in his driving, Lee Tae-gyeom weaved through lanes freely, his driving bordering on acrobatic even in the large celebrity van.
“But are you sure we don’t need to go to the hospital?”
That was the question. Im Seung-hyeon glanced back at Yu Yeon-seo, who was lying down in the back. The rough driving shook his body, but thankfully, he was secured by a seatbelt and was fine.
“No hospital. Just go home.”
Im Seung-hyeon’s voice wasn’t entirely confident. He too was unsure if this was the right choice.
“Don’t worry about getting a ticket. I’ll take care of it later.”
“Yes, sir. I’m already on it.”
As Lee Tae-gyeom sharply turned the wheel, the van swerved violently. Im Seung-hyeon gripped the handle above the passenger-side window tightly.
“Hey, are you busy? If you’re not, could you come over for a bit?”
He couldn’t just let it go without any medical attention after he’d suddenly collapsed. Im Seung-hyeon decided to use one of the few connections he had.
Lee Tae-gyeom’s acrobatic driving significantly cut down the travel time to Yu Yeon-seo’s house. They carried Yu Yeon-seo on their backs, quickly crossing the parking garage and heading to the top floor.
“This way.”
Following Im Seung-hyeon into the house, Lee Tae-gyeom tactfully opened the bedroom door. They carefully laid Yu Yeon-seo on the bed.
“We should probably change his clothes, right?”
I saw somewhere that you’re supposed to loosen things like their belt to make them comfortable and give them a massage. Lee Tae-gyeom took off the prop bulletproof vest. Im Seung-hyeon brought some comfortable clothes from the walk-in closet.
At that moment, a loud ringtone blared from Lee Tae-gyeom’s pocket.
“Just a second. It’s the manager...”
“Answer it.”
Lee Tae-gyeom answered and put the call on speakerphone. On the other end, Park Sang-tae snapped in an irritated voice.
(I heard Yu Yeon-seo bailed on the shoot?!)
“Uh, Manager, about that...”
Lee Tae-gyeom pulled the phone away from his ear and mouthed, What do I do?
“Hello, Mr. Park. This is Im Seung-hyeon.”
Im Seung-hyeon said, silently holding out his hand and taking the phone from Lee Tae-gyeom. His tone was characteristically gentle, but his expression was somehow frightening, so Lee Tae-gyeom lowered his head and focused on massaging Yu Yeon-seo’s arm.
Manager Park’s voice immediately calmed down.
(Ah, yes. Hello, Mr. Im.)
“The young master has collapsed.”
(What?!)
It sounded like there were overlapping voices, so he figured the CEO was with him. Im Seung-hyeon glanced at Lee Tae-gyeom, who was struggling to finish changing Yu Yeon-seo’s clothes.
“It seems to be an aftereffect of the car accident... The young master doesn’t want it getting out. We’ve arranged a suitable story for the film set.”
(A suitable story? I heard he said he was going home to feed his dog. Does Yeon-seo even have a dog?)
Manager Park, who was personally acquainted with the assistant director of ‘White Tiger,’ had received a call right after Yu Yeon-seo left the set.
He said Yeon-seo’s acting today was insane, but he bailed right before the next scene. It was part complaint, part hint that he thought Yeon-seo’s personality hadn’t changed after all.
“...Is that so?”
Im Seung-hyeon, deciding he shouldn’t entrust Lee Tae-gyeom with anything in the future, spoke in a cool tone.
Lee Tae-gyeom pressed his lips together. He felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck.
(Ah, I see. It wasn’t you, was it, Mr. Im? It was that kid, Lee Tae-gyeom, wasn’t it?)
“...If any rumors start, it would be best if you could let it slide that he left early because he was exhausted from being so immersed in his acting.”
(Immersed? Him? I heard he was a bit crazy today, but...)
(Park Sang-tae, move aside. Yes, we’ll handle it.)
“Thank you, CEO.”
Im Seung-hyeon ended the call and sat across from Lee Tae-gyeom, massaging Yu Yeon-seo’s legs.
“...I’m sorry.”
Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Lee Tae-gyeom quickly apologized. But Im Seung-hyeon didn’t reply. The silence was broken by the ringing of Im Seung-hyeon’s phone.
“Looks like he’s here. Excuse me for a moment, Tae-gyeom.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lee Tae-gyeom let out a sigh and watched Im Seung-hyeon’s back as he left the room. Only then could he take a proper look around Yu Yeon-seo’s home.
“This room is huge.”
Even to his untrained eye, everything looked expensive. As expected from someone born with a diamond spoon, his house is on another level. Tsk. Smacking his lips, he continued to diligently massage Yu Yeon-seo.
“Damn, the dog excuse was a bad idea after all.”
Lee Tae-gyeom tore at his hair.
“This way.”
The person Im Seung-hyeon went to meet outside was a senior he’d become friends with during a school club activity, a doctor who had just earned his specialist certification this year. They walked quickly toward the elevator.
“I heard you joined Juseong, but is your job just chasing after some chaebol’s kid?”
“Chasing after him? I’m called his secretary.”
“Hah, a secretary... I hear Yu Yeon-seo’s personality is no joke. Is it manageable?”
“It’s manageable. This way.”
Despite his words, he was the kind of person who came right away when Im Seung-hyeon asked him to come without any explanation. As they entered the room, Lee Tae-gyeom awkwardly stood up and bowed his head.
“...That’s not real blood, is it?”
“It’s prop blood.”
The doctor, Han Ye-seong, sat next to Yu Yeon-seo and took medical supplies out of his bag. The color and the iron smell of fake blood these days... They must make it quite realistically, huh?
“There’s not much I can do here. You understand that, right? I’ll start an IV for now.”
“Yeah.”
Lee Tae-gyeom quickly sensed what was needed and brought a floor lamp to the bedside. It was to hang the IV bag.
“You said he suddenly collapsed?”
“Yeah. Could it be an aftereffect of the car accident?”
“It’s possible. But there should have been some signs...”
Lee Tae-gyeom thought for a moment before speaking.
“Come... come to think of it... I think he was breaking out in a cold sweat before the shoot.”
“He was?”
“His complexion was even worse than it is now. I just thought it was the makeup at the time...”
“Worse than this? That’s serious.”
Having finished the treatment, Han Ye-seong stood up.
“Based on the symptoms, it looks like vasovagal syncope... Has he been under any stress lately? Or done anything exhausting...?”
“Stress? Him? Yu Yeon-seo?”
The film set was relatively relaxed; if shooting was delayed, they could just push back the release date. However, the production company had to cover the staff’s salaries for that extra time, so they usually hated delays. But the production company was Halo Media, and most of the money came from Yu Yeon-seo’s bank account.
Thanks to that, the shooting schedule wasn’t rushed as if they were being hounded by the production company. And Yu Yeon-seo himself usually got a solid eight hours of sleep a night.
“Or did he seem very tense before he collapsed? It can happen if you’re under a lot of mental strain.”
“He was extremely immersed in his acting, so he must have been tense.”
“In that case, it’s probably vasovagal syncope. But...”
That Yu Yeon-seo was so immersed that he lost consciousness? Han Ye-seong couldn’t understand it. Even he, who didn’t watch many dramas or movies, knew that Yu Yeon-seo was a terrible actor.
But Lee Tae-gyeom and Im Seung-hyeon were convinced. That kind of desperate acting seemed possible only when one pushed oneself to the absolute limit.
“But what?”
“Nothing. Anyway, it’s a more common symptom than you’d think. People usually wake up quickly... but it would be good to get him checked out at a hospital later.”
If Yu Yeon-seo had heard this, he probably would have sighed in relief. Thanks to the fake blood, no one knew he had vomited blood, and his collapse was neatly packaged as a common symptom.
“Thanks, man. You know your way out, right? I can’t see you off.”
“Yeah. Buy me a meal later.”
After Han Ye-seong left, the house fell silent again. Lee Tae-gyeom, whose eyes were darting around, was startled by Im Seung-hyeon’s words.
“I’m going to sleep here tonight. What about you, Tae-gyeom? Will you be staying?”
“Yes. I... I feel uneasy leaving him like this.”
“Then please do.”
He was speaking casually earlier, but now he’s all business again... I thought we were getting closer lately, but now we’re distant again. It was probably because of the excuse about the non-existent dog. Lee Tae-gyeom’s face fell.
In the early hours of the morning after he had vomited blood and collapsed, Yu Yeon-seo regained consciousness.
‘...Good, I’m alive.’
<Master, this is not something to be taken so lightly.>
Oh, is that so? Seeing Beta retort in a way it never had before, it seemed the AI was gradually learning emotions as the memory synchronization progressed.
Yu Yeon-seo struggled to sit up. He had only regained consciousness; the piercing muscle aches and splitting headache had not yet subsided.
‘Wow, the aftereffects are no joke.’
‘I wasn’t planning on it anyway.’
I seriously thought I was going to die. Yu Yeon-seo blinked and looked around. Seeing the familiar room, it seemed Im Seung-hyeon had listened to him.
‘It’s better if my family doesn’t find out.’
What if they use my illness as an excuse to make me quit acting, rest up, and take care of family business? Judging by their recent calls and actions, his family had a tendency to be overprotective. Yu Geon-min was... a bit of a doting fool, while Chairman Yu Chang-ho and Yu Eun-ho pretended not to care but worried a lot behind his back.
“...Ah.”
Thinking of his family reminded him. Of the past Yu Yeon-seo’s words, suspecting his own mother’s suicide. But...
‘Do I really have to be the one to solve that? Why should I?’
Of course, the image of the two legs he’d seen in the first memory synchronization was so intense that it was unforgettable. But the Yu Yeon-seo of then and the Yu Yeon-seo of now were different. Strictly speaking, she was the original body’s mother, not his.
‘It’s not like I’m the meddlesome type.’
Kang Jin-hu, born from an artificial life incubator, had lived his entire life without knowing the warmth of family. The Yu family’s concern for Yu Yeon-seo wasn’t burdensome or annoying.
Simply because he felt nothing.
If the cause that drove Lee Hui-seo to suicide were to attack him, his thoughts might change, but that wasn’t the case now.
‘But why do I feel so uneasy?’
Yu Yeon-seo furrowed his brow. Even when he tried to ignore it, a corner of his heart felt heavy, a feeling of unresolved unease.
‘I don’t know...’
I guess I’ll have to find out through future memory synchronizations. Yu Yeon-seo lay back down. The ceiling was spinning.
‘What is this?’
Just as he was about to try and sleep again, Yu Yeon-seo heard someone breathing. Not just one person, but two. He sat up again.
‘Why is Im Seung-hyeon... and why is that guy here too?’
In the dim light of dawn, he could see more clearly.
Im Seung-hyeon and Lee Tae-gyeom were asleep near Yu Yeon-seo’s bed. In the corner, his costume from the shoot was folded neatly. A towel lay on the side table, as if they had used it to wipe him down.
‘What, were they nursing me? Me?’
I mean, if they were going to sleep, why not get a proper blanket and sleep comfortably? Why sleep in such an uncomfortable position? And if they were going to do this, why not just go home and sleep? Why volunteer for overtime at their employer’s house? Are they pushovers?
“...Heh.”
But the feeling wasn’t half bad.
Yu Yeon-seo didn’t realize he was smiling.