Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Rumors and Reconciliation
What kind of rumors are going around?
“Yeon-seo. Are you awake now?”
“Yeah.”
A small, fern-like hand clasped the outstretched one. The hand belonged to Yu Eun-ho, who, despite being small himself, lifted his younger brother and waddled along.
“Should we go play at the beach?”
“The beach!”
The surrounding scenery was exotic, suggesting they were on vacation abroad. An emerald sea and a white sandy beach lay under the warm sunlight. Awed by the breathtaking view, young Yu Yeon-seo stared with his mouth agape at the shimmering light on the water.
“Kids.”
Yu Geon-min grinned widely at the sight of one child carrying another. He’s always the same. His doting nature hasn’t changed a bit... He lifted both his sons, one in each arm. Yu Eun-ho and Yu Yeon-seo giggled with delight.
“Where’s Mom?”
“Mom’s over there. Should we go to her?”
At Yu Yeon-seo’s question, Yu Geon-min headed closer to the shore.
“Honey.”
A woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat under a parasol turned around. Lee Hui-seo’s face was still not clearly visible.
“Boys!”
Lee Hui-seo, her face glitching like a damaged tape, waved her hand.
“...Ah.”
Waking up, Yu Yeon-seo blinked. His head was spinning. He felt nauseous, but since he had already thrown up and passed out, there was nothing left to come up. It seemed to be the lingering afterglow of the happy emotions from the dream.
‘Yu Geon-min and Lee Hui-seo seemed to have a good relationship...’
Because it was a union between a second-generation conglomerate heir and a top star, various media outlets had written unconfirmed stories about them. Rumors that Yu Geon-min had used his background to pressure Lee Hui-seo into marriage, or that he had been her sponsor, were printed in magazines with such vulgar content.
However, the common rumor was that Yu Geon-min had fallen for Lee Hui-seo at first sight and pursued her relentlessly. If anyone had seen the memory he just witnessed, they would be certain that rumor was true.
‘These don’t seem like the circumstances for someone to take their own life.’
Or was it his grandfather? His grandmother and aunts, whom I haven’t met yet? Even if Yu Geon-min had a weak personality, did he lack the resolve to protect his own wife from his family?
‘I don’t think so...’
Still, as Chairman Yu Chang-ho’s son, he wasn’t entirely weak-willed.
Then, is the original body’s suspicion actually true?
It was a reasonable suspicion, but there was no evidence yet. Yu Yeon-seo deliberately corrected his train of thought, which was veering in that direction. He felt like he would get entangled in something troublesome.
Yu Yeon-seo thought about the images he had seen of Choi Yu-jin and the family. Even after Lee Hui-seo passed away like that, the people left behind somehow managed to live on.
‘Come to think of it, what happened to me in the year 2207?’
The fact that I time-traveled successfully must mean someone recovered my body... It’s not that I have lingering attachments to Kang Jin-hu’s life, but I did miss the shallow relationships I had back then a little.
In any case, now that he was Yu Yeon-seo, he put those thoughts aside.
“Beta, how long was I unconscious?”
<2 hours, 16 minutes, and 23 seconds.>
He had woken up at dawn to sync the memories, so there was still plenty of time before his lesson. Yu Yeon-seo casually tossed the blood-stained towel into the washing machine and headed to the kitchen.
As expected, someone had prepared a meal and left. Furthermore, the house, spotless as if cleaned regularly in his absence, still boasted a size he couldn’t get used to.
Yu Yeon-seo Shares Update on Social Media... A Heartwarming Trio of Actors
└Park Min-woo and Lee Han-gyeol are so magnanimous, lol
└└What are you talking about, lol
└└└Magnanimous my ass
└First time Yu Yeon-seo has posted a picture like this, right?
└Hopping on the trending train
Movie ‘White Tiger’ Wraps Up... ‘Gift from Actor Yu Yeon-seo’ Becomes Hot Topic on Staff’s Social Media
└Isn’t this fabricated?
└Is that SNS account really from a White Tiger staff member?
“Is this really something that warrants a news article...?”
His influence was truly top-notch. He went to his fan community, the one Lee Tae-gyeom had told him about.
-It’s been months ㅠㅠㅠ My eyes have been blessed, for real ㅠㅠ
└Doesn’t he look like he’s lost weight? My heart aches ㅠ
└His face looks thinner, but his body is ripped, though?
-But isn’t this the first time he’s posted a selfie with a co-star? The filming atmosphere must have been great.
-The class of his gifts for the staff is insane, so cool ㅠㅠㅠ
-A selfie with another actor? Was our actor always such a considerate person?
-Isn’t that post from an insider true? The one that said his personality got a bit nicer.
└A bit disappointing, hehe.. Our actor’s charm is his bad personality.
└└Thissss
└Still, I did want to see a two-shot with another actor.
Yu Yeon-seo’s fans were remarkably objective about their stan life. He’d heard from Lee Tae-gyeom that the fans resembled the actor, earning the fandom a reputation for being warriors.
Despite the controversies surrounding his rude words and actions, they had consistently remained, swarming posts and comments that criticized Yu Yeon-seo to carry out collective lynchings. Or perhaps, people with personalities similar to Yu Yeon-seo’s were drawn to him in the first place.
‘Well, as long as they like me, that’s what matters.’
Still, it was a relief that there were people who stuck by him as fans. He’d heard that actors could hold fan signings at promotional or advertising events, and even personal fan meetings. It seemed like a good idea to try one later.
“Have you been observing people?”
“Sometimes.”
Yu Yeon-seo gave an awkward laugh at Park Hyeon-jeong’s question. In truth, he’d been so drained by the aftereffects of the memory sync and his first shoot that he hadn’t had the energy to observe anyone.
“When are you planning to start a new project?”
“I’m not sure. I’d like to do one more before going back to school, but I’m thinking of taking more lessons.”
While warming up with Park Hyeon-jeong, he reflected that his first shoot for White Tiger had been fairly manageable. The camera hadn’t bothered him as much as he’d expected. It was probably because Sergeant Kim Woo-jin in the story and Kang Jin-hu were quite similar.
Park Hyeon-jeong stopped and looked at Yu Yeon-seo. He was reminded of a call from Park Min-woo, who had asked how on earth he had taught Yu Yeon-seo to change so drastically. He’d even whined, asking to be taught again.
‘Min-woo is a promising kid himself...’
Park Min-woo was an acting genius, even by Park Hyeon-jeong’s standards. How well must Yu Yeon-seo have done on set to elicit such a reaction? For Park Hyeon-jeong, teaching Yu Yeon-seo had been a gamble. He was eager to see the results.
“In my opinion, I don’t think you need to increase your lesson time.”
“Is that so?”
I’m still lacking. Should I look for another role similar to something I’ve experienced, like with White Tiger?
“Today, let’s choose a script and I’ll teach you how to analyze it.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll help you this time, but from now on, you’ll have to analyze them on your own, Yeon-seo. Understood?”
So we’re finally moving past the basics and into advanced lessons. Yu Yeon-seo nodded.
After finishing his lesson with Park Hyeon-jeong, Yu Yeon-seo headed to the CEO’s office upstairs. He was looking for a sample script to analyze.
“Lesson over?”
“Yes.”
Yu Yeon-seo casually sat down and leaned back in the chair. At his arrogant posture, CEO Han Jun-o clicked his tongue. Though he looked displeased, he didn’t stop him.
“Oh, right. You’re going to shoot a season’s greetings, right?”
“Did I do that before?”
“You did.”
“Then I’ll do it.”
Actor fandoms tend to grow when a project is a hit, attracting fans of that work. Some stay, some leave, so having broad public appeal was generally better than having a large fandom.
Of course, a large fandom is good, but unless you were one of the few top actors who hit it big with the Hallyu wave, it was difficult to gauge the size of a fanbase.
Yu Yeon-seo had never added a work successful enough to build a fandom to his filmography, nor was he a particularly good actor. It was even less the case that his chemistry with a co-star was so good that it increased the number of ‘shipping’ fans.
In the end, Love Letter consisted of core fans who stubbornly remained, drawn only to his face and his antlion-pit-like personality. The fandom’s characteristics were similar to those of an idol fandom, so the agency was also careful about managing them.
“Oh, right. We got an invitation to the JMAs. Should I decline it like before?”
“Ah, that’s fine. I’ve decided to go with my mother.”
“Your mother?”
Han Jun-o, who had been listening from the side, looked up.
“Did you make up with Vice Chairman Choi?”
“...What kind of rumors are going around?”
How on earth did the rumors spread to the point where they’re asking if we’ve reconciled?
“The word is that you and Vice Chairman Choi had a huge fight and fell out. Someone supposedly overheard you yelling that you couldn’t accept her as your mother.”
“There’s also a rumor that you treated her so badly that Vice Chairman Choi fell out of favor with the family.”
Even Manager Park chimed in, rattling off rumors. Just listening to them, you’d think they were turning a capable, professional woman into a pitiful, tragic heroine.
He really had done it all. Of course, they were just rumors and should be taken with a grain of salt, but knowing the original owner of this body, it was entirely possible.
“Didn’t you skip the JMAs and go to the NMAs before as a protest against Vice Chairman Choi?”
“And at those NMAs, they created a buzz by pitting you against One Seven, and you threw a fit saying you wouldn’t go to any music awards for a while.”
Ah, so that’s why Choi Yu-jin was so happy. Yu Yeon-seo felt a pang of guilt. I just have to do well from now on, right?
“...It wasn’t a big enough fight to need reconciling.”
“That’s right, kid. Get along with your mother. Where else would you find someone like her? Even after you two fell out, she supported you immensely behind the scenes.”
He probably means her background, not her as a person. In any case, from Halo Media’s perspective, the better the relationship between Yu Yeon-seo and JSENM, the better the support they’d receive. They might even be planning which rookie to package with Yu Yeon-seo’s next project.
Yu Yeon-seo smiled playfully.
“Then should I get friendly with her and just move over to JSENM? I think I’d fit in better there than here.”
“Hey, you can’t do that. Even when you were acting so spoiled, we stuck with you out of loyalty, you know?”
“Loyalty? It was because of the background I have.”
“You’re not really going to leave, are you? Huh?”
CEO Han Jun-o, who had quickly tucked his tail between his legs, hovered around Yu Yeon-seo anxiously. He was a fun person to tease.
After teasing the CEO for a while, Yu Yeon-seo’s jaw dropped at the sight of the tower of scripts Lee Tae-gyeom brought in, groaning under their weight.
“But there seem to be a lot more scripts than before.”
“Rumors spread fast in this industry.”
Ah, so the people who worked on ‘White Tiger’ are spreading the word? The extravagant spending was worth it.
His stereotyped image was so strong that many were probably still skeptical, but the quick-witted ones were sending in scripts on the off-chance, just to test the waters.
“It’s already blowing up on MyTube.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, look.”
The title was none other than ‘Yu Yeon-seo’s Redemption?!’
Three MyTubers, who were entertainment reporters, were wearing masks and spilling anecdotes they’d heard from the White Tiger staff. It was less of an informative entertainment news video and more akin to rumor-mongering.
“CEO Han, you watch these kinds of videos?”
“No. A CEO from a production company I know sent me the link, asking if it was true.”
Wow, if a video like this is already up, his ripple effect is no joke.
“If you just fix that personality of yours, you’d be a golden goblin in this industry.”
“A golden goblin? What’s that?”
“Do you live without even playing games?”
Lee Tae-gyeom put down the scripts and placed his hands on his hips, looking incredulous.
“Wow, this won’t do. Let’s go to a PC bang sometime.”
“Tae-gyeom, you know this isn’t the time for that, right? Follow me to the conference room.”
The dog excuse was incredibly effective. Lee Tae-gyeom was dragged away by Manager Park for special training.
“By the way, where did Secretary Im go?”
“Ah, I sent him to look into something.”
Choi Yu-jin’s niece’s engagement ceremony. It was an event where all the big names from prominent conglomerate families would be gathered. Yu Yeon-seo had ordered Im Seung-hyeon to investigate the personal details of everyone attending.
‘I heard even the head of the Strategic Planning Division is getting involved.’
It’s a golden opportunity to show the changed Yu Yeon-seo, so his grandfather is also said to be eagerly anticipating the event.
‘But didn’t I come here to act?’
If I’m acting out Yu Yeon-seo’s life itself, then I guess I am acting... But this feeling that I came here to be an actor yet am focusing on other things must be my imagination, right?