Chapter 97
Chapter 97
Making a Comeback
“Yeon-seo, I heard you went to the hospital. Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes, it was just a regular check-up.”
“Oh, really? You’re not much of a drinker, right?”
“Right.”
Ryu Chang-hoon, who played Father Peter, picked up a water bottle. Since neither of them particularly enjoyed alcohol, they filled their glasses with water instead.
“Yeon-seo, how are you feeling?”
“Why did you go to the hospital? Are you sick?”
Everyone who made eye contact with Yu Yeon-seo asked about his well-being. He couldn’t understand why his hospital visit was such a big deal and simply took a sip of his water.
He cautiously posed a question to the actor sitting next to Ryu Chang-hoon, who was drinking quietly.
“I heard this was your first time acting for the screen, senior?”
“What’s with the ‘senior’… Just speak comfortably.”
The actor who played the cult leader, Jeong Hyeon-sik, smiled shyly. He had apparently lost 10 kilograms for a role that amounted to less than an hour of total screen time.
“I happily tagged along thinking I wouldn’t have much to do, but I ended up going through hell and back… Director Choi tricked me.”
“Still, the response to you has been great lately, my friend,” Ryu Chang-hoon replied with a laugh.
Even with his limited screen time, Jeong Hyeon-sik had an overwhelming presence that devoured the screen. He mentioned that he initially thought he was playing a minor role who dies early in Raphael’s childhood, but he ended up as the cult leader, even having to wear stuffy burn makeup.
‘Is this what you call veteran experience?’
Despite his short appearance, his on-screen impact was so immense that some people mistakenly thought he had a much larger role. Yu Yeon-seo knew he couldn’t easily replicate that kind of atmosphere and gravitas just yet.
“After a lifetime of theater, I was so nervous standing in front of the camera…”
“It didn’t look like it. How about moving over to screen acting for good?”
“I’m thinking about it. My kid’s a high school senior next year.”
As Jeong Hyeon-sik answered, he glanced at Yu Yeon-seo’s face.
Even though this was his screen debut with ‘Demon’ and he didn’t follow the news much, he’d heard so much about Yu Yeon-seo from those around him. You’d have to live in a rural village with no internet to not have heard about Yu Yeon-seo.
‘Rumors are always exaggerated…’
But as expected, the rumors were not to be believed. Throughout filming, Yu Yeon-seo had discreetly taken care of the staff and actors without ever showing it off. Jeong Hyeon-sik thought the handsome young man had a good personality to boot.
“Well, you should come visit Daehak-ro sometime.”
“May I? I’ve always been curious about stage acting.”
“Come to think of it, you said your acting coach was Hyeon-jeong, right? She had her first performance with our troupe too.”
Jeong Hyeon-sik’s invitation was half lip service, but Yu Yeon-seo was already thinking about his schedule, wondering when he could go to the theater district.
“The thing is, if I go, a crowd tends to gather…”
“A crowd is good for us… but I don’t think our crew could handle it all. Come during a rehearsal.”
There was a lot of archival data from the past left in the future era. He had often watched filmed versions of plays and musicals, but he’d never had the chance to see a live stage performance in person. And whenever he considered going, he was hesitant because of the crowds he would draw.
“By the way, Ha-jun, what are you thinking about? The meat is cooked.”
Hong Min-a nudged Seo Ha-jun, who was staring blankly at the meat.
“Ah, no, I was just thinking about the ending. It felt a bit unsatisfying.”
“The ending?”
“I understand that a part of the demon entered Father Leo’s body and sent the cult leader… but does that mean Leo has to live with a piece of the demon inside him forever?”
Ah, I was curious about that too. Yu Yeon-seo nodded. Ryu Chang-hoon looked over their shoulders.
“You can just ask the person behind you.”
As the three main actors looked up, two people who had been circulating the tables, greeting everyone, bowed their heads slightly.
“What interesting conversation are you all having?”
“Hello.”
It was Director Choi Sang-hoon and writer Im Ye-na. Im Ye-na, whom they hadn’t seen much outside of the script reading due to her writing schedule, had dark circles under her eyes from pulling all-nighters.
When Seo Ha-jun brought up the ending, Im Ye-na smiled faintly as if she’d expected it.
“Oh, that? Originally, a newly awakened Father Raphael was supposed to perform an exorcism to drive out the demon from both the cult leader and Father Leo.”
“But it didn’t quite turn out as planned.”
Why not? Yu Yeon-seo squinted one eye slightly.
“If you were short on production costs, I could have given you more.”
“Oh, our dear investor had money to spare, of course.”
At Yu Yeon-seo’s words, people nearby let out impressed “oohs.” Director Choi also rubbed his hands together and replied in an exaggerated tone.
“Honestly, we were too short on time for the CG work. If we rushed it and it looked bad, it would have been turned into a meme and haunted the internet until the day I die. I didn’t want that.”
“That would be horrible.”
“We put a lot of effort into the first two episodes, you know. I didn’t think we could maintain that quality.”
‘Demon’ had initially gained traction thanks to Yu Yeon-seo’s casting and the high-quality CG. As an investor, Yu Yeon-seo also didn’t want the quality to drop at the last minute due to a time crunch.
“Besides, the higher-ups said the reaction to the exorcism scene wasn’t great and that it was boring, so we switched to an action-heavy finale. It was incredibly tough.”
“A lot of scenes were cut because of that, right?”
‘Demon’ was a terrestrial drama that achieved respectable ratings for the first time in a while for one of the three major broadcasting stations, which had been in a slump, pushed aside by OTT platforms and cable TV.
The broadcasting rights were sold overseas even before it aired, thanks to the names of Yu Yeon-seo and Seo Ha-jun. It was said to have caused a small syndrome in Japan, where it was broadcast simultaneously.
Yu Yeon-seo looked at Director Choi, who pulled up a chair and sat next to him.
“You should have told me.”
“Well, wasn’t it a pretty good ending in its own way? It can be interpreted differently by the viewers. Will Kim Leo, with a fragment of the demon remaining, become the second cult leader? Or will he successfully follow in Father Peter’s footsteps?”
“And Raphael must have known, so why did he leave without any hesitation?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Yu Yeon-seo wasn’t a big fan of open endings or endings that left a lot to think about. In the future, whenever he watched a movie or drama with a deeply lingering aftertaste, it would take ages to find data on the director’s intent, so he usually just gave up.
Besides, he felt it was selfish for only the creator to know the complete ending they were capable of tying up.
“If we get good support from the top, we could even go for a Season 2.”
Still, he didn’t completely dismiss the director and writer’s words. The director’s skillful execution had maintained a taut tension in a plot that could have lost steam at the end.
“Actually, the initial concept for ‘Demon’ was that everyone has a seed of evil in their hearts…”
The topic of conversation started with Demon.
“I liked ‘Speak, Listen, Write’.”
“Ah, I love that director’s work too.”
From there, it blossomed into a lively discussion about movies. Aside from the three main leads, most of the cast were theater actors, and their passion for acting was so strong that Yu Yeon-seo happily joined in.
“Everyone, the second round is on Yeon-seo!”
“Wow!”
Just as he did during ‘Dreaming’, Yu Yeon-seo left his card and decided to head home early.
“I should get going too.”
“Would you like a ride?”
“No, it’s alright. Come visit our troupe later.”
“Okay, get home safe.”
Jeong Hyeon-sik was an actor with much to learn from. Leaving him behind, Yu Yeon-seo got into the van and closed his eyes.
Left behind, Jeong Hyeon-sik saw his phone ring and smiled as if pleased.
“Hey, my friend, it’s been a while!”
(It has. I enjoyed the drama. Are you moving into screen acting for good?)
“Well… my daughter seems to like it.”
(I suppose an actor of your and Chang-hoon’s caliber is long overdue.)
Jeong Hyeon-sik had established himself in the theater world and wasn’t starving, but the income was incomparable to that from screen acting.
(That’s great. How about you star in my movie?)
“Are you finally making a comeback?”
(I have to.)
“Pick a good production company this time. And don’t trust your relatives too much.”
The person on the other end laughed at Jeong Hyeon-sik’s words.
(That’s been a headache. This time, I want to get some proper investment and make something spectacular.)
“Of course, you should. It’s your comeback after a long time. Hmm… speaking of investment, should I introduce you to someone I know?”
(Someone you know?)
“I got close to him while filming this drama. He’s a good kid. A great actor, too.”
(An investor and actor in ‘Demon’? There’s only one person that could be. Yu Yeon-seo?)
“Yes, you know him too?”
The person on the other end chuckled. Who didn’t know Yu Yeon-seo these days? The problem was the nasty rumors surrounding him.
The story about how Yu Yeon-seo had nearly replaced the director by brandishing his rights as an investor was known by everyone in the industry at the time.
“Something like that happened? He didn’t seem like that at all…”
(Well, since you put it that way, I’ll think about it.)
“Alright. Come visit our troupe sometime.”
(Okay.)
After hanging up, Jeong Hyeon-sik flashed a pleasant smile and got into a taxi.
Well-Made Horror Exorcism Drama ‘Demon’ Concludes with Its Highest Ratings Ever
Yu Yeon-seo on the Finale: “A work that gave me a new experience, I learned a lot.” (‘Demon’ Wrap Party)
Im Hye-ju, Im Seung-hyeon’s younger sister and one of the managers of ‘Love Letter’, stared at her computer screen with bloodshot eyes. The screen was filled with images of Yu Yeon-seo in a priest’s cassock.
“This is seriously incredible…”
She was saving multiple photos of the same scene with different filters when she felt her phone vibrate rapidly, like a call was coming in. She leaned back in her chair.
-OMG the teaser dropped!
-Go to MyTube now!
Im Hye-ju, who had been diligently saving gifs from Yu Yeon-seo’s drama to her hard drive well past midnight, hastily opened MyTube after seeing another member’s post.
[People Who Lack Season 2] He’s finally here! Character Teaser ‘Lee Tae-o’
#YuYeonseo
“Gasp…!”
Im Hye-ju took a short breath and played the video.
The first scene shows the back of a man walking down a street, filmed from a distance. The street had a strange, mysterious atmosphere, a mix of cyberpunk and dystopia.
It seemed to be dawn on the deserted street, with steam rising from a manhole. A stray dog barks loudly at his presence.
(Shhh…)
The screen only shows his face from the nose down, but his sharp jawline, slightly damp-looking long hair, and the graceful finger he brings to his lips are all visible.
(Living an ordinary life is no fun.)
Yu Yeon-seo’s languid voice narrates. A short beat of guitar and drums, thump-thump, heightens the video’s focus.
With each step he takes, his bare feet make a soft, splashing sound on the ground. His movements are unsteady, as if he’s dancing.
(Doesn’t having a little something missing make you more human?)
He saunters down the street, tapping a steel lever—a crowbar—that’s slung over his shoulder against the staircase railing, clang, clang, as if playing an instrument.
(Well, I’m on the side of having things taken from me, but…)
Then, an upbeat rock track explodes, and the scenes change rapidly. There are action sequences that look both graceful and clumsy, like a dance. Not stopping there, he strolls through the wrecked street, humming a tune.
(Wh-what are you.)
(Me?)
The camera, which had only been showing the man from the nose down, slowly pans up. The man with long hair that just touched his shoulders, Lee Tae-o, had his hair tied in two messy pigtails, which should have looked ridiculous, but somehow, it suited him like a fashion statement.
(Who do you think I am?)
His eyes, which were looking down at a man collapsed on the ground, blink and then stare directly into the camera. A smirk, both vile and playful, hangs on his lips. Then, a final thump-thump sound effect plays as the screen fades to black.
(Want to find out?)
Along with the low voice, the release date for ‘People Who Lack Season 2’ appears on the screen.
Im Hye-ju calmly replayed the video from the beginning. After watching it about five times, she finally scrolled down to leave a comment.
-The insane duality T_T
-Wow, what is all this new content in one day
-I was just simping over Yu Yeon-seo in his priest outfit and then I get blindsided like this
-Yu Yeon-seo’s duality is insane ㅠㅠ
-This is crazy, he’s literally Lee Tae-o
-Every scene in Demon was epic but then I see this and this is amazing too fml
Yu Yeon-seo’s fans, still lingering in the afterglow of his role as Father Raphael in ‘Demon’, were now forced to stay up all night by the completely opposite image of Lee Tae-o.
And this video, naturally, shot to number one on the real-time trending videos list.