Chapter 18
In front of a regional intercity bus terminal,
Yeon-hwi, having just stepped out of the SUV he was riding in, bent forward slightly.
“Thank you for giving me a ride today, sir.”
“No need to worry about it. I had an appointment nearby anyway.”
Jo Soon-yeol, who had rolled down the passenger window, waved his hand dismissively as if it was nothing.
Yeon-hwi’s next filming location was an indoor comprehensive studio in Namyangju.
However, the staff bus wouldn’t depart until night, after all the local set shoots were done.
Because of that, Yeon-hwi had to travel alone all the way to Namyangju, where the comprehensive indoor set was.
The problem was, there was no public transportation, nor even taxis, going all the way to the set.
Caught in a difficult situation, Jo Soon-yeol offered to drive Yeon-hwi to the regional terminal.
He said it was on the way.
“Please wait a moment. I’ll get you some coffee or something…”
Just as Yeon-hwi was about to run off, Jo Soon-yeol extended his hand outside the window to stop him.
“It’s fine. We were going to a café anyway…”
“I’ll bring you something to eat, at least.”
Before Jo Soon-yeol could protest, Yeon-hwi dashed into the terminal.
“He’s stubborn,”
Jo Soon-yeol shrugged as Yeon-hwi disappeared quickly.
“Manager, shall we leave now?”
“Rude. People should at least say goodbye properly.”
The manager, who had asked the question and got no response, pursed his lips.
‘He never really cares about those things. If he didn’t like that minor role, he wouldn’t have accepted the ride. There wasn’t really any appointment to begin with.’
Whether Jo Soon-yeol knew that his manager was grumbling inwardly or not, he looked at the place where Yeon-hwi disappeared and shrugged.
“That guy’s agency is a mess. Their actor’s getting all the attention, but they haven’t shown their face once.”
“Maybe he doesn’t have an agency?”
“No way someone so well-prepared would be alone. They must have a plan. They have to stay alert to protect their actor.”
…Unbeknownst to Yeon-hwi, Jo Soon-yeol’s misunderstandings grew larger.
Meanwhile, Yeon-hwi returned.
He handed the paper bag he was holding, which contained walnut cookies, to Jo Soon-yeol.
“Thank you for driving me, sir.”
Jo Soon-yeol, who had been tracing beautiful curves with his eyes, took the walnut cookies with a sullen face as if nothing had happened.
“I told you not to worry about it. By the way, aren’t you filming with Im So-han? Try asking her to go up together.”
“I should handle my own matters.”
Seeing Yeon-hwi’s firm attitude, Jo Soon-yeol shrugged.
“That’s basic for an actor. All these people gathered are just a bunch of numbers. Tsk.”
“Sir, what do you mean by that…?”
“Just talking to myself. Well then, good luck.”
The window closed quickly, and the car Jo Soon-yeol was driving sped away.
‘They must have been talking about those people. I didn’t think they came to talk about the work.’
Yeon-hwi recalled the people who had been looking at him eagerly since early morning.
Although the industry was unfamiliar to him, he knew that it was very rare for someone involved in a production to come out in the field to cast a minor role.
If it wasn’t for casting, then their purpose must be to scout him for an agency…
‘There’s no way that many people were trembling from dawn just to see a minor actor. Unless there was some other reason.’
With a short sigh, Yeon-hwi rested his head against the bus window and closed his eyes.
Some time later,
The bus Yeon-hwi was riding arrived at the express bus terminal in Seoul.
After transferring to the subway and another bus, Yeon-hwi was able to reach the comprehensive indoor studio he was aiming for.
He received a pass from the staff guarding the entrance and entered the studio.
“So this is where they film the cliff-falling scene.”
Yeon-hwi looked up at the set that resembled a cliff.
In front of the mat on the floor was a cliff model, and behind it, a green screen.
Fake stones and dirt-colored foam pads were placed here and there on the cliff model.
“It’s low for a cliff. The width is narrow too.”
Climbing the set, Yeon-hwi walked to the edge.
The height from the cliff set to the mat was about 5 meters.
The width to the place where the green screen was set up was slightly narrower than the height.
Compared to the cliffs he had jumped from countless times in the past, it was a height difficult to even compare.
“It’s different from what I imagined, but once the camera starts rolling… this will be the cliff.”
Standing on the set, Yeon-hwi hypnotized himself.
He repeated this quietly until others arrived.
“Late, late…!”
Im So-han rushed into the cliff set, passing the staff guarding the entrance.
She was delayed by heavy traffic on her way up from the regional set.
“Sorry— Phew.”
“How’s your condition, So-han?”
“Good.”
“Okay. Catch your breath, then we start rehearsal.”
CP Kang Hyuk-kwon turned his eyes from the monitor to Im So-han, who was climbing onto the set.
The shot to be filmed here at the cliff set was the ending of the cliff scene they had filmed at dawn.
The spear officer’s blade pierces through Sal-soo’s chest.
Despite the fatal injury, Sal-soo tries somehow to eliminate the spear officer but feels his strength slowly fading.
The spear officer tries to arrest Sal-soo alive…
Realizing it was the end, Sal-soo throws himself off the cliff.
The spear officer reaches out to save him, but all he catches is Sal-soo’s mask.
Sal-soo falls off the cliff, face revealed.
“Let’s make the fog thicker.”
“Yes, CP.”
Below the set, dry ice, and above, smoke from burning herbs filled the air.
It was to recreate an environment similar to the misty mountainside in the early morning.
“The fog will dissipate quickly, so let’s hurry.”
Everyone finished rehearsal quickly, seemingly aware of CP Kang Hyuk-kwon’s urgency.
The FD quickly took position in front of the camera.
“Slate. One, two—”
Clack!
The camera’s red light turned on, and Yeon-hwi as Sal-soo clutched his bloodied chest.
“Ugh…”
Watching Sal-soo stagger backward, Im So-han and the spear officer’s eyes narrowed and trembled.
“Give up. I will soon…”
Sal-soo raised his trembling arm toward the spear officer trying to catch him.
“Huff, huff…”
Breathing heavily, gasping.
‘He’s been fatally wounded. His breathing will become shallow, consciousness will blur. His vision can’t be trusted.’
Cold sweat flows, breath becomes rapid, body stops responding quickly.
The script didn’t detail what happens when the chest is pierced, but for Sal-soo and Yeon-hwi, that was not a problem.
Yeon-hwi pictured Sal-soo, who, despite dying, keeps fulfilling the Prime Minister’s orders to the end.
“Foolish.”
The spear officer opened and closed his eyes and grabbed Sal-soo’s trembling arm.
At that moment, Sal-soo embraced the spear officer and tried to jump off the cliff.
“Okay.”
CP Kang Hyuk-kwon nodded while watching the monitor.
Heavy breathing, trembling hand.
The blurry gaze, staggering movements, and squeezing the last strength out.
‘Is he acting knowingly? Looks like someone who really got stabbed. The detail is on another level.’
Neither the spear officer nor Im So-han were startled by Yeon-hwi’s acting and matched his rhythm perfectly.
No need to add unnecessary extras to their world.
CP Kang Hyuk-kwon leaned back in his chair.
“Sal-soo, harness on. Next.”
Yeon-hwi put on a harness under his clothes and strapped on the wire.
“On three, fall, crane. One, two—three.”
At the sign from the stunt director, Yeon-hwi repeatedly fell backward from the cliff edge.
The crane pulled Yeon-hwi up, and he slowly touched the ground lying down.
‘Feels like my body is floating.’
It was slightly different from the cliffs he had experienced before.
Unlike when he jumped with a wingsuit, parachute, or bare hands, this time felt like falling peacefully.
But this was the cliff and Sal-soo’s last moment.
This was real, Yeon-hwi steeled his heart repeatedly.
“I’ve never seen someone ride a wire so comfortably. He even eats while on the wire.”
“Want to try?”
“…If you say that, it doesn’t sound like a joke.”
Yeon-hwi just shrugged at Im So-han’s grumbling.
After finishing the wire test, all that remained was Sal-soo’s finale of falling off the cliff.
“Ready—Action!”
At CP Kang Hyuk-kwon’s sign, Im So-han and the spear officer struggled to resist Sal-soo’s fall.
“…”
Pushed away weakly by the spear officer, Yeon-hwi as Sal-soo realized.
He could no longer carry out the Prime Minister’s orders.
‘Until the end, Sal-soo could not escape the world of his father’s recognition.’
Though he failed to obey the Prime Minister’s orders…
Sal-soo tried to protect the world that was his father.
Even if the price was death.
His eyes, which were dimming, opened sharply again, and Sal-soo slowly leaned backward.
Then—
“…!”
There was a hand reaching out to catch him.
It was the spear officer’s hand, the one he had tried to eliminate.
But he missed Sal-soo right before his eyes.
“Father…”
Though not recognized by his father, Sal-soo protected him until the very end.
With his death.
Murmuring the one thing he had always wanted to say, Sal-soo sank downward.
“…Okay.”
CP Kang Hyuk-kwon, watching the monitor, quietly stood up.
‘Could anything better come out?’
He shook his head.
Sal-soo’s one final line as he sank below the cliff and his calm face seemed to linger in front of him.
“That’s a wrap. Good job.”
“Good work, everyone!”
With the staff’s loud voices, Yeon-hwi, who was lying on the mat below the cliff, lay dazed.
‘Is it over?’
Sal-soo might die like this or reappear.
But Yeon-hwi didn’t care.
Only a hollow emptiness from drained emotions, regret that he could have done better.
And the sense of accomplishment for finishing his first work.
“Well done.”
Enthralled by the new feelings, Yeon-hwi sprang up and shook CP Kang Hyuk-kwon’s hand.
“Thank you for the opportunity, CP-nim.”
“Did I give it? You caught it yourself.”
CP Kang Hyuk-kwon extended his hand with an indifferent face.
The wish to see him again, gratitude for doing well, and regret.
Yeon-hwi firmly gripped the hand of his first CP on his first project.
“Brother, good job.”
Im So-han’s face, coming down from the cliff set, was also full of regret.
Seeing her, Yeon-hwi smiled proudly.
“I could do it smoothly thanks to your help. Thanks.”
“Don’t get all mushy between us. Honestly, I was the one who rode the bus.”
“The bus?”
“You don’t know the bus? It’s something we use a lot when playing games…”
Im So-han smiled as Yeon-hwi tilted his head in confusion.
“You’re old-fashioned, bro. Well, if you were perfect, it’d be no fun.”
Yeon-hwi just shrugged at Im So-han’s teasing.
After greeting the stunt director and staff, Yeon-hwi left the set with Im So-han.
“You don’t have to give me a ride.”
“It’s the last time. Our paths are similar. Let’s go together.”
Grumbling, Im So-han turned her eyes to the manager following behind.
Then Yeon-hwi pulled out his phone from his pocket.
‘Who’s this?’
A missed call from an unknown number.
There was also a text message from the same number.
[Hello, actor Woo Yeon-hwi. This is assistant writer Jung So-hee from the currently airing drama <Strong Yoo Tae-rin>. We are contacting you to offer an audition. Please contact us at your convenience.]
Reading the message, Yeon-hwi tilted his head.
“<Strong Yoo Tae-rin>?”
Hearing Yeon-hwi, Im So-han quickly approached from her conversation with the manager.
“<Strong Yoo Tae-rin> is a work by writer Ham Eun-young. Why?”
“I got a message. It’s an audition offer.”
The corner of Im So-han’s eye twitched at Yeon-hwi’s calm words.
“They’re already offering you work right after finishing this one… Well, honestly, it’d be strange if you didn’t get any work.”
“What kind of work is it?”
“I have to watch the work to know, but you know writer Ham Eun-young. She’s the queen of weekend dramas.”
With an excited voice, Im So-han continued talking, while Yeon-hwi watched calmly.
