Chapter 101…
The Promise.
“Hyung… are you sure about this?”
“Stay still. Your makeup will smudge.”
“I really don’t think this is right.”
Assistant director Gam-dong looked uneasily at Woo Su-han.
But Su-han nodded in satisfaction, studying Gam-dong like an artist admiring his own work.
“Good. That expression is perfect.”
“I hate you right now.”
“That’s fine. We hit two million views.”
“……”
Gam-dong forced a smile — but tears suddenly streamed down his cheeks.
“Woooow…”
Behind them, the crew, Oh Ju-hwan, who’d finally returned to the office, and actress Yeo Si-yeon all gasped in awe.
“As expected, you’re still the best, hyung.”
“Ju-hwan, aren’t you glad you listened to me?”
Su-han, still focused on the “artwork” he’d created using Gam-dong’s face as a canvas, spoke without looking away.
“Yes, sir! I trust you! Even the company’s going wild about it!”
“Good. Hey, what was that guy’s name — the one who fell off the map?”
At the word “fallen,” Ju-hwan immediately thought of one person.
“Fallen? Oh, Kwon Soo-hyun?”
“Yeah. I heard you stole all his ad deals.”
“Hehehehe.”
“Buy something nice for everyone.”
“Yes, sir!”
Ju-hwan bowed a full ninety degrees like some gangster.
“Don’t forget your debts, or you’ll fall too. You know who sent Kwon Soo-hyun down there, right?”
When Su-han spoke with a sly grin, Ju-hwan flinched and bowed again.
“Sir! You can count on me!”
“Right. Next time, maybe we’ll shoot a noir. Sounds fun.”
“Heheh, I can handle action scenes too, you know.”
While the two of them chatted like a comedy duo, Su-han’s hands finally stopped moving.
“There. Done.”
“Woooow…”
“Whoa, that’s amazing! Better than our makeup team!”
The staff, who’d been waiting forever, stared blankly at Gam-dong.
While everyone marveled, Gam-dong looked into the mirror with a lifeless face.
Inside the mirror… was a beggar.
“But hyung, normally you wouldn’t do this kind of thing, right? For your image?”
Leaving the completely disheveled Gam-dong behind, Ju-hwan spoke with concern.
“……If I start wearing luxury suits and acting rich, you think people will forget I used to be a beggar?”
“Uh… I guess not.”
“They’ll just call me a lottery beggar — or a lightning-rich guy. The beggar image won’t go away no matter what. And it’s not even wrong. Might as well use it.”
“Why?”
Actress Yeo Si-yeon, who’d been watching the strange logic unfold, cautiously joined in.
“Noona, if you act like it’s no big deal and make jokes about it, the ‘beggar’ thing stops being a past shame and becomes a kind of personal quirk, you know?”
“…Really?”
“Pretty much.”
It wasn’t the most convincing argument, but Si-yeon nodded anyway.
Truthfully, there was no hiding Su-han’s past as a beggar — everyone already knew.
So why not turn it into a bit?
“Besides, if he tries to clean up his image and act all proper, that’d just be exhausting. Look at what happened last time! Huh? When he got kidnapped — people almost made a fuss just because he resisted a bit too hard.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“C’mon, it’s not your fault, noona.”
There had been some critical articles, but the “Reincarnation of the Beggar King Kim Chun-sam” rumor gained even more traction and actually buried the scandal.
In a twisted way, his past as a beggar helped him.
“Anyway, today you’re not a beggar — you’re a beggar maker! Go, Gam-dong! Earn us lots of money!”
“Uh…”
“Two million promise! Fighting!”
The staff cheered, fists raised, and Gam-dong awkwardly smiled as he walked off.
Su-han patted him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry. I picked a good spot for max profit. That expression’s great — like you’ve lost your country. Let’s go with that!”
Gam-dong trudged off to fulfill his “two million” promise — fueled by the least encouraging pep talk ever.
Meanwhile…
Chairman Yang Man-sik frowned deeply at his monitor and called in his chief secretary, Yoo Ji-gwang.
“You called for me, sir?”
“That… devil. Isn’t Su-han’s movie doing well?”
“Yes, it’s surpassed two million viewers.”
“Then what the hell is this?”
Yoo cautiously leaned closer to look at the monitor.
“Ah…”
On-screen, a man who looked like Gam-dong was sitting pitifully on the street, begging.
“Apparently, he promised to go out and beg if the movie surpassed two million.”
“……”
“But it seems to be working — lots of buzz online.”
“Unbelievable.”
Chairman Yang clicked his tongue.
Then Yoo spoke again.
“By the way, sir, the investment profits from this film are…”
“Don’t tell me — more money again?”
“Yes. It’s performing extremely well. Our overseas distribution team says demand is surging.”
“Good grief…”
Yang was speechless.
He’d originally poured money into Su-han’s ad campaigns just as a favor — but those had gone viral.
Stock prices rose, and clients demanded more ads starring Su-han.
So this time, he’d invested in Su-han’s movie just to “repay a debt.”
He hadn’t expected to profit. Yet here they were.
“Because of this, our content investment division has bounced back. It was practically dead before…”
“Heh… heheheh.”
Yang couldn’t help but laugh — half in disbelief.
A subsidiary that had been gasping for air was suddenly revived.
“The people in that division have been praising you nonstop, sir.”
“Can’t believe I made money from this…”
Yoo smiled, fully aware of why the chairman looked both annoyed and amused.
“Well, at least we were able to help out with that police situation last time.”
“Yeah, but our guys messed it up too.”
“I apologize for that.”
Yang waved his hand dismissively.
“No, no. I’m not scolding you. The fool was the one who fell for a hitman scam for fifty thousand won.”
Someone who got tricked by a fake assassin — truly idiotic.
“Anyway, these performance promises — aren’t actors the ones who usually do them?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So why didn’t he do one?”
“Well, since this was Director Gam-dong’s debut, Su-han probably gave him the spotlight. But I’d bet the main cast made some promises too.”
“Hmm, that I’d like to see.”
Chairman Yang’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.
“Me begging? That’s an old idea. Who’s gonna be impressed by a beggar begging? Maybe if Ju-hwan or Si-yeon did it.”
“Urgh!”
Gam-dong’s face twisted in frustration.
The film had already surpassed 2.5 million viewers — meaning it was time for the actors to make their own pledges.
Their goal was five million. At this rate, it seemed possible.
(For the record, Gam-dong earned 22,000 won that day.)
“Let’s do something we can all join in on! Hyung, if you handle the makeup, I’ll go beg myself!”
“Ugh!”
Ju-hwan’s over-the-top enthusiasm almost made the road manager faint.
“Nah, we already did that once. That bait’s stale.”
“Haah…”
A collective sigh of relief spread — apparently, someone had eaten kimchi stew for lunch.
“Then what about… a sexy dance?”
“……”
Si-yeon’s cheeks turned red as she covered them with both hands — clearly high on adrenaline.
“What’s with that face?”
“Oh? Is it that obvious?”
Smack.
“Who do you think just busts out a sexy dance these days? You’ll get canceled for that now.”
Having once been arrested for dancing suggestively in a trash can, I wasn’t eager to repeat the experience.
“Then singing?”
“Sing what?”
“What about busking?”
One of the staff suggested busking.
Immediately, Ju-hwan and Si-yeon’s eyes sparkled.
Both were ex-idols (or close enough), so the idea clearly appealed to them.
“Busking, huh… I’ve done that before.”
“You have?”
“Well, only when the trend was already dying out.”
Hey, I used to live on the streets — busking was my thing.
But everyone just stared at me in disbelief.
“Jeez… you all think I was just a beggar?”
Offended, I decided to show them my skills.
“I’ll demonstrate.”
I lay flat on the ground, raised my upper body slightly, grabbed a marker as a fake mic, and started singing:
🎵 “Like a riiiiver of peaaace~ liiike a riiiiver of peaaace~” 🎵
“……”
They must’ve been moved — they were speechless.
Then Gam-dong shouted:
“D-don’t film this!”
“Put the cameras down!”
“Delete that video, now!”
Suddenly, chaos erupted.
“You lunatic! What are you doing in this day and age?!”
“What? I didn’t even take my clothes off!”
“You wanna get canceled? Go back to being a beggar?!”
Whoa… scary.
Gam-dong scolded me like I’d just doomed the team.
“You can’t pretend to be disabled like that! That’s offensive! If the disability association comes after us, we’ll hand you over ourselves!”
“…Oh.”
That was close — I nearly tanked everything again.
I guess pretending to be what you’re not — especially for money — is a bad look.
“Anyway… busking, then.”
“Ugh, come ooon, let’s just do it!”
“Denied! Don’t you know any normal songs?”
“‘On that blue meadow~’…”
“……”
“Enough.”
Gam-dong raised a chair.
“I can play the guitar.”
“I’ve always wanted to try busking.”
Oh great — now their eyes were sparkling even more.
“Let’s do it, then. I can play piano.”
And so, the five-million-view promise was set: they’d do a live busking performance.
“What about after five million?”
“Heh. If we hit ten million, I’ll dress as a woman and dance.”
“Pfft—haha!”
“Wow, you’re serious?!”
Everyone burst out laughing.
Maybe ten million was pushing it — but hey, it was all in good fun.
“Hmm… bungee jumping?”
[What if your heart stops mid-jump? You taking responsibility?]
“Aww, come on, wouldn’t that be fun?”
[Ugh.]
“Then… going to an amusement park?”
[That’s the most cliché thing I’ve ever heard.]
“Fine, how about wearing a cute bikini at the beach?”
[Shut up! Don’t you dare!]
Right now, I had completely surrendered my body.
After my failed “exorcism” attempt, Joo-yeon had found out everything.
Actually, she already knew — she’d just pretended not to.
Now that we’d sent CEO Jang and his gang to prison, I was hoping for release — but she was glowing brighter than ever.
So, I let her make a bucket list — but of course, she needed my body to do it.
[Do you have to draw hearts at the end of every line?]
“It’s cute!”
[You’re making my fingers curl in embarrassment.]
“Heehee.”
[Stop talking all cutesy! That’s my mouth!]
This was unbearable.
Ever since I got possessed by that damn dog spirit Momo, nothing’s been worse than this.
Now she was even sucking on my fingers while thinking.
Wait… did she wash her hands after using the bathroom earlier…?
“Maybe… if I go on a date with a boyfriend? Would that let me move on?”
[Did you even have a boyfriend?]
“……”
[D-don’t cry. Wait— are you a virgin ghost and that’s why you can’t pass on—]
“Sniff… sniff…”
Damn it.
I made her cry.
