Chapter 5 Part 3: Grab the Bull by the Horns

The next day, on the road between Hongdae and Hapjeong.

With the play finished and a short break underway, the members of Daehangno’s Troupe Mae gathered again.

Today was the release day of Yejun’s short film, The Killer’s Diary.

Arriving in front of Space, an independent and short-film specialty theater, they saw the movie poster pasted beside a prop shop on the first floor.

Since no separate promotional shoot had been done, the poster—handled with CG—looked a little crude.

Staring quietly at his name written beneath the director’s name at the very bottom of the poster, Yejun felt strangely moved.

No matter how short the film was, seeing his own name listed as the lead actor on a promotional poster was deeply emotional.

Jeonghwan-hyung whispered as he looked at the large crowd waiting for the elevator up to Space.

“Why are there so many people?”

“Oh, I heard it’s opening day, so Director Jang’s juniors from school came as a group.

Plus, some acquaintances too.”

“Ah, that explains it.”

When they went up to the screening hall, all 186 seats were filled.

Seeing it like this made it feel as if he had appeared in a commercial film.

His first movie, and his first movie audience.

There were separate seats for the director and actors, so as Yejun waited apart from the troupe members, Director Jang Young-ho entered.

Perhaps because they were his school juniors, the students recognized him immediately and burst into applause.

Jang Young-ho scratched his head with a shy expression, bowed slightly, and then sat down beside Yejun.

“Excited?”

“Yes, Director.”

“I’m excited too.”

“This is your debut short film as a director, right?”

“Yes.

I didn’t sleep a wink last night, so I’m exhausted.”

“Are you also handling the drama assistant director pre-production work?”

“Yes.

Thanks to that, getting two hours of sleep a day has been a luxury lately.

After today’s screening, I’m going straight home to pass out.

Starting tomorrow, it’s back to drama work again.”

“That sounds tough.”

“Haha.

Being busy is better.

I hate being idle even more.”

“Haha, true.”

Soon, the movie began.

Even short films had advertisements before them.

Of course, the ad revenue didn’t go to the filmmakers but to theater operations, yet seeing ads play before the film somehow made it feel more special.

As the movie started, the audience quickly became immersed.

With almost no music, the film unfolded in a quiet atmosphere, so silent it felt as though even a falling pin could be heard.

Yejun tried to watch with anticipation, since it was his first time seeing the completed film, but the moment he appeared on screen, his face turned bright red.

His own face filled the large screen.

The embarrassment made him want to crawl into a hole.

In the end, he couldn’t last even a minute and bowed his head deeply.

‘So this is what senior actors mean when they say they can’t watch their own films.

It’s really true.’

Why was it so mortifying?

He ended up listening only to the audio as the forty minutes passed by.

This movie was the story of Go Youngcheol and Minseo.

In the film, Go Youngcheol commits one murder before meeting Minseo, and three murders after meeting her.

After meeting the innocent Minseo, Go Youngcheol briefly stops killing.

Minseo, due to her unique aura, treats Go Youngcheol—whom no one else approaches—without hesitation, and Go Youngcheol finds her fascinating.

Throughout the film, Go Youngcheol sends conflicted glances, constantly debating whether to kill Minseo, maintaining tension.

In the final scene, the film ends on an open conclusion, showing a knife tucked into Go Youngcheol’s back pocket as he heads to the park to meet Minseo.

Did Go Youngcheol kill Minseo?

Director Jang Young-ho intended to leave that answer to the audience’s imagination.

When the movie ended, more than 180 audience members erupted into loud applause.

Whether it was respect for a senior director or genuine enjoyment, Yejun couldn’t tell.

At first, no one had recognized him, but after the screening, audience members who realized he was the lead actor applauded him warmly.

Standing up with Director Jang to greet the audience helped ease his embarrassment a little.

As he tried to slip away while watching Director Jang talk with his juniors, a group of students rushed over and surrounded him.

“Sunbae!

Your acting was amazing!”

“Sunbae, how is your eye acting that good?

When I saw the way you looked over Minseo, I got chills.

What were you thinking at that moment?

Like, does this kid’s body have red blood inside too?

That’s what you were thinking, right?”

“Sunbae, you’re handsome!”

Among the theater and film students, especially those taking acting classes, many showed interest in Yejun.

After answering their questions kindly with a smile and stepping outside, Yejun spotted Minju hiding in a corner, peeking out to watch the audience’s reactions.

Letting out a small laugh, Yejun asked,

“What are you doing here?”

“Ah!”

So she was embarrassed.

Well, if even he felt this embarrassed, it made sense that Minju would too.

“You didn’t go in?”

Minju mimed shivering, sticking her finger in her mouth as she spoke.

“I got here first, but when I saw all the audience, I got so nervous I couldn’t stay in my seat.

I hid in the bathroom until the movie started, went in, and then came back out before even one minute passed.

I’d dreamed of seeing my face on the screen, but when it actually happened, my limbs curled up from embarrassment and I couldn’t handle it.”

“Haha, same here.”

“You too, sunbae?”

“A lot of actors are like that.”

“Ugh, I hate it.

If I keep acting, I’ll have to go through this forever, won’t I?”

“Probably.”

“Oh!

Sunbae, I heard you’re joining a drama!

Congratulations!”

“Huh?

How did you know?”

“I heard it from Director Jang Young-ho.

He’s becoming an assistant director, and he said you’re joining too.”

“Yeah, that’s how it turned out.

Anyway, thanks.”

“Sunbae, can I shake your hand once?”

Minju held out her hand.

Come to think of it, they hadn’t even shaken hands once in the movie, since there was no skinship at all.

Smiling softly, Yejun took Minju’s hand.

“Let’s work hard.”

“Yes, sunbae!

I really learned so much from you.

I’ll work even harder than before!

And someday, I’ll wait for the day we can act together again.”

Like Minseo in the film, Minju was bright and cheerful.

Yejun smiled while holding her hand.

“Yeah.

I’ll work hard and wait too.”

“Sunbae!

When you get famous, please take a photo with me so I can brag!”

“Sure.”

Minju pulled out her phone.

As they stood side by side posing, she suddenly slipped into his arms and hugged him.

After snapping a hug photo in an instant, Minju winked and said,

“Sorry.

I wanted us to look close.”

Yejun laughed softly and said,

“You are close to me.

I don’t have many people around me.

You’re close enough.”

In fact, Minju contacted Yejun often.

It wasn’t romantic—mostly sharing worries about acting—but they chatted a lot too.

At the moment, the people Yejun talked to most were probably Hong Jihyun and Minju.

“Hehe, that makes me feel really good.”

“The audience is waiting.

Let’s go do the photo time.”

“Ugh, I think I’ll be embarrassed.”

“They came all this way to see our movie.

Of course we should.

Come on.”

“Yes!”

***

The next day.

Daehwa Entertainment.

Clutching the phone, CEO Song Minsu bowed repeatedly as he spoke.

“Yes, yes.

Of course!

Please take good care of our Jihoon.

Yes, yes!

Goodbye, Writer-nim!”

After listening to the call, Director Kim Sunwoo asked,

“Are they investing?”

Song Minsu checked once more that the call had truly ended, then tossed his phone onto the table.

“Of course.

It’s twenty billion won.

Even Hong Jihyun can’t keep her composure in front of twenty billion.”

Kim Sunwoo sighed.

“Even getting paid to act wouldn’t be enough, and now we’re funding the production ourselves.

It feels strange.”

Song Minsu glanced at him and said,

“We put up twenty billion in production costs, and if Jihoon gets five hundred million per episode for sixteen episodes, that’s eight billion recovered.

On top of that, our supporting actors will earn appearance fees too.

The kids waiting for bit roles get opportunities.

There’s a lot to gain here.

If Jihoon lands just a few commercials from the drama’s momentum, it’s all profit.”

Kim Sunwoo’s concern wasn’t just about money, but to Song Minsu—who saw actors as machines that generated profit—this investment, though a short-term loss, was a long-term opportunity.

Song Minsu extended his hand.

“You got the scripts, right?”

“Yes, here.”

Six script books lay on the table.

Episodes one through six.

As an investor, Song Minsu had the right to review them in advance.

“Our conditions are this.

Jihoon as the male lead detective.

Jisoo as the female detective partner with the most screen time.

And four additional bit-role actors from our side.

Go through the script and find roles for our kids.

This drama is a classic crime thriller—solving cases one by one before leading to a bigger incident.

We should aim for impactful criminal roles, so look carefully.”

“But if it’s a criminal role, wouldn’t that be supporting, not a bit part?”

“If the criminal gets arrested mid-story, that’s the end, right?

Shortest is one episode, longest maybe two to four.

They don’t stay throughout, so we’ll just push it as a bit role.

Hurry and review.”

The two leaned their heads together, reviewing the script up to episode four.

Then they met eyes and spoke the same name at the same time.

“Zhang Wei.”

“Zhang Wei would be good.”

With their thoughts aligned, Kim Sunwoo hesitated.

“But it’s too significant to call it a bit role.

I don’t know why the writer made this criminal’s role so heavy.

I heard Writer Hong revised the script multiple times.

It probably gained weight during that process.”

“Hm.

At this level, it is basically a supporting role.

Think it’ll be tough?

Well, whatever.

We won’t know unless we try.”

There was no harm in at least bringing it up.

As long as he was tactful enough not to upset the production company.

Confident in matters like this, Song Minsu immediately picked up his phone.

After waiting through a couple of rings, the other party answered.

–Yes, sir.

“Ah, Production Manager!

Pre-production is going well, right?

You must be very busy these days.”

–Yes, indeed.

What brings you to call?

“Well, since we’re investing in the production, we’ve been paying close attention.

The investment funds will be transferred on the 11th.

Our disbursement date is always the 11th each month, so please understand.”

–Yes, I’m aware.

“You know it’s a heavy burden for us too, right?”

–Of course.

It’s twenty billion won.

“Haha, that’s why.

Our side is sending in four actors for bit roles, correct?”

–Yes, that’s what I was told.

“Actually, we have a very promising rookie actor at our company.

Would it be possible to assign him the role of Zhang Wei, who appears up to episode four?”

–Ah, Zhang Wei.

That role has already been cast, and rehearsals have started.

The script has been fully delivered as well.

“Ah.”

Disappointment filled Song Minsu’s eyes.

But clinging to something already decided would sour relations with the production team.

“That’s a shame.

It’s such a good role, I got a little greedy.

Haha.”

–True.

Actually, that role was cast the fastest.

Even faster than Lee Jihoon’s.

“What?

We finalized Jihoon as soon as the investment was decided.

It was faster than Jihoon?

Is the actor someone famous?”

–No, a rookie.

An actor named Ma Yejun.

He’s a Daehangno stage actor.

Song Minsu’s eyes widened.

“W-Who did you say?

Ma… Ma Yejun?”