SDM 33

They had already met so many times that he couldn’t even count on his fingers, so it felt awkward to bring up that past now. It would be ridiculous to say it was a misunderstanding, wouldn’t it?

Here, Seong-woon clearly felt the selfishness of this chaebol family. Baek Sang-hyun’s feelings didn’t matter to them at all. Only Ryu Chae-yoon’s health, Ryu Chae-yoon’s emotions, and only Ryu Chae-yoon was important to them.

It was so unpleasant and irritating that Seong-woon avoided seeing Hyeong-seok for days. Although Ryu Chae-yoon’s family said they didn’t know, he felt repulsed knowing they would share the same feelings.

Only after constantly reassuring himself that those people had done nothing wrong could Seong-woon treat them as usual again.

“Yes. We’ll stop here for today.”

“…I think we could do a bit more strength training.”

“Ah, the executive director is here.”

Damn it… Seong-woon, who almost cursed, glanced behind him and got off the treadmill. Don’t they have any work to do? An executive director coming to block the escape route?

“…Why are you here, hyung?”

Seong-woon asked even though he knew. He was quite familiar with this family’s behavior patterns by now, so it was obvious.

“Mom and Dad are waiting for you, necks stretched out.”

“They could watch it first. Why do we have to…”

“They won’t even watch the video I brought, saying they must watch it together with you.”

“…Alright. Wait a bit.”

When parents were brought up, Seong-woon was left speechless. His own parents had cut ties with him and probably wouldn’t even attend his funeral, but Seong-woon’s sense of guilt towards them hadn’t diminished at all.

Before even stepping into the living room after returning home, Seong-woon stopped in his tracks. A horrifying scene that was terrible just to imagine was unfolding before him. The 120-inch large TV was filled with Ryu Chae-yoon’s face, eyes closed and lips pursed!

“Chae-yoon, are you here? We haven’t played this yet. We wanted to watch it together.”

“You should have watched it first. You didn’t have to wait…”

“How could we? It’s our youngest’s first commercial.”

They’d probably want to watch it together even if it was her hundredth commercial, not her first. Smiling wryly, Seong-woon sat in his place made in the center. It seems this too will become quite familiar soon.

“Hyung, you haven’t watched it either?”

“Yeah. I really tried to hold back… I pinched my thighs so much they’re bruised!”

Ho-yoon pulled up his shorts to show. There really were bruises, though not too dark.

“You didn’t have to go that far…”

“Of course, I did!”

“…Okay.”

As he took a sip of the apple juice in his hand, Ryu Hae-yoon – wait, wasn’t the unpacking event just the day before yesterday, why is he home at this hour? – who had been waiting with the remote control, pressed play.

“Here we go.”

The short 30-second commercial was broadcast several times on the large TV screen, and after watching all the behind-the-scenes footage, Seong-woon had to endure almost an hour of praise and coddling from his family.

Just as he was thinking how difficult it must be to live as the youngest in a large family, especially as a sickly late-born child, a hologram window slowly rose at the edge of his vision.

[Quest 5

Participate in the ritual and script reading for the movie “Orbit Collision”.

Reward: Adjustment of information disclosure range (1)

Deadline: D-20

If failed, return to the branching point.

Soul Adjustment Project in progress….]

No new quests had appeared for a week after the sudden quest ended, so he had thoroughly questioned C1012, but it seems that karma device was waiting for the schedule of “Orbit Collision” to be set.

If the ritual and script reading are to take place within 20 days, it seems they’ll start earlier than originally planned. Will he be able to attend school properly then? No, that’s not the problem— he’ll have to see Baek Sang-hyun, won’t he? He had been fortunate not to run into him since the commercial shoot, having been in the hospital for about a week.

Seong-woon’s eyes twitched as he saw the quest reward. ‘Adjustment of information disclosure range’… As expected, all that talk about some device and souls and wishes seemed like nonsense, but it looks like there’s something more to it.

Will C1012’s constant “I can’t tell you that right now” finally disappear? Judging by the number attached, it seems this too has levels.

“Hello?”

“Young master, the script for ‘Orbit Collision’ has arrived. Shall I bring it to you right away?”

At Hyeong-seok’s call that seemed to have been waiting for this moment, Seong-woon stared intently at the quest window with an uneasy feeling. Well, for an organization that can manage the reincarnation of all souls on this planet and divide timelines… it’s certainly capable of acting as if it can read the future.

“Yes, please bring it right away.”

“Understood. I’ll also bring an analysis of the commercial’s reception.”

Although he had been shocked by Hyeong-seok and felt disillusioned, Seong-woon simply couldn’t treat him coldly. He knows that Hyeong-seok’s feelings for Ryu Chae-yoon are genuine. He understands that Hyeong-seok cares so much for Ryu Chae-yoon that he doesn’t even pay attention to others.

* * *

The final script for “Orbit Collision” wasn’t much different from what Sang-hyun had shown before. A few lines were refined, and the relationship between “Shin Jung-woo”, played by Baek Sang-hyun, and “Shin Kang-woo”, played by Seong-woon, became closer.

In the previous script, “Shin Kang-woo” was just an ordinary member of the organization, but now he had been upgraded to the level of an adoptive younger brother who grew up with “Shin Jung-woo” since childhood.

“Hmm…”

At this rate, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a leading supporting role. He might even be called for the production press conference, stage greetings, or promotional interviews if things go well. His role seemed to be at least the third most important, if not higher.

As Seong-woon appeared to have finished reading the script, Hyeong-seok opened his scheduler and briefed him on the expected schedule.

“It looks like the ritual and crank-in will be next Saturday. The script reading will also take place that day.”

“What about the filming schedule?”

“Since Baek Sang-hyun… the actor is also attending school, the schedule will likely be adjusted to accommodate that. However, Baek Sang-hyun doesn’t take many classes. Also…”

“You mean the schedule will be arranged to suit Baek Sang-hyun, not me, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

This means that while Baek Sang-hyun might not have much trouble attending school, Seong-woon might. Since most of Seong-woon’s scenes are with Baek Sang-hyun, he might be able to attend their shared “Accounting Principles” class, but probably not the others.

“I think it might be better to take a leave of absence…”

“Talk to the director about it.”

Startled by the voice suddenly dropping from above, Seong-woon quickly looked up. Baek Sang-hyun, backlit by the autumn sun, was looking down at him with curved eyes.

“…Hello.”

“You shouldn’t talk about such things here. What if someone hears?”

Baek Sang-hyun closed the script Seong-woon had opened, hiding the title, and sat down in the empty seat. Hyeong-seok, unable to hide his discomfort, just nodded in greeting and stood up. Although Hyeong-seok wasn’t greatly at fault for complicating things to that extent, he seemed to think it was wrong to have passed Ryu Chae-yoon’s request to that secretive ‘secretariat’.

Seong-woon pulled down the sleeve of his thin knit sweater to cover the back of his hand as he grasped the warm mug. Before entering this body, he used to gulp down iced Americanos even in the dead of winter, but after drinking warm herbal tea for several months, he had gotten used to this too.

Setting down the mug and turning on his phone, Seong-woon showed the screen to Sang-hyun.

“The news is already out.”

Song Ji-kwang and Baek Sang-hyun join hands with Director Lee Jun-ho… “Orbit Collision” casting

Is it noir this time? How far will Baek Sang-hyun, the prince of genre films, go?

Director Lee Jun-ho casts Song Ji-kwang as the good guy, Baek Sang-hyun as the villain… Unexpected combination anticipated

“What about your article?”

“I’m just a supporting role…”

“I thought your name would be third.”

“…It did appear a few times.”

In the article released by Phoenix Studio, Ryu Chae-yoon’s role was very minor. There was only a vague paragraph in the middle mentioning that rookie actors like Ryu Chae-yoon and Bae Seung-chae were cast through auditions.

However, when movie fans and reporters discovered this, they started shouting with megaphones, and articles began appearing everywhere. As soon as the full casting for “Orbit Collision” was posted, all kinds of comments flooded in. Of course, the comments section was a complete battleground.

“If I can’t act, I’ll hang myself in the middle of Gwanghwamun.”

“I think they’ll do well.”

“…..”

“Do you take acting lessons?”

“No.”

I couldn’t pay attention to anything else while trying to score over 80 points in accounting principles. Of course, I hadn’t really thought about needing acting lessons either. Isn’t acting the only thing Seong-woon is confident about?

“…You seem confident?”

“No, not really… It’s just that I don’t know anything.”

Sang-hyun flipped through the script laid on the table, rolled it up, and handed it to Seong-woon.

“Shall we practice on the weekend?”

“…Pardon?”

“You have the most scenes clashing with me.”

“I appreciate the offer, but…”

“Can you do it all by yourself?”

Of course. Although I haven’t had such a big role recently… The last time was in “Joint Operation” with Baek Sang-hyun. After that, I only did a few supporting roles close to bit parts, and even after entering Ryu Chae-yoon’s body…

Seong-woon became serious. 

It’s been a long time since I’ve done such long, emotionally expressive acting. Can I do well? The faucet of overflowing confidence suddenly shut tight.

Moreover, to fulfill Ryu Chae-yoon’s final wish of “wanting to be entangled with Baek Sang-hyun in ㅁㅁㅁㅁ,” I need to become closer to him anyway. If he wants to be entangled, shouldn’t the relationship continue to develop to move according to “ㅁㅁㅁㅁ”?

“How long on the weekend?”

“It’s up to you.”

“……”

“We’ll also film behind-the-scenes. The director requested it.”

These days, they often release behind-the-scenes footage on NewTube to connect interest with box office success. Fans quite like it when the actors themselves get along well, saying it brings out their chemistry. Of course, Seong-woon hasn’t appeared much in such videos.

“What time should I come?”

“Whenever is convenient for you.”

“I’ll come by 10.”

Seong-woon set the time considering breakfast with his parents. He wondered if it was too early, but thought it better to start early since he didn’t know how long practice would take.

“Why didn’t you come to school last week?”

“I wasn’t feeling well.”

Seong-woon answered casually to the question that came as they were leaving the cafe after clearing the table. It was neither more nor less than the truth.

Sang-hyun’s lips moved silently as he stopped briefly to look down at Seong-woon. Thinking he might have missed what was said, Seong-woon moved closer, but Sang-hyun stopped him by poking his forehead with his index finger.

“…And now?”

“I’m fine.”

That’s why I came to school. If I were sick, my overprotective family wouldn’t have let me out, would they? I was already in the hospital bed for a week, attached to all sorts of electrodes, observing my heart for days before I could be discharged.

“Don’t take a leave of absence. Ask the director to adjust the schedule. We’re just starting to crank in early to secure the release date in March next year.”

“Okay.”

Seong-woon, who had no intention of asking for consideration of his circumstances, answered halfheartedly. It’s about adjusting myself to the filming schedule, not adjusting the filming to my schedule. I’ve never even thought about it.

When did it become so natural to walk together as a set? Seong-woon rubbed his cheek, slightly cold from the breeze, and just stared at the edge of the sidewalk.

The week-long worry about how to treat Sang-hyun that had filled his head was meaningless. Too much time had already passed, something like rapport had formed, and even Sang-hyun seemed to act as if that incident never happened.

“Why?”

“…No, nothing.”

Baek Sang-hyun is definitely a living Buddha, no doubt. Seong-woon, newly amazed at Sang-hyun’s character, covered his face with the script he was holding, leaving only his eyes exposed. If he didn’t, he felt he might pour out unnecessary questions and turn this warm autumn into the dead of winter.