SDM 38

“If our movie gets an R-rating, will Chae-yoon-ssi not be able to watch it?”

“…Pardon? I’m over 20 years old.”

“Oh, really? Your face looks so young. When you were reading the script earlier, you did look about Shin Kang-woo’s age. Then can you drink alcohol?”

“I’m past that age too.”

“Ah, I thought you couldn’t drink because you’ve been having soda since earlier.”

Hmm… Seong-woon quietly stared at the clear liquid being poured into a small glass. He had planned to just accept it, thinking it wouldn’t be good to refuse given the atmosphere.

The role of drinking seemed bigger in this field than he expected, so the majority of people from production companies and agencies were heavy drinkers.

Of course, there were often cases where actors wouldn’t be cast again if they made the atmosphere awkward by refusing to drink, so Seong-woon couldn’t adamantly refuse alcohol. He had been in this business for nearly 10 years since becoming an adult, so it was ingrained in him.

“I thought you couldn’t drink.”

Baek Sang-hyun, who hadn’t read the atmosphere, whispered from beside him. Surprised, Seong-woon pulled his body back and covered his ear where Baek Sang-hyun’s lips might have touched, causing Song Ji-kwang, who was pressed by his body, to laugh loudly. Already drunk, he just kept laughing without knowing what was happening.

“What are you doing?”

“What? I was just whispering.”

Shrugging as if it was nothing, Baek Sang-hyun flipped the meat with the tongs he had been holding from the start. Being a somewhat high-end pork restaurant, the pork neck was very thick.

“I’m just going to accept it without drinking.”

“The alcohol?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think Director Lee Jun-ho will just let that slide?”

No sooner had Baek Sang-hyun finished speaking than Director Lee Jun-ho leaned towards Seong-woon, alternating his gaze between the still-full glass of alcohol and Seong-woon’s face.

“You’re not drinking?”

“Ah, a little later… I was planning to drink after the meat is fully cooked.”

“Meat! Here it is!”

Director Lee Jun-ho, who had picked up a few pieces of meat from the next table and moved them to Seong-woon’s plate, had his eyes sparkling. What is this… Has he been possessed by a ghost who died from not being able to make others drink? Why is he looking at someone like that and insisting they drink?

“Director, I…”

Just as Seong-woon, unable to overcome his awkwardness, was about to say he wasn’t feeling well, a hand stretched out from beside him and took Seong-woon’s glass. Baek Sang-hyun, without any hesitation, downed the clear liquid in one go.

“Why is Sang-hyun-ssi drinking that!”

“Do you want to make a child drink that badly?”

“It’s because it’s the first time. People usually become closer while drinking.”

Ugh. That’s really a cringeworthy thing to hear. As Seong-woon shuddered and shook his head, Baek Sang-hyun tried to pacify the director with as gentle a tone as possible. Looking roughly at the table, it was clear the director had already drunk several bottles of soju.

“I’m telling you, he’s barely over twenty.”

“That’s why he’ll drink better. His liver must still be pink.”

“This kind of gathering must be his first time too… right?”

Under the pressure to nod quickly, Seong-woon acted as Baek Sang-hyun wanted. He judged that it would be better to follow his lead for now.

“What if he gets sick of it and doesn’t come back? Or maybe he might even drop out…?”

“What?”

“That’s how it is, isn’t it? It’s not like Ryu Chae-yoon-ssi has to act with his life on the line…”

“…”

“He’d have plenty of opportunities even if it’s not your movie, Director. You changed the whole script because you wanted to cast Ryu Chae-yoon-ssi, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I did change it all! I overhauled everything except the title!”

“I’ll drink the alcohol, so let’s give Chae-yoon-ssi soda for today. He’s still a baby, after all.”

“That’s true. He is a baby.”

Just when I thought I’d escaped that ‘baby’ talk because I haven’t seen the Ryu siblings’ faces lately, now I’m a baby at work too? Seong-woon could drink soju by the pair if it meant not being called a baby. Though he wasn’t sure if Ryu Chae-yoon’s heart could handle it.

“Just drink your soda.”

Baek Sang-hyun poured soda into a new soju glass. Instead of complaining about why it had to be a soju glass, Seong-woon just let out a heavy sigh and reached for the glass.

The moment their fingers brushed, Seong-woon startled and pulled his hand back. It was because the memory of the contact he had been trying so hard to forget came flooding back. The soju glass fell to the floor with a loud clatter, but no one except Baek Sang-hyun and Seong-woon paid any attention.

“Ah…”

“Your reaction is so innocent.”

“…”

There was a subtle hint of amusement in Baek Sang-hyun’s tone. But it was strange because it sounded like he was genuinely a little happy, not sneering or mocking. According to what Baek Sang-hyun knows, shouldn’t Ryu Chae-yoon not be innocent? If he’s offering sponsorship, he must be quite brazen…

“Here.”

Baek Sang-hyun filled a large glass with soda and placed it in front of Seong-woon. After staring at the bubbling drink for a moment, Seong-woon ate a few pieces of meat and then stood up from his seat.

“Where are you going?”

“To the restroom.”

“Take your manager with you.”

“…”

His plan to sneak out under the pretense of going to the bathroom was immediately seen through. He thought he could quietly leave since the director was already half out of it. As Seong-woon was leaving the noisy meat restaurant without any particular response, Baek Sang-hyun followed behind.

“Haa… Why are you following me?”

“Aren’t you going to the bathroom?”

“…Then go to the bathroom.”

“Ryu Chae-yoon.”

It’s the first time Baek Sang-hyun has called that name like that. Seong-woon felt as if he was hearing that name properly for the first time just now.

No, until now, he had never felt like he was being called whenever someone said ‘Ryu Chae-yoon’. It was just a meaningless combination of syllables, but why did it now feel like his soul was being called?

“…”

“There’s a wound left on your lip.”

“The person who made it… Haa…”

“I think I could do more.”

“…Pardon?”

“More than that.”

Baek Sang-hyun reached out and grasped Seong-woon’s chin. His hand was too large, and Seong-woon’s face was too small, so it covered his entire face and then some. His thumb lightly brushed over Seong-woon’s lips, almost enough to feel the fingerprint.

“More what…”

Could it be? More than a kiss? Alarmed, Seong-woon pulled his face out of Baek Sang-hyun’s grasp and stepped back. As he left the meat restaurant, forgetting even to say goodbye, Lee Hyeong-seok, who had been waiting outside, hurriedly approached.

“Did something happen? You didn’t drink, did you? Your face is bright red…”

“I didn’t drink. And nothing happened.”

“If there’s something worth reporting and I don’t…”

“Ah, I’m telling you nothing happened.”

I thought only Ryu Chang-yoon looked like he wanted to bury someone, but Lee Hyeong-seok is no pushover either. He’s acting like he wants to do something to Baek Sang-hyun right now.

“Anyway, it’s cold and you’ve worked hard until the after-party. It’ll be even harder with the filming starting in winter.”

“Well, that’s…”

I’m used to it. I’ve even fallen into a pond in the middle of winter before. Of course, with this current body, if I fell into a winter pond, I might really have a heart attack.

Since it wasn’t far from home, the car soon arrived in front of the main house, and Seong-woon just shrugged and went up to his second-floor room.

Congratulations!

You have completed the quest.

Reward: Adjustment of information disclosure range (1) – Jin Seong-woon and Ryu Chae-yoon are not two.

…Then what are they? Three?

He didn’t even feel like being surprised at the suddenly appearing hologram. Is this all the information they’re giving? Feeling annoyed, Seong-woon called C1012 for the first time in a while.

– Yes. This is C1012.

What does that mean? That.

– Ah… It means exactly what it says. Mr. Jin Seong-woon and Ryu Chae-yoon are not two, right?

He seemed like he would be nodding with his eyes closed, perfectly agreeing with those words. Dispersing the scene that was clearly visible just from his voice, Seong-woon spoke with a lot of irritation.

So are they three or something?

– Wouldn’t one make more sense than three?

Seong-woon shook his head, which was boiling with anger, and roughly took off his trench coat, carelessly hanging it on a chair.

– There’s not much additional explanation I can give… Weren’t you feeling it?

What?

– Ryu Chae-yoon was feeling it perfectly.

At C1012’s words, Seong-woon, who had been standing blankly, hurriedly entered the fan room and opened Ryu Chae-yoon’s diary. Wasn’t there a sentence that was strangely bothering him?

June 30, 20xx

The thirst I’ve felt since my sense of self began to emerge seems to be growing stronger. No matter what I eat, swallow, learn, or do, it just can’t be satisfied. 

Was I perhaps born lacking something from the start? My soul feels like a tiny fragment.

Ryu Chae-yoon said his thirst keeps growing and described herself as a tiny fragment. And didn’t C1012 say something similar when he was reassigned?

‘That’s not true. Mr. Ryu Chae-yoon’s soul feels everything too. It’s just that on the surface, it appears to be Jin Seong-woon’s soul.’

Thinking about those words now… Well, they’re not saying something like the soul has split, are they? Surely not.

Seong-woon laughed hollowly, muttering to himself. Expecting C1012 to interject. But C1012 remained silent.

However, for the soul to be split in two, Seong-woon didn’t consider himself a small fragment like Ryu Chae-yoon, nor did he feel a great thirst.

Still… it was very strange that after turning twenty, no one except one person seemed to like him. There’s a limit to chalking it up to coincidence or just shrugging it off.

At one point, he wondered if he had some kind of paranoia stemming from a mental illness. He even went to the hospital, but no medication or treatment helped. He stopped going to the hospital after seeing even the doctor seemed to dislike him.

Isn’t it strange? How can everyone dislike one person to that extent? What if something was wrong with the soul?

Hah… Maybe this hologram is all just a hallucination? Perhaps Jin Seong-woon’s soul is already dead and dreaming of what he wanted in the afterlife. Or could it be that Ryu Chae-yoon, exhausted from battling illness, created a non-existent personality called “Jin Seong-woon”? Multiple personalities?

But no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, the hologram didn’t disappear, and no matter how much he thought about it, Seong-woon couldn’t conclude that he was crazy.

So, was it a soul adjustment project? Adjusting souls that became two when they weren’t supposed to be?

─ I can’t tell you that much yet. A new quest has been generated.

C1012’s resonance, which hadn’t answered important questions but quickly interjected for trivial matters, came along with a hologram popping up.

Sudden Quest

Get a B0 or higher grade in Accounting Principles.

Deadline: Until the second semester grade announcement

Reward: Enhanced physical strength and partial recovery from illness

Failure will result in loss of enhanced physical strength so far

Soul adjustment project in progress….

Hey, are you really kidding me?