CH 40

As soon as he entered the store, Choi Inseop looked around with a surprised face, wondering how much money would be needed to rent the whole place. The interior with black and a few specks of blue accents and the neat lighting gave it a modern feel. The atmosphere alone made him feel overwhelmed, so he thought that Inseop might have come to an unfamiliar place.

“Welcome. Your companions are waiting inside.”

The waiter led the two to a room inside the store.

“Are you here?”

“Is your body okay?”

Lee Wooyeon and Choi Inseop found them, and the people who were seated greeted and talked to them.

“Thank you for your concern. I’mine.”

Inseop answered politely and sat down near the corner of the door. He shook his head saying it was okay when people motioned for him to come in. As manager Cha said, most of the people present today were actors. The rarely mixed staff was a camera director, lighting director, the main director, and action director. Inseop immediately realized that he was called here today as an apology for his broken finger.

Was it such a big deal that his finger broke? When the horse that fell down and broke his leg, instead of receiving an apology, he was euthanized.

Choi Inseop sat down alone and lowered his head, depressed. He looked silently at the glass of water as someone was sitting next to him.

“Does your hand hurt?”

“…?”

“Can you take me home?”

It was Lee Wooyeon. Inseop did not understand why he was sitting by the door instead of in the back. Lee Wooyeon was nothing but the protagonist of today’s meeting.

“Uh…Why…”

Everyone in the room was curious about the question that Inseop couldn’t ask in words, so everyone was looking at him with a suspicious face.

“It’s convenient to go to the bathroom.”

“… ”

“Why? You can sit anywhere. What does it matter?”

People would be impressed by Lee Wooyeon’s consideration, which was not like a top actor at all, but Inseop couldn’t.

For some reason, every time Lee Wooyeon approached him like this ever since that day, he wondered if he was doing it on purpose.

In fact, Inseop was troubled. Every time Lee Wooyeon’s arm gently touched his body, and whenever he leaned back and whispered in his ear in a low voice, the hairs all over his body stood up.

“Wha?. Have you already started?”

A familiar and unwelcome voice came from the door. All those who were seated stood up at once. Lee Wooyeon also got up and greeted Kang Youngmo.

“Lee Wooyeon! Long time no see.”

Normally, he would have passed by ignoring him and treated him as if he didn’t see, but for some reason he greeted Lee Wooyeon with a big smile. He even slumped down across from Lee Wooyeon.

“Oh, yes. You fell off the horse and got hurt. Are you alright?”

“Yes. Thank you for your concern.”

“Is Lee Wooyeon’s manager okay?”

“Yes.”

Inseop answered briefly. Kang Youngmo was uncomfortable in many ways, so it was uncomfortable and awkward to exchange conversation.

“I heard that the horse Lee Wooyeon rode was a bit strange. Did you hear about it?”

Kang Youngmo pointed at his head with his finger and looked around.

“Yes. Roughly.”

As soon as the talk about horses came out, he noticed that Inseop, who was sitting next to him, had a dark expression on his face, and Lee Wooyeon tried to change the subject. However, Kang Youngmo insisted on talking about the horse as if he had no intention of letting go of the topic.

“Indeed, it is because the horse Lee Wooyeon rode was like that. It was bad luck.”

“I know, right.”

Lee Wooyeon smiled and drank the cold water. First, the director, who was sitting at the top, coughed dryly and looked at Lee Wooyeon’s eyes.

“I heard you were a little hurt, are you okay?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Are there any obstacles in filming? It can’t interfere. I already have a tight schedule. Of course, Lee Wooyeon has the tightest schedule.”

The drama was to be broadcasted live almost every day right after the drama was filmed due to lack of pre-shooting. It was mentioned that these days they would go back and forth to Seoul and take a nap, but later on, there would come a day when they would barely have time to be taking a shower at a nearby motel.

In addition, after it aired, depending on the reaction of the viewers, the cast of the film could be changed. Now, according to the original, Kang Youngmo’s filming ratio is slightly higher, but it was not difficult to predict that the game would change once it was aired. The character Lee Wooyeon read and reinterpreted the script was attractive enough to surpass the original, so everyone now knows that the original author was very happy after coming to the set and watching it once.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Lee Wooyeon was the busiest among the actors currently filming, so the filming schedule was almost in line with his schedule. Kang Youngmo, who did not like Lee Wooyeon’s every move, was very annoyed that he had to move according to his schedule.

“This week, I will be able to focus on filming because something else has been completed.”

“Yeah. We just have to hope that such strange accidents don’t happen again.”

Kang Youngmo asked where the bathroom was to the camera director who was sitting next to him. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief knowing that it was going to end there.

“Lee Wooyeon is very lucky.”

As they left the room, Kang Youngmo muttered to himself and smiled at Lee Wooyeon. Even Inseop, who couldn’t read between lines, knew at once that it was a sarcastic statement. People on the left looked at Lee Wooyeon’s complexion, worried that he might feel bad. However, Lee Wooyeon was just sitting there with a detached face like a person who wasn’t bothered by such things. Everyone really admired his wonderful personality. It could not be compared to Kang Youngmo, who only had good acting skills but a bad personality

“I was going to park my car over there, but another car parked in front of me, so…”

At that time, Kang Youngmo’s manager, Yoon Cheoljin, who came into the room, confirmed that Kang Youngmo was not in the room and shut his mouth. The camera director beckoned him to sit, but he found Lee Wooyeon and Inseop right in front of him and stiffened his expression awkwardly.

“Where is Teacher Kang?”

“He went to the bathroom.”

“Ah, yes…”

As soon as Yoon Cheoljin left, the people sitting inside were arguing.

“He even tells his manager to address him as teacher.”

“You can’t tell by his personality. He tells everyone to call him a teacher. If you want to hear the name teacher so badly, you can be a school teacher, why be an actor.”

“What will the students do, then?”

Everyone said, “Woah,” and burst into laughter. Groups with public enemies were easy to assemble. Everyone burst into anger while Kang Youngmo went to the bathroom. When it comes to the staff and other actors, it’s usually double assault and pointing fingers, so they couldn’t help but talk behind his back.

“Then, I’ll go to the bathroom.”

No one would pay any attention to him, but he felt he had to say that, so Inseop quietly muttered and stood up from his seat. When Lee Wooyeon jokes, “Would you like to go with me?”, the people nearby laughed, saying, “Mr. Inseop must be happy.”

Choi Inseop quickly closed the door and went out, wondering what would happen if Lee Wooyeon really followed him.

“… Huu… .”

It was frustrating. He was not familiar with Korea’s drinking culture, and Lee Wooyeon next to him, with Kang Youngmo in the next seat, was like a cushion of thorns. Regrets came flooding back to him as he thought that he should have just stayed in the car.

Wanting to get some fresh air, Inseop walked to the terrace connected to the store. The moment he grabbed the handle and opened the door, he heard a familiar voice.

“What should I do now?”

It was Yoon Cheoljin, Kang Youngmo’s manager. Inseop tried to avoid him, wondering if he was going to make a phone call. But before he could leave, Kang Youngmo’s annoyed voice could be heard.

“What do you mean what should I do? You fucking bastard. Even though you’re not that old, do you still have to taste it to see which one is poop, and which one is the soybean paste?”

He couldn’t figure out why the two people who should be in the bathroom were here. It was a common sight to see Kang Youngmo grabbing the manager like a mouse. But the next words he heard held Choi Inseop in his place.

“Still, I just feel a little bit like that. I thought it would just end up falling over. Lee Wooyeon’s manager broke his finger and said that Lee Wooyeon was also injured…”

Inseop grabbed the doorknob and listened to the conversation between the two.

“That’s how bad luck those bastards are. Why do you care? Stop crying.”

“That horse, I feel a bit sorry for it being euthanized…”

“Are you stupid? What’s the big deal for a horse to die? There’s no evidence of that drug anyway. There is no evidence, what can they do?”

When Choi Inseop recalled the appearance of Yoon Cheoljin, who was rushing out of the stable that day, his blood went cold. It was clear that Kang Youngmo had instructed the manager to do something about the horse. Inseop pushed the door handle he was holding with all his might.

“I need to talk to you for a moment.”

When Inseop suddenly appeared, both of them looked shocked. When Yoon Cheoljin did not know what to do, Kang Youngmo beckoned him to leave. Rather than make even the slightest mistake, he thought that he would deal with the young manager on his own. Yoon Cheoljin left and only two people were left on the terrace.

“I’m busy, so I don’t know what you want to talk about, but finish it quickly.”

Kang Youngmo took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. Cigarette smoke was deliberately blown out in front of Inseop. Choi Inseop calmly made up his mind.

“I happened to overhear the conversation the two of you had, and I have a question.”

“Did you hear that by chance? Aren’t you eavesdropping like a rat?”

“It wasn’t on purpose, but I apologize first.”

His fingertips were cold. Inseop clenched and opened his fist behind his back and looked at Kang Youngmo clearly.

“So what do you want to say?”

“I would like to know what medicine you gave Jennie or that horse earlier.”

“Horse? Ah, that horse. It was originally this.”

Kang Youngmo also pointed a finger near the temple and turned it round and round.

“No. When I saw it, it was fine. Obviously, you said that you gave the horse some kind of medicine. Because of that drug, the horse was strange that day… ”

Inseop was unable to speak. A burning pain spread across his cheeks along with the sound of a slap.

“What are you saying now? Did I drug the horse?”

“The two of you are clearly…”

This time, he was beaten harder than before. He could feel the bitter taste of blood in his mouth. However, Inseop was not afraid of Kang Youngmo. He was just angry.

“Conversation? What conversation? I never had any. Do you have any evidence?”

“Obviously I heard it!”

He opened his eyes wide and answered, but what came back was Kang Youngmo’s punches. Inseop, who was hit in the vicinity of his face, collapsed on the spot along with the table on the terrace.

“What are you listening to? Do you have any evidence?”

“…”

“Damn it, there’s no proof, but you’re the only one saying that to me right now? Are you out of your mind Are you going to make me unable to step on the floor at all?”

The production in which Kang Youngmo was a member of was one of the top three entertainment companies in Korea. His uncle was the president of the company, so no matter how dirty his personality was, he couldn’t treat him badly. Even CEO Kim advised Lee Wooyeon not to get involved with Kang Youngmo if possible. 

Choi Inseop raised his head and looked at Kang Youngmo.

“Where are your eyes looking?”

“The reins were cut that day. It’s like giving the horse some weird medicine. It must have been no coincidence.”

Kang Youngmo tilted his shoulders back and burst out laughing out loud.

“Hahaha. It’s funny Do you know what kind of detective you are? You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

Kang Youngmo once again slapped Inseop’s cheek with his palm and pressed the cigarette he was holding onto his cast to put it out.

“You’ll get seriously injured when you run your mouth off without any evidence. Do you know that only you get hurt? Even Lee Wooyeon is hurt, so don’t go out in vain.”

He tapped the tip of Inseop’s chin with his shoe and spit. The door to the terrace opened and the sound of his shoes gradually faded away.

Choi Inseop got up and shook off his clothes. As he fell, he unknowingly touched the floor with his injured hand, causing his fingers to tingle. He wiped his nosebleed with the hem of his sleeve.

“Ah… Ugh.”

He quickly tilted his head back, and then he bowed forward, remembering Lee Wooyeon’s words that if he tilted back, the blood would flow into his throat and it would be rather bad. He was holding his nose with his hand, and blood dripped down between his fingers.

Seeing the blood falling on the floor, Inseop thought that he did not know what he was doing after coming to Korea. One of his hands was torn, a finger was broken, and his nose was bleeding from being beaten. In the midst of this, he was thinking of the voice of Lee Wooyeon, who was worried about him…

“I feel so stupid…”

He was in tears at how stupid he was.

He was going to calmly ask Kang Youngmo what he did to the horse, but he couldn’t even express his intentions properly. If he knew his usual temper, he would have recorded the conversation earlier…

A human like him would never be able to take advantage of someone’s weakness or threaten them even for the rest of their lives.

Inseop remembered the gray-haired horse he had seen that evening. ’I’m sorry. Jennie. I’m a fool, so I can’t even reveal your unfortunate death.’

It happened again this time.

Tears dripped down to his shoes.

Inseop stood like that for a while, and then came out of the terrace when the nosebleed stopped.