How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 107

Chapter 107

 

Mrrowrrk.

There was a cat.

What the…?

“Where did you come from?”

At my gentle question, the cat responded with a yawn.

Perhaps she heard the tiny yawn, because Ajin followed my gaze downward.

“Ah! What is that? It’s a kitty?!”

“A cat? Where??”

Even as the other actors made a fuss and crowded around, the cat remained undeterred and stuck tightly to my side.

It even went a step further and rubbed its face against my leg.

‘What’s with this thing?’

While I looked down at it with mixed feelings, Ajin suddenly pulled out her phone and told me to stay still.

“Oppa, look over here!”

“Why are you taking pictures all of a sudden?”

“We can upload them to Insta later! Kitty, look here. Peekaboo!”

Despite all the strange noises Ajin made trying to get its attention, the cat ignored her and just wandered around me.

“Do cats even live in mountains like this?”

“Maybe it belongs to someone from the village down below? Its fur is shiny, so I think someone takes care of it.”

“Or maybe the owner of the villa feeds it.”

The sudden commotion among the actors finally made Director Seo ask what was going on.

Everyone immediately pointed to the cat clinging to my leg.

“A cat suddenly showed up and got attached to Junho oppa! Huh? Is it yours, oppa?”

At Ajin’s question, I looked at her like she’d lost her mind.

Did that even make sense?

“That’s strange… The villa owner said there weren’t any animals around here.”

Director Seo crouched down to inspect the cat.

And because the director did it, the actors all squatted down beside him one by one.

In other words, because of the cat attached to my leg, everyone ended up sitting in a row right in front of me.

“…Instead of that, could someone please take this thing away?”

“Why~? It’s so cute!”

“I think it came to see if our movie’s turning out well.”

“Haha, putting it that way makes it sound really adorable. Or maybe it came to protect us? A cat mountain spirit!”

Ajin’s words made everyone burst out laughing.

The tense atmosphere that had gripped the set just moments ago instantly melted away.

“Director, shouldn’t we get back to filming?”

“Ah! Right, we should.”

Only then did Director Seo snap out of it and stand up.

Since the cat clearly had no intention of leaving me on its own, I asked one of the staff members to take it away.

“I think it belongs to someone in the village below. No idea how it got all the way up here. I’ll find its owner!”

The youngest staff member happily scooped up the cat and hurried off.

Although the movie portrayed the villa as being deep in the mountains, in reality there was a village and shops quite nearby.

“That was so healing, even if it was only for a little while.”

“Hehe, yeah.”

The actors giggled.

Ajin said she’d send me the photos later because they’d come out really well.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“If you upload them to social media before the movie comes out, it’ll be incredible publicity.”

When she added that the chicks would love them too, I almost asked what she meant by chicks.

“…Yeah. Thanks.”

“Huh? You didn’t care at all when the cat was acting cute, but now your face turns red the moment fans come up?”

Ajin squealed and bounced in place.

“And only I get to see this~. I feel sorry for the other fans.”

“Stop talking nonsense and focus on filming.”

“Hehe, yes~, teacher.”

Ajin laughed and returned to her spot.

After checking the footage, Director Seo gave feedback to each actor.

“Seulho, everything was good just now, but I think it’d be better if you were a little rougher.”

“Rougher?”

“Yes. With the sleeveless shirt and shorts you’re wearing, you look a little too young, so I think it’d work better if you sounded more irritated.”

I immediately agreed to try it.

And we resumed filming.

 

***

 

“Everyone, eat dinner first!”

Once the sun had set and we couldn’t continue shooting, we took a break for dinner.

Usually, film sets served simple lunch boxes.

But Director Seo’s wallet was apparently beyond imagination.

“I washed some lettuce for wraps~!”

“How much meat do we have left? Can I grill more?”

“There are still several pounds left. Grill as much as you want.”

Who would’ve thought I’d be eating beef on set?

A few months ago, while filming a drama, we’d gone to a restaurant that sold both beef and pork for a company dinner.

And naturally, everyone had ordered pork.

‘And this isn’t even a company dinner.’

This was just a meal in the middle of filming, yet Director Seo had brought enough premium beef to feed everyone.

After spending the whole day outdoors, both staff and actors happily dug in.

“Our director is seriously the best.”

“Exactly. He doesn’t seem to mind spending money on us at all. Damn, he’s so cool.”

The actors who’d been complaining about him rushing through takes earlier were now praising him.

One actor even muttered tearfully,

“I want to work with Director Seo for the rest of my life…”

The moment I heard that, I thought:

‘No.’

Not happening.

How dare you.

That spot belongs to me.

Mrrowrrk.

“Huh? You want some meat too?”

Just as I was happily chewing on beef, an uninvited guest appeared.

Making strange noises, the cat rubbed its head against my leg and suddenly climbed into my lap.

‘What the…’

I almost frowned instinctively but quickly stopped myself.

The squishy sensation wasn’t exactly pleasant.

“Oh my! Wow, it really likes you, oppa.”

Ajin, sitting beside me, made a big fuss.

“Didn’t that super-smart dog… what was its name?… become famous for liking you too a few months ago?”

“You mean Wooju? The Border Collie.”

“Border Collie…? Ah, right. Its name was Wooju.”

Ajin stared at the cat purring away in my lap.

“Oppa, you must have some kind of hormone animals like.”

“Or maybe this cat is just friendly.”

“Then why’s it been following only you?”

I had no comeback, so I just laughed.

The youngest staff member had taken the cat around the village and found out it belonged to the village chief.

Apparently, according to the chief, the cat wandered around all the time.

When the staff member asked what to do with it, the chief just laughed and said it’d go home on its own if left alone.

Not knowing what to do, the staff member had put the cat down.

And then, as if it’d been waiting for that, the cat immediately ran back up the mountain using the same path.

It climbed much faster than the staff member and found us just as filming ended, and we were heading to dinner.

And ever since…

Mrrowrrk.

“Yeah, you eat too.”

…it’s been like this.

Maybe I smelled tasty or something, because it refused to leave my lap.

“I’m so jealous, sunbae. I love cats.”

“Then take it.”

I tried handing the cat to the actress playing Seorae, but it desperately clung to me.

Its grip was surprisingly strong.

“Eek! Never mind. You just keep it, sunbae.”

“What are we supposed to do when filming starts again? If it keeps sticking to Junho oppa, we’re in trouble.”

What did they mean by “what do we do?”

‘Just put it somewhere for a while.’

It was amazing how everyone became completely obsessed with this creature.

‘I thought Taejun was the strange one.’

My youngest subordinate, Hwang Taejun, loved cats to an absurd degree.

Once, he’d secretly brought a stray cat into the office inside his jacket on a rainy day and got thoroughly chewed out by me.

‘Why do people like these things so much?’

I was genuinely curious, but I couldn’t ask.

I had enough social awareness to know I’d just get labeled a psychopath if I asked that in front of people who loved cats.

“It’s smaller than I expected.”

I looked down at the cat sprawled upside down across my lap, practically asleep.

Ajin and the others had left to get more beef, so I’d absentmindedly muttered it aloud.

“That’s because it’s still a kitten. Adult cats are bigger.”

Director Seo answered from nowhere.

“Whoa, Director. When did you get here?”

“Ah, I was just passing by…”

For someone who didn’t look like it, Director Seo seemed to absolutely adore cats.

He tried to hide it because of his image, but he kept hovering around me.

“Director, do you know a lot about cats?”

“Uh… not an expert or anything, but I know enough.”

Seeing him glance nervously at the actors in the distance, I lowered my voice.

“Something’s been bothering me. Don’t cats usually go meow?”

Ever since earlier, it’d been making weird noises, and I still couldn’t get used to it.

Mrrowk!

Yeah, noises like that.

“Ah, it’s so cute…”

I was baffled, but Director Seo was grinning from ear to ear.

Still, he clearly didn’t want the others to see him like this, so he crouched lower.

“Hyungnim, you don’t think this is cute? It’s driving me crazy. Ahh, it’s so tiny.”

His tone had suddenly changed, making me laugh.

Like some kind of Jekyll and Hyde.

“You really like cats, huh?”

“I’ve wanted one since I was little, but my mom hates them. Says they shed too much.”

Director Seo pouted.

Then he began kneading the cat on my lap, while the cat simply focused on sleeping.

“This one’s incredibly gentle. The village chief said it wasn’t usually affectionate with people. Weird.”

“So why does it make noises like that?”

“That’s how cats actually sound. The meow thing is more for media.”

I see.

Looking at the tiny cat that I could almost cover with one hand made me think of Taejun, leaving me with a strange feeling.

‘What goes on in that little head?’

I mean, Wooju the dog was huge.

He was practically the size of a kindergartener.

Half-human, really.

‘This is fascinating.’

I reached out and stroked the cat’s head.

‘There’s a brain inside there, right?’

Its brain probably wasn’t even as big as an inari sushi.

It amazed me that something so small could think, though the sensation on my lap still felt unfamiliar.

“Jinki, take this thing.”

“Huh? Really?”

Director Seo’s eyes sparkled as he accepted the cat.

The way his lips silently mouthed wow made him look like a kid.

Then…

“Huh? Director?”

The actors returned with mountains of beef.

“Wow, Director, you like cats too?”

“Yeah, I mean, kind of…”

As though he’d never smiled in his life, Director Seo immediately stiffened his face.

Clutching the cat, he hurried away.

I suppressed a laugh.

‘You really work hard, don’t you?’

All because of that image of his.

Maybe because I saw him as a kid now, his retreating figure didn’t seem so annoying.

‘How strange.’

Back during the audition, I couldn’t have disliked him more.

Thinking about how different my impression of him had become, all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind.

At the same time, I remembered what Choo Seomok had said a few days ago.

‘Feelings change the longer you know someone.’

Maybe this counted too.

If so, perhaps it meant I’d grown a little compared to yesterday.

‘Feels nice.’

Just as I smiled and was about to eat some beef…

“Seulho, protein is important, but you need carbohydrates too. You haven’t eaten any rice today.”

“……”

Choo Seomok suddenly appeared beside me and whispered into my ear.

Ha, right.

I didn’t realize at first that you were this crazy either…