How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 

The first thought that came to mind when I saw the message from Yoo Seulho’s mother was this:

‘This would give someone a mental illness even if they didn’t already have one.’

I even thought it would be much easier on the mind to receive a text filled with outright profanity.

At the same time, a question occurred to me.

If her child read these messages and contacted her afterward, would she actually be satisfied?

Was guilt-tripping the only way she knew to make him reach out to her? If so, that was honestly kind of pitiful.

‘I don’t know.’

As someone who grew up without parents, I’d always had certain fantasies and expectations about them.

Now it felt like those fantasies were being completely shattered.

When I was young, I envied kids who had parents so much.

Turns out what I should have envied were kids with normal parents.

Not every parent is sane.

‘How would the original Yoo Seulho have reacted to these texts?’

Most likely, he would have contacted her immediately.

After all, he was the guy who knelt in front of his family home and endured three straight days without food.

A kid who endured that was something else.

And parents who left him there were something else too.

‘Even if it were a complete stranger, you’d still be concerned.’

Your own child collapses while begging for forgiveness in front of your door, and you ignore him?

That definitely wasn’t normal.

And the fact that they still expected that kind of effort from Yoo Seulho was painfully obvious from the messages.

‘But what can you do? I’m not Yoo Seulho.’

And honestly, I didn’t know.

Had Yoo Seulho really done something so wrong?

He was a grown adult.

Wasn’t he allowed to sign with the agency he wanted?

Was that really a reason to ignore him for nearly a year?

‘It’s also ridiculous that they told him not to contact them and then got angry because he actually didn’t.’

The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

During the month I’d spent in Yoo Seulho’s body, I’d watched a lot of famous Korean films and dramas as market research.

There were all sorts of stories about parents and children.

Most of them were beautiful, tragic, moving…

That was about it.

‘Reality really is different from dramas.’

Thinking that to myself, I chose to leave the messages on read.

Partly because I didn’t want to act the way they wanted me to.

And partly because I still hadn’t decided how I should deal with Yoo Seulho’s parents moving forward.

‘I’ll wait until I get the follow-up report from the detective agency.’

After organizing my thoughts, I promptly forgot about the texts.

Then I contacted Director Jang and asked if I could visit the filming set.

 

***

 

‘Wow.’

The moment I arrived at the park where filming was taking place, a genuine exclamation escaped me.

A place that had been an ordinary park just yesterday was now packed with cameras and towering lighting rigs.

After getting permission from nearby civilians, the production team had set up a filming area in one corner.

For some reason, it even felt like a well-designed pop-up store.

‘Come to think of it, this is my first time on a set.’

Back when I worked as a loan shark, I dealt with countless celebrity clients.

But I’d never actually seen them working.

The thought of watching Woo Junseo and Choi Ran act in person in just a little while made me unexpectedly excited.

‘Good thing the filming schedule got moved up.’

Apparently, most dramas these days were fully pre-produced.

But ours was an exception.

Our Space, which would air on a major broadcast network, ended up getting an earlier premiere date than expected due to scheduling changes at the station.

Only two days had passed since the script reading.

According to staff member Lee Soeun, whom I’d gotten friendly with while helping carry boxes the other day, everyone had gone into complete panic mode trying to lock down filming schedules and secure locations.

The staff wasn’t the only ones overwhelmed.

Naturally, the actors were too.

Woo Junseo, who played the male lead, complained nonstop.

Even then, he barely had time to complain before rushing off to shoot scenes.

I’d heard that he and Choi Ran had been filming intensely together over the past few days.

‘Well, none of that applies to me.’

Being busy was the leads’ job.

The useless actor had nothing to do.

Still, I was part of the same drama.

I figured it wouldn’t hurt to visit the set and observe, so I’d asked Director Jang.

He’d readily agreed.

He even said that getting familiar with the atmosphere beforehand could be helpful.

‘This may be my first shoot, but it wasn’t Yoo Seulho’s first shoot.’

I needed to prepare thoroughly.

Watch how everyone acted in front of the cameras today.

And if there was anything worth copying, copy it.

With that thought in mind, I entered the filming area.

“Hello.”

There was still plenty of time before filming began.

The staff who had finished setting up were sprawled across the ground.

Everyone looked exhausted as they lifted their heads to look at me.

“Oh? It’s Seulho…”

“I brought coffee. Please help yourselves.”

“WAAAH! COFFEE!!!!!!”

The moment they saw the armful of coffee cups I was carrying, the staff charged at me like a zombie horde.

What the hell?

Their reaction after seeing my face and their reaction after seeing the coffee were completely different.

“I thought everyone would be happy to see me, but apparently you only care about the coffee. I’m disappointed.”

“What are you talking about? We’ve missed the coffee… I mean, you… so much, Seulho.”

“At least try to make that lie believable.”

“Tsk.”

I laughed and chatted with the staff members who had somehow become friendly with me after only meeting a few times.

I’d bought what I thought was more than enough coffee.

But there were so many people on set that I barely managed to distribute it all.

‘If I’d bought even one less cup, it wouldn’t have been enough.’

It was good that everyone got one.

What wasn’t good was that I’d ended up giving away the coffee I’d bought for myself.

Clutching my dry throat, I walked over to Choi Ran, who was sitting in a chair.

“Hey.”

“Huh? What? Do you have filming today?”

“No. I just came to watch. Figured I should get used to the atmosphere on set beforehand. Need to be prepared.”

At my words, Choi Ran gave me a flat look.

“How much more preparation do you need? Just do what you did during the reading. That alone seemed more than enough. Trying to do even better than that would just be greed.”

“Your compliments always leave me confused.”

“That’s because it wasn’t a compliment. It was a warning not to act better than me.”

Snorting, Choi Ran folded the script she had been reading.

Judging by how intensely she’d been studying the script, which had probably been pristine white at first, but now looked like it would fall apart if someone poked it.

It was quite an impressive sight.

“Sorry, but do you have anything to drink?”

“You’re shaking me down the moment you arrive? Here.”

Though she grumbled, Choi Ran poured me a cup of pumpkin tea she’d brought herself.

“My sister woke up early this morning to make it. You only get one cup.”

“Thanks. Where’s Yoon-ssi?”

“My sister’s over there petting a dog. She’s obsessed with dogs.”

“A dog?”

I tilted my head for a moment before remembering.

‘Right. There’s a dog in the drama.’

Our Space was a drama about two freshmen entering the architecture department.

Unlike the cheerful and energetic female lead, the male lead lived a busy, exhausting life.

The two ended up in an unexpected argument during a group project where they were assigned to design a house where animals and humans could coexist.

The male lead, exhausted by life, couldn’t spare any energy for animals.

The female lead, who had grown up around animals, strongly disagreed.

Their opinions clashed violently, and she ended up treating him like a psychopath.

Then one day, while walking her dog, she happened to run into him.

Unfortunately, her dog jumped all over him.

She hurried to pull the dog away, but by then he was already covered in fur and drool.

The incident only deepened their conflict.

‘But it turned out he actually liked dogs. He just didn’t have the time or means to raise one.’

Realizing she had misunderstood him, the female lead apologized.

Through their project, they began talking about homes, people, and the future.

Eventually, they became friends.

And apparently, today was the day they were filming that dog-walking scene.

I was about to leave it at that when Choi Ran casually said:

“So don’t come today. Come tomorrow instead.”

“Huh?”

“You’re scared of dogs.”

“Me?”

“Aren’t you? Back then…”

Choi Ran stared at me for a moment before shrugging.

“Never mind. I guess I remembered wrong.”

Then she went back to reading her script.

I thought about it for a moment.

‘Was Yoo Seulho afraid of dogs?’

The detective agency had given me thirteen pages of reports.

But that didn’t mean I knew everything about him.

After a brief hesitation, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Maybe I was, back then.”

Whether Yoo Seulho had been afraid of dogs wasn’t important.

What mattered was that I had to live as Yoo Seulho from now on.

If he’d been afraid of dogs, I could like them on his behalf.

If he’d suffered because of his parents, I could help him get away from them.

This body was going to make me a lot of money.

Doing that much was easy.

Cutting ties with your parents wasn’t easy for anyone.

But fortunately, there wasn’t a person more suited for the job than me.

After all, I’d never had parents to begin with.

‘Of course, leaving messages on read won’t solve everything.’

But it could be the starting signal.

Every time they contacted him, their son used to come running back and beg.

Now he was gone.

The son they used to manipulate at will was dead.

Little by little, they would have to accept that.

“Right now…”

I spoke calmly, but with certainty.

“I’m not afraid of dogs. And I don’t hate acting either.”

“……”

At my words, Choi Ran lifted her head.

She stared at me for a moment.

Then, for some reason, the corner of her lips curled upward.

“Yeah.”

She nodded.

“That’s what it looks like.”

It was such a simple statement.

Yet it made me feel good.

I was about to smile back when…

“–Ghk!”

Something suddenly crashed into me from behind and knocked me to the ground.

At the same time, I heard a man shouting:

“No! Wooju!!!”

If I hadn’t instinctively broken my fall, I might have smashed my face.

What the hell just hit me?

My back felt absurdly heavy.

As I pushed myself up, wondering what had flown into me like a missile…

I saw it.

Pant, pant.

A fluffy coat.

A jet-black body.

Bright, sparkling eyes.

“…?”

Before I could even process what I was looking at…

Something warm and sticky licked my face.