How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 128

Chapter 128

 

“What did you say?”

Director Seo first heard about “Operation Secret Mission! Fool Yoo Seulho” three days earlier.

The proposal was so absurd that he initially thought he’d misheard.

“You’re telling me you’re going to put in ‘that’ much effort just to fool one person? And you’re asking ‘me’ for permission?”

“Yes!!”

Despite Director Seo’s dumbfounded reaction, the staff refused to back down.

Their eyes practically pleaded, ‘Please don’t take this golden content opportunity away from us.’

“No, seriously, why do you have to go this far? Can’t you just do something normal? Like an ordinary haunted attraction…”

“Director, have you ever seen Mr. Seulho get startled during filming?”

“……”

Without realizing it, Director Seo fell silent.

Seeing that he’d run out of words, the staff became even more desperate.

“We’re not doing this just because it’ll be fun for us! Think about how crazy the response will be if we upload it later as promotional content!”

“People are incredibly sensitive these days. You can’t just spring a hidden-camera prank on someone without warning. Especially with a horror theme… We’ll get roasted.”

“As long as we don’t cross the line!”

The staff’s eyes sparkled.

These were the same people who had quietly done whatever Director Seo asked throughout filming, yet this time they were unusually determined.

‘They saw the potential.’

No matter how much Director Seo paid them, they were artists at heart.

After so many films that failed to attract attention, they’d probably grown tired of watching their work disappear unnoticed.

Truthfully, this horror movie didn’t seem much different from his previous projects when they were still writing the script.

Since Director Seo had cast nothing but rookie actors for all the supporting roles, the staff had assumed,

”Looks like this one’s going to flop too.”

Then they heard Yoo Seulho had been cast as the lead.

Everyone was stunned.

They knew Director Seo wasn’t the type to compromise his artistic preferences for commercial success, which made it even more shocking.

‘With Yoo Seulho, at least we’ll probably break even.’

That hope only grew stronger as filming progressed.

The atmosphere on set was incomparably better than any project they’d worked on before.

Whenever Director Seo crushed everyone’s spirits with one of his socially oblivious comments, Yoo Seulho would casually smile and smooth things over.

He’d even massage Director Seo’s shoulders until he calmed down.

Thanks to that, the staff had experienced something they’d never thought possible:

Director Seo actually apologized first.

‘He’s the best…’

To the staff, Yoo Seulho wasn’t just someone they appreciated.

He was their benefactor.

And they wanted to see that benefactor genuinely startled.

‘How can we make Yoo Seulho jump?’

While filming the horror movie, plenty of eerie incidents had happened.

The lights suddenly went out.

Something unexpectedly flying past them.

Things like that.

Granted, the lights had only gone out because of an electrical short, and the things flying out were usually just insects or moths.

Still…

They were creepy.

Whenever everyone else screamed, panicked, or at least flinched…

‘……’

Yoo Seulho never reacted.

‘Was this really the same man who’d portrayed Junho’s terrified expressions so convincingly?’

He was so detached from everything that it almost made them doubt it.

While everyone else was startled, he’d simply say,

“Let’s hurry up and film so we can all go home.”

His calmness was reassuring.

And at the same time…

Incredibly irritating.

“Let’s all work together and make Mr. Seulho jump just once. Just once.”

“…Judging from this, you don’t actually care about promoting the movie. You just want to scare Mr. Seulho.”

At Director Seo’s remark, the staff awkwardly cleared their throats.

‘Should I really allow this?’

Director Seo fell into thought.

To him, Yoo Seulho was practically an elder brother worthy of the utmost respect.

Thanks to him, his relationship with the staff had become much stronger, and everyone now genuinely respected him as a director.

He knew none of that would’ve happened without Yoo Seulho.

Yet precisely because of that, he also couldn’t casually dismiss the staff’s request.

‘As long as nobody gets hurt… maybe it’ll be okay.’

Suppressing his lingering unease, Director Seo agreed.

“Just make absolutely sure the actors stay safe.”

“Don’t worry! Everyone except Mr. Seulho is on our side!”

“So when are you doing it?”

“The night before our two-night, three-day break ends!”

“Huh?”

Director Seo tilted his head.

‘Won’t nobody even be here then? More importantly, Yoo Seulho won’t be here.’

But the staff only smiled mysteriously.

“Mr. Seulho will definitely come back a day early to rehearse. He’ll assume nobody’s here. That’s when we’ll get him!”

Though Yoo Seulho always acted like everything was a hassle, he was actually an incredible practice addict.

Knowing he always arrived early to prepare, the staff were willing to sacrifice an entire vacation day just for this hidden-camera prank.

“I’ll sit this one out.”

“Oh… alright. It can’t be helped.”

The actor playing Jaehyun said he had personal plans and would return on the final day of the break.

Everyone else…

Every remaining actor and every staff member…

Arrived at the filming location the day before vacation ended.

They installed infrared cameras throughout the mountain and rehearsed thoroughly.

After everything was ready, they waited for Yoo Seulho.

Only then did anxiety start creeping in.

‘What if he doesn’t come? Was this too much of a gamble?’

“Maybe we should’ve recruited his manager too.”

“Oh, come on. The moment we told Manager Choo, he’d run straight to Mr. Seulho.”

“True. He’s practically attached to him like a keychain.”

While the staff whispered among themselves…

Yoo Seulho’s car entered the village.

Following the rehearsal exactly as planned, Ajin calmly led him toward the mountain.

Everyone hid quietly in the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to scare him.

Since Hyun Jingae was much larger than everyone else, they’d specifically instructed him,

‘”If Mr. Seulho gets startled and loses his footing, catch him immediately.”‘

‘Heh heh.’

‘How surprised will he be?’

The staff excitedly rustled the fallen leaves.

But…

‘…What exactly had we been expecting?’

Yoo Seulho was even tougher than they’d imagined.

They deliberately made suspicious noises.

They even threw stones near his feet.

Yet he didn’t react at all.

“Come out.”

Instead…

Unable to see anything, Yoo Seulho threatened the hidden staff instead.

“Stop fooling around and come out. You’re pissing me off.”

His calm voice…

Was terrifying.

The staff member responsible for throwing the second stone swallowed nervously.

‘I still have to do my job…’

Steeling himself, he gently tossed another stone toward the ground.

Whoosh!!

Compared to what the staff had thrown…

Yoo Seulho’s stone flew toward them at an entirely different speed.

“Argh!!”

The stone struck one staff member squarely in the stomach.

He screamed before he could stop himself.

The nearby staff immediately panicked, grabbed the injured man, and fled.

“……”

Yoo Seulho ran over and silently inspected where they’d been hiding.

It was so frightening that they could barely breathe.

Watching the situation unfold through nearby monitors, several others clicked their tongues.

“This is a disaster.”

“Could Oppa secretly be from the National Intelligence Service or something? How can anyone be like that?”

“Sigh.”

The actor playing Daon shook his head.

“If you were in that situation, could any of you react like that? I know I couldn’t.”

“So… what do we do now?”

“What else?”

The actress playing Hyewoo clenched her fists.

Dressed in a flowing white ghost robe, she looked determined.

“We’ve already failed anyway. I’ll just jump out now. At the very least, if a ghost suddenly appears, he’ll scream or throw another rock.”

“Our Hyewoo’s amazing. But just in case, cover your face. We don’t want you getting bruised.”

“It’s fine. My scenes are already finished anyway.”

Was it really worth risking a bruise on the actress’s face just for a hidden-camera prank?

Everyone sighed awkwardly in defeat.

Then…

Yoo Seulho, who’d been silently thinking the entire time, suddenly…

“I’m scared!”

He shouted at the top of his lungs…

Then bolted down the mountain by himself.

“?????”

It happened so suddenly that nobody could react.

Running at full speed, Yoo Seulho disappeared straight into the villa.

Less than thirty seconds had passed since he’d yelled.

“…What?”

Ajin, who’d been trembling while pretending to be terrified, stood there dumbfounded.

She opened and closed her mouth several times, staring blankly at where Yoo Seulho had vanished.

“What… was that?”

He actually abandoned everyone?

Seriously?

Even though she’d been acting as part of the prank, Ajin had somehow been convinced that Yoo Seulho would never actually leave her behind.

‘What the hell?’

Still stunned by the betrayal, she stood frozen.

Then Hyun Jingae, who knew about the prank, asked,

“S-So… what do we do?”

“F-For now…”

Right beside them stood Yoo Seulho’s manager, Choo Seomok.

Unlike everyone else, he had no idea this was a hidden-camera prank.

Still confused, Ajin said,

“Let’s head down too.”

Choo Seomok calmly nodded.

‘That’s unexpected.’

She’d assumed he’d immediately chase after Yoo Seulho the moment he ran.

Tilting her head in confusion, Ajin carefully made her way down the mountain.

The staff and actors had already gathered in front of the villa.

“Ajin… what on earth just happened?”

Still dressed as a ghost in white robes, Hyewoo let out an incredulous laugh.

Only then did Ajin confess the truth to Choo Seomok.

“It was actually a hidden-camera prank.”

A beat later, Choo Seomok simply nodded.

“Ah.”

His reaction felt strangely odd.

But there were more urgent matters to deal with.

“So… oppa’s inside, right?”

“Yeah. He ran in and hasn’t come back out.”

“This has already failed anyway. I’ll just go in and explain.”

Hyewoo looked devastated.

“What about all my ghost makeup? What a waste.”

“It can’t be helped. Oppa sprinted off, trying to save only himself. We can’t use ‘that’ as promotional material. He has an image to protect.”

The hidden-camera prank had failed so spectacularly that it was almost painful.

Everyone sadly agreed.

With an equally defeated expression, Ajin entered the villa.

Ten minutes later…

“…Um… oppa isn’t inside.”

She emerged looking completely bewildered.

“What do you mean?”

Voices immediately rang out from every direction.

“Did he climb out a window?”

“No. I’ve been standing here the whole time. Nobody’s gone in or out except Mr. Seulho.”

“Come on. Ajin probably just missed him. The prank already failed anyway. Let’s all go apologize.”

Everyone rushed inside.

The living room.

The kitchen.

The small bedroom.

The bathroom.

They searched both the first and second floors.

Even the attic.

Yet…

There wasn’t even a trace of Yoo Seulho.

“Junho oppa! We were wrong! Come out!”

“Mr. Seulho! Where are you?!”

Only then did everyone realize how serious the situation had become.

They began shouting for him.

No one answered.

An hour passed.

“…Did he really disappear?”

At Ajin’s muttered words, everyone held their breath.

An eerie sense of déjà vu washed over them.

Just like in the very movie they were filming…

Someone had vanished in an instant.

“No… that’s impossible…”

Confused murmurs spread throughout the group.

Ironically, the person who should’ve been panicking the most was Choo Seomok.

Instead…

He simply stood there as though it had nothing to do with him.

His behavior was extremely suspicious.

But everyone was too shaken to notice.

“What do we do? Shouldn’t we call the police?”

“C-Can we really call the police over something like this?”

“But someone disappeared!”

Without realizing it, everyone had started quoting lines from the movie itself.

Just as Ajin and several of the actors began tearing up from guilt…

“WAAAH!!!!!”

Yoo Seulho suddenly leapt out from somewhere, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“AAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Screams instantly erupted everywhere.

Men and women alike shrieked.

Several even collapsed backward onto the ground.

“W-What…?”

Ajin was so startled that tears spilled from her eyes.

As everyone stared at him as though they’d seen a ghost…

Yoo Seulho awkwardly scratched his cheek and said,

“It’s… a hidden-camera prank.”

“……”

“……”