How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 144

Chapter 144

 

“Do you like Father that much?”

— “Sunbae… you have no idea… how lucky you are to have a father like him.”

His voice was damp with emotion.

He stumbled over his words several times from the alcohol, but the message he wanted to convey was unmistakably clear.

‘Yoo Taeho is wasted on someone like you.’

Well, from the perspective of someone who knew nothing, I could understand why he’d think that.

— “Do you know… how hard it was growing up without parents…? You don’t even realize how blessed you are.”

“Hey, there’s something I’m curious about.”

I casually cut off his emotional speech.

“Why are you suddenly calling me sunbae? You’ve been calling me hyung this whole time.”

— “…”

His silence practically screamed disbelief.

As if to say, “Is that really what’s important right now?”

It felt unfair that I was suddenly being treated like Lee Seulmyeong when she’d scolded me with, ‘Mom?? You should say, Mother!!’

“No, think about it. Even if we weren’t close, if someone who’d been calling you ‘hyung’ for months suddenly switched to ‘sunbae,’ wouldn’t that throw you off?”

— “The project’s already over anyway.”

“Then when your project’s over with Yoo Taeho, are you going to stop calling him ‘Father’ too?”

— “…”

He was speechless again.

After searching desperately for something to attack me with, he finally found one.

— “Calling your own father ‘Yoo Taeho’… that’s disrespectful.”

“It’s a nickname. I always call my father by his name.”

— “…”

This guy wasn’t much of an opponent.

‘How boring.’

I’d thought I’d have some fun teasing him before Choo Seomok came back.

Instead, the excitement fizzled out almost immediately.

So after that, I just listened to him without bothering to argue.

— “Do you know how often Father talks about you…? If I’d had a father like that, then I would’ve…”

Yawn…

I silently yawned while letting his self-pity go in one ear and out the other.

‘So that’s why he hates me.’

At first I’d thought Yoo Taeho had been talking behind my back.

But listening to him now, it seemed that Yoo Taeho’s performance as a kind father had affected him far more than any act of being a pitiful father.

That’s why he reacted so strongly toward Yoo Seulho, the one who supposedly had such a loving father.

‘So it’s jealousy mixed with an inferiority complex.’

I understood.

I’d grown up without parents too.

Completely unaware of what I was thinking, he kept rambling into the phone.

— “Being Yoo Taeho’s son is an incredible thing. You have no idea how many people would want your place. If I could become you…”

His drooping voice fell into a quiet murmur.

— “I’d even die happy.”

The emotion packed into those words was almost heartbreaking.

‘What a drama queen.’

No, if he wanted to star in a melodrama, he should do it by himself.

Why was he calling an innocent person and making such a fuss?

It was absurd.

At the same time, though, I felt relieved.

‘At least he’s not a psychopath.’

Having Yoo Taeho alone was already troublesome enough.

If Seon Jaeyoung had been a genuinely dangerous type, I’d have needed to be much more careful.

‘Besides, he’s way too soft.’

Calling me drunk, and after all that, the strongest thing he could say was: “Treat Father better.”

After dealing with guys who showed up swinging hammers and making threats, talking to a timid little coward like this completely killed the mood.

“By the way, when you say you grew up without parents, what exactly do you mean? Did you grow up in an orphanage?”

The moment I asked, his breathing quickened.

— “Why? Think you’ve found a weakness? How can you even ask something like that?”

“Just answer.”

Seon Jae-young didn’t answer.

He simply breathed heavily into the phone.

But after I kept asking…

“From when?”

“For how many years?”

“More than five?”

… he finally responded.

— “I’ve been there since before I can even remember. Why?”

“Then make sure you get proof of that before the facility disappears. You won’t have to serve in the military.”

— “…Ha!”

He let out a laugh of utter disbelief.

I ignored it and asked again whether he’d postponed his enlistment or received an exemption.

— “Is the military really what’s important right now? You’re just pitying me, aren’t you?”

“What the hell are you talking about, you idiot?”

I was honestly giving him advice as one man to another, and this was how he reacted?

‘I had to serve because I didn’t have that paperwork.’

Damn.

Now that I thought about it again, I was getting annoyed all over again.

Of course, I couldn’t explain the truth to someone who thought I was Yoo Seulho.

Still, I couldn’t hide the surge of emotion, and my voice sharpened.

“What’s so pitiful about you? Even right now, guys are eating military rations who are a hell of a lot more pitiful than you, asshole.”

Did he really think military service was such a joke?

Hearing that from someone who’d never even dug a trench made me angrier than it should have.

“Whatever. Just get the paperwork. Don’t end up panicking later when you need it. And if anyone tells you that you have to serve in the military to become a real man, cut them out of your life.”

After I spoke each word clearly, he went quiet.

We’d already had several silences during our nearly ten-minute phone call.

But this one felt different.

— “Father… told me that… if possible… I should serve.”

His voice trembled uneasily.

It sounded like part of him wondered whether he should even be saying this to me, but the alcohol had dulled his judgment.

“That’s because he was in the Special Forces himself. He’ll be bragging about that for the rest of his life, so what do you expect?”

— “But Father… he’s always been so good to me. He gave me acting advice all the time. It… it really helped me.”

“I’m sure it helped a lot.”

— “Watch your mouth.”

He growled.

When I’d criticized him personally, he’d only been confused.

But the instant my words were directed at Yoo Taeho, his voice immediately sharpened.

‘Is it already too late? Just how thoroughly has he been gaslighted?’

I had no intention of pulling Seon Jaeyoung out of Yoo Taeho’s grasp.

But I had no intention of quietly listening to this kind of nonsense either.

“Then was it Yoo Taeho’s advice that made you spend all your time alone at the filming site? Are you happy being an outcast because of it?”

— “There was a reason for that! Father told me I should only keep good people around me! That I shouldn’t become close to just anyone! He said it was all for my own good!”

For a split second, I actually laughed.

‘Wow.’

Was that really Yoo Taeho’s doing too?

I’d only thrown out a random jab because I was annoyed.

I hadn’t expected it to actually be true.

Back when I’d been reading about narcissists, I’d come across something that said: “They isolate the target until no one is left around them.”

‘He did the same thing to Yoo Seulho.’

Reading Yoo Seulho’s diary, there had been entries about never being allowed to make friends freely.

Accompanied by an obsession that, since his parents cared so much for him, he also had to grow into a worthy person.

‘So he’s doing the exact same thing to Seon Jae-young.’

Ugh.

What a disgusting person.

A wave of revulsion suddenly washed over me.

Yoo Taeho…. Seon Jae-young…

I simply wanted nothing to do with either of them.

“Do whatever you want. Live your life asking Father’s permission for every little thing. Yoo Taeho must be happy. He’s got two noble sons now.”

— “What are you–”

“Think whatever you want. No matter what I say, you’re always going to believe you’re the biggest victim.”

He didn’t answer.

I couldn’t see his face.

But I could imagine the expression he was wearing.

‘Probably one that says I hit the mark.’

Of course, that assumed Seon Jaeyoung was a fundamentally reasonable person.

If he was, then someday he’d realize that calling me just to lecture me had ultimately come from his own self-pity.

“Have fun playing house with Father. I’m not interested, so don’t bother telling me about it.”

I was just about to hang up when another thought slipped out on its own.

“Oh, right. If you’re going to treat that man as your father, shouldn’t you be treating me, his son, as your older brother too? Seriously, what a joke.”

— “…”

“Don’t call me tomorrow saying you’re sorry after you sober up. Bye.”

The moment I hung up, Choo Seomok returned with perfect timing.

“Did you buy PoX Chips?”

“Yeah. But flour isn’t good for your body. Why don’t you just eat dried squid instead?”

“Funny. Is alcohol good for your body?”

“…”

Choo Seomok quietly finished setting out the drinks.

After putting the card he’d returned to me back in my room, I came back to the living room.

“You’re going to watch the soccer match, right? I’ve already turned the TV on.”

“Good.”

By the time we simultaneously cracked open cans of beer… I’d already completely forgotten about the phone call.

 

***

 

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Carrying the script I’d read… and read… and read again… I headed to the audition venue.

“Hello.”

“You made it?”

There I found Writer Koo Nahee, a male PD, and two other people I didn’t recognize.

Four of them sat side by side behind a table. (TL Note: Gu Nahui = Koo Nahee from now on)

A single chair had been placed opposite them.

‘Just like Manager Ahn said.’

This was much closer to a meeting than an audition.

As soon as I quietly sat down, the PD switched on the camera that had already been set up.

“Did you have any trouble finding the place? It’s pretty out of the way, so a lot of people get lost.”

I smiled at Writer Koo’s question.

“Yeah. A little.”

Then I added that thanks to the text she’d sent me the day before, I’d managed to find it without getting lost, and thanked her.

One of Writer Koo’s eyebrows lifted for a moment before she smiled.

“That’s good.”

“Then let me introduce myself first. I’m PD Kim Sungjin.”

The male PD, who’d been silent until now, handed me his business card.

Writer Koo said nothing.

Instead, the two people beside her naturally took over.

‘One from the production company, one from the streaming platform.’

Even in this brief moment, I could see the hierarchy.

Writer Koo was someone who didn’t need an introduction.

The fact that the other three accepted that as perfectly natural made it obvious she held absolute authority here.

At that moment, it became crystal clear what I needed to do today.

‘I only need to pay attention to Writer Koo.’

If I tried to appeal equally to all four people, I’d only leave behind a vague impression.

Remembering how captivated Writer Koo had been when we’d first met, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Would it be alright if I first showed you what I’ve prepared over the past week?”

“Of course.”

I stood up and called over Choo Seomok, who’d been waiting in the corner.

He handed me the equipment, which I laid out across the table.

“Excuse me.”

“…?”

Choo Seomok gave the four people a small bow… 

Then, without the slightest hesitation…

“Oh my.”

He lay down on top of the table.

Standing before the wide-eyed Writer Koo, I completely changed the look in my eyes.

With one hand holding a dental instrument and the other gripping Choo Seomok’s mouth open, I said,

“We’ll begin the scaling procedure.”