How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 31

Chapter 31

 

[“You’re still not dead?”]

It was a voice so frivolous it almost sounded vulgar.

The camera deliberately avoided showing the man’s face.

It simply laid the voice over Woo Junseo’s exhausted expression, and because of that, it sounded even more vicious.

[“Hyung, what kind of thing is that to say?”]

[“Why aren’t you dead? You need to die so I can collect the insurance money, you bastard.”]

Then the camera turned and revealed the owner of the voice.

Yoo Seulho, standing there with his chin raised high and a swaggering posture.

 

***

 

“…!”

Noh Hamrak, who had been lounging back on the sofa while watching the drama, suddenly sat upright.

His girlfriend jumped in surprise and looked at him, but Hamrak was even more shocked and couldn’t take his eyes off the TV.

‘What…?’

Until the camera actually showed the actor’s face, Hamrak had never even considered that it might be Yoo Seulho.

Even though he had literally been wondering, ‘When is Yoo Seulho going to appear? Is he even showing up in this episode?’

[“When’s your paycheck coming in? I need to go to the PC bang.”]

[“…I gave you money last week.”]

[“Hey, that was gone ages ago!”]

Hamrak stared at the screen with a blank expression and his mouth hanging open.

On-screen, Woo Junseo and Yoo Seulho were arguing.

Unlike Woo Junseo, who looked exhausted by life but still radiated an innate kindness, Yoo Seulho’s expression and voice were filled with an unpleasant stickiness.

And somehow…

It didn’t feel like Yoo Seulho at all.

“What is this?”

Hamrak muttered unconsciously.

He had watched every single one of Yoo Seulho’s projects without exception.

There was no way he wouldn’t recognize his voice.

Yet the voice coming from the television felt strangely unfamiliar.

[“You little shit, you keep talking back to your only brother?”]

Yoo Seulho poked Woo Junseo’s shoulder repeatedly with a finger as he provoked him.

[“This won’t do. I think you need a beating today.”]

The words were threatening, but he didn’t actually look like someone about to hit his brother.

For one thing, he seemed lazy.

And perhaps because he slurred his words instead of enunciating clearly, he came across as nothing more than an idle bum.

In other words, he didn’t seem particularly threatening.

At least not until Woo Junseo, looking utterly exhausted, said this:

[“I’m already tired enough even without you acting like this. Please stop.”]

[“…What?”]

For a moment, Yoo Seulho frowned.

Then he let out a dry laugh.

After that brief sound of amusement, silence followed.

He didn’t narrow his eyes.

He didn’t sneer.

He didn’t glare at the other person.

He simply remained silent.

Like…

‘An expression of someone desperately holding himself back from exploding…’

Thinking that, Hamrak stared at the Yoo Seulho on the screen.

He looked like someone struggling to suppress boiling rage.

The effort of holding back lava that could erupt at any moment was visible through the twitching muscles of his face.

The camera alternated between Yoo Seulho, whose fist was clenched tightly and trembling slightly, and Woo Junseo, who was watching him carefully.

[“I-I’m sorry. Hyung, maybe I’m just… a little sensitive today. Sorry, haha…”]

The first person to back down was Woo Junseo.

His jaw was clenched, his pride obviously wounded.

Even so, he forced out each word with a servile smile, and the humiliation practically seeped through the screen.

Yoo Seulho watched him silently for a long moment.

Then the corners of his lips twitched.

And then…

[“Puhaha!”]

He burst out laughing.

Even as he laughed in short bursts, he never stopped staring directly at the other person.

[“Ahahahak!!!”]

The expression on his face was despicably malicious.

Even though he was clearly laughing, the tension threatening to explode remained taut beneath it.

It was the kind of performance that could easily have felt theatrical and overdone.

Yet Yoo Seulho looked like someone who had lived his entire life that way.

The sheer naturalness of it made it all the more chilling.

“Wow… that’s incredible.”

His girlfriend muttered without thinking.

Then she belatedly gasped and glanced nervously at Hamrak.

She knew how much he hated Yoo Seulho.

Fortunately, Hamrak seemed not to have heard her at all.

He was staring at the television as though trying to bore a hole through it.

‘Whew.’

Turning her attention back to the TV, she tilted her head.

‘Wait, but…’

He really seems good.

Unlike Hamrak, she had no particular interest in acting and wasn’t deeply knowledgeable about the arts.

She watched movies and dramas regularly, but not enough to seek out interviews or behind-the-scenes content afterward.

She was just an ordinary person who preferred popcorn movies to arthouse films.

That was Noh Hamrak’s girlfriend.

And from her perspective, Yoo Seulho’s acting looked flawless.

No matter how she looked at it, he seemed genuinely good.

But perhaps her boyfriend saw something different, so she kept her thoughts to herself.

Unaware that Hamrak was thinking exactly the same thing.

[“Hey, I’m only letting it slide because I’m your big brother, got it? You know? There aren’t many brothers like me.”]

After laughing for quite a while, Yoo Seulho wiped tears from his eyes with a finger and spoke in the same amused tone.

[“I know…”]

[“If you mouth off again, I’ll kill you, so remember that.”]

Looking at his exhausted younger brother, the older brother smacked the back of his head hard enough to produce a loud ‘thwack’ before leaving.

Even as he exited the frame, he was still smiling.

The only person left on screen was Woo Junseo, clutching the back of his head and staring at the floor.

Unlike a typical romance-drama male lead, he looked powerless and wounded.

[“Ha…”]

The final shot was Woo Junseo letting out a deep sigh.

Then came the ending credits and preview.

“……”

Hamrak and his girlfriend remained seated without saying a word.

Even after everything ended and the screen switched to commercials, neither of them got up immediately.

“Wow… It felt like the genre suddenly changed at the end.”

“Yeah.”

The drama had maintained a comfortable romantic tone from the very beginning, smoothly guiding viewers through the story.

Then, right at the end, it abruptly drew out a much deeper emotional weight.

The shift was so dramatic that it felt like being suddenly slapped across the face.

“It was more fun than I expected~. I should call Jiye! I’ll go make a quick call.”

Unlike his girlfriend, who escaped the aftereffects quickly, Hamrak sat there in stunned silence, replaying everything in his mind.

‘What was that?’

What exactly did I just watch?

Woo Junseo wasn’t the issue.

He already knew the man could act.

The reason Hamrak was shocked… 100% of it… was because of one person.

‘Yoo Seulho.’

Hamrak had always believed he knew exactly how Yoo Seulho delivered lines.

What expressions he used.

How he looked at his scene partners.

No matter what role he played, none of that ever changed.

It was always just celebrity Yoo Seulho stepping into a role for a little game of pretend.

But just now…

‘He really looked like the male lead’s older brother.’

It felt as though someone else wearing Yoo Seulho’s face was standing there.

He couldn’t see Yoo Seulho.

He could only see the character.

In other words…

Yoo Seulho had actually acted.

And not just acted.

Acted well.

‘Was it a coincidence?’

Unable to explain what he’d seen, Hamrak spent the entire next day waiting for 9 p.m.

When his girlfriend asked if he wanted popcorn again, he refused.

But unlike yesterday, the reason was different.

If what he had witnessed wasn’t a fluke, then he needed to experience that performance with complete focus.

He couldn’t allow popcorn to distract him.

And finally, 9 p.m. arrived.

Episode 2 began.

 

***

 

[“Damn it, when’s he coming out?”]

Just as Hamrak had expected, Yoo Seulho had significantly more screen time in Episode 2.

Under the lone streetlight illuminating a narrow alley, Yoo Seulho…

No, Kang Minwoo… grumbled to himself.

Rustle.

At the sound of Kang Minjun stepping on a branch, Kang Minwoo instantly lifted his head.

[“Little brother!”]

He waved enthusiastically with a bright smile.

Purely based on appearance, he actually looked cute.

But because of the powerful impression he had left in the latter half of Episode 1, it was impossible to shake the feeling of unease.

[“Hyung, if you keep coming to my workplace like this, it puts me in a difficult position–”]

[“Money.”]

[“I’ll give it to you at home–”]

[“Money.”]

Kang Minjun sighed and took out his phone.

Watching him open his banking app to make a transfer, Kang Minwoo cheerfully said:

[“Please send it quickly~”]

His voice was overflowing with aegyo.

Yet it was just as unpleasant.

And the moment he saw the amount his brother transferred, he immediately frowned.

As expected.

[“What’s this? Why is it so little? Did you screw something up?”]

[“It’s a new semester, Hyung. I have group projects and stuff. I need money too.”]

[“…Are you insane?”]

‘THWACK!’

Without hesitation, Kang Minwoo smacked his brother on the head.

The sound was so loud that Hamrak’s girlfriend gasped.

[“Hey, sending you to college was already a huge favor. I never got to go to college and had to work in a factory. I only sent you because you’re my one and only brother. Got it?”]

[“Haah… And that’s why I’m working hard to pay living expenses. I’m cutting into my study time to earn money. I need a scholarship too, so if you’d just let me keep enough for textbooks–”]

[“Then why the hell did you go to college in the first place?! You’ve got no future anyway!”]

‘THWACK!’

Another blow landed.

After being hit hard twice in a row, Kang Minjun unconsciously clenched his fist.

Kang Minwoo let out a disbelieving laugh.

[“Oh? You’re gonna hit me now too?”]

At those words, Kang Minjun looked up with a face full of pent-up emotion.

Their eyes met.

The camera zoomed in on two pairs of eyes that looked alike, yet completely different.

Dark eyes filled with resentment, anger, exhaustion, and countless other emotions directed toward his brother.

And eyes that seemed to be encountering those emotions for the first time in a very long while.

Kang Minwoo looked startled.

And then looked even more startled by the fact that he was startled.

As if feeling compelled to say something immediately, he practically shouted:

[“Why? You gonna kill me too?”]

The moment those words were spoken, the younger brother’s expression changed.

The anger that had been alive in his eyes vanished.

In its place came guilt and emptiness.

The older brother’s expression, having witnessed that transformation firsthand, also became strange.

[“…I’m sorry.”]

In the end, the younger brother apologized in a dying voice.

Kang Min-woo swallowed hard, looking like he had no idea what to say.

Then he answered coldly:

[“I’ll let it slide this time, but next time give me the full amount.”]

And then he turned away sharply.

He looked like nothing more than a childish brat.

 

***

 

After that, Yoo Seulho appeared several more times.

[“–Pant, pant.”]

[“Damn, you scared me. What are you doing?”]

He found the female lead’s dog wandering outside and waited with it until the owner arrived.

He displayed a powerful presence completely at odds with the nickname “Deadweight.”

His screen time wasn’t especially large.

Yet the weight he carried whenever he appeared was undeniable.

[“By the way, where did your parents go? Not your human owner… your dog parents. The dog that gave birth to you. Do you know where they live? Do you have dog siblings too?”]

[“–Pant, pant.”]

[“Yeah, what would you know? But maybe not knowing is better. Maybe that’s actually lucky… I wish I didn’t know anything either.”]

Kang Minwoo whispered quietly while staring at the dog gazing back at him.

[“My little brother killed our parents.”]

And with that, Episode 2 ended.

Only then could Noh Hamrak finally admit it.

Yoo Seulho had changed.