How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 37

Chapter 37

 

As soon as I got home, I started searching the internet.

At first, I had no idea what keywords to type, but after doing this for a while, I got the hang of it.

The search that began with “parents who dislike their child?” eventually led me to “traits of narcissistic parents,” and only then did I finally understand Yoo Seulho’s parents.

‘Ah.’

‘So Yoo Taeho and Lee Seulmyeong are both… narcissists?’

Narcissist.

<A person who excessively loves themselves and exploits others as tools>

The fancy English word made it sound complicated, but the reality was simple.

‘They’re just selfish people.’

Self-centered people with little empathy.

I had seen countless people like that during my life as a loan shark.

Even so, it surprised me.

‘I thought selfish people would at least be different toward their own children.’

‘So there are people who consider themselves more important than their own kids.’

The more articles I read about narcissistic parents, the more I felt it had been worth looking up.

‘There’s a reason people say “know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.”‘

To fight properly, you first had to understand your opponent.

Especially if it was someone you knew little about.

‘It’s not like I’ve ever had parents before.’

If someone simply told me to fight Yoo Taeho and Lee Seulmyeong, I could do it without hesitation.

But being told to fight Yoo Seulho’s parents somehow felt much harder.

Still, after spending more than two hours carefully reading search results, I finally got a rough idea of how to deal with them.

The moment my thoughts were organized, I picked up my phone.

Then I sent a simple text to the number saved as Mother.

[I’ll stop by the house this weekend.]

It was the first message I had sent since entering Yoo Seulho’s body several months ago.

Looking through previous messages, Seulho had faithfully checked in with his parents about once a week regardless of whether they replied or not.

Since they couldn’t possibly imagine that their obedient son was dead, how much must they hate me… the son who had gone months without contacting them and had even left multiple messages on read?

Not long afterward, my phone buzzed.

[Mother]

Naturally, I had absolutely no intention of answering.

As I ignored the phone’s desperate cries for me to pick up, a flood of text messages followed.

Messages asking what right I had to come to this house, filled with every cutting remark they could squeeze in.

I casually ignored them all.

‘I need to review the script.’

Parents were parents, but tomorrow’s filming was more urgent.

I had already read the script countless times, yet every rereading revealed something new.

There was no room for complacency.

After reading through it several more times, the existence of Yoo Seulho’s parents completely vanished from my mind.

 

***

 

“Yuna. Did you know that?”

“Huh?”

Today’s filming location was a park.

Woo Junseo was away in another area filming a different scene, and only Choi Ran and I stood before the camera.

“I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately.”

I delivered Kang Minwoo’s flirtatious line to the female lead, Seo Yuna.

At that moment, I didn’t think about Choi Ran.

I didn’t think about Yoo Seulho.

I only wanted to seduce the woman standing in front of me, and I held my breath, unwilling to reveal how desperate I was.

As a result, my breathing became unnatural, and my face gradually reddened.

Part of me thought I might look a bit perverted.

But then I thought:

‘All men are perverts anyway. She might even like that more.’

And so I smiled.

A smile utterly devoid of any suspicion that she might reject me.

Which was why, when Seo Yuna replied with a stiff expression…

“Ah… okay…”

…I was able to instantly change my expression and speak coldly.

“Hey. What’s with that reaction?”

“Huh?”

The sudden shift in temperature made her flinch.

I silently stared into her trembling eyes, like a frightened rabbit.

Then…

“Cut!”

Director Jang’s voice snapped me back to reality.

In the blink of an eye, the frightened rabbit disappeared, replaced by a sleepy lion.

And the first thing I heard was…

“You really bring trash-tier dialogue to life, Oppa.”

“…That’s a compliment, right? Thanks.”

Despite my dubious expression, Choi Ran remained completely serious.

“Of course it’s a compliment. There aren’t many actors who can make a trash character feel this real.”

“Really?”

“Normally, even if the lines are terrible, people overlook it if a handsome guy says them. But if you’re saying things that can’t be forgiven even with that face, it means your acting is genuinely good. You really feel like trash. Good job.”

“Thanks…”

I was left speechless, but managed to answer.

Whether I was embarrassed or not, Choi Ran kept rapidly blinking her tired eyes.

“Your eyes dry?”

“Yeah?”

“Put in some eye drops.”

“It’ll ruin my makeup.”

“Just don’t let them run. Want me to help?”

She hesitated but didn’t refuse, so I called over a stylist.

After receiving a disposable eye-drop vial, I opened it and approached Choi Ran.

“It must be tough wearing contacts every time you film. I heard contacts make your eyes even drier.”

Putting eye drops into someone else’s eyes wasn’t particularly difficult.

Since I couldn’t just touch a girl’s face carelessly, I carefully put in one drop at a time.

“Keep your eyes closed for about thirty seconds.”

“Okay.”

While Choi Ran obediently followed my instructions, I returned the eye drops to the stylist.

For some reason, the stylist smiled shyly before quickly hurrying away.

“…?”

What was that about?

Before I could think about it further, Director Jang checked the footage and shouted:

“Okay! Let’s move on to the next scene!”

The staff’s expressions visibly brightened.

There was no reason not to be happy if it meant getting off work sooner.

“Actor Seulho, your acting keeps getting better and better.”

While the staff busily moved equipment around, Director Jang approached with a satisfied smile.

“You looked perfect as the lunatic who beats up his younger brother, and now you’re perfect as the scumbag trying to steal the girl his brother likes!”

“…Thank you.”

“And it’s even better because it’s such a contrast with Junseo’s scene yesterday. I wondered why you asked for yesterday’s footage. So you watched it and practiced, huh?”

As expected, he noticed.

Just as Director Jang said, I had deliberately acted in a way that contrasted with Woo Junseo.

Chronologically, today’s scene followed immediately after the male lead confessed:

“I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately.”

Unlike the male lead’s nervous voice and innocent feelings, Kang Minwoo’s pickup line was intentionally greasy and unsettling.

I wanted female viewers to feel uncomfortable right alongside the heroine when she frowned.

“You’re so hardworking, Seulho. I really have great luck with actors!”

Director Jang laughed heartily.

It was the most relaxed I’d seen him in a long time.

‘He looks much happier without Woo Junseo around.’

Among all the actors in this drama, Woo Junseo was by far the most difficult person.

Even he wouldn’t deny it.

The problem was that knowing it didn’t make him change.

‘He’s way too high-strung.’

Woo Junseo was genuinely talented.

But he was also extremely sensitive.

More than anything, his pride had been wounded by the fact that the drama where he was the lead was being treated like a replacement project and launched early.

Combined with a brutal schedule and constant sleep deprivation, he had become increasingly irritable.

‘At this point, he doesn’t even care if the behind-the-scenes camera is running.’

I understood he was exhausted, but constantly taking his frustration out on everyone around him left a bad taste in my mouth.

‘Doesn’t he realize everyone else is suffering too?’

His outbursts toward fellow actors and production staff were becoming more frequent.

Fortunately, I could laugh off almost any nonsense Woo Junseo pulled, so I often stepped in to keep him from picking on Choi Ran.

But nobody could shield Director Jang, the head of the production.

For days, he’d been forced to endure Woo Junseo’s tantrums directly.

“Seulho, next time let’s work together with you as the male lead. I think it’d suit you perfectly.”

“I’d be grateful if that happened.”

While Director Jang and I exchanged cheerful compliments, Choi Ran opened her eyes after thirty seconds and joined the conversation.

“Then who would you cast as the female lead?”

“The female lead? Hmm, who would fit…? Ah! How about you two together? Looking at you earlier, the visual chemistry was great!”

At Director Jang’s cheerful suggestion, the assistant writers who had been quietly listening rushed over.

“I agree!”

“Me too! I think Seulho and Ran would be great together. Honestly, they fit each other better. I wish Seulho had been the male lead in this drama…”

I desperately wanted to agree with the subtle jab at Woo Junseo.

Instead, I laughed and drew a line.

“Come on, Junseo would be upset if he heard that. He’s the male lead of our drama.”

If this conversation somehow reached Woo Junseo’s ears and triggered another meltdown, I’d be the one dealing with it.

So I gently shut the topic down.

“But thank you for thinking highly of me. Please call me for your next project. I’d appreciate it even more if you cast me as the lead.”

“Of course, Seulho!”

“Me too! Work with me too! Include me!”

Director Jang’s cute whining made everyone burst out laughing.

I wanted to keep chatting, but there was still filming left to do, so everyone returned to their positions.

I looked at Choi Ran’s eyes, now much brighter thanks to the eye drops.

“You’d be okay doing a romance with me too?”

“Oppa, I’d be fine if they changed the male lead right now.”

The sincerity in her calm voice was unmistakable.

‘She really does hate Woo Junseo.’

The thought made me chuckle.

“Let’s hang in there a little longer.”

“Okay.”

‘Is this what camaraderie feels like?’

Seeing her answer so energetically made me strangely proud.

I smiled and started walking toward the next filming location.

Then Choi Ran carefully spoke up.

“By the way… there’s something I’ve been curious about.”