How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 75

Chapter 75

 

‘Am I making the right expression right now?’

Those unexpectedly warm words made it impossible to control my face.

CEO Jang had no idea that I wasn’t the real Yoo Seulho.

And yet here I was, pretending to be Yoo Seulho and making a moved expression in front of him.

‘Disgusting.’

I had never hated myself more than I did right now.

“Anyway, looking back, I was partly at fault too. Seulho and Yeonjae overlapped so much in my eyes that I just thought, screw it, and started saying whatever came to mind. Ha.”

CEO Jang let out an awkward laugh, looking embarrassed.

After a brief hesitation, I asked,

“What exactly did you say?”

“Ugh. Do you really have to hear that?”

When I nodded solemnly, CEO Jang groaned in agony.

But his hesitation was short.

“I’m not completely sure, but I think I said something like… if they were going to raise a kid like that, they should just give him to me instead. That everyone making a fuss over the kid’s bad acting was because his parents were only capable of that much. That if they just found him a proper acting teacher, he’d definitely soar, and that it was almost impressive talent how they were blocking such a gifted child. Ha, I don’t know. I was angry too, so my memory’s fuzzy.”

…You seem to remember perfectly fine, though?

Just listening to it made me feel refreshed.

They were exactly the same things Yoo Seulho had wanted to yell at Yoo Taeho and Lee Seulmyeong when I’d read his diary.

‘To torment such a talented kid by forcing him to do things he hated…’

Hearing CEO Jang’s words brought many thoughts to mind.

Yoo Seulho once wrote that when he was a student, a teacher had suspected he was being abused by his parents.

Yoo Taeho and Lee Seulmyeong probably believed they had managed their image perfectly, but reality was different.

It felt strange realizing that there had been adults who saw through their masks and had tried, in their own way, to save Yoo Seulho.

“……”

Seeing me fall silent in thought, CEO Jang gave me time.

“Still, that’s a relief.”

After a short silence, his cautious voice rang out.

“So you’ve more or less sorted out your relationship with them. But transferring to Wooyeon Entertainment must’ve really irritated those two. Did anything happen?”

“I got a text message. By the way, CEO, you can speak comfortably.”

“Alright. Thanks. Hmm, using half-formal speech is surprisingly difficult.”

Dropping the formalities immediately, CEO Jang quickly asked,

“What kind of text? What did they say?”

“It was a few days after the transfer article came out. They asked how much signing bonus Wooyeon gave me.”

“Hah…”

CEO Jang let out a dry laugh.

He seemed to be trying to control his expression because I was in front of him, but even then, his face clearly showed how fed up he was.

“I know exactly why. Team Leader Ahn told you, right? They still contact me. Saying they’d consider moving over if I raised their signing bonus a bit. Seriously, who asked them to?”

“Is that how people phrase wanting a bigger contract bonus?”

“It’s amazing how they act so refined. As if they’ve forgotten the shouting match we had over ten years ago.”

CEO Jang shook his head.

“Anyway, even though they kept trying to negotiate like that, I never budged. So they must’ve been curious how much I offered you. Sigh, so what did you say?”

“I didn’t reply.”

The moment I said that, he clapped.

“Good! After living this long, I’ve realized some people just don’t communicate. You don’t need to waste your energy on them. Just because there’s conflict doesn’t mean it has to be resolved.”

“I think the same.”

Even with just two projects, I already felt anxious, like I wasn’t doing enough.

Time was too valuable to waste trying to understand worthless people.

‘And they aren’t the kind you can talk things through with anyway.’

Besides, it wasn’t like I hadn’t tried before.

I didn’t regret my decision in the slightest.

“You’ve had it rough.”

CEO Jang rose from the sofa and patted my shoulder.

“I worried a lot, but seeing you grow up this well without anything major happening… it makes me happy. I’m really relieved.”

“……”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell those kind eyes that Yoo Seulho hadn’t made it here unscathed.

Thankfully, CEO Jang didn’t continue.

He simply told me to speak up whenever things got hard, saying that solving those kinds of problems was exactly what they earned their commission for.

His voice sounded like that of an adult.

As I left the company building, I felt an indescribable emotion.

‘If I ever meet Yoo Seulho someday…’

I wanted to tell him everything that had happened today.

And strangely enough, it didn’t feel impossible.

 

***

 

‘Let’s see.’

Only a few days remained until the horror movie audition.

It wasn’t something I absolutely had to pass, but since the pay was good, it was worth trying.

‘The script’s already polished.’

I pulled out the script Team Leader Ahn had given me and flipped through it page by page.

It was already complete. It read so smoothly that nothing bothered me.

“Seulho, do you need anything?”

As I read the script in the living room, my manager and now housemate, Choo Seomok, spoke to me.

“No. Mind your own business.”

“Yes, then.”

After bowing politely, Choo Seomok returned to his room.

‘Living together isn’t bad.’

How long had it been since I’d lived with someone who wasn’t one of my subordinates?

Back when I was with Star Actors, Hyun Jingae occasionally crashed in the hotel living room, but that hadn’t lasted long.

It had already been a week since Seomok moved in, and not once had he gotten on my nerves.

‘It’s hard to find a guy this clean.’

Was it because he’d been in the military? Or was it just his personality?

I didn’t know if he consciously avoided leaving traces of himself, but his almost obsessive tidiness suited me.

Sometimes I only realized I was living with someone else when I actually ran into Choo Seomok inside the apartment.

‘Everything’s going smoothly.’

I’d had a good talk with CEO Jang, and preparations for the table read of Director Baek’s movie ‘What I Loved’ were progressing steadily.

All that remained was the horror movie audition.

‘Will I actually get it?’

Despite multiple auditions, the role still hadn’t been cast.

If they wanted an actor with exceptional skill, I’d give up cleanly.

But according to Team Leader Ahn, among the actors who had failed before were plenty of talented people who made me wonder, ‘How did they not get the part?’

Some of them even looked exactly like the role itself.

‘So they really got rejected because they weren’t the director’s type.’

Hmm, I don’t know.

Fundamentally, I don’t get along with picky people.

The casting director said I seemed like someone the director would listen to, but what did they know?

‘I’ll give it a shot, but…’

As I’d said many times, I valued efficiency.

I had neither the passion nor the desire to pour enormous effort into something with low odds.

‘I’ve got plenty of work besides this horror movie anyway.’

I’d treat it as studying, memorize the script, and as for the free acting segment…

‘Ha.’

I couldn’t half-ass that.

Sighing, I searched on my phone.

Typing “preparing free acting” into the search bar, I found posts saying you should choose a scene that best highlights your strengths.

‘They prefer scenes with strong emotions like crying, rage, despair…’

After reading blogs for a while, I abruptly closed the screen.

‘My strength?’

Being a bastard with a rotten personality, obviously.

I didn’t need any preparation to show that.

This much I could say arrogantly.

Without preparing anything, I could ruin someone’s mood right in front of me.

For the rest of the remaining time, I invested exactly the amount of effort that matched the cost-performance ratio.

I also had to practice for Director Baek’s already-confirmed movie ‘What I Loved’, so I only put in enough effort that I wouldn’t regret it if I failed.

And then the audition day arrived.

“Seomok, I’ll go alone from here.”

“…May I ask why?”

Just before entering the office building, I blocked Choo Seomok’s path, making him stop.

To someone who believed managers should always stay beside actors, this was no different from preventing him from doing his job.

“You said there’s nobody besides the director, right? Just cameras running. It’s basically one-on-one, so I should go by myself.”

Thankfully, Seomok didn’t ask further.

He simply said he’d wait at the café downstairs until I finished and told me to call immediately if anything happened.

After confirming that he’d entered the café, I slowly walked into the office.

‘This place is huge.’

Far too large for a single director to occupy.

There had to be other employees around, but the fact that the director insisted on conducting the audition alone felt suspicious.

‘He’s subtly letting everyone know that his decision is the only one that matters.’

That thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Excuse me? Is anyone here?”

Looking into empty space, I called out.

A voice came from the room furthest away.

“Come in.”

Just hearing the voice, I clicked my tongue.

‘No matter if he’s a director…’

If an outsider came to your workplace, the least you could do was come out and greet them.

Grumbling inwardly while maintaining a polite expression, I opened the door.

“Yoo Seulho?”

The moment I saw the man sitting arrogantly on top of the desk, I thought…

“Nice to meet you. I’m Director Seo Jinki.”

Wow…

‘Who was that casting director?’

You shouldn’t be out casting actors.

You should switch professions and become a fortune teller.

No, in this case, a physiognomist?

‘They’ve got good eyes.’

The moment I saw the director, I understood exactly what the casting director had meant.

His head raised stubbornly, refusing to lose.

The eyes and lips that exuded sheer obstinacy.

Yet the slightly hunched shoulders that shrank the instant our eyes met.

In short…

‘Should I even do my free acting in front of this guy?’

‘What if he starts crying?’

He looked like a complete pushover.