How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 89

Chapter 89

 

“Honey, are you sick?”

“Hm?”

“Your cheeks are red. Do you have a fever?”

The night before everything happened, Noh Hamrak hurriedly brought over a thermometer after hearing his girlfriend’s concern.

[37.7°C.]

It was an awkward number.

Still, even if he didn’t trust the numbers, he trusted the signals his body sent him.

The moment he noticed the slight chills, he immediately contacted his manager and asked for the next day off.

‘Here we go again.’

Every year, once or twice, he always came down with something minor like this.

He knew perfectly well he wouldn’t wake up on time tomorrow, so it was better to use a vacation day in advance.

Normally, annual leave had to be requested a week ahead, but life didn’t always follow the rules.

‘How am I supposed to know I’ll get sick a week from now?’

Fortunately, the company he worked for was flexible enough.

More importantly, he’d been with them for years, so his manager cheerfully approved it, saying:

“Is it that time of year already?”

Thus, Noh Hamrak went to sleep with a relaxed mind.

The next morning, he was relieved to discover he wasn’t feeling too bad.

‘That’s a relief.’

He briefly regretted wasting one of his precious vacation days, but consoled himself with the thought that he definitely would’ve gotten sick if he hadn’t slept in.

‘Ugh, I should at least loosen up my body.’

When his body felt subtly sluggish like this, light exercise usually improved his condition.

At first, he’d thought of walking along the riverside, but the sudden chilly weather made him decide on the gym instead.

The reason for explaining all this in such detail was to emphasize just how many coincidences had to line up for Noh Hamrak to end up at the gym on a weekday afternoon.

If he hadn’t taken a vacation day.

If he’d been completely bedridden.

If the weather hadn’t turned cold.

Then he would’ve never gone to the gym at this exact time.

In other words…

“Holy crap! Yoo Seulho?!”

He never would’ve found Yoo Seulho there.

 

***

 

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

Completely unaware of how shocked Noh Hamrak was, Yoo Seulho simply nodded.

Then he turned on the treadmill and started walking calmly.

‘No way…’

Noh Hamrak couldn’t believe that Yoo Seulho was walking right beside him on the neighboring treadmill.

He quickly faced forward, but his heart pounded violently.

‘I’d heard a lot of celebrities come here…’

But he hadn’t expected Yoo Seulho.

The face he’d only ever seen through screens was right before his eyes without anything blocking it.

Even while thinking ‘What’s the big deal?’, his attention kept drifting to the left.

‘It’s really Yoo Seulho.’

Despite noticing Hamrak stealing glances at him, Yoo Seulho remained unfazed and continued walking.

Occasionally increasing the speed for interval runs, he looked like someone genuinely focused on building stamina.

Quite different from Hamrak, who’d only come for a light walk.

‘Damn it. I can’t help comparing myself.’

He knew comparing himself, an ordinary person, to a successful celebrity was ridiculous, but as a fellow man, it couldn’t be helped.

Hamrak had watched every single one of Yoo Seulho’s works, but the real man gave off an entirely different impression.

Gone was the smiling face he’d always seen in interviews and public appearances.

Instead, he ran with a dry expression, staring only ahead, looking plainly annoyed.

‘Guess he’s human too.’

With a body like that, Hamrak had assumed he enjoyed exercising, but the slight furrow in his brows clearly showed he didn’t want to be there.

Even knowing that expression wasn’t directed at him, Hamrak inexplicably felt intimidated and looked forward again.

‘It’s amazing, but… let’s not bother him.’

Yoo Seulho had occupied most of Hamrak’s attention recently, so ignoring him completely was impossible, but he tried his best to act indifferent.

If he himself were a celebrity, he’d probably find someone walking beside him incredibly annoying.

‘Though I was here first.’

He had his own grievances, but he understood Yoo Seulho’s position even more.

Coming specifically during a quiet weekday afternoon only to have someone recognize you the moment you got on the treadmill had to be irritating.

He’d already greeted him, but from now until he left the gym, he wouldn’t even glance…

“Excuse me.”

At that moment, Yoo Seulho tapped Hamrak’s shoulder.

Startled, Hamrak yanked out his earbuds.

“Yes?!”

“Your machine’s making a weird sound.”

Yoo Seulho pointed toward Hamrak’s treadmill.

Confused, Hamrak removed both earbuds.

Sure enough, a suspicious beeping sound was coming from the machine.

He quickly stopped it and called a staff member, but even the employee looked troubled and couldn’t fix it on the spot.

“You can use this one.”

Yoo Seulho stepped off his treadmill and offered it to Hamrak.

“Oh, no, that’s alright.”

“I wasn’t planning on doing more cardio anyway. Use it or don’t, whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Thank you.”

Hamrak added his thanks for pointing out the strange noise.

In this day and age, few people would bother.

Everything should’ve ended pleasantly there, but…

Their paths kept crossing.

When Hamrak headed toward the foam rollers for stretching, Yoo Seulho came over to do deadlifts nearby.

When Seulho, drenched in sweat, went to the water dispenser, Hamrak was already drinking there.

Even though the gym wasn’t small, they kept running into each other for nearly an hour, making Hamrak increasingly embarrassed.

‘He doesn’t think I’m stalking him, does he?’

Technically, Seulho was the one following Hamrak’s route, but because the other man was a celebrity, Hamrak was the nervous one.

‘Let’s just shower and leave.’

Hamrak quickly cleaned up and escaped from the gym.

Only then did hunger hit him, so he headed to the fast-food restaurant on the first floor.

“One bulgogi burger set, please.”

Since lunch rush was already over, there were hardly any customers.

Sitting down, Hamrak absentmindedly recalled what had just happened.

Then…

Ding.

The bell above the entrance rang.

Looking up casually, he froze.

“….”

“….”

Yoo Seulho had spotted Hamrak and paused as well.

Even with a mask and a hat pulled low, there was no way Hamrak wouldn’t recognize someone he’d just spoken with.

‘T-This time, you followed me! I’m not the stalker!’

Feeling unfairly accused, Hamrak blinked repeatedly while Yoo Seulho calmly walked past him to the kiosk and placed an order.

He picked up the pager next to the machine and…

Thump.

Sat right in front of Hamrak.

“…?”

Seeing Hamrak’s utterly confused face, Yoo Seulho spoke calmly.

“Sorry. Would it be alright if I quietly ate here?”

His promise to eat quickly and leave sounded oddly shameless.

His gaze, voice, posture… everything about him exuded confidence.

‘Huh.’

Analyzing actors was Hamrak’s only hobby, and he instantly recognized it.

That aura belonged to someone utterly certain of his own actions.

Hamrak, who’d criticized Yoo Seulho’s acting but never cared about his personal life, found himself bewildered.

‘Was he always like this?’

Dazed, he asked:

“Why…?”

“I was going to take it home, but I don’t want my manager finding out. I want to eat here, but I’d have to take off my mask.”

And then other people would recognize him, which would become a hassle.

Fortunately, Hamrak’s seat was tucked away in the corner where sightlines were blocked.

More importantly, Hamrak himself blocked Yoo Seulho from view.

“Sorry to impose a little. You don’t hate me, do you?”

“Huh?”

Hamrak’s eyes shook violently.

He didn’t hate him now, but he’d spent years putting considerable effort into disliking Yoo Seulho.

Whether Seulho knew that or simply didn’t care, he shrugged.

“There are a lot of people who don’t like me. I didn’t get that feeling from you when we talked earlier, but I figured I’d ask just in case.”

“N-No, I don’t hate you…”

“That’s good. Sorry for imposing. I’ll eat quickly.”

Yoo Seulho told him to pretend he wasn’t there, but that was impossible.

‘I can’t believe I’m sitting face-to-face with Yoo Seulho eating hamburgers.’

He’d never dreamed of a situation like this.

It was so absurd that Hamrak strangely relaxed.

Maybe because it felt unreal, he no longer worried about Yoo Seulho’s reactions as he had at the gym.

“Can I ask something?”

“Of course. I’m the one imposing here.”

“What do you mean by not wanting your manager to find out? You can’t even eat burgers in peace?”

Hamrak knew very well what had happened recently.

When Yoo Seulho escaped Star Actors, the gangster-backed agency, and moved to Wooyeon Entertainment, Seulho’s fans, the ‘Straws’, had gone absolutely wild.

They’d caused such an uproar across social media that anyone with a smartphone would’ve heard about it.

‘Wooyeon Entertainment is supposed to be a good agency though.’

Since Hamrak had once dreamed of becoming an actor, he knew a bit about entertainment agencies.

‘Don’t tell me they treat celebrities like objects too?’

Countless drama scenarios unfolded in his mind.

Meanwhile, Yoo Seulho simply sighed and answered:

“My manager says it doesn’t count as a meal unless it has rice. He’s insane.”

“…What?”