How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor – Chapter 95

Author: Cireng

Chapter 95

Three days before the script reading for the horror movie ‘The Sixth Night’.

I squeezed time out of my busy schedule and visited Director Seo Jinki’s office.

After the audition, all the casting had finally been finalized, and the shooting schedule had been set.

Every actor besides the protagonist, Junho, had already been chosen long ago, so if I hadn’t passed the audition, filming probably wouldn’t have started until next year.

‘I’m swamped.’

I’d be lying if I said handling two films at the same time wasn’t burdensome.

But thankfully, Director Seo Jinki was very different from Director Baek.

They differed in age and working style, but the biggest difference was…

“Hyung-nim!”

The moment I entered the office, Director Seo spotted me and broke into a bright smile.

Then he came running over and started chattering away.

“I’ve been waiting! I mean, hyung-nim, you said you liked coffee last time, right? So I–”

Watching him yap away like a puppy, I smiled gently.

The kind of smile one naturally gives someone who harbors fantasies about older brothers.

“Thanks for going to all that trouble, Jinki.”

“Hehe, it’s nothing.”

That’s right. Even the way we addressed each other was different.

How had Director Seo ended up calling me hyungnim?

It all happened just a few days ago.

***

“Director, over here!”

“Ah, yes…”

Not long after signing the contract for the horror film, I met Director Seo separately.

It was to fulfill that promise of having drinks “between men.”

The atmosphere had been great toward the end of the audition, but I figured today’s mood might be different.

‘Socially awkward, and rich on top of that?’

There was no better combination for having an unpredictable personality.

Even if things had gone well last time, he might suddenly act as if nothing had happened.

Sure enough, Director Seo was noticeably different from how he’d been on audition day.

“I’m kind of busy.”

Apparently the phrase “between men” had lost its power.

The moment we met, he started saying he was busy and suggested we just have a light drink for an hour before leaving.

‘Tch. What manners.’

He didn’t seem eager to drink at all, but I remained undeterred and smiled brightly.

I said things like how I’d wanted to treat him anyway, how grateful I was that he’d come despite being busy, and so on.

Without sounding too pitiful, I gradually eased his mood.

By the time we’d barely started drinking, the tension between his brows had disappeared.

Thinking that was fortunate, I poured him drink after drink.

I didn’t know his tolerance, but surely he wouldn’t get drunk after just three or four shots.

And in situations like this, drinking quickly changed the mood faster.

But damn it, apparently “surely” wasn’t so sure.

“Director, that’s not our table.”

“Huh?”

He’d gotten up to use the restroom and didn’t come back for ages.

When I went looking, he was sitting at a table on the complete opposite side of the bar.

After hastily apologizing to the bewildered customers there, I dragged him back to our seat.

And by then, his eyes were already gone.

‘Seriously…’

I checked the table in disbelief.

Sure enough, we’d only just finished one bottle of soju between the two of us.

‘No matter how lightweight you are…’

Not just a little tipsy.

Completely gone.

‘You should’ve told me you had low tolerance.’

Then why had you happily accepted every drink?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.

But whether I understood or not didn’t change the fact that there was a dead-drunk man in my hands.

I had no choice but to ask one of his employees for his address and call a taxi.

“Hello. Hannam-dong, please.”

“Okay.”

I opened the back door and practically tossed him inside before getting into the passenger seat.

Of all times, it was rush hour.

It took over an hour to get to his house, and the fare alone came to nearly thirty thousand won.

‘My precious money.’

I came out hoping to get treated by a rich director, and somehow ended up paying for the drinks and the taxi.

I was annoyed, but as more time passed inside the taxi, I also felt relieved.

‘He got drunk fast, so he’ll sober up fast too, right?’

He hadn’t made a sound from the back seat, but there was a good chance he was pretending to sleep out of embarrassment.

“We’re here, I think. Wow, nice house.”

The taxi driver muttered to himself as he glanced at the luxurious mansion.

After paying the fare, I asked him to wait a moment and opened the back door.

“Director, we’re here.”

“…”

“Director?”

After calling him several times without any response, I finally had to lift him up myself.

And then…

“…He threw up.”

“What? He what?!”

At my empty voice, the taxi driver whipped around in horror.

Seeing what Director Seo had quietly left behind on the back seat, he exploded.

“Are you kidding me?! This is prime business hours! What kind of disaster is this?!”

“I’m sorry, sir. I’ll cover the cleaning fee.”

“Of course you’re paying for the cleaning! That’s not the point! How am I supposed to work tonight?!”

Money was the best way to calm an angry taxi driver.

I paid generously, including not just cleaning costs but what he might’ve earned for the rest of the evening.

His anger vanished instantly.

“Ahem… young man, you’re really suffering. Want me to help carry him inside?”

“No, sir. I can’t dirty your clothes too. I’ll take him up myself.”

“You’ve got a nice way with words. Hoho. I’ve wanted to ask for a while now… you’re Yoo Seulho, right? I’ll be cheering for you.”

The taxi driver left smiling.

Even though the smell in his car was awful, the amount I’d just transferred probably made him want to sing.

I alternated between looking at the disappearing taxi and Director Seo sprawled on the ground.

“Ha…”

I’d thought he might’ve been pretending to sleep out of embarrassment.

But he’d genuinely passed out.

No matter how much I tried to wake him, he wouldn’t budge.

Eventually, I rang the bell, and someone who appeared to be Director Seo’s mother came out.

“Oh my! Jinki!”

The warm-looking woman was startled at the sight of him.

I quickly removed my mask and introduced myself, explaining that the director had drunk a little too much.

“This idiot’s barely even drunk before. What kind of courage made him overdo it? Ah, my poor heart.”

She squeezed her eyes shut.

I wanted to tell her her son had become like this after only four shots of soju, but Director Seo was someone I had to stay on good terms with.

Wearing the smile of a polite actor and dependable older brother, I apologized in his place.

His mother waved her hand.

“What are you apologizing for? Oh dear, you’ve worked so hard! His father isn’t home right now, so could you help carry him inside?”

“Of course.”

I took off Director Seo’s vomit-stained clothes and slung him over my back.

He wasn’t light, being an adult man, but he wasn’t impossibly heavy either.

‘This place really looks like a chairman’s mansion.’

There was even an elevator inside.

I rode up to the second floor and dumped him into his room.

“You’ve really suffered. Do you like tea? I bought some tea bags overseas.”

His mother looked at me with obvious affection.

Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to go home and rest, but letting an opportunity to get close to rich people slip away would be foolish.

So I chatted happily with his mother for about an hour before heading home.

The next day, Director Seo contacted me with a voice full of awkwardness.

[Mom said I… threw up yesterday?]

Even though it was only a phone call, I could picture his face.

Just hearing his embarrassed voice made it obvious he wanted to commit seppuku right then and there.

[Sorry. You spent a lot too, right?]

He said he’d pay me back everything, including what I’d paid the taxi driver.

Honestly, I wanted to accept immediately.

But I endured and answered calmly.

“What are you talking about, Director? I can’t accept money I never spent.”

[What? But you didn’t pay the driver? No, Mom definitely said–]

“I don’t know what your mother told you, but I have no idea. Didn’t we have a great time drinking? She even served us tea.”

At first, he didn’t understand what I meant.

He replied in confusion, practically asking, ‘What is this guy talking about? Was he drunk too?’

Only after I stubbornly maintained the same attitude did he finally understand my intentions.

Then I quickly changed the subject to spare him further embarrassment.

After chatting for five minutes, I timed it perfectly and prepared to end the call.

“Haha, that sounds good. See you next time, Director.”

[Um, well…]

After a long hesitation, his voice strangely emotional, he finally asked:

[When it’s just us… how about we speak more casually?]

“Sure. Feel free, Director.”

[No, um… I mean, I wish h-hyung-nim would speak casually too…]

I smiled silently at his stammering.

‘Worth every bit of the five hundred thousand won.’

I told him that, since it might create awkwardness among the other actors, we’d only do it when we were alone.

Honestly, I couldn’t care less whether the others felt awkward.

‘If they’re jealous, they can become close to the director themselves.’

Still, schemes worked better when they weren’t too obvious.

‘Besides, even if we only speak casually in private, is it really going to stay hidden?’

More importantly, Director Seo was terrible at hiding his expressions.

He’d think he was behaving professionally, but everyone around him would roughly figure out our relationship.

‘Standing above a director nobody dared to mess with…’

Just imagining manipulating him however I pleased made me eager to get to the set already.

And three days before the script reading, I’d come here today for exactly that purpose.

***

“Hyung-nim, please sit here.”

“Thanks.”

“So what did you want to meet me about?”

Smiling like a child, Director Seo listened as I rattled off all the changes I’d wanted to make after reading the script.

Naturally, before he could take offense, I buttered him up.

“You’re not just a director, right? It’s rare for someone to be both director and writer. You know that, don’t you? I think it’s fate.”

“Fate…?”

“Otherwise, what would be the point in me saying I think it’d be better this way? It’s only possible because you’re willing to listen to the opinion of a mere actor.”

Most importantly, I emphasized that it was possible because it was ‘his’ script.

His shoulders visibly straightened.

After praising him a few more times, everything changed exactly the way I wanted.

“But then your name should be in the credits, hyung-nim–”

“No, Jinki. That’s ridiculous.”

When he hesitated, I delivered the lines I’d prepared.

“I just suggested ideas because I thought they’d work better. You’re the one changing your script. How could my name go in the credits?”

I told him I had no such ambition, and even said he could record this conversation if it made him feel better.

That finally put him at ease.

Subconsciously, he’d realized:

‘This person doesn’t cross the line.’

Afterward, with less than three days remaining before the script reading, everyone in the cast and production team was informed about the revisions.