How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 96

Chapter 96

 

Because of the revised script, the reading schedule was pushed back by three days.

‘Though, did it really have to be delayed?’

I couldn’t help wondering.

The changes brought about by my intervention only affected the protagonist’s dialogue and parts of the plot, so in truth, the impact on the other actors wasn’t that great.

More importantly, postponing an official schedule with only three days’ notice was absurd in itself.

But as always, money solved absurdity.

Director Seo settled everyone’s complaints with money, and that warm, practical apology satisfied everyone.

‘In the end, it’s a happy ending.’

Anyway, everyone was given time to practice with the revised script, and the cast and staff even received additional compensation.

Which meant that not a trace of dissatisfaction could be seen on anyone’s faces at today’s reading.

“Hello.”

I’d arrived pretty early, but the reading room was already bustling with people.

After exchanging greetings with the actors, all excited with various emotions such as nervousness and anticipation, I sat down as soon as things settled somewhat.

I wanted to spend a bit more time reading the script, but there was one problem.

“Hello~!”

“Ah, hello!”

“Hello…”

Every time someone entered the room, the actors sitting beside me sprang to their feet and greeted them.

Anyone looking at them would think they were rookie actors trembling with nerves.

The endless greeting relay kept me from concentrating on the script, but it didn’t annoy me.

‘Cute.’

Seeing kids younger than Yoo Seulho fidgeting nervously was rather adorable.

They were much easier on the eyes than brats like Woo Junseo.

‘But they’re really nervous.’

All the actors appearing with me in this movie were unfamiliar faces to the public.

Unlike Bae Dain, who had spent years acting but never had a hit, these were genuine beginners who had debuted only recently.

Since everything was their first time, some of them were even taking calming pills with trembling hands.

I handed a fistful of chocolates to the actor beside me.

“Pass these around too. I’ve got plenty.”

“Ah! Thank you…!”

The woman beside me bowed repeatedly and passed them around.

In total, six people received chocolate.

‘Four men and three women.’

Including me, that meant seven actors made up the “main group” of the movie.

I played Junho, the protagonist who survived until the end, while the others would gradually disappear one by one according to the crises.

‘Tsk.’

This won’t be easy.

Until now, every shoot I’d done had been relatively small-scale.

Choi Ran and Woo Junseo, Bae Dain and Byeon Duho.

There had been group scenes occasionally, but those were limited to specific scenes.

This was my first time filming an entire movie with so many people.

‘And I’m the lead.’

Not only that, I was the oldest, and my experience surpassed theirs by a huge margin.

At least, on the surface.

‘What’s really the difference between me and these rookies?’

But the staff didn’t know I wasn’t the real Yoo Seulho.

Naturally, they expected me to lead these actors.

I was a little worried, but there was no helping it.

‘I’ve already been paid.’

And not a small amount, either.

I had to somehow pull it off.

At the very least, I had to act like I was leading.

‘What are they gonna do? Fire me?’

Maybe because Director Seo liked me so much, I wasn’t particularly nervous.

I’d practiced acting afraid of nail clippers pretty well, and overall, there wasn’t much bothering me.

Well, except for one thing.

‘…When am I supposed to memorize all these names?’

I had to memorize not only the actors’ real names but also their character names.

Memorizing them itself wasn’t impossible, but naturally, unfamiliar names took time to stick.

Just imagining making a mistake already made me tired.

‘Since everyone except me is a rookie, this could become ammunition later.’

People’s psychology was like that.

Yoo Seulho’s hate comments had calmed down recently, but I couldn’t forget that he had originally been an unpopular celebrity whom everyone disliked.

Even if these actors were rookies now, nobody knew how things would change in a few years.

‘What if one of them holds a grudge?’

Who knew what they’d say later on variety shows or in interviews after becoming famous?

“When I was a rookie filming a movie, there was this famous actor. He kept getting my name wrong. Well, it happens~. Kim Cheolsu. Such a difficult name, right? Haha.”

Imagining that made me even more cautious.

Deciding I needed a solution, I carefully made a suggestion.

“What do you all think about this?”

“Huh?”

“We seven sitting here are going to have to spend several months together like friends, right? We’re all close in age anyway, so what if we call each other by our character names to immerse ourselves more?”

I also suggested we speak casually while we were at it.

“Oh, sounds good!”

“I think that’s nice too~!”

Despite it being a somewhat burdensome suggestion, several actors innocently nodded.

Watching them made me feel a little guilty.

‘I feel like an old man surrounded by youngsters.’

It was like some old guy who didn’t understand how important one or two years’ age difference was suddenly barged in and went, “Just use casual speech with each other~”

I felt sorry for sticking my nose into something young people would normally figure out themselves, but there wasn’t much choice.

“Uh, I agree too…!”

Even if someone didn’t want to speak casually, it was impossible to voice dissatisfaction in this atmosphere.

I shamelessly stuck to my position until everyone began awkwardly speaking casually despite having met for the first time today.

“Junho oppa!”

Among them, there was one peculiar person.

The actress playing Ajin grinned.

“I can talk casually too, right? Ajin speaks formally to Junho in the movie, but casual speech is best for getting close!”

“Sure. Do whatever you want.”

“Yay.”

She showed no signs of feeling intimidated by me.

Unlike the others who nervously stumbled between “Sunbae–no, Junho…!” and “Junho… sunbaenim?”

While everyone else was trying hard to treat me like my character, Ajin immediately switched to casual speech.

“So this is what a reading room looks like~ Amazing!”

After chatting comfortably for a while, Ajin suddenly said:

“Oppa, this is a little embarrassing, but… I’m a Straw!”

“Huh?”

“A Straw!”

“…Congratulations?”

But what the hell was that?

Seeing my bewildered expression, Ajin looked even more shocked and opened her mouth wide.

“It’s your fan nickname! Your fandom name!”

That finally brought back something I’d completely forgotten.

Right, that had come up in the industry reports Choo Seomok checked every morning.

‘Wait, wasn’t that a joke?’

Wasn’t that just fans messing around? Since when had it become an actual fandom name?

When I asked in confusion, Ajin burst out laughing.

“We’d all been waiting, you know. Since oppa joined Wooyeon Entertainment, we thought there’d be an official announcement or something, but nothing happened.”

“You have to officially announce things like that?”

“If the agency doesn’t decide it, the fans have to. What other option is there?”

She shrugged.

At that moment, I felt dizzy.

‘This is insane.’

No matter how much I’d tried not to interfere with Yoo Seulho’s fans, this wasn’t okay.

“Straw” didn’t even sound pleasant.

It was basically self-deprecating humor.

I couldn’t let them call themselves that.

Especially considering there was still a possibility Yoo Seulho and I might return to our original bodies.

‘That’s why I haven’t even smoked.’

I used to be a heavy smoker.

Did the craving disappear completely after entering Yoo Seulho’s body?

Of course not.

Even now, I could chain-smoke if I wanted.

But…

‘It’s not my body.’

Even if I moved around in it right now, it didn’t mean this body was truly mine.

Just as I’d suddenly opened my eyes in Yoo Seulho’s body, I could suddenly wake up in my own tomorrow.

I didn’t know how likely that was, but I couldn’t say the chance was zero.

‘Just in case, I can’t live recklessly.’

Building Yoo Seulho’s fame and earning money didn’t harm him.

But smoking?

That was harmful from any perspective.

I couldn’t do something with someone else’s body that had no benefits whatsoever.

Likewise, allowing Yoo Seulho’s fans to make fun of themselves wasn’t right either.

How would Yoo Seulho feel later?

His fans were calling themselves straws because they “sucked up” the celebrity they adored.

‘Absolutely not.’

No matter what, I had to stop it.

I resolved to head to the company as soon as today’s reading was over.

Anything generic and ordinary would do.

As long as it wasn’t “Straw.”

While I was thinking with a serious expression, Ajin innocently asked:

“Oppa, can we eat that?”

She pointed toward the lavish finger food section set up in one corner of the room, which nobody had touched.

It looked like another one of Director Seo’s ridiculous displays of wealth.

“If we weren’t supposed to eat it, they wouldn’t have put it there.”

“But nobody’s touching it…”

“It’s everyone’s first meeting. It’s hard to just start eating. Why, do you want some?”

Ajin immediately nodded.

I took her and a few others over.

“Wow, it’s delicious!”

“It really is!”

“Hyewoo, we agreed to speak casually!”

“Ah, right. Yeah.”

Listening to the actresses talk, I learned that Ajin hadn’t even been an actress a few months ago.

She’d been an ordinary college student before getting scouted by an acting agency.

‘No wonder.’

It was obvious from how freely she spoke that she hadn’t been trained.

‘Doesn’t her company teach these things?’

I wondered, but figured a small agency might not.

‘I didn’t even know Star Actors had that kind of training.’

I only learned after joining Wooyeon Entertainment.

‘Anyway, they all seem nice.’

I hadn’t spoken with everyone yet, but overall, they seemed quiet and kind.

It felt like we’d get through filming without any major issues…

Ah, except one person.

‘Was his name Jaehyun?’

The actor playing Jaehyun gave me bad vibes.

He hadn’t said anything in particular, but just from his eyes, I could tell he didn’t like me.

‘Well… not everyone has to like me.’

As long as he didn’t cause me trouble, I didn’t care.

There were already too many people around me to waste time worrying about him.

‘Hate me if you want.’

I’ve got my own things to do.

By the time the awkwardness among the cast had eased somewhat, Director Seo finally arrived.

Despite all the pomp with which he entered, I immediately went over and greeted him.

No matter how close we were privately, it was best to publicly elevate someone like him.

That made life easier for me.

“Then we’ll begin the script reading for ‘The Sixth Night’.”

After introductions ended, everyone took their seats.

The atmosphere was more peaceful than expected, and I relaxed.

And when the reading began, I had absolutely no idea what was about to happen today.