Ch.110How much time do I have left on my contract?

The role of the extras was simple.

From the name itself, they were extras, and their roles were intuitive.

‘Slave 1 who dies after being trampled.’

Extra Kim Hansu recalled his role as he glanced to the side.

Slash!

There he saw his wife, writhing in pain with her arm cut off.

Strictly speaking, it was a relationship scripted in the role,

but seeing her struggling made him feel sympathetically pained.

‘Even though I know it’s a prop, it’s still brutal.’

Kim Hansu was someone who had played various extra roles in many places.

That’s why he knew how unthreatening fake swords were.

Just a children’s toy pretending to be sharp.

That’s definitely what it should be.

‘Why does it look so much like a real sword?’

In Kim Donghu’s hands, it seemed to have a chilling edge.

A sharp gaze that looked like it had cut through several people slowly pressed down on his body.

Like trying to drown him,

ridiculously, he truly felt that Kim Donghu held the power of life and death.

Then suddenly at some point.

Thud.

The pressure disappeared.

And then.

Like raising one’s head urgently to breathe after being submerged in water,

Kim Hansu unconsciously lifted his head.

“Huh…!”

There was Kim Donghu, with not a single drop of blood on his face,

looking at him with a chilling smile.

“Still, I thought it proper to watch a child’s departure, isn’t that the law of heaven?”

Kim Donghu, no, Lee Taesung, gestured to the side as if enjoying himself.

What appeared was his child, lying dead in a miserable state.

In that brief moment, whatever had happened,

he could see his child’s body drenched in blood.

“…!”

Leaving behind the genuinely shocked Kim Hansu,

as if there was no more allocated time.

“I’ll really miss the firewood you used to bring.”

Lee Taesung covered extra Kim Hansu’s eyes,

and moved the knife as if slitting his throat from a perfectly cinematic angle.

“Cut! That’s good!”

And immediately came the cut sign.

Director Yoon Seongbin mentally applauded with admiration at Kim Donghu’s acting, which he was experiencing for the first time.

‘No way, is he this good?’

He had heard rumors,

seen him in movies and dramas, but he didn’t expect this level.

Of course, he had sensed something extraordinary since the script reading.

‘But I didn’t expect him to pressure everyone around him like this.’

Just seventeen years old.

An age with still much potential for growth.

‘His height is a bit over 180cm.’

But his visuals were already close to perfection.

At a level where no amount of praise for his appearance would be enough,

to act like that.

‘The costume suits him too well.’

To express a dissolute young master,

they had given him just a pure white dopo and a sword.

How well the atmosphere came alive.

Additionally, the slightly loosened topknot enhanced the rogue-like feeling.

But his face was that of a noble young man,

and the imbalance created an incredible charm.

‘If he went to theaters like this, he’d shake many women’s hearts.’

As the theater atmosphere was clearly anticipated.

Director Yoon Seongbin requested a reshoot to capture an even better scene.

‘And without a single NG.’

Rather, he was so thorough that,

even though the extras were doing well, their awkwardness was noticeable.

Kim Donghu alone seemed like someone who had lived in the Joseon era,

while the rest were like strangers who had come through a time machine.

Moreover, what was frightening was that the more he acted, the better he became.

It was as if the character of Lee Taesung was gradually emerging.

Director Yoon Seongbin continued filming in admiration,

exchanging opinions with various staff members.

“…Is that really a fake sword?”

“Yes, I’ve checked it several times, it’s definitely fake.”

Especially in scenes using the sword, they checked multiple times to see if it had an edge.

How he wielded the sword as if it had a sharp edge.

“…Did he just cut a rope with a fake sword?”

“Uh… ah, maybe the rope was old and just broke?”

“Right? That must be it? Let’s replace the rope and try two or three more times.”

After repeating the filming for some time.

“The day is starting to fade.”

“Indeed, this scene doesn’t work without natural light.”

“Then we should wrap up for today.”

As they were about to enter the final shoot with regret.

Whoosh.

Like a divine revelation, a deep sunset glow settled over the filming location.

‘Huh, what?’

He couldn’t put it into words.

But Director Yoon Seongbin instinctively hurried to light a bonfire near the filming site.

As the sunset glow colored the bonfire’s ashes,

and the ashes scattered like flower petals across the filming site.

Whirrrr.

The camera naturally started rolling,

“The day being dreary, I thought I’d satisfy my craving with some candy.”

As if possessed by something.

Kim Donghu’s ad-lib began as if he had been waiting for this moment.

No, it was hard to see him as Kim Donghu anymore.

The dopo, stained with ash and sunset, turned red,

making it look like blood splattered with each swing of the sword.

And as the loosened topknot naturally came undone,

he brushed his hair up in irritation as he killed the slave.

“…hmm.”

Director Yoon Seongbin suppressed the exclamation that was about to escape.

A rogue wearing a dopo stained by the sunset glow,

Lee Taesung had appeared right here.

+++++

As filming ended with the setting of the sun.

“Donghu, you really worked hard!”

Seokho hyung quickly jumped to my side as if he had been waiting.

“Wow, how did you not make a single mistake after so many takes!”

“Come on, hyung. How can you say that here with everyone around, they’ll hear.”

“R-really? Was I too much? Honestly, I thought it was okay if they heard a little….”

Does he want to brag about me that much?

Seokho hyung lowered his voice slightly and handed me a water bottle.

“I heard lemon ginger tea is good in winter, so I made some.”

“…Hyung, people will think you’re my manager.”

“I am your manager, what do you mean? We started as a one-person agency, remember.”

Seokho hyung didn’t seem to mind my words.

Forgetting that he was the CEO, he poured lemon ginger tea into the thermos lid.

“And strictly speaking, you’re the boss, remember our shares, hm?”

I sighed deeply at Seokho hyung’s quiet words.

‘I told him we couldn’t do that yet because I’m a minor.’

I said we’d talk about shares again after I became an adult.

But Seokho hyung already thought of himself as a salaried CEO.

Even though he strictly had shares!

‘I’ll be growing under you anyway, so it makes sense for you to be the boss, he said.’

Recalling Seokho hyung’s dizzying words.

I drank the lemon ginger tea.

“It’s good.”

“Right? And let’s eat nearby before heading back, the road will be jammed during rush hour anyway.”

“I’m fine with that, but what’s famous in Gyeongnam?”

“Well… oysters? Should we have oyster soup? Donghu, do you know how to eat oysters?”

“I can eat pretty much anything.”

As we were heading to the van, chatting.

“I know how to eat oyster soup too, may I join you?”

Someone suddenly joined our conversation.

“J-Jin Yuseong?!”

At Seokho hyung’s surprised words, I turned my head toward where Actor Jin Yuseong was.

‘Ah right, he was here.’

Come to think of it, I had forgotten because I was busy filming.

He said he came to visit.

But I thought he had left already since his presence wasn’t felt at all.

“My manager went up to Seoul without me, so how about we eat oyster soup together before heading to Seoul?”

Saying something that anyone would recognize as a lie,

Actor Jin Yuseong very naturally matched his steps with ours.

‘…Are we going to refuse?’

‘How can we refuse when senior Jin Yuseong wants to eat oyster soup with us?’

‘That’s true.’

After Seokho hyung and I exchanged glances,

we quickly nodded before any strange atmosphere could develop.

“Of course, no problem.”

But why suddenly?

It was truly puzzling.

++++++

Back when the Flame Theater Company was at the height of its popularity.

-I need to change agencies.

-Huh? Agencies?

When he met Seo Jinwoo, who loved his pilot role so much

that he wore a pilot hat even in daily life.

-Yeah.

-Suddenly?

Yuseong was surprised by the sudden talk of changing nests.

His hyung was always random, but not to this extent.

But Seo Jinwoo continued seriously, as if he meant it.

-It’s not sudden, my contract is almost over.

-Where are you going?

-Hmm… Veritas?

-Veritas? Where’s that?

-Our youngest is there.

-Youngest? Who? Don’t tell me Kim Donghu?

-Yeah.

-Are you seriously changing just because he’s there?

That was going way beyond the line.

An actor of Seo Jinwoo’s caliber shouldn’t change agencies like that.

He should carefully consider everything from signing bonuses,

to which place could provide more conveniences.

To do it like following a friend to Gangnam?

To that question, Seo Jinwoo shrugged.

-Something feels good when I’m around him.

-Feels good?

-I’ve played a pilot role, and hmm… how should I put it, things just go smoothly?

-That animal instinct again? Hyung, this isn’t right.

-You should see him act once, and work with him once.

Then you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

That conversation from back then suddenly replayed in Yuseong’s mind.

He now understood why Jinwoo hyung had said that,

why he had praised Kim Donghu endlessly.

In a situation where seeing one thing reveals ten.

‘Beyond acting… bowing respectfully to extras every time…’

Kim Donghu had already shown all ten things.

That’s why he clearly understood Jinwoo hyung’s words.

With an actor like this,

with a manager who continues to care for him like that,

and an agency that continues on the path of success without a single failure,

‘How much time do I have left on my contract?’

While he was thinking that.

‘…Hyung, why isn’t senior Jin Yuseong eating his soup after ordering it?’

‘Y-yeah, does he not like hot food?’

Kim Donghu and Choi Seokho were eating their oyster soup while being considerate.

“My, these young men are so handsome! Wait, I feel like I’ve seen this young man somewhere before…?”

The clerk’s visual feast was a bonus.