Ch.58Why are you showing up here?

After the news broke through the drama that Kim Donghu would appear in <Swordsman Baek Dong-soo>, public opinion was stirred up once again.

ㄴBut seriously, doesn’t this kid ever rest?

ㄴLegendary sequence: drama-commercial-short film-commercial movie-drama

ㄴHe’s even doing action twice, one war film, one historical drama

ㄴJust looking at how he holds the sword, it seems like he’s definitely had some training?

The profession of an actor is quite mysterious.

If they appear too often, people get tired of seeing them, but if they don’t appear enough, people miss them.

Since their value is determined by this balance,

they need to maintain appropriate exposure.

In that sense, Kim Donghu’s case was extremely rare.

He clearly appears frequently but never for too long.

Should I say he just makes an impact and disappears?

That’s exactly how his screen time worked.

A supporting role in High Dream,

the short film was literally short,

only 5 minutes in Endless Frontline,

Compared to the strong impression he made, his actual screen time was surprisingly limited.

While part of it might be due to his relatively short career,

ironically, this made Kim Donghu like the strawberry on a strawberry cake.

He never appeared in boring parts,

only cherry-picking the best moments to appear and then vanish.

In other words, he was the cherry picker of the drama world.

His role in <Swordsman Baek Dong-soo> was also similar.

At most, he would play the childhood version of someone who wouldn’t even appear in half the show.

But.

Slash!

Once again, his impact was extraordinary.

ㄴWhat was that just now?

ㄴDid he just cut the straw binding? Why does it cut so well?

ㄴGuess he wasn’t beating up kids with kendo in Hero for nothing, he must have had some training?

ㄴHow can someone so young be capable of so many things?

Through a one-take technique that eliminated any suspicion of editing,

people were once again amazed by Kim Donghu.

As time passed, the surprises kept coming.

People were shocked when a Haetbap sponsorship unexpectedly appeared during his rice-eating broadcast promised for reaching 10 million views,

and shortly after, they chuckled when he became the CF model for Haetbap.

Not only that.

“D-Director! Director! This is huge, huge!”

“…Don’t raise your voice. So, what percentage is it?”

“S-Swordsman Baek Dong-soo… when Kim Donghu appeared, the highest viewership was 16%.”

“It’s time to reclaim the throne of Monday-Tuesday dramas.”

How angry he had been when the neighbor’s cherry pie chunk was bragging about exceeding 30% viewership.

The SKS Drama Director spoke calmly as his subordinate bowed his head.

“Do all the promotion you can, and discuss with the actors about viewership promises and whatever else we can do.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Keep monitoring public opinion, and see if there’s anything else we can extract related to Kim Donghu.”

“Yes!”

The intention was to milk the currently trending Kim Donghu as much as possible.

But they couldn’t help it.

Every time he appeared, it was a hit,

so it would be foolish not to row hard when the tide was in.

Amidst all this hot buzz,

Kim Donghu, who was on everyone’s lips, was currently,

“…I think I should take a break after Eclipse?”

“I was actually going to say the same thing, I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

Thinking about taking a break.

+++++

Busy.

That would summarize the current situation.

With <Endless Frontline> and <Swordsman Baek Dong-soo> airing simultaneously right now,

all the schedules before this seemed like child’s play.

For the first time in my life, I felt my physical limits.

The main problem was that there weren’t many promotional methods in this era.

As a result, viewership promises often involved a lot of on-site activities.

Not to mention school uniform events and Haetbap events.

Being invited was truly something to be grateful for and made me happy, but that was separate from how exhausting it was.

A time when I really wished I had two bodies.

When I suddenly missed spending ordinary days with friends.

“I think it’s right to take a break after filming Eclipse.”

I just declared my need for a rest.

“I thought the same thing, so that’s good. It’s time to rest now.”

My value had risen as much as it could.

I had established my image as a guaranteed box office success.

Now it was time to create some scarcity.

Should I say it was time to watch slowly and see how high my value would rise?

This kind of work was essential for an actor.

“Oh, and you have absolutely no schedule until October, so you can rest well, Donghu.”

“Wasn’t there an audition for Eclipse?”

“Well, your career is doing so well right now, you’re a guaranteed success, so they said your role is already confirmed.”

So that’s how it can work.

‘Nice.’

After deciding to take a break, it really felt like I would have a lot of time to rest.

Seokho hyung, seeing this opportunity, began to actively coordinate my schedule.

“So you’ll be resting until you enter high school, right?”

“Yes. I think that would be better.”

Unless it was related to future messages from [Sims – Real Life],

there was no need to actively participate in anything more.

“You’re not going to appear on any variety shows either, right?”

“No.”

Most variety shows these days emphasized reality,

so if I made a slip of the tongue, it would be over.

Besides, when resting, it was right to rest properly.

“Oh, by the way, what if they contact you about Story of the Moon and the Stars while you’re resting?”

“Please let me know about that immediately.”

Future messages were something I absolutely couldn’t ignore, so I had to check.

“Alright, I’ll coordinate all the rest of your schedule, so rest comfortably.”

“Thank you.”

The day after deciding to take a break,

I became busy in a different way.

+++++

Paek Sangha, a martial artist resembling a great white shark,

was born with the destiny of martial arts.

In an era of romance, he cleaned up alleys with his fists for peace,

and using that talent, he mastered various martial arts.

He once dominated Asia in boxing,

and was planning to enter the UFC but unfortunately couldn’t due to an injury.

But his dreams didn’t end there.

Paek Sangha immediately enlisted in a special forces unit and was even deployed overseas.

He met many people through numerous battlefields,

and after surviving life-threatening situations, he was honorably discharged.

Based on this experience, he opened a gym in a quiet neighborhood.

The reason was obviously for a peaceful retirement,

but his real purpose was different.

‘Finding a gem.’

As the saying in martial arts novels goes, beware of children and the elderly.

True to this, Paek Sangha wanted to find a talented child.

And finally, now.

Swoosh!

Feeling the leather barely grazing his cheek,

Paek Sangha realized once again that the genius he had been looking for was right in front of him.

‘I thought his senses would have dulled from being so busy lately.’

Perhaps the brief break from exercise had actually served as appropriate rest.

Kim Donghu’s senses were sharper than before.

No, they were even more honed.

Should I say it reminded me of an assassin?

‘His killing intent is tremendous.’

Usually, when killing intent is this obvious, it’s easy to counter because the intention is visible.

But Kim Donghu’s killing intent felt different.

Eyes that conveyed nothing but the thought of killing the opponent.

Like a predator eyeing its prey.

As he was thinking this, Kim Donghu’s fist came flying again.

‘Is the left fist a decoy, and the real one is the right?’

Having come to that conclusion and preparing to lightly counter the left fist,

Swoosh.

Kim Donghu’s left foot stepped forward decisively.

‘Oh no!’

I had forgotten.

That Kim Donghu was a genius,

And,

‘Donghu is an ambidextrous person who primarily uses his left hand!’

That geniuses always operate on a different level when it comes to adaptability.

Thud.

Unable to adapt to the suddenly changed movement, I allowed a clean hit.

Even though it was just light sparring.

The problem was the level of the people doing the sparring.

Whack!

It was clearly just a light hit, but the sound it made was tremendous.

“Hnngh!”

It was only because Director Paek Sangha was at his level that he didn’t get hurt badly.

If this had been sparring between kids, it would have been an instant knockout.

Rubbing his stinging abdomen, Paek Sangha spoke with difficulty.

“Donghu… you know without me telling you about that technique just now, right?”

“Yes, never use it except in championship finals, correct?”

“Right, you should never use it anywhere else.”

After saying that, Director Paek Sangha slowly removed his protective gear.

“It’s been two months since you said you’d rest? It’s already September.”

“Yeah, I don’t even feel like I’ve properly rested yet, but time flies so fast.”

“Is that because you’ve been playing so hard? I heard you went to an amusement park recently?”

“Yes, even though I tried to disguise myself, people still recognized me. Next time I might wear a mask.”

There are many ways to recognize you besides your face.

Paek Sangha replied as he seriously examined Kim Donghu up and down.

His proportions and aura.

Even with his appearance covered, the overall atmosphere that was just Kim Donghu himself couldn’t be hidden.

Should I say his bearing was completely different from ordinary people?

Just watching how he walked, one could think, ah, that’s Kim Donghu.

“When you become really famous later, I guess I won’t be able to see our Donghu anymore.”

“By then, you can be my bodyguard, Director.”

“Me? Haha, that would be interesting.”

“Really? You promised, right?”

“…Are you serious?”

Haha.

Kim Donghu didn’t bother to confirm and just bowed his head before leaving the gym.

He had definitely been too busy having fun lately.

‘Maybe it’s time to focus on work again.’

Just before entering his official break period, his last project <Eclipse>

As he was about to immerse himself in preparation as soon as he got home,

“Donghu, I have something to talk to you about.”

Kim Donghu’s father, Kim Jeongryeol, stopped him.

And then immediately followed with,

“Actually, the pregnancy happened quite a while ago. But we wanted to wait until the stable period to tell you, and now that everything’s fine, we wanted to let you know.”

The straightforward statement with no preamble hit Kim Donghu’s head.

“Donghu, you’re going to be an older brother.”

Kim Donghu, age 15, was getting a little sister.

+++++

After hearing the shocking news.

‘So based on when she’s born, there will be a 16-year age gap?’

That’s so far apart.

I felt shocked as I held the <Eclipse> script in my hand.

What I needed now was to quickly change my mood.

In other words.

‘Immersion.’

It was time to dive into the script.

The first thing I saw was.

‘…Huh? Who are you?’

Sujin’s youthful face.

“My lord, why do you look at me so?”

Why are you appearing here?