episode_0066

“I’d like to concentrate on the script.”

Sua cut everyone off with a short statement and opened her script.

S#CMX

Citizens, in an uproar over a bomb terror. Kim Yuhan is tied up in a burning warehouse.

After reading up to here, Sua nodded.

‘So that’s why? No wonder there were so many people.’

She’d been wondering why there were so many extras, but the climax involved a bomb terror in the city. The more citizens, the better for realism.

Sua continued reading the script.

Lee Kangcheol hears about Kim Yuhan while chasing the criminal. A fork in the road appears for the speeding car. The criminal flees to the right. Lee Kangcheol hesitates. Will he turn left to save Kim Yuhan? Or pursue to the right to catch the criminal? Two options. Lee Kangcheol makes a decision and proceeds immediately.

‘…?’

Sua tilted her head after reading it all.

‘Huh?’

She was bewildered. It was unavoidable.

‘What is this? It ends here? It really ends like this?’

Sua just checked the climax script.

Saying it has a high degree of freedom is an understatement; it was nearly incomplete. It was practically up to the Lee Kangcheol character to decide and fill in the scene himself.

Of course, this doesn’t disadvantage Sua. The script granted freedom to Lee Kangcheol, not Kim Yuhan.

The implication was clear.

‘…Kim Seonil’s capabilities are crucial. Very.’

─Lee Kangcheol makes a decision and proceeds immediately.

The climax was structured like a relay race.

Sua runs and hands over the baton, and the ending is entirely up to Kim Seonil.

Is this possible? No, Kim Seonil received the script earlier than her, so he must have finished his research. No, this is meddling. Let’s just do my job properly.

While Sua was lost in thought, Choi Heewon PD shouted.

“Sua-ssi! Seonil-ssi! Let’s start! Standby!”

Finally, the moment to film the climax arrived.

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“Going to film! Three! Two! One! Action!”

The sound of the slate hitting. Filming began.

『….』

Simultaneously, Kim Yuhan struggled to lift his head.

His head throbbed. He must have been hit pretty hard on the head because blood kept flowing down his forehead.

He was tied up in a corner of a large warehouse, and the situation was not good. A red light entered his field of vision. A fire was slowly spreading from the distance.

『…Ah.』

He tried to make a sound, but his voice was faint. It was nearly impossible for anyone outside the warehouse to hear it.

Whoosh─

His voice would be drowned out by the sound of the flames.

His task was clear.

He had no choice but to accept death.

『Ha.』

Kim Yuhan quietly let out a hollow laugh.

How did this happen?

Kim Yuhan, who chased criminals as a ‘detective’ when he went to work and as ‘Kim Yuhan’ when he got off, gradually faced larger criminals, and this time it was too big.

To the point where Kim Yuhan ended up like this.

He knew that this would happen to him someday.

From the beginning, he didn’t care about his own safety; his only goal was to punish criminals. So, he was already prepared to suffer the consequences himself.

Yes, so.

『…It’s okay.』

Kim Yuhan muttered to himself.

The fact that he was going to die, that his burned corpse would remain hideous, didn’t really hit him that hard. After all, he didn’t have family or friends.

However.

『I wanted to take out one more. It’s a shame.』

He was just sorry that he couldn’t take out one more criminal. That was all. As Kim Yuhan kept silent and felt the fire spreading inside the warehouse,

Chizzik─

Jizzik─

Something started to crackle.

『…Walkie-talkie?』

There was a walkie-talkie at his feet.

It seemed that the criminal had deliberately left it at his feet without confiscating it. His intention must have been to mock Kim Yuhan. Kim Yuhan thought. As expected, he’s a nasty guy.

Pachit─

It was then that the walkie-talkie connected.

『Kim Yuhan, can you hear me?』

『Kim Yuhan! Answer me!』

The owner of the voice was Lee Kangcheol.

Kim Yuhan closed his eyes quietly and said.

『I’m sorry, sunbae.』

This time, his voice was calm without any playfulness.

『I couldn’t catch him with my own hands. I should have been a little more meticulous and careful, but I got caught up in my emotions like an idiot. I made a mistake. I’m sorry.』

It was also sincere.

Kim Yuhan believed that this defeat was due to his emotions. The serial killer who made Kim Yuhan look like this was also the person who killed Kim Yuhan’s parents.

So maybe, no, he was definitely hasty.

‘It’s funny. Did I even have familial love?’

While Kim Yuhan chuckled,

『…Kim Yuhan?』

Lee Kangcheol sensed that Kim Yuhan’s voice was different from usual. Lee Kangcheol realized around this point. Something big must have happened while the radio wasn’t working.

『Kim Yuhan, what happened? What’s the current situation?』

『Don’t worry. Fortunately, I found out all the information about those guys. So, it means that Kangcheol sunbae’s career, which was clean without a single blemish, will be maintained.』

Whatever.

Kim Yuhan continued to say what he had to say.

『By now, sunbae is probably chasing him, right? It’s obvious without looking. The destination is probably Pohang. That’s where their base is. So, request support. The key is not to catch him. The key is to block the ship.』

『Kim Yuhan, I told you to report your situation.』

『Sunbae.』

Kim Yuhan did not answer this time either.

However.

『Catch him this time too. As always. Cleanly.』

I’m only going this far.

After muttering the last words quietly, Kim Yuhan kicked the walkie-talkie with his foot and pushed it away. The walkie-talkie, which had been pushed far away, was soon covered in flames and slowly began to deform.

『Kim Yuhan! Answer me! Kim Yuhan! This is an order!』

Lee Kangcheol’s urgent shout.

Pajijik─!

However, the walkie-talkie soon stopped delivering any sound, and only the sound of sparks remained in all directions.

In that silence that wasn’t quite silence.

Kim Yuhan.

『…Warm.』

Still with his eyes closed, he slowly raised the corners of his lips.

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“Great! Sua-ssi! So great!”

Choi Heewon PD’s shout.

First of all, Sua’s filming was over.

“Everyone worked hard! Let’s clean up here first! Now we just have to wait for Seonil-ssi’s scene!”

At the same time, some teams except the filming crew started cleaning up first. The actors too. Sua was finally relieved at the thought of removing her makeup.

In the meantime, some staff members muttered.

“Seonil-ssi is filming on the road today, right?” “That’s right. Because there’s a car chase scene.”

“As expected of the climax scene, driving, acting…. The difficulty must be no joke. The pressure must be high too. Sua-ssi, who is his partner, did so well.” “That’s right. But he’ll do well, right? It’s Seonil-ssi.”

Sua was just as curious.

‘I wonder how Kim Seonil will end it?’

Still, I hope he does well since he’s doing it anyway.

It was then.

Suddenly, something flashed in front of Sua.

( ! )

The special trait put a feeling mark in the air.

What is it suddenly? As soon as Sua stared at the feeling mark with her eyes, the letters spread out widely.

[You have reached the climax in the play.] [Someone desperately wants resonance.]

‘Resonance? What are you talking about all of a sudden?’

And.

[Condition satisfied.] [Resonance start.]

[Yeoncheongyeong.]

Pasuseuseuseu─!

Something was activated at will.

‘…Yeoncheongyeong?’

A word she had never heard before in her life. But suddenly, the meaning was injected into her head. It was like she had known this word for a very long time.

Yeoncheongyeong (演天境).

The scenery seen when the earnestness of acting reaches the sky.

It was something that Sua could not know right now.

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A while later.

Huuuung─!

Lee Kangcheol’s car is speeding like crazy.

He is chasing the criminal’s car in front of him. The surrounding scenery is flashing by and the hand holding the steering wheel is all sweaty.

Chase.

Catch or be caught. They only cared about that.

Huuung─! Huuung─!

Ridiculous lane changes were commonplace, and speeding was a matter of course. Lee Kangcheol was determined to catch him no matter what. Because the opponent is a vicious serial killer.

Huuuung─!

Stepping on the accelerator even more, Lee Kangcheol shouted into the radio.

『Kim Yuhan! Answer me! Kim Yuhan! This is an order!』

No reply comes back.

Huuuung─!

In the meantime, the two cars that were chasing each other entered a long tunnel.

It is quiet and lonely. But fierce. Because only two cars existed inside the tunnel.

『Kim Yuhan!』

The radio signal was completely cut off.

But then.

The radio connected to another channel.

『Lee Kangcheol! Can you hear me now?』

It’s not Kim Yuhan. It was Ha Yoonjin (Seo Yeonju).

『I can hear you! Currently chasing the criminal! More than that, I can’t get through to Kim Yuhan. Do you know the situation?』

『Kim Yuhan is currently trapped in a burning warehouse.』

『…Yes? Then!』

However, Ha Yoonjin cut off Lee Kangcheol’s words.

『Don’t worry about Kim Yuhan. We’ll send someone from our side so you don’t have to worry. Just focus on catching the criminal!』

『…!』

Lee Kangcheol was greatly shocked around this point.

Ha Yoonjin’s statement was practically a meaning that she was giving up on Kim Yuhan. The distance from headquarters to the warehouse is very far, even if calculated briefly. There’s no way he’ll arrive in time.

…The only way to save him is for Lee Kangcheol to turn his car around. Lee Kangcheol is the closest to the warehouse.

『You understand? That guy! If you don’t catch him now, you’ll never catch him!』

Pajijik─

The radio cuts off with Ha Yoonjin’s shout.

This is because the car has entered deep into the tunnel. The car, which is speeding like crazy, has already passed a third of the tunnel.

Huuuuuung─!

A car going like a wild horse.

Lee Kangcheol fell into thought.

‘After this tunnel, there will be two paths.’

Kim Yuhan said Pohang was the criminal’s base.

To chase the criminal, you have to go right, but to check on Kim Yuhan, you have to go left. The worry was great. Catch a guy who was nearly impossible to catch, or save a colleague.

…Yes, Lee Kangcheol would have only worried about this.

Kim Seonil could not concentrate on that thought right now.

‘What on earth….’

Kim Seonil thought.

‘What on earth should I do? What on earth?’

It was okay to be worried like this. The image of him shaking that the camera would capture would be seen as Lee Kangcheol hesitating whether to save Kim Yuhan or catch the criminal.

Huuuung─!

The car is still running breathlessly.

Before he knew it, he had passed about halfway through the tunnel.

‘What on earth, what on earth, what on earth…!’

Kim Seonil felt like he was going crazy.

His younger sister’s words were still vivid in his ears.

─I want to see the scene you did the best. ─I want to see you happy too.

His younger sister asked, and he answered with a lie.

Can he create a scene that will turn a lie into the truth? He asked himself, and an answer soon came back.

Impossible.

He can’t make it.

He can never exert such creativity.

‘I’m just an actor, just an actor. I’m just a doll!’

When the writer writes the script, he just digests it like a machine. It means that he is no different from a doll with strings attached to his body. Until now, he had thought that only that was acting.

But what about the current situation?

What about this situation where he is entirely in charge of the ending?

Kim Seonil actually hated this situation. He was not good at improvisation, and he didn’t have the creativity to come up with the best storyline.

Therefore, Kim Seonil became impatient and just hoped.

I wish someone would tell me the answer.

Or I wish inspiration would come to me suddenly.

No, I wish they would give me a clue.

If that’s not possible, I just wanted to let go.

This was a kind of giving up, and at the same time, it was a surrender.

“….”

At that moment when Kim Seonil closed his eyes tightly.

Pasuseuseuseuseu─! Suddenly, out of nowhere.

Without any premonition.

Pasuseuseuseu─!

For a moment.

The scenery coming into view completely changed.

And.

‘…What?’

That scenery was something that he was too familiar with.