Free Web Novel“Perhaps your master has already marked you as his successor. I look forward to the results.”
In his heart, the photographer did not consider the Korean Huijae his equal. If anything, he felt only humiliation at the thought of taking money from a Korean.
But he had no choice.
“...My apologies.”
He forced himself to bow. The gaze looking down at him from above pierced painfully into him.
“Oh my. How could the teachings of a skilled master be something to apologize for? It is not your fault.”
She admonished him in a small voice without inflection. Yet the sharp dagger hidden within it carved mercilessly at his pride.
“You should see a good physician about your back. I shall introduce you to the clinic I used to attend.”
It was a warning—Huijae’s promise to spread word about the insolent photographer herself.
“No, miss. Thank you, but you need not trouble yourself.”
The photographer bent even lower.
Passersby glanced at him as he bowed. It was unmistakable mockery.
“Very well. Though it may be difficult, I trust you will continue to learn much from your master.”
Huijae cast him a sidelong glance as he bowed in submission, then walked out.
“Okay! Cut!”
Director Ja’s excited voice rang across the set. Han Yeoreum delivered the long stretch of Japanese dialogue smoothly, without a single stumble.
“She’s really good at Japanese.”
“Seriously. Hey, didn’t you do working holiday in Japan back in the day? How does it sound to you?”
“Whoa. She’s good. If I closed my eyes, I’d think she was actually Japanese.”
While everyone was focused on Han Yeoreum’s voice, Ji Haebeom—who had arrived unnoticed and was now standing behind them with his arms crossed—examined her acting in detail.
“Haebeom, she’s good, right? That must’ve been hard to memorize.”
As Ji Haebeom’s manager admired her command of the lines, Ji Haebeom muttered, noticing something else entirely.
“She’s wearing geta... but there’s no sound from her steps.”
His gaze toward the junior who had exceeded expectations was warm.
* * *
The filming continued one after another. At last, all scenes in the photo studio were finished. It had taken some time since they had to reshoot various angles for editing continuity.
“Okay! Alright! Let’s take a short break before the next scene!”
Director Ja disappeared again in search of coffee, and finally I took off the stiff geta. Changing into slippers felt like I could breathe again—
“Did I do well?”
“Whoa, you startled me.”
At the sudden voice from behind, I ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) sprang to my feet.
Ji Haebeom stood there, fully suited as though he had just finished makeup. A three-piece suit, pomade-styled hair. You could practically hear ratings rising just by looking at him.
“Hello, sunbae.”
The kind of man who stands out more the darker it is. Who came up with that nickname?
‘I wish someone would give me a catchphrase like that....’
He really did have a solid tagline. Black suited him far too well.
“Want my number?”
Absolutely yes. Top actor Ji Haebeom’s number.... Before my inner opportunistic calculator could even finish computing, the answer was obvious. I politely reached to take the phone he held out.
“Yap.”
But what? Ji Haebeom lifted his phone higher playfully.
‘What is this.’
Is he trying to stage a co-ed campus mood here? Am I supposed to hop in place and go, “Haebeom sunbae, you’re so tall... why are you so tall?” And then he says, “You’re just short”?
‘Ji Haebeom. One star.’
Just an average senior. You need to learn from Yun Hyeonjo.
Still, in an effort to recruit him into the Han Yeoreum faction, I put on a flustered expression—like a junior nervous at her senior’s teasing.
Ji Haebeom shook the raised phone twice.
“Now, repeat after me.”
“...Pardon?”
“No.”
“...No?”
“My agency is extremely strict.”
“...My agency is extremely strict.”
“Hurry.”
What is this?
“No...? My agency is extremely strict...?”
“If we exchange personal contact information separately, I get scolded.”
“If we exchange personal contact information separately, I get scolded...?”
Ji Haebeom, you....
“There are a lot of strange older men around here. You shouldn’t just hand it over because they ask.”
One-star rating revoked. You are in fact an outstanding talent fit for the Han Yeoreum faction. In my inner opportunistic calculator, Ji Haebeom’s value shot up instantly. Three more zeros were added.
“Yes! I will truly engrave sunbae’s advice in my heart.”
As I promptly flattered him upward, Ji Haebeom added,
“But if someone insists on getting it secretly, drop Manager Hong’s name. There aren’t just one or two people here he’s crushed and sent flying.... His name carries that kind of weight.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Ji Haebeom slipped his phone back into his jacket.
“Alright then. See you later.”
With that, he turned away lightly. We had barely spoken, yet my energy felt drained. Similar pressure to Myeong Jeha, but somehow a different texture—
“What did you talk about?”
“Whoa, you startled me.”
Speak of the elder and he appears. Myeong Jeha stood behind me in comfortable clothes.
“You don’t have filming today, do you?”
“No. But I came to see the atmosphere on set.”
Even without makeup, his face looked perfectly arranged as he smiled smoothly. I felt a strange peace just looking at him. Nice scent.
“What’s he like, Ji Haebeom?”
“I don’t know....”
It was hard to describe. I knew he was interested in me, but I couldn’t tell whether that was good or bad.
“What’s he usually like?”
I chose to ask Myeong Jeha instead. In my memory, Myeong Jeha had been at the top. He must have had some connection with Ji Haebeom. They had even been dual leads in a film where I appeared as an extra before regression.
“What kind of person....”
Myeong Jeha thought for a moment before answering quietly.
“He’s someone Yeon Huijae needs to impress.”
* * *
The first scene where the two meet was simple. All they had to do was walk and get into the car.
‘But that’s harder.’
Ordinary daily acting was always the most difficult. To appear not as an actor but as the character required every small habit to be set properly.
‘It’s easy to slip.’
Walking looks simple, but walking as someone changes everything. Because it is the most basic movement, there is much to consider.
Ji Haebeom deliberately positioned himself beyond the photo studio, in a spot where he could see Huijae clearly. Director Ja spoke to him, puzzled.
“Haebeom, you’re not in this yet.”
“I want to see her. Huijae.”
He wanted to confirm with his own eyes. He still hadn’t shaken the memory of Yeoreum’s Yeon Huijae from the audition—a glimpse like a spoiler.
“Oh! Already helping your junior get into character?”
The cinematographer patted Ji Haebeom’s shoulder. But Director Ja noticed sharply.
“If you stand there, she’ll get distracted. Move.”
She couldn’t just walk. She had to walk as Huijae.
As Huijae on an ordinary day, with no one she was conscious of standing before her. If a senior was planted directly opposite, of course she would be distracted. Even at Director Ja’s blunt remark, Ji Haebeom held his ground.
“Just once. Let me watch once, then I’ll move.”
“What’s gotten into you.”
“You saw her at the audition too, didn’t you?”
At that, Director Ja’s lips pressed tightly together. Anyone who had seen Yeoreum that day would want to witness that acting again before their eyes.
“Fine. Just once! Alright! Rolling!”
Director Ja returned to the monitor, and Ji Haebeom crossed his arms, staring at the photo studio door.
When the door opened, Huijae would emerge. The Huijae he had clung to like religion even when life and death were precarious.
“Ready—!”
This Yeon Huijae was not the Huijae Gi Taeseok had loved. She was Rio, the young lady of Kobe—not the innocent girl from Joseon who knew nothing and stumbled through everything.
When they reunited later, the Huijae Eun Baekhap would show had to resemble the one Han Yeoreum embodied now.
‘Did she realize?’
If she wanted to stand out herself, she had to act as Huijae.
But if she wanted to elevate the work, she had to act as Yeon Huijae who resembled Eun Baekhap.
Ji Haebeom wondered whether Han Yeoreum had foreseen that far.
Would she choose herself—or the work?
“Action!”
Director Ja’s voice rang out.
The door opened. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Huijae stepped out.
