CH 23.1

6-8 minutes 09.02.2023

The after-effects of the memory synchronization lasted longer than expected, and thus, Yoo Yeon Seo ended up causing a filming disruption. For a whole two days.

At first, he wondered if it was okay to do this, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. On top of that, Lim Seung Hyun and Lee Tae Gyeom stayed at his house for those two days, doing all sorts of chores. It was convenient, but it was also annoying.

‘It was hard enough pretending to be okay.’

He had to struggle secretly to not let Lim Seung Hyun and Lee Tae Gyeom know that he was not feeling well.

Just by saying that he suddenly wanted to rest, the two understood easily. This was when having a notorious reputation worked to his advantage. They could rationalize that this was just how he was.

Yoo Yeon Seo, who had arrived at the filming site and got out of the car, grimaced slightly. His arms and legs still felt numb, but it wasn’t unbearable.

He habitually greeted a passing staff member. Just by frequently greeting, he could shed some of his negative images.

“Hello.”

“…Yes, hello.”

Yeon Seo raised an eyebrow. Something seemed off. As he stood there dumbfounded, someone patted his shoulder. It was Lee Han Gyeol.

“Are you here?”

“Yeah, but did something happen?”

“Well, if someone suddenly causes a filming disruption for two days, that’s something.”

“Ah…”

No wonder the looks he was getting seemed to have reverted to the first day of filming.

“So, it was said to be the after-effects of a car accident.”

Yeon Seo nodded. Trust Lim Seung Hyun to handle things.

“But did you raise a dog?”

“A dog? No?”

“…Really?”

“What’s going on?” Lee Han Gyeol’s expression was strange. It was filled with disappointment and doubt. He bragged that he would be preparing a buffet for his fandom today, before he entered the filming site.

Yeon Seo, who was left behind, squinted his eyes and looked behind him. Lim Seung Hyun wouldn’t cause trouble, so that left only Lee Tae Gyeom.

“Hey, Lee Tae Gyeom. What did you do?”

“Huh? Well… umm…”

“Spit it out.”

“Actually…”

As Lee Tae Gyeom began to ramble, he was cut off by Yeon Seo’s intense stare and bowed his head in submission. The more Yeon Seo heard, the more irritated he became, tightly closing his eyes.

Later, Producer Park did relay the message to the assistant director, as Lim Seung Hyun had instructed, but by then, the excuse of going to feed a dog had already lodged itself firmly in the minds of nearly everyone. Most people thought that the agency was trying hard to clean up Yeon Seo’s whim.

“Hey.”

“No, I mean, since you fell so suddenly, I really didn’t think… I’m sorry, I apologize.”

As Yeon Seo lowered his voice, Lee Tae Gyeom recognized his mistake and apologized humbly.

“Do you have any plans to raise a dog now? Like some kind of animal therapy…”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Unconsciously, Yeon Seo spat out a harsh retort. Perhaps it was because the memory synchronization had exceeded 10%?

‘There’s nothing I can do about what’s already been spilled…’

At that time, Yeon Seo was not in his right mind. His body was in so much pain that he felt like he could lose consciousness at any moment, yet he still had to act. Luckily, he finished filming in one take and instinctively went somewhere where there were no people, then passed out.

Thankfully, it was Lim Seung Hyun and Lee Tae Gyeom who found him. If someone else had found him, it would have been a real headache.

‘Lim Seung Hyun must have been just as flustered.’

I collapsed suddenly, and they must have been caught off guard… I couldn’t blame them.

‘It’s a shame about the money I’ve spent so far, though…’

His recent actions, not typical of the original host, were aimed at improving his tarnished image, but in reality, the previous host had a history of treating people of all sorts in various ways rather terribly.

‘I didn’t really hope to rectify all the damage done to my image anyway.’

Since he hadn’t received all of his memories yet, he didn’t know exactly who he had wronged, but he dispersed his money evenly, hoping that it might somehow compensate for one of those wrongs. It felt like clearing old debts.

‘Given the circumstances, it might be better to just keep this rascal-like image.’

There was some truth in the comfort it provided. Yeon Seo sighed.

“Well, whatever. You did well. It’s better than revealing that I passed out.”

“Really?”

“You must have been flustered too, so thanks anyway.”

“Whooa…”

Lee Tae Gyeom widened his eyes and stared at Yoo Yeon Seo’s back.

“Did he hit his head when he fell…?”

“Hello.”

As Yeon Seo entered the set, the staff bowed their heads and greeted him. As expected, no one voiced any complaints, even if they might have had some. After all, Yeon Seo was the powerhouse on this set.

“The makeup time will be a bit long today. You understand, right?”

“Sure.”

The scene he was scheduled to shoot today was the resurrection scene of Sergeant Kim Woo Jin, who was thought to be dead after being impaled by a transformed monster.

Had they continued filming that scene, there wouldn’t have been any issue with the makeup continuity, but the unexpected break forced the makeup artist to rely on photographs from that day, painstakingly recreating every bloodstain.

“Is it possible to see the footage we shot before? I didn’t monitor it.”

“Do you want to? Please wait a moment…”

“I have that.”

Park Min Woo, who was receiving makeup in the next seat, chimed in with a cheerful smile. He offered his phone as if he’d been eagerly waiting for this moment.

Seeing Yeon Seo’s expression, Park Min-woo smiled shyly.

“I kept the video because your acting at that time was insanely good. I wanted to learn from it.”

“Oh, really?”

Hearing this from Park Min Woo felt a bit awkward.

“I thought you had suddenly become a different person. Tell me honestly, how did you improve so much under teacher Park’s guidance?”

“Haha…”

Yeon Seo chuckled awkwardly. He felt he wouldn’t be able to repeat that performance on command.

“It’s not like you took some kind of drug, right? Ah, don’t get me wrong. I mean, you did a fantastic job.”

“Would I jeopardize my life in that way?”

“Well, indeed…”

Yeon Seo fixed his gaze on Park Min Woo’s phone, reviewing the footage from that day. Park Min Woo kept his mouth tightly shut, not wanting to disturb him.

‘…I really did well.’

However, it was the result of truly pushing his body to the limit. To elevate his acting skills to that level ordinarily, he still had a long way to go.

‘Still, I now understand the sensation of pain.’

Yeon Seo clenched and unclenched his fist.