"Bringing up my first production, how embarrassing. That's the sort of thing you save for drinks, doing the whole back-in-my-day routine."
"That one cleared 24% in the ratings."
"I know it's nice to hear, but...... it wasn't down to me. It was down to Yul."
Writer Shin scratched her neck, awkward about it.
'Kim Yul planted himself with that production, all right. But does she know? That he grabbed me by the collar because he didn't want to do a debut writer's work?'
He had taken the gamble of shoving a Kim Yul with a third leading role lined up into the work of a writer who had only just debuted.
The opposition around him had been fierce, and having seen what Writer Shin's script was, he had been certain it would do well.
As expected, Writer Shin's debut was a huge hit, and Kim Yul planted himself firmly and climbed into the ranks of the top stars.
Remembering the past, Tae-il shrugged.
"Choosing Kim Yul was your doing, Writer Shin."
"It turned out that way in the end, but...... at the time it was mostly down to Yul's CEO."
"The one who passed away......?"
"Whatever else he was, his eye for it was...... ah! I've said something pointless again. Anyway, so Eun Tae-il has been through every single one of my productions?"
Writer Shin's productions came out of Tae-il's mouth one after another.
The further it went, the more the laughter in her face gave way to surprise.
In a way it was only natural.
He knew right down to whose room she had written which scene in.
'I came over to warn him not to stand out too much.'
When the other side has prepared to this degree, there is nothing left to say.
Writer Shin looked at him blankly and took a step back.
"Tae-il. I'll be watching you from now on."
"I'm in your hands."
Writer Shin tapped his shoulder lightly and went back.
Tae-il bowed his head to her back as she went.
'......It wasn't all wasted time.'
He bowed his head to the Writer Shin who had changed.
The joy of spending on himself the time he had only ever spent for other people was closing around Tae-il.
After that, Tae-il had to wait a long while for his turn.
"Oppa, I'm shooting again tomorrow, so...... I'll head in first."
Around sunset, Yu Hye-in finished her shooting and went, and Tae-il's turn came.
While the setup went busily on inside the study, CP Seong turned his eyes to Tae-il, who was holding his script.
"Tae-il. You know this is your first appearance scene?"
He meant it was the first scene that would show the viewers his face.
Tae-il could read the unease in CP Seong's face.
"I'll give it everything."
"......"
Soon even the art team cleared out, and the FD came in with the slate.
CLACK—
"Ready, action!"
With CP Seong's voice, the red light came on.
Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il), his face set, looked at Ju-hwan (Kang Seong-jin) with sunken eyes.
"......Get out."
"B-brother."
The tremble around Ju-hwan (Kang Seong-jin)'s eyes grew worse and worse.
Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il) let out a short breath and murmured in a flat tone.
"The moment I walked into this study. There is no place here for you."
"B-brother, why...... why do you hate me?! You didn't used to......"
THUD, THUD, THUD—
Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il) crossed fast to Ju-hwan (Kang Seong-jin) and took him by both shoulders hard enough to crush them.
"Still shameless."
The eyes of CP Seong and Writer Shin at the monitor sharpened a degree.
'Seong-jin as well. And Eun Tae-il's eyes...... the feel of it is good.'
Inside the monitor, Ju-hwan (Kang Seong-jin) shook faintly, a mouse before a cat.
Looking down at that Ju-hwan (Kang Seong-jin) without interest, Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il) pulled the corner of his mouth up, sour.
"Sh-shameless......?"
"Playing innocent, playing ignorant. Fitting for that cheap bloodline."
Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il) spat the feeling out cold and pushed Ju-hwan roughly away.
Shoved back with no strength in him, Ju-hwan (Kang Seong-jin) sat down hard and looked up at Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il).
With the shaking eyes of a frightened puppy.
"Brother......? What are you talking about, all of a sudden? That, person?"
"Enough. Get out."
"B-brother?!"
"There's no place for you in this house anymore."
Ju-hwan stared at his brother with unsteady eyes, and the Do-hwan who had turned away did not move a muscle.
"Okay! We don't need any more of the wide. Going over the shoulder."
With the okay, the expressions on Tae-il and Kang Seong-jin came loose as though the whole thing had been a lie.
"Seong-jin. Are you all right?"
"Hyung...... ow."
Kang Seong-jin rolled the shoulder Tae-il had gripped and worked his mouth.
"The shoulder's fine, but I nearly wet myself. Those eyes of yours, hyung...... ugh."
Kang Seong-jin raised a shaking arm and shrugged, and laughter broke out among the crew.
"Was I too good?"
"This hyung is king-level annoying."
PD Choi, watching the monitor with CP Seong, let out a small laugh too.
"Mood's good. Going again. Action."
The warmth between the two of them vanished the moment the red light came on, as though it had never been.
"The moment I walked into this study. There is no place for you in this house."
"Brother...... why do you hate me so much?! You didn't used to......"
When the look in Tae-il's eyes settled to something dead, CP Seong raised a hand.
"Okay. Let's take the bust."
While the camera setup changed, Tae-il raised a hand toward the crew.
The makeup crew came running and topped up his makeup.
His face was about to be in close-up, so the makeup needed topping up.
"Oppa could do it with no makeup at all, couldn't he?"
"Honestly. If every celebrity were like oppa, we'd all be out of a job."
At the makeup crew's careful flattery, Tae-il snorted softly.
"Even with no makeup I'd still call the makeup team."
"Eh? Really?"
"Once a team, always a team. Right?"
With the makeup topped up, Tae-il stood in the frame again.
'The first close-up on the face is coming.'
The cut where Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il) meets the viewers for the first time.
For the viewers it would be a first impression.
Looking at Tae-il in the camera, now close in, CP Seong raised a hand.
"That's good. Tae-il. We go like that."
Kang Seong-jin, who would only be seen from behind, was nervous along with him.
"Seong-jin. I'm counting on the lines."
"Ready, action!"
At CP Seong's sign, the look in Tae-il's eyes settled cold again.
"Still shameless."
"......Brother?"
Was it the look in Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il)'s eyes?
Ju-hwan (Kang Seong-jin), who had only meant to feed him the lines, was reacting for real without meaning to.
Whether or not he knew, Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il), sunk into it, carried on cold.
"So you really are...... that cheap bloodline. Playing innocent, playing ignorant."
CP Seong, watching Tae-il, rose and shouted.
"Cuuut! Okay!"
For a moment CP Seong was torn.
Doing it again, would he get a better cut than that?
'Eun Tae-il aside, it's Seong-jin I'm worried about.'
They had got a good cut thanks to Kang Seong-jin, who had been pulled into Tae-il's pace and sunk into it without meaning to.
There seemed no reason to repeat that.
"Writer Shin. How does it look to you?"
Mouth shut tight, CP Seong narrowed his eyes at the monitor.
"Hm...... if you're okay with it, CP, it's okay. But was Do-hwan this frightening? Ugh, I'm shaking."
At Writer Shin's reaction CP Seong snorted.
"Let's go to the next one."
Thanks to the actors sinking into it, the study scene wrapped quite fast.
The shooting team could move on to the Paju set far earlier than expected.
While the setup went on, Tae-il was reading his script when a shadow fell over him.
"S-senior! I'm in your hands!"
Tae-il looked up, and a rookie actor, stiff with nerves, was bent at the waist.
"Ah, you're the secretary today......"
Tae-il answered with a smile, and the rookie bowed several more times and went back.
'Somebody got him planted here?'
Tae-il turned his eyes to the script.
It was a simple scene: Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il) takes a report and sighs, and the frightened secretary shakes his way out.
'Putting Eun Tae-il and a rookie in the same scene. Why?'
At the same moment, PD Choi at the monitor was thinking the same thing.
"Senior. Why a rookie with Eun Tae-il......?"
CP Seong let out a sigh.
"Look at today's scenes. Is there anywhere else to plant him?"
"There's the next episode, and also......"
"There are circumstances you don't need to know about. Learn that."
Tangling him up with the leads from episode 1 could split the attention.
He could not refuse the favour either, and Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il) was what he had picked as a last resort.
He mattered less than the other leads, too.
"You're here."
When Tae-il stepped into the frame, a quick rehearsal followed.
'Good thing the last one finished fast. No telling how long this will take.'
The rehearsal ended and CP Seong raised a hand.
"Ready, action!"
Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il) took the report from the secretary (the rookie actor) and his eyes moved.
"......Is this all of it?"
"Yes, Managing Director. As of now......"
"What have the directors been doing? Have they just been watching while it came to this?"
"The directors said that if they kept an eye on it, it would improve......"
The secretary (the rookie actor) shook from head to foot.
Like a man who had come outside in deep winter with no coat.
"......Did I not say to report the moment anything happened?"
"I-I'm sorry."
CP Seong, who had braced for this to take a long time, found himself conflicted.
The rookie was doing this rather better than expected.
'Not bad at all, is he? What's this?'
CP Seong got to his feet.
"Okay. Changing and going again."
The moment the okay came, Tae-il put a hand out to the rookie actor.
"Are you all right?"
"Y-yes! Ah, I-I'm fine, but...... senior."
The rookie actor lowered his head as though hiding the fear in his eyes.
"I-I'm sorry, but...... could you move back just a little?"
"Sorry?"
"I-I'm s-sorry......! It's just, you're so frightening......"
Only then did Tae-il step back, embarrassed.
He looked around, and the people nearby were not coming close either.
He had sunk so deep into the character that he was pressing down on everyone, and he was the only one who did not know it.
'H-he's genuinely terrifying......'
'Terrifying, but...... what do I do about that face? I want to keep looking......'
'Just looking at him is going to drive me insane. My hands are shaking......'
With no way of knowing what was going around, Tae-il simply carried on shooting.
***
-Hm? That Eun Tae-il I know?
A voice snorting came down the phone.
CEO Yeon shook his head as though he had seen it coming.
"You can refuse. You should pick who you meet."
-It's unexpected, that's all. Eun Tae-il. Why would that brat Eun Tae-il want to see me?
The man was famous enough.
Was there anyone down here who did not know Eun Tae-il?
He had a nickname about his face being the narrative logic, and if he had not lived up to even that......
"Anyway, I've passed it on, yes? There's no need to trouble yourself. If you don't want to, don't force......"
-I'll meet him.
CEO Yeon stopped short.
The other side had said that if he did not want to, so be it......
He had not expected the answer to come this easily.
"You really want to see him? There doesn't look like anything in it for you."
-That's what makes me curious. What sort of nonsense he's going to come out with.
That was what he said, and the voice coming down the line was thoroughly lifted.
'An impossible man, honestly.'
CEO Yeon shook his head.
***
Whatever the production, the early part takes the most out of everyone.
Because of it, the "Welcome to Flower Boy House" team and cast were on a forced march.
"......Seong-jin, Hye-in. You two need to come a little closer. Okay."
Inside a punishing schedule, Kang Seong-jin and Yu Hye-in were finding their rhythm together.
The acting Writer Shin had approved was ripening too.
"......Next we go to Do-hwan's children's home scene."
The leads' shooting finished, and Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il)'s children's home scene followed.
It was a scene where Do-hwan goes to make a donation in the company's name, for the corporate image.
Tae-il, greeting the child actors brought in from an acting academy and getting ready for the scene, came into CP Seong's view.
'Eun Tae-il is doing method acting, the kind only the top ones do. Is the world ending?'
Remembering the chill in Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il)'s eyes, CP Seong clicked his tongue in wonder.
He was fine normally, and the moment the acting started the man turned frightening.
Thanks to it, people were quietly steering around him.
Beside CP Seong was Writer Shin, visiting for the first time in days.
"The ratings need to come."
Writer Shin looked at Tae-il, crouched down and playing with the child actors.
"Didn't Eun Tae-il hate children?"
"That's what I thought. Did the rumors come out wrong? Hm?"
Just then, a man came running toward Writer Shin from far off.
"Writer Shiiin!"
Other people recognized him too and bowed their heads.
"Who is this? Yul?! What brings you here?"
"I was passing nearby, heard you were here and came running."
"Aww, nothing wrong?"
The man, who gave CP Seong no more than a flick of the chin, was the actor Kim Yul.
Ignoring the junior actors who greeted him, he waved at Tae-il.
"Who is this? It's Eun Tae-il, isn't it? Fancy meeting someone so precious?"
Tae-il met Kim Yul's eyes evenly.
'Hasn't changed.'
The damned man was standing in front of him, and Tae-il's heart was strangely calm.
Calm enough that he found himself strange.
Whether or not he knew, Kim Yul pulled the corner of his mouth up, sour.
"But...... no reaction from Eun Tae-il? I am your senior, after all."
Every crew member's face froze.
It was less than Eun Tae-il's, but Kim Yul's reputation was nothing to laugh at either.
There was even a line that the only difference between the two of them was the agency.
Meeting Kim Yul's narrowed eyes, Tae-il's own curved into a bow.
"I'm sorry, senior. It's just, your breath...... ugh......!"
Tae-il screwed his face up theatrically and put a hand over his nose.
In that instant, Kim Yul covered his own mouth and took a step back.
'Kim Yul, bad breath?'
'Where? Is it real?'
'Smell? I'm not getting anything, am I?'
Was it because Kim Yul had reacted to what Tae-il said?
The people around them started murmuring.
'That son of a b*tch......!'
Venom came into Kim Yul's eyes in a flash.
Because his vicious breath was a complex of his own that nobody knew about.