The Third-Gen Chaebol Becomes a Genius Actor

Chapter 144 < Vicious Murder (2) >

Hwang Daesik’s first appearance was his back. The sound here was muffled as if he had climbed a high mountain. After a few grunts, he heard someone else’s voice.

“Come out!”

The old man who raised his head got up with difficulty like a puppet following the prison guard’s orders. As he followed the orders, he soon took off his prisoner’s uniform and put on civilian clothes. The sunlight coming from outside was only dazzling to him.

“Sir, you don’t have much life left outside, so live well.”

“…”

“Don’t make the wrong choice again, okay?”

The old man did not answer. He just stared blankly at the air.

He felt like someone who was released should have a light gesture, but the old man walked out with a precarious step.

“Senior, what are you taking care of? You’re a criminal anyway.”

“That person has a hard situation.”

“Who here doesn’t have their own situation? They all say they’re wronged.”

“That’s…”

The camera kept showing the old man’s back, and the prison guard’s voice flowed.

(That old man had a son who was over forty… He had a mental problem.)

(So how could he get married properly? He only followed his son’s tail for more than ten years.)

Hwang Daesik passed the thick iron door and went outside. He shaded the sun with his hand. There was no one to greet him. He walked without stopping.

(But why did he come here?)

(He only followed his son’s tail, so his situation got worse… He had no way to live, so what did he choose?)

(Could it be…)

(He tried to die with him, but only his son died and the old man survived…)

The prison guards’ words gradually faded, and Hwang Daesik got on the bus that went to society.

The court reflected his pitiful situation and sentenced him to a relatively low sentence. He was detained for a year and a half, but he stopped at the time his son died.

In the alley where Hwang Daesik lived, someone grabbed him on his way home.

“Are you here?”

“That’s how it happened…”

“Wait a minute… Take some kimchi.”

The narrow and steep neighborhood, they were busy living their own lives, but they all knew the old man’s hard situation, so they were affectionate.

“Sir, this is fruit…”

“…Thank you.”

It was the kindness between people that he had not felt during his imprisonment. He could not ignore their kindness, so he accepted it and soon his hands became heavy.

“Don’t just stay at home, come to the front of the supermarket often.”

“Yeah. Let’s play Go-Stop together.”

He finally arrived home, leaving behind the worried words. The small living room, kitchen, and narrow studio were dusty because they were not managed. Hwang Daesik coughed softly.

He tidied up the house while sorting out the food and stuff that the villagers gave him.

‘Can I live?’

He didn’t clean it properly, so the dust flew around. He coughed again.

Cough, yes… It was a cough. He heard his son’s last voice. The old man closed his eyes tightly.

‘I should have died with him then…’

***

After his release, he lived as it flowed for a few days. He restored the electricity and water that did not come in with the help of the villagers, but he had no motivation. Hwang Daesik finally decided to do what he had only thought of. That is, following his son.

“Sir, please go in.”

But there was a problem with that method. Lim Seunghyun cautiously suggested when he saw the prop in charge bringing something like a rope.

Yoo Yeon Seo arrived early for her shooting time to immerse herself. She wanted to grasp the flow of the drama and also wanted to see Park Seunghwan’s acting in person. But he had no confidence to face the next scene.

“…Okay.”

He had a record in ‘Dreaming’, so Yoo Yeon Seo didn’t force it. He headed to the car with Lee Taegyeom on the scene.

“Huh? You have to go in for the next scene right away.”

“He must be going to do makeup.”

Yoo Yeon Seo was the face he saw most often after the director. It was an unexpected situation to leave his seat. The staff nearby looked at him with curiosity.

Hwang Daesik began to prepare to leave the world with a slow gesture. At that moment, he recalled the past.

Suddenly, my son said his fingers had grown longer and he had to cut them off. I stopped him with my old body, and he sobbed and apologized when he came to his senses. And the last voice he uttered, saying he couldn’t breathe as he coughed.

“Cut!”

Park Seung-hwan, who was not satisfied with the acting, shot it twice. In the meantime, Yoo Yeon Seo, who had finished his makeup, prepared for the next scene.

As Hwang Dae-sik was almost done preparing, he took a deep breath. At that moment, Hwang Min-jae shouted from outside.

“Hey!”

He banged on the door with his fist, not pressing the doorbell. He sat down on the spot. He wouldn’t be gone, would he? Maybe he’s working late. He decided to shout one more time and sit down and wait.

“Are you there?!”

That shout woke Hwang Dae-sik up. He was annoyed by the noise outside. He thought he was wrong today. He opened the front door as he came down from under the chair.

The bright sunlight was irritating. He made a shade with his hand. Then the face of a child in a school uniform became clear.

“······Why?”

“Uh······ hello.”

He was different from the person he expected. Hwang Min-jae bit his thumbnail nervously. He didn’t move, did he? He held out a picture with a trembling hand.

“Do you know this person?”

Hwang Dae-sik muttered blankly. He had never seen the picture before.

“······Jun-ho. My son.”

As soon as he heard that voice, Hwang Min-jae’s face brightened.

“Then are you his grandfather?”

He was not calling him an old man. It was like calling his own family.

The hand that had always blocked the sunlight slowly came down, and the light came into Hwang Dae-sik’s lifeless eyes. Warm sunlight shone on Hwang Min-jae’s face, too. It looked like a halo at a glance. It could have been a warm light that seeped into Hwang Dae-sik’s dry heart, or it could have made it drier.

“Why are you here······.”

Come to think of it, his son and the child in front of him looked quite alike.

“Can I come in for a moment? It’s cold.”

Hwang Dae-sik had a feeling that he shouldn’t let this child into his house. Something irreversible would happen if he let him in.

But he felt sorry for the child’s pitiful appearance. He was wearing only a thin coat on a cold day, and his ears were red. And he had band-aids all over his face, as if he had been beaten by someone.

“······Come in.”

He couldn’t turn a blind eye to the miserable situation, so he finally let the child into his house. Hwang Min-jae smiled brightly for the first time since he appeared.

“Why did you hang the rope on the ceiling like that? Did the light go out?”

“It’s nothing.”

Hwang Dae-sik quickly put away the rope. Yoo Yeon Seo felt that ‘that thing’ that was perfectly visible in that position also disappeared.

“So, why did you come?”

His voice was mixed with phlegm. It was so realistic that they hired a famous expert from Hollywood for the ‘violent murder’ makeup. That’s how much the director wanted to make it look real. The momentum of Park Seung-hwan, who was in harmony with the makeup, also helped him immerse himself in the scene. That’s why the co-star was important.

Hwang Min-jae explained the whole story. He said he found a diary of his mother saying that she met his father, and he came to find him with a picture.

“So······ you’re my grandson?”

“Yes.”

He answered and looked around Hwang Dae-sik’s house with a nod. It was bigger than the house he lived with his mother.

“Your mother must have had a reason not to look for Jun-ho······ why did you come?”

But Hwang Dae-sik’s reaction was only gloomy. Oh, this is not it······ I thought he would welcome me because he was his blood relative for the first time. He would have done the same if he were him.

Feeling the crisis, Hwang Min-jae made the most pitiful expression he could.

“I don’t have a mom anymore. She passed away while working······.”

“Oh······.”

Hwang Dae-sik clicked his tongue sympathetically. His situation was tough, but he was also having a hard time taking care of himself. Besides, he was trying to leave the world until a while ago. He wondered how to send this kid back, but the kid kept talking to him.

“Where is my dad?”

“He’s gone.”

“Did he go to work somewhere?”

“He’s gone for good.”

He realized that he was no longer in this world and his eyes trembled.

“Uh······ why?”

I killed him. He couldn’t say that, so Hwang Dae-sik sighed.

“It’s late, so go to sleep.”

***

Hwang Min-jae ignored Hwang Dae-sik’s words, telling him to stay for just one night. He knew his grandfather was not happy to see him. Hwang Min-jae had depression and a lack of affection as his default settings, but he still had some childish innocence. And he used it.

“I’ll leave when I graduate from school.”

“…”

“…You’re the only family I have left, Grandpa.”

Those desperate words moved Hwang Dae-sik’s heart. He told him to do as he pleased, and Hwang Min-jae happily applied for a transfer to a nearby school.

Hwang Dae-sik, who decided not to give him any affection, and Hwang Min-jae, who wanted to get along with his grandfather, started a strange cohabitation.

It was the vacation period, and filming cars entered the empty school one by one. Yoo Yeon Seo, who got off the van, headed to the prepared waiting room.

“Hello, senior!”

“Hello.”

Yoo Yeon Seo nodded at the greeting of an actor. He was playing the role of Hwang Min-jae’s friend at the school he transferred to. He had a bright face and hovered around Yoo Yeon Seo.

“Do you have anything to say?”

“No, no! I look forward to working with you!”

“Me too, thank you.”

He was only an extra, but he got a role with some weight, so he was very eager. He had to become close friends with Hwang Min-jae, so he wanted to be friendly with the main actor as well.

“Don’t you know him?”

“That’s Kang Cheon-hee. He’s the same age as me, and he’s been an actor for seven years.”

Yoo Yeon Seo recited the information on the document. Cha Yoon-ho, who came to check the production situation, sat next to Yoo Yeon Seo and whispered.

“Not that.”

“…Do I have a reason to know?”

“He was an extra in ‘Doll’. He had a pretty big role.”

“Oh, really?”

He didn’t remember it well. Yoo Yeon Seo turned his head and looked at Kang Cheon-hee’s back.

“He was the detective, right?”

“Oh, I see.”

He didn’t remember, but he watched the drama. He had a few lines with him at that time.

“But why?”

Cha Yoon-ho cleared his throat and started to explain. The detective role in ‘Doll’ was a big extra role that appeared in two episodes.

The production company chose the role through a large-scale audition, but the problem was that even if they passed the audition, the production company could send them back if they didn’t like them.

[Oh, he’s good at acting, but his face is not…not good.]

[Is there no other good kid?]

The production company wanted to change to another actor they liked, and Kang Cheon-hee almost lost his hard-earned opportunity.

[Just do it. He passed the audition, how can you send him back?]

[There’s already another actor coming.]

[Then do I have to wait here until he comes?]

If it wasn’t for Yoo Yeon Seo.

He was the main actor and an important investor, so they couldn’t easily go against his words. He didn’t think much of it, but it was like a lifeline for Kang Cheon-hee.

“…Did that happen?”

“Yes, I was there at the time.”

So he begged for snacks like a puppy, maybe he wanted to thank him.

‘He doesn’t have to do that.’

Surprisingly, it would be the first time he received a thank-you from someone before 2018. He didn’t even get a greeting from some of the directors and writers he debuted.

‘Oh, they contacted me again when the work became famous.’

He didn’t even read it because it was disgusting.

“But why do you remember all that, Secretary Cha?”

“I collected the data to tell the chairman a good story about the director.”

“…The chairman?”

When Yoo Yeon Seo asked with a frown, Cha Yoon-ho covered his mouth.

“Oh, he told me not to say this.”