The Third-Gen Chaebol Becomes a Genius Actor

Chapter 146 < Vicious Murder (4) >

“Grandpa.”

“Hmm?”

“This…”

Hwang Min-jae, who was getting ready for school, handed a box to his grandfather. Hwang Dae-sik was confused, but he opened the box reluctantly, seeing the hopeful look on his grandson’s face.

“Try them on.”

Hwang Min-jae had been bothered by the worn-out shoes that were falling apart. He felt guilty for seeing his grandfather picking up trash without complaining, even though he had suddenly joined the family. So he had bought him a pair of sneakers with the money he earned from his part-time job.

‘He should have bought something for himself…’

He hadn’t received such a gift in a long time. Hwang Dae-sik fiddled with the tip of the shoe slowly and grumbled. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

“…Why did you buy this for me? You should have bought something for yourself.”

“I just felt bad for you. I’ll be going now.”

Hwang Dae-sik grabbed his grandson.

“Wait, wear this too.”

“…Why did you buy this for me?”

What came out of the paper bag he handed him was a long padded coat. Hwang Min-jae tried to suppress the smile that was rising on his lips. His mouth twitched involuntarily. The grandson who was hiding his feelings while being happy looked very much like him.

“Winter is over.”

“You can wear it next winter and the year after that. If you don’t need it, just throw it away…”

“No, thank you.”

Hwang Min-jae quickly dodged Hwang Dae-sik’s hand that tried to take it back and ran away wearing the out-of-season coat. He ran quite fast, but his mouth was filled with more laughter. It was the first time his grandfather had talked about the future.

“Why are you wearing that in this heat…”

Hwang Dae-sik chuckled.

As they grew closer, Hwang Dae-sik collapsed on the street from an unknown pain.

And with the help of the nearby pedestrians, he went to the hospital and got tested. When he went to hear the results, he received unexpected news.

“Cancer… you say?”

“Yes, you need to be hospitalized right away.”

Ignoring the doctor’s advice to get treatment, Hwang Dae-sik left the hospital. He had no money anyway, even if he was hospitalized. He was too busy making ends meet to have any insurance, and the state’s support was limited.

He walked aimlessly on the street and suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Death, it was something he had wished for just a few months ago. But when it came, he felt uneasy.

‘Did I start to value my life now…’

Why did it change now? Because of his grandson who had lived with him for only a few months?

Then wouldn’t it seem like he had abandoned his son who was not normal? He felt a surge of self-loathing as he remembered his son’s last voice.

(Cough… Ah, father…)

“…Old people should die.”

He was tired of thinking. He thought it would be a good choice to disappear like this, for his dead child and his grandson.

‘Why did I buy this…’

He realized that his thinking was wrong when he got home with it and buried it deep in the house.

But that situation didn’t last long. He found it while looking for his ID card to register his grandson.

‘We don’t need this in our house…’

It was a shabby neighborhood, but they had everything they needed. They already had a boiler, and why did he buy a dynamite in the summer. There was no coal either… He remembered what his friend Park Ji-woo had said, as if it was a flashback.

(Hey, it wasn’t a suicide pact, you idiot.)

(What?)

(He tried to kill and then commit suicide.)

(No, it wasn’t… He seemed to regret it a lot…)

He remembered what happened when he first saw his grandfather. He had shrugged it off, happy to see his grandfather for the first time in his life. But the rope hanging from the ceiling was not for fixing the light or anything.

(If your grandfather misses your dad like you said…)

(Then wouldn’t he try to do what he couldn’t do back then?)

He had argued against it, but when he saw the hidden dynamite, his doubts that had built up collapsed.

“Are you here? Sit down. I’ll make you some food.”

“What is this?”

“…”

Hwang Daesik froze when he saw the object in his grandson’s hand. He knew he had bought the wrong thing, but he had put off returning it until tonight. He had always thought he would do it tomorrow…

But when he realized too late that it was a mistake, a faint smile appeared on Hwang Daesik’s lips. With a determined look on his face, Hwang Minjae shouted in a hurry.

“What is this?”

“You know how to raise your voice, huh?”

That was much more childlike. Better than always watching his face and begging him not to throw it away.

“What… what is that…”

Yoo Yeon Seo recalled the emotion that Park Seunghwan had drawn out of her. The feeling she had felt when she was young, when she didn’t know who the culprit was.

She was the ‘mother’ I could never hold on to. No matter how hard I tried, I was not strong enough to pull her back from the edge. But I had another chance. He was the ‘grandfather’ who had a lot of compassion. Maybe if I clung to him desperately, he would not give up on his life for my sake.

“I bought it by mistake… I wanted to return it.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

He was not satisfied with the answer that came out with a weary sigh. Hwang Min-jae, who had suddenly knelt down, crawled over and grabbed the hem of Hwang Dae-sik’s pants. This was not an action that Director Kim had instructed. His body just moved on its own.

“No, please.”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t go…”

She clung to his calf, feeling that holding him like this was not enough. His foot had to stay firmly on the ground. Otherwise…

[Yeon Seo.]

He briefly looked up and then bowed his head. Huh? When was his mom ever this close to him? Oh, right. There was a time like this before.

The surroundings changed. It was not the shabby house in the countryside that the assistant director had found with difficulty, but the elegant and spacious villa of Chairman Yu, the annex.

[Mom…]

Why didn’t she answer? Maybe she would be okay if he let her down now. He crawled over to Hee-seo’s ankle and hugged it.

[Mom… You can’t be there…]

He whimpered and lifted his legs. Ah, he was too short. He dragged a heavy chair nearby. He fell halfway due to lack of strength, but got up and climbed on the chair. He hugged her calf, but it was still not enough. She would die like this. So he had to hold on to her.

[Yeon-seo!]

[Don’t come! Don’t look!]

No one should see this.

It felt strange. The calf that he kept hugging should have felt warm, but it was like an icehouse. Tears streamed down his eyes.

[Mom… Don’t go…]

But who was he holding on to right now? It was his grandfather, wasn’t it? No, it wasn’t. His grandfather was outside. Oh, right. It was his mom.

<Master.>

<The synchronization rate has exceeded 60%, and it seems that I can’t control the memory that is flowing out.>

<Trying to control the memory.>

[Lady, I was holding on to you… Mom, mom is weird…]

“Please don’t leave me…”

Seeing his desperate expression, Park Seunghwan felt a surge of emotion. Yoo Yeon Seo was in such a precarious situation that she could not tell the past from the present, but ironically, this only intensified the feelings of her co-star.

Hwang Daesik licked his dry lips.

“Fine. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t go… Don’t die…”

“But, but you see… I don’t have much time left.”

He couldn’t keep this a secret from his grandson. Hwang Daesik calmly confessed that he had terminal cancer and that treatment was too expensive and useless. All this time, Hwang Minjae had been sobbing and begging him not to go, not to die.

“Cut! That was great!”

Director Kim Jaeho shouted with joy, sensing the birth of a masterpiece. Then, someone among the staff who had been holding their breath clapped their hands, and another wiped their tears with their sleeve.

“That was good.”

He returned from Hwang Daesik to Park Seunghwan and reached out his hand to Yoo Yeon Seo, who was lying on the floor. Normally, he would have grabbed his hand and jumped up, but he was silent.

“Yeon Seo?”

“Sniff, sob…”

“He must have been too immersed. Yeon Seo. Look at me.”

Park Seunghwan knelt down in panic and grabbed her shoulder.

“Mom…”

“Yeon Seo…”

“Don’t go…”

Seunghwan Park shook his shoulder urgently, seeing his lifeless eyes and miserable expression. 

Some staff members murmured.

“What do we do?”

“Where is Yeon Seo’s manager…?”

“Excuse me.”

Taegyeom Lee and Seunghyun Lim pushed them aside and entered the camera. Following Kim Jaeho’s direction, the camera director quickly turned the camera away.

[If I feel something weird while acting, wake me up.]

[How?]

[Just do it, well. You too, Mr. Im.]

Taegyeom and Seunghyun sat down on the floor and gently shook him. They seemed to know why he said that.

“Hey, Yeon Seo.”

“Sir.”

Seunghyun slapped Yeon Seo’s cheek lightly, not to hurt him. But he still kept calling for his mom and telling her not to go.

‘What do I do?’

Even the reliable Seunghyun couldn’t do much. Taegyeom bit his nails nervously and thought for a moment.

Come to think of it… There was an incident where he got a taste of Yeon Seo’s wrath. It was the first time he saw him act so stubborn and angry.

Taegyeom whispered in Yeon Seo’s ear.

“Yeon Seo, you suck. You lost to your manager in a game, right?”

“Taegyeom, what kind of thing to say in this situation…”

“Wait and see, hyung. Let’s go for a revenge match. Even though you’ll lose to me again.”

Seunghyun looked at Taegyeom incredulously, who was making nonsense. But it worked. Yeon Seo’s eyes focused and he glared at Taegyeom.

“You bastard…”

“Did you snap out of it?”

He did snap out of it. But he felt dirty. He didn’t know if it was because of his past memory or Taegyeom’s annoying words. Something hot dripped from his nose.

‘I’m screwed.’

He couldn’t faint here.

“Huh? Wha-what?!”

“Sir!”

“Yeon Seo!”

***

Was I this weak? 

That was the first thought of Yeon Seo when he woke up. As he blinked and looked at the ceiling, the noise around him grew louder.

“How long has it been?”

“Five hours.”

“That’s pretty fast, I thought it would take days.”

“Hey, is that something to say?”

Oh, it was the accommodation near the filming site. Luckily, they didn’t take him to the hospital. Seunghyun must have handled it well. Yeon Seo groaned and got up. His pain was mental, but he didn’t know why he had muscle aches.

“Yeon Seo.”

“Oh, you’re here?”

He scratched his cheek and looked at Seunghwan Park and Kim Jaeho, who were approaching him.

“I think I was wrong.”

“About what?”

“I shouldn’t have said that to you…”

Seunghwan’s expression was not good. Yeon Seo smiled bitterly. It was just his chronic problem.

“It’s not your fault, hyung.”

“What do you mean it’s not?”

“How’s the filming going?”

Kim Jaeho smiled as if to reassure him.

“We stopped for now.”

“I’m sorry for causing trouble… Let’s start again tomorrow.”

“It’s okay, we have a lot of budget.”

And that money came from Yeon Seo’s wallet. But that didn’t mean everything. Because of the sudden change in schedule, the actors’ agency managers were busy adjusting their plans behind the scenes.

‘It’s going to be trouble if this keeps happening…’

Yeon Seo sighed softly.