Chapter 123

“Let’s leave Ian out of this.”

“Cut! Tae-woong, are you going to keep doing this?”

“What did I do?”

Director Yoon grabbed the back of his neck at Jo Tae-woong’s brazen response. Tae-woong had started acting according to his own character construction, following Ian’s advice, which naturally filled every scene with the director’s grumbling.

“Why were you doing well following my direction before, and now this?”

“I think I’m doing well.”

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”

“Me? Against the director? No way. Maybe I’m just in a slump… I can’t seem to do it the way you taught me. Why is that?”

Tae-woong answered with a playful smile and raised eyebrows.

The staff always bore the brunt of the power struggle between the supporting actor and the director. The assistant director whispered to Director Yoon.

“Director, we’re running out of time. The next shooting location is booked for a short period.”

“Damn it!”

Director Yoon threw the script roughly to the ground. Amidst the tense atmosphere, Tae-woong grinned, pretending to be clueless.

“Let’s move on to the next shoot!”

Director Yoon said irritably. He was furious at the reversed situation, as he used to rule through fear by singling out actors.

It was too late to replace actors since several episodes had already aired, and Director Yoon felt the public opinion turning against him due to his recent unreasonable behavior.

“Let’s move on!”

The staff hurriedly started moving.

Viewers were different now. They no longer judged based on appearances. Comparisons between Tae-woong’s previous filmography and his acting in this work had already begun, with comments like, “Wasn’t it always the director who couldn’t direct? Maybe it’s not the actor but the director who’s the problem.”

“Tae-woong, are you okay?”

“Yes, hyung.”

Amidst the icy atmosphere on set, Tae-woong’s manager, Park Dong-soo, who had accompanied him for the shoot, was also tense.

“As long as you’re okay… But still, try to control it well, okay?”

“Hyung, don’t you trust me?”

“I do trust you… but still.”

Park Dong-soo fiddled with his phone, ready to record if necessary.

In fact, Park Dong-soo had no choice but to witness Director Yoon’s tyranny during Tae-woong’s shoots.

This drama was based on an original work, so the writer had little authority, and the director controlled everything.

“Noona, am I being too stubborn?”

Tae-woong cautiously asked Min Yul-ah, who played the female lead in this drama. They had worked together since Tae-woong was a child actor and had been open with each other since script reading.

“Not at all? Honestly, it’s quite satisfying… You know how notorious that director is? Working with him just confirms how awful he is.”

“Really?”

Min Yul-ah encouraged Tae-woong, who was unfairly targeted by the director.

“But still, since the staff are suffering too, maybe do something for them at the wrap-up party.”

Tae-woong nodded in agreement.

In subsequent shoots, Tae-woong continued to act in his own way and played dumb whenever Director Yoon complained.

Continuously performing the same scene with identical acting was also a skill. Ian watched the situation on set through Jin and smiled contentedly.

“He’s doing well. How are the other staff reacting?”

[The reputation of Director Yoon is so bad that opinions are divided. Honestly, it’s amusing to see him get a taste of his own medicine. Why be so stubborn when there’s not much time left for shooting?]

“Not bad at all.”

Even if only for the staff’s sake, how bad must one’s reputation be to come to this? Ian felt relieved that he no longer needed to worry about Tae-woong.

“It seems Tae-woong has arrived.”

Just then, the sound of entering a door lock code was heard, and Tae-woong arrived at their accommodation. Hearing the front door open, Kim Joo-young in his room also headed to the living room.

“How was the shoot?”

“It went well.”

Following Kim Joo-young, other members emerged from their rooms and bathrooms and gathered in the living room to check on Tae-woong’s expression. Seeing his relieved expression instead of a gloomy one made Lee Joo-hyuk breathe a sigh of relief.

“What did the director say?”

“What could he say? He was furious. But since I kept doing the same acting over and over again and we were running out of time for shooting… In the end, we moved on. But where’s Choi Ian?”“Here.”

As soon as Tae-woong saw Ian sitting at the dining table, he knelt down and clasped his hands in a prayer pose.

“Choi-men.”

“Alright.”

Ian also started to enjoy it.

-The drama has become really interesting.

-Tae-woong’s eye acting is insane, isn’t it?

***

-What? He suddenly awakened ㄷㄷㄷㄷ

-So is Jo Tae-woong the culprit or not?

“I should have done this sooner.”

Jo Tae-woong closed the script with a relieved face. Unlike before, when he was timid, he now had confidence and his acting improved.

“Cut! Well… that was okay.”

“Shall we move on to the next scene?”

The assistant director sighed in relief. As the reaction improved, Director Yoon also stopped nagging about the acting.

Besides, thanks to Awi’s popularity, there was talk of overseas exports near the end of the shooting, so the director kept his mouth shut.

“Tae-woong, aren’t you happy that you transformed your acting in this drama thanks to me?”

“Uh, yes.”

He was still unlucky even if he died. At the wrap-up party, Jo Tae-woong almost threw a gift at Director Yoon’s face.

Jo Tae-woong’s drama was over. Lee Joo-hyuk and Park Jin-hyuk focused on making songs, and Kim Joo-young and Kim Hyun appeared briefly on a dance-related show. Park Seo-dam was the MC for M Company’s music show every week.

“Who here likes to play games?”

And for the first time in a while, they had a group schedule: ‘Idol Olympics’. This time, it was an online PC game, so it was easier than the last Olympics, but it was still better to be good at games to get more screen time.

All the members except Ian raised their hands at Lee Joo-hyuk’s question. Jo Tae-woong made a fuss.

“You don’t play games?”

“I only play phone games sometimes. The Olympics are PC games, right? I’m not good at them.”

He only played shooting games or space RTS games on PC when he was Kim Yong-min. Nowadays, there were more mobile app games, so he played simple puzzle games in between schedules, but he didn’t enjoy them much.

“We have to decide who will play each game.”

“What are they?”

Lee Joo-hyuk unfolded a paper. ‘Ground Survival’, ‘Space Mafia’, ‘Rush Rider’, ‘Fall Humans’ and so on. Ian had never heard of any of these games.

“First of all, ‘Fall Humans’ is a group game, and we have to choose who will play each of the others. You can play more than one.”

“I know how to play shooting games.”

“Really?”

At Ian’s words, Lee Joo-hyuk wrote Ian’s name next to ‘Ground Survival’.

“I want to play them all.”

It was more fun to play as a group than alone. Kim Hyun said he wanted to play them all, and Park Jin-hyuk, Jo Tae-woong, and Kim Joo-young also raised their hands.

“I want to play them all too.”

“Are you guys okay with that?”

“It’s just a game.”

They couldn’t go home until the closing ceremony anyway. It was better not to look at their phones. It would look insincere if they were caught by the broadcast camera.

It was also boring to just watch someone else play. Even if they couldn’t play well, participating was one way to pass the time.

“Then I’ll play them all too.”

“What? You’re all playing everything? Can we do that?”

“If there are too many people, the production team will sort it out for us.”

“Then I’ll play them all too.”

Lee Joo-hyuk crossed out Ian’s name that he had written next to ‘Ground Survival’. Then he wrote Awi for all the game categories. He rolled his pen back and forth and said.

“You guys don’t have any schedules, right?”

“Nope.”

“Do you want to try playing them together? There’s a PC room over there.”

“Oh, yes.”The members jumped up and went into their rooms. They changed their clothes and put on hats and masks. They left the accommodation.

“We’ve never played games together before, have we?”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a PC room.”

“Really? You didn’t even do it when you were trainees?”

Ian looked at the members with surprise. He thought they would have played games together at least once since they had practiced together for a long time except for him.

“When did we have time to play games? We were busy practicing.”

“Really?”

“There won’t be many people at the PC room, right?”

“If it’s past ten o’clock, the kids would have gone home, right? There won’t be any.”

They took the elevator down and headed straight for the PC room. Ian laughed at their smooth navigation.

“You guys really wanted to play games.”

Park Jin-hyuk and Kim Hyun looked sheepish. They had been checking the location of the PC room sign every time they came back to the accommodation after their schedules.

“I played a lot of games when I was in middle school. I’m looking forward to it.”

“What tier were you?”

“Me? Br… Bronze.”

***

The members snickered at Jo Tae-woong’s answer. Jo Tae-woong shouted.

“Why!”

“How can you be proud of playing a lot of games when you’re only bronze?”

“What tier were you then?”

I guess bronze is the lowest rank, huh? Ian watched the members bragging about their gaming skills.

Awi headed to the kiosk as soon as they arrived at the PC room.

‘Wow, it’s so clean. Are all PC rooms like this nowadays?’

The PC room Ian remembered was full of cigarette smoke and a musty smell from the basement, and had a vaguely shady atmosphere. But the PC room now had fresh air and soft LED lights that made it feel like he had entered a cyberpunk world from a movie.

Ian, who was at the back of the line, peeked his head out and watched what the members were doing.

“What? What are you doing?”

“Have you never been to a PC room before? You have to sign up and charge your time here. How many hours should we do, hyung?”

“Just do whatever, you guys seem to like it so much that you’ll come back again.”

The members quickly finished signing up and charging their time. Park Jin-hyuk had already spotted a seat.

‘Wow, in my time, you had to go to the counter and ask them to charge your seat number. Now you just sign up and charge and that’s it.’

[Old man…]

‘Wow, they even take credit cards?’

[Grandpa…]

Ian felt embarrassed by Jin’s pathetic voice and greeted the part-timer for no reason.

“Hello.”

The part-timer who had been looking at him with suspicious eyes as if he was a celebrity gasped. Could it be Awi? The part-timer who was doubting covered his mouth with his hand when he heard Park Jin-hyuk’s shout.

“Ian, over here!”

The members who had lined up their seats waved their hands in the air. Luckily, there weren’t many customers.

“Why am I in the middle?”

“You’re a noob at games. We’ll help you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Ian sat between Kim Joo-young and Jo Tae-woong and logged in. Kim Joo-young took Ian’s mouse and opened a window.

“You can order whatever you want. There’s food ordering here.”

“Wow, what is this? Kimbap Heaven?”

In my time, cup noodles were the best. He scrolled down and down but couldn’t see the end. There were not only food but also countless kinds of drinks that looked like they came from a cafe. Ian stared blankly at the screen.

“PC room food is delicious. They even deliver these days.”

“Delivery? That’s creative economy for you. There’s too much to choose from.”

The members who ordered their food stretched their hands. They looked like they could beat any pro gamer.

“Shall we bet?”

“Let’s leave Ian out. He looks like he can’t play games.”

“I can play well too, you know?”

Ian felt somewhat wronged.