TLICO 08

Chapter – 08

Oops. That was a mistake.

Did I make it too obvious that I have years of acting experience?

“Ah, yes. I saw another actress mention it in an interview and used it as a reference. Actress Do Eun-hee.”

“Oh… so you studied by watching interviews.”

Fortunately, Jegal Seyeon seemed to perceive me as just a very diligent rookie.

‘It would be awkward if a rookie who hasn’t even formally learned acting felt too worn-out and experienced.’

Thinking that, I glanced toward Park Seo-woo. He was staring at me intently, but looked away the moment he felt my gaze.

‘He has a habit of observing people.’

Well, whatever. If a slow-motion shot is included the way Park Seo-woo suggested, it’s not bad for me at all. It means my screen time in this project increases.

After finishing the revised shoot following Park Seo-woo’s advice, I monitored the footage while holding the kimbap prepared for lunch.

‘It really did turn out well.’

Just as Park Seo-woo said, my appearance in slow motion was undeniably pretty, and my smile looked innocent. I looked so adorable that it was hard to believe I was playing a madwoman character acting like a ‘ghost’ squatting in someone else’s house.

“You look really different once you’re in front of the camera, Member.”

I looked up at Hong Jong-ho, who suddenly poked his face in. Seeing the light shining in his eyes, I handed him a tuna kimbap.

“Huh? Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I don’t have much of an appetite during filming.”

It’s always like that. I never had an appetite in the middle of a shoot. Part of it was the pressure of maintaining my physique. However, Hong Jong-ho’s brow furrowed at my words. He pulled something out of his bag and handed it to me. It was a protein shake.

“……?”

“If you don’t eat, you’ll lose muscle mass, Member.”

Ah, right. This guy was always like this. I remembered the Hong Jong-ho who used to constantly feed me protein cookies, protein shakes, and chicken breast whenever I was starving myself on set.

“I told you I need to lose weight!”“If you don’t eat anything, it actually won’t come off well. And if you lose muscle mass, you won’t last long as an actress.”“Hey… Hong Jong-ho…”“Eat instead of talking. You’re losing muscle mass every second right now.”That crazy guy. As I stared at him, Hong Jong-ho spoke.

“As I told you, I already have the woman of my destiny.”

“……It’s not that.”

I was about to ask him how much longer he was going to call me “Member,” when Hong Jong-ho looked behind me and shouted.

“Whoa, you scared me!”

Startled, I turned around to see a man sitting right behind me. I don’t know when he arrived. With dark eyes, deep eye sockets, and a prominent jawline, he was a “textbook” handsome actor. It was Seo Gyeong-bin, the male lead of Living with a Ghost.

Despite Hong Jong-ho being startled, he gave no reaction other than a slight nod of his head.

‘……When on earth did he get here?’

Looking closely, it seemed he had also been watching my acting footage.

“……Hello.”

When I greeted him quietly, Seo Gyeong-bin rolled his eyes for a moment and then gave a stiff nod. For the record, Seo Gyeong-bin was extremely taciturn. Because of that, back when he became a hit in the drama world, there were many rumors that he was rude. People said he didn’t accept greetings well and never greeted others first.

‘He was famous for it…’

But the Seo Gyeong-bin I knew—

“Please have some of this.”

I handed a matcha-flavored chocolate to Seo Gyeong-bin, who was monitoring the screen.

‘He was famous among fans for being a fanatic for these.’

He even filmed a commercial because he was such a fan of this specific chocolate. Seeing the matcha chocolate I offered, Seo Gyeong-bin’s eyes went wide. He opened his mouth with a look of surprise—a mouth he hadn’t opened during the first reading except to say his lines.

“Th… th… th… thank you.”

That’s right. Seo Gyeong-bin wasn’t actually rude; he was just introverted. Extremely so. And surprisingly, he even had a slight stutter.

‘Of course, it disappears the moment the cameras roll.’

An actor being that introverted and even having a stutter? You might think it doesn’t make sense, but—

‘It does.’

It’s a well-proven fact that there are surprisingly many actors with introverted personalities. Seo Gyeong-bin was one of those cases.

‘I heard he has trauma from being bullied as a child.’

I heard his naturally shy personality became worse after that. Those were words he said during a talk show his agency hurriedly arranged when rumors about him being “disrespectful” started spreading to the public. He was sweating so much back then.

Actually, I had also judged him based only on the rumors. But seeing him on that talk show—

‘That can’t be acting…!’

<I, I, I… don’t… speak… very… interestingly, do I?><Haha, that’s quite alright. Is it hard for you? I could practically wash my face with the sweat you’re dripping, Gyeong-bin.>The host likely meant it as an exaggerated joke to lighten the mood, but seeing the soaking wet towel, you knew it was no exaggeration. If there’s a human who can act down to their sweat glands like that, they deserve an Oscar.

Anyway. It’s surprising to hear a single word from a man like him.

“Is that person an actor…?”

Blocking Hong Jong-ho, who was shocked by Seo Gyeong-bin’s stuttering, I greeted Seo Gyeong-bin in a low tone.

“I was eating after finishing my parts. I didn’t expect you to arrive so early. Have you eaten?”

I can’t let this introvert close his mouth now that he’s finally opened it! Getting close to your romantic co-star is important for acting. This is because, inevitably, a bit of the real-life relationship between two people ends up captured by the camera. In the worst-case scenario, a kiss scene can be ruined because of a cold relationship; in the best case, the chemistry explodes because the two are already dating.

‘Well, the possibility of dating Seo Gyeong-bin… aside, the possibility of even becoming close is close to zero.’

Still, we shouldn’t be on bad terms.

“Ah, that… uh… er… um…”

Seo Gyeong-bin began to agonize as if I had presented him with a great mystery of the world. Just then, Hong Jong-ho spoke up from the side.

“I guess he hasn’t eaten.”

I gave him a look to stop him from interfering! But in that moment, Hong Jong-ho started rummaging through his bag. It was a Lock&Lock container filled with chicken breast cabbage wraps.

“I made this myself. Please eat.”

“……!”

Seo Gyeong-bin’s face turned bright red. It was as if he were thinking, ‘This is the first time a man has given me something like this.’ His shoulders hunched up. However, Hong Jong-ho didn’t mind and placed the container on his lap.

“If you starve, you’ll lose muscle mass.”

Would he really eat that? The Seo Gyeong-bin?

I thought so, but Seo Gyeong-bin picked up the container and gave a stiff nod to Hong Jong-ho, his forehead glistening with beads of sweat. It was his way of saying thank you.

I nudged Hong Jong-ho to the side and whispered.

“How did you do that?”

“What do you mean by ‘how’? It’s obvious he just came from a workout. No one can turn down chicken breast in that case. He likes chocolate, but he’s holding back from eating it.”

“…….”

I’m asking how you know that. I glanced over at Seo Gyeong-bin. Before I knew it, he was putting a chicken breast cabbage wrap into his mouth. His eyes widened as he savored the taste. It seemed delicious. Come to think of it, Hong Jong-ho was a really good cook. Especially the way he boiled chicken breast—it was incredible.

But seeing him being this proactive—

“About that manager job I mentioned…”

“I’ve thought about it. I’m not doing it.”

“……!”

What? Why did you even come here if you were going to reject me so flatly?

“At least, not right now,” Hong Jong-ho added calmly. “I have to wrap things up at the gym first, and there’s someone who specifically requested me.”

Hong Jong-ho pointed toward me.

“……Me? Me?”

“Yes. You paid for 10 PT sessions.”

“No, that was……”

You don’t have to do them! I only paid for them because of you. I absolutely hate exercising.

“18kg of skeletal muscle mass.”

“Pardon?”

“If you achieve that within a month, I’ll do it.”

Hong Jong-ho looked at me and spoke with that stubborn, bear-like vibe that was so familiar to me.

“Then, I’ll do it even if you don’t pay me. Being your manager.”
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