‘I feel uneasy about this.’
Thinking it would be better to be next to the actor, Euiju slipped out from among the people. However, halfway up the path, a staff member blocking the way stopped Euiju.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m actor Jin Haeseong’s manager. I’m trying to get to the actor…”
“You might get caught in the angle, so please stay down there. Only the minimum number of people have gone up.”
At the staff member’s firm words, Euiju looked behind the man as if he had lingering regrets.
Haeseong, who was straddling a bicycle at the filming starting point, was comfortably chatting with fellow actors around his age who would be chasing him. Seeing his usual appearance, Euiju nodded and turned back to return to his original spot.
‘Looking at him like that, he really doesn’t seem any different from ordinary kids his age.’
Whether the other actor had said something funny, he burst into refreshing laughter, and the way he naturally acted and conversed showed the skilled attitude of someone who had been rolling around in society for years. Euiju found Haeseong’s appearance newly interesting and couldn’t take his eyes off him even from a distance.
Then, Euiju, who had been watching Haeseong, flinched for a moment. Haeseong, who had been rubbing the area near his neck, turned his head to look this way, and their eyes met.
They were far apart, but it was certain. Even from afar, Haeseong gazed clearly at Euiju without avoiding his gaze. Euiju tilted his head in question. That was because Haeseong hadn’t given him a single glance for several days.
‘…What is it?’
“Alright. Ready, action—!”
He was curious, but his thoughts were scattered by the director’s shout that immediately followed.
At the director’s instruction, the three men playing the villains began yelling loudly.
“Hey, you bastard. Don’t stand there!”
“If we catch you, you’re dead! Give me back my phone quickly, you bastard—!”
Shouting clichéd lines while closely chasing Haeseong, they ran at full speed but ultimately couldn’t beat the bicycle and went tumbling down. Haeseong, who had entered the slope, began coming down the path at a moderate speed, when the director’s face suddenly crumpled and he shouted.
“Cut, cut! Jin Haeseong! Too slow!”
At the director’s shout, Haeseong nodded leisurely, handed the bicycle to a staff member, and began climbing back up. After preparing just like the first time, filming started again.
“Ready, action!”
Haeseong, who had entered the slope again while avoiding the men, spun the pedals quickly and came down at a much faster speed than before. However, the man running at the very back fell spectacularly, so the sound of “cut” rang out again.
“That guy who fell. He’s not hurt, is he? We need to finish within an hour, but this is a sight to behold.”
Standing near the camera, Euiju heard the director grumbling discontentedly to the assistant director and furrowed his brow. No matter how minor the supporting role, he had fallen hard, yet there was no concern for the person at all.
“And I’d like Jin Haeseong’s pedaling speed to be a bit faster. With the low angle, there’s no sense of urgency at all right now.”
“I’ll convey that first.”
“Tell the kid to go as fast as possible.”
“Understood.”
The person in charge of directing made a call to someone and had various conversations. Seeing Haeseong in the distance nod to a man explaining something, it seemed he had received the director’s instructions.
Surprised by the director’s words, Euiju looked around and began searching for Team Leader Kim Jaeho. However, he was nowhere to be seen.
‘It was already too fast earlier. If it gets any faster, it might be dangerous.’
Taking his phone out of his pocket, Euiju immediately called him.
“Team Leader-nim. Where are you?”
[Oh. I just came to the bathroom. Why, is something wrong?]
“The director keeps making unreasonable demands. I don’t think the bicycle speed should get any faster, so I think we need to talk to him.”
Since he wasn’t a professional stunt actor, it could be dangerous if he went any faster than this.
[What? Does he think this is the damn 1980s? That director still thinks everything can be solved by using your body like in the old days. I’ll be right there, Euiju-ssi.]
Unable to approach the director who was surrounded by many people and equipment, Euiju approached the assistant director who was standing off to the side.
“Excuse me. I’m Jin Haeseong’s manager.”
The man with his arms crossed glanced at Euiju without answering.
“The speed is already too fast. If the speed increases any more than this, it will be too dangerous.”
At those words, the man looked at Euiju with a scoff as if it was absurd.
“I mean really. Wasn’t it your side who refused the stunt and stepped forward saying he’d do it himself? He just did fine, so what are you worried about…”
The assistant director waved his hand dismissively as if annoyed.
Then the director’s shout announcing the start of filming immediately followed. Having no choice but to step back, Euiju looked at Haeseong with an anxious gaze.
“Hey, you bastard, don’t stand there!”
“If we catch you, you’re dead! Give me back my phone quickly, you bastard—!”
The male actors delivering their lines loudly enough to ring clearly all the way to where the director was ran at an even faster speed to make up for their mistake. Haeseong occasionally looked back to check on those chasing him as he entered the slope. His face biting his lower lip as he turned the pedals looked anxious and urgent.
Haeseong, who had passed through the gentle early and middle parts of the slope at a fast speed, entered the final steep course. At a speed much faster than before, the camera moved smoothly to follow Haeseong’s form, capturing the tense scene intact.
However, the speed was too fast.
“Okay, that’s it! This is exactly it!”
As if pleased with the excessively fast speed, the director exclaimed in admiration and clapped his hands. The directors next to him also chimed in agreement.
“Uh… something’s strange.”
It really was strange. The speed of Haeseong, who had passed through the slope, wasn’t decreasing at all. As if he wasn’t applying the brakes at all, he began sliding down without any resistance.
Even though he had completely passed through the slope, the speed that wasn’t decreasing at all made the people around feel something was wrong and begin backing away while murmuring.
“What the? Why isn’t he slowing down!”
“Something’s wrong. It’s not that he isn’t doing it, it seems like he can’t!”
Although he had followed the director’s instructions perfectly, the distance between Haeseong’s position and the lined-up cameras was too short to reduce the excessively fast speed. At the risk of a collision, the staff and related personnel below began fleeing in panic and alarm.
“Kyaaa—!”
That’s when it happened.
For a brief moment, the gazes of Euiju, who was watching Haeseong with a startled face, and Haeseong locked. Haeseong was acting with an anxious and uneasy face according to the script, but the look in his eyes that Euiju encountered was not like that at all.
The eyes of a predator that had just left its cub stage and begun hunting prey directly.
Contrary to his fast speed, Haeseong slowly scanned Euiju. At the somehow sinister gaze, Euiju felt goosebumps rising for an unknown reason.
People startled by the sudden situation began to evacuate. Even as people roughly bumped into him and fled, Euiju stood still as if nailed to the spot. He just stared blankly at the bicycle that couldn’t control its speed.
“Who is that! Tell him to get out of the way quickly!”
Even when someone shouted while looking at Euiju, he stood motionless as if he had no intention of moving at all.
He just let out a troubled laugh.
“Haha…”
‘This is… awkward.’
That’s right. Jin Haeseong had no intention of missing this opportunity to press down on his manager’s pride. As if proving that fact, only Lee Euiju stood directly in front of Haeseong.
The corners of Haeseong’s mouth rose so slightly that no one else would notice. Euiju read his intention at once.
With his breathing becoming increasingly ragged, Euiju forgot that there was a yellow bruise covering his right cheek and pulled down his mask. Then he silently looked at Haeseong, who had ill intentions.
Euiju had no intention of avoiding the bicycle. If this could relieve his mood, he was willing to take it, and he was more worried that Haeseong might get seriously hurt if he bumped into someone else since there were many people around.
Their gazes intertwined again in midair. However, something that hadn’t been discovered before caught Euiju’s eye.
‘…What is it?’
Somehow it seemed like Haeseong was staring intently at his right cheek. In that moment, Euiju could glimpse a trace of hesitation in Haeseong’s emotionless eyes.
“Hey! Watch out below!”
A shout toward Haeseong burst out from where the crowd was gathered. At that voice, Euiju urgently looked down toward the ground.
Coincidentally, positioned low enough to be invisible from Haeseong’s current position, a ledge was blocking the space between them.
“…Damn it!”
If he came down without reducing speed like this, he could have a serious accident by catching on the ledge even before colliding with him. Euiju urgently shouted.
“Turn to the side!”
Haeseong, who had finally reached right in front of him, felt a strange sense of déjà vu and lowered his gaze. Haeseong’s eyes widened visibly as he confirmed the obstacle that had been completely invisible until just now due to the viewing angle.
But it was already too late.
The bicycle, unable to avoid it in time, caught on the ledge and bounced up, tumbling forward. Thanks to that, the body of the boy riding it shot up violently into the air.
“Kyaaa—!”
