AES Ch1.3

Someone’s voice reciting Jang Yijin’s lines can be heard.

“No, Icheon. I’ll help you.”

It sounds like someone from the directing crew reading from a textbook instead of the actor. However, even with that monotonous voice, Jang Icheon reacts. His eyes slightly quiver. His twisted lips curl up.

‘Now I won’t fall for it. Has my sister ever done anything sincerely for me?’

Tears drop from his eyes. Jang Icheon, acting as the pitiful younger brother, speaks.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to die than to live like this? Even my sister would agree, right?’

Here, there is a clear subtext hidden. Jang Icheon emphasizes his status as a pitiful younger brother, unloved by his parents, and an illegitimate child not recognized as an heir, seeking his sister’s sympathy. Jang Icheon must turn Jang Yijin to his side this way. Only then can he gain strength with his sister’s help and ultimately bring down Jang Yijin. This scene is part of that design, risking his life for real.

In “Thirst,” Jang Icheon’s gamble eventually succeeds. Jang Yijin catches her falling brother, saving him, and reflects on her own neglect towards her brother. As planned by Jang Icheon, Jang Yijin becomes his wing. However, the difference between this scene and the script is,

Jang Icheon genuinely fell. Without any hesitation.

This is the only shot capturing Jang Icheon’s failed gamble.

Heetae watched the video again. He wanted to see a particular expression, to confirm it, but he couldn’t see it from this angle, not even blinking.

What kind of expression did Jang Icheon have when he realized he had failed?

🌸🍓🌸

At a columbarium on the outskirts of Gyeonggi-do, Heetae filmed a scene where Prosecutor Lee Joohwan speaks to his father. Or more precisely, a scene where he speaks one-sidedly to his deceased father.

Lee Joohwan comes from the bottom. It wasn’t always like this, but his comfortable life began to crumble when his father was involved in a scam during his childhood. Lee Joohwan believed his father was innocent, and as he wished, his father received a not-guilty verdict. However, Lee Joohwan’s family fell apart after his father’s death.

The process was agonizing for Lee Joohwan, not because of their declining status, but because he discovered his father’s true identity just before his death.

He was a secret agent for the KI family. Scams were minor; he handled all the dirty work for the KI Group for money. When he was caught and taken to court, Chairman Jang of KI used a skilled lawyer to save him, not out of care, but to dispose of a useless pawn discreetly.

Upon learning his father’s true face, Lee Joohwan was engulfed in immense betrayal, but his father was already dead. Then, where would this anger without a place to go be directed? The answer is all the evildoers of this world.

As a prosecutor, Lee Joohwan’s goal is to send trash like his father to prison, as many as possible. Ironically, his father is both his nemesis and his driving force in life.

Lee Joohwan lives a life where he can only sleep soundly when the criminal he worked hard to catch gets convicted, and sometimes visits his father when he feels he’s lost his edge.

Today is that day. He’s here now. His father’s spot is in the middle of the niche, a modest place without any decorations or photos. Lee Joohwan smiles faintly at the plain white urn.

“Father, I’ll do well today too.”

Recently, while investigating gambling charges against small business owners, Lee Joohwan caught Representative Kang Jiwon for bribery. His gut tells him this isn’t the end. There’s a big fish involved.

Just then, a call comes from Detective Hong. Lee Joohwan nods to the urn, giving his final goodbye.

“Goodbye. Hope you’re doing well in hell.”

As Lee Joohwan turns without looking back, the scene ends with the shout of “cut.” With the OK sign, the manager approaches Heetae with a bottle of water and says in a bright voice,

“Hyung, you’ve ended it in one take again today.”

The assistant director, coming over, praised Heetae’s good diction while explaining the next direction. Heetae responded with a suitable smile but didn’t take much heed of the lavish compliments.

Before moving to the next spot, Heetae gave one last look at the lonely urn. To think he could be so dedicated to something like this. Lee Joohwan was quite an interesting character. Perhaps because he never had the chance to make it big in life, Heetae admired his tenacity in becoming a prosecutor from such tough circumstances.

The next person he thought of was Jang Icheon, who Lee Joohwan must catch, and Ryu Sihyeon, who plays Jang Icheon. He’s scheduled to shoot a scene with Ryu Sihyeon in a week. Then, he won’t be muttering to himself; Jang Icheon will be right in front of him. Since acting is more interesting when done together, he feels something akin to anticipation.

Yesterday, when Yeo Joohee visited the set, the topic of Ryu Sihyeon came up. When Min Hyejin asked about Ryu Sihyeon’s falling accident, Yeo Joohee, after a moment’s thought, said, “He doesn’t act.”

Whether that statement was negative or positive, it meant Ryu Sihyeon becomes Jang Icheon the moment the camera rolls. Heetae recalled Jang Icheon from the screen, a little devil shedding false tears, cunningly plotting behind his facade of weakness…

Indeed, Jang Icheon is an interesting character. He wanted to see him come alive right before his eyes.

🌸🍓🌸

On the day off, the lead actors had to handle poster and profile photoshoots. As Heetae entered the shooting set, he thought it was an inefficient schedule. He was already tired from hearing that there might be a variety show shoot for promotional purposes. So far, rest had been arranged reasonably, but the shooting schedule was bound to get tighter.

The lead actors for today’s poster shoot, including Heetae, were Ryu Sihyeon, Min Hyejin, and Yeo Joohee. While Ryu Sihyeon and Yeo Joohee were shooting, Heetae naturally struck up a conversation with Min Hyejin. The topic was Min Hyejin’s cat.

Min Hyejin said she recently got a kitten from a junior at university. That junior was someone Heetae knew, someone so knowledgeable about cats that even Jung Kiyeon would often ask him about cats. This “cat doctor” had been posting cat photos enthusiastically on social media, eventually spreading the charm of cats to Min Hyejin.

Min Hyejin, deeply in love with her cat, kept talking about it. So small and cute, hard to raise but cute, waking her up every morning but still cute… Heetae, looking at the cat photos saved on Min Hyejin’s phone, agreed with her conclusions. His cat was a blue-eyed Ragdoll, a breed destined to be cute. As they were deeply into cat talk, Yeo Joohee, who had finished her solo poster shoot, approached and said,

“Seo Heetae is weak against cute things.”

Heetae was quite taken aback by such an unexpected statement.

“Why say that?”

Yeo Joohee just shrugged.

“Since it’s been a while since we filmed together, I’m giving you some valuable info to look good.”

Heetae pointed with his chin at Ryu Sihyeon, who was standing a bit away.

“Stop talking nonsense and go play with Ryu Sihyeon.”

Heetae had no interest in Ryu Sihyeon, not Jang Icheon. They weren’t close, so there was nothing to talk about when they were together. Still, Yeo Joohee had done some shoots with Ryu Sihyeon, so they seemed to have become somewhat friendly. If they were playing nicely together, everyone would be at ease. But Yeo Joohee grinned and deliberately brought Ryu Sihyeon over here. Even though Ryu Sihyeon was taller than Yeo Joohee, who was well above average height for a woman, he followed her like a puppy.

“Min Hyejin’s cat is pretty, I heard.”

“Wow, really?”

Ryu Sihyeon responded brightly with a diligent reaction to Yeo Joohee’s words. It was an unusually attentive, very polite response. Satisfied with that, Yeo Joohee said something that could be either an order or a request to Min Hyejin.

“Since we showed Heetae sunbae that you like cats, now you show us. Sihyeon likes cats too.”

At that very Yeo Joohee-like remark, Min Hyejin gave a slight smile, then sent dozens of cat photos to the group chat for the actors. After handing her phone to her manager, she left to shoot her solo poster.

…What kind of sin had the other actors in the chat room committed to be bombarded with cat photos all of a sudden? But Yeo Joohee, not caring, admired the cat photos with Ryu Sihyeon. Then, out of the blue again,

“Sihyeon, remember this. Heetae is weak against cute things.”

She said something unnecessary. She’s consistent, that’s for sure.

“You say it’s valuable info, but you’re just spreading it around.”

“You should get close with Sihyeon too.”

“Why are you getting close to him by selling me out?”

“Then we’ll sell each other out. Min Hyejin, any new news lately? Got a boyfriend?”

“I don’t know.”

“What have you been doing without asking even the basics?”

“If that’s the basics, then I’ll ask too. Do you have one?”

“No.”

“K University’s goddesses are all gone.”

“Does Heetae have a girlfriend?”

“No.”

“No news from Lee Seonui lately?”

“Who’s that?”

“He’s your senior. You had a thing with him.”

“Me? With who?”

“Not you. Lee Seonui had a thing with Hyejin.”

Heetae burst out laughing in disbelief.

“They really come up with all sorts of things.”

It’s always like this. Min Hyejin and Yeo Joohee are polar opposites.

To be exact, Min Hyejin unilaterally found Yeo Joohee unpleasant, and Yeo Joohee, who had only received love her whole life, couldn’t understand why. According to Min Hyejin, their personalities and tendencies didn’t match at all. But Yeo Joohee, taking it as a challenge, believed they could overcome it with effort, so every time they met, there was this strange cycle of obsession and avoidance. Watching this repeat for ten years made Heetae want to leave the scene out of frustration.

“Ask Sihyeon something too.”

Heetae replied half-heartedly to Yeo Joohee, who kept bothering him.

“Enough.”

“How cold.”

Heetae forced a smile and asked Ryu Sihyeon,

“Sihyeon, don’t you have anything to ask me?”

And before Ryu Sihyeon could even blink a few times, Heetae left the spot.

🌸🍓🌸

On a day when they were supposed to start shooting in the afternoon, Heetae was about to leave early in the morning when he got a call from Jung Kiyeon. It was surprising since Jung Kiyeon preferred texts over calls. His excited voice came through immediately.

“Why the call?”

At Heetae’s low voice, Jung Kiyeon asked curiously,

— You don’t have a shoot today?

“I’m about to head out.”

— Now? You’ve got plenty of time. Must be a huge budget.

“It’s tough, in its own way. Try shooting a drama. It’s hard.”

— Man, movies are fucking hard too.

“I know. That’s why you have time to call.”

Jung Kiyeon clicked his tongue at Heetae’s sarcastic remark, mimicking his tone.

— You’ve got quite the temper, Heetae. Better at writing lines than me?

“If you want, you can use them, but remember, I own the copyright.”

— Sure.

That he agreed so readily without any retort was suspicious. Heetae tried to shake off the bad feeling and changed the subject.

“By the way, I heard you gave Shin Chaeyeon hell.”

— Shin Chaeyeon said that? Her unique choice of words is still sharp. She’s quite the talker.

“So are you.”

— Anyway, we sorted it out between us.

“That’s cool. You guys always fight and make up. When are you starting your next project?”

— I’m freelancing now, and we’ll start filming next year in the first half. Anyway, we’ll talk about that after your drama ends. Are you close with Ryu Sihyeon?

…It seems like someone has put honey on Ryu Sihyeon.

“No.”

— You’re not close with the lead even now?

“Why Ryu Sihyeon?”

— You know Director Choi Jeonghyun, right?

“I do.”

Choi Jeonghyun was a young director who premiered his debut film at Berlin, and since he was close to Kiyeon, Heetae was aware of the news.

— Director Choi wants to talk with Ryu Sihyeon.

“If he wants to talk, he should go through his agency.”

— The agency outright rejected it because they don’t do indie films. So he wants to at least show the script, just in case. Ryu Sihyeon said he’ll take any role as long as it’s good.

He thought it was quite something, but occasionally, there are directors this desperate, hoping on empty promises from interviews. However, he felt no obligation to help them out. Heetae sighed once and headed to the kitchen for coffee.

“I don’t know if he said that. You worry about your own stuff. Why look after a junior director?”

— Sorry, just do me this favor. He’s really talented, you know.

“Why try to contact the actor directly when the agency said no? And does it have to be Ryu Sihyeon?”

— They like him. Ryu Sihyeon had his debut film, right? He was the assistant director then, and they had talked verbally from that time. So the script was written with Ryu Sihyeon in mind from the start. But then Ryu Sihyeon got an agency, and things fell through. So they want to grasp at least one straw of hope.

— He was the assistant director, but he doesn’t have Ryu Sihyeon’s contact?

— Ryu Sihyeon didn’t have a phone back then.

“It’s funny that someone without a phone or an agency was an actor. It’s even funnier that they’re clinging to a verbal agreement with that guy.”

The more Heetae learned about Ryu Sihyeon, the stranger he seemed. While making a cup of coffee, Heetae listened quietly as his friend rambled on about Director Choi’s situation. As he walked to the living room with the coffee, he cut Kiyeon off with one sentence.

“I’ll ask him at least.”

— Thanks, man. I’ll treat you at a nice place. Let’s all get together, you, me, Director Choi, and Ryu Sihyeon.

“Why should I be there? Pay for it separately.”

— Let’s meet up anyway. I want to see Ryu Sihyeon in person too.

What’s the point of seeing him in person? Heetae seriously pondered whether a film director could be this idle, realizing that this guy lived a carefree life thanks to the fortune inherited from his parents.

“What would you do seeing a guy in person?”

— Seo Heetae, you really don’t get it. How important is the face? More than half of the money I’ve made from films came from your face. Don’t you know I’m friends with you because you’re good-looking?

He certainly had a way with words. Heetae got tired of arguing about the issue of appearance because Jung Kiyeon always concluded with, “I’m only watching out for you because of your face.”

However, there was one new thing that piqued his curiosity… since he’s a director too, what kind of actor does he see Ryu Sihyeon as? Given that even Shin Chaeyeon, who once directed, was so eager for him, it seems like directors like his look.

“Jung Director.”

— Yeah?

“You don’t plan on working with Ryu Sihyeon?”

At that, Jung Kiyeon let out a cunning laugh. Unfortunately, Heetae couldn’t cover his ears since he was holding a cup.

— This early in the morning for such a topic? That’s all I can think about.

The conversation always veered into weird territory. Heetae clicked his tongue as if he had heard something dirty, and Jung Kiyeon chuckled.

— I do have thoughts. He’s a guy who just suddenly appeared. His face tells a million stories. Maybe not for the next project, but I’d like to work with him someday. Did he go to the military?

Where does this unfounded number ‘million’ come from? Jung Kiyeon rambled incoherently before changing the subject. Though it was vague, the meaning was clear.

— Of course, I have other thoughts too.

“…Cut it out. Since when did you sleep with guys?”

— It’s a joke. You know that.

“You really come up with all sorts of things.”

Jung Kiyeon’s unique, annoying laugh came through the phone. Heetae, drinking his coffee, muttered in disbelief.

“Why is everyone around me like this?”

— Around you? Who? Chaeyeon? I’ll pass it on to her.

“I don’t know why you two fight so much when you get along so well.”

— Anyway, from what I see, you’re not an ordinary guy either.

“I’m a sensible person.”

— Man, a truly sensible person wouldn’t be an actor.

He was certainly skilled at acting like a madman. Heetae roughly ended the call and tried to find Ryu Sihyeon’s number, but he didn’t have it. Come to think of it, they hadn’t exchanged contacts yet. He didn’t want to become a senior who nags, but it was strange that Ryu Sihyeon hadn’t asked for his number.

After pondering for a moment, Heetae was about to conclude that it was too bothersome and just say he didn’t have the number, but then he remembered there was a group chat for the actors.

In the end, Heetae sent a message to Ryu Sihyeon’s personal messenger account through the group chat. He didn’t know Ryu Sihyeon’s schedule in detail, but he might be shooting by now. He was about to wait patiently for a reply when Ryu Sihyeon responded quickly.

[I will definitely attend! Good luck with today’s shoot!]

Heetae simply replied, “Okay.” But Ryu Sihyeon went on to send a lengthy message about how his fan club was planning to send something for their next shoot together.

…He hadn’t expected the conversation to go on this long. When Heetae replied with a simple “Thanks,” Ryu Sihyeon responded quickly again. It was just a normal message about seeing each other on the next shoot day, but he added it with trendy cat emojis, showing a lot of courtesy.

Heetae reflected on Ryu Sihyeon for a moment after seeing this. Was he always this polite? Initially, he thought Ryu Sihyeon was young and arrogant, which made their encounters awkward. But upon meeting him, he seemed to handle social interactions quite well. He was inconsistent, to say the least.

Still, it was better for him to be humble like this than arrogant. After all, humans should maintain basic courtesy.

There was nothing more to say formally. Judging by this atmosphere, if he sent anything, Ryu Sihyeon would likely reply with something meaningless. So Heetae checked up to that point and put down his phone.

🌸🍓🌸

On the day of shooting with Ryu Sihyeon, lunch boxes and coffee from his fan club arrived at the set. After finishing his makeup touch-up, Heetae received the lunch boxes and coffee from Ryu Sihyeon’s agency manager. The manager was going around saying things like, “Please take good care of our Sihyeon.” Heetae gave an appropriate reply expressing his expectations for Ryu Sihyeon. He thought the manager would leave after that, but he continued to speak.

“Our Sihyeon gets deeply immersed. Sometimes he might get confused between Jang Icheon and Ryu Sihyeon. Please take good care of him even if he makes mistakes.”

It was a plausible excuse. Perhaps because Ryu Sihyeon had caused an incident on the first day of shooting, there was no separate parent-like figure looking after him. It was questionable whether his agency was properly managing his mental state.

“Does Sihyeon get any special lessons from the company?”

“Oh, yes, of course. He has a strong will to learn.”

“Before that?”

“Well… I heard there was someone teaching him.”

Curious about where he learned such acting, Heetae got an irresponsible answer. Does his agency not know either? Seeing Heetae’s surprised look, the manager awkwardly mumbled.

“Sihyeon is handing out snacks; please go over there. He’s your fan.”

He knew it was just empty words, so he wasn’t interested. Instead, there was something else that concerned him in this situation.

 

Here is the translation of the text from Korean to English:

Before giving a perfunctory response, Heetae observed the manager for a moment. He knew that the agency was a small, nameless one, but he couldn’t understand why they would make an established actor like Ryu Sihyeon hand out snacks. Perhaps it would have been better when he thought Ryu Sihyeon was an arrogant genius.

Anyway, there wasn’t a single thing about Ryu Sihyeon that he liked.

He thanked the manager politely and headed to the shooting spot. As expected, the crew was busily setting up. Ryu Sihyeon was talking with the script supervisor sitting in front of the monitor, and there were several cookie packets in front of the script supervisor and Director Cha sitting next to her. Those must be the snacks the manager mentioned earlier.

Director Cha was a notoriously taciturn person, so he didn’t speak much, but Ryu Sihyeon and the script supervisor were laughing and having a good time. The script supervisor was a young woman who seemed to be around Ryu Sihyeon’s age, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Watching this, Heetae remembered what Shin Chaeyeon had said about Ryu Sihyeon exuding charisma. Maybe Ryu Sihyeon was laughing like that in the drama Chaeyeon was talking about.

While thinking about this, Heetae’s eyes met with Ryu Sihyeon’s, who quickly approached with a box in hand.

“Senior. I made these myself; would you like to try some?”

The box Ryu Sihyeon offered was full of various kinds of cookies.

“You have this skill too?”

“I learned it when I needed it for a shoot.”

“…You work hard. Give me something tasty.”

After replying “Yes,” Ryu Sihyeon rummaged through the cookies. Heetae looked down at him quietly. Then his gaze moved to the white hands carefully picking through the cookies. Following those neat hands, he counted the neatly arranged cookies, which must have been over thirty. It was surprising that there were so many left even after distributing them on set, and they were individually packaged too. Did he really make and package all this himself? It would have been more efficient to sleep during that time, but maybe because he’s young, he has good stamina and doesn’t need much sleep.

After some selection, Ryu Sihyeon handed over a chocolate cookie. Heetae remembered Ryu Sihyeon’s desire for the last chocolate cookie during the script reading day.

“Do you like chocolate?”

“Oh, do you dislike chocolate?”

“I don’t particularly like it, but this looks good.”

In fact, Heetae didn’t care since he thought cookies were all the same, but Ryu Sihyeon got flustered by his words.

“Then, would you like another flavor…?”

“No, it’s fine.”

As Heetae took the cookie, Ryu Sihyeon slightly bowed his head.

“Enjoy it.”

He was smiling but seemed somewhat tense. This didn’t suit Jang Icheon at all. He wondered how Ryu Sihyeon would become Jang Icheon.

Heetae looked down at Ryu Sihyeon, who had his makeup on. Behind that white face was Jang Icheon. The official introduction of Jang Icheon starts like this:

‘An angel-faced devil…’

The shooting for episode 4, scene #83, where Lee Joohwan and Jang Icheon first meet, began. Jang Icheon is seated at a bar, and Prosecutor Lee Joohwan approaches to talk to him. They matched their movements quickly, and the first take shot commenced. Heetae, standing outside the frame, watched Ryu Sihyeon sitting under the soft lighting.

Lee Joohwan had unexpectedly found Jang Icheon’s name on the phone of a gambling broker he was investigating. Jang Icheon isn’t well-known to the public. According to the little-known information, he’s just a medical student who frequently repeats a year. Except for his close associates, no one knows about the immense inferiority complex and ambition lurking within him, and no one watches him. KI already has a beautiful, perfect heir, Jang Yijin, who is the public face of KI.

Initially, Lee Joohwan didn’t think Jang Icheon could be involved in anything significant. But his animalistic intuition began to sense something suspicious in Jang Icheon’s innocent face and subtle actions. Then, he got evidence that gave him some confidence in that suspicion.

Here, Lee Joohwan chooses his own method of investigation. Trusting his instincts, Lee Joohwan decides to meet Jang Icheon in person. In episode 4 of “Thirst,” Lee Joohwan gets information about Jang Icheon from Detective Hong, who is cooperating in the investigation. Jang Icheon often frequents a bar he owns.

Moreover, Prosecutor Han Seyeong, investigating Representative Kang Jiwon, mentions that Jang Icheon and Kang Jiwon’s secretary might meet at that bar. He has a hunch. There’s something about Jang Icheon.

So, Lee Joohwan is now at that bar. There’s Jang Icheon. Lee Joohwan sits down with one chair between himself and Jang Icheon, who is lost in thought while sipping a cocktail. He orders a shot and casually glances at Jang Icheon. Jang Icheon just stares into the distance with a bright red cocktail in front of him.

He needs to get something out of him. For instance, is he the kind of guy who could do something bad, or is he too cowardly? The only property under Jang Icheon’s name is this bar building. As an illegitimate child scorned by his family, he doesn’t have much. If such a person is connected with a gambling broker, there’s a chance something might happen here, as the information suggests.

Their eyes meet. Lee Joohwan captures the subtle expression on Jang Icheon’s face.

A face that puts on a pretense of politeness. If someone didn’t know Jang Icheon, they would fall for this face. Seo Heetae has seen this face before, on the first day of the script reading.

He couldn’t help but think about it.

At that moment, Jang Icheon speaks first, asking Lee Joohwan:

“Are you looking for something?”

With the other actor delivering his line, Heetae naturally focused back. He was annoyed that his concentration had wavered, but he delivered his line.

“Are you the owner here?”

“I’m not the owner.”

“Then what can I find here?”

“Alcohol, I suppose?”

Lee Joohwan looks at Jang Icheon, who is watching him. Typically, no one exchanges questions like this. His intuition tells him it’s one of two things: either he’s here to meet a broker whose face he doesn’t know, or he knows information has leaked from the broker. If that question was meant for the broker, it might be some kind of code.

Their eyes meet again. He shouldn’t look suspicious here.

“What are you drinking?”

“Bl Bloody Mary.”

Lee Joohwan calls for the bartender to order the same. As they sit there in silence, Lee Joohwan asks:

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m just a student.”

“Don’t you study?”

“No. I like to have fun.”

“College student? What department?”

“I’m in medical school.”

“Are you going to be a doctor?”

“Who knows.”

Lee Joohwan laughs inwardly. Medical school, huh. The one who keeps repeating.

Jang Icheon might just be a wayward medical student cast out by his family, but if that’s the case, he’s nothing special. He’s someone KI should keep an eye on to prevent rumors, not someone the police should watch. Lee Joohwan, while looking at Jang Icheon, says:

“A friend of mine knows the owner of this building.”

“Oh, really?”

“He’s a very good person, they say, does a lot of volunteer work.”

Lee Joohwan says this and observes Jang Icheon’s reaction before asking:

“Is that true?”

At that, Jang Icheon answers without any movement:

“You’re a cop, aren’t you?”

“Why do you think that?”

“You keep asking questions like you’re interrogating me.”

Jang Icheon is oddly wary of Lee Joohwan. Lee Joohwan catches on. Jang Icheon already knows. He knows that information has leaked from the broker and that he could be under investigation. He must have deliberately let it slip that he would meet the broker here today to catch whoever suspects him. Jang Yijin’s brother was indeed a cunning one. And he had guts.

Lee Joohwan laughs nonchalantly and replies:

“I’m not a cop. Just a working man.”

He sips his cocktail moderately, gets up, says goodbye, and walks out. Staying here won’t help anymore.

Lee Joohwan is already convinced that Jang Icheon is involved in the gambling case. Jang Icheon has the capability to deal with police investigations and has informants, no doubt. That’s why he set such a bold trap. And more importantly… did he figure out Lee Joohwan is from the prosecution, or not?

He hopes not, so he can keep a close watch on Jang Icheon. But what is Jang Icheon thinking as he watches Lee Joohwan leave? Does he find it suspicious, or does he just see him as another customer? And…

What expression is Ryu Sihyeon wearing now? Just as that thought crossed his mind,

“Cut!”

At Director Cha’s voice, everyone relaxed. Then came the sound of someone shouting “OK.” Heetae turned to look at Ryu Sihyeon, who was returning the cocktail glass he had been drinking from to the staff setting up props.

“Director, was it really okay?”

Concerned about his earlier lapse in concentration, Heetae asked Director Cha, who only said it was good. After all, it’s a shot where the expressions aren’t seen in detail. If the director says it’s okay, then it is, but it still bothers him.

Right at that moment, Ryu Sihyeon approaches.

Heetae looked at Ryu Sihyeon walking towards him with indifference. He couldn’t look at him warmly because he didn’t think the acting was perfect, his nerves were on edge, and he didn’t particularly like Ryu Sihyeon. Ryu Sihyeon, receiving Heetae’s gaze, quietly opened his mouth.

“Uh… when have we decided to meet with Director Jung?”

“I’ll let you know once it’s decided.”

“Okay.”