Gang Hajun's mother, I Yangmi, was waiting for him on the couch in the darkened living room.
"I told him not to go like that, but this brat, really."
Her face, which had been huffing with anger, only grew stiffer as the night deepened.
The image of her youngest son lying covered in blood kept swirling through her mind.
"Has something happened again? Just a minute."
I Yangmi urgently rummaged through her pockets, searching for her phone.
Her husband, Gang Gijun, who had gotten up to use the restroom, clicked his tongue at the sight of her.
"It's not even midnight yet. Why the sudden fuss?"
"What do you mean it's not midnight? It's already twelve o'clock."
"Shoots ending past midnight—since when is that news? Hajun's been following Hyeonsu around for ten years now. Do you still not know that?"
"Who says I don't know? It's because I'm anxious. Last time too, I let it slide thinking it was fine, and then I got a call from the hospital."
"So did you get a hospital call now?"
"Ugh, whatever! Stop getting on my nerves and go finish what you were doing!"
"Just let the kid do what he wants……"
Gang Gijun, who had tried to offer unsolicited advice to the end, tucked his tail at I Yangmi's pugnacious expression.
"Huff!"
I Yangmi let out an irritated sigh and crossed her arms.
Tick. Tock.
Thirty minutes passed like that, then an hour.
Beep. Beep beep beep. Beep.
I Yangmi, who had dozed off, startled awake at the sound of the front door opening.
"Why are you doing this here? Why aren't you sleeping in your room?"
Gang Hajun, who had entered the house, asked with an utterly carefree face.
I Yangmi, who had felt like lava was churning inside her, saw her son return home with an intact face, and her anger subsided like a lie.
"Come home a little earlier. At least contact us."
"I'm sorry. I forgot to text that I'd be late."
Gang Hajun said.
Of course, it was a lie.
It wasn't that he had forgotten; he hadn't even thought of it.
In his previous life, he had never once contacted anyone to say he was running late or to tell them not to worry and sleep first.
Back then, it was because there had been no one who worried about him, but even now that such people existed, he still wondered if he really needed to go through the trouble.
He had become twenty years younger upon possessing this body, but he was still a fully grown adult man, wasn't he?
'I suppose I still should. At least until I become independent.'
Gang Hajun recalled the promise he had made to himself and the original owner of the body.
I Yangmi looked disappointed.
"There are things you should forget and things you shouldn't."
"I won't forget and will do it properly starting tomorrow. Ah, and Mother."
Gang Hajun changed the subject.
"I appeared in a minor role today."
"Really?"
I Yangmi's expression blanked for a moment.
"Aren't you going to congratulate me? I've finally escaped being an extra."
Gang Hajun gauged her reaction.
He didn't actually want to be congratulated.
He still had a long road ahead; it wouldn't do to be satisfied here.
'I need to earn recognition bit by bit so I can go to shoots with peace of mind.'
Gang Hajun's goal was ambitious.
Even if he regained the same fame as in his previous life, he intended to keep running without stopping.
There were countless roles in the world, and Gang Hajun had far too many roles he had yet to try.
Because of that, there would be more and more occasions when he was away from home.
If he only caused worry every time, it would be uncomfortable for both sides.
I Yangmi asked.
"Is a minor role different from being an extra?"
"Of course. Extras usually appear as simple background. Minor roles, even if brief, have defined characters."
"Then do you have to keep filming?"
"Not this one. It's a two-scene role, so I finished all my filming today."
"I see……"
I Yangmi's brows narrowed slightly.
She couldn't help but feel that Gang Hajun was getting his hopes up over nothing.
Making a living on talent wasn't so easy.
One only had to look at the students attending piano academies.
Regardless of age, half of the students who came wanting to become pianists quit within a year, and among those who said it was a hobby, quite a few had once dreamed of being pianists but now merely tapped away at the piano to relieve stress.
Ambiguous talent that could never become professional only wasted time, and more people than one might think possessed exactly that kind of 'ambiguous talent.'
To I Yangmi, Gang Hajun was a son she cherished more than her own eyes.
That was precisely why she needed to look at him all the more coldly.
Because she wished for him to live a prosperous life even a little sooner.
'If only he took after his older brother even half as much.'
Gang Hajun's older brother, Gang Yeonjun, had also once run around claiming he would become a celebrity.
His dream had been to be a singer.
But look at him now.
Thanks to coming to his senses, studying, and getting into a major corporation, wasn't he living happily and well?
He had even built a stable family of his own.
The thing he had stubbornly insisted on doing could be reduced to a trivial hobby without any hindrance to his life.
I Yangmi never focused on the fact that Gang Yeonjun had 'given up on his dream.'
"You must be tired. Go in and sleep."
But it was no easy task to say something like 'your talent is ambiguous' to her pretty youngest son, who was boasting with sparkling eyes.
Using the traffic accident as an excuse had its limits, too.
Because after all, it ultimately meant nothing more than telling him to stay cooped up at home doing nothing.
"Yes, Mother. Good night."
Gang Hajun, mistakenly believing that I Yangmi's worries had eased, smiled brightly and went to his room.
**
Three days later, I went to the filming set with Go Hyeonsu.
I had come alone for the two days prior.
I asked I Jinmok for the filming location, got the cue sheet from an assistant director, and hitched rides on staff vehicles or the extra team's van to get around.
We all knew each other's faces well, so there was no difficulty.
Go Hyeonsu grumbled playfully.
"What did you do at the set without me?"
"What do you think? Just looked around like usual."
Of course, I hadn't really just looked around.
I borrowed a spare script that assistant directors always carried around and helped with odd jobs for teams that were short-handed.
It was to erase my previous reputation of being a loudmouth who only got in the way.
The results seemed roughly successful.
The staff, who had initially looked at me with expressions of 'why is he here again?', had started greeting me first.
"Oh, Mr. Gang Hajun."
Casting Director Manager Jeong welcomed me more than ever.
He was the primary reason I had been able to hitch a ride with the extra team's van over the past two days.
"Manager Jeong. Hello."
"Yes, Mr. Hajun. Did you get home safely yesterday? It's just that, I have good news for you today……"
"Manager Jeong!"
An assistant director rushed over from afar, stamping his feet urgently.
"Why can't I find the actor for Hanju? I could have sworn I saw him earlier."
"Hanju?"
Manager Jeong checked the cue sheet.
"It's not Hanju's turn to go in yet."
"The PD just changed the order. He said we're shooting the connecting scenes first."
"Ah, um…… I'll call the manager right now."
Manager Jeong, who had been stammering and looking back and forth between me and the assistant director as if something wasn't clicking in his head, soon came to his senses and pulled out his phone.
"Mr. Hajun, sorry, but let's talk later. ……Yes, Team Leader Gim. Where are you now? ……Yes. Yes……"
He walked off quickly while talking to who was presumed to be the manager of the actor playing Hanju.
"Then has my order been changed too?"
"Ah, Hanho……"
The assistant director checked the cue sheet at Go Hyeonsu's question.
"Hanho has been pushed back three scenes. Everything else remains the same."
"Got it."
Go Hyeonsu nodded, and the assistant director left with a harried face.
"I always get pushed back."
Go Hyeonsu said bitterly.
"But this time it was only three scenes."
I chimed in.
Not that it would be any comfort.
"Ah, I should look at the script more. Hyung, please run lines with me."
Go Hyeonsu, pretending to brush it off coolly, asked I Jinmok.
I Jinmok readily agreed, then seemed to think of something and held the script out to me.
"You try it once."
"Me?"
"Yeah. You don't have an agency, so there's no one to review your acting. You should practice when you can. Is that okay, Hyeonsu?"
"Sure. Acting with Hajun was fun."
Go Hyeonsu readily nodded.
"Shall I, then?"
I received the script from I Jinmok.
"Which scene?"
"Scene 10."
Scene 10 was where Choi Hanho threw a tantrum at his older sister, Choi Hanseo.
Having read it over and over for two days, the content was vivid in my mind.
I skimmed the lines once more and recalled the character traits I had analyzed on my own.
"Ready?"
"Yeah. Start."
When I answered, Go Hyeonsu's expression turned sulky.
His acting began immediately.
"Why can't I, why!"
"You do know what DL Media does, don't you?"
I sneered.
"M, media! It's a media company! You think I don't know that?"
Go Hyeonsu started by shouting angrily.
"What is media?"
"Dramas, movies! Stuff like… that."
"What's the difference between dramas and movies?"
"A drama is a drama…… and a movie is a movie."
"How do you make them?"
"……By hiring a director?"
Go Hyeonsu's shoulders gradually hunched.
I paused my lines for a moment.
'Is it an obsession?'
It seemed that was the reason.
The character named 'Choi Hanho' was clear-cut.
He insisted, threw tantrums, screamed if it didn't work, and cried if it still didn't work.
An adult man in his early thirties who couldn't be classified as a normal adult.
But the Choi Hanho portrayed by Go Hyeonsu knew shame and knew the line he shouldn't cross.
As if he were conscious of having to look like an adult.
"What's wrong?"
Go Hyeonsu asked.
'He'll feel bad if I point it out directly.'
I pondered for a moment before reaching a conclusion.
I tilted my head.
"It's Choi Hanseo. I can't quite get the expression right."
"Which part?"
"Just overall. I think Choi Hanseo is an incredibly charismatic and cool adult, but it's hard to mimic that when it comes down to it. He should be clearly different from his scoundrel younger brother Choi Hanho, but they feel kind of similar?"
"Really? Then should I throw my tantrum a bit more severely?"
The role of a supporting actor.
To make the lead shine.
Go Hyeonsu knew that very well.
Because he had been doing it for thirteen years.
"Ah, why can't I, why!"
"You do know what DL Media does, don't you?"
"It's a media company! You think I don't know that!?"
Go Hyeonsu screamed until the veins in his neck bulged.
Like a child who had seen his parents, who bought him everything he wanted, suddenly close their wallets.
Just like the real Choi Hanho.
**
Go Hyeonsu and I were so engrossed in practice that we didn't even realize the previous scene's filming had ended.
PD Gim Yeongjin, who had stepped out for a quick smoke, discovered us and approached.
"Oh, PD-nim."
Go Hyeonsu was the first to spring up and greet him.
But PD Gim Yeongjin's interest was elsewhere.
"Mr. Gang Hajun, you've become quite diligent after taking one minor role. I look forward to your future work."
"I'm only sorry I couldn't show you more. Please call me again if there's a next opportunity."
"If there's a next opportunity?"
At my answer, PD Gim Yeongjin's expression turned blank.
"Are you saying you'll give up on the minor role? That won't do. The script revision has already gone in."
"……What?"
This time, my face went blank.
"What, don't tell me you haven't heard? They decided to increase the screentime for the loan shark role you were playing."