Chapter 42: The Actor Who Makes Hearts Race

After receiving a call from Taeha, Kang Sojeong responded candidly.

“Seok-hyun oppa? Yeah, we keep in touch pretty often. Why do you ask about him all of a sudden?”

– Ah, nuna, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.

So Taeha explained to Kang Sojeong what had happened up until now.

Since Kang Sojeong already knew Taeha had become one of the Main Characters in , she quickly understood his explanation.

“Of course, Hollywood… who could resist? Especially if it’s Director Dan Weber.”

Kang Sojeong could fully understand Seon Min-gi’s decision to pursue a Hollywood career.

It was actually a surprise to hear that Seon Min-gi had tried to turn down Dan Weber’s casting offer out of a sense of responsibility to the project.

She began to wonder if she would be able to make the same choice if it were her.

That’s how attractive a proposal for Hollywood was to an actor.

– So, I need an actor who can fill in for Min-gi hyung, and Seok-hyun came to mind right away. Nuna, you know him best. He’s a good actor.

“Right. He is a good actor.”

But as she said this, Kang Sojeong’s expression clouded over a little.

In this state, Kang Sojeong continued.

“But I’m not sure if Seok-hyun oppa would want to appear in .”

– Why? Has he already signed on to another project? I haven’t heard anything about that.

“As far as I know, he hasn’t confirmed anything yet. He hasn’t picked a project for months now and has just been reading through scripts.”

– Then it should be fine. The Scenario is great. I’m sure Seok-hyun will be interested.

“That’d be nice, but… I’ll recommend it to him as actively as I can. Send me the Scenario.”

– Okay.

After receiving the Scenario from Taeha, Kang Sojeong began to read it.

It wasn’t strictly necessary for her to read it.

All Taeha had asked was for her to pass on the Scenario and check Seok-hyun’s interest in joining the cast.

But Kang Sojeong, as if it were only natural, read through the Scenario herself.

She was curious.

About what kind of project was, the one that Taeha was now a part of.

Just how good the project had to be for Taeha to be so confident about securing Seok-hyun.

Especially, Kang Sojeong thought that there was a high chance Seok-hyun would refuse the offer to appear in .

The reason was simple.

“That oppa… he’s a total Dopamine Addict who never knows where he’ll end up.”

Seok-hyun was certainly a good actor.

He even had a good personality and a clean personal life.

His bright disposition made him get along well with those around him.

But, apart from that, there was one troublesome aspect: Seok-hyun was a serious Dopamine Addict.

It was something anyone would notice after just one lunch with him.

[Hey, just splitting the bill is boring. How about we decide who pays for lunch with a ladder game?]

[What? You’re just going to eat and leave? What’s with that attitude? No way. Let’s play a round of arcade basketball for the drink bill. Don’t chicken out.]

[Ugh, I lost. Isn’t your stomach still full? How about a bet for a late-night snack? Let’s at least play a round of rock-paper-scissors. If I win, I’ll cover your lunch for tomorrow too.]

His Dopamine Addiction was so bad it was a wonder he hadn’t fallen into gambling.

He even picked projects based on this standard, making his choices extremely subjective and quite picky.

“As long as there’s something in it that makes my heart race.”

That was the only standard by which he chose his projects.

In fact, it was thanks to this unique standard that Seok-hyun, who had recognition rivaling Seon Min-gi, ended up appearing in .

“When he first saw the script, he said his heart raced so fast it hurt.”

Kang Sojeong also felt a huge emotional impact when she read .

But she didn’t have any heart trouble like Seok-hyun.

Honestly, if your heart’s beating that fast and it hurts, you should probably go to a hospital.

Anyway, Seok-hyun was someone with very unique standards when it came to picking a project.

That’s why Kang Sojeong thought she needed to read the Scenario herself.

She needed to be sure it was good if she wanted to persuade Seok-hyun, even a little.

A short while later.

After finishing the Scenario, Kang Sojeong nodded.

“Hmm… Not bad. If there were a Female Lead role, I’d want to be in it myself.”

was definitely a decent project.

She could see why Taeha was so confident in the Scenario, and why the hottest actor these days, Seon Min-gi, had chosen it.

But it didn’t quite deliver the same emotional impact as .

She could tell it was a good project, but it didn’t have that extra sparkle.

Because of that, Kang Sojeong thought,

“This is strong enough to recommend, but… I’m not sure if I can convince Seok-hyun oppa.”

But this was something she had to do for Taeha, so after gathering her resolve, Kang Sojeong called Seok-hyun.

– Hello?

“Seok-hyun oppa! You still haven’t picked your next project, right? I’ve got a good Scenario, want to read it?”

***

After finishing the call with Kang Sojeong, Seok-hyun scratched his head.

“Sojeong’s recommendation… I wonder if it’ll be any good.”

Seok-hyun thought Kang Sojeong had a great eye for scripts and Scenarios.

Ever since , she had achieved remarkable results with every project she took on.

But apart from that, her taste in projects was quite different from Seok-hyun’s.

Whereas Kang Sojeong preferred projects with a high potential for mainstream success, Seok-hyun tended to choose more unconventional and challenging ones, even if they were more niche.

That’s just what happens when you only pick things that make your heart race in some way.

So Seok-hyun didn’t expect too much from the Scenario that Kang Sojeong was sending him.

He thought it would be reasonably fun, but not particularly distinctive.

But after reading the Scenario carefully, Seok-hyun’s thoughts changed.

“This is good… really good.”

Seok-hyun had seen quite a few of Jeong Myeong-hwan’s action films.

They were from the best action director in the Republic of Korea, after all.

And each time, he’d felt a sense of disappointment.

Even the most successful of Jeong Myeong-hwan’s films, the only one to break ten million admissions, had always felt weak in terms of story.

But this time, there was none of that.

It was as if the method of writing the Scenario had completely changed—this felt like a whole new work.

Where before, the story had existed just for the sake of action, now, the action existed for the sake of the story.

And soon, Seok-hyun realized why.

He finally noticed the name of a co-writer.

“A co-writer… Did they pull out all the stops to make up for the story’s weaknesses?”

Seok-hyun thought, inhaling sharply.

It was understandable.

He was debating whether or not to accept the offer for .

Honestly, it didn’t quite fit his own criteria.

The story was good, the action scenes looked promising, but there wasn’t anything that really made his heart race.

But even so, Seok-hyun wasn’t the type to choose projects just based on conditions alone.

With a project of this caliber, he thought it was right to accept the offer.

The project was just that impressive.

“I can see why Sojeong was so confident recommending it. These days, it’s rare to come across a work like this.”

Content is pouring out like mushrooms after rain, but supply far exceeds demand, so it’s a tough era to receive a lot of love.

With a project with this much box office potential, it made sense to forget about his own standards and take the role.

The fact that Seok-hyun had spent almost half a year reading scripts and Scenarios without picking anything was proof enough.

Of course, that didn’t mean there weren’t any risks.

“The other lead is way too weak. What was his name again? Was it Kang Taeha?”

Seok-hyun didn’t know Taeha was Kang Sojeong’s cousin.

That’s because Taeha, not wanting this fact to get out, had already told Sojeong to keep quiet.

So Seok-hyun simply evaluated Taeha as an actor.

And from that perspective, Taeha was severely lacking as a co-lead.

Since Seok-hyun hadn’t watched the Original Broadcast of , this was the first time he was hearing the name.

A quick search on a portal site showed that Taeha had only done a single minor role and one supporting role.

No matter how good the Scenario, was it really right for someone like that to be the co-lead in a two-top film?

On the other hand, he was curious.

Why had Jeong Myeong-hwan cast Taeha in ?

To answer that question, Seok-hyun decided to watch .

“Might as well watch it now, since I was planning to anyway.”

It was such a talked-about work that Seok-hyun was curious about it.

And the fact that, if he accepted the casting offer, he’d be taking over the role originally meant for Seon Min-gi—that was the deciding factor in Seok-hyun’s decision to watch .

So he started watching Episode 1 of .

In the first episode, Seok-hyun evaluated Taeha simply.

But Seok-hyun kept watching.

And with each episode, he was more and more surprised.

Taeha’s acting was visibly improving.

And when he reached episode 8, the turning point for the character Lee Jae-hyun—

Seok-hyun found himself admiring Taeha without even realizing it.

***

That’s how impressive Taeha’s performance was in the final scene of episode 8.

But that wasn’t the end.

When he got to episodes 9 and 10,

“Wow, damn.”

Seok-hyun finally understood why Jeong Myeong-hwan had cast Taeha.

He definitely didn’t feel like a rookie.

He was an actor who gave off the feeling of true, excellent acting.

Above all, his ability to bring out the latent potential of his co-actors was outstanding.

And he thought,

There couldn’t possibly be anything more surprising about Taeha’s acting.

But,

“Holy—[”

After getting through episodes 11 and 12 and reaching episode 13, Seok-hyun had to completely change his mind.

Taeha’s acting had evolved to a shocking level.

Even if he himself played the same role, he wasn’t sure he could pull it off the way Taeha did.

At the same time,

Thump, thump, thump…

Seok-hyun felt his heart pounding with a force he hadn’t felt in ages.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he felt like this.

“Condition met…”

Seok-hyun muttered in a dazed voice.

The moment he made up his mind to appear in .