Chapter 105: An Unexpected Business Card

“You must contact me at least once. I’ll treat you to something nice.”

The business card he handed me read ‘DreamN Entertainment Team Leader Choi Taesoo’.

“Ah……”

“You know our company, right?”

“Of course. I know it well.”

How could I not know? Even if I forgot everything else, I could never forget DreamN, the agency with Kim Taehwan and Han Jungwoo.

“Feel free to contact me anytime.”

“Yes.”

Whether giving me the card was his goal, he greeted me and left as soon as I accepted it.

“That’s funny.”

Who would have thought I’d end up receiving a business card from DreamN.

But they really have no morals.

What reason would a team leader from another agency have to eat with me? He was obviously trying to poach me.

If I were at a major agency, he wouldn’t have dared, but since mine was small, he could act boldly.

Even if the sky splits in two, I would never go to DreamN.

I was about to throw away the card he gave me, but thinking it might come in handy someday, I kept it.

“Hyunjae!”

“Huh? Why is hyung here?”

I naturally assumed it was Hayoon, so it was unexpected that Taewoon was the one calling me.

“It’s my music video, after all. I should at least come see it once.”

“This guy…… No, if we’re shooting in three days, you should’ve told me earlier~”

“Haha, I did tell you back then. I said it would come out soon.”

Taewoon spoke shamelessly.

“You made me do this because it’s a romance.”

“What are you talking about? I passed it to you because you’re shooting a romance drama.”

As expected, his excuse sounded plausible.

“Liar.”

“It’s true. It wasn’t in the original plan, but the duet turned out so well that we decided to go with a double title.”

“The song is good, though.”

Taewoon’s clean voice blended incredibly well with the emotional, rich vocals of the female singer.

“As soon as I heard the guide, I knew this was it and asked for the song right away.”

“That female singer sang so well, didn’t she?”

“And me?”

“Who is she? The high harmony in the back was no joke; her skill is insane……”

“Me!”

Taewoon whined about why I wasn’t praising him, and finding that amusing, I praised the female singer even more.

“Oh? Taewoon-ssi is here~”

Just then, the music video director spotted Taewoon.

“Ah, hello. Director-nim. Please take good care of us today.”

He switched back to his usual tone as if nothing had happened.

“Ah~ Don’t worry. Both of you act so well; it’ll turn out great.”

“I’ll trust only you, Director-nim.”

Taewoon greeted the director, then went to greet the female actress before returning to me.

“I have a schedule, so I need to go.”

“Eh? Already?”

“I told you. I only stopped by briefly to say hi. My manager will bring coffee later.”

“I’ll enjoy it.”

“Good luck~”

“See you next time.”

After Taewoon left the set, filming resumed, and it wasn’t until nearly a full day had passed that all the shooting wrapped.

“Wow…… We really burned the night away.”

“Good work.”

With so little time given, we shot through the night.

“You worked hard.”

“Ah, thank you for your hard work.”

The co-star, Hayoung, greeted me as she headed to her car, and Taesoo, following behind, acted friendly.

“You worked hard~ See you next time.”

“Ah, yes.”

They got into their car and left, while Hayoon tapped my shoulder and asked.

“You know him?”

“No way. He suddenly approached and gave me this.”

I pulled out the business card I’d received earlier and showed it.

“Huh? Why would he give that to you……”

“It’s obvious, right? He’s probably telling me to come to his company.”

“What!”

Hayoon was startled by my words.

“S-so?”

“Yes?”

“Y-you’re not going, right?”

The naive Hayoon seemed worried that I might actually go to DreamN.

“Come on~ Hyung. No way. I’m tied by contract; how could I go? And this place is one I’d absolutely~ never go to, even if I died.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I’ll bury my bones with our agency.”

There are no better people than this; why would I move anywhere else?

“Hyung, let’s go quickly. We need to move fast to get even a little sleep. We have to head to the set again soon.”

“Yeah, got it.”

The place Hayoon dropped me off was the company. 

With only an awkward three or four-hour gap, it was hard to go all the way home, and thanks to the company creating a rest space for me to rest efficiently during such times, it worked out.

“Hyung, go rest quickly too.”

“Yeah, I’ll come pick you up later.”

After Hayoon left, I lay down on the mattress.

“Mmm~ Nice.”

He said Hyungkyu prepared something good, and it was indeed soft; sleep was coming easily. 

And just like that, I closed my eyes and drifted off.

***

As filming continued, time flew by in a blur. 

Before I knew it, the weather had turned cold, and the drama was racing toward its latter half.

“Alright~ We need to shoot before the sun rises, so move quickly!”

“Camera setup complete~”

“Hot water and heat packs?”

“We’ve prepared everything.”

Today was the long-awaited underwater shoot at the reservoir, said to be the most difficult, and having heard vividly from Haewon how tough it was, I had prepared thoroughly.

“Kang Ha, ready?”

“Yes.”

“If it gets too hard, signal me.”

Since it was a real reservoir shoot, the director was cautious about safety.

“Understood.”

“Let’s try to get it in as few takes as possible.”

The first scene was the male lead mistakenly thinking the female lead had fallen into the reservoir and jumping in to save her.

“I’m going in. Ready~ Action!”

At the director’s signal, I ran frantically and jumped straight into the reservoir.

“Han Jaehee! Han Jaehee!”

I shouted her name desperately while scanning the reservoir, but no sound returned.

“Haa, Han Jaehee, please.”

I looked around and went deeper; soon the water reached my chin.

“Please…… Don’t do this. Please…… Han Jaehee!”

Tears welled up in my eyes, and my voice cracked. But the reservoir’s surface remained still.

“Cut! Good.”

“Ugh~ Cold.”

As soon as the cut was called, I rushed out, and Hayoon ran over with a towel and a hot pack filled with warm water.

“You okay? Not too cold?”

“Wow— It’s completely different from when I had fur?”

In the past, I jumped into cold water fine, but as a human, I felt the water temperature directly.

“Fur?”

“I’m so cold I can’t speak properly. Haha, not fur, sun. The sun. It feels colder because it’s night.”

“Ah~ It’s dawn, so yeah, it’s colder.”

“Hyunjae, come look at this?”

“Yes!”

The director showed me the monitor.

“I think this is fine for me, but what about you?”

“Hmm…… Should I try not crying?”

I had shown tears as written in the stage directions, but watching the monitor, it felt a bit mismatched with Kang Ha’s personality.

“Huh?”

“He jumped in to search despite seeing the quiet reservoir. That means he already believes she’s not dead…… Tears feel a bit premature.”

Later, while searching for Jaehee, she comes to the reservoir looking for him, and the two reunite here.

“Holding it in now and bursting when meeting Jaehee later would be more dramatic.”

“Yeah, okay, let’s try it that way again.”

The director thought for a moment before accepting my opinion, and we reshot accordingly.

“Okay, as you said, this feels more like Kang Ha.”

“Right?”

“Let’s go with this. Instead, put more emotion in your eyes.”

“Yes!”

We repeated jumping in and out of the water.

“Haa—”

White breath escaped every time I opened my mouth.

“You okay?”

“Your lips are turning white. Bring a heater over here!”

At first it was bearable, but with repetitions, recovering body heat took time, and gradually my lips paled and my face grew ashen.

“I’m fine.”

But I couldn’t cause an all-stop because of me.

“You don’t look fine?”

“We have to finish before sunrise. Hurrying and resting would be better for me too.”

“Got it. Let’s go quickly! Everyone~ Move fast!”

After a few more dips in the water, today’s portion wrapped.

“Good work today.”

“No, thank you.”

“We have shooting tomorrow too; will you be okay?”

Tomorrow was another underwater scene. 

If today was post-regression, tomorrow was pre-regression past scenes, and while today was only upper body, tomorrow I had to fully submerge.

“I’ll be fine after some rest.”

“Rest well at home.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”

As soon as I got in the car, I collapsed.

“Hyung……

This is really nice.”

Hayoon had thoughtfully turned on the heater and heated seats.

“Cover yourself with the blanket next to you.”

“In the past, I flew around in water……!”

“It’s 3 degrees now. Of course it’s cold after going in…… No, this won’t do. Let’s go.”

“Yes? Where?”

***

“It’ll take about an hour. When the IV is done, please press the call bell here.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The nurse finished explaining, drew the curtain, and left. The place Hayoon had brought me to was a hospital.

“How did you know about this place?”

“Last time, Haewon-ssi said she got an IV after the reservoir scene, so I asked.”

“But this is my first time getting one…… They say it’s effective?”

I had such a healthy constitution that I’d never been to a hospital, so getting an IV felt unfamiliar.

“They say celebrities get them a lot; apparently it’s much better than not getting one.”

“Really?”

If everyone else does it, it must be that effective.

“Lie down and nap a bit~ I’ll wait in the car.”

“Huh? If it’s good, hyung should get one too.”

“Me too?”

“Yes, hyung was busier than me.”

I could rest in the car or waiting room, but Hayoon couldn’t.

“I’m fine.”

“Anyway, while I’m getting it, you have nothing to do; resting in the car or here is the same.”

“No, I’m really fine.”

Hayoon insisted he was okay.

“What…… Then I won’t get it either. I’ll ask them to remove it.”

“Huh?”

“We did the schedule together; why only me getting nutrients? I’m not that petty.”

“No! Then I’ll get one too.”

Finally, Hayoon agreed, and as soon as he did, I pressed the call bell to summon the nurse.

“Give him the same as me here too!”

We lay side by side getting nutrient IVs. And the next day.

[Jeong Hyunjae rushed to emergency room due to poor condition.]

[Jeong Hyunjae, active in ‘Today’s Fruit Shop’ and ‘Country Three Meals’, finally shows health red flag.]

[Rowed the boat too fast? Rising star Jeong Hyunjae visits ER after ‘Love Some’ filming.]

└Lately doing CFs, variety, drama filming, and promotions; guess he collapsed.

└What agency is it that pushes the kid this hard?

└On Country Three Meals, he did look tiredㅠㅠ

└It’s basically a one-person agency level, so probably that.

└This is why agency mattersㅠㅠ Hurry and leave Kingdom.

└Actors don’t usually work this hard; they push too intensely.

└Seems like he’s shooting works back-to-back…… Poor thing.

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