“I watched it on the monitor, but it felt different from when we practiced together at your place.”
“How was it different?”
As he racked his brain to answer the question, the car slowly started moving.
The two, who had deliberately sat side by side in the spacious seats, buckled their seatbelts.
Even then, the distance between them didn’t grow.
Yoon Gyeolho couldn’t rest his head on Song Hyunsu’s shoulder, but their knees were touching.
“I could see how you act and how it’s expressed on screen. That’s what stood out today.”
“What, lame?”
Yoon Gyeolho turned his head toward the window with the blind pulled down and said.
“Lame?”
“You’re acting all tragic for someone else. Don’t you get jealous?”
“J-jealousy… It’s acting, what jealousy?”
“Hmm. That’s shocking in its own way.”
Muttering words that were hard to tell if they were a joke or serious, Yoon Gyeolho half-lifted the lowered blind and looked out onto the pitch-black rural road after midnight.
Acting was everything to Yoon Gyeolho. Having lived only as an actor since he was three years old, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that acting was his whole world.
It wasn’t that he clung to acting out of lack of other skills, but because he longed for it.
Watching him closely, Yoon Gyeolho poured every ounce of devotion into the work, the characters, and his craft.
It seemed like acting was the only thing he truly loved.
Jealous of that acting?
Talking as if he got jealous of the co-star just because they did a romantic scene?
It was impossible to imagine Yoon Gyeolho being that kind of guy who would sweetly indulge such childish jealousy and soothe it.
It probably never happened with any of his past partners either.
A man who would be annoyed if he got jealous but complains that he isn’t jealous.
That difficult man now stared out the window and said,
“While filming today, I felt that you really saw me as Baekgang.”
“Well, because you were Baekgang.”
Yoon Gyeolho turned toward him again.
“When we started scene 77, sitting at the dining table, I looked at your faces and thought, ‘Alright, it’s done.’ I had a gut feeling that I didn’t have to worry, and I felt comfortable. It was strange.”
Yoon Gyeolho chuckled and nodded.
“I was nervous, trembling, and had no idea what was going on. But… to be honest, the excitement was bigger than the nervousness or trembling.”
His upper body leaned closer toward Song Hyunsu. His chin almost touched the edge of his shoulder.
“Me too.”
Whispering like confessing a secret, Yoon Gyeolho reached for Song Hyunsu’s hand.
His touch slid slowly from the wrist to the palm and then toward the fingers, as if caressing them.
He wove between the fingers, moving back and forth in a way that brushed the skin and gave an intimate sensation.
The nails of Baekgang, shaped not at a spa but trimmed personally by Yoon Gyeolho.
Suddenly, a desire flared toward them.
“J-Jooyoung hyung told you? At the entrance to Myeonghaeri, there’s a banner from Yoon Gyeolho. It said something like ‘Supporting actor Yoon Gyeolho’s first movie .’ Did you see it too?”
“Yeah, I saw it on the way to shooting.”
Yoon Gyeolho’s fingers rubbed gently at the webbing between his thumb and index finger.
“Ah! Monroe! I checked the cam when we were prepping for the third take earlier, and she was doing great. She was totally wild in her room.”
For the crank-in, the two had set up home cams together.
Cameras were installed not only in the room where Monroe would mainly stay when they were out, but also in various places around the house just in case. These cams were linked to Yoon Gyeolho’s, Director Bang’s, and Song Hyunsu’s phones.
Yoon Gyeolho, having turned his whole body this way, tilted his head and stared intently at Song Hyunsu’s face while holding and gently tugging his ring fingernail.
“Why all of a sudden are you so chatty?”
“Me? No way. I’ve always been talkative. Wherever I go, I’m the mood maker ㅋ……”
His effort to hide the burning desire he felt was in vain as the moment their lips touched, he surrendered, closing his eyes softly. It was irresistible.
With Song Hyunsu’s lower lip between his lips, Yoon Gyeolho pressed, sucked, and pulled the flesh gently, using only the soft power of the mucous membrane. Much gentler than usual. Coaxing, soothing, melting.
“Mm…”
A moan escaped from behind Song Hyunsu’s neck where his sleeve was gripped under the shoulder.
Slipping through the gap, Yoon Gyeolho’s tongue smoothly slid inside his mouth.
Swallowing saliva, Song Hyunsu had to part his lips more to accept the tongue.
The feeling of touching, rubbing, and sensing each other’s lips—flesh always wet inside and never touched by anyone other than lovers—was always ecstatic.
His body, still tense from hours of filming, seemed to finally melt completely with this kiss.
Even after withdrawing his tongue, Yoon Gyeolho repeatedly kissed the corner of Song Hyunsu’s mouth without leaving.
Song Hyunsu, weak and drowsy, murmured with cheeks flushed like warmed by a campfire.
“What if you do this every time we film? Won’t it become a habit?”
“So what if it does.”
“……”
“We’re going to be together anyway.”
Yoon Gyeolho shrugged and lifted Song Hyunsu’s chin.
Sliding deeper this time, his shadow almost completely covered Song Hyunsu.
Despite worrying about it becoming a habit, he spread his arms and embraced him, closing his eyes.
Outside the car window was pure night. Black night that seemed to hide them and their kiss entirely.
■
Director Jung Joonhee, the assistant director, Kim Yujeong PD, and the four actors gathered in the director’s room.
It was a drinking party for a famous director and top star actors, but the only snacks were canned beer, a few kinds of chips, and convenience store jerky.
Regardless, the atmosphere was lively. All of them were passionate about the film, so even while drinking, they passionately talked about how to make this work successful.
Worries about the budget, how to make the film “sell better,” boasting about connections in the entertainment world, who was dating or sleeping with whom—no one showed interest in gossip like that.
Still, the atmosphere was livelier than any drinking party Song Hyunsu had experienced in this industry.
Without expecting any reward, just loving something so much—he realized that when people talked about such things, regardless of age, a pure energy like that of children radiated.
Sitting around the sofa table on the floor, they looked like university film club students chatting all night about the movies they wanted to make.
Yoon Gyeolho, too, was staying for an hour with a pleased expression.
No one loved acting more than him. But since they had shooting the next day, he hadn’t touched any alcohol.
Song Hyunsu was once again amazed by his strict self-discipline.
“So then, everyone, who do you think killed Director Jeon Yujeong?”
Director Jung Joonhee set down his beer can and asked.
“What?? Who killed Director Jeon Yujeong…? I thought Baekgang killed him, naturally. Wasn’t it Baekgang?”
Han Jooyoung’s face showed she’d been completely blindsided.
Toward the end of the film, Director Jeon Yujeong is found dead. But the movie doesn’t clearly show what caused his death and ends ambiguously.
Depending on how one watched , the audience could complete their own story.
In other words, the nuance of the work could subtly change depending on how each actor interpreted and acted out his death.
Shin Hyojin, elbows on the table holding his beer can, tilted his head.
“For now, I don’t think it was Lee Sol. Despite enduring her father’s horrific violence, Lee Sol was the type who wouldn’t even dare to meet violence with violence. I think she was indecisive till the end. And I hope she was.”
“Why, sunbae? Why do you hope Sol stayed indecisive until the end?”
Song Hyunsu’s eyes lit up as he asked.
“Hmm… I think that’s how ordinary people would be. Flowing along, unable to do this or that.”
She put down the can on the table and continued, addressing everyone gathered.
“I want Lee Sol to be more of a character representing such ordinary people than a cinematic figure. Even if it gets criticism overall, I think someone will empathize with Sol. How many audience members we can persuade is up to me, though.”
“Then what about San-i? Who do you think killed him?”
“……”
When the director’s question turned to him, Song Hyunsu involuntarily leaned back and sought Yoon Gyeolho’s gaze.
Feeling like a child looking for a guardian in a difficult situation, he quickly withdrew his eyes.
Unable to answer immediately, Song Hyunsu hesitated. Director Jung Joonhee encouraged him.
“It’s okay. Just say whatever you feel comfortable with. There’s no right answer here. Since we’re asking what San-i thinks, his answer is the correct one.”
“I…”
Feeling suddenly thirsty, Song Hyunsu took a few sips of beer before speaking again.
“I think San-i killed him.”
“No way, San-i? I don’t think he’s the type who could kill someone. He’s just a bright kid.”
Han Jooyoung tilted her head but showed curiosity, waiting for more.
“Kang-i was the one who left the village after Director Jeon Yujeong died. You think it was San-i, not Kang-i?”
The interpretation seemed unexpected even to Director Jung Joonhee, who nodded slowly and asked again.
“When Kang-i found the scene where his father was killed, San-i’s reaction was strange. Still, it was his father, and someone was murdered. San-i was afraid Kang-i might go to prison. More precisely, what San-i really feared was that Kang-i going to prison would break the Perfect Triangle.”
“Perfect Triangle?”
The director asked again.
“Kang-i, Sol, San-i. The triangle the three make. It’s everything to San-i. An obsession so abnormal it’s almost pathological.”
Since Song Hyunsu was the one who spoke, everyone was focused on him.
Some drank beer, grabbed snacks, adjusted their seating.
Only Yoon Gyeolho watched Song Hyunsu without flinching, not taking his eyes off him for a moment.
His gaze was so intense it almost looked like anger toward Song Hyunsu.
The fact that Yoon Gyeolho’s interest and attention were fully concentrated on him sent a slight shiver through Song Hyunsu.