Chapter 25 : I’m a Living Actor (25)

“I’m not joking.”

Biting his teeth tightly, Lee Hyuk spoke.

His anger had already surpassed its limit, causing his entire body to tremble.

The trembling was conveyed through the tightly clenched hand holding his.

Every time I saw this side of Lee Hyuk, it scared me.

He seemed to think that my attitude was born out of fear of him himself, but that was only half the truth.

At first, I acted that way because I didn’t want my parents to be disappointed if I didn’t get along with Lee Hyuk.

And after I became somewhat close to him…

I was afraid of growing distant from Lee Hyuk.

‘A friend.’

Anyway, Lee Hyuk and I were friends.

No matter what, we had been together since childhood.

To me, he was a precious existence in his own way.

I didn’t know how Lee Hyuk felt about it.

Taking a small deep breath, I wiped away the faint smile that had been lingering on my lips.

With a face that sank endlessly, I stared at Lee Hyuk, whose pupils trembled faintly.

“That’s not funny at all. I’m serious too.”

Lee Hyuk’s mouth opened silently.

Surprise shimmered in his eyes, which had been glossy with anger and betrayal.

The surprise slowly spread and soon turned into fear.

‘You’re scared too.’

Of losing a friend.

Even if he wouldn’t admit it, he was scared of losing the heart of someone he liked.

“Hey… Are you okay acting like this toward me right now?”

The words finally slipped out.

Something Lee Hyuk said whenever things didn’t go his way.

A childish threat, but it was extremely effective on me.

But even that was now a thing of the past.

I smiled confidently and looked at Lee Hyuk.

“Yeah.”

I broke eye contact with Lee Hyuk’s furrowed brow.

With force, I pulled away his hand, which was gripping Yeoreum’s wrist tightly.

A hand that should have struggled to hold on slipped away more easily than I expected.

“……”

Swallowing the bitterness rising inside me, I looked at Yeoreum.

After flashing a smile to show she was okay despite her startled face, I gently took her hand.

Even in this situation, Yeoreum gripped my hand tightly without hesitation.

The warmth from her small hand made me feel that there was nothing left to fear.

“Let’s go, Yeoreum.”

“Huh? Uh-huh.”

As I took a few steps forward, I felt Yeoreum following behind.

After a few steps, she stopped briefly and said.

“From now on… we’re not friends anymore, Lee Hyuk.”

I couldn’t bring myself to look back.

Lee Hyuk didn’t answer, and I led Yeoreum away from the sports field.

“Ji, Jihwa. Wait a moment.”

Yeoreum called out to me in a flustered tone.

I stopped and looked at her.

Her slightly furrowed brow showed a mix of confusion and helpless hope.

And she was desperately trying to suppress that hope.

Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but furrow my brow.

‘…How hard it must have been for her all this time. Alone.’

Images of her trying so hard to change me, who never wanted to cross a certain line, flashed rapidly through my mind.

How hurt must she have been, watching me clench my lips every time she confessed her feelings?

“So, um, what I want to say right now is…”

Normally, she would have asked without hesitation, but now she hesitated.

Her eyes seemed slightly red.

“Maybe, just maybe, the reason you’re acting like this now is…”

Tears welled up in Yeoreum’s eyes.

She couldn’t continue and bowed her head deeply.

I stepped forward and carefully embraced her.

“I like you.”

“……”

“I liked you. That’s why I acted like that.”

It had taken such a long time to say those words.

“R-Really? Really…?”

“Yeah. I like you, Yeoreum. A lot, and for a very long time.”

“Ugh, Yoon Jihwa, you really…! You made me wait too long!”

“Sorry. I won’t ever make you wait again.”

In the end, Yeoreum burst into tears, and all I did was hold her tighter.

“Cut! Okay!”

The awaited voice echoed.

Just like that, the feelings and thoughts of Yoon Jihwa, which had filled me completely, slipped away.

“Hoo…”

Though the heat had softened quite a bit, the weather was still muggy.

Fanning my slightly flushed face, I walked to monitor the footage.

Director Choi Younghwan, Lee Choi, Seo Sangwoo, and I gathered together.

The scene we had just filmed played on the screen.

The acting was still the same, but the improvement was that it had become much more natural.

Not standing out awkwardly on his own with a bad meaning, but blending well with the other actors.

There were moments that looked quite convincing if not for the lines.

This was not bad.

I nodded in response to Director Choi Younghwan’s glance asking if I was okay.

Lee Choi nodded as well.

“What about Hyuk?”

Director Choi finally called Seo Sangwoo.

Seo Sangwoo, who had been slightly bowing his head, hurriedly raised it and answered.

“Huh? Ah, yes!”

“……”

“Th-That seems good…!”

‘I don’t think so.’

Seo Sangwoo’s behavior felt awkward somehow.

It seemed like a clumsy attempt to hide his true feelings.

“Are you really okay?”

I quietly approached and asked.

Seo Sangwoo glanced at me and gave an awkward smile.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Really?”

His lips pressed tightly shut in response.

What I noticed while filming with him was that Seo Sangwoo tended to easily get swept up by the surrounding atmosphere.

Even if he felt something was off, if others said it was okay, he would just go along.

When acting, it felt like he was led a bit by others, probably stemming from his personality.

‘Not exactly a good trait in the long run.’

Filming was not just about actors; it involved a surprising number of people working together.

It was tough.

An actor being overly picky was honestly a problem.

If taken too far, it was just bullying.

But filming one more time wasn’t a big issue.

If an actor continued filming while dissatisfied, those feelings would unknowingly build up inside.

‘How did he even manage to pull off that bold act during the first shoot with that personality?’

Looking back, it was a bit surprising.

People might do unexpected things if they truly believe they are right.

Anyway, I felt uncomfortable letting it go like this.

“If it’s going to stay on your mind, wouldn’t it be better to say something? Everyone would be okay with one or two retakes.”

Seo Sangwoo’s deep eyes darted around.

“R-Really? But what if the first take is better…?”

“You’ll only know after you try again. For now, talk to the director. He’s not the type to fuss over something like this.”

Director Choi was definitely good at that.

He was passionate about filming and respected the actors’ opinions as much as possible.

“…Really?”

Seo Sangwoo asked eagerly, and I nodded.

To cut the story short, the shoot was redone.

There were two retakes, and by unanimous agreement, the last take was chosen.

The acting detail hadn’t changed, but the intensity of the emotions Seo Sangwoo expressed was stronger.

“Thanks, hyung.”

As soon as filming ended, Seo Sangwoo hurried over and muttered quietly.

I replied lightly while drinking water.

“No problem.”

“It’s because of you that I had the courage to speak up.”

That was a bit too flattering.

“I just asked because I wasn’t satisfied. You were the one who went to the director and got the shoot done well.”

“Haha…”

Seo Sangwoo smiled with relief.

He seemed glad that his suggestion hadn’t been a nuisance and that his uneasy feelings about the shoot were resolved.

Seeing that, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Did Seo Sangwoo know?

That someone he called his role model had repeatedly demanded retakes because they weren’t satisfied with his acting, causing quite a bit of trouble.

‘Not exactly someone worthy of being a role model.’

A terribly sensitive person who could be such a pain during shoots.

It wasn’t just himself suffering but also everyone else working with him.

‘That was me.’

And now, the reason I could feel so peaceful was that this body belonged to Yoo Chaemin.

No one on this set expected Yoo Chaemin’s acting.

Looking back, it was definitely strange.

That I could watch my own acting so objectively and calmly.

I understood intellectually that I couldn’t help but act like this, but pride would normally be hurt.

Instead, the feeling I had was something else entirely.

Neither a desire to do better nor regret for failing to do so.

I gulped down the remaining water in the bottle.

I rolled the little water left in my mouth lightly with my tongue.

As I savored the pleasant coolness and freshness, a sudden realization struck me.

This feeling was….

‘Freedom.’

Ironically, that’s what it was.

Yoon Jihwa, who gained ‘willpower,’ acknowledged his own feelings and became Han Yeoreum’s boyfriend.

They continued cute and lovely school-age dates while struggling to prevent the world from collapsing.

There were many crises along the way.

Lee Hyuk, who recovered memories from the previous loop that only Han Yeoreum remembered, realized that the girl was a possessed entity.

He tried to use this fact to drive a wedge between Han Yeoreum and Yoon Jihwa, but in the process, he discovered the hidden truth.

There was no one who had been possessed in this world from the start.

The girl who first regained ‘willpower’ in a world destined to disappear was merely a hallucination she created to accept her situation.

Having overcome the crisis, Han Yeoreum and Yoon Jihwa, with the help of extras who inherited the author’s will wishing for this world to survive, protected their own world.

And finally…

“Ah, I’m late!”

A girl hurriedly ran toward the school gate.

After checking the time on her phone, she hesitated just before passing through the gate.

[Cheonmun High School 19th Graduation Ceremony]

Looking up at the banner hanging on the school gate, Han Yeoreum silently smiled.

How much had she longed for this graduation ceremony?

It was one she could never attend because the world kept resetting to the beginning, no matter how many endings she reached.

It turned out that this was the author’s wish for the world to survive by meeting a different ending.

The repeated loops had finally ended.

Han Yeoreum took the hand of the person she truly liked, not Lee Hyuk, the male lead.

That person also held her hand.

“Oh no, this is not the time!”

Han Yeoreum snapped back to reality from a brief memory and tightened her grip on her phone, dashing toward the school gate.

“Han Yeoreum, you’re late even on graduation day?”

“Naah, there was traffic…!”

“Don’t you take the subway?”

“Hey! The subway sometimes gets delayed too!”

The graduation hall was filled with students and their parents.

Han Yeoreum, who was grumbling to her nagging friend as usual, suddenly smiled brightly.

Then she pulled her friend into a warm hug.

“What the heck! That’s gross!”

“Geez, can’t you just bear with it for once?”

As she spoke, Han Yeoreum fought back rising tears.