An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 240

240. #43 – What I Can Do (3)

Thud-!

“Haa… Haa….”

The nightmare continues to repeat.

Even after falling into a deep sleep, even after sleeping for a long time.

Far from recovering, I only feel more exhausted.

When will I ever escape this terrible nightmare?

If I had to pick a silver lining, it’s that my role in this project isn’t a cheerful one.

If I had to go to the set and act brightly while being tormented by nightmares every day, inevitably exuding dark energy, that would be even more difficult.

Right now, the acting I have to do on set is no different from how I feel.

A character consumed by darkness.

And my current state perfectly embodies that character.

It’s exactly like the role in the project.

The ashen energy emanates without me even trying.

Today, too, after waking up from the dream and barely grasping reality, I headed to the set with this mood, this feeling, as is.

After driving for several tens of minutes, I arrived.

“Hello.”

I greeted the staff, actors, and Director David.

Even after coming to Hollywood, my greetings remained the same.

Only the smile I always had while greeting had disappeared.

“Yes, Heesung, you’re here?”

“Yes, good morning, Heesung.”

After the greetings, my conversations with them didn’t last long.

I didn’t particularly want to continue the conversation.

And they didn’t seem to want to have trivial conversations with me either.

Dark energy was already radiating from my face and body.

I was the epitome of gloom.

Perhaps that’s why even the lead actors didn’t say much to me.

There were occasionally actors who approached me to build rapport.

But they didn’t say anything other than greetings.

And I could read in their eyes that it was difficult for them to continue talking to me.

Even after reading those eyes, I ignored and avoided them.

I didn’t even have the mental余裕 [mental capacity/composure] to get along happily with everyone.

I was only preoccupied with how to end my dwindling life and how to pour my soul into this project, melting it into my acting.

Only these two concerns occupied my mind.

I couldn’t stay in the trailer because I felt suffocated, so I wandered outside.

Just then.

“Um… Heesung.”

A staff member was calling me.

At that voice, I raised my eyebrows and looked at him.

“We need to start filming soon. Get ready and come over.”

“Yes, I’ll go right away.”

I tried to express myself as kindly as possible to the staff member.

But his eyes were wavering at my answer.

I straightened my clothes and hurried to the set.

When I arrived, I could hear the staff’s conversation.

“Wow… did you feel Jin Heesung’s aura?”

“Yeah, it’s no joke. He seems like a person with nothing but darkness.”

“Right. No, he really seems like a fake human from the role, you know?”

They didn’t know I was nearby, and they were talking about me.

And the content of the conversation was all about the darkness emanating from me.

“I don’t know if he’s just good at immersing himself, or if that’s just who he is. It’s a bit scary.”

“To interpret it differently, it means he’s doing a good job with the role. Jin Heesung… that actor’s acting is amazing, too.”

“That’s true. This project… might be a hit?”

***

“Ready, action!”

At Director David’s words, a red light lit up on the camera.

The people inside the camera angle instantly immersed themselves in their respective roles.

People murmuring.

Inside the shopping mall, different people were gathered together, shopping.

The bustling and crowded shopping mall.

Several tens of cameras were capturing dozens of people each.

It was crowded, but it was just a peaceful shopping mall.

“Do you have this in other colors?”

“Yes, we also have it in white. Would you like me to show you that?”

A couple enjoying a leisurely shopping trip.

“Yes, I think white would suit you better. Could you show us the white one?”

“You really know me well, don’t you? Haha.”

Jin Heesung was approaching them from afar, flaunting their harmony as they chose clothes.

Jin Heesung was holding a large box in his hand.

It was impossible to know what was inside.

Step by step-.

Jin Heesung walked towards them without any conversation or expression.

And soon stopped in front of the couple.

“Welcome.”

An employee greeted Jin Heesung as he arrived in front of a store.

But Jin Heesung stared blankly at something without paying attention to her greeting.

“…Take your time looking around, and let me know if you need anything.”

At that sight, the employee tilted her head and turned back to the couple who were looking at clothes.

Jin Heesung placed the box in a corner of the large shopping mall.

As soon as he put the box down, Jin Heesung stood up.

The camera zoomed in on the slightly open gap in the box.

…A bomb.

What was inside the box was a bomb.

Several tens of unknown wires were tangled together.

At the same time as Jin Heesung put down the box, a red number appeared on the bomb screen.

10:00.

9:59

9:58

The numbers were dropping rapidly.

The remaining time was less than 10 minutes.

It meant the bomb would explode soon.

However, no one in the crowded shopping mall paid attention to the box that had been placed down, the bomb.

Furthermore, they didn’t even look at Jin Heesung, the terrorist who was walking away.

Jin Heesung just looked like one of the many shoppers among the crowd.

He opened the shopping mall door and walked out leisurely, putting his hand in his pocket and rummaging around.

“…One down.”

He muttered incomprehensible words and took out a black object from his pocket.

In his hand was a remote control with a single button.

Jin Heesung showed no emotional turmoil and simply turned his back on the shopping mall and slowly moved forward.

Beep-.

Jin Heesung pressed the button on the remote control in his right hand hard.

Bang-!

At the same time as the button was pressed, a tremendous roar erupted.

The bomb placed in the shopping mall exploded through the button.

The sound of the explosion reached Jin Heesung’s ears.

But Jin Heesung didn’t even blink an eye, nor did he flinch.

However….

One corner of his mouth was stretched wide.

A chilling smile appeared on Jin Heesung’s lips.

There was not a single hint of laughter in his eyes.

Only his lips were stretched wide.

Several tens of cameras captured that scene simultaneously.

And soon, Director David’s powerful voice was heard.

“Cut, okay!”

With Director David’s sign, exclamations poured out on the set instead of applause.

“Wow….”

“…That was acting, right?”

“Crazy….”

Actors, staff, and everyone else were speechless at Jin Heesung’s acting.

“I have goosebumps all over my body right now.”

“What is that actor? How can he make such a smile like that?”

Jin Heesung’s face, smiling without any emotional turmoil after committing a brutal act of terrorism.

The set became silent as if they had seen a real terrorist.

They just quietly admired and watched Jin Heesung’s appearance.

Jin Heesung lowered the corners of his mouth as if he had never made a chilling smile.

He bowed his head and said.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Jin Heesung immediately headed out of the camera for the next shoot.

Director David’s eyes were blankly watching him.

He bit his lip and shook his head.

“It’s clear.”

The assistant director next to him tilted his head.

“Yes?”

“This scene will definitely become famous as a masterpiece.”

At his words, the assistant director nodded his head.

Director David frowned and continued.

“If it doesn’t remain a masterpiece… it’s my fault as a director who didn’t edit it well.”

The assistant director muttered, looking at Jin Heesung, who was walking away, not at Director David.

“I’ve never seen acting like that before.”

“You can’t fail to save it after seeing that acting. This… I’m definitely saving it!”

At Director David’s words, the assistant director shook his head, stroking the goosebumps on his arm with his hand.

***

A person leaning on the sofa, fiddling with a cell phone.

It was Song Yoona with a deeply frowned face.

She sighed deeply and waved her cell phone in the air.

“Why aren’t you replying to my texts? It’s ridiculous, Jin Heesung.”

The screen Song Yoona was looking at was the text she had sent to Jin Heesung.

And it wasn’t just one text.

She had been sending texts occasionally since Jin Heesung left for Hollywood.

The texts were one-sided.

There were several outgoing messages, but no replies from Jin Heesung.

“No, how busy can you be to not even reply to one text?”

Song Yoona pouted her lips and fanned herself with her hand to cool down.

She soon got up from her seat and moved around in the living room.

After contemplating for a few minutes, she bit her lip and stopped.

“Maybe… something happened?”

Song Yoona was biting her nails and tapping her feet anxiously.

She leaned back on the sofa again and stared at Jin Heesung’s number for a long time.

“Yeah, something might have happened, right?”

Song Yoona’s hand moved to the point of calling Jin Heesung.

“We’re in the same company, so I should call and ask. That’s the right thing to do.”

She soon pressed Jin Heesung’s number and made a call.

Then she quickly put her cell phone to her ear.

But what she heard was not a dial tone, but a notification message.

-The number you have dialed is not in service….

Song Yoona’s face froze instantly.

She blinked her big eyes and shouted.

“What, not in service?”

Song Yoona quickly hung up the phone and checked Jin Heesung’s name again before making a call.

-The number you have dialed is….

But the notification message she heard was no different.

“…What have I been doing until now?”

Song Yoona’s face turned red at the thought that she had been sending texts to a non-existent number.

Soon, that embarrassment turned into anger.

“I’m really pissed off!”

Song Yoona threw the disconnected phone onto the sofa.

Thud-.

“I won’t contact you either. Why should I worry about someone who even changed their number and didn’t tell me the new one?”

She hissed and sighed continuously.

“It’s completely absurd. I contacted you because I was worried, what… I… geez!”

Song Yoona, who had been expressing her anger by shrugging her shoulders for a long time.

A few minutes later, she frowned and reached out to pull her cell phone.

“But… is he okay?”

She quickly clicked on SNS [Social Networking Service] and looked for updates on Jin Heesung posted by the company.

“The company used to post pictures of Jin Heesung, but why don’t they post them after he went to Hollywood? Is the company not doing its job?”

Song Yoona checked her schedule with a frown.

“I don’t have any schedules this month… should I go to America?”

She quickly shook her head.

“I must be crazy. No, why would I go to America because of Jin Heesung?”

Just then.

Vibration.

Her cell phone rang.

Song Yoona was startled by the call and flinched, checking the caller ID.

“Ah… it’s my manager….”

Her face was full of disappointment.

She soon clicked the receive button and opened her mouth.

“Hello?”

-Oh, Yoona. Are you available to talk?

“Yeah, why?”

-This time, we got an offer for a music video….

“Music video? I don’t film music videos.”

She replied to her manager in a blunt tone.

But the manager quickly said to her.

-I know. But the singer is Park Yoonki. Yoonki sang the OST [Original Soundtrack] for the drama you were in last time. So he asked me for a favor. He asked if we could get you for the music video.

“Haa… Oppa [older brother/term of endearment for a close male friend or colleague].”

At her sigh, the manager hurriedly opened his mouth.

-Ah, sorry. Besides, this requires going to America, and it’s a music video, so it doesn’t pay well. I thought you’d be annoyed, but I thought I should still tell you. I’ll make up an excuse about another schedule and decline it….

“No, I’ll do it.”

-Huh? You’ll do it?

“Yeah, I’ll do it. I received an OST from Yoonki, so I have to repay the favor!”

-Ah… but you have to go to America to film it, are you okay with that?

“Haa… Oppa, am I the kind of person who cares about the distance?”

-That’s not true….

“I can’t live with owing someone. Say we’ll film it.”

-Okay. Then I’ll get back to you right away.

Song Yoona, who hung up the phone, bit her lip and clenched her fist tightly.

“I need to go to America and check it out myself…!”