Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 60

<60. A Person Who Lived in a Class System>

Rembrary didn’t understand everything the man was saying.

But he did understand the word ‘advertisement.’

The members, including Jongwoo, often talked about advertisements.

They envied the fact that you could make a lot of money from filming commercials, seeing it as a symbol of and shortcut to popularity.

And this man was saying he would let him film at least one of those commercials?

Rembrary was immediately tempted.

But then he became suspicious.

Could he really get the commercial that the members talked about so much, just from one conversation?

“I’ll think about it and contact you.”

‘I should ask Jongwoo about things I don’t know.’

Having already heard Jongwoo nag, ‘Shut your mouth,’ several times, Rembrary answered that way and ended the conversation.

The man in the suit, as if he had nothing to lose, immediately turned around and hurried back to the seemingly wealthy woman.

Rembrary went straight to the waiting room to find Jongwoo.

“Jongwoo, I have something to ask you!”

However, Jongwoo had to return to the company due to an urgent call, and only Sajamjae was left.

“Shall I answer for him instead?”

Rembrary thought for a moment before immediately refusing.

“No, it’s okay.”

“This is what I’m here for. Feel free to ask.”

Sajamjae repeatedly urged him, but Rembrary refused again.

“You make me uncomfortable. I don’t trust you. And I don’t find you reliable either.”

After stating his reasons bluntly, Rembrary first took the business card he had received.

Fortunately, before long, the FD [floor director] appeared and informed Rembrary that his turn was up.

Rembrary quickly grabbed the script and cue sheet, and Sajamjae took the water and entered the studio.

The atmosphere inside the studio was surprisingly bright.

Meng Wooshin, dressed as a priest, was exchanging jokes with the actor playing the role of his peer, and several staff members around him were laughing.

Rembrary waited until the staff called him and then approached Meng Wooshin.

After checking the movements a few times, filming began, and since there were no lines, Rembrary didn’t make any mistakes (NGs [no good takes]).

The director, who had been nitpicking during the script reading, didn’t critique Rembrary at all once filming started.

He would occasionally praise him with satisfaction, saying, “Good expression. You’re doing well. Okay, you look kind.”

The expressions of some of the actors who had criticized the idol’s free ride contorted each time, but Rembrary didn’t pay any attention to them.

And finally, Rembrary was about to film the scene where he had the only line.

He thought it would be an outdoor shoot, but it was surprisingly an indoor shoot.

However, the set was decorated like an actual alleyway, and even old streetlights were implemented.

Rembrary unfolded his umbrella and received instructions from the director.

“Wooyeonwoo, stand over there, and when Dengbaek finishes his lines and kneels down on the floor, crawl over here, dripping, dripping, dripping.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah, but cover your face a bit with the umbrella. No, no, you’re covering it too much now. Uh-huh! Yeah, hold it like that.”

After briefly checking the movements, Rembrary waited outside the camera with the black umbrella he received as a prop.

When the director signaled, artificial rain began to fall from above the ceiling.

It was almost pouring down.

Watching Meng Wooshin slump to the floor and sob, Rembrary thought it was fortunate that he was holding an umbrella.

As he stood there blankly, Meng Wooshin finally shouted his last line.

“There is no God! There is none!”

The FD waved his hand quickly at Rembrary. It was a signal to enter.

Rembrary approached Meng Wooshin at a pace that was neither too slow nor too fast, holding the umbrella in one hand.

The director watched nervously and was relieved when Rembrary’s walk was very stable.

When rookie actors or idols act, they often do well with their expressions and voice tones but don’t move their limbs well.

This happened because they learned acting focused on expressions and lines.

Even rookie actors with excellent acting skills made these mistakes often, until they got used to it.

However, Rembrary paid no attention to the camera or the staff and walked only toward Meng Wooshin.

He couldn’t help it.

He now knew what a camera was, but to Rembrary, the camera was still just a black object.

People who were conscious of the camera were not afraid of the camera as an object but were conscious of their appearance in the camera.

However, Rembrary had lived in a place without cameras, so he naturally didn’t have that consciousness.

He had marched and given speeches while receiving cheers from thousands of people, so he didn’t care about the staff of fewer than ten people either.

Moreover, Meng Wooshin’s sobbing appearance reminded Rembrary of the people he occasionally saw while touring.

Rembrary approached Meng Wooshin and slightly lifted his umbrella.

And he bent his waist slightly and held out a hand to Meng Wooshin.

Meng Wooshin trembled and looked up at Rembrary.

His excellent acting made Rembrary even more immersed in the moment.

Rembrary looked at him pitifully and smiled kindly.

“Sunbae [senior colleague]. Why are you crying here?”

At that moment, the streetlight that had been fine suddenly flickered.

Meng Wooshin’s pupils, which had been looking at Rembrary, widened slightly.

The director swallowed hard and stared at the screen where the filming scene was being broadcast.

The moment the streetlight flickered, something black seemed to appear on Rembrary’s kind face for a moment.

‘Did I see it wrong?’

The director felt strange but tried to call cut.

At that moment.

Rembrary’s pupils in the screen suddenly turned to the camera.

The director got goosebumps and hurriedly shouted, “Cut!”

As the staff stopped the rain, Meng Wooshin’s manager ran over and covered him with a large beach towel.

“Oh, it’s cold.”

Meng Wooshin wrapped the towel around his body and asked the director.

“Do we have to shoot again?”

The director didn’t call cut immediately after the line, so there was a slight waiting time. He seemed to think that was why there was an NG.

However, the director checked the filmed scene and shook his head, saying it was okay.

It wasn’t the intended scene, but the scene had an eerie feeling like the climax of a horror movie.

It was taboo for an actor to look at the camera in a drama, but when that was broken, the horror felt like it was right in front of you.

And the streetlight flickered for no reason at the perfect time.

“Hoo.”

The director shuddered and asked Rembrary, who was folding his umbrella and handing it to the staff.

“Did you do that on purpose just now?”

“What?”

“Why, you looked at the camera.”

“Did I look at the camera?”

“······”

The director swallowed hard and looked at Rembrary, and when the staff next to him laughed, thinking it was a joke, he laughed along.

Only three people didn’t laugh.

Rembrary, who really hadn’t looked at the camera.

Meng Wooshin, who had seen Rembrary looking at the streetlight above the camera from right in front of him.

Sajamjae, who had been staring intently at Rembrary from afar.

These were the three.

* * *

The reason Rembrary looked up at the streetlight during filming was that he felt a strange energy wriggling in his shadow, and that ominous feeling went straight across the streetlight.

Rembrary stared at his shadow all the way back to the dorm, but the shadow was quiet again.

‘There was a problem during filming last time too.’

His shadow was causing a fuss every time he filmed, so was it perhaps related to the environment?

Even if he thought about it, the answer didn’t come out, and in the meantime, the car arrived at the dorm.

When Rembrary returned to the dorm, he put that matter aside for a while and told Jungseo about the business card he had received today.

“Business card? Advertisement?”

Jungseo also didn’t understand right away.

“This.”

But when Rembrary handed over the business card, his face hardened, and he advised firmly.

“No. Never contact them.”

“Do you understand what he meant? Did he mean he wanted to become my believer?”

At Rembrary’s innocent words, Jungseo sighed and explained.

“He’s asking if you’re willing to be sponsored.”

“Sponsored?”

“Not a proper sponsorship. A different kind of sponsorship.”

“What is that?”

“If you have dinner with him and, uh… spend time with him, he’ll help you succeed as a celebrity.”

Rembrary became even more puzzled at Jungseo’s explanation.

“Ah. He’s asking me to spend time with him? Can’t I do that much?”

Jungseo was startled and shouted.

“No!”

“Why?”

“He’s not asking you to just spend time, but, you know. That…”

“That?”

Jungseo, who was in trouble, scratched the bridge of his nose.

Rembrary was, of course, an adult, and he would have known this without being told, but he had no memory now.

He became cautious about speaking because the other person was ignorant.

However, Taein, who didn’t care about Rembrary as much as Jungseo did, walked by with juice and said openly as if he was speaking nonsense.

“He’s not a preschooler, why can’t you say it? He means ‘nighttime activities.’ He’s saying you might have to sleep with him if you get sponsored.”

Rembrary, who wasn’t as ignorant as Jungseo thought, quickly understood.

“Ah. Are you talking about reproductive activity for the purpose of producing offspring?”

“…It may not be for the purpose of producing offspring, but that’s right. Of course, depending on the situation, they may not even ask for that. I’ve heard that there are cases where they just call you to social gatherings or dinners for show.”

Rembrary shook his head at Jungseo’s explanation.

“That’s a bit difficult. I can’t do reproductive activities.”

Marriage is forbidden, and dating is forbidden, but he’s asking him to do reproductive activities in exchange for a price.

That was something a priest could never do.

Of course, if he accepted the offer and succeeded quickly, he could investigate Meng Wooshin’s cult even faster. But no matter how quickly he could succeed, that was not the way.

But soon Rembrary had a good idea and said to the members, who had gathered around, interested in the topic.

“You guys can do it!”

Taein frowned.

“What?”

“I can’t, but if there’s anyone among you who doesn’t mind, do it.”

The atmosphere turned cold in an instant.

Rembrary didn’t realize why the atmosphere had become awkward and looked at Jungseo in embarrassment.

In the place where Rembrary lived, there was a huge wall called the class system in front of them, so commoners with low status but high ambitions often entered the nobles’ government to overcome the wall of status. There were many such people, both men and women, and many said they would seize the opportunity if it came.

Rembrary’s suggestion of ‘do it if there’s anyone who doesn’t mind’ was a reflection of the values there.

But to the ears of the members who didn’t know this, Rembrary’s words sounded like ‘only my body is precious.’

Only Jungseo thought that Rembrary’s words were nonsense from ignorance.

Rembrary, who had different values but wasn’t without a sense of awareness, awkwardly put the business card on the table and corrected his words.

“It was a joke.”

But that dawn.

While everyone was asleep, the bedroom door opened slightly, and one person came out to the kitchen with a cell phone.

<60. A Person Who Lived in a Class System> End