Become a Star

“No, this is a request from someone who wants to hurt your older brother.”

“Is this how they want to hurt my brother?”

Choi Kang expressed that he wanted to see his cold-blooded brother get hurt too. His thoughts did not match his current predicament. It was absurd to imagine something that could never happen.

“People naturally assume that everyone else is just like them. Those who are hurt and have lost their family want to seek revenge in the same way, just like now.” The man held the dagger firmly against Choi Kang’s neck as he sighed softly. It felt as though he knew that this was pointless. Even if he were to kill Choi Kang, it would never hurt Choi Joon.

Suddenly, Choi Kang seemed to have realized who the man was – the killer who had been appearing in the news these days, with wanted posters of him scattered all over the country.

“Louie Ahn?” The man smirked after hearing Choi Kang’s question. Choi Kang was able to have a good understanding of the situation after getting his silent affirmation.

“Who commissioned you to kill me? Is it because of my brother?”

“What’s the point of knowing the answer? You’re going to die anyway.”

Even after explaining everything to him, Louie Ahn was now firmly declaring Choi Kang's death sentence. The sight of the moonlight shining against his back, illuminating his figure, looked very beautiful. Louie talked about death so easily as if it was something meaningless.

“Please spare me! I’ve never done anything terrible and I’ve never had a grudge against anyone! It’s unfair for me to die because of my brother.” Choi Kang ignored the dagger that was pointing at his neck. He got off the bed and knelt down before grabbing Louie’s leg with both hands and begging him.

“That’s none of my business.” There was nothing more useless than complaining about injustice to a contract killer. Louie looked at Choi Kang with an indifferent look. It was as though he had been through similar situations several times before.

Choi Kang knew that there was no point in begging and tried his best to calm down but to no avail. He was scared and resentful, and he did not want to die this way. In retrospect, there were plenty of opportunities for Louie to kill him. Louie didn’t have to wake him up to talk about the situation.

“Why didn’t you…kill me?”

According to the news, Louie Ahn was a very vicious killer. When he was in America, he had been a contract killer that was affiliated with the mafia, and would kill anybody regardless of their status – be it politicians or businessmen. He would never do anything without a reason. There was hope for survival if he could find a breakthrough.

“If you want to kill me because of my brother, that means you have a grudge against him! Let me help you. I’ll do anything to help you take revenge on my brother so please spare me. I’m only 26 years old. There are so many things that I have and want to do, and there’s no reason for me to die because of that person!”

Choi Kang studied Louie Ahn’s face as he pleaded with him. Louie was firm; he stood in the shadows, unwavering. Even the warm moonlight pouring in through the open window shattered when it touched his body, creating a cold and gloomy shadow. Thus, Choi Kang felt even more scared. Louie Ahn was like a devil who visited him in a dream and turned it into a nightmare.

“You’re being too loud.”

It was a soundproof room, so nobody would be able to hear Choi Kang regardless of how much he cried out. However, it was night time and the windows were open. Choi Kang flinched and trembled when he heard the quiet remark. Strangely enough, Louie’s voice seemed to pierce his body like shards of ice, sending a chill down his spine.

“Please, I beg you. I don’t want to die. Seriously! I’ll do anything, so please…let me go.” Choi Kang prostrated himself as he held Louie’s ankle while sobbing. He couldn’t even cry out loud because the blade of the dagger would pierce his throat if he did that. The sound that escaped through his lips was weird – it was a combination of heavy breathing and crying. It was impossible for him to think straight as he was engulfed by fear because he could die right now.

“Even so, you’re still going to die.” Choi Kang turned his head and looked up at Louie when he heard the declaration of his impending death quietly ring through the air. It was normal for people to feel sympathy after looking at a face that was filled with tears and mucus, but Louie did not show a single shred of emotion. Choi Kang’s emotions were crushed by the coldness emitted from Louie before they could even get to him.

“The reason why I didn’t kill you is because of my client’s wishes. They want Choi Joon to be in pain from watching you suffer constantly, after knowing that you would die soon. They hope that he would realize what he had done and reflect on his past doings.” After hearing what Louie said, Choi Kang briefly forgot about the gloomy reality of his future.

“But is that really possible?” wondered Louie. He sounded like he was talking to himself and Choi Kang subconsciously shook his head in response. Both of them knew that it would never happen. Louie’s client was the only one who didn’t know this blatant truth.

“You’re as pathetic as the hopes that you harbor.” For the first time, Louie displayed a shred of emotion. There was a fleeting moment where the moisture in Louie’s emotionless eyes glistened, but Choi Kang didn’t manage to catch it since he was filled with the fear of dying. Perhaps, Louie might have just been complaining.

“Um, if you have that much resentment towards my brother, why don’t you just kill him! Why me…”

“There’s no need to feel victimized. Even though his death will come later than yours, your brother’s name is definitely on my list as well. I may be stupid but I’m merciless.”

Louie slowly crouched down on one knee before sitting in front of Choi Kang. He grabbed Choi Kang by the chin and looked him in the eye.

“Do you want to live?”

“Yeah, no, heu-heuk… Yes!” Choi Kang nodded as he answered Louie. Tears streamed down his face whenever he moved.

Louie looked silently into Choi Kang’s eyes. After whining and crying, Choi Kang had gradually calmed down and made eye contact with Louie. Both of them faced each other silently; not a single rustling sound could be heard. They remained in silence for a long time. Just like an animal that was afraid of getting eaten if it moved first, Choi Kang tried his best to maintain his eye contact with Louie.

However, he promptly lowered his eyes and tried to escape from Louie’s gaze. He could no longer meet Louie’s eyes, which were as deep as an abyss. Looking into Louie’s eyes made Choi Kang feel like he was falling deeper into the abyss, diminishing his hopes of escaping.

“There’s no point in trying to weasel your way out of this.”

Choi Kang wanted to lower his head after hearing Louie’s soft voice, but his eyes were fixated on Louie. His eyes that were trembling in fear looked pitiful, but they had been consumed by the nightmare created by Louie. At this very moment, Louie was the ruthless grim reaper who ruled this place.

“If you try to flee the country, I will have no choice but to kill you earlier than planned. What happened today might seem like a dream, but I will look for you again the moment you mistake our encounter as a nightmare.” Perhaps in the morning, Choi Kang might carry some hope that it was just a dream. But when he discovers the word ‘again’ that Louie had engraved on his desk earlier with his dagger, Choi Kang would fall into despair once again.

“Why…” Choi Kang wanted to ask Louie why he had to do that, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a raspy sound of breathing. His body was trembling but he had no strength.

“I will kill you regardless of your actions, but my client might be different. Try your best and struggle, maybe you might be able to change my client’s mind.” Louie smiled coldly, as if hinting to Choi Kang that failure meant that his ending would be predetermined. He was like a beast within the shadow created by the moonlight. Choi Kang trembled like a young animal that had been caught by a beast who would bite off his leash and take his life at any moment. Hence he couldn’t see it – the hidden remnants of hope that were reflected in Louie’s eyes.

“It may be difficult though,” Louie whispered to him that his client’s resentment was strong; and Louie’s will to kill Choi Kang was just as strong. As soon as Choi Kang realized that, he couldn’t control the fear that was spreading throughout his body. As his body was trembling, he tried to grab on to Louie, but the only thing he could touch was the shadow created by the moonlight.

“Okay! We’re done!”

Woo-Jin and Lee Min-Soo did not move despite the cue given by the happy Production Director Park; Woo-Jin looked at the moonlit window on the set and controlled his emotions. They had used lighting to create the moonlight, and Woo-Jin stared at the fake moon on the screen beyond the window. Just as his emotions gradually numbed, a faint smell snapped him out of his trance.

Woo-Jin looked around and tried to find the source of the smell, and he found a stream of liquid flowing from beneath Lee Min-Soo who was sitting down. Woo-Jin hurriedly moved a few steps back. Instinctively, he knew what it was without having to rack his brains. Woo-Jin heaved a sigh of relief as it would have touched his shoes if he had been a little closer.

“Damn it!” Woo-Jin heard Lee Min-Soo talking to himself as he slowly looked around.

The staff didn’t pay attention to what was happening on the set because they knew Woo-Jin liked taking some time to collect himself after shooting a scene. Each of them was busy focusing on the task at hand. Producer Park Jong-Hyuk was engrossed in sharing his opinions with the production team as they watched the footage. The ambience right outside the set was totally different, creating a weird sense of alienation.

Woo-Jin walked quietly towards the bed; he picked up the bedsheet and handed it to Lee Min-Soo. The latter felt conflicted for a second but ultimately he had no choice but to accept it. On one hand, if he refused it, the staff would be able to see the wet patch on his pants. On the other hand, wrapping it around his waist was akin to telling other people what had happened. However, the latter option was better if he had to make a choice. At least they could only imagine his disgraceful act without seeing it.

Lee Min-Soo quickly wiped the floor with the bedsheet and glared at Woo-Jin. “The day you tell other people about this…”

He had drunk too much water before shooting the scene. This had only happened because he kept drinking water to ease his bloated stomach and nausea. It was all because of the boxed lunch prepared by those Wish Baragi fans or vermin. [1]

“Well, I don’t think I’m the one whom you should be worried about right now.” Woo-Jin nodded in the direction of Production Director Park Jong-Hyuk. Production Director Park hadn’t noticed anything initially; he seemed to have only discovered it after watching the footage. He stared at Lee Min-Soo, probably feeling taken aback as well. To be precise, he was staring at the lower half of Lee Min-Soo’s body that was being covered by the sheets.

Lee Min-Soo was shocked; he jumped up from his seat and tried to run towards Production Director Park. However, he didn’t wrap the sheets around him properly – he was only holding it in front of him. As a result, Lee Min-Soo tripped over the long hem of the bedsheet as he was running over.

Lee Min-Soo fell to the floor with a loud thud, drawing everyone’s attention towards him. Fortunately, he fell over the bunched-up sheets and didn’t seem to be injured. However, everyone saw a dark wet patch on his sky blue-colored pajamas around his butt area. And even though Lee Min-Soo had already wiped the floor, a dark stain could still be seen on the wooden floor.

The filming site became deathly silent. Amidst this awkward silence, Woo-Jin was the only one who moved and casually made his exit. By the time Woo-Jin left the set, Lee Min-Soo’s coordinator was seen running over to him in a hurry.

“Should I say that you acted well?”

During the shoot, Lee Min-Soo seemed genuinely afraid of Woo-Jin. However, it was uncertain if it was because Lee Min-Soo was deeply in character or if he himself was afraid. If it was the latter, it meant that he was in the same situation as Woo-Jin back when he was shooting Glooming Day. [2]

“If that’s the case then it’s truly embarrassing.”

For the longest time, Woo-Jin felt ashamed and couldn’t bring himself to watch that particular scene. He shook his head as he recalled it. In a strange way, Woo-Jin sympathized with Lee Min-Soo but he had also somewhat misunderstood the cause of Lee Min-Soo’s shame. Woo-Jin felt that being too emotional while acting was a mistake. Hence, he thought that Lee Min-Soo felt embarrassed because of the sense of shame that stemmed from being unable to act.

“I can relate to that.”

Woo-Jin clicked his tongue and sat down on his chair. Under the circumstances, Lee Min-Soo’s acting was perfect. The greater his fear now, the easier it would be for the viewers to understand Choi Kang’s act of betrayal towards Choi Joon later on.

In any case, Lee Min-Soo’s accident must have been perfectly captured on camera. Just like Woo-Jin, there was nothing Lee Min-Soo could do even if he was dissatisfied if the director chose to give the green light. Would they reshoot it or just let it be? Woo-Jin decided to wait quietly until Production Director Park Jong-Hyuk and Lee Min-Soo came to a consensus.

Woo-Jin waited for a long time that day, but they didn’t reshoot the scene.

1. 버러지 (vermin) sounds like 바라기 (baragi). ☜

2. The rain scene where Woo-Jin cried because of his own emotions while acting. ☜