Chapter 94: The Price of Actions (1)
When Kim Jin-man mentioned the name, Kim Si-woo’s face instantly twisted, as if someone had brought up the one topic he never wanted to hear again.
“Sigh… so he still has business with me?”
“Well… seems like it. But it didn’t sound like it was for a bad reason?”
“Got it. Thanks for letting me know.”
Kim Si-woo bowed slightly to Kim Jin-man and headed home.
He had thought that last phone call before leaving for Japan would be the final thread connecting them.
Yet the fact that Choi Do-hyun was still clinging to him made his nerves fray.
“I need to meet him soon and cut this off for good…”
Avoiding him forever was no longer the answer.
Once home, Kim Si-woo searched Choi Do-hyun’s name for the first time in months.
“Huh… there are actually a lot of positive articles.”
He had expected the guy to keep causing scandals, but Choi Do-hyun was making what looked like a successful comeback.
Articles poured out about him donating 90% of his appearance fees, doing volunteer work, basically turning over a new leaf overnight.
“This guy’s image rehab is faster than a magician’s trick.”
From Kim Si-woo’s perspective, it just looked like Choi had used him to draw aggro, then switched tactics the moment that stopped working.
Even famous actors get forgotten if they don’t stay active, so it’s the nature of the industry.
That’s why so many celebrities and influencers pull stunts to stay in the headlines.
Kim Si-woo figured Choi Do-hyun was exactly that type.
With that face, he’d probably been the center of attention since he was a kid.
Kim Si-woo decided he would meet Choi Do-hyun before heading back to Japan.
But first, there was someone else he had to see.
Shim Ji-young.
Early the next morning, he called her.
The line didn’t ring long; she picked up almost immediately.
“Hello?”
-I heard you’re back in Korea.
“Yeah. Noona, are you busy today? Do you have time this evening?”
-Huh? Uh… yeah, I’m free tonight.
“Great. I’ll send you the time and place.”
-Okay.
After hanging up, Shim Ji-young’s mind went into overdrive.
Last time, Kim Si-woo had misunderstood something on his own, cleared it up himself, then suddenly fled to Japan for over three months.
The one silver lining was that this time his voice sounded calm, like he had truly sorted out his feelings.
The fact that he wanted to have dinner together was proof.
While he was gone, she had thought a lot about it too.
At first it was simple curiosity about a rookie writer who wrote insanely well.
Then it turned into a desperate hope: “If I work with Kim Si-woo, I could finally have a career-defining role.”
But at some point those thoughts had vanished.
All that remained was the desire to simply work with him again.
And now, even if he never wrote another script, she knew she’d still want to stay close to him.
All through her morning shoot, she couldn’t concentrate; her mind kept drifting to the evening conversation with him.
Because of that, she finished later than planned and ended up rushing to the restaurant, worried she was late.
“Shoot…”
She was afraid he’d be upset that she was late.
No, honestly, she was scared of seeing that cold expression and attitude from last time again.
“It’ll be fine…”
He had texted that it was okay and to take her time when she warned him she’d be a bit late.
She took a deep breath and stepped into the reserved private room.
Slide.
When she opened the sliding door, there he was: Kim Si-woo, looking noticeably brighter than before, sitting alone and sipping a drink.
“Eh? You’re here?”
“Sorry… the shoot ran longer than I thought…”
Shim Ji-young would never admit that she’d lost focus and dragged the schedule.
“It’s fine. The main dishes haven’t even come out yet.”
“Phew, good. Was Japan fun?”
“Uh… it wasn’t bad.”
Truthfully, half the time had been spent writing scripts at home and working with Arimura Noa, so the “tourist” part was just taking pictures at famous spots.
“I guess traveling isn’t really my thing… or maybe it’s because I don’t speak Japanese.”
“Everyone’s different. Still, I’m glad it wasn’t bad.”
While they talked about Japan, the main dishes arrived one by one.
“Anyway, I wanted to apologize first.”
“Huh?”
“I sometimes get in a weird headspace. I’m really sorry about last time.”
“No, it’s okay. I thought about it again after that day, too. And you were probably right at first—I did approach you for my own benefit. Not anymore, though.”
Kim Si-woo answered like it didn’t bother him at all.
“Either way, now I’m just trying to do what I can. If it flops, it flops. If it succeeds, it succeeds. Of course it’ll hurt if it flops, but if it does well, everyone involved wins together. Yesterday on set, I saw the kids from Siwoo Film crying when they got coffee and food trucks in their names, and I realized… what I do might actually be someone else’s lifelong dream. And honestly, when I thought about it—why would top stars like you or Jung Se-yeon even bother being close to me if there wasn’t some ulterior motive? If someone really wanted to use me, they’d probably pick a different method.”
Hearing that, Shim Ji-young smiled the way an older sister does when she sees her little brother finally grow up.
“You sound so much more mature.”
“Me? Nah… I’m still just a kid.”
“So what, no hard feelings anymore?”
“Yep.”
“Then come here! Do you have any idea how scared I was that day? Huh?!”
Shim Ji-young scooted right next to him and started playfully smacking his arm, as if to show exactly how worried and anxious she’d been.
“Ow! Ow! Stop! Here—this is a souvenir.”
The second he shoved a huge pile of gifts toward her, the punches stopped.
“I’m only forgiving you because you brought souvenirs.”
“Thank you, thank you.”
After that, over the next few days Kim Si-woo visited Siwoo Film, handed out souvenirs to Yoo-jin, the team, and all his acquaintances, and finally wrapped up the gift-giving tour.
“Now the only person left is Choi Do-hyun…”
He called Kim Jin-man and got Choi Do-hyun’s manager’s number.
“Thank you, CP-nim. Let’s grab dinner soon.”
—Sure thing, Writer-nim. See you soon.
The moment the call ended, Kim Si-woo dialed Baek Seung-heon, Choi Do-hyun’s manager.
“Hello?”
—Yes, this is Baek Seung-heon, Choi Do-hyun’s manager. Who’s calling?
“It’s writer Kim Si-woo.”
—Ah! Y-yes, Writer-nim!
Baek Seung-heon sounded completely flustered that the caller was Kim Si-woo himself.
“I heard Do-hyun-ssi wants to see me.”
—Ah, yes, yes! Does that mean you’re open to meeting him?
“Yeah. It won’t take long.”
Baek Seung-heon’s voice turned apologetic.
—Actually… would tonight work? Do-hyun’s schedule is packed this week…
“That’s fine. Just send me the time and place. And if possible, somewhere quiet where it’s just the two of us.”
—Got it! I’ll find a spot and text you right away.
“Thank you.”
The second the call ended, Baek Seung-heon sprinted over to Choi Do-hyun, who was in the middle of filming.
“Hey! Do-hyun-ah!”
“What, hyung. What’s up?”
“Kim Si-woo just called and said he’ll meet you.”
“What? Really? When?”
“Well… I told him we only have tonight free, so it’ll probably be tonight.”
“Got it. We’ll talk more after the shoot.”
“Alright.”
Choi Do-hyun went back to filming with a strange, uneasy feeling in his chest.
When the schedule finally wrapped, he arrived at the meeting place with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. There, sitting with an extremely stiff expression, was Kim Si-woo.
“Hello. I’m Choi Do-hyun.”
“Kim Si-woo. Take a seat. I don’t plan on talking long.”
“Ah… understood.”
He had expected some hostility, but it was even colder than he’d imagined.
“First of all, let me apologize. I spoke without knowing you properly. Please forgive me.”
“Why did you say those things when you didn’t even know me? Don’t you have any boundaries?”
“The truth is… part of the reason I targeted you was for the buzz, but I also have a deep resentment toward the people who make movies. And in that industry, someone like you doesn’t exist. Most of them only care about money and don’t give a damn what happens to the actors. I assumed you were the same.”
It was nothing but sophistry.
To Kim Si-woo, it just sounded like someone making excuses after causing trouble and now trying to clean up the mess.
“I’ll apologize again for my actions being wrong. But…Could you at least hear the rest of my story? It won’t take long.”
“Fine. Go ahead.”
Since he had at least apologized, Kim Si-woo decided to listen.
Choi Do-hyun began with his unfortunate past: how he had overcome it, how Baek Seung-heon persuaded him to become an actor with enough influence to create an environment where actors could perform comfortably, how he jumped into the industry and even attacked Kim Si-woo to gain fame, and how he had used any means necessary to become famous.
At first it worked well, but over time things started to feel off.
Then, after talking with people from Siwoo Film, he snapped out of it and realized the person already putting his ideals into practice was none other than Kim Si-woo. That’s why he wanted to work together.
Kim Si-woo listened silently to the entire story, then spoke with an unreadable expression.
“And? What does any of that have to do with me, Park Jun-ho-ssi, or anyone else you hurt?”
“…”
“I feel bad for you, sure. But that doesn’t mean other people have to take the fall for it.”
Kim Si-woo was speaking only in cold, hard facts—no sympathy, no empathy.
“And I’m not trying to grandly ‘create an environment where actors can act without worries’ like you. I just take care of my own people. And I have absolutely no intention of working with you.”
“You may not like me, but objectively speaking, with my looks and acting skill I’d be useful, wouldn’t I?”
“If it were anyone else, maybe. Not for me. I already have plenty of great actors around me. So we won’t be working together.”
“Ah… then I’ll waive my entire fee—”
“No need. That’s the opposite of letting actors work without worrying about money, isn’t it?”
“Then… I could teach acting to the kids at Siwoo Film—”
“No need.”
None of the solutions Choi Do-hyun offered worked on Kim Si-woo.
“I’ll stop putting pressure on people from now on, so please just stay away from those around me. You walk your path. But if you touch my people again, an apology won’t be enough to end it this time.”
Kim Si-woo was only stopping here because he knew Choi Do-hyun had been going around apologizing to everyone.
“…Understood.”
Choi Do-hyun seemed to accept it; he didn’t bring up working together again.
With that, Kim Si-woo left the venue and went home. Choi Do-hyun remained in his seat for a long while, lost in thought.
“Do-hyun-ah, aren’t you leaving?”
“Yeah… actually, this might be better.”
“What is?”
“Just… something.”
As if he had made up his mind about something, Choi Do-hyun finally stood up.
_____________________________________________
TL Note: Regular chapters update 5 per week on the site.
Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for early access:
- Plus Tier: 7 chapters/week per novel (21 total across 3 novels)
- Premium Tier: 9 chapters/week per novel (36 total across 4 novels)
All my other novels are included in the same tiers—no extra payment needed!
• Dream Breaker
• Poseidon doesn’t like Greek and Roman mythology
• Regression of the Transcendent Psychokinesis User (Premium Tier only)
Link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Vritratls?utm_source=search
For this novel specifically, check the collection under “Genius Writer”
Binge-read ready:
Plus Tier → 35 chapters available
Premium Tier → 70 chapters available
Your support keeps the chapters coming—thank you so much! ❤️
_____________________________________________