Chapter 164: Daily Life (3)
After washing up, Kim Si-woo dropped Honda Daisuke and Kirishima Sumire off at their hotel and waited a short while. They came back down having only changed clothes.
“Are we going sightseeing at a Korean broadcasting station today?”
“Well… probably?”
In response to Kirishima Sumire’s question, Kim Si-woo gave a smile so faint they couldn’t see it.
And it was an extremely wicked one.
When they arrived at the CBS broadcasting station, Kim Jin-man came running over in a hurry.
“No, Director. Isn’t it about time someone else came out for once?”
“How could I do that? If I did, who knows what kind of incident might happen again…”
Kim Jin-man’s face twisted as memories of past events briefly flashed through his mind.
“More importantly, who are the two people next to you…?”
“Ah! They’re Japanese actors. You know the one, <The Way a Genius Loves>?”
“Ah… no way?”
“Yes. The male lead and the female supporting lead.”
“Ooh…”
Kim Jin-man was surprised by the unexpected guests.
“Let’s head inside first. I’ll guide you.”
“Thank you.”
At that moment, he had no idea.
What Kim Si-woo was planning.
How he intended to get revenge for last night.
Once inside the broadcasting station, Kim Si-woo had to go into a meeting room to discuss the project.
However, since Kirishima Sumire and Honda Daisuke weren’t involved parties, they were supposed to wait outside—and Kim Si-woo had been counting on exactly that.
“Sumire. Daisuke. If you have time, how about participating in a Korean broadcast? Wouldn’t that be more fun than just sightseeing?”
“Huh?”
“You said you wanted to debut in Korea. When’s a chance this easy and good going to come again?”
“Uh…”
In that instant, Kim Si-woo shouted inwardly.
‘Bite… please… bite…’
And three seconds later.
“Shall we?”
At Kirishima Sumire’s positive reply, Kim Si-woo cheered internally and turned to Kim Jin-man.
“Director. Please put them on that variety show.”
“Are you sure this is okay?”
“Yes. Just send them.”
“Understood. Then please follow me for a moment, you two.”
As the two followed Kim Jin-man, Kim Si-woo waved.
With a wicked smile…
One hour later.
Kirishima Sumire and Honda Daisuke were already regretting having followed Kim Si-woo.
‘Kim Si-woo… he’s definitely getting revenge for yesterday. There’s no other reason he’d send me and Daisuke here.’
They were currently appearing on the variety show <Challenge 1000>. As the title suggested, it was a program where guests attempted 1,000 difficult challenges.
Unfortunately, this particular challenge involved physical exertion, and both Kirishima Sumire and Honda Daisuke were drenched in sweat and completely exhausted.
“Hahahahaha.”
After the meeting ended, Kim Si-woo watched from a distance and burst out laughing.
Once they had agreed to participate, the two couldn’t back out and say they were too tired—no matter how hard it got.
After all, they were the ones who had agreed to join the show without even checking what it was about.
Seeing Kim Si-woo laughing loudly from the side, Kirishima Sumire gritted her teeth.
‘I’ll get revenge… I’ll definitely get revenge.’
By the time the variety shoot wrapped up, Kirishima Sumire’s desire for vengeance had reached its peak—but her body was already completely drained.
“Shall we go play more today?”
“No. We’re going back to the hotel. I need to rest today. Let’s meet again tomorrow. Come on, Daisuke.”
“Yeah.”
The two took a taxi back to their hotel, and Kim Si-woo also drove home.
When Kim Si-woo arrived home, Hong Soo-yeon—who had come back after an all-night shoot—was sitting at the dining table eating with a gloomy expression.
“Oh? You’re back? How was yesterday’s shoot?”
“Yesterday was chaos. There was a fight between Actor Choi Do-hyun and one of the Siwoo Film actors…”
“What? Why?”
“Actor Choi Do-hyun kept getting angry because the guy was throwing in bad ad-libs from the side… Lee Yoo-jin-unnie took Choi Do-hyun’s side too… so the atmosphere got really weird.”
“Sigh… that guy has no middle ground. More importantly, which Siwoo Film actor was it??”
“Hyun-seop oppa. Lee Hyun-seop.”
“Sigh… that kid again?”
Kim Si-woo scratched his head and continued.
“How’s Yoo-jin doing?”
“Just… she’s in a tough spot, I guess. Actor Choi Do-hyun wasn’t wrong about what he said.”
“Why did the one doing the ad-libs do that?”
“He just said it felt like it would suit the scene… and honestly, I think he, along with Choi Do-hyun and Yoo-jin-unnie, all wanted to stand out.”
“Sigh…”
Having never dealt with this kind of situation before, the trouble felt twice as heavy to Kim Si-woo.
“Is this why you shouldn’t get too close with actors, directors, and staff?”
Kim Si-woo wondered—if the set atmosphere had been strict, if the director had been Park Woong-deok instead of Lee Yoo-jin, if the staff had been more rigid—would that actor have dared to throw in ad-libs?
“So in the end, the shoot dragged on longer, everyone got tired… but it looks like oppa had fun?”
“Huh?”
“Here… looking at the amount of alcohol, it doesn’t seem like just two people drank this. Who was it? Ji-young-unnie? Se-yeon-unnie? Ji-hyun-unnie?”
“…”
Kim Si-woo saw a glint of madness in Hong Soo-yeon’s eyes.
“Well… it was Kirishima Sumire and Honda Daisuke…”
“Huh? Aren’t those the actors from oppa’s work?”
“Yeah… that’s right.”
“Oh, I see…”
Only after hearing who he had been drinking with did Hong Soo-yeon withdraw the crazy look in her eyes.
“Anyway, I think I should go to the next shoot too.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“Hmm… I’ll check the atmosphere first. And I need to hear what Yoo-jin has to say.”
While Kim Si-woo was talking with Hong Soo-yeon about what happened on set, Arimura Noa—who had just gotten off work—joined the conversation.
“There are always people like that. Ones who try to stand out no matter what to succeed. They don’t even realize it’s poisonous.”
Arimura Noa fully took Choi Do-hyun’s side.
Of course, she wasn’t completely unable to understand the actors’ impatience, but unnecessary ad-libs only made everyone suffer.
Because of one person’s greed, dozens of others had to work harder—and that wasn’t something even experienced actors did lightly.
“Was it my mistake? Maybe gathering all the Siwoo Film people in one place was a bad idea…”
“No, it wasn’t.”
When Kim Si-woo started to blame himself, Hong Soo-yeon hurriedly grabbed his hand.
“If it weren’t for oppa, we might not have even been able to make the movie.”
“That’s right. There are probably enough actors dying to get even a minor role to fill an entire sports field.”
Thanks to the two women’s comfort, Kim Si-woo felt a little better—until his phone suddenly vibrated.
Vrrrrm.
“Huh? Who is it?”
Kim Si-woo checked his smartphone at the sudden vibration.
“Yoo-jin?”
The caller was Lee Yoo-jin. Kim Si-woo immediately pressed the answer button.
“Hello?”
– Writer-nim.
“Yeah?”
– Can’t you buy me just one drink?
Hearing the serious tone in Lee Yoo-jin’s voice, Kim Si-woo started preparing to go out.
“Sure. Where are you right now?”
– At home.
“Where do you want to meet?”
– I’ll come to a bar near Writer-nim’s house. I’ll text you the address.
“Okay, got it. Come carefully.”
After ending the call with Lee Yoo-jin, Kim Si-woo told Hong Soo-yeon and Arimura Noa that he was heading out.
“I’m going out for a bit.”
“Huh?”
“Right now?”
“Yeah. Yoo-jin seems really worn out.”
In that moment, both Arimura Noa and Hong Soo-yeon got the strong feeling that the caller was a woman.
They exchanged glances, gave each other a subtle signal, and then nodded to Kim Si-woo.
“Alright, I’ll be back.”
After Kim Si-woo left, Hong Soo-yeon and Arimura Noa quietly started tailing him.
About ten minutes of walking later, they arrived at a bar near Kim Si-woo’s house.
The place wasn’t crowded, and each table had partitions and curtains—making it the perfect spot for two people to have a serious conversation over drinks.
Not long after Kim Si-woo arrived, Lee Yoo-jin showed up, fully dressed up.
Watching from a distance, the two women waited until Lee Yoo-jin entered the bar, then sneaked in after her and took a seat nearby.
Unaware that Hong Soo-yeon and Arimura Noa had followed, Lee Yoo-jin and Kim Si-woo began talking as usual.
“You’re here?”
“Yeah…”
“I already heard from Soo-yeon… Just sit down first.”
At Kim Si-woo’s words, Lee Yoo-jin took a seat.
But instead of sitting across from him, she sat right beside him.
“Yoo-jin-ah?”
“I just want to sit here.”
“Uh… uh, okay.”
Seeing the stubborn Lee Yoo-jin she hadn’t shown in a long time, Kim Si-woo stammered in surprise.
“What should we order for snacks?”
“Hmm… this one, this one, and this one.”
Lee Yoo-jin picked the side dishes in an instant. Kim Si-woo pressed the call button and ordered two bottles of soju along with them.
“Sigh… Was it really my mistake to insist on bringing everyone together?”
“No. I told you it was fine too.”
When Lee Yoo-jin started lamenting the same thoughts Kim Si-woo had had at home, he quickly shifted the blame onto himself.
“No, seriously—the staff are all taking Choi Do-hyun’s side, you know.”
“What about Hyun-seop? Did he apologize?”
“Well… he didn’t apologize. The Siwoo Film actors are either staying quiet or taking Hyun-seop’s side. I guess it’s because they’ve lived and trained together… and they all have the same dream of becoming stars. Me, the staff, and the outside actors all think Choi Do-hyun is right in principle, but the atmosphere… there are just so many Siwoo Film actors that it’s hard to say anything.”
Kim Si-woo genuinely felt his head starting to throb.
At the very least, he should have known to distinguish right from wrong.
Even if most of the people around were from Siwoo Film, if he made a mistake, he should have apologized.
Creating factions like this was never a good thing.
“Was what I did still not enough?”
Understanding the meaning behind Kim Si-woo’s words, Lee Yoo-jin spoke as if she couldn’t believe it.
“No, Writer-nim. Do you know how many actors actually make a living from acting? Even an actor as talented as Jung Pil-gyu starved while pursuing it. For someone with that level of skill to be able to act while saving money—how blessed is that?”
“I guess so…”
“Honestly, if Writer-nim terminated all their contracts right now, more than half of them would be out on the street tomorrow. You’ve already given them so many conveniences, it’s not just one or two things…”
“I’ll go to the next shoot too. Don’t worry too much. If it comes down to it, we can just kick him out.”
“Still… we’ve spent all this time together…”
“If they won’t listen to words, we have no choice but to show them with actions.”
Even among family, priorities always existed.
And to Kim Si-woo, Lee Hyun-seop was practically nonexistent.
As Lee Yoo-jin said, whether he was there or not made no real difference to Siwoo Film.
He had simply brought him this far out of their first connection.
“Let’s just drink for now.”
“Yes!”
Hearing that Kim Si-woo would help lifted Lee Yoo-jin’s spirits considerably.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the partition, Hong Soo-yeon and Arimura Noa had their ears pressed against the wall.
“What are they talking about… I can’t hear very well…”
The partition blocked sound much better than the two women had expected.
“Sigh… this is driving me crazy. They’re not… you know, that kind of relationship, right?”
Because they couldn’t see, the two women’s imaginations started running wild.
“No way?”
“You don’t know oppa? If he was dating someone, he’d just say it outright. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have kicked them out of the house in the first place. Or he would’ve left himself.”
“That’s true…”
Knowing Kim Si-woo’s straightforward (and somewhat gullible) nature, the two women felt relieved again.
“Ugh, whatever. Let’s just drink too.”
“Yes… actually, unnie, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”
“Really? Me too.”
The two women each took a sip of their drinks and started asking each other the questions they’d been holding back.
“Unnie, what made you fall for oppa?”
“Me? Hmm… his ability? Personality? Face? The way he frowns is totally my type. What about you?”
“Me? I like how caring he is. He acts like he doesn’t care, but he always takes care of things when it matters. It’s cute too.”
After that, the two began sharing stories—how and where they first met Kim Si-woo, how their relationships developed.
Completely forgetting the original reason they came here…
Time passed like that, and eventually Kim Si-woo headed toward the problematic set.
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[1] The Regressor Who Turns Trash Martial Arts into Divine Techniques
[2] I Descended as the Iron-Blooded All-Master
[3] The Female Employees I Couldn't Eat
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