After the uproar caused by method acting calmed down,
the people sent applause toward me and Su-Jin for completing the final shoot successfully.
“Great job, seriously!”
“You two have amazing synergy! You should definitely do a romance together later!”
With the enthusiastic cheers fading away,
thanks to my underage privilege, we were able to leave the filming site without any after-party.
There was a passionate talk with the director in between,
but that too ended quickly due to my minor status and work hours.
Leaving the busy scene behind,
Su-Jin and I moved toward where the van was waiting.
“Are you all cried out now?”
The playful teasing was still ongoing.
“….”
But isn’t it usually the case that something should be said in moments like this?
Since Su-Jin answered earlier, she had been just nodding her head without much reaction.
After distancing ourselves from the crowd,
I felt like we were the only ones left under the streetlight.
“Hey, Kim Donghu.”
Su-Jin slowly opened her mouth.
“Keep your promise.”
Our steps had stopped without us realizing,
and without a thought of hiding her cheeks, which had turned red like a persimmon,
Su-Jin was looking straight at me.
“What promise?”
To my question, she looked at me as if I was ridiculous.
Su-Jin stretched one arm out.
Her fingertips, slightly bent by the chilly wind,
were nonetheless pointing directly at me.
“You said you’d catch me.”
Hand.
At that bold statement, I found myself glancing around, then quickly fixed my gaze on Su-Jin.
Was there anything sillier than me being anxious while you were speaking without a care for the prying eyes around us?
So, I also stretched out my hand,
and at the moment our fingertips touched.
“You heard it earlier, right? Our synergy is amazing; they want us to do a romance too.”
Su-Jin giggled and tucked her outstretched hand into her pocket.
“How pretty do you think I’ll be by then?”
Su-Jin’s bold question was not really a question at all.
The answer was already set, and there was no need to voice it,
all I could do was nod in agreement.
“Super pretty?”
“Of course! I’ll be unrealistically pretty! You’ll be shocked.”
“You’re pretty now.”
“Of course! Hehe… Ah, not that! You know what I mean!”
With Su-Jin’s words, I shrugged my shoulders.
We both wore expressions that truly conveyed how clueless we were about what was being said.
The expression of not knowing was shared.
“Hmm… So even after I said that, you still keep acting like this, huh?”
Su-Jin cautiously stepped toward my outstretched hand, one careful step at a time.
What was at the end of that feather-light walk?
Su-Jin stopped in front of my hand and gently placed it on her cheek.
“Majesty, can you promise that you will always hold my hand when I cry?”
“…”
At those words, I couldn’t respond and just nodded quietly.
Perhaps she liked how my body moved as if entranced.
Su-Jin continued.
“I’m worried about you. Since you are so gentle-hearted, I’m looking forward to what kind of request I can make when the time comes…”
“Wait, didn’t you just say you were worried?”
“That’s just the way it is, silly. Anyway, clear your schedule for this Christmas so we can spend it together.”
“Oh, that’s a bit difficult this time. I promised to spend it with family.”
I did want to spend it like last time, but
now that mom is pregnant, I needed to cherish my time with family for a while.
Before I could even explain this, Su-Jin quickly agreed.
“Well, there’s plenty of time.”
“Huh?”
“But you have to watch our first live broadcast together. If you refuse again, I’ll cry.”
“Got it, I’ll definitely watch the first broadcast with you.”
Hearing that, Su-Jin seemed satisfied.
With a light step, she zipped past me and into the van.
Only then did I notice the surroundings.
That we were in a secluded alley,
and that we had pulled off this act without anyone noticing, like magic.
‘What is going on?’
I couldn’t quite believe it, and a laugh escaped me.
With such thoughts, as soon as I arrived at the van,
pop.
With a very small firework sound, a cake suddenly appeared in front of me.
“Congratulations on the last shoot, Dong-Hoo!”
“You’ve worked hard; it’s about time to rest.”
Receiving a simple celebration from Seok-ho and my stylist Mi-Ju, I thanked them and hopped into the van.
“By the way, Dong-Hoo, was it really cold outside?”
“Huh? No? It was fine.”
“Oh? Your face is so red; I thought you might be cold.”
“…”
At the comment about my red face, I couldn’t say a word.
We couldn’t let our little secret slip.
All I could do was smile faintly and eat the cake.
+++++
Suddenly, at the end of November.
I was intoxicated by the long-awaited sense of relaxation.
‘Sometimes, taking a break like this isn’t so bad, huh?’
“Taking a break like this isn’t so bad, huh?”
Aside from the awards ceremonies coming up and any potential commercial offers that may come in.
I’ve sorted out all my entertainment-related schedules.
As for other schedules…
>”Dong-ho, I’ve arranged everything as you suggested last time!”
>”Let’s have a light sparring session around April.”
>”Then we just need to easily win the National Youth Sports Festival in May!”
>”And keep on moving up to the youth division!!!”
>”Then let’s aim for the Asian Games or the Olympics and snag a boxing medal!”
With the boxing tournament happening next year.
>”Dong-ho, you didn’t forget our promise, right? We’re hanging out next week!”
>”Is it good for you, Dong-ho? If it’s too much, no pressure!”
>”If you’re free, let me know right away! I just hit Challenger in League.”
>”Kang Sik is freaking amazing at League, he’s a madman;;;”
Next week, we’re just going to meet up and hit the PC bang.
Though honestly, that was also just hanging out, so it wasn’t really a schedule.
“But boxing…”
I really learned the most about boxing from Coach Baek Sang-ha.
It’s the very foundation of striking—
If you have solid basics, you can learn anything easily.
Swish.
A relaxed fist is brimming with power.
“Medals, huh…”
It’s not like I haven’t thought about it.
If I had the talent to do anything,
Couldn’t I win a medal and get exempted from military service?
But I’ve never seriously considered it.
I mean, I can still go to the military when I can actually use my phone.
“Now that I think about it, it feels unfair.”
I’ve already served once.
“…Is there no script somewhere for a boxing genius to emerge?”
Suddenly, it was a night that brought that thought to mind.
+++++
Late November.
As discussions about awards ceremonies were starting to pop up here and there,
One film festival opened with more speed than anyone else.
“Hello, viewers! The moment you’ve all been waiting for, the Blue Dragon Film Festival is here!”
That’s right, the Blue Dragon Film Festival.
Broadcast reporters were rolling in with their large cameras, capturing the scene widely.
Lights shining high in the sky, fences and security guards preventing any intrusions.
They were all on edge for the upcoming events.
The highlight of the Blue Dragon Film Festival—
No, the highlight of the awards ceremony—the red carpet, came into view with a flourish.
How stunning will all the actors look as they enter?
Just as that curiosity bubbled up…
“Oh, the car is arriving now; let’s see who makes their entrance first.”
“The door opens… Yes, oh!”
The first to show up was…
“The Endless Front team!”
“Director Kang Sang-hun, Actor Han Tae-geon, Actor Seo Myung-woo, and Actor Ko Chang-sik have arrived together.”
“Actor Seo Myung-woo and Actor Ko Chang-sik have entered together.”
As they said that, there was a thought that there should be one more person.
The four mentioned earlier are indeed key figures in [Endless Frontline].
But it was because the decisive player had not appeared yet.
‘Could it be that he’s not coming?’
‘I can’t believe the Blue Dragon would skip out.’
Just as everyone was having such thoughts, the MC started throwing various questions to the [Endless Frontline] team as they arrived at the photo zone.
About their determination for the Blue Dragon Award,
What attitude they would take, and so on.
After tossing out a few usual questions, the MC was about to ask something truly curious, but at that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to ask and swallowed his disappointment.
“My youngest is quite bold, and he manages to prioritize his leading project first, you see.”
Actor Han Tae-geon blurted out the unexpected comment.
“Uh, um?”
Leaving the bewildered MC behind,
“I wanted to say please take care of our little one who will join us later. It’s his first film festival, after all.”
“But he should be fine. I mean, I’ve been keeping an eye on him…”
“Oh dear, our ride is coming, so we must be off!”
Actor Han Tae-geon hurriedly stopped Director Kang Sang-hun’s blabbering and took the team away in a rush.
It was just a brief interview, but it seemed like there was a bombshell of a statement dropped?
The MC still didn’t comprehend the meaning of those words,
And neither did the reporters.
They had no clue who this “little one” was referring to.
As the red carpet event continued, a strange vehicle came to a halt in front of the red carpet.
Thinking that everyone who was supposed to arrive had shown up, they wondered who it could be.
“Director, we should get down together for this.”
“But, um, how can I walk alongside Actor Kim Dong-hu?”
“You can’t just leave it like this after coming all the way here!”
A striking figure stepped out of the car, snapping everyone to attention.
With long legs and a towering height, he made an impressive entrance.
“Don’t be nervous, okay?”
“Yes, yes!”
With the arrival of [Hero] lead Kim Dong-hu and Director Lee Seong-deok,
The crowd immediately realized what Actor Han Tae-geon had been trying to hint at.
‘He’s here at a short film festival after shooting a blockbuster?’
Everyone gaped in astonishment at that audacity.
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