Chapter 7

────────────────────────────────────

────────────────────────────────────

All that's left is for him to become a star.

Uhyeok stands at the entrance of the cabin in Gapyeong, enjoying the sunlight and playing with his dog. Minhoan enters the yard.

Uhyeok greets Minhoan with a gentle smile.

"How did you find me?"

"Torture expert! I'm Jo Tae-il from the National Intelligence Service. Don't you recognize me?"

Uhyeok's eyes instantly turn cold.

But only for a moment; he quickly returns to his original expression and smiles.

"You must have mistaken me for someone else."

He then checks the scar on Minhoan's forehead, which is partially hidden by his hair.

"Son of a bitch! Do you know what you've done to my life?"

"Heh heh, really! You should blame the one who wielded the axe, not the axe itself. The axe has no feelings, no guilt. What sin does it have?"

Uhyeok smirks to himself, a kind of monologue.

"I have some business to attend to, so I'll be going—"

As Uhyeok moves to leave, five men who had been hiding appear and surround him, blocking his escape.

Only then does Uhyeok's gaze turn cold.

One of the men throws a punch at Uhyeok.

Uhyeok easily dodges the man's punch.

From this point on, a stunt double will perform the fight scenes, with Uhyeok filming the intercut scenes, light punches, and the scene where he falls after being hit with a club.

In the final scene of the fight, Minhoan stabs Uhyeok in the side with a knife as Uhyeok is exhausted from the fight.

"Ugh!"

With the knife still in his side, Uhyeok and Minhoan's eyes meet.

"Beautiful! It's so beautiful! This scar, I gave it to you, didn't I?"

Uhyeok says in a dry voice.

He looks at Minhoan's scar as if it were a work of art.

But then his expression changes, and he glares at Minhoan as if he wants to devour him.

"Right, you bastard!"

Enraged, Minhoan pushes the knife deeper.

Uhyeok's expression contorts, a mix of pain, disillusionment, and mockery in his eyes.

"Apologize. Hurry up! If you're human, if you have any conscience, hurry up!"

Minhoan screams, struggling like a madman.

"I'm sorry."

Uhyeok whispers in Minhoan's ear.

Minhoan's expression wavers.

"I should have hurt you more back then. Heh heh heh!"

Uhyeok laughs in a sinister voice.

Minhoan trembles as if he has seen a demon.

"You were too hasty. A professional doesn't do it like that. If you stab someone all at once, they die too quickly. You should have done it slowly, enjoying it, slowly. Kid!"

Uhyeok grabs Minhoan's hand, which is holding the knife, and pushes it deeper.

"No. I can't die now. I'll do to you exactly what was done to me."

Minhoan shouts.

"I'll wait for you in the afterlife. I'll make you suffer a lot there. Heh heh... heh heh heh..."

Uhyeok's eyes flash with murderous intent.

Minhoan, terrified, takes a step back.

"Cut!"

***

I hope Uhyeok does well, I really hope he does well, but his acting was weak.

What can you do if you can't act well? As long as he's a good person, that's enough.

That's what I thought.

But now he can act too.

All that's left is for him to become a star.

It wasn't until I met other actors after parting ways with Uhyeok that I realized how good a person he is.

When I joined a new agency, I was happy to be in a big company with a higher salary.

I boasted about being assigned to a famous actor.

I strutted around, saying I was the manager of a girl group that appeared on TV.

All this while Uhyeok, who had lost his agency and manager, was wandering alone.

"Even if the movie fails, Uhyeok will become a star."

Baegum muttered to himself.

Baegum recalled the plot of the movie.

On the way to the set, Uhyeok told him the plot of the movie.

The male protagonist, Jo Tae-il, played by Minhoan, is a low-level employee at the National Intelligence Service. One day, internal corruption at the agency is exposed, and the agency comes under media attack. Jo Tae-il is falsely accused of the corruption.

Jo Tae-il claims his innocence but is taken somewhere and tortured by a torture expert, who forces him to make a false confession.

Fearing the pain of the torture, he also makes a false confession to the prosecutor.

He is given a suspended sentence and avoids prison, but his life is ruined.

His shocked mother collapses and becomes paralyzed, and his fiancée, who had set a wedding date, leaves him.

The company that was supposed to protect him instead pressures him, and he eventually quits.

He can no longer lead a normal life.

Especially, the smell of ginger reminds him of the torture.

During the torture, his mouth was filled with ginger along with a gag.

A year later, Jo Tae-il tries to appeal his case, but no one listens to his grievances. His friends, colleagues, the media, and the state all turn their backs on him.

Jo Tae-il focuses his anger on one person: the torture expert.

He decides to kill the torture expert and tracks him down.

After many twists and turns, he finds where the torture expert lives and goes to kill him.

But after killing the devil, society labels Jo Tae-il as a murderer.

Jo Tae-il is arrested and defended by a court-appointed lawyer, Lee So-yeon.

Despite being young, Lee So-yeon is a competent female lawyer who does her best to defend Jo Tae-il.

But it's not enough.

No matter how much she investigates the torture expert, he appears to be a kind and good Korean man in his early 30s.

In the end, even Lee So-yeon questions whether Jo Tae-il is lying.

In a fit of rage, Jo Tae-il dreams of inflicting the torture he endured on Lee So-yeon.

He stuffs her mouth with ginger and gags her before torturing her.

Jo Tae-il is shocked to find the torture expert inside himself.

The monster gradually consumes his inner self.

Jo Tae-il, recalling the torture techniques used on him, organizes them into drawings that only he can understand. After his release, he makes a list of people to make suffer the same pain he endured.

The list includes his fiancée, Lee So-yeon, and others.

All of them are weaker than him.

The tools used for torture may vary, but ginger is essential.

He plants a piece of ginger, brought by his father, in a pot and cultivates it carefully.

The movie begins with a scene of Jo Tae-il cultivating the pot in prison.

Baegum, who had heard the plot of the movie from Uhyeok, tilted his head.

It didn't seem like the movie would be a big success.

But when he saw Uhyeok's short appearance as the torture expert and his brief performance, his feeling was completely different.

Even if the movie fails, Uhyeok, who plays the torture expert, will become a star.

Baegum's feeling.

Watching Uhyeok's performance on set, he became even more convinced.

Uhyeok's acting was the best.

The actors and crew gathered on set were overwhelmed by Uhyeok's performance and didn't even dare to swallow their saliva.

Director Choi, who had been watching the monitor, was no exception.

Wearing headphones, he muttered to himself.

"Why hasn't he become a star with acting like that? Jang Il-gon, you! You made me wait! I'll invite you to the movie premiere, so just wait. I want to see you eat your words."

***

"Alright, let's do the fight scene."

Director Choi called out to the crew with a satisfied expression.

His voice was full of energy.

"Uhyeok, just a bit more effort. We only need a few shots of the fight scene."

Director Choi said to Uhyeok with a smile.

"Understood. But Director, can I do the fight scene without a stunt double?"

"Without a stunt double? It's dangerous. You need martial arts skills. Is it possible?"

"I'll try, and if it doesn't work, I'll let the stunt double do it."

"Great, if you can do it without a stunt double, that's better. Assistant Director!"

"Yes, Director!"

"Introduce Uhyeok to the martial arts director and have him practice. We can't do the whole thing, but let's see how far Uhyeok can go."

"Understood. This way, please."

Park Yong-gu guided Uhyeok, treating him with great respect.

Baegum hurriedly followed Uhyeok.

At that moment, someone called out to Baegum.

"Baegum!"

It was Minhoan's manager, Jung Eun-chan.

"Yes, Manager!"

"Are you going to be Uhyeok's manager again?"

"No."

"Then why are you here? What about your company?"

"I was fired."

Baegum scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, I see."

Baegum glanced at Uhyeok.

"Can you spare me a moment? It won't take long."

"Sure. And please speak more formally. You're older than me."

"That's impossible, we haven't met many times. I'll speak informally when we get to know each other better."

"Sure, Manager! Hehe!"

"By the way, has Uhyeok decided on an agency?"

"No."

"Have you heard any rumors?"

"I'm not sure about that."

"I see. Thank you for the information. Let's go."

"Ah, yes! Then..."

Baegum bowed to Manager Jung and hurriedly ran to Uhyeok. It was clearly running, though at a normal walking pace.

Manager Jung watched the video of Uhyeok's performance on his phone again and again.

"I need to sign him before someone else does..."