Chapter 33

33. How about the song?

"Sure."

Jinhyuk stopped smiling and said,

"The contract terms need some adjustments."

"Really? What do you want? Tell me. I'll try my best to accommodate you."

Oh Tae-ho was still grinning.

"Raise the advance payment."

"Huh?"

Before Oh Tae-ho could fully react to the unexpected request,

"20 billion won."

Oh Tae-ho blinked, not sure what he was hearing.

"What did you say?"

"20 billion won for the advance payment."

Jinhyuk said calmly.

"What do you mean? Are you joking? Ha ha. Man, you really surprised me. Even if I am easygoing, I can't take such jokes about important matters like contracts. Ha ha."

"I'm not joking."

"What?"

"I'll consider it if you raise the advance payment to 20 billion won."

Oh Tae-ho's expression twisted. What is this?

Is he crazy? If not,

this is clearly him intentionally messing with me. From the moment he suggested talking, it was like a very childish prank...!

But the attitude Jinhyuk showed in front of him was neither crazy nor childish.

"If not, I'll refuse."

It was a handsome smile, too relaxed.

For some reason, the sight of the smiling boy seemed unreal.

Oh Tae-ho caught a glimpse of it.

A big actor sitting relaxed at the negotiation table for the advance payment.

Oh Tae-ho rubbed his eyes, as if trying to remove a strange veil from his eyes.

"Take your time to think about it and get back to me."

Jinhyuk smiled and stood up.

Oh Tae-ho stared blankly at Jinhyuk as he walked away.

***

"The more I think about it, the more annoying it gets."

Principal Oh Tae-ho muttered to himself.

He felt utterly helpless for not being able to say a word and just letting Jinhyuk go.

Damn.

But he couldn't keep dwelling on it. He still had things to do.

"Is this the place?"

The address the navigation led him to was Min Seo-yeon's home. When Oh Tae-ho got out of the car, he saw a huge gate.

Or rather, it was too big to even call it a gate.

It wasn't a regular household gate. On both sides of the large gate, equally high walls stretched out.

'What is this? Is this the right address?'

Oh Tae-ho checked the address several times. It was correct.

He had no idea such a place existed in this neighborhood. He thought she might live in a villa at the top of the hill.

'If this is really her home, it's not an ordinary family... '

He felt a bit intimidated, but he puffed out his chest. He couldn't back down. Boldly, he tightened his grip on the basket of fruit he was holding.

Oh Tae-ho pressed the doorbell. A voice soon came from the speaker.

"Who is it?"

"Ah, yes. I'm Oh Tae-ho, the principal of CMI Acting Academy. I came to see if I could meet with Min Seo-yeon's parents."

"Oh... Did you have a separate appointment with the chairman?"

Chairman?

"Ah, no, not really... "

"Then, I'm sorry, but that's not possible. Please contact us through the secretary's office. Thank you."

Click.

Oh Tae-ho was taken aback. Then, a very welcome face appeared from a distance.

"Min Seo-yeon!"

Oh Tae-ho called out to Min Seo-yeon and ran towards her.

"Who... are you?"

"Ah, you don't remember. We met at the High School 2 audition. I'm the principal of CMI Acting Academy."

"Oh."

As Min Seo-yeon tried to walk past with a brief nod,

"Wait! Seo-yeon, our academy is affiliated with CM Entertainment, you know? CM Entertainment, the agency of actor Kang Jung-won. Our company is interested in you. Can you listen for a moment?"

Oh Tae-ho kept talking, matching his pace with Seo-yeon, and finally she stopped.

"You want me to join an agency?"

"Yes. To be straightforward, it's an exclusive contract. The advance payment is quite substantial... "

"Enough. I'm not interested."

Seo-yeon started walking again, and Oh Tae-ho quickened his pace.

"No, no, Seo-yeon! Listen properly. This is a real opportunity. The advance payment is... "

Before Oh Tae-ho could finish,

"Stop it now."

A man in a suit appeared and blocked Oh Tae-ho.

What is this?

Oh Tae-ho looked at the man's stern expression and swallowed his remaining words.

'It's ten million won... the advance payment... '

In front of Oh Tae-ho, Seo-yeon's house, which looked like a fortress, stood tall, as if looking down on him.

Wow, but what kind of family is this?

***

"Sigh—"

On Monday after the long weekend, including the school anniversary and the weekend, the students' sighs echoed throughout the classroom while the art teacher was temporarily away.

"Phew, the post-holiday blues are strong."

Do Min-woo's listless face was stuck to the desk like slime.

"I can't focus on studying at all."

Watching Do Min-woo, Jinhyuk thought,

Indeed. The post-holiday blues are strong.

He even forgot that Do Min-woo had never been good at studying.

Do Min-woo suddenly turned his head towards Jinhyuk.

"Hey, Jinhyuk. You go to an acting academy, right?"

"..."

"Should I go there too?"

Indeed. The post-holiday blues are strong.

Do Min-woo is even worse at acting than studying.

But it wasn't necessarily a bad idea. Jinhyuk knew that the academy was short one student.

From the way Principal Oh Tae-ho was fretting, things would probably change after the official casting announcement for High School 2.

In any case, having a noisy student like Do Min-woo around would not be bad for the atmosphere.

Since Do Min-woo came from a fairly well-off family, attending a couple of academies as a hobby wouldn't be a burden.

Of course, it would depend on whether Principal Oh Tae-ho accepted him.

"Hey, but Jinhyuk."

"What?"

"Isn't your toe a bit long?"

At Do Min-woo's comment, Jinhyuk stared intently at the drawing he was working on.

What Jinhyuk was drawing was,

a hand.

"..."

Even Jinhyuk couldn't do everything well. There were things even two Jinhyuks couldn't accomplish.

For example, art practical skills.

"..."

"My toes are long. This is just right."

"Really?"

"Pay attention to your own drawing."

"I? I finished a long time ago."

Do Min-woo lifted his canvas. Jinhyuk's eyes widened.

Wow.

It was beautiful. Could hands be this beautiful?

He had been surprised once before during the art class presentation at the festival, but Do Min-woo's drawing skills were indeed impressive.

Even a bear can roll over, right? He did roll over a lot when playing soccer.

Hollywood action. On the soccer field, Do Min-woo was the leading actor.

"You drew well."

"Of course. Don't you know?"

"..."

"Can't you remember?"

"..."

"Sigh. Man, I may not be good at other things, but I swept all the art contests in middle school. Damn."

Jinhyuk still had a lot to learn about his friend.

"Jinhyuk, I've made up my mind."

"What about?"

"What's popular these days? Webtoons, right? I'm going to become a webtoon artist."

"Webtoon?"

"This guy. Don't you read webtoons? It's obvious, always studying. Man, to be a good actor, you need to see a lot of diverse stories."

Do Min-woo said with a serious face.

"Recently, there's a webtoon called 'Quietly Great' that's a huge hit. It's about a North Korean agent..."

As Do Min-woo talked about something Jinhyuk wasn't particularly interested in,

"Jinhyuk, actually, I have a really great idea for a story. I already have it."

He said with a proud face, lowering his voice.

"Listen. So, there was a man who lived as a legendary mercenary in a hellish battlefield."

"..."

"One day, he falls into a trap set by a traitor and is hit by the enemy's bullets, tragically dying. But at that moment!"

"Moment?"

Jinhyuk's eyebrows twitched.

"Hehehe. This guy, you have such an excited look! Isn't the story amazing?"

Indeed, he was clueless. How could that look be excited?

"Right before he dies, he loses consciousness and wakes up to find himself in someone else's body. A high school freshman, to be exact."

"High school... freshman?"

"Ah, we're freshmen, so I thought it would be good. Why? Is it too young? Should it be around twenty, smoking cigarettes?"

"..."

"No, no. Let's go with a freshman. He can start smoking later."

Do Min-woo seemed very excited.

"Anyway, the legendary mercenary becomes a high school student. So, as soon as he gets to school, he starts educating the delinquents, wow! Isn't it thrilling?"

"..."

The excited voice of Do Min-woo, who had been looking forward to it, stopped at Jinhyuk's frozen face.

"Why? Not good?"

Jinhyuk said with a stiff face.

"A legendary mercenary becoming a high school student... Do you think that makes sense?"

"No, why not! It's fantasy, so what can't be done? Body swaps are common in movies."

Jinhyuk waved his hand.

"No, it doesn't make sense. That's a ridiculous story."

"Man, you really have zero imagination. Man, just listen, how... "

Rattle.

The classroom door opened, and the art teacher came in. The noisy classroom fell silent.

"You guys, focus on your drawings, not on talking. Five minutes left. Finish up and start collecting from the back."

Do Min-woo pouted, disappointed that he couldn't finish his story. Jinhyuk thought,

This guy... Could he really know something?

***

"Jinhyuk, I'm telling you in advance because I'm worried you won't remember. I'm not just good at art."

Before the performance evaluation, Do Min-woo said to Jinhyuk with a fairly serious face.

"Jinhyuk, what song are you going to sing?"

"Whatever. What about you?"

"Of course, a man's rock ballad. Don't you know, since elementary school? Oh, right, you won't remember."

Seeing Do Min-woo's tense shoulders, Jinhyuk's instincts sensed something ominous.

Sure enough.

"I won't make you cry— I'll love you— Ooooh—!"

It was a truly tragic and sad rock ballad.

It felt genuine, not for laughs.

However, the world still had a clear sense of musical standards, which couldn't fully accept that sincerity.

"Phew!"

"Ugh... Ugh... Man, I'm dying."

The students, unable to laugh openly, were almost choking.

Man, why are you holding a non-existent microphone stand and waving it?

The embarrassment was all Jinhyuk's, sitting there.

Amazingly, Teacher Jung Soo-jin listened intently without moving.

"Enough. Good job."

Do Min-woo pouted, disappointed that he couldn't finish his song.

"Next. Woo Jinhyuk."

Woo Jinhyuk stood up.

Everyone's eyes were on Jinhyuk. The students now expected him to surprise them.

But how about the song?

The students vividly remembered Jinhyuk's performance from the previous semester.

He had mumbled a few lines in a barely audible voice and ended there.

Even when Teacher Jung Soo-jin said he needed to sing more to get a proper score, Jinhyuk didn't open his mouth again.

But now, Jinhyuk was completely different from the previous semester. The students' curiosity focused on the standing Jinhyuk.

Teacher Jung Soo-jin's gaze was not much different