BSAR Chapter 26

Do-beom showed Seojin the nail-sized devices he had discovered while Seojin was unconscious. He explained that they were cunningly hidden inside the hem of the pants Seojin was wearing and the inner placket of his shirt.

The information wasn’t particularly shocking to Seojin. Although he didn’t expect them to go as far as wiretapping, he had already reached a reasonable suspicion that he was being monitored.

‘If used well, this… could be a good excuse.’

Just as the thought occurred to him that this fact could become a weapon to make both Cha Do-beom and Han Ju-in move according to his intentions, the closed door swung open with a bang.

The person who barged in, looking unusually disheveled, was none other than Han Ju-in.

The bright red blood staining his clothes and the police officers engaged in a fierce physical altercation with the gangsters beyond the open door. After confirming a few additional clues, Seojin thought that perhaps Ju-in had also come to rescue him at the kidnapping scene a few hours ago. Probably from the direction of the main gate where the police car sirens were blaring.

“Jin-ah.”

As soon as he heard the other person’s familiar voice, Seojin threw himself towards the door before anyone could stop him. Then, as if half-embracing him, he swiftly grabbed Ju-in by the collar.

It wasn’t to express his inner anger, but to escape Do-beom’s grasp for the time being while simultaneously gaining control of the situation and setting the stage to showcase a performance befitting the character he had established.

“You have a fever…”

Ju-in’s gaze distorted as he looked down at Seojin, who was half-leaning against his chest as if he had no strength to stand on his own, gripping his collar with a weak gesture. It was due to feeling Seojin’s hot breath against his cheek.

“Have you been monitoring me all this time?”

The question, mixed with panting breaths, contained both a plea for him to deny it and a demand for an honest answer. Similarly, conflicting emotions surged in his poignant expression.

‘If I had it my way, I’d want to go home with Han Ju-in like this, but…’

Do-beom seemed to have no intention of giving up on Seojin. It meant that even if Ju-in, with the backing of public authority, had come into this room to rescue Seojin, a situation of repeated violence would inevitably unfold.

Even if things miraculously worked out and he was freed from here, Do-beom’s attempts at kidnapping and confinement would likely continue, and it would cause various disruptions to the drama filming, which was currently of utmost importance to Seojin.

Rather than enduring such constant torment, it would be better to live together with Do-beom in this house as he wished. Of course, that didn’t mean he was willing to meekly accept being held captive as Do-beom desired.

‘I’ll have to coax him gently and somehow continue my acting activities.’

To send Ju-in back alone from here, he needed to stage an emotionally charged scene at least once. Pretending to be greatly shocked by the surveillance issue would also serve as material to persuade Do-beom in the future.

If he claimed, with a greatly weakened appearance, that his acting activities were the only cure for his wounded heart, it wouldn’t be easy for Do-beom, who owed a great debt to “Seo Yeon-woo,” to outright ignore that request.

Misery loves company; he could also act as if he was projecting his own experience of losing a cherished person due to a friend’s betrayal onto Do-beom, who was obsessed with an innocent person because he couldn’t forget someone who had already died.

“We need to give you fever reducers right away. Your hand is injured too. Let’s treat it again first.”

Unaware that Seojin had rushed into his arms with such thoughts, Ju-in glanced down at his bandaged hand, his expression tinted with subtle anger and self-reproach. There was no sign of panic at being questioned.

“Don’t change the subject and answer properly. It’s true that you’ve been monitoring me until now, isn’t it?”

Although his tone seemed cold and pressing at first glance, Seojin’s expression contained a pitiful, sorrowful sob, as if he had become the protagonist of a tragedy.

“…Yes.”

The moment a low answer resembling a sigh flowed from Ju-in’s mouth, the strength in Seojin’s snow-white hand gripping his collar loosened abruptly. His feverish body swayed greatly for a moment.

“It’s not for the reasons you might be suspecting.”

Skillfully embracing Seojin’s body, which was about to collapse limply on the spot without his knowledge, Ju-in added in a whisper. It wasn’t because he intended to do something dirty like industrial espionage.

“I’ll explain everything. After we move to a safe place first.”

And he suggested that they return to the penthouse of the Future Hotel for now. However, Seojin’s expression, after closing his eyes tightly and opening them again, was already drenched in an undisguisable sense of betrayal.

“…No, you go alone.”

“How can I go back leaving you here?”

Seojin weakly pushed away Ju-in’s arm that had been embracing him and turned his head with an expression that barely swallowed a sob. Towards Do-beom, who had somehow approached closely.

“…President.”

After moving his lips hesitantly for a moment, Seojin soon continued speaking with a hardened expression, as if he had made a decision in his heart. Ju-in’s expression also instantly hardened at the words he was about to say.

“You said I could stay here, right?”

A glint flashed in Do-beom’s eyes. It was a sharp and expectant light, like a bird of prey spotting an opportunity to snatch its prey.

“I’d like to impose on you for a while.”

“As long as you want.”

Do-beom readily replied, curling the corners of his mouth as soon as he heard Seojin’s request.

“Jin-ah, what absurd thoughts are you having?”

Of course, Ju-in naturally protested. His attitude seemed like he had no intention of going back meekly. Seojin was rather pleased by that.

“As you said, President, I won’t take a single step out of this room. Except for the times I’m active as an actor.”

After all, it’s always advantageous to negotiate when there’s a competitor for the other party. As expected, a strange conflict arose on Do-beom’s face, which had seemed like there was no room for compromise at all.

“Jin-ah.”

“…If you want to take on the role of our actor’s manager, you’ll be even busier from now on.”

In the end, Do-beom accepted his negotiation proposal of staging a silent protest, saying that confinement was not allowed, he wanted to be granted permission to go out, and if his freedom to engage in acting activities was not guaranteed, he would go back with Ju-in right away.

“Han Ju-in. I need time to sort out my thoughts.”

Now all that was left was to persuade Ju-in, for whom overprotection had become a habit over a long time, and send him back.

“We don’t have to do it here…”

“Somewhere I can be sure there won’t be any monitoring from you.”

Seojin wore a sorrowful smile on his flushed face. If he had gotten furiously angry instead, Ju-in would have tried to appease him somehow, but even he couldn’t continue speaking in the face of that expression that relentlessly stimulated his guilt.

“Go back first.”

In a strangely gentle tone, Seojin made a request that wasn’t quite a request to him.

“I’ll contact you again soon.”

It was the mildest form of notification he could give to a friend who had deceived him twice. Ju-in, who knew how decisively Seojin cut ties, had no grounds to refuse that demand.

***

Having accomplished everything according to his intentions, Seojin had to endure Do-beom’s utmost care for the next few days. At every meal, during rest and sleep, his clumsy but devoted attendance always followed.

If Seojin hadn’t utilized his talent [Partner’s Panacea] like taking a tranquilizer, Do-beom would have definitely stayed up all night every day to look after him.

‘What?’

That was why. On the day of the script reading for the newly joined “Revenge Game,” when a chief-level road manager, stylist, and makeup artist accompanied him instead of Do-beom, Seojin was surprised.

‘He always acted like he would personally follow me around. Is he very busy?’

It was quite unexpected that Do-beom, who had rushed out somewhere early in the morning, didn’t return on time.

‘His complexion was pale too.’

As if something shocking had happened, Seojin recalled his face as he ran out like a person whose soul had left his body after receiving a text from his subordinate, and soon shook his head.

‘It doesn’t matter to me anyway.’

The human heart is originally like a reed, so it’s not unusual for it to be different yesterday and today.

“Hey, what’s with your hair?”

However, there are also people who are strangely consistent in odd ways. Today, he arrived early at the reading location and could witness with his own eyes a very bad example proving the proposition that ‘people don’t change.’

A male actor who had arrived earlier and was sitting, criticizing the hairstyle of a junior actress behind the on-site staff who were setting up paper name tags on the table with the assigned roles and actors’ names written on them.

“Tsk, if you’re an actress, you should act like one. What’s with that short cut you got? How are you going to appeal with your charms looking like that? This girl lacks desperation.”

Words that evenly contained deplorable prejudice, hatred, and gender discrimination, gestures that were almost arrogantly rude, and a voice that had become unpleasantly loud. It was Kim Kyung-tae, the senior from the theater troupe who had also spouted all sorts of nonsense to Seojin.

“Hyung, what’s the point of saying things like that?”

Just as Seojin was about to step in right away, another person who had been sitting across and watching the situation intervened first. A man in his early 20s with a clear contrast between his bright and cute appearance and his mischievous eye smile.

Myung Gyu-hwan. The actor from an idol background who had played the twin role that Seojin was going to take on before the regression, and who would reveal his dirty true nature next year around this time, causing a huge controversy.

A human trash who would stand trial on charges of habitual drunk driving and drug use, not to mention sexually harassing aspiring entertainers desperate to debut, using his blood ties with the CEO of a large entertainment company as his backing.

“What would a kid like that know?”

It was also the reason why the regressed Seojin could participate in the “Revenge Game” audition without feeling any sense of guilt about stealing someone else’s rightful place using the cheat key of knowing which works would be popular in the future.