The Haunted Monster Actor - Chapter 114



Only Noblemtl

Episode 114

My father, who had never left the mountains of Gangwon-do, would drag his tired body across the mountain path on his days off.

“Young-cheol, my son. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Why did you come all the way here with such an unhealthy body? How many times have I told you! Don’t come here again… …!”

“Are you eating well? I also brought you your favorite dumplings. Hey, prison guard. I’m going to give some of these to my son… .”

“Do you think I’m still a lover? I don’t need it, so take it back!”

The father’s face turned blacker than charcoal at his son’s angry words.

Yeongcheol let out a deep sigh and continued speaking.

“If you leave my place, I will never swing my fist at anyone again. So, don’t come here again, Father.”

“Z, are you really promising?”

“Did you see the internal affairs department talking? Those dumplings are for your father on the way back.”

“Well, even so, this is gradually increasing… … .”

“Later, later, when you leave here, let’s go home and play together.”

My father’s face suddenly brightened.

“Is it really okay if I don’t get better…?”

“Ah, Malchanghaou! Hey, go away, hey! Hwai!”

Since then, Abi has not visited the prison cell.

Yeong-cheol was not a man who spoke two words at a time, and he decided to become a new person after his release from prison.

When I returned to the shabby country house in the mountains of Gangwon Province with a bag of dumplings.

Yeong-cheol was able to find out another reason why his father had not come to visit him for a while.

Knock knock! Knock knock, knock knock!

He lived his whole life in a coal mine.

Abi suffered from ‘pneumoconiosis’, commonly called coal miner’s disease.

“I’ve been working like an idiot all this time with this body!”

“This is a place I am thankful for that allowed me to be a little bit more human. How could I abandon such a place?”

Abi was suffering like a declining coal mining town day by day.

Every time he coughed, his hunched back curled up.

Whenever he saw that sight, Yeong-cheol’s knees would bend on their own.

“If you were going to live so miserably and get sick and suffer, why did you live so tenaciously…?”

Father said to Yeong-cheol like that.

“I lived a happy life watching my son grow up to be a good man.”

From the next day, Yeong-cheol took care of his father by working in the coal mine instead.

Now, it was hard to find work because coal was scarce.

Still, somehow, I did something.

Just like his father did when he was young.

“I bought some dumplings that Daddy likes.”

“Keep on going, this is what you like, Youngcheol.”

“Then what does your father like?”

“I like the way you eat dumplings, Youngcheol.”

I can see that.

His own father is dying.

Still, when I watched old Hong Kong movies on the small TV screen, my pale complexion would return a little.

That day, Yeong-cheol gathered all the action videos he could find and played them all day long.

We were together all day.

“Is that so funny?”

“Uh… … Just now. Time flies by so fast. It’s so scary.”

“… …Father, what if your son becomes an action star like that?”

The father’s face lit up when he heard his son’s words more than when he was watching an action movie.

“Then, really… … that’s cool.”

It was my father’s last will and testament.

Yeong-cheol went to a production company in Seoul and knelt down after being introduced to it by a friend he met in prison.

“What should I do to become an action actor?”

“With your face, it seems like it would be hard for you to be an action actor. But don’t worry, you’re also built like a glove. How about a stunt double?”

“I don’t like stunt doubles.”

“… …Why don’t you like it?”

“I’m a villain. I’m going to be the main character who’s always on TV.”

The action actors that my father saw and whose eyes sparkled were all apostles of justice.

This was the reason why Young-cheol wanted to become an ‘action actor’ rather than a stuntman.

“Huh, it won’t be easy.”

It won’t be an easy road, but Yeong-cheol won’t give up.

No matter how difficult this road is.

“Wouldn’t this be a less rough path than the tunnels or mountain paths my father used to walk?”

… …

… …

… …

……ah.

… … Cheol-ah!

“Youngcheol!”

“… … ?

“Young-cheol, you idiot! Come to your senses, ugh!”

“Your Majesty, what’s the decoration…? My father just came home from work and bought some dumplings… … Delicious dumplings… … .”

“Why are you suddenly talking about dumplings! From now on, listen carefully to what I say! You absolutely must not lose your senses!”

The voice of Jang-sang calling Yeong-cheol was desperate.

“One day, you’ll become a famous action star like Ryu So-ryong! How can such a great guy collapse like this! Huh? Hold on tight! Hold on tight and don’t let go… …!”

“Ambulance! Did you call an ambulance?!”

“What kind of a bastard is that who checked the equipment! What kind of crazy bastard would tie up a human body with wire like this!”

Ah, now I remember.

He had just been acting as an action star’s body double when his wires broke loose and he fell from the roof of a 15-meter-tall building.

‘The image of my father just now… … I see, is this a revolving lantern?’

“Haha, what are you talking about, Makka? It doesn’t even hurt that much… … .”

“Young-cheol, Young-cheol! Huh? T, this kid’s eyes are spinning! Come to your senses, you little brat! Didn’t I tell you to show your dead father how cool you are!? Huh? I told you I wouldn’t give up until then, you little brat―! Ugh!”

“No, I mean I’m fine… … .”

Young-cheol sees Jang-sang’s face crying in front of him.

“It’s really okay… … .”

‘uh……?’

The knees and ankles are bent at an odd angle, visible next to the decoration.

‘Ah, so that’s why I didn’t feel anything.’

The joke that stuntmen always used to say, that if you were in so much pain you would be taken to the hospital without even knowing it, was true.

haha.

“You little punk… … In a situation like this, what are you laughing at and falling over for… … .”

My consciousness is becoming increasingly blurred.

The world before Yeong-cheol’s eyes began to darken like the soot his father always came back with covered all over his body.

‘Why am I laughing? Well… … .’

“Father.”

Because after a very long time, I could clearly see my father’s yellow teeth like charcoal in my darkened vision.

-Young-cheol, my son. Are you hurt anywhere?

“Yes, Dad, I’m so clean… … .”

‘So don’t worry.’

Yeong-cheol failed to achieve his dream of becoming an action actor.

* * *

―A man’s life-threatening challenge begins now!

A phrase that sounds like a common catchphrase that you might find on posters for 90s Hollywood action movies.

For stuntmen, that sentence becomes a daily reality on set.

Or jumping off the roof of a building that is tens of meters high.

Or escape from a car that is being crumpled like a piece of paper by a backhoe.

Some even jump into a blaze as big as a house.

Even highly skilled stuntmen face dangerous situations every day that could result in serious accidents if left unattended.

Risk is a fate for stuntmen.

So everyone knew that Ho-cheol wasn’t simply angry because the high-altitude gliding scene in “S#46” was dangerous.

“Senior Ho-cheol, stop it!”

“Iksang, you say something too. Don’t you feel sorry for your classmate Sangjin… .”

Before Ho-cheol could finish his excited words, Ik-sang continued with a cold face.

“Senior. If you say anything more than that… … that would be insulting to our entire male action team.”

As I just said, stuntmen face some of the most dangerous moments on film sets.

This presents the most thrilling scene to the audience.

“That’s not me!”

“I don’t think it’s something that should come out of a stuntman’s mouth, like saying they just filled it in with CG.”

Regardless of the reason, Ho-cheol’s current actions were tantamount to denying his identity as a stuntman.

“What? Hey Inma, why are you saying that… …!”

“Lee Ho-cheol.”

It was then that Park Jeong-hoo opened his mouth.

“You are excluded from the bad weather martial arts team for now.”

“… … .”

Ho-cheol seemed to have known this would happen, so he bowed his head toward Director Park Jeong-hoo and left the scene.

So the commotion ended like that.

The atmosphere on set was gloomy, like the sky before a heavy rain.

“… … Let’s end filming here today.”

For some reason, Director Lee Cheong-beom’s voice sounded more lethargic than usual as he spoke like that.

“Iksang-ah, I should go in first. Make sure you finish up well and come in. I’m sorry, Director Lee.”

“… … Okay, I’ll go in first.”

“Yes, Director. I’ll wrap things up and go in.”

Park Jung-hoo also left the scene first, and filming ended earlier than scheduled.

Iksang approached Hyunsu with an apologetic look on his face and opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry, Hyunsoo. It was just because of our team that the atmosphere on set became like this.”

“No, senior. Don’t you remember what Hwayeon said? When you bump into things every day on set, all sorts of things happen. I’m okay.”

“… … No, this is what I, as the action team leader, say to the lead actor of the movie. This will never happen again.”

“I’m also a member of the action team that is part of that ‘us’?”

“… … .”

“So, there’s no need to feel sorry, senior.”

‘I feel sorry too.’

If Kim Young-cheol had not wanted a movie called Bad Weather, the long-standing feud between Lee Cheong-beom and Park Jeong-hu would not have been revealed as it is now.

And the reason Kim Young-cheol has always wanted to make a movie called Bad Weather is… … .

‘It must be to fulfill the dream of becoming an ‘action actor’ that I couldn’t achieve.’

Whatever the reason, this current situation could be said to be due to Hyun-soo’s ‘dream’.

That was the reason why Hyunsoo’s heart was as heavy as Iksang’s.

As Iksang’s expression of regret did not seem to lift, Hyunsoo continued speaking.

“With Team A’s situation like this… … I think they’ll probably skip filming Senior Kim Hee-woon’s side tomorrow.”

“… … ?”

“If you really feel that sorry.”

Hyunsoo continued speaking while looking at the men of the action team and his colleagues who were bowing their heads with gloomy faces behind Iksang.

“Shall we all go eat some beef together for the first time in a while?”

“I appreciate your trying to cheer me up, but we’re okay.”

“No, senior. As a lead actor, it is my duty to communicate with the various team members to create a good atmosphere on set. So, there is no need to refuse.”

“No, really, it’s okay.”

“I’m really fine, so you don’t have to decline, senior.”

“That’s not it.”

“Okay, let’s go… … !”

“There is no law.”

“… … ?”

“The director went in first, so I couldn’t get the license plate.”

With a salary of 100,000, beef is too much for me.

Even if it’s pork, it’s too much for this number of people.

“I guess it would be a bit much to go and ask for the law card back now…?”

Today was the lead actor’s shooting day.

Continued in the next episode ▶