The Haunted Monster Actor - Chapter 78



Only Noblemtl

Episode 78

“Is there anyone there?”

“If there’s anyone, please answer, okay?”

“What about the stage? What happened to the stage?”

“Hey, are you kidding me?”

“Everyone… …Where did everyone go―!”

cold.

hungry.

sad.

I’m lonely.

scary.

When Hwang Su-in, who had been immersed in the world’s most splendid lights, the audience’s enthusiastic cheers, and the exciting performance, came to his senses again.

I was crouching in the darkness, unable to see or hear anything.

Neither the flow of time nor the perception of space is possible.

okay.

It’s like being trapped in a canvas painted black.

Suin just trembled in fear.

That was all Suin could do, left alone in the still darkness.

Until, at some point, a faint ‘sound’ was heard from somewhere.

Clang! Clang!

Su-in raised her head at the sound that sounded like the curtains of a concert hall being drawn.

I looked in the direction where the sound came from.

Because it is filled with pitch-black darkness, it appears clearer.

Something shimmering over there is definitely… … ‘light.’

‘It might be the stage lights!’

beep.

beep.

beep.

The regular ringing in the dark is coming from the direction where the light is coming from.

Suin ran towards it.

* * *

—Kotok! Kotok!

As soon as the notification sounded on the smartphone placed on the nightstand, Choi Ui-jeong, who was lying in bed, jumped up from her seat.

“Then yes, I thought it would be resolved by now!”

Choi Ui-jeong’s face, which had turned on the screen of her smartphone in a dark room, brightened for a moment.

Choi Ui-jeong’s face quickly turns red with disappointment as he confirms the sender of the KakaoTalk message.

“Why is Ajin here at this hour?”

There are two Kotok messages from Ajin.

[Author, what do you think about this?]

A video was sent along with the text:

“Why are you suddenly sending me this video at this late hour?”

A member of the council pressed the play button on the video without thinking.

The square screen grew larger, and soon a familiar stage came into view.

“Is this a drug kitchen? Gold… … Marie?”

While preparing for the work, Choi Ui-jeong searched for all the information about indie bands.

Yi Jeong, who tilted his head at the unfamiliar name Gold Marie, soon nodded after checking the face of the vocalist clearing his throat in the corner.

“Oh, you passed because it’s a female vocalist.”

—One day, we were asked a question.

The performance begins with the male member in the video introducing himself.

—I just wanted to run around where you were watching.

The video ended with the performance.

“… … .”

—One day, we were asked a question.

The performance begins again.

—I just wanted to run around where you were watching.

Finally, the video ended.

—One day, we… … .

And it starts.

—I just wanted to run around and play.

It’s over.

—One day… … that was it.

It’s over.

—Which… … is it?

The end… … no, there is no sign of it ever ending.

“What is this…?”

Choi Ui-jeong looks back and forth at Gold Marie’s stage with an expression as if possessed by something.

I search through my bag, connect my Bluetooth earphones, and put them on.

An introduction that is neither bright nor dark.

A melody that is dreamy yet has a strange sense of power.

The languid, low-pitched voice suddenly bursts into a clear, high-pitched voice as if jumping into the sky.

“Even though it’s a female vocal… … Still, this is… … .”

‘It feels like it adds a sense of mystery to Jiyuhan who has returned.’

It’s not just the melody and vocals.

The more he pondered the lyrics, the more he became convinced of something unfounded.

‘This song is prepared for Jiyuhan.’

“It looks like the video was filmed today. Are they still together?”

At that moment, Uijeong, who seemed to have decided on something, started writing a message on the chat window.

—Kotok!

“… …Actor Jeong In-shin? Is this the same video?”

What Jeong Ee-shin sent was a video shot from almost the same angle, with only the field of view on the screen being slightly off.

“That means the two of them are now… … .”

—Kotok!

[Hey, author, look at this.]

Lastly, the photo sent by Kang Ji-hoon showed the backs of Jung Yi-shin and Song Ah-jin standing side by side, looking friendly(?) while filming the stage.

Choi Ui-jeong soon found out who the main character was that had brought the actors together.

“… … Kim Hyun-soo.”

A soft smile appeared on Choi Ui-jeong’s lips as he mentioned Hyun-soo’s name.

“We said we’d take care of it ourselves, but now I see you’re actually quite disobedient.”

When we play the video again, we see the back of Hyun-soo, who is watching Goldmary’s performance with his eyes closed in a corner.

Hyunsoo opens his eyes along with the song’s outro.

Soon, words began to pour into Choi Ui-jeong’s head.

The image of Jiyuhan appearing on stage with the main theme song begins to form clearly in her vision.

“… … .”

Choi Ui-jeong paused the video for a moment and immediately made a phone call.

“Yes, sir. It’s me. Yes, I know it’s not resolved yet. Can you wait a little longer? No, you don’t have to. I’ve already started writing.”

Choi Ui-jeong opened the lid of his laptop and placed his hands on the keyboard as he continued to speak.

“Gold Marie, have you ever heard of it?”

* * *

The joint party of Rising Dive and Gold Mary ended late in the morning.

The actors returned home with regrets and a promise to meet again next time, and the Gold Marie members, as always, passed out in the mini room, holding bottles of alcohol.

“Who’s that bottle of alcohol on stage?! It’s clearly Yang Joo-heon. Anyway, these guys. They even gave me some snacks, and I have to clean up too?”

Anna, the club’s hostess, cleaned up the empty stage that the troublemakers had swept through, as usual.

But even though she kept pouting and grumbling, the faint smile on Anna’s lips did not seem to leave.

“… … But still, our Mari, you’re all grown up. You even know how to make that kind of expression on stage.”

When I think back to Marie’s smile that I saw at the previous performance, the smile doesn’t seem to disappear from my lips.

‘When I first saw it, it acted like a wounded cat.’

There was a time when it was impossible to make a living just by running a club.

Everyone told her to clean up the club, but Anna worked two or three jobs to keep the drug kitchen going.

Having majored in music during her school years, she was able to work as an after-school teacher at an alternative school in Seoul, where she first met Marie.

I remember that no one sat next to Marie, who always had a gloomy expression and spoke awkwardly.

Her small and fragile body was covered with thorns, and no one could approach her without permission.

‘Just like the old Jinhan.’

I happened to meet Marie wandering outside until dark and somehow ended up bringing her to the drug kitchen.

It was truly a coincidence that Marie’s small body was discovered to have such a brilliant talent.

But for some, it was fate.

Music became Marie’s only escape from the situation she had been in.

Marie may not be the best, but her guitar harmonizes with any instrument.

He held the guitar tightly in his small hands and never let go, and thanks to that, he made good friends like Hyungjin and Jooheon.

She has fans who listen to her songs.

Just like today, I have ‘friends’ with whom I can share stories.

And this was also the reason why Anna had sent countless ‘friends’ to Jinhan during that time.

“So now Jinhan too… … .”

“Anna.”

Anna was awakened from her thoughts by a voice calling her name.

“Hyunsoo… …! Why did you come out to sleep a little longer and wake up?”

“I can’t sleep at all with Mr. Lim’s snoring.”

Anna lets out a small laugh after hearing Hyunsoo’s words.

“Haha, right? That bastard’s been known since long ago for snoring to be louder than an electric guitar.”

“I guess you’ve been friends with Mr. Lim for a long time?”

“What, sometimes it was so ugly that I didn’t even want to look at it?”

Hyunsoo burst into laughter and continued speaking to Anna.

“Are you organizing things? I’ll help you.”

Anna shook her head in response to Hyunsoo’s words.

“No, I already did it.”

Anna waved her hand, but Hyunsoo started picking up the bottles of alcohol scattered under the stage one by one.

“No, you really don’t have to help me.”

“Huh? Where did the bottle of alcohol I put on the stage earlier go? Did you clear it away already?”

“Hyunsoo.”

“……yes?”

“You’ve helped me a lot up until now, so it’s really okay. Go and get some rest. You never know when you might be filming again.”

“Huh? What did I help you with… … .”

“Wings, isn’t it a good song?”

Hyunsoo nodded with a bewildered face at Anna’s sudden question.

“I can’t even sleep because the melody is still ringing in my ears.”

Just like our first meeting, the afterglow of this performance doesn’t seem to go away.

‘Me too, me too… … .’

However, the other being inside him seemed to have multiplied the emotion.

‘I was having a hard time controlling the musicians who ran wild on stage throughout the show.’

The musician’s reaction was so great that I had to close my eyes and take a moment to calm my mind.

Even as I was talking to Anna, the musician in my mind was still playing the melody from earlier.

That was the reason why the melody of ‘Wings’ kept ringing in Hyunsoo’s ears.

“… … It couldn’t be otherwise, because two out of the three geniuses I’ve met in my life participated in that song.”

“Two geniuses… … .”

I guess you’re talking about Jinhan and Mari.

‘Then the remaining one could be… … ?’

“It’s all thanks to your help.”

“So what should I… … ?”

“I make a living now by giving studio lessons, getting occasional arrangement requests, and working as a music director, but even so, Jinhan was originally a true musician.”

Anna’s hazy eyes, continuing the story, are directed towards the empty stage where only musical instruments are placed.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that guy so purely focused on his music.”

Anna’s gaze was now directed to the ‘old guitar’ placed on the empty stage.

“Just by watching the drama trailer, I could tell why Jinhan has become so lively again these days.”

As soon as Anna saw Jiyuhan on stage, she couldn’t help but think of him.

“When I saw you… … I thought of that kid.”

‘… … That kid?’

Hyunsoo could tell intuitively.

The ‘that kid’ she was talking about was none other than Hwang Su-in.

“Well, it’s an old story now.”

It’s a story about ‘reality’, not the musician’s dream.

Anna opened her mouth, holding onto the curtain that half-hidden the stage of the drug kitchen.

“Do you know what Jinhan does every morning as soon as he wakes up?”

“… … Well, guitar practice?”

“No, this is. It’s pulling back the curtains.”

Anna continued speaking, her hands clenched tightly against the black curtain.

“… … 15 years.”

Anna’s voice, as she spoke the words “15 years,” contained a deep emotion that even Hyunsoo, the actor, had difficulty guessing.

“The first thing Jinhan does when he wakes up in the morning is to go to the hospital and open the curtains.”

Clang! Clang!

“A friend who is in a very, very deep sleep.”

beep.

beep.

“For one stupid reason: I liked waking up to the morning sunlight after spending the night together.”

beep-

Continued in the next episode ▶