Chapter 9
Geon-woo had been half out of his mind since Hugo provoked him, no, since he sat at the table. All because of Korean food!
The spread of food made him feel like he was in a traditional Korean restaurant. He didn’t even notice dishes like steak or potato chips. He happily filled his stomach with foods he rarely got to eat.
Hugo made some irritating comments for a moment, but after a spoonful of refreshing seaweed soup, Geon-woo felt better.
Director McKenney’s words of gratitude made his mouth water even more. Geon-woo exchanged a glance with McKenney, who smiled silently.
So no matter how much Hugo poured out criticism towards Geon-woo, no matter how hard he tried to crush Geon-woo’s mental state, Geon-woo wasn’t affected.
“How’s your brother doing?”
That is, until that rotten guy brought up his family.
“I happened to see an article that your older brother caused a lot of trouble in the past. How is he now? Is he doing well?”
Geon-woo put down his fork. It was a careful movement without even a clatter. Hugo was pleased just by the fact that he had angered Geon-woo.
“I’m just worried about you, Geon-woo.”
He told this obvious lie while gulping down the wine next to him. His twitching mouth was full of smiles, but the joy didn’t last long.
“Why are you worried about Geon-woo, Director?”
Mitchell suddenly appeared. Sitting down in the empty seat next to Geon-woo, he gestured for a server to clear his place setting. He received new food and completely changed his cutlery. He knew that Geon-woo’s manager wouldn’t be returning to this seat.
“Well… I can be worried if I want to.”
Just one person, Mitchell, had sat down, but the previously tense atmosphere at the table completely changed. Especially McKenney and Geon-woo’s expressions noticeably brightened, which affected the others.
“You don’t need to do unnecessary things.”
Mitchell started his meal while casually saying words that stung people. He greeted Director McKenney and the people around lightly, but didn’t particularly greet Geon-woo. Just a slight smile, that was all. Of course, there was no warmer welcome than that.
“It’s already this late? I should get going first.”
Hugo, who had been attacking others indiscriminately, couldn’t budge against Mitchell. Thinking he might end up looking foolish if he stayed, he stood up first.
But he couldn’t leave without saying one last thing to salvage his wounded pride.
“Congratulations on being number one. Oh, of course, in two days my movie will be at the top, but until then, enjoy it to the fullest.”
After saying that, he left leisurely. No one reacted to him. After Hugo left, the remaining people enjoyed their meals comfortably or chatted without minding anyone else.
They were only curious about the rankings two days later. Who would have the last laugh.
“You came early?”
Geon-woo leaned slightly towards Mitchell and asked. He too resumed his remaining meal.
“Later than I expected. I tried to prevent any special incidents from happening. Sorry.”
“What are you sorry for? It’s good that you came. It was hell facing Director Hugo across the table.”
Geon-woo whispered, lowering his voice. Mitchell turned to Geon-woo with a grin. He now knew well the meaning of that smile. It was because Geon-woo had whispered in Mitchell’s ear. Mitchell still liked Geon-woo’s whispers.
“So what was the special incident? Did something happen?”
He quickly changed the subject before any mischievous talk could come up in this place. It was fine at home, but here he had to hold back.
“It’s not related to me, but Brandon has a headache-inducing issue.”
“Brandon?”
“Yeah. He was trying to do both film projects properly this time, but that might fail. I was trying to prevent that. Brandon probably won’t be able to come here today.”
Mitchell lowered his voice too. As the surroundings got noisy, no one could hear the two’s conversation.
“Um… Us? Or the other side?”
If it’s two works, it must be “Mirror Match” and “Space 9”. Currently, “Mirror Match” is succeeding at the box office, but if there was an upcoming variable, it would be a big problem.
“The other side. Not us. Don’t worry.”
“Ah. So… Did you prevent it properly?”
“No. I just extended the period. We have to release it first anyway.”
Geon-woo didn’t understand the vague story. Given the place, he didn’t ask further.
***
Two days later, “Space 9” was released without any issues and received tremendous attention in the media and online.
Certainly, Hugo’s fame, solid lead actors, and Seimon’s participation made it a hot topic.
However, unfortunately, the buzz blazed in a negative direction. They said it was a poorly made film despite the star-studded cast and astronomical production costs. Far from being number one at the box office, it barely clung to fourth place, failing miserably at the box office.
After that, another piece of news broke.
The staff of “Space 9” collectively sued Hugo. At first, it was a simple mistake during work, but Hugo left the injured staff unattended and overworked them excessively, causing the situation to escalate.
The assault on an injured staff member was the decisive factor. At the time of filming, they couldn’t go against Hugo, who had strong influence in the film industry, but as the number of victims increased, the situation changed.
When Seimon’s side learned all this, they persuaded the staff to break the news after the film’s release. They convinced them to postpone it until after the movie was released, promising not to bury the incident.
The staff also knew that if one movie falls, many people would be affected, so they accepted Seimon’s proposal.
So a few days later, a report card showing no signs of rising was given. After that, things naturally flowed towards suing Hugo. When it became known that there were verbal abuse and assault on staff in previous films as well as “Space 9”, Hugo naturally crumbled.
Although he settled the situation with settlement money, his reputation had long since flown away. The public and the industry turned their backs on him.
After a long time, he occasionally showed his face on broadcasts. What he said was always the same. He criticized the film industry and cursed Seimon. The one he attacked most was always Geon-woo.
He made ambiguous statements that were neither insults nor compliments, saying that Geon-woo was devouring Hollywood just by showing his face.
Amidst all this, he never badmouthed Mitchell.
Even Hugo, who had made numerous films, had never worked with Mitchell even once.
In the past, he had strongly pushed for Mitchell as the lead in “Space 9”, but the casting ultimately fell through. It was the day Geon-woo came to audition for “Space 9”. That’s when he received a rejection from Mitchell’s side.
Hugo was very angry and ended up taking out his frustration on Geon-woo.
In the end, it became something to be grateful for to Geon-woo.
Anyway, Hugo wanted to work with Mitchell. Even he, notorious in the film industry, had a muse.
That person was Mitchell Cronenwirth.
But sadly, Hugo never got to work with Mitchell in the end. Mitchell was not a star that just anyone could grab.
***
Mirror Match Epilogue
Nathan closed his eyes hurriedly at the knife flying towards him. Just as he thought he was going to die like this, he heard a “clang” sound.
When he opened his eyes, the knife Logan had swung was stuck in the wall, not in Nathan.
Although Nathan had asked to be killed, Logan didn’t grant his request.
He left Nathan’s hell to continue.
Nathan tried to find Logan, who had disappeared without a trace that day, but couldn’t find any signs of him anywhere. Nathan even went to Logan’s completely destroyed house and followed his brother, but it was all in vain.
He didn’t know why he was so obsessed with Logan. But as time passed, as he dug deeper into Logan as a person, he realized how similar they were.
That’s why he wanted to get closer. It was the reason he was still wandering around looking for him. He wanted to be friends with someone who had lived a similar life. They were two people who started similarly but ended up completely differently.
“Are you alright?”
The junior prosecutor who was driving asked in a worried tone.
“Yeah.”
Nathan answered simply and looked out the window. A downpour was falling from the dark sky. The expressions of people passing by on the street were all stiff. They looked like they wanted to escape the rain as soon as possible, with completely wet clothes and shoes.
It was a sudden shower. Fortunately, Nathan’s clothes weren’t wet and his hair wasn’t messed up as he had been in the car the whole time. The heater in the car even blew away the humid air.
To Nathan, all the people around him seemed like those wandering the rainy streets. Anxious, uncomfortable, and wanting to somehow reverse their situation.
But Nathan was an onlooker, comfortably sitting in the car watching such people.
He was also a loner. Because only he was thinking different thoughts on the rainy street.
“Are you sure he’s dead?”
As they neared their destination, Nathan asked his junior again.
“Yes… It’s certain. I’m sorry.”
The current police chief, who was also Nathan’s father, had been murdered by someone. The police department was in shock as the highest-ranking officer had died. Nathan had just received the call and was heading to the police station.
“The culprit?”
“We haven’t been able to identify them yet.”
“Cause of death?”
“We’ll need an autopsy, but it seems to be excessive bleeding from the jugular vein due to stabbing.”
“A knife?”
“Yes. I’ll instruct them to report if anything else comes up as we’ve just started the investigation.”
“…Alright.”
Just as they arrived at the police station, an ambulance was leaving.
His father’s body was probably in there.
The junior parked the car, but Nathan didn’t think about getting up. He leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and murmured.
“I’ll go first.”
“Okay. I understand.”
The junior got out of the car, but Nathan didn’t budge. He quietly listened to the sound of rain falling on the hood.
Everyone seemed uncomfortable, wet from the rain, but Nathan didn’t want to get wet. He spent time in the car filled with warm heat, without bothering to go outside.
At some point, he started humming. He thought of Logan.
The one who had pulled him out of hell.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
