Chapter 168
Mitchell was one of those actors who immersed himself extremely deeply in his given roles.
Once a role was decided, he would live without particularly distinguishing between acting and reality. There were countless amusing anecdotes because of this, and some episodes spread widely across the world.
Geon-woo also knew the stories that helped make Mitchell known as a unique individual. An actor deeply immersed in their role not only goes beyond acting to become the very existence itself, giving people a vivid experience, but it could also turn the actor’s real life upside down.
“Mitchell. Are you okay?”
Mitchell looked up at Nathan, who was speaking to him. Even though the cameras weren’t rolling, Mitchell mistook Geon-woo for Nathan and momentarily shot him a rather sharp glance. Although he quickly withdrew his gaze, one could read the hatred poured out in that instant. Despite knowing Mitchell well, Geon-woo hesitated for a moment.
“I’m fine. You must be tired. You’ve been filming all day today.”
Mitchell shook his head while pressing both of his temples.
“It’s nothing, really.”
“Want to sit over there?”
Mitchell pointed to Logan’s bed. Logan’s house didn’t have separate rooms, so the living room doubled as a bedroom. Sitting on the bed placed in a corner, they were at least far enough from people that secret conversations wouldn’t be overheard.
“I guess I kicked too hard.”
“Yeah. Thanks to that, we’re taking a break.”
Right now, they were in a brief period of free time. Professional technicians were busy fixing the door handle that Nathan had broken by kicking, but it seemed to be taking longer than expected because it was completely shattered.
It was well past 1 AM, so everyone’s movements were sluggish and fatigue was evident on their faces. Geon-woo was no exception.
“Sleepy.”
Geon-woo mumbled with his eyes half-closed. As he leaned back, supporting himself with his arms stretched behind him and yawning, Mitchell fluttered the blanket. Before Geon-woo could ask what he was doing, Mitchell’s hand slipped under the blanket and covered the back of Geon-woo’s hand.
Geon-woo’s mind snapped to attention for a moment, but then an even more intense sense of comfort washed over him, making him drowsy again. Their hands were hidden by the blanket, and the people worn out from work and longing to go home paid little attention to the two of them.
Suddenly, Geon-woo wanted to bring up the conversation he had been holding back right then and there. With Mitchell beside him, possibly as wounded as Logan, he couldn’t hold back any longer. Thinking that if not now, he’d have to wait another long time, he acted impulsively.
“I heard what you said yesterday.”
“What I said?”
“Yeah.”
“What did I say?”
After checking their surroundings, Geon-woo leaned his upper body and brought his face close to Mitchell’s ear. Though he felt as if no sound would come out, he finally opened his mouth and uttered the desperate words. It was both what Mitchell had said and what he wanted to say.
“…I love you.”
Time stopped. Geon-woo, frozen for a moment even after speaking, forcibly straightened up and met Mitchell’s eyes. There was no emotion on Mitchell’s face. He didn’t look surprised, nor did he show any sign of liking or disliking it. He didn’t express anything other than trying not to lose eye contact.
As a result, even though Geon-woo had merely repeated what Mitchell had said, his face flushed as if he had made a one-sided confession.
“Well… I usually like women, you know.”
Unable to bear the embarrassment, Geon-woo made excuses. Of course, at the end of this excuse, a proper confession was planned. He couldn’t believe he was saying such important words on the filming set, but still.
“So…”
“Mr. Bae. We’re ready. Please come this way.”
Just at the most crucial moment, a staff member approached and called out. The staff member said they were going to start filming right away and took Geon-woo away. Mitchell remained in his place, not moving.
“Hold this and turn it in this direction.”
A staff member who had finished preparing for the shoot instructed Geon-woo on how to use the door handle. Since they had actually broken it and fixed it anew, it was very sturdy. They were about to film a scene from the latter part where Nathan fixes the door handle he had broken himself.
Even though he could feel Mitchell’s gaze from behind, Geon-woo had to focus on the filming. Why did he bring up such words here of all places? He regretted it terribly, but the water was already spilled. It seemed his head had gone crazy from lack of sleep.
Geon-woo acted as if he was actually fixing it himself, bringing tools, and got an OK sign in one take. Now there was just one last scene to shoot before it was over.
He wanted to go home quickly and talk with Mitchell.
***
“Seems like you’ve decided to come and go as if this is your own home?”
Logan asked while brushing back his hair. His broad forehead was revealed before being covered again by the wind that followed. Logan was holding a shovel in one hand. Whether he was burying something or digging something up in the backyard was unclear, but there was a fairly large hole next to a high pile of dirt.
Nathan unconsciously touched the back of his neck. As if by instinct, he glanced at the door leading outside and also tried to gauge the distance between himself and Logan. He imagined in his head how to react if Logan suddenly rushed at him to attack.
Logan was clearly not a murderer. Although his mind and body were damaged due to his father’s abuse, and he had plenty of psychopathic tendencies, all the murders that had occurred around Logan were the work of Logan’s father.
Having grown up witnessing that, Logan was just twisted, but he wasn’t someone who would harm others.
Even so, Nathan broke out in a cold sweat in front of Logan. Just the fact that he was digging a hole in the backyard large enough to fit a person was enough.
“I’m sorry. I tried to contact you beforehand, but you didn’t answer your phone.”
“Whether I can be reached or not, you just come anyway. You end up doing whatever you want. Isn’t that right, Mr. Prosecutor?”
There were quite a few days when he had barged in without any contact, but most often, like today, he would come unannounced when the phone wasn’t answered.
“Your permission always comes first, Logan.”
When he spoke these insincere words, Logan leaned his body askew against the shovel stuck in the ground and looked at Nathan. Even though his eyelids were half-lowered, the flickering eyes between them scratched at Nathan. Unable to meet his gaze, Nathan cleared his throat and slightly averted his eyes.
“What were you doing?”
“As you can see.”
“What are you…”
“Wondering what I was secretly burying?”
“…”
“Want to take a look?”
A gust of wind blew, covering Logan’s eyes with his bangs. As if refusing to show the gaze that held the truth, his eyes were covered at an exquisite timing.
Soon after, Logan turned his back and began shoveling the piled dirt into the hole. Nathan wanted to rush over and look down into the hole right away. It seemed like his mind would be at ease if he could find even a single bloodied finger in the hole.
Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to move. He couldn’t escape the delusion that the moment he stood in front of the hole to check what was at the bottom, Logan would suddenly change and push him in.
“Why did you come?”
Logan, who had been busily moving his hands, asked. His white short-sleeved t-shirt was soaked with sweat, revealing the contours of his body. Every time he moved the dirt with the shovel, the veins on his arms stood out prominently.
“There’s another case.”
“Are you going to toy with me again?”
“What? No… Toy with you? I’m formally requesting your cooperation. We need your help with this recent serial murder case.”
Logan didn’t answer for a long time. The shoveling continued, and by the time his t-shirt was completely soaked with sweat, the hole was roughly filled. Nathan never managed to confirm what was buried beneath the ground.
Logan threw the shovel, sticking it into the mound of dirt. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow but showed no other reaction.
He went inside the house, washed his hands, drank a glass of water, and then sat down on the bed placed in the corner of the living room. A creaking sound came from the old bed.
“It was boring and uninteresting. The bastard was caught quickly because he was an idiot. You want me to get involved with such guys again?”
His nonchalant expression showed no interest in the case at all.
“Well… you don’t have to help if you don’t want to. Instead…”
Nathan, who had been staring at Logan for a while, approached him. It wasn’t a ploy to do anything to Logan. He simply took out some documents from his bag and spread them out on the blanket. Then, before Logan could say anything, he climbed onto the bed and lay down.
“From today, I’ll be using this as my office. As you know, I eat and sleep in my office.”
He said casually while lying on the bed, holding up one of the documents.
“Cut! That was good.”
Director McKenney’s cut sign echoed on the set. Geon-woo relaxed his body and closed his eyes right where he was. If this scene passed, it would be time to go home. As he was about to get up to check the monitoring first, the director’s voice was heard just in time.
“Okay. Let’s use this one. It came out really well. Good job, our actors. Let’s wrap it up for today! Everyone, good work!”
“Good work, everyone!”
“Oh, right. Mitchell, can I see you for a moment? You heard there’s no filming tomorrow, right? So…”
As Mitchell was caught by the director, Geon-woo lingered around the set for no particular reason. He even called the driver to go ahead without him. He should have said it earlier, but it was too late and he felt sorry.
Geon-woo sprawled out on the bed on the set, waiting for Mitchell. As he lay down comfortably, pulling the blanket over himself, he was reminded of how they had been playing with their hands here just moments ago. Even the hard mattress felt cozy, perhaps because he was fantasizing solely about Mitchell.
That fantasy stretched on endlessly.
“…Huh?”
At some point, Geon-woo flinched. He had only closed his eyes for a moment, but his body felt surprisingly refreshed. Both his stiff body and clouded mind from fatigue had completely recovered. Instead, it was pitch black in front of him.
“What’s going on?”
He threw off the blanket and sat up abruptly. Darkness had suddenly descended on the set. He couldn’t see an inch in front of him, and of course, no one was there.
