Chapter 148
A month into filming, Mitchell had fully grasped the set. He had memorized Director McKenney’s shooting style, the atmosphere on set, and even the individual tendencies of the staff.
Mitchell had good insight. He could easily understand others with just one meeting, and most of his predictions were accurate. His sensitive perception also helped in choosing projects. This was why all the works Mitchell appeared in were successful.
However, even for Mitchell, there were occasionally works that were difficult to judge. There were also humans who were hard to gauge.
Geon-woo was Mitchell’s conundrum. It wasn’t easy to understand the inner thoughts of Geon-woo, whose basic nature was abnormal. Especially lately, his actions raised many questions. Mitchell sensed something different in Geon-woo’s eyes and behavior.
It seemed that Geon-woo’s feelings towards him had changed. Mitchell keenly noticed the emotions Geon-woo was gradually revealing. This was love.
But even as he instinctively felt that Geon-woo had fallen in love with him, he couldn’t be certain intellectually. The accumulated data on Bae Geon-woo kept sending error signals.
The Geon-woo that Mitchell knew was like this: A well-known heterosexual celebrity who was crazy enough to sleep with a man, and could obsess without love. He was the type whose sincerity couldn’t be easily determined.
The ambiguity that couldn’t be confirmed often made people more anxious. Unfulfilled possessiveness and affection led to thirst.
Lost in thought, Mitchell followed the subject of his concern with his eyes. He crossed his arms and leaned one shoulder against the wall, watching Geon-woo’s white face reciting lines from afar.
It was a scene where Nathan, who had entered Logan’s empty house without permission, was searching through his belongings. Having just been hit in the face by Logan and rolled on the floor in the previous scene, Nathan was quite angry.
Geon-woo and the supporting actors continued their performance. After a tense atmosphere, when the director called cut, the actor playing the detective role joked with Geon-woo. They seemed to have become quite close due to having many scenes together with Nathan.
Despite the silly jokes, Geon-woo removed the serious expression he had worn throughout the shoot and grinned broadly. As Geon-woo chimed in with his fellow actors’ words, the atmosphere instantly became lively.
All this while, Mitchell was unaware that he was glaring at Geon-woo with a furrowed brow. This was what Geon-woo used to do to Mitchell before. The roles had reversed.
“Are the clothes okay? Are they a bit big?”
The stylist stood next to Mitchell. She adjusted the hem of his jeans, doing a final check on the costume. Logan was scheduled to appear in the very next scene.
“The pants are fine, but don’t you think it’d be better to unbutton the top more? What do you think?”
“This? Hmm.”
Logan is a meticulous and systematic character, but outwardly lives a disorderly life. Mitchell judged that buttons fastened up to the neck didn’t match Logan’s image.
Additionally, there was one more compelling reason to unbutton – Geon-woo. Mitchell wanted Geon-woo’s gaze to return to him. He had to get it back, as he was about to lose his mind because Geon-woo wasn’t looking at him.
“I’ll go talk about it.”
With a cold expression, he cracked his knuckles, making a popping sound. He went to find the director to convey his thoughts.
“Ah… well, certainly as Mitchell says, that does look better. Wait a moment. Liam, what do you think? Go that way and then come back to the opposite side. Should we just have him take off his shirt here? I think now might be better than the later scene. It might also be good to turn the camera and show his back right away?”
“Yeah, not bad. I’ll give it a try.”
McKenney and the camera director improvised and created the movement on the spot. Thanks to Mitchell’s self-interested suggestion aimed at Geon-woo, a better scene was ultimately produced. It was a welcome exposure for Mitchell.
With McKenney’s permission, Mitchell took off his shirt. Logan’s back bears traces of abuse he suffered from his father as a child. While the special makeup artist touched up Mitchell’s back again, the set changed.
Now, as the supporting actors leave, Logan and Nathan meet again.
Mitchell noticed that Geon-woo’s expression was becoming increasingly rigid as he approached. Geon-woo narrowed his eyes, scanned Mitchell’s bare body with his gaze, and then furrowed his brow. He sighed and pressed his forehead hard. His face even turned pale, which Mitchell found quite pleasing.
Just moments ago, Geon-woo had been chatting happily.
Satisfied with receiving Geon-woo’s attention, Mitchell blatantly exposed his upper body. He even did some unnecessary stretching while observing Geon-woo’s expression. Any kind of gaze from Geon-woo was good. He just wanted Geon-woo’s attention.
“You’re taking it off again? I thought you were supposed to be clothed in this scene?”
“The script changed.”
“Why?”
“They said this was better.”
Unaware that Mitchell had actively initiated the exposure, Geon-woo only cursed at the innocent costume team.
“If it’s going to be like this, why not just strip everything and shoot porn?”
He grumbled, lowering his voice considerably, but Mitchell heard it. It was intentionally said for Mitchell to hear.
“Let’s shoot that together later.”
When Mitchell whispered in his ear, Geon-woo nodded while puffing. He was angry, but still made sure to get what he wanted.
Mitchell looked down at Geon-woo, who was still upset. No matter how he looked at it, Geon-woo seemed different. Compared to before when he would pounce like a madman, he had definitely changed.
But he shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Mitchell moved cautiously. He intended to watch a bit more until he was completely certain. Anyway, Geon-woo wouldn’t leave him. That’s why he had deleted all the videos he had of Geon-woo. The certainty of permanence, that he would exist by his side forever.
There’s plenty of time. Observe slowly, and when Geon-woo’s feelings for him deepen to the point where he can no longer move an inch.
It wouldn’t be too late to snatch him up then.
***
Sigh…
They say late-learned thievery is the most dangerous.
With a body I couldn’t control, I was losing my mind. I couldn’t hide my excitement whenever I saw Mitchell, getting aroused and consumed by all sorts of jealousy and anger.
The desire to monopolize Mitchell was so overwhelming it could pierce the sky, but the absurd thing was that these abnormal symptoms doubled as soon as I stepped outside. The people around Mitchell looked like hyenas trying to steal my Mitchell.
Even though I knew it was a delusion, I alone prepared for battle in case someone might steal Mitchell. Using energy on unnecessary things made me feel like my stamina was wearing down. The only time these distracting thoughts disappeared was when I was acting, so I threw myself into filming even more.
Right now, we’re in the middle of filming the early narrative of the movie. Today’s shoot is the scene where Nathan first sees the scars on Logan’s back, confronting Logan’s dark past.
Before asking for Logan’s cooperation in the investigation, Nathan had figured out everything about him. In the process, he learns about the abuse Logan suffered from his father. Although he had guessed from the information shared by the child protection agency, he didn’t know the details.
The dense and vivid scars on Logan’s back were horrific. It showed traces of being beaten again before the previous wounds had even healed.
Logan, caught off guard having his circumstances exposed, is momentarily flustered before regaining his composure with a delayed smile. Even though it’s just for a moment, such emotion couldn’t come from a psychopath, and it serves as a huge foreshadowing revealed in the latter part of the movie.
Nathan couldn’t hide the look of sympathy in his eyes. Logan stares back at Nathan expressionlessly. The two protagonists exchange looks for a long time, and that’s how the scene ends.
“Cut! Wow, why are you guys acting so well!”
Director McKenney jumped up and shouted. He lavished praise on our acting. I pressed my lips tightly. It wasn’t just acting; I really choked up feeling sorry for Mitchell. If there was something actually hurting Mitchell, I felt like I would chase it to the ends of the earth to get rid of it. Whether it was in the present or the past.
“Alright, that’s it for today. It’s already 2 AM. Good work everyone. Get some rest tomorrow morning and we’ll see you in the evening.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Good job everyone.”
Farewells were exchanged here and there at the director’s words. The director gave a round of compliments to Mitchell and me before leaving first.
Mitchell headed to the adjacent building to remove the special makeup on his back. I could have gone home as is, but I followed Mitchell under the pretext of returning my costume. I couldn’t leave Mitchell alone in an area where hyenas might appear.
I went to the changing room, took off my costume, and changed into my regular clothes. After that, I spent time pretending to be fascinated while watching Mitchell’s back as his makeup was being removed. The staff who had finished cleaning up left one by one, and only five hyenas, I mean staff members, remained in the makeup room.
“Want to ride together?”
Mitchell asked nonchalantly. Of course we were going to ride together, but I replied just as casually.
“Really? Then should I send my car ahead?”
“That’s fine.”
“Alright.”
Even though it wasn’t far from the set to home, I had a driver that Mitchell had assigned to me. I immediately took out my phone and sent the waiting driver away. As I pressed the send button on the message, I watched Mitchell’s back where the scar makeup was almost completely removed.
“You two must live close by,” the makeup artist asked us. Most staff members who were fairly close to us knew that we lived in the same apartment, but this makeup artist who had joined the set late didn’t seem to know.
“Yes. That’s why I sometimes give him a ride, and Geon-woo gives me a ride too.”
“Oh, I see.”
The makeup artist responded quietly to Mitchell’s brief explanation. What followed was utterly baffling.
“Did you know there are dating rumors about you two these days?”
