Chapter 152
Along with the simple and concise answer, Geon-woo’s hand moved. Mitchell thought that the hand grasping and shaking his lower part was what Geon-woo meant by love. Simply physical love, that is.
While his head clearly understood this, his heart felt differently. He wasn’t sure about the true intentions behind Geon-woo’s words about wanting to try love with him.
Feeling a sudden surge of anxiety, Mitchell bit his lip. He wanted to ask right away. About Geon-woo’s feelings.
Just as Mitchell was about to open his mouth, both of their phones rang simultaneously.
Unlike Mitchell who was about to ignore it, Geon-woo slipped out of Mitchell’s embrace and opened his bag containing his phone. He even picked up Mitchell’s phone that had been carelessly thrown on one side of the sofa and handed it to him.
Geon-woo, with a face flushed red, didn’t even look at Mitchell. He quickly touched his phone screen before Mitchell could say anything.
“Hello.”
As he answered the phone, he moved far, far away to a corner. It was fortunate that he was still within sight. Mitchell clicked his tongue as he watched Geon-woo moving further away. His actions were so cute that Mitchell felt like pinching his cheeks, his chest, and his buttocks.
Meanwhile, the call from the film staff to Mitchell had ended. Mitchell was too focused on watching Geon-woo, who was checking his reaction, to pay attention to the phone.
This time, it felt good. Geon-woo might have run away from him, surprised and flustered by his own honest feelings that had burst out unexpectedly.
Mitchell, clenching his fist, glared at Geon-woo who was just removing the phone from his ear.
“They’re asking if we can come right now? Seems like they’re about to start filming.”
Even after ending the call, Geon-woo didn’t come closer. It was absurd that he was asking from afar, but Mitchell didn’t show it outwardly.
“Is that so? Just a moment.”
Mitchell answered the incoming call first.
“Hello. Yes… I understand. I’ll come now. No. It’s fine.”
After hanging up, Mitchell approached Geon-woo who was putting on his outer clothes. He intended to continue their unfinished conversation. But Geon-woo quickly ran away to the front door.
“Hurry up. It’s urgent. Everyone’s waiting for us.”
It was completely different from what the staff had told Mitchell on the phone. He had even been told that it might take some time to readjust the filming equipment, but Geon-woo was saying something else.
This was practically the same as saying he didn’t want to talk to Mitchell right now.
“Don’t just take care of others. I’m in a hurry too.”
Mitchell quietly muttered in a voice that wouldn’t reach Geon-woo. He slowly walked, carrying the bag that Geon-woo always carried. As soon as he stood in front of the front door, he burst into laughter.
Geon-woo, who had already slipped out of the house, had left for the filming location without waiting for him. Although they often went separately since they had their own cars, this was the first time he had left without saying anything.
It was cute in a ridiculous way, but hard to believe. Mitchell kept chuckling all the way to the filming location, recalling Geon-woo’s flushed face.
As soon as he arrived at the filming location, he looked for Geon-woo first. He couldn’t meet him right away as Geon-woo was changing his clothes. The filming set he briefly looked around had returned to its previous atmosphere.
In fact, Mitchell doesn’t know who leaked the on-set photos. Although he had explained in detail to Geon-woo as if he knew everything, it was just a lie to reassure him.
However, he had someone in mind and had already contacted them separately. Upon arriving here, he heard that they had identified the culprit and were taking measures.
He intended to confirm if his guess was correct and expose everyone involved.
“Mitchell, how have you been?”
Turning his head at the booming voice, a familiar face was walking from the entrance of the waiting room.
“Oh. You’re here?”
Mitchell, who had just changed his costume, raised his hand towards Malik. He quickly scanned the entire waiting room with his eyes, looking for Geon-woo again, but he was still not visible.
“I thought filming was cancelled today, so I turned my car around and came back. I didn’t say anything, but I was so annoyed I thought I’d go crazy. I guess the staff here don’t do their jobs properly? They should give advance notice.”
Malik laughed as he voiced his complaints. Five years older than Mitchell, Malik was one of the top actors in the film industry. Known for his box office success in every project and his exceptional acting skills, he was an actor people could trust.
Moreover, he was a famous nepo baby1). As the son of a celebrity who once dominated Hollywood, he had excellent backing. Although he was self-centered and had a severe case of celebrity syndrome that troubled those around him, he took good care of his own people. There were many heartwarming stories about him, like gifting a car to his long-time manager as a wedding present, or covering all medical expenses after hearing about a sick fan’s story.
“But you came back sane, not crazy?”
As Mitchell joked back with a laugh, Malik also put his arm around Mitchell’s neck and played around.
“Are you looking down on me because it’s just a cameo?”
As the two men of similar build wrestled playfully, they almost embraced each other. It wasn’t painful and was just light teasing, so neither pushed the other away. Even so, Mitchell’s gaze was directed towards the changing room where Geon-woo would be.
He hoped Geon-woo would see this and feel jealous. Feeling like he could almost grasp Geon-woo’s heart, he became even more impatient. He became childish enough to consider using others to provoke jealousy.
For a moment, the curtain of the changing room fluttered, but Geon-woo didn’t appear. Malik’s hand also fell away.
Only after a long conversation and the appearance of Director McKenney did Geon-woo come out of the changing room. His body was fully revealed in a perfectly fitting black suit.
Mitchell made eye contact with Geon-woo. But Geon-woo didn’t properly meet his gaze.
“Thank you for coming all this way. I’m sorry for making you come twice.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s truly an honor to appear as a cameo in such a work.”
McKenney and Malik exchanged polite conversation. The cameo appearance was requested by Malik himself, and he was to play a character who would cause a stir in the plot by providing crucial information to Nathan.
As Malik was scheduled to appear right after Mitchell’s short scene, Mitchell headed to the set first. Malik also moved to change his clothes. The waiting room suddenly became quiet.
Usually at times like this, Geon-woo would move to the set to watch Mitchell’s acting, but today he sat in a corner of the waiting room, just sipping his tea.
He was internally agonizing, not knowing how Mitchell would think about the words he had blurted out without thinking.
He shouldn’t have answered like that. It would be fortunate if Mitchell took it as a joke, but his subsequent awkward behavior was strange to anyone watching.
He had thought he would confess his love to Mitchell after he was mentally prepared. But at this rate, it seemed like the day of confession might never come.
Today was the immediate problem.
How should he face Mitchell when they go home after filming! Just imagining the awkward moment that would suffocate him made his legs already tremble.
“Mr. Geon-woo?”
Malik woke Geon-woo from his reverie. Having already come with perfect hair and makeup, he had just changed into his costume.
“Yes. Hello. Nice to meet you.”
As Geon-woo stood up, Malik pressed on his shoulder and sat down next to him. His touch was quite forceful, making Geon-woo slightly stagger.
“How’s the filming going? Is it progressing well?”
Malik’s smile was kind but also relentless. His unwavering gaze made people hesitate.
“Yes. It’s good. Everyone is doing well, and there are no major difficulties.”
“Is that so? But how can filming not be difficult?”
“Well, yes. It is tough, but I guess all sets are like that. I’m enjoying the filming.”
“Of course you should.”
Malik laughed cheerfully.
“If you took my role, of course you should enjoy filming.”
Unlike his seemingly benign smile, his words were full of malice. Regardless of Geon-woo furrowing his brow, Malik’s expression remained the same.
“Ah, I’m saying this because you seem unaware, but Nathan was originally my role. I had a verbal agreement to take one of Seimon’s projects.”
It was true that Malik had agreed to take the lead role in one of Seimon’s film projects. Initially, he was cast as the protagonist of
However, Malik left
Upon learning that there was one more film being produced by Seimon, he tried to move to
Knowing he couldn’t push Mitchell out, he aimed for Geon-woo’s position, but failed.
“If I had known you had such great connections, I would have made the contract faster. What a shame.”
Malik couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t use him in
McKenney offered him a significant supporting role, but his pride wouldn’t allow it. To avoid appearing petty, he first proposed to appear as a cameo.
He couldn’t understand at all why they chose an unknown Korean actor as the lead instead of him. From Malik’s perspective, it made no sense. That question was answered by the scandal between Geon-woo and Mitchell.
Ah, Mitchell must have pushed for Geon-woo in
While he wasn’t interested in Mitchell’s sexual preferences or love life, it was hard to forgive as it had interfered with his career. However, afraid to attack Mitchell directly, he was now picking on Geon-woo, who was alone here.
Their conversation was in such a low voice that people around couldn’t hear what they were talking about. Since Malik was smiling the whole time, it would appear to others that they were having a friendly chat.
“What did you do to Mitchell to get the role? I’m not saying this with bad intentions, really. There are so many rising actors here. Everyone who should know already knows, so don’t worry. Um… you do everything for Mitchell, right? Whether it’s your body or whatever. Or is there something else special?”
Malik vented his displeasure on Geon-woo. It would be fine if it ruined Geon-woo’s mood, and it would be interesting if he couldn’t concentrate on acting for fear of rumors spreading. Or it might be fun to see him get kicked out after causing a scene in anger.
But somehow, Geon-woo completely defied Malik’s expectations. Geon-woo answered with an indifferent expression.
“Yes. There is something special.”
1) Nepo baby: A newly coined term mocking descendants who have entered the creative industry following in the footsteps of their famous parents.
