NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 68
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 68. Crisis and Beginning
“Will you be okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll hold on tight.”
When Yeon-woo asked Ji-eun who was behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and nodded.
After checking both their conditions, the director shouted the cue sign again.
“Alright, let’s start once more. Yeon-woo.”
With the director’s cue sign, Yeon-woo kicked his feet again.
Receiving Yeon-woo’s signal, the horse shot forward at high speed.
Yeon-woo lowered his posture slightly, and Seo Ji-eun wrapped her arms around his waist with all her strength.
The two smoothly rode the horse and advanced several meters.
On the horse bouncing up and down, Seo Ji-eun hung onto Yeon-woo’s waist and maintained her balance quite well.
Director Lee also nodded while watching the field monitor.
‘This pose is definitely much more dynamic.’
Sharp pain.
At that moment, due to the aftermath of yesterday’s stalker incident, a sharp pain spread through Ji-eun’s left arm again and her strength suddenly drained away.
She tried to put strength in her arm, but the pain was too severe, so she gripped Yeon-woo’s waist tighter with her right arm.
“Kyaah-!”
On the moving horse, with strength only on one side while continuously bouncing up and down, she gradually tilted and Ji-eun was about to fall sideways.
The costume Seo Ji-eun was wearing was also silk, making it slippery and even harder to maintain her posture.
“Whoa.”
The staff, surprised by the sudden situation, also froze in place.
Yeon-woo felt the strength leave Ji-eun’s arms that were wrapped around his waist and quickly let go of the reins he was holding, fixed his toes in the stirrups, and turned his waist sharply.
He could see Ji-eun gradually being pushed to the right side of the horse’s back and sliding off.
He quickly grabbed Ji-eun’s left shoulder and pulled her up.
“Whoa, whoa.”
He tried to stop the horse by making sounds, but since he wasn’t holding the reins, the horse wouldn’t listen.
He tapped the horse’s neck again telling it to stop, but the horse still continued forward.
He had pulled Ji-eun’s tilting body back up, but if he continued trying to stop the horse like this, Ji-eun, who had already lost her balance and couldn’t use one arm, might fall, and if they kept going, both of them would end up falling.
Ji-eun was in a panic with both eyes tightly shut.
“Ji-eun! Stretch both legs straight forward.”
In the urgent situation, Yeon-woo didn’t have the luxury to use formal address.
Still, hearing her name, Seo Ji-eun slightly opened her eyes and came to her senses.
“Both legs straight forward!”
Hearing Yeon-woo’s voice again, when Seo Ji-eun stretched her legs straight forward, he lifted her up with both hands and spun her around to bring her in front of him.
Ji-eun, who had been sitting behind Yeon-woo, was now moved to the front and they were facing each other.
He wrapped one arm around Ji-eun and leaned forward, using his other arm to find and grab the reins fluttering in the wind, urgently stopping the horse.
“Whoa, whoa.”
The horse that had been running forward slowly came to a stop.
The staff who had been watching the sudden emergency situation rushed over urgently.
“Are you okay?!”
Director Lee Sang-hoon came running breathlessly, even throwing away the script he had been holding.
It was a heart-stopping moment that could have led to a major accident because of his greed to capture more dynamic action.
Ji-eun opened her eyes seeing the staff running toward her and was bewildered to find herself facing Yeon-woo, having moved from behind him to in front of him.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Are you okay?!”
“I’m, I’m fine.”
When the staff who had rushed over in surprise asked, Seo Ji-eun nodded and answered.
Watching Ji-eun, Yeon-woo’s expression hardened.
Yeon-woo could feel Ji-eun’s body trembling as he held her.
“What do you mean you’re fine. Ki-hoon hyung, please help Sister Ji-eun down from here.”
Yeon-woo looked at the large-built lighting staff member among those who had rushed over and asked him to help Ji-eun.
Seo Ji-eun got down from the horse with the staff’s help and filming was temporarily suspended.
Director Lee Sang-hoon came to the actors who had nearly suffered a major accident because of his greed and bowed his head, repeatedly apologizing.
They would know for sure after going to the hospital, but it seemed like Seo Ji-eun’s left arm ligament was slightly stretched.
Seo Ji-eun actually comforted him, saying it wasn’t the director’s fault but because she had overexerted her arm doing something yesterday.
Originally, the scene where he rides out on horseback in pursuit was supposed to be today’s final shoot, and since the first scene they filmed was also usable without any issues, filming ended there.
The manager who had rushed over after hearing the news took Seo Ji-eun to a nearby hospital for examination, and after the actors left, the staff collected equipment from the remaining filming set.
Director Lee Sang-hoon spent a long time blaming himself for his greed while watching the filming set being cleaned up, but his professional curiosity got the better of him.
“Um… that scene we filmed earlier. The situation that almost became an accident – did the camera capture it well…?”
When they checked the footage again at the director’s question, they could see clearly on camera just how well Ryu Yeon-woo had handled that urgent situation.
“…If we cut it right here and use this scene, it might actually work.”
Then Director Lee Sang-hoon lightly slapped his own cheek and shook his head.
“Geez, I’ve completely lost my mind over filming. Get it together, Lee Sang-hoon.”
But despite his self-reproaching words, Director Lee Sang-hoon couldn’t take his eyes off the footage on the screen.
In the car heading back to Seoul, Min-su asked Yeon-woo.
“I heard you almost had a big accident on set today.”
“Ah, not me – Sister Ji-eun.”
“Still, please be careful. I heard accidents happen a lot during historical dramas.”
Yeon-woo smiled warmly at Min-su’s concern for him.
Just then Yeon-woo’s phone rang, and when he looked at the screen, he saw a call from Seo Ji-eun.
“Yeah, did you go to the hospital?”
– Oh, Yeon-woo. They said it’s just a slightly stretched ligament. Doesn’t seem like anything serious.
“That’s a relief. At least you weren’t seriously injured.”
– I’m really grateful for today. If it weren’t for you, I would have been badly hurt.
While talking on the phone with Ji-eun expressing her gratitude to Yeon-woo, they had already passed through Seoul Tollgate.
“Alright, Sister, get some good rest too. The director said we’ll be filming other scenes for the next few days anyway because of Yu-han’s overseas location shoot.”
The director decided to give Ji-eun a few days off and adjusted the schedule to focus on filming scenes that didn’t include her.
– Got it. Yeon-woo, thank you so, so much for today!
Shortly after ending the call with Ji-eun, they arrived at the officetel, and perhaps because historical dramas were definitely more tiring than contemporary ones, Yeon-woo fell asleep as soon as he got home.
***
Han Hae-woon had found a lead on ‘Old Man Baek’ from the note Ryu Yeon-woo had written.
‘Noya’ was usually a respectful term for addressing an elderly man.
Han Hae-woon took out his smartphone and looked at the message.
– When you approach Old Man Baek, comply with his demands obediently and mention Jeon Su-hwan’s name. And…
He mulled over Ryu Yeon-woo’s message several times, which provided guidance on various behavioral patterns and precautions.
After hearing information that he frequently appeared at Gijang Fishing Spot, Han Hae-woon investigated the area around the fishing spot whenever he had time.
Several days passed like this, and he was thinking about whether he should search other fishing spots near Busan.
Click—.
Han Hae-woon sensed something from the metallic clicking sound behind him and quietly raised his hands.
“I heard a young man was looking for me?”
At the old man’s voice from behind, Han Hae-woon slowly turned around with his hands still raised.
In Han Hae-woon’s view was an ordinary old man holding an automatic harpoon gun used for fishing.
He had thought it was a gun when he heard the metallic clicking sound, but it seemed to be the sound from that harpoon gun.
By the way, the old man was missing one arm.
If so, it matched the physical description Ryu Yeon-woo had given him.
“Sir, I came here because I have something to ask you.”
“Where are you from?”
“Excuse me? I’m from Busan.”
The old man quietly shook his head at Han Hae-woon’s words.
“No, who sent you here? The people down there said you came from the prosecutor’s office.”
The information he had told the fishing spot owner when asking about Old Man Baek a few minutes ago had already reached the old man’s ears.
Or perhaps he had known since he started searching other fishing spots a few days ago and had been observing him steadily.
“Sir, are you Old Man Baek?”
“My name will change depending on where you came from.”
Convinced that this was the Old Man Baek that Ryu Yeon-woo had mentioned based on the old man’s words and physical description, Han Hae-woon slowly moved his hand toward his chest.
The old man’s expression didn’t change at all despite Han Hae-woon’s action.
Han Hae-woon looked at the sharp tip of the automatic harpoon gun the old man was holding and momentarily considered whether to draw the pistol from his chest, but remembering Ryu Yeon-woo’s message, he took out the note from his inner pocket.
“I came on orders from Mr. Jeon Su-hwan.”
Han Hae-woon carefully opened the note containing Ryu Yeon-woo’s handwriting while looking at the old man.
Then the old man raised his hand toward the grass field.
“That’s enough.”
The grass field swayed in response to the old man’s words. From within it, a large man holding an automatic rifle walked out.
‘…If I had drawn my pistol, my body would have gotten some air holes.’
Cold sweat ran down Han Hae-woon’s back.
Then the old man approached Han Hae-woon, looking at him, and extended his hand.
When Han Hae-woon thought he was asking for a handshake and tried to grasp his hand, the old man pulled his hand back.
“No, the note.”
“…Ah, yes. Here it is.”
The embarrassed Han Hae-woon handed over the note that Ryu Yeon-woo had written to the old man.
“Hmm, that’s right. Would it be okay if we cover your eyes and move to a different location?”
“Ah, yes. That’s fine.”
Then the large man holding the rifle approached with a face mask.
“We’ll return you safely, so don’t worry.”
Han Hae-woon was soon put in a car with the face mask on and moved somewhere.
***
Meanwhile, the day Han Hae-woon was meeting Old Man Baek was the day the first broadcast of “Star Beyond the Stream” began.
The production team and actors became very worried as the masterpiece “Baldur,” which MBS had put their heart and soul into making with massive investment, had started airing a week earlier.
Last week’s competing show “Baldur” recorded a 24 percent viewership rating for its first episode in the same time slot, causing dark circles to appear heavily under Director Lee Sang-hoon’s eyes.
At the BBQ restaurant they had reserved to watch the first episode together, Director Lee Sang-hoon tried to hide his nervousness as he led the toast.
“Come on, let’s have a toast for the success of our drama.”
“Ohhh.”
As the staff’s attention gathered, Director Lee looked at Yeon-woo beside him.
“Should we have our lead actor say a few words to start the toast?”
Director Lee, who had naturally grown closer during filming and spoke casually to the actors, passed the toast to Yeon-woo, and Yeon-woo stood up.
‘Somehow it seems like I always end up giving the toast at company dinners.’
Yeon-woo stood up – when he was the youngest, because he was the youngest, and when he was the protagonist, because he was the protagonist.
He shouted out a toast before the first broadcast of “Star Beyond the Stream” that was about to begin.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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