Chapter 14… A Thousand Faces (2)
“Director!”
The person who stormed into the editing room was writer Choi Mi-seon.
She couldn’t wait until the filming wrapped up. Hearing that today’s footage would be organized while she was writing in her office, she had immediately barged in.
“Hey! I’ll contact you myself—why did you barge in again?”
“How was it?”
“Daesung actually asked me about it himself.”
“Ah…”
At Director Kim’s words, a look of disappointment briefly crossed Choi Mi-seon’s face.
To her, Director Kim Hyun-chul continued calmly.
“He said that if we put a mask on after the beggar makeup, there wasn’t really a need to make the character concept so complicated.”
“So…?”
In that instant, hope returned to her eyes.
“The rest, even if shown openly, couldn’t be recognized. Let’s save that.”
“Yes!”
Choi Mi-seon’s triumphant shout echoed through the editing room and bounced outside.
Returning home, Kim Daesung shook his head in disbelief.
“You’re telling me I couldn’t recognize them even though it was just normal makeup?”
He couldn’t wrap his head around it. He didn’t have face blindness. In fact, he was usually quite observant. Yet, he had mistaken his scene partners for four different people in a row.
Strictly speaking, it was three scenes. He had recognized the beggar and the masked person as the same individual. But he never thought the peddler in the surveillance scene and the woodcutter were also the same person.
“Huh… unbelievable.”
Though he said “unbelievable,” a laugh escaped him. Not from amusement—just sheer disbelief.
At that moment, Park Yu-cheon, Daesung’s manager, came out of the kitchen and, hearing the sound, asked,
“I stocked the fridge with some extra meals… But why are you saying unbelievable?”
“Hyung.”
“Let’s just go crazy until the drama finishes. What’s wrong?”
Park slumped onto the sofa, and Daesung started speaking.
“When I was monitoring the filming…”
“Yeah?”
“Didn’t it feel strange?”
Park often monitored Daesung’s acting with him, preferring immediate feedback from an objective perspective rather than a subjective one.
“Today? You did well.”
“Not me—my scene partner.”
“Ah, well, nothing too special. If they’re masked, it’s a role that doesn’t need much, right?”
Daesung asked again with a meaningful look.
“Hyung, do you think the same?”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know yet. Even with the beggar makeup, it’s hard to believe you wouldn’t recognize them. They must have compromised a bit.”
“What about the woodcutter or the peddler?”
“They delivered their lines well. Newcomers? Didn’t seem to come from an agency. Why? Are they good? Feeling anything?”
“So it’s not just me.”
Daesung let out a hollow laugh.
Park, seeing his strange expression, became even more curious and asked,
“What’s up? You like those kids?”
“Why call them kids?”
“Then, the woodcutter? Or the peddler? You worked the lines with them, so you’d know better. Who is it?”
Park’s eyes shone like a hyena eyeing prey. Daesung shook his head.
Like any sales job, an entertainment agency manager’s observation skills were essential. Meeting countless people honed their ability to remember faces. Among them, Park had earned the nickname “human encyclopedia” for his uncanny memory.
“It’s the same person.”
“Who?”
“The peddler.”
“Huh?”
“The woodcutter, the beggar, the masked person.”
“…”
Park furrowed his brow as if he hadn’t understood and went silent for a moment. Then, his eyes widening in realization, he asked,
“All of them are the same person?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly, Park grabbed his head, stood up, and walked a few steps back and forth as if confused before pulling out his smartphone.
“Uh, this is Manager Park. Can we ask something? Today, the person who played the beggar and the masked person… also the woodcutter and the peddler, right?”
[Ah, yes, Manager Park. Surprised? How did you know? Almost no one on our side knew either, except for me.]
Speaking as if fishing for a reaction, he covered his mouth.
“Ah, hahaha. I was surprised too. But it’s nothing, that person’s agency…?”
[They don’t have one, I think. You wanted to hear this!]
“Uh-huh, thanks. I’ll treat them to top-quality beef. But could I get their contact info?”
[Hahaha. Who’s asking for their contact?]
“Where are you! I’m coming now!”
After finishing the call and picking up his clothes, Daesung opened his mouth in disbelief.
“What are you doing now?”
“They don’t have an agency. Going to see them myself.”
“The acting was fine, though.”
“You think the peddler and beggar roles could stand out with lines?”
“Eh?”
“Such acting is harder when it’s normal. And I still can’t believe all those faces are the same person. I need to check.”
“Ha… you’ll drop the fish you caught while chasing new ones!”
Feeling a bit neglected, Daesung grumbled, and Park pointed to the kitchen as he left.
“Food for the fish you caught. The fridge is full—help yourself.”
And with that, Park disappeared.
“Whoa.”
“Why am I suddenly eating slower?”
Gam-dong asked the obvious question.
“It’s… because Manager Park is coming,” Daesung replied.
“Really?”
“I think it’s because of me.”
“So are we starting a diet now?”
Gam-dong gave him a bewildered look. The casting director next to them smiled and said,
“Why? Listening to Manager Park’s voice, it seems he’s interested. It’s a good company. Not actor-specialized, but heavily invested and aggressive.”
“Exactly! He’ll buy us delicious food, right?”
“Didn’t you just say it was the most delicious thing in the world?”
“That was the best among pork belly. But now I crave premium beef.”
“Puhuhu. Bold too.”
“That’s how I survived in the jungle.”
“What did you even do?”
“Uh… I lived my life making the world my companion, my shelter.”
“Not a beggar, huh. Haha, what kind of answer is that?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“Pfft!”
Ugh, Gam-dong… morning sickness? Why suddenly spit out the meat?
“PD Jo, what’s wrong? Feeling unwell?”
“You fool! Why would I say that!”
“I’m proud of my past! Not like falling into the abyss over school bullying, delinquency, or fake credentials. I need to admit it confidently! At least I won’t hide it!”
“….”
The casting director’s face stiffened slightly at their conversation.
“Did you do something problematic?”
“No, it’s just a unique profession.”
“You know…”
“PD Jo, wait. This is important. The director and writer are serious about this role. Any problem would be huge.”
Baek Eun-ho, the casting director, said firmly to Gam-dong, who had been interrupting. She was serious.
“Hyung, don’t you trust me!”
“I do. If there’s a problem, say it now.”
“…I did say it.”
“What?”
“You said it yourself, my previous job.”
Why would he pretend not to know after saying it clearly? Gam-dong, why the sad face?
“Gam-dong, am I embarrassing?”
“Should I be happy?”
“I’m proud of my former job!”
“I know. You’re the first person I’ve met who’s that proud!”
Gam-dong is great, but when annoyed, he switches to informal speech.
At that moment, the caddy jumped in.
“What are you even saying! Speak clearly!”
“You said earlier, ‘beggar!’”
“Ma! Beggar-like!”
“No, I was a beggar!”
“Argh. I just did well today, even got the company card to buy meat, and all I hear is ‘beggar’…”
Did he stuff rice balls in their ears? Why can’t he understand?
“No, I was a beggar!”
“Yes, you were a beggar!”
“My former job!”
“The… what?”
“I was a beggar before. Not a stage pantomime, but an actual street beggar.”
“Hey! Then it’s indistinguishable from a regular homeless person! I was a professional!”
“Shut up, you fool!”
The caddy, listening to their bickering, muttered blankly,
“What a beggar-like…”
“Whoa! Am I late…?”
Park Yu-cheon hurried into the grilled pork restaurant, stopping mid-sentence.
“Boo-hoo! You… yes, good thinking.”
“Sniff! I thought you’d understand my feelings!”
Park’s eyes met PD Jo Gam-dong’s, and he quietly pursed his lips.
‘Why are you crying?’
Gam-dong forced a wry smile and sighed. Meanwhile, Woo Soo-han slurped down the remaining meat like noodles, then spoke.
“Oh? We were just about to go for round two! Right, hyung?”
“Yep! Our poor, brave younger brother! What shall we eat? Premium beef? Sashimi?”
“Premium beef!”
“Manager Park! Let’s go eat premium beef! Premium beef!”
“Uh? Uh…”
Before he could process the situation, Park was pushed outside the restaurant. But he had a feeling he’d be thoroughly treated today.
Jo Gam-dong paused mid-bite of the spicy bean sprout soup.
The taste felt familiar.
“This…?”
“How is it?”
“Hic!”
Tears welled up. It tasted like the bean sprout soup his grandmother used to make. Since inhabiting his grandmother’s spirit, he could taste her touch in Woo Soo-han’s cooking. It brought him comfort, as if his beloved grandmother were still with him.
Yesterday, seeing Woo Soo-han needlessly come out in a potentially good situation had annoyed him, but this meal melted those feelings away.
“Delicious, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you won’t hit me, right?”
“When did I… hit you?”
He remembered smacking Woo Soo-han’s back during the previous night’s drunken beggar talk. Though older, it felt like the warmth of familiarity. If he had a twin, it would feel like this.
“Yeah. Thought my back would split. Never even got hit by Mom.”
Being proud of his past was admirable in some ways. But Gam-dong wished he’d kept it a bit hidden. Having been a beggar, it wasn’t entirely glamorous. Just some wandering. It was something that could be packaged differently.
“Seems like you were a good kid.”
“Not really.”
Gam-dong chuckled at his self-objective answer and asked again,
“Was your mother good?”
“She passed before I was old enough to get spanked. Never experienced it.”
“Uh…”
He’d been outmaneuvered. Suddenly, he became the villain.
