Descent of the Demon Master

Follow after me! We should break up!”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head a little.
“We should break up.”

“Slow down a little more! Like this! We should break up!”

“We should break up.”

“Yes! Exactly like that! Let ’s try it one more time! We should break up!”

“…We should break up.”

As if he was teaching a three-year-old child how to speak, Jang Hak-Seon had spent the past hour trying to teach the four simple words “We should break up” to Kang Jin-Ho.
Those four words had been repeated so many times during the last hour that Jang Hak-Seon felt like he was really saying goodbye to someone.
Hell, even his heart was aching now!

However, Kang Jin-Ho ’s expression remained unperturbed as he repeated that line over and over again.

While that was happening, Choi Yeon-Ha making a stiff face walked over to the exasperated PD.
Her expression wasn ’t stiff from how serious this situation was, but more like the cold sea breeze hitting her for the past hour while waiting to say her line had frozen her up instead.
“…PD Jang? Can we take a break first? I ’m having a hard time moving my lips.
And I think we may need new makeup done, too.”

“Urgh…” Jang Hak-Seon nodded while his expression was filled with barely-contained pain.
How could he not, though? This situation was as miserable as it could get, after all!

Why! Just why was Kang Jin-Ho like this?!

’

Even if heaven was fair and never gave everything to a single person, how could it be so cruel as to grant a man with such incredible looks no acting talent whatsoever?! Not even on an elementary school level?! Becoming Korea ’s best actor would be difficult, but a face like his could have made him one of the top stars in Korea! As long as he could recite the dialogue in some capacity, that was!

With Kang Jin-Ho ’s looks alone, he could have lived in comfort by getting just one good role in a movie and maybe a TV show, while shooting a few commercials every now and then! So, why?! Why was a dude with such a killer face reciting the line as if he was reading it off a bloody Hangul textbook?! What kind of bullsh*t combination was this?!

“…Yes, let ’s do that.
Everyone, let ’s take a short break.” Jang Hak-Seon announced in a deflated voice.
The staff members with tense faces sighed in relief as their bodies went slack at the same time.

A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head while heading to the makeup trailer.
Jang Hak-Seon figured no one had told that young man about a trailer reserved for the actors to stay and rest between takes.
However, the PD had no mental energy left to catch up to that young man and reveal the truth, so he just stood there and dazedly stared at Kang Jin-Ho.

“…Yup, the heavens can be so cruel.”

This was a disaster.
Even though Jang Hak-Seon considered himself a top PD and a director, coaxing Kang Jin-Ho into reading the lines right before the end of the day seemed like an impossible task.

“But we need to shoot this scene in daylight…” Jang Hak-Seon ’s shoulders drooped low.

The director of photography rushed up to Jang Hak-Seon and worriedly asked, “W-what should we do about this, PD Jang?”

Jang Hak-Seon asked back in a defeated voice, “…Any ideas?”

“I think it ’s almost on the level of a psychological condition! A disease! He ’s way too camera-shy!”

“In that case, should we hide the cameras somewhere and then film him?”

“Eiii, I don ’t think that ’s gonna work, PD Jang.
I noticed how smart that young man was earlier, you see? His expression instantly changed when the camera lights came on.
He ’s a first-timer in front of the camera, yet he knew which one was filming without anyone telling him.”

“Urgh…” Jang Hak-Seon groaned while massaging his temples.
Indeed, didn ’t he hear that Kang Se-Ah ’s oppa was smart? That was the case, but…
“Why! Why do you have to be so smart?!”

“…Please calm down, PD Jang!”

“If only he ’s a bit slow in the head, we could have fooled him into relaxing during filming! Seriously, man! This sh*t is driving me up the wall!”

While Jang Hak-Seon was roaring out hot flames from his mouth, Choi Yeon-Ha walked up to him while gritting her teeth.
She had managed to warm herself up with a hot pack, enough to let her speak her mind, at least! “PD Jang? Can I speak to you for a sec?”

“Sorry? Ah, Miss Choi.
How are you feeling now?”

“…This scene, we need to switch it to nighttime.”

“…But, it ’s supposed to take place during the day?”

“I ’m sure the night will enhance the mood even more! So, please change it!”

PD Jang Hak-Seon sighed at length.
Sure, changing this scene from daytime to night wouldn ’t matter, story-wise.
But the problem at hand wouldn ’t get resolved just because they delayed the inevitable.
He crossed his arms and asked, “Do you have a plan?”

“Yes! Let ’s just shoot all the scenes that require daylight right now! We shouldn ’t run into a problem even if we exclude this troublesome scene for now, yes? And we’ve already finished shooting most of my scenes in this location, anyway! ”

“Well, that is true…” Jang Hak-Seon nodded.

“In the meantime, I ’m going to stick to Mister Jin-Ho like a leech and teach him.
He ’s human, right? If I make him repeat the line again and again until sunset, he ’d surely be able to say it once on camera, right?!”

’

“Well…” Jang Hak-Seon was slightly taken aback by Choi Yeon-Ha and her burning ’passion,’ so he inadvertently nodded in agreement.

Then again, Choi Yeon-Ha was known for having a surprisingly fiery personality.
She even had a history of grabbing and shaking another PD by their collars.
If she had made up her mind on something, Choi Yeon-Ha wouldn ’t back down that easily from it.

She clenched her fists tightly.
“We! Need! To! Make this scene happen! We cannot afford to let that face slip through our fingers!”

’Miss Choi, that kind of statement might cause misunderstandings, you know… ’

***

Jang Hak-Seon stared at a certain trailer in a daze.
It had been four hours since Choi Yeon-Ha led Kang Jin-Ho inside that very trailer.
In the meantime, all the filming requiring this location had been wrapped up.
And now, they only had to shoot just one more scene.

According to the script, this scene involved Choi Yeon-Ha ’s boyfriend, now played by Kang Jin-Ho, breaking up with her and going overseas.
This scene took up less than one minute in the first episode ’s 65-minute run time, yet it also was responsible for torturing Jang Hak-Seon the most.

While his heart was trembling from dread, Jang Hak-Seon cautiously approached the trailer.

’…Please, let it be laughter.
Please…! ’

If things were going well, he should hear laughter coming from inside that trailer.
A wizened pro on the level of Choi Yeon-Ha should be trying her best to maintain an amiable atmosphere to help relax a newbie ’s nervousness, after all!

However, what if other loud sounds were coming from the inside? What then? That would signal the impending doom for this series.
Simply deleting the scene from the script wouldn ’t fix the issue, either.
After all, doing so would break the story while completely screwing up the filming schedule.
Even if the production held an audition now and found a replacement, the end result still wouldn ’t change by much.

Jang Hak-Seon inwardly prayed to a higher being while cautiously stepping toward the trailer—only to be greeted by a yell loud enough to shatter all the windows!

“Uwaaaaaah?! Why can ’t you get this riiiiiiiight?!”

A hollow grin slowly spread on Jang Hak-Seon ’s lips.

’Yup, let ’s just quit. ’

In all honesty, It might actually be faster to think of an excuse to say to the financiers of this production!

***

Screeeech!

A black sedan came to a screeching halt in a parking bay.

Clunk…

The driver ’s door slowly opened to reveal a man kitted out in a sharp black business suit and a pair of sunglasses.
He mouthed a cigarette while slamming the door shut, then wordlessly lit it up.

“Fuu-woo…” He took a deep drag of the cigarette, then took off his sunglasses.
“Why is this film shoot taking so long, I wonder?”

This man leisurely heading toward the filming location was about to become the lone ray of hope for PD Jang Hak-Seon.
And his name was Jo Gyu-Min, the ’Kang Jin-Ho Whisperer ’.