The Third-Gen Chaebol Becomes a Genius Actor

Chapter 142 <What Can’t You Do?>

He had started preparing for his next work, but that didn’t mean he had no schedule at all. 

The hit drama of 2021 was ‘Guksae’. 

That’s why there was a steady demand for Yoo Yeon Seo. 

He only picked the ones that paid the most and didn’t damage his image, and shot the commercials.

‘It’s not much anyway.’

Chairman Yoo ignored the opposition of his daughter and sons-in-law and proceeded with his plan to sort out his assets. 

He promised a large share to his grandchildren, but he nailed them to handle the tax themselves. 

The one who got busy along with him was not Yoo Yeon Seo, but Lim Seunghyun.

‘Baek Seojun will take care of the investigation on the culprit.’

He had revealed the outline of the ‘tail’, and he was busy enough to let go of his obsession.

If he had been alone, he would have had to catch the culprit to get out of his psychological problem. But then he would have faced a situation where he couldn’t do the acting he had hoped for in the future until he caught the culprit. 

He would have been stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He turned on the TV to clear his mind, and there was news about the results of the implementation of the stalking punishment law.

“Finally…”

He bit his tongue.

‘If I keep investigating, I’ll be able to reach his head.’

He had only guessed without any substance, but it was quite hopeful that he had revealed the identity of that stalker. With that in mind, he turned his head at the sound of the door lock’s password being pressed.

“Lee Taegyeom, are you here?”

“I’m here.”

Even without filming, there were awards ceremonies in the second half of the year. Yoo Yeon Seo hosted the JMA hosted by JSENM and was nominated for some minor awards, but he declined them all.

“What is this?”

“These are the awards you won.”

Yoo Yeon Seo glanced at the trophies and such that Lee Taegyeom brought. They were all popularity awards or best couple awards with Shin Yewon of ‘Guksae’. There were also awards that were first this year and ones that he had never heard of before.

He wasn’t impressed. He had ambition for awards, but what he wanted was to win the lead role award at a place that was old and authoritative, like the three major film awards.

“······But were there so many awards ceremonies in our country?”

“They’re all ticket sales.”

They booked performances with idols who had fandom power, and also did actor awards. They put them up as candidates first, and if they could come with that as an excuse, it would be better.

“Let’s just take these, these, and these and take pictures. They’re at least famous and had a lot of fan participation.”

“Whatever.”

The best communication for an actor would be his next work, but Yoo Yeon Seo was also quite active on SNS. He had been in a car accident and had no survival report since 2018, and Yoo Yeon Seo in 2021 was also quite eventful.

The movies and dramas he participated in grew step by step, and as soon as he got more positive responses, he was challenged from here and there. In that situation, he had a heart attack with an emergency operation. Then he rose again with ‘Guksae’. That’s why his fans had to go through cold and hot water.

‘I wonder why Lim Seunghyun ignored someone’s phone call.’

He seemed to have been bothered by Lim Hyeju, who was in a high position in Yoo Yeon Seo’s fan club, Love Letter. Anyway, that’s why he followed what Lee Taegyeom told him to do. It wouldn’t hurt to do some fan service, right?

“Hey, how do I look?”

“What kind of question is that… Oh, you cut your hair.”

Lee Taegyeom, who frowned at the sudden remark, realized that it was because of ‘Bisok Murder’. He used to have bangs, but he could see his forehead slightly, so he either half-covered it or flipped it back, but now he had his bangs down to cover his eyebrows.

He looked good even with a mop head. Lee Taegyeom, who felt jealous, spat out on purpose.

“You look younger with your bangs down. Why don’t you try wearing a school uniform once. Do you have one?”

“I probably threw it away.”

“Look for it. You might have to diet like Seunghwan hyung-nim, too.”

Yoo Yeon Seo, who was impressed by the manager-like advice, stiffened as soon as he entered the dressing room. Come to think of it… I have a lot of clothes.

“······Hey, help me.”

“Crazy, is the dressing room our house or something?”

With Lee Taegyeom’s help, they found the school uniform that he thought he had thrown away in a box in the corner. It was a bit wrinkled, but it didn’t matter since he was just looking at the feel. Lee Taegyeom watched him closely as he stood in front of the mirror in his uniform.

“It doesn’t suit you badly… But don’t you look too muscular for your role?”

He had grown a bit after graduating. Yoo Yeon Seo tilted his head at his reflection in the mirror. He didn’t match well with Hwang Minjae in ‘Bisok Murder’.

“······I can’t help my natural bone structure.”

“Oh, really?”

Lee Taegyeom, who took it as self-indulgence, stuck out his mouth. Yoo Yeon Seo changed his posture here and there while looking at the mirror. He could create a different impression by changing his posture.

‘Hwang Minjae had a low self-esteem…’

After losing his mother, his only family, he had to endure the subtle bullying at school for being an orphan and a pauper. Feeling like he had no place to belong, he decided to leave everything behind and look for his grandfather, the only family he had left, as soon as he heard the news.

“Wow, what’s this? You look different.”

As Yoo Yeon-seo shrugged his shoulders and leaned his head forward, changing his posture, Lee Taegyeom reacted immediately. There wasn’t much of a dramatic change from the posture correction anyway. He needed to lose some weight. Yoo Yeon-seo changed his clothes again.

“Hey, let’s go out.”

Staying at home and only reading the script for ‘Vulgar Murder’ wasn’t good for his mental health.

“Where do you want to go?”

“Is there a high school nearby?”

“I guess we can find one, why?”

“Let’s go see.”

Lee Taegyeom realized too late that it was for character analysis and turned the wheel without a word. They soon stopped at a high school gate.

“There are no kids. Don’t they usually finish at this time?”

“Didn’t we graduate 10 years ago? Things must have changed these days.”

Lee Taegyeom went to check and found out that the students had already left. Yoo Yeon-seo sighed.

“Where are they? Where can we observe them?”

“There’s only one place.”

“Where?”

“The PC room.”

***

(You are dead.)

“Ah!”

Yoo Yeon-seo slumped on his chair as he watched his character fall on the screen. Lee Taegyeom raised both hands over his head and let out a silent cheer.

“Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Ah… It would have been easy if this was a real survival game…”

Lee Taegyeom shrank instinctively at his mumbling. He had seen his performance in the variety show ‘White Tiger’ that he had appeared for promotion.

‘How did I end up losing to Lee Taegyeom?’

They went straight to the PC room nearby. It was Yoo Yeon-seo’s first time in such a place, so he followed Lee Taegyeom’s instructions and sat in a corner seat.

Some students were playing games loudly, swearing along the way, and the staff occasionally came over and asked them to be quiet. Yoo Yeon-seo took in the scene with his eyes and ears.

[Hey, it’s a waste of time… Do you want to play a game?]

It was boring to just sit there, so Lee Taegyeom made a suggestion, and it was a mistake to accept it. Yoo Yeon-seo, who was holding his head, said in a serious voice.

“Hey, let’s do it again.”

“Fine. But it’s more fun if we make a bet.”

“Let’s do it.”

Lee Taegyeom’s eyes widened at his burning desire to win. Wait, this is… When will I ever get a chance to beat him? His lips curled up.

“Then… The loser has to call the winner ‘brother’ for a day.”

“Start the game.”

“Get ready to call me brother.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Yoo Yeon-seo gave him the middle finger and focused on the game, staring at the monitor. But he was no match for the veteran Lee Taegyeom.

“Ah!”

“Ah, Yoo Yeon-seo, you’re so… pathetic!”

Lee Taegyeom was about to say something like he would to his usual gaming friends, but he quickly changed his word. He had to respect the line.

‘Wow, that was close.’

Yoo Yeon-seo approached him tactically. He popped out from a place that Lee Taegyeom didn’t expect, but the real shooting and the game shooting were different. He failed to aim and his location was exposed.

Lee Taegyeom got up and looked at Yoo Yeon-seo confidently, holding his waist.

“Are you ready to call me brother?”

“Ah… My pride is hurt.”

“Hurry up!”

“Hey, wait a minute. I need some… time.”

“What time do you need? You need to swallow your pride.”

Yoo Yeon-seo touched his forehead and stalled, annoyed by Lee Taegyeom’s joyful face.

“I…”

“Sure?”

At that moment, three PC cafe staff members cautiously approached them. They placed trays on the desks of Yoo Yeon Seo and Itaegyeom. The trays were full of food.

“We’re fans… Please eat this…”

“Ah, thank you. Do you take cards?”

“No, it’s on the house!”

One of the staff members shouted as he saw Yoo Yeon Seo rummaging through his pocket. He couldn’t refuse their kindness, but he felt a bit awkward to eat for free… Yoo Yeon Seo scratched the back of his head and opened his mouth.

“Really? Then… how about taking a picture?”

“Yes, yes!”

“I’m a real fan!”

“Thank you.”

Yoo Yeon Seo took off his mask and hat that covered his chin and combed his hair with his hand. The staff members stared at him blankly. Yoo Yeon Seo smiled faintly as he skillfully took a selfie with them.

“I’ll enjoy the food.”

“Yes! Please come again!”

The three staff members, whose faces were red up to their necks, rolled their feet as they went back to their places.

“Kyaa! What do we do!”

“This is awesome, I have to post this on the group chat!”

“Hey, don’t post it now, post it later. People will crowd here.”

“Should we?”

Some people nearby got up and looked in their direction as they made a fuss.

“Huh, it’s Yoo Yeon Seo.”

“Wow, crazy…”

“Is that a human? He’s so handsome.”

“Should we ask him to take a picture with us too? Let’s sell it to the girls in our class.”

They buzzed around and gawked at Yoo Yeon Seo’s face. Itaegyeom, who felt empty under their gaze, quietly sat down.

‘What is this…?’

He had won the game, but… he felt weird. Now that it had come to this, the only thing he could trust was his bet.

“…Hey, aren’t you going to call me brother?”

“Here, eat this. Brother.”

“What? Ugh…”

Yoo Yeon Seo shoved a piece of fried chicken into his brother’s mouth.

“Hey, what is this to you, brother?”

“I only said to call you brother, not to respect you as one. You bastard.”

“What, what? Bastard?”

“Why? I added brother, didn’t I? You should have made the contract terms more clear.”

He had been quiet lately, but he was still the hellfire mouth. No, he had won, but why did he feel like he had lost? Itaegyeom stared blankly at the air. He felt like he had been robbed of his soul.

It was fun to tease him after the president. Yoo Yeon Seo laughed as he saw him and suddenly turned his head to look somewhere.

“…You should have used that reaction speed in the game, kid.”

“Shut up, brother. Just eat this.”

“Ugh…”

He put more food into Itaegyeom’s mouth and narrowed his eyes.

‘What was that?’

Something bothered him.