Chapter 564
“Are you serious? No. Wow. I never would've imagined that.”
“Haha. It's true.”
Myeong Jeha, who had naturally become the center of the conversation, was smiling.
Even I was caught off guard for a moment.
‘I didn't mishear that, right?’
Myeong Jeha said something nobody could believe.
“I still have the delivery box at home. The one you load onto the back of a motorcycle.”
Myeong Jeha made the shocking announcement that he had actually worked as a delivery driver to play Kim Kangil. The reporters practically flipped over and all stood up.
“N-no one recognized you? Seriously, nobody recognized you, Jeha?”
“If I'm wearing a helmet? They can't see my face.”
“How did you even come up with that? Is riding motorcycles your hobby?”
“No. I don't ride much. I just had a license... figured it might come in handy someday, and I guess it really did. Haha.”
You evil man....
‘I can already see the future.’
Stories about Myeong Jeha's delivery job would climb to the top of Intube, flood the news, and become a hot topic on Yousta Reels. The lead role of would instantly belong to Myeong Jeha.
‘Wait a second.’
Isn't this actually good for me?
‘There's nothing outside the drama itself to talk about with On Jihwa's acting.’
Do Gyeoul volunteering at a nursing home and Myeong Jeha working deliveries were pretty extreme choices.
Meanwhile, all I'd done was take a few archery classes and running lessons at the Action Academy.
‘There's nothing I can do physically.’
Since my character was an injured national archer, there wasn't enough to create some dramatic backstory.
So in this situation, it'd actually be better if Myeong Jeha attracted all the attention.
‘And I can already see Do Gyeoul creating an angel image with the nursing home volunteering....’
Good luck, old folks.
Nicely done.
As expected of the devil of talk shows who controls broadcasts however he wants.
“It wasn't really difficult delivery work... um. Delivering tteokbokki was kind of scary.”
“Tteokbokki? Why? Huh? Why on earth?”
“Because I was afraid the ramen noodles would get soggy....”
He's subtly acting cute in the middle of this too.
Watching the shameless Myeong Jeha, I promised myself I'd steal that move later while cheering for him in my heart.
His attempt at acting cute was devastating.
Not only the reporters, but even the staff members were all smiling brightly.
‘Nice.’
Looks like Do Gyeoul's nursing home stories won't carry much weight.
They'd probably edit them down and move on.
The subtitles and effects would all go to Myeong Jeha.
Which was fortunate, but why did my heart hurt a little...?
‘I want attention so badly.’
Especially when I'm sitting next to Do Gyeoul.
Myeong Jeha happened to meet my eyes and smiled warmly.
“Oh right. Someone asked about the makeup earlier.”
“Yeah. The quality was just... all I could do was admire it.”
“Did everyone get makeup like that?”
“Can't tell you. That's a spoiler.”
Myeong Jeha skillfully tossed the conversation.
“Jeongyun senior talked to the extras a lot during breaks. She probably heard about the makeup process.”
The baton passed to Tak Jeongyun, who hadn't spoken much.
Tak Jeongyun explained in detail the process she had heard from the extra actors.
There was hardly a better topic to hook public curiosity than zombie makeup.
And since rookie actors often felt awkward in interviews, it was easier to talk about things they'd seen rather than their own thoughts.
‘Myeong Jeha is subtly taking care of Tak Jeongyun too.’
And just like that, Myeong Jeha naturally seized control of the conversation.
His attitude toward becoming the link between the reporters and actors was effortless.
“Right, Gyeoul?”
“Yeah. After a while, I got so used to seeing the zombie makeup that people without makeup started looking weird instead. Ahaha.”
As someone used to interviews, Do Gyeoul managed to create a nice clip-worthy moment.
The upload title would probably be something like “What Happens When You Get Too Used to Zombie Makeup.”
‘We need to acknowledge Do Gyeoul's story appropriately too.’
If this goes on, somebody might start a rivalry rumor between us later.
‘Next time, I have to jump in and act all friendly.’
And the moment I resolved myself—
Myeong Jeha looked at me again and said,
“Haha. I got used to zombie makeup too, like Gyeoul. Ah. Early in filming, Yeoreum had a solo scene. Everyone watched the trailer, right?”
“Of course!”
“I watched that trailer until it wore out. What is it, what is it?”
“The scene where Yeoreum is staring at the zombies behind the fire shutter. They filmed that from multiple angles, and that cold sweat running down her face? That wasn't makeup.”
“Huhhh? It wasn't?”
Nice assist.
‘The timing was impossibly perfect.’
I couldn't miss this chance.
I put on an expression that was a little shy and embarrassed, but one that clearly said I wouldn't deny it either until Unni Jeongyun lifted me up further.
‘Hope humblebunny.gif gets some promotion.’
Lately, Han Yeoreum's puppy faction had been too dominant, and I'd been monitoring how the bunny faction was getting pushed back.
Once On Jihwa starts, all the cat faction people thirsty for Lee Seohae would rise up, so I had to keep the balance.
“Yeah. Yeoreum really started sweating like crazy... At first, I thought she was sick.”
“It was that bad? Without any makeup?”
“Yeah. None at all.”
Then it was finally my turn.
“How do you even do that? Wow, Yeoreum.”
Wi Jaehwi from , a panel member for , and my precious Summer Day member, gave me the perfect reaction.
I tucked my hair behind my ear and pretended to be embarrassed, as though I never expected this topic to come up.
“Honestly, from the moment I heard I could be in a work by Writer Seomun Ihwa... I mean, that's huge. Right?”
“Of course it's huge! Even my grandmother knows Writer Seomun Ihwa.”
“Who doesn't?”
Got in a shoutout for Seomun Ihwa.
“So I watched tons of zombie and apocalypse stories. Director O Seonyul recommended some of them too. I thought I'd watched a lot, but when I stood in front of Director O, I couldn't compare.”
Got O Seonyul in there too.
“Wow. Seriously?”
“How many did you watch?”
“I love zombie stuff too.”
The reporters all reacted.
‘Ah... this is nice....’
So this is what being the protagonist feels like?
It was exhilarating having everyone's attention on me.
“There were a lot of close-up shots, so I had to act as if zombies were right in front of me. Eventually, I was falling asleep with zombie movies playing on my tablet every night.”
But if I dragged it out any longer, it'd get edited down.
Time to get to the point.
“So while acting, I really immersed myself as if there were zombies right in front of me. Since I stayed tense for so long, I just started sweating naturally.”
If I said I sweated immediately, people would think I was exaggerating, so I toned it down.
“That's incredible though.”
“The set must've been crowded, right? To immerse yourself enough to sweat in that environment... wow....”
As the reporters reacted, Myeong Jeha spoke again.
“Looks like Jeongyun has something to say. Haha.”
He was trying to draw a reaction from Tak Jeongyun at just the right timing.
“Yeoreum has always immersed herself really well.”
“You and Yeoreum spent a lot of time together on set?”
“The two of them did theater together.”
At Myeong Jeha's explanation, the focus shifted to Tak Jeongyun.
A win-win strategy.
My immersion got mentioned, and Tak Jeongyun's story gained attention.
People would surely be interested in the story of how Tak Jeongyun, who came from the Daehakro theater scene, ended up appearing in Writer Seomun Ihwa and NetHolics' first original production.
“Come to think of it, Jeongyun and Yeoreum did theater together, and Jeha's been on stage with her too, right?”
As an official Summer Day fan, Wi Jaehwi even mentioned the play .
‘Love you.’
The turn returned to the Standard Bearers of DaeYeJong.
Wi Jaehwi asked Do Gyeoul,
“What do you think about doing theater with Yeoreum someday?”
“I'd love it. Ahaha. Honestly, I haven't gotten to see much of Yeoreum's acting, so it's a shame.”
Officer.
‘Over here.’
Please arrest her.
She's a complete fraud.
‘What do you mean you haven't seen my acting?’
Unbelievable.
But I smiled and maintained my expression.
“Still, Gyeoul monitors me really well. Right?”
“Amazing! Gyeoul must've been busy too.”
“The DaeYeJong friendship!”
“Aren't you two way too close?”
Amid the reporters' reactions, Do Gyeoul and I met eyes.
On the surface, we looked like perfectly friendly classmates.
With that, I completed my mission from earlier.
‘Look friendly with Do Gyeoul.’
“Then let's focus on the zombie makeup! Time to watch properly again!”
Episode 1 of , which had been paused, resumed.
* * *
“Here you go.”
Myeong Jeha handed the bags to the front desk.
He busily moved from floor to floor.
“Doctor! The patient who fell from the main building was the hospital director, and her delirium from the brain injury is really aggressive! They say she bit an intern in the neck and tore the flesh off! The place is in complete chaos!”
“What are you talking about? What happened after that?”
“They're trying to put her in Four Vine restraints.”
“Explain properly!”
Despite the frantic conversation around him, Myeong Jeha only checked the delivery note attached to the receipt.
Then—
“Excuse me!”
“Huh?”
“There aren't any straws!”
Annoyed by the nurse's tone, Myeong Jeha rummaged through the inside pocket of his sukajan jacket and took out several thick and thin straws.
“Which kind?”
“This one. Seriously, you're supposed to put them in the bag...”
“These are mine.”
“Huh?”
“When did straws become my responsibility? That's the part-time workers' job.”
“Then what's this?”
“When they forget, I hand them out only to nice people.”
Waving the straws in his hand, Myeong Jeha said,
“Basic manners for a considerate delivery guy.”
- f*ck LMAOOOOOO
-Why is Myeong Jeha so good at saying dumbass lines with that voice
-I'm losing my mind lmao
-“Basic manners for a considerate delivery guy”<<
- TT____TT I'm dying laughing
-Now I understand why they hid his face T_T lmao who could stay immersed if Myeong Jeha said that with his face visible lmao
“Ah....”
“Say you're sorry and I'll give it to you.”
“...Yes. I'm sorry.”
“Mm.”
Myeong Jeha handed over the thick bubble tea straw.
“Let's all get along without getting red in the face, yeah?”
But he immediately ended up red-faced himself.
While he was delayed handing out straws, the elevator doors had closed and gone down.
Even though Myeong Jeha shouted through the narrowing gap, the medical staff closed the doors as if they didn't care.
“Ah, shit!!! Nobody knows how to coexist! Did you people even go to college? Or did you fake your degrees?!”
-Attention. Code Gray at the Emergency Medical Center in front of the first floor. Code Gray. Security guards and the guard team are requested to proceed immediately to the emergency room.
Still grumbling, Myeong Jeha headed downstairs by the stairs.
* * *
A drone shot showed the sprawling hospital building.
Sunset light gradually settled over the white structures.
The main building, the cancer center connected to it, the separate children's hospital, and the rehabilitation hospital came into view one after another.
Through the corridor windows, Myeong Jeha could be seen.
Walking quickly toward the cancer center, he almost looked like he was running.
The camera smoothly descended.
And through the emergency room windows on the first floor of the main building—
Chaos.
“Ugh!”
“Kyaaaah!”
Blood splattered across the white curtains.
The camera moved naturally to the side and rose to a second-floor window in the rehabilitation hospital.
Inside sat On Jihwa.
“Jihwa, aren't you bored? Listen to some music. It's calming. You're almost done.”
“When will it be over?”
“They said four thirty.”
Receiving extracorporeal shockwave therapy, On Jihwa looked bored.
She checked the smart watch on her wrist.
4:20 PM.
Ten minutes left.
Her mother put earphones in her ears.
Soft music played.
Through the music, voices drifted over.
“Ma'am, after this, you'll need to go to the Sports Medicine Center in the basement of the main building.”
“Yes, yes. I heard earlier. Thank you.”
And the scene changed again.
“Senior! Senior!”
A medical worker rushed over and opened the emergency room doors.
“Grrraaaagh!”
Hell poured out through the opening.
As if they had been waiting, hordes of zombies rushed forward and overwhelmed the staff.
They brutally slaughtered the living, piling bodies in front of the door.
The door remained open.
“Kyaaaah!”
The zombies flooded the hospital corridors.
* * *
“...Huh?”
On Jihwa and her mother, moving between buildings, froze at the sound of screams.
“Help!”
“Aaaah!”
“Let go! Let go!”
Something was wrong.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The vibrations of something running echoed.
On Jihwa's face tightened instantly.
Then—
“AAAAH!”
Blood-covered people were running from the end of the corridor.
Running from something that wasn't human.
The youngest national team athlete, who had spent almost her entire life in a world where victory and defeat were decided in 0.1 seconds, made her decision.
“J-Jihwa!”
On Jihwa grabbed her mother's wrist.
Without a second of hesitation, she ran.
“Oh my goodness, Jihwa! Jihwa, what is that?! Haa... haa...! Jihwa! W-wait!”
Unlike her mother, who still hadn't grasped the situation, Jihwa gave no answer.
She only tightened her grip and pulled harder.
The camera captured On Jihwa from above as she ran desperately.
Behind her surged a cloud of zombies.
But after turning the corner, what appeared in front of her was—
-Ah shit no
-What is happening TT_TT
-Holy shit
“Kyaaaah!”
“What is this?! What is this?!”
People fleeing zombies from the other side.
They were trapped.
Blocked front and back.
An eerie, chilling melody, like something heard only in hell, played.
As if hope itself had vanished.