The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Chapter 150

[“Kim Jin-ho. So… how’s Lee Jin-woo doing?”]

[“Jin-woo? He’s doing well. Why?”]

[“Just curious, since he hasn’t been coming around lately.”]

When Kang Tae-il spoke awkwardly, Kim Jin-ho burst out laughing.

[“Hey. He’s a different breed from us. I couldn’t believe he hung out here for a month in the first place.”]

[“What do you mean?”]

Kim Jin-ho looked at Kang Tae-il as if he were a naïve child. Then he explained.

In fact, Lee Jin-woo was the only child of the chairman of the ‘Ishim Group.’

[“The kids at school don’t know yet, but I found out because my mom told me. She kept bugging me to get close to him early on, so it was really annoying.”]

[“How did your mom know?”]

[“My dad works as an executive at Ishim Group. Even though my parents are divorced, you know what they say? Family is family until death. So, we all have dinner together once a month. That’s when it came up.”]

Kim Jin-ho kept picking up stones and throwing them into the river.

Watching the meaningless action, Kang Tae-il murmured.

[“Right. He was different from us from the start.”]

[“Man, I should’ve told you earlier. You didn’t get your hopes up, did you? He only hung out for a month, he’s not someone you can be real friends with.”]

[“…Hey. You and I are in the same boat, so why say it like that?”]

Kang Tae-il’s words, spoken out of frustration, elicited an unexpected reaction.

Instead of apologizing meekly or getting annoyed, Kim Jin-ho just looked at him incredulously.

[“Why would I be the same as you…?”]

[“What? Then what’s different?”]

[“Well, for one, I have parents.”]

Kang Tae-il fell silent at the unexpected remark.

Kim Jin-ho scratched his temple awkwardly and continued.

[“I don’t mean anything bad, but you live in an orphanage. It’s not exactly a normal environment. Sure, my parents are divorced, but that’s pretty common these days.”]

[“…”]

In the silence that followed, Kim Jin-ho finally looked uncomfortable and apologized.

Kang Tae-il, who had been listening quietly, suddenly stood up.

[“Kim Jin-ho. I’ll say this just once.”]

[“What?”]

[“Wake up. To kids whose parents aren’t divorced, your situation isn’t normal either.”]

[“…”]

[“Don’t come here anymore. If I see your face again, I’ll beat you to a pulp.”]

Kang Tae-il left the riverside as calmly as possible.

As soon as he turned the corner, he scowled and started pounding the wall.

[“Damn it, what does he know about normal, anyway?”]

With every kick, he let out breaths full of rage.

Rage against someone who spoke thoughtlessly.

And rage against himself for not properly denying it.

* * *

At the same time, there was someone else with the same word on their lips.

[“Manager Jung, do you think I’m normal?”]

[“…Of course, ma’am.”]

[“Really? I don’t think so.”]

Lee Jin-woo’s mother slowly turned over the documents the manager had handed her.

[“I hit and cursed at my only child whenever I had the chance… How could a parent like that be normal? Just a crazy woman.”]

[“…”]

[“I have a lot to be sorry for when it comes to my son. I should at least try to be a good parent while I’m still somewhat sane.”]

Lee Jin-woo’s mother smiled as she turned the last page.

[“Handle it.”]

[“By handle, you mean…”]

[“Kill them all. Everyone involved. Including the loan sharks.”]

Loan sharks, what a vulgar term.

At her elegant words, the manager swallowed hard and asked.

[“Should I take care of that child too?”]

[“…”]

Her eyes drifted to the window.

A cold wind, unfit for the spring season, blew into the room.

[“It was just as cold when I strangled him with my own hands.”]

The manager, who had abandoned the baby on that cold day, remained silent.

Looking directly at her accomplice, she spoke her final words.

[“That child was already dead to me. Never lived in the first place. So…”]

Take care of him too.

Her heartless words, devoid of any warmth, seemed to escape the room with the wind.

* * *

Kang Tae-il received a call from an unknown number in the afternoon.

Originally, I should have gone home a long time ago, but thanks to Kim Jin-ho, I was wandering the streets trying to calm my anger.

I usually didn’t answer unknown calls, so I ignored it at first.

However, after ten calls, my already frayed nerves gave in.

Thinking I might as well vent my frustration on whoever this was, I pressed the answer button. Immediately, I heard a familiar voice.

[―Kang Tae-il! Where are you!!]

[“…? Lee Jin-woo?”]

Lee Jin-woo, sounding like a madman, kept repeating that I should run.

[“What are you talking about? Calm down.”]

[―There’s no time to calm down, where are you? Don’t go to Hanseong, it’s dangerous! Go to the riverbank!”]

Hanseong? How does he know about Hanseong?

Confusion clouded my mind as Lee Jin-woo’s words finally registered.

The word ‘danger’ stood out.

I immediately threw my phone to the ground and started running.

* * *

[“Kang Tae-il? Kang Tae-il!!”]

No matter how much he yelled, there was no answer from the phone. Lee Jin-woo gritted his teeth.

At the same time, he glared at the person standing in front of him with bloodshot eyes.

[“I get it. Sucking up to someone with power instead of a kid who can’t give you anything makes sense for someone like you, no matter how crazy they are.”]

[“……”]

The manager swallowed hard at the coldest voice he had ever heard.

[“I planted someone under you because you crossed the line before… If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known this until it was too late. Now, get out of my house.”]

[“That’s not something you have the authority to order.”]

[“True. It’s still ‘the chairman’s house’ and not mine.”]

Lee Jin-woo shrugged. At the same time, he laughed.

[“So, I told my father. That the child my mother killed is still alive.”]

[“…!”]

[“And that you abandoned that living child on the street.”]

Before the shocked manager could say anything, the door burst open without a knock.

The chairman’s secretary, looking urgent, spoke up.

[“Manager Jung, the chairman wants to see you.”]

Lee Jin-woo watched impassively as the manager’s face turned pale.

With a nod from him, the secretary and security guards dragged the manager out.

[“Do you think I’ll stay quiet?! I recorded everything you ordered me to do―.”]

Lee Jin-woo didn’t care about that.

Looking down at his phone, which still wouldn’t connect, he bit his lip.

He hoped he wasn’t too late.

* * *

But what Kang Tae-il encountered was a horrific scene.

A Hanok house in complete disarray, bodies strewn everywhere.

The house being destroyed didn’t matter. But the dead couldn’t come back.

Seeing the body of the man who had tousled his hair just that morning, Kang Tae-il stood there in shock.

Kang Han-sung, barely breathing, shouted at him to leave.

Pushing away the boy who tried to help him up, he screamed at him to get lost.

[“Your family killed my family. I don’t want to see your face, so get lost!”]

Not understanding what he meant, Kang Tae-il heard Kang Han-sung repeat himself.

Telling him to leave this place, shouting it over and over.

[“Why, why are you saying that? Hyung, you’re my family―.”]

Unmoved by Kang Tae-il’s tears and pleas, Kang Han-sung grimaced.

[“It’s dangerous here. Someone might come back. Please, go.”]

[“H-hyung, hyung.”]

[“Tae-il, please. Remember the basic rule of our organization.”]

[“……”]

[“Kang Tae-il. Basic rule. Quickly….]

At the pitiful voice, Kang Tae-il took a step back, then another.

Then he ran away from that place.

The first rule of Hanseong: Obey Hanseong’s words.

As ordered, Kang Tae-il abandoned his family.

* * *

[“Hey, you damn bastard!”]

Kang Tae-il arrived at the riverbank.

Someone stood alone, drenched in the torrential rain, as if waves were crashing down from the sky.

Kang Tae-il scrambled up the riverbank.

Even though he slipped halfway, he reached out and pulled Lee Jin-woo down.

[“You bastard, you knew everything. You knew and did nothing.”]

[“……”]

[“Because of you, everything is ruined. Everything is fucked. Are you happy?”]

Grabbing Lee Jin-woo by the collar, Kang Tae-il roughly threw him to the ground.

Lee Jin-woo, like a paper doll, didn’t resist and simply swayed.

Kang Tae-il, his face twisted in anger, glared at Lee Jin-woo, who looked bored and expressionless.

Though their expressions were different, they felt the same emotion.

They were miserable and helpless.

Lee Jin-woo, staring blankly at Kang Tae-il, finally spoke.

[“Can you just kill me?”]

[“…What?”]

[“I tried, but I just can’t commit suicide. I told my mother to do whatever she wanted, but she couldn’t. Ha, damn it… I don’t know why she acted like that all this time.”]

Lee Jin-woo gave a faint smile as he looked at the bewildered Kang Tae-il.

[“It would be quite dramatic to die at the hands of a brother, wouldn’t it?”]

[“You crazy bastard!”]

Kang Tae-il shook Lee Jin-woo violently again.

Their clothes got dirtier with each movement in the muddy water.

[“If that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”]

His fingers spread into five parts, wrapping around Lee Jin-woo’s soft neck.

[“You can’t be my family. Don’t say something so disgusting.”]

[“Ugh—.”]

Blood vessels stood out in Lee Jin-woo’s eyes. His struggling movements gradually subsided.

Kang Tae-il muttered that his real family was different.

[“The people you killed today… damn it, they were my real family.”]

His trembling voice eventually broke into sobs.

Choking the neck of a murderer, Kang Tae-il cried like a child.

[“Guh—.”]

The sound of someone struggling to breathe filled the air.

Kang Tae-il, sobbing, slowly loosened his grip.

Lee Jin-woo coughed violently, and Kang Tae-il sat down in a daze.

[“Why… why didn’t you kill me?”]

[“……”]

Lee Jin-woo’s hoarse voice got no reply.

The two of them sat by the riverbank for a long time.

Eventually, the rain and wind stopped.

As they sat there, feeling their clothes gradually dry, Kang Tae-il spoke.

[“You’re not my family.”]

[“…I know.”]

[“Even if I died and came back, you’d never be my family. That won’t change. But still….”]

Kang Tae-il’s eyes looked vacantly at the river.

[“If you’re gone too, I’m really alone….”]

[“……”]

Lee Jin-woo quietly watched Kang Tae-il’s profile.

Before long, his eyes looked the same as his own.

Lee Jin-woo offered clumsy comfort.

[“My father… he definitely likes you. Even though my mother ordered the killing of your family… no matter how much my mother wishes it, she can’t defy my father. He’s the chairman.”]

That’s why Lee Jin-woo desired that position even more.

It wasn’t enough to just escape from his mother; he wanted to destroy her.

He believed that would be possible if he sat in the chairman’s seat.

[“I don’t care. I don’t need any of that. My family… they’re all dead.”]

But his twin didn’t seem to care at all.

Ironically, neither did he at that moment.

A flicker of light passed through Lee Jin-woo’s dazed eyes.

[“Then shall we die together?”]

[“…What?”]

[“You don’t want to be alone, and I don’t want to live like this. There’s a way we can both be satisfied.”]

[“……”]

[“We’ll die together. Let’s die here.”]

Lee Jin-woo smiled brightly.

His eyes, filled with the joy of finding an answer, shone before Kang Tae-il.

[“This time, until we die, we’ll be together.”]

[“……”]

Kang Tae-il looked at him silently.

After a long hesitation, as his lips began to part to say something, the screen turned black.

“……”

The audience remained silent. No one made a sound.

As if as a reward, a warm and mournful violin melody played.

Slowly, the screen brightened like light spreading.

With the sun just rising, the riverbank was bathed in an orange glow.

Two boys were swimming.

The warm light enveloped them gently as if protecting them.

Their faces were bright as they swam aimlessly towards the depths.

Even though water kept getting into their mouths, and they gradually felt breathless, they laughed as if they were having fun.

[“Haha!”]

The two boys with the same face swam.

With clean bodies, free of muddy water and dirty secrets.

They smiled brightly, finally showing the same expression.

CAST.

Jinwoo, Taeil / Yeonjae Lee

(…)

Directed by Yoon Kang-yeon

Written by Yoon Kang-yeon