Jungsu pushed himself up and down once again, without the help of a harness, as both the staff and the director agreed that it looked far better that way. They had zoomed into Jungsu's straining muscles as he easily lifted himself up, focussing on the compact muscles on his back, and moving towards the bulging muscles of his biceps.
Once Jungsu was given a signal, he hopped down, the camera conveniently angling down to avoid capturing his stomach. Turning around, Jungsu threw on a dark brown button-up shirt and waited for the phone to ring. On cue, it started ringing, and Jungsu bent down to pick it up from the small table by his side.
"Hello?" He said, still with his back facing the camera.
Jungsu fully adopted the character of Baekhyun then as he imagined the response on the other side of the line. His thoughts shifted to another world, a family, an empire built by his father. He wasn't even aware of the staff or cameras pointed at him now, as he felt his consciousness slipping away from him as he went into an almost meditative state.
"Yes Mr. Chan, we have sent the papers straight to your secretary. Yes, we can go over the details of the agreement in person."
Jungsu turned then towards the camera, his face finally being revealed to the audience as he spoke in a friendly tone. Yet his face wore a look of boredom, as his empty eyes shifted around the room to find something to occupy himself.
He let out a laugh then, his face remaining a blank slate without a hint of emotion.
Beom Seok, who was watching Jungsu through the monitor, shivered, along with the staff members as they felt a menacing aura radiating through the studio.
Somehow, Jungsu's cold and beautiful appearance seemed to amplify the eerie presence in the studio. It was fascinating to see the complete lack of expression on Jungsu's face while he expressed happiness through his voice. It was completely off-putting to anyone watching him.
"Yes, we'll talk soon, bye."
Hanging up, Jungsu slipped the phone into his pocket and walked away from the shot, waiting for the director to yell cut.
However, it remained silent long after Jungsu had stopped acting and was simply standing there looking at the director.
"Um..." Jungsu trailed off as the director simply stared back at him with an astounded look on his face.
"J-Jungsu." The director breathed as he got off from his chair and walked towards him.
Grabbing hold of his shoulders, he looked up at Jungsu and pulled him into his embrace. Jungsu simply narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the director's head.
"You are a true actor, Jungsu! I have never witnessed such overwhelming talent!" The director cried out as he pulled back to look at Jungsu.
He then heard claps echoing throughout the studio as every staff member started applauding him. Jungsu simply stood there, nodding his head in acknowledgement. In his mind, he was thinking of how dramatic everyone was acting. All he had done was say the lines of the script and connect with the character. If that was not something every actor did, Jungsu wasn't sure then if actors were even needed.
The first scene was done, and now they were moving on to the next scene. In this scene, Baekhyun would finally have some screen time with his father. This whole scene was meant to serve as a flashback and an explanation for the villain's actions once the plot was revealed.
The actor playing the ceo would be Jin-woon, a respected actor in his late fifties who had done plenty of dramas. Though the role was small, he still played an important role in furthering the story.
After Jin-woon and Jungsu had familiarized themselves with each other, they started talking about the scene they were about to film.
"This is going to be tough, I've never pretended to beat someone up before." Jin-woon said as he chuckled underneath his breath.
"It's okay Mr. Jin-woon. Feel free to go all out, I'm good at dodging." Jungsu reassured him.
"Are you sure?" Jin-woon asked in concern. "I don't think my reflexes are good enough to avoid hitting you if I do go all out."
Jungsu shook his head as he looked at him with confidence in his eyes. "You won't hit me."
Jin-woon shrugged as he said, "Okay." He figured that if he did end up hitting Jungsu, that would be a lesson for him not to be so cocky. He was actually looking forward to putting the young man in his place. And nobody could blame him if something did happen, after all, Jungsu himself had given him the okay.
The shot was ready. This time, they were filming in a larger room with a desk and a large bookshelf with books lining the walls. Jungsu wasn't looking forward to this scene as it was rather insensitive and unnecessary. It also reminded him of the beatings he had received as a child. But he wasn't a child anymore. He was an adult, he was a man, not a boy anymore. He could fight back. Even though he had to refrain from fighting back in this scene, Jungsu found comfort in the very fact that he could fight back.
The cameras started rolling, and Jungsu became Baekhyun once more. His head was bowed down as the cameras came to focus on Jin-woon, his father.
Scowling, Jin-woon looked at Jungsu from across his table with disgust in his eyes.
"A five percent increase in sales? Only a f**king five percent increase?!"
Throwing down the papers in his hands, he snarled at Jungsu. As he rose up from his seat, Jungsu flinched slightly as he felt himself, or Baekhyun, becoming more and more nervous.
Jin-woon came to a stop before him, grabbing hold of Jungsu's jaw with one hand and forcing his gaze upwards.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
Jungsu silently stared at him with empty eyes, causing Jin-woon to shake his head in disgust.
"You useless piece of sh*t. Do you know what Ju-ho is doing right now? He's in charge of his father's company and he's running it quite well."
Jin-woon moved around him, circling him as he spat out, "And what is my son doing?"
He laughed then in anger.
"I invested too much money into you, Baekhyun. You're a privileged man. You know when I was your age, I was working in a factory. And here you are, living off my hard work."
Though Baekhyun's father was right in saying those words, Baekhyun himself had aided greatly in raising the value of the company. He was not simply a son who sat back and enjoyed his dad's wealth, but he also worked for it.
But Baekhyun's father was a man who was used to a world of violence. That violence was something he internalized and inflicted upon Baekhyun.
Jungsu supposed it gave him some sense of relief in the same way that Baekhyun found relief from killing his father, and also other people.
Jungsu found it quite alarming, what that seemed to imply for himself. Jungsu also lived in a world of violence. In fact, the world he lived in was far more violent and cruel than anything the two characters in a script could have ever experienced.
He thought about what that meant for him. Did it mean that he would also inflict violence upon those he considered family, that is if he ever has one? He hoped not, as he didn't particularly like hurting others. Sure, he did enjoy fighting, but he didn't enjoy it for the purpose of inflicting harm upon others. He only felt it was right to inflict harm upon those who deserved it.
But then Jungsu thought of all those who deserved it, and how they were always more battered, more broken, more bloody when he left them.
Jungsu had lied. He did enjoy inflicting harm upon people.
Despite him only enjoying inflicting it upon certain people, Jungsu thought that for this reason, he should not have a family. He didn't simply avoid women for no reason. It wasn't as if he had no interest in them. He was attracted to women. Not all of them, but there were some cases where he did find himself inexplicably attracted. But he could control himself when he needed to, he was not one to be led by his urges. He had a brain.
Women would only bring him trouble, he knew that much. Even if he didn't get involved in anything serious and simply decided to have fun, Jungsu knew that things could get complicated very quickly and very easily. And if they asked more from him, or wanted to know him more, Jungsu couldn't fulfil their wishes.
"Dad, you know I raised your company's value the moment I started working for it." Jungsu said silently.
That was when Baekhyun's father, in a fit of rage and a blow to his ego, struck out at Jungsu.
The punch was much faster than Jungsu had thought Jin-woon would go at him with. It seemed to come at him with the intention of actually landing a punch on him.
Unfortunately for Jin-woon, Jungsu easily dodged, moving his face and body in a way that rolled with the punch.
Jin-woon felt irritated that he missed, as he hadn't expected Jungsu to actually dodge his punch. Clenching his fists, he swung again, going off script for a moment as he aimed with purpose.
Meanwhile, the staff watched on in worry and shock as Jin-woon's fist swung towards Jungsu's head as he was bent in a disadvantageous position.