"Ah, so passionate, that Actor Mo. Even offering up his own ideas."
It looked like they were really going for it today.
The director had planned to just shoot what the advertiser wanted and call it a day, but now, with that eye-catching character, even Mo Ji-gyeong was stepping in to contribute ideas.
Following the storyboard as is would have been fine, but Mo Ji-gyeong's suggestion wasn't bad. On his own, the frame had felt somewhat empty somehow.
'If he had the kind of aura or presence that actors have, it probably wouldn't feel that way. I suppose compared to Koo Hyun-mo, Mo Ji-gyeong just doesn't quite measure up.'
Of course, he had more charisma than the average person, and being a former model, his physique was good too—but Mo Ji-gyeong on his own lacked that magnetic pull to command the screen.
Compared to Koo Hyun-mo, who exuded aura just by standing there, he still fell short.
'Koo Hyun-mo is truly... in a league of his own.'
Director Kim Woo-yong had once passed by Koo Hyun-mo at a film festival, and he'd been no joke in person. The aura was unmistakable.
'If only his acting were a bit better... Well, if he had that too, it'd be downright unfair.'
Anyway, there'd been a string of bad news lately—a real crisis. First Oh Jung-seop's death, and now Koo Hyun-mo was in a coma.
And since everyone knew those two were like father and son, Kim Woo-yong felt all the more sorry about it.
"Ah, Actor Mo—didn't you say you're close with Koo Hyun-mo?"
"Oh, uh, yes. We're, you know, like brothers."
"How is he doing, really? Is it true he's completely unconscious?"
"Ah, I'm sorry. Even if I knew, I'm not in a position to share that... Please keep him in your prayers. He'll wake up soon. Our Hyun-mo hyung will."
"Oh, so you call him hyung."
"Yes, well. Hahaha..."
Just then, Hyun-mo stepped into the studio, caught that exchange, and let out a scoff through his nose.
'What a joke.'
Watching Mo Ji-gyeong spin his lies right in front of Director Kim Woo-yong was enough to make anyone sick.
'Since when are we anything like brothers?'
What a shameless bastard. If that's what being brothers meant, they'd be a dysfunctional mess of a family. What kind of younger brother feeds jokes from a drinking session straight to a reporter like that?
"Then I'll leave it to you? We'll start filming! Mo Ji-gyeong, stand by!"
"Uh... uh..."
He had no idea what kind of direction Director Kim Woo-yong was actually going for.
"Yes."
But he answered diligently anyway.
'This is when the script should be appearing...'
That damned script never showed up when he actually needed it.
While Hyun-mo was flustered, Mo Ji-gyeong, who had just finished his makeup touch-up, sauntered over with his usual aggravating swagger.
"Let's do our best?"
Let's do our best?
Look at that tone.
"Right... sure..."
Fine, whatever. He'd just recall that strange sensation from earlier—the one where he'd possessed a follicle—and do it again.
"Alright, ready? Here we go. Ready..."
At this point, he had one goal.
At the very least, he wanted to steal all the attention away from Mo Ji-gyeong. That bastard had already taken a role from him in the past—surely he deserved that much.
"Action!"
The moment Kim Woo-yong called "Action," Hyun-mo summoned that bizarre memory of being possessed by a follicle and threw his body into the movement.
"Frail follicles that thin out and fall away too easily. Now, protect your follicles..."
Mo Ji-gyeong was elegantly delivering his lines with the shampoo in front, while Hyun-mo was flailing around in the background like a clown. It was bitter.
But even for Koo Hyun-mo, with his rotten personality and terrible acting, there was one thing he took pride in.
'Once I commit to something, I see it through to the end, no matter what.'
Of course, he didn't always give it his all... but he always finished what he started. Having trained in acting under a Spartan regime since childhood, this was the one thing he was confident about.
He was in the middle of struggling his hardest to become a follicle.
"Ah, pfft! Hahahaha... Oh, what do I do? That's so funny. Hold on. Let's cut it."
Suddenly, Mo Ji-gyeong clutched his stomach and burst out laughing, stopping the shoot.
"??"
There was nothing particularly funny about it.
"What's wrong, Ji-gyeong?"
"Ah, I keep catching sight of the follicle in my peripheral vision. Sorry, let's go again."
"Hahaha, okay! Let's go again! Ready... Action!"
After that, Mo Ji-gyeong kept:
"Frail follicles that thin out and fall away too—pfft! Ah, why am I like this? Isn't this guy just too funny?"
And again:
"Puhahahaha! Ah, Director, I'm sorry. Wow, I'm losing it."
And deliberately:
"Frail follicles that thin out and fall away too easily. Now, protect your—puhah. Ah, sorry. Wow... Ah, let me just loosen up my face. Eolleolleolleolleol. Brrrrr brrrrr."
He cut the shoot multiple times. All the while, Hyun-mo kept wriggling and swaying behind Mo Ji-gyeong, repeating his role.
'That bastard is doing this on purpose...'
The staff, who had laughed along at first, were starting to stiffen their expressions, but Mo Ji-gyeong seemed completely fixated on messing with Hyun-mo.
'It's about time I taught him a lesson.'
Now wasn't the time for Mo Ji-gyeong to be so carefree, messing with a bit-part actor.
He had a fatal weakness—a vulnerable spot that mattered most for a model shooting a hair loss shampoo commercial.
That's right.
At twenty-nine, Mo Ji-gyeong was rapidly losing his hair. His hair transplant surgery—which he'd been putting off out of fear—had now reached a point where he could no longer delay it.
Hyun-mo had learned this by overhearing it from the salon owner, whom Mo Ji-gyeong had specifically requested to do his hair—the same owner who also handled Koo Hyun-mo.
'I know that thing you're wearing is a wig.'
He'd heard that Mo Ji-gyeong had no choice but to wear a wig until the surgery. And with his busy schedule, he probably hadn't found the time to go through with it yet.
He'd need a moment to execute his plan—as naturally as possible.
"Hahaha, really. Really, this is the last one! The last one! Whew... Sorry, Follicle-ssi. It's because Follicle-ssi is just too good."
This was his chance.
"No problem, Actor-nim. I'll do my best—KYAAK!!"
Hyun-mo made a big show of bowing to him while throwing his body off-balance, as if tripping over his own feet.
"Whoa?!"
He swung his hand precisely toward Mo Ji-gyeong's crown and grabbed a fistful of hair.
"Ow!"
In one swift motion, Hyun-mo yanked Mo Ji-gyeong's wig right off.
It happened so fast that Mo Ji-gyeong was completely defenseless—the top of his head was exposed, and everyone in the studio got an unobstructed view of his bald scalp.
"...Hup!"
A heavy silence fell over the studio, thick with tension.
But then—
Fliiiip.
Suddenly, a page of the script lying in front of Hyun-mo turned on its own, revealing a new page.
'What the—don't tell me I'm about to possess someone else again?'
He was on high alert, unsure of what the script might do next.
Choi Sung-ae:
It says you're not on your day off?
Suddenly, dialogue from familiar names caught his eye.
Heo Ji-man:
That's strange. I'm sure it's 444444?
Choi Sung-ae:
What? It says no, Manager Heo. Try pressing it again.
The dialogue was recorded in short, quick bursts, like a chat log.
Heo Ji-man:
Huh? It says the password... only two tries left...? What do we do?
Choi Sung-ae:
Ha... We need to check Hyun-mo's banking app and stock app...
This absurd dialogue appeared to be a conversation between Manager Heo and his mother, Choi Sung-ae.
***
"Unbelievable."
At the hospital VIP room.
By Koo Hyun-mo's bed, where he lay still as if still asleep, Manager Heo and Choi Sung-ae were bickering over Hyun-mo's phone in one corner of the VIP room.
Choi Sung-ae clutched the phone tightly in her hand, her anxious eyes fixed on Manager Heo.
They had tried several times, but the lock wouldn't budge.
At first, they tried Hyun-mo's fingerprint. When that didn't work, they forcibly pried his eyelids open from both sides to scan his face—but that didn't work either.
"Wow, this is really strange. The password should be right..."
And yet, when Manager Heo entered the password he knew for Hyun-mo's phone, it was still wrong.
"Did Hyun-mo change his password?"
Choi Sung-ae asked cautiously. Manager Heo hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.
"That can't be, noonim. He was using the same one just before we went to the funeral home."
"Wait, is this even Hyun-mo's phone? Why won't the fingerprint or face recognition work? That doesn't make any sense."
"You're right, noonim. Forget the password—why isn't the fingerprint working...? But this is definitely Hyun-mo's phone. This case—it's a special ambassador edition. Only one exists..."
"What on earth is going on here? Ha... This is just ridiculous."
Choi Sung-ae, apparently at her wit's end, flopped down onto the sofa. She crossed her legs, pressed her temples, and closed her eyes.
It was all too strange.
No matter how many times they checked, it was clearly the phone Hyun-mo used. So why wouldn't it recognize his fingerprint or his face?
"That wretched son of mine..."
Choi Sung-ae muttered, glaring as if Hyun-mo's very spirit was wandering around and blocking her.
"Noonim, this... If we keep messing with it ourselves, it might only make things worse. We should just hand it over to a professional."
"...You're right. That's probably for the best, Manager Heo."
Clunk.
Just then, a short but heavy metallic sound made both of their shoulders jolt.
Both of their eyes snapped toward the hospital bed.
"What was... that? Manager Heo, you heard that, right?"
"It's probably the next room over. Or maybe a cart in the hallway..."
"Could it be..."
Choi Sung-ae cautiously approached the bedside and waved her hand back and forth. Koo Hyun-mo's eyelids remained still. Not even a twitch.
"My heart nearly dropped."
"Chairman, you were startled. Well, they said we still need to monitor his progress—that we should hope for a miracle."
"Hoo..."
Choi Sung-ae slowly closed her eyes and let out a breath.
A miracle.
That was the one thing that absolutely must not happen for them right now.