{Look, look! Selena used to comment on my posts and respond from time to time. But she hasn’t done that ever since I wrote that message about you and uploaded it,} Dustin exclaimed as he showed Woo-Jin his phone.
{Maybe it’s just a coincidence, and she’s just busy these days. Or maybe she’s lost all interest in you?}
Dustin’s face slowly crumpled as though he was about to cry the longer Woo-Jin spoke. It felt like he would start bawling his eyes out at any moment, so Woo-Jin had no choice but to comfort him in the end.
{I don’t know what she does, but if she’s in the film industry, it might be that she’s just really busy with the Academy Awards next month.}
Woo-Jin didn’t know anything about Selena, so he randomly blabbered something believable, to which Dustin’s eyes shone with hope for a moment.
But the light in his eyes disappeared immediately, and he shook his head with a sullen look.
{Selena works for a company that just sponsors the film festivals, so she’s not particularly busy at this time of the year. She has never been so indifferent towards me.}
{Then maybe she’s dating someone now?}
Woo-Jin spat out some words without much thought, but before he could even finish his sentence, Dustin despaired as though he was witnessing the end of the world.
Dustin really was born to be an actor since he could change from being perfectly normal to despairing in an instant. In any case, Woo-Jin gently consoled the heartbroken man.
{Well, who knows? Maybe you’re right. She might not have been jealous when you were trying to date other women because she noticed you weren’t being sincere about it. But since you’re being genuinely affectionate towards me….}
Woo-Jin couldn’t finish his sentence out of embarrassment. But Dustin smirked and nodded in agreement with Woo-Jin’s words. Because of how pure and honest Dustin was, Woo-Jin couldn’t help but open up his own heart in the end.
{How can I help you out?}
Soon enough, Woo-Jin extended a helping hand, albeit figuratively.
He was in no position to help anyone right now, but because he had experience dating someone, he could understand Dustin’s feelings a little.
Unless they had experienced it before, one could not understand the desperation and zeal Dustin felt that he’d grasp at straws.
Woo-Jin leaned forward and beckoned Dustin to approach with his hand. Dustin also leaned forward until they were face-to-face and answered Woo-Jin’s question.
{I’ve been thinking to myself for a long time about why Selena won’t accept my feelings.}
Dustin sniffled lightly as though he was offended by his own words.
{And there can only be one answer to that! She doesn’t see me as a man because she’s known me since childhood.}
They were 10 years old when they first met, so they had known each other for roughly 18 years.
{I don’t know about that. If we went with that logic, you shouldn’t see Selena as a woman either. Wait, no, my bad. I was wrong. Don’t cry!}
As Dustin’s deep [1]brown eyes got watery, he looked like a young boy with a wounded heart.
Woo-Jin silently pondered as he looked at him. Maybe Dustin was right.
Dustin started his career in his teens, so people didn’t really remember him as childish or cute as other child actors.
However, he did look lively and youthful, reinforcing his image as a boy. In fact, Dustin’s nicknames were ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Dreaming Boy.’
Despite his age, Dustin retained his innocence and looked cheerful and pure, so women called him their eternal little brother.
Even though he was a drunkard and everyone knew that he loved alcohol, his image was never tarnished. The reason was that he always fell asleep when drunk; thus, he never caused any real trouble.
He never did anything scandalous while drunk. All he did was go out, drink with friends, get drunk and fall asleep wherever he was, which didn’t really create a bad image.
He had a pretty good reputation compared to other celebrities who caused scandals with their chaotic personal lives and drug addictions.
In that sense, if this were South Korea, Dustin would be considered the nation’s cute and endearing younger brother.
No matter how handsome he looked now, those who had seen him since his teenage years still looked for the innocent young boy in him.
And maybe Selena was thinking that way too. In fact, women had polar opposite opinions about men who needed to be looked after that varied from one extreme to another.
{Are you certain she’s interested in you?}
This was the most important issue above everything else. Not only was it foolish to shoot your shot when there was no target, but there was nothing more exhausting and disgusting than having someone constantly clinging onto you even though you weren’t interested in them.
They could basically be considered stalkers.
However, Dustin was very confident in his gut feeling about this matter.
{It’s not my imagination. She really does like me. It’s just that she doesn’t see me as a man….}
That was the most important issue, but Woo-Jin decided not to refute Dustin and moved on to the next subject.
{What’s her personality like?}
{She has always been mature and calm since a young age. She can be a bit cold, but she’s very rational and righteous, so she can’t tolerate it when someone is being harassed for no reason. Isn’t she so cool?}
{If that’s how you see her, then it must be true. But what do you mean by righteous? Did you fall in love with her when she confronted you and said she’d never forgive you as you were harassing someone?}
Although Woo-Jin thought it was unlikely, considering how kind-hearted Dustin was, he could imagine such a situation happening during their school years.
He could see the scene in his mind. A boy who had gone astray, falling in love with a righteous girl and turning over a new leaf. Woo-Jin grinned in satisfaction as he watched it play out in front of his closed eyes.
{No, it was actually the opposite. Selena was the one who rescued me from my friends when they were harassing me. Despite how I look now, I used to be quite short and weak when I was younger. She suddenly appeared in front of me and saved me like a hero of justice. She was so freaking cool!}
Dustin laughed cheerfully as he recalled that day, but Woo-Jin couldn’t laugh along.
It was a somewhat typical story where one couldn’t stay back when seeing others being harmed. But Woo-Jin could never have imagined that Dustin was the victim.
Dustin had a very kind personality and was quite muscular right now, so he couldn’t imagine the American actor going around getting beat up.
{Selena saved you? Not the other way around?} Woo-Jin asked for clarifications.
{Yeah. Selena kept me by her side and always protected me afterward.}
{For how long? I mean, she couldn’t have kept protecting you forever.}
{Hmm, I think she stopped when I suddenly grew taller and the other kids couldn’t mess with me anymore,} Dustin replied.
Woo-Jin became certain after hearing Dustin’s answer. He had finally found the last piece of the puzzle to solve the mystery behind Selena’s actions.
Woo-Jin then asked Dustin to see his social media to confirm his suspicions.
Even though social media was meant to be seen by people, there were definitely some personal and private aspects. But Dustin took out his phone and showed his profile with no hesitation.
Woo-Jin checked each and every one of Dustin’s posts over the past month.
There were so many comments on each post that Woo-Jin couldn’t find Selena’s. But Dustin was able to find them immediately and kept pointing them out to help the Korean actor.
Woo-Jin’s purpose was to check Selena’s usual reactions to Dustin’s posts and see when she stopped commenting on his social media.
Dustin’s social media was mostly filled with posts about his friends — who he met that day, who he hung out with, and all kinds of similar stories.
Although she didn’t always comment, Selena occasionally wrote Dustin some advice as she worried about him, such as ‘don’t drink too much’ or ‘I hope you find a friend who will truly take good care of you.’
She definitely cared for Dustin, but her comments reflected the affection and love of a thoughtful sister who worried for her younger brother.
And from a certain moment onwards, Dustin started posting pictures with Woo-Jin and writing about the progress of the movies.
In reality, Dustin did continue drinking during that time, but he didn’t show such signs and didn’t mention any drunk stories anymore.
The comments on his posts also got a lot more positive. Needless to say, people were still posting malicious and hateful comments, but they had definitely decreased in number compared to before. Most people were supportive and cheered for Dustin on his social media nowadays.
“If I were your older brother, I would feel very relieved seeing your social media now.”
{Hm? What did you say?}
As Woo-Jin spoke in Korean, Dustin tilted his head in confusion and curiosity as he wanted to know what Woo-Jin had said.
{There’s nothing to nitpick or nag you about.}
{Were you trying to find an excuse on my social media to nag me?}
“No, not me but your ‘sister.’”
Woo-Jin turned to Dustin with a dark gaze.
According to his hypothesis, Selena was feeling relieved and not jealous right now.
She worried whenever Dustin hung out with bad friends and drank himself to sleep pathetically. But since Dustin was doing well recently, she had no reason to nag him anymore.
Dustin couldn’t be more wrong about Selena’s feelings than he was now. How was Woo-Jin supposed to fake a bromance with such an idiot?
{Upload the photo you took of us just now and write the caption exactly as I tell you.}
Dustin followed suit, despite not knowing Woo-Jin’s intentions.
He wondered why Woo-Jin wanted to write such a caption, but Dustin still acted as Woo-Jin instructed with a confused face. Seeing the naive expression on his face, Woo-Jin could somewhat understand why Selena cared for Dustin so much.
“If she’s feeling relieved now, we need to make her worry about you again.”
Woo-Jin needed to know how exactly Selena felt about Dustin first and foremost.
He had to figure out whether she was just treating Dustin as a boy she had to look after or whether she was hiding complicated feelings deep inside her heart.
In order to do that, they needed to provoke her.
***
Hugh Miller didn’t visit the film set frequently.
He had the belief that a screenwriter should not visit the set and intervene in the filming process more than necessary. It was the on-site staff and actors’ job and responsibility to breathe life into the words the screenwriter had written in the script.
As a screenwriter and producer, Hugh did everything he could to ensure the production flow was smooth while ensuring that the director’s independence was not compromised.
However, it was extremely important for him to visit the set once in a while to check the progress, discuss the details with the director, and make sure they were all on the same page.
Today was one of those days.
He met with the actors, talked about the characters, answered some questions, and inspected the set. He also didn’t forget to carefully check the props and backgrounds to see whether there were any differences from what had been arranged.
{Those two have weirdly been getting along these days.}
Rayford suddenly spoke in a quiet voice next to Hugh as he pointed toward Woo-Jin and Dustin.
{You told them to get closer even if they had to force it.}
At Hugh’s blunt response, Rayford flailed his hands to show that wasn’t what he meant.
{I was expecting this to happen for Dustin, but it’s Genie who surprised me,} Rayford explained.
Dustin seldom gave up on someone once he started liking them, even if they had some flaws. He was very loyal to people, making him the perfect target for swindlers and liars.
On the other hand, while Rayford didn’t know much about Woo-Jin, he did know that the Korean actor wasn’t the type to easily place his trust in someone.
Although he was fundamentally polite and kind, that didn’t mean he opened up his heart to anyone.
It was quite obvious that Woo-Jin kept a reasonable distance from people he didn’t get along with when interacting with them. In fact, it was evident in the way he treated Dustin before.
During their first meeting, Dustin felt somewhat competitive against Woo-Jin, but he also treated the Korean actor with basic goodwill and kindness.
However, Woo-Jin never expanded his comfort zone and drew a clear line between the two. He always stood right on the line and kept an appropriate distance from Dustin.
The reason behind his actions was obvious. No matter how good of a person Dustin was, the friends he hung around with had a lot of problems. And no matter how much someone cherished Dustin, it was concerning how he drowned himself in alcohol with no restraint.
Rayford had cast Dustin as no one was more suitable for the role of Robert than him. But seeing the actor’s personal circumstances, the director was getting quite anxious.
Dustin was facing issues that he should’ve experienced ages ago when he was rising as a successful young actor. What’s more, at a time when he felt skeptical and doubtful about his family and friends as a successful global star, Dustin only thought about escaping from reality through alcohol, which was pitiful to watch.
Thus, even though Rayford had asked Woo-Jin to hang out with Dustin more, he still pondered about his request a lot.
Two feelings were clashing inside of Rayford. He worried that Woo-Jin would get caught up in Dustin’s problems but also trusted the Korean actor to handle the global star appropriately without being swayed or shaken.
In fact, if it weren’t for his alcoholism, Dustin was one of the few good people in Hollywood, so it was quite regrettable how this flaw was holding Dustin back.
As Hugh and Rayford had initially expected, Woo-Jin behaved in a friendly manner with Dustin but also kept his distance.
But Rayford pointed out that their relationship seemed to have changed a few days ago.
{You might not notice it since you haven’t seen them in a while, but Genie has been keeping Dustin by his side and taking care of him. Would you believe me if I said that Dustin hasn’t drunk any alcohol in ten days?}
{Seriously?}
Although it seemed like a mediocre achievement for most people, it was an extraordinary feat for Dustin.
Speaking of which, there were no photos of Dustin being drunk and carried to a car or a picture of him squatting asleep in the corner of a party hall in the recent entertainment news and gossip magazines.
With a new sense of awe, Hugh examined Woo-Jin and Dustin once more.
Now that he was observing them closely, he started to notice the small details he had missed at first. It was difficult to explain in detail, but Woo-Jin was definitely the one in charge, with the initiative in their relationship now.
Dustin was like a loyal dog who nodded his head to everything Woo-Jin said. In fact, his face looked much brighter and more cheerful than before.
{They’re getting along really well.}
{Right? Don’t they remind you of us?}
{…}
{At the very least, the way they create beautiful scenery just by standing side-by-side is just like us with our good looks and charisma.}
Hugh was about to violently slap away his friend’s hand resting on his shoulder but stopped when he heard the rest of Rayford’s sentence.
{For once, I agree with you.}
As Hugh and Rayford fell deeper down the rabbit hole of narcissism, the staff members signaled that they were ready to shoot.
{Alright then, let’s get started!}
The people making preparations in their respective areas began to gather in one place at Rayford’s call.
{Ready? Action~!}
Once they received the director’s signal, the actors continued creating a new story in the world created by the staff.
1. Previously in Ch 178, Dustin’s eyes were described as light brown eyes, but here it’s described as 깊은 갈색 which is deep brown. We have kept it as it was written in the raws. ☜
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