MY ACTOR | woosan

chapter nine

choi san was the center of attention, wherever he went.

he greatly owed all of it to the fact that he was an actor, and an incredibly popular one at that; some might see him as a snob of some sort for acknowledging it, but there was nothing wrong in being realistic. there was a thin line between speaking the truth and being an ego tripper. when it came to scrutiny and affection, he was on the receiving end thanks to all his fans and followers who constantly put him in the spotlight, even on a pedestal and looked up to him like he were a preacher of morals, all when he was just a simple actor.

every single one of his works in films and shows were hits, and that was a given, no matter whether they were banal and trite or straight up masterpieces; that was how blinded a fandom could get out of love and obsession. maybe a large part of the credit went to his good looks and chivalry, which he often displayed with his female co-stars or even his fans, sometimes.

but san didn't hate being the center of focus. to put it simply, he enjoyed it, even. the love and support was like food to his ego, though nothing comes for free, not even fame. with immense popularity comes an actuality that san quite disliked; the obligation of having to take accountability for certain things whether he liked it or not.

perhaps that was what he found most overwhelming about notability- to all the people that looked up to him for god fucking knows what, san had to set a good example. but why did he have to do that? he was an actor, not a priest- yet everytime san repeated these same few words to his manager, he'd say the exact same thing over and over again; 'if you want your career to be stable like it is now, your reputation has to be equally as invincible.' accompanied with a light smack to the back of his head.

and so he did it- he gave the world his little hubby material facade-but he was human too, and humans needed a break every now and then to hold themselves down from acting up. he'd decided now was the time for a break.

san downed his fourth kamikaze shot and slammed the glass back down on the table, leaning his head back.

"slow down, big boy." seonghwa stared in amusement from the seat across him, chuckling and taking small sips of the almost empty beer glass in his hand. a lopsided smile pulled on san's face and he laughed along with him quietly, fingers circling the rim of the shot glass.

"ah, i've had a lot on my plate lately." he groaned, looking up at seonghwa. "alcohol really does make everything better."

"take it down a notch," the CEO of their agency, mr. wong, joined in and teased. "can't lose my two best actors to alcoholism."

even though the entire media portrayed park seonghwa and choi san to be rivals seeing how the two of them are equally as desired in the film industry, they were actually close behind the scenes. choi san took up the role of the hot-headed and stubborn friend-the colossal jerk-and park seonghwa was like his xanax pill; compatible, adjusting and cool. thanks to that, choi san rarely ever felt any competitive tension with his best friend.

just like they always did, seonghwa and san were at a mostly unoccupied tent bar past midnight so they could do normal people stuff while keeping their identities on the down-low; only this time, their boss had decided to join in. not like choi san hated the spotlight- this was just a particularly undesirable time to be seen outside, considering how he'd been in the spotlight again recently, for the wrong reasons. all the news circulating about the dating scandal and other insignificant slander practically forced choi san to lay low for a little while.

"back to business," wong enunciated, throwing a script folder on the desk and leaning back in the chair with his arms crossed. "san, why don't you take this one up? pretty sure you'd like it. script reading is in 3 weeks from now and filming-"

"ughh." seonghwa groaned. "can we not talk about work here? can't you tell we came here to do anything but work? heck, san even brought his own vodka bottle."

wong deadpanned back at the boy before looking at san with convincing eyes. "this could be a good opportunity for you, san. people will just move on from that silly scandal like nothing happened, if you act like nothing happened too. besides, you boys have been letting yourselves loose lately." wong reprimanded, snatching the beer glass from seonghwa's loose grip.

seonghwa didn't hate his job, san knew that. he just liked to lay around and do nothing. san was like that too, to some extent. he did feel some sort of unease about strolling around with no work to do. but at the end of the day, everybody needed a break.

plus, the two of them were too drunk to talk business. san groaned, having swigged 3 more shots in the little time that his manager was talking to him and seonghwa. the thumping of noise grew louder and louder in san's ears to the point where the noise muffled and he let out an intoxicated sigh, eyes hardly open, head hanging low and lolling around.

seonghwa raised his eyebrows and keenly watched san. he then reached to move the vodka bottle away from him quietly. "how am i gonna get this beefcake home if he keeps this up? i think we should go home now." he half-complained, to which san shook his head loosely.

"i can take care of myself." he somehow managed to blurt that out without stuttering. san's alcohol tolerance was good in the sense that it completely did make him lose most of his common sense, but at least it still let him walk on his own two feet and talk somewhat fluent. he cracked his neck to the side a little before getting up, shoving his hands in his pockets. "thanks for coming out guys. later," and with a sleazy wave, he was out.

winter breezes were as prominent as ever, but san felt hot. he unbuttoned a bit of his black button up shirt and rubbed the back of his neck, face red from intoxication.

"can't get rid of me that quick, fucker." a voice crept up from behind him, jogging up to san's pace and covering his head with a black cap. "you need to learn a thing or two about blending in from your big bro." seonghwa joked, and san uninterestedly took note of his outfit, humming in response.

"i'm older by 2 years." san reminded. seonghwa chuckled at that. "you know my apartment's like right there," san pointed ahead, "you can go home, man."

seonghwa slung his arm over his moderately drunk friend's shoulder, pulling him closer. "ah, i'll just walk you up to make sure you don't pass out somewhere."

"i'm not even that drunk."

"you're unpredictable. plus, your alcohol tolerance is also reeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally bad and you're going to feel the burn tomorrow."

"you talk a whole lot for a guy who needs to lean on me for support because he can't walk in a straight line over a single glass of beer."

seonghwa blurted out a funny laugh, stumbling over his feet and pushing san over in the process. "you're right. drunk off my ass, probably going to pass out on your bed. haha. ahaha."

san groaned, holding the boy by his shoulders side by side to keep him steady. he hung his head down upon spotting a group of people ahead and adjusted the brim of his cap. he let go of seonghwa upon nearing his apartment complex, cracking his stiff neck once more. seonghwa mumbled random words under his breath- ones that were probably made up- and san gave the pathetic boy an irritated glance before facing the wind.

to the left of the building, he spotted a vaguely familiar man with a black ponytail in a tank top walking to the entrance, chest heaving up and down, sweating all over. san normally wouldn't give a fuck about who did what; it was just, considering the time of day-1 am- he was quite curious as to why his neighbor thought it would be a good idea to go to the gym, or whatever else he had been up to. in a drunken daze, he stared at the man for a fleeting second with a peculiar glint in his eyes and watched as he took a swig of water from his bottle.

choi san couldn't even remember the guy's name; all he knew, was that he was strange. all the strange things he did, even strangely, piqued san's interest just the slightest bit.

with a small shake of his head, he diverted his attention back to his drunken friend who'd gone back to leaning on him like a pest.