Vol. 1 Ch. 18

“Cut! Here!”

The tension on set suddenly eased at the director’s shout. The quiet surroundings became noisy in an instant as people gathered their equipment and chatted here and there. Just then, the director called Naomi, and she left her seat and headed to his. Chase also got up.

Josh, who had been standing a little distance away while filming and had been observing him and his surroundings, immediately started walking. He had to stay with Chase until he returned to the trailer.

Laura, his secretary, was also waiting nearby. She followed Chase faster than Josh. Chase took the water she offered him, took a sip, and then his face twisted. Everyone, including Josh, immediately became tense.

Chase then mercilessly threw away the remaining half of the plastic bottle. The water bottle hit the floor and splashed everywhere, but no one complained. Laura carefully asked why.

“Um, is there anything you don’t like… …? If the brand is the problem, I’ll prepare a different water.”

Chase looked down at her with a scary gaze. He opened his mouth to Laura, who was startled.

“It smells like Omega.”

“Huh?”

Laura blinked in confusion. Josh was also startled, but he was innocent because he didn’t go near the water. Besides, Chase had been getting irritated and irritated over trivial things ever since they started filming. Josh, who thought about all these things, was relieved, but on the other hand, he couldn’t help but feel stung. While she watched silently, Laura hurriedly continued.

“I’m sorry, what happened… … . I’ll check it out and be careful in the future. Among the staff, Omega clearly told them not to get involved with Mr. Miller’s stuff, but how did it… … .”

She was embarrassed, and then she hurriedly chased after Chase, who seemed to be angry and walking faster than usual.

“Mr. Miller, I’m sorry, but I’d like you to check this part.”

Chase looked at her with annoyance, and then unexpectedly made eye contact with Josh. Josh smiled out of habit. However, Chase turned his head away, completely ignoring him with a blank expression.

Josh scratched his head in embarrassment at the cold reaction. A staff member who happened to be passing by smiled and greeted him, and he smiled back. He immediately fixed his gaze on Chase again, but he just kept walking forward. Since that day, they hadn’t talked or even made eye contact properly.

Josh took it for granted. What happened in the garden that day was just to make fun of him, and he thought it was natural that he felt bitter now.

Nearly ten days had already passed. In the meantime, filming had begun, and Josh had become somewhat accustomed to his black hair.

The original novel of the movie had been published for over ten years. Since it has a long history and many fans, there was a huge fuss when the news of its film adaptation first came out. However, the fuss was even bigger when it was revealed that Chase would play the role of Dr. Flame.

Dr. Flame, played by Chase, was not the main character, but he was a role on par with the main character, and he was an anti-hero throughout the series. He was a very attractive character who opposed the main character, so he had quite a few fans, but the problem was that these fans were very extreme.

Before the photos of him with his hair dyed black were released, they all shouted, “Chase Miller is not good!” They said that he didn’t suit him.

Afterwards, when the photos of him as Dr. Flame were released, they shouted again, “Chase Miller is not good!” They said that he suited him, but he didn’t suit him. The reasons changed every time, but the conclusion was the same.

In any case, people hate others for their own reasons. Up until now, there were as many antis as there were fans, so the controversy was fully expected. And the sparks spread from the production company to Keith Pittman, who assigned the role. Of course, Pittman didn’t even bat an eyelash. And then filming finally began.

Josh believed that all the controversy would die down once the movie was released. His scenes in the movie weren’t that many, but even just passing by on one side of the screen made him feel important. Plus, when he spoke his lines, even the staff held their breath and listened. Anyone could tell that he was Dr. Flame at that moment.

But when the cut sounded, he immediately turned back into Chase Miller. Everyone avoided him, and he accepted it as a given. Even now, he just walked straight ahead and entered the trailer.

The eyes that had been focused on his disappearance in an instant soon scattered here and there. Josh, who had been tense throughout the filming, also sighed in relief. Of course, everyone else felt the same.

Now, he could rest a little until the next scene. He switched places with Isaac and went to get some coffee.

“Hello, Josh.”

One of the staff members pretended to know. I heard that the short woman, who was about as tall as Josh’s shoulder, was another actor’s secretary. He briefly wondered what her name was, but fortunately she had a name tag on her. Josh smiled and greeted her.

“Hello, Heather.”

She continued with a faint blush on her cheeks.

“Is Mr. Miller finished filming today?”

“No, there’s one more scene in the afternoon. Another member will be coming. I’m just going to drink this coffee and take a break.”

“It must be hard to be guarded all the time. Mr. Miller also seems to receive a lot of threats.”

“It’s my job, so there’s nothing I can do.”

Heather gave a short laugh when he answered softly. They talked for a few more words, but when they turned around, Josh couldn’t remember a single word. And he had a few more meaningless conversations with a few more people as he headed to the trailer where the security guards were staying.@@novelbin@@

As soon as he got back to the dorm, Josh went into the makeshift shower, washed himself up, and lay down on the bed in the corner. The other men who were already asleep snored here and there. Josh tossed and turned and fell asleep after a while.

“Then I’ll take care of that. I have about two hours to spare, so should I let you know when it’s time?”

Chase said no without even looking at Laura’s businesslike voice.

“Okay.”

“Okay. If you need anything, just call me.”

She quickly backed away and left the trailer. Chase took off his uncomfortable clothes, threw them carelessly on the chair, and fell down on the bed. He wasn’t particularly sleepy. As he tossed and turned, the bottle of medicine on the desk suddenly caught his eye. His secretary had prepared it for him. He slowly sat up and scanned the letters on the label without meaning.

He felt the urge to fill his mouth with medicine, but there was only enough for one dose. Since the big fuss she caused when she emptied a whole bottle of pills in one go, Laura always left only the prescribed amount. Even so, it was more than the usual amount, and Chase always took the maximum prescribed amount. During filming, he often took more than that. This time was no different.

Chase tilted the bottle and placed a large number of pills on his palm, looked down at them, put them in his mouth, and swallowed them. Only after he emptied all the water in the bottle did he finally lean against the wall again.

Outside, the faint sound of people laughing and talking continued. Inside the trailer, it was just deathly quiet. To the point where the sound of his own breathing was burdensome.

*@Punhap*

The scheduled filming that day was an explosion scene, so the staff had been tense since the day before. It was difficult to even give the engine because it was a scene that burned down a building. It was always burdensome to finish a scene in one go, but the responsibility was even greater because it was a dangerous scene.

Josh stood at a distance, watching Chase as usual, leaving the professional staff behind, recalculating and checking the weight of the explosives several times. He and Naomi stood next to the director and listened to the explanation of the scene.

“The explosion is going to start there, so you have to jump around there. Safety is the top priority, so be careful. Let’s rehearse first.”

There was a lot to do, starting with installing the safety devices. Naomi smiled and joked as usual.

“If you do it wrong, it’ll be overcooked. I like it rare.”

Another staff member laughed at that.