I’m Not That Obsessive

Chapter 72

“Here, your new phone. Use this from now on. I bought one for you when I got a new one for myself. I forgot to give it to you earlier.”

I quietly looked down at the white phone Mitchell held out to me.

“Why did you buy one when my phone is fine?”

“I told you, I bought it while getting mine. Also to change your number.”

“You’re changing my number?”

“Yeah. You know how the people who know your old number are… well, you know?”

I easily thought of Junman hyung and Yoon Inbeom. There was no contact from hyung, but Inbeom called occasionally. Each time, Inbeom would curse Mitchell, not knowing I had put him on speakerphone.

That day, Mitchell was sitting next to me, looking at the script. Then, the clueless Inbeom started spouting nonsense.

“It must be uncomfortable with Mitchell at home. Why don’t you come to my place instead? Your leg is injured too. I’ll take care of everything for you. Hey, I’m just bored. It’s Koreans helping each other out, you know?”

I translated Inbeom’s words to Mitchell without missing a single syllable. It was as natural as breathing, so there was nothing to hide.

Since then, Mitchell’s eyes would change whenever Inbeom’s name was mentioned. That might have been the reason for changing my phone number.

“Well, okay… I’ll use this. Thanks. Is it the latest model?”

“Yeah. I’ll take your old one.”

Mitchell took my now outdated old phone. He put it in his back pocket, smiling brightly. His expression was like a soccer player who had dodged tackles and scored a goal.

Seeing his face full of ulterior motives, I immediately caught on.

“Your naked video is on there! Are you taking it to delete it?”

Who are you trying to fool! Caught you red-handed!

“Ha, Geon-woo.”

I was impressed by my own sharp deduction, but Mitchell mocked me.

“I can take a hundred more of those for you. Want me to strip now? I’ll put it on your new phone.”

Ah. Haha.

I guess, given what kind of relationship we have these days.

I’m not the innocent me who was shocked at seeing a naked body anymore. As Mitchell said, we could take dozens of videos a day if we wanted to.

The value of the first naked video was practically gone, so I quickly let go of the old phone.

“…It’s fine.”

“If you’re that disappointed, let’s film something fun tonight.”

“Ah! I said it’s fine.”

Not knowing what outrageous demands he might make while filming, I quickly turned away. That was the end of my words.

On the other hand, Mitchell, who had more to say, casually mentioned the rest before disappearing from the living room.

“By the way, your phone is location-tracked. I set it up.”

Um… wait, what?

I just blinked stupidly.

***

With all the lead and supporting actors for “Fail to Start” decided, filming accelerated. I could now walk without crutches, just limping slightly.

I still couldn’t walk perfectly, but luckily, the initial setting was a hospital. I played the role of a patient hospitalized for a minor accident.

You could say it was a somewhat cliché encounter of falling in love with a doctor.

Actually, lately I’ve been quite worried about this film. Even after receiving the completed script, I couldn’t find any noteworthy points. There were no great plot twists, no moving dialogues, no situations that aroused expectations. It felt like something was missing.

In this case, we could only rely on visually striking imagery or skillful editing at the right moments, but I doubted if the direction could overturn all of that.

There was a big difference between the draft I saw before and the current final version. To be honest, if I had received this scenario in Korea, I would have rejected it immediately.

This couldn’t be attributed to Director Angelio’s insight. They said script revisions happened along with the change in production company, so it seemed the problems started there.

Why is a master like Director Angelio being swayed by the production company? My concerns deepened.

That’s how “Fail to Start” began production. Although it was Director Angelio’s new work, due to constant issues with the production company, filming proceeded in an unintentionally depressed atmosphere.

Filming started with the first meeting between Thompson (as Thomas) and me (as Lil) on the hospital set.

I looked around the set, caught up in a strange feeling. I had frequently visited the “Racing Instinct” set too, but that was just following Mitchell. Standing on set as an actor after a long time made my heart flutter for no reason. Despite the unfavorable situation in many ways, since it had come to this, I wanted to do my best.

Thompson, whom I had already met during script reading, was more difficult than he looked.

He’s the same height as me but lifts his chin to look down on me, always gives monosyllabic answers to my questions, and maintains a sullen expression with his British gentleman-like face.

But once filming starts, he becomes the kindest person in the world. His acting of hiding his true self was flawless.

I recently learned that he was gay. Thompson had proudly come out on social media, and it didn’t seem to have caused major issues in his career. He had continued to make movies even after coming out.

Looking at Thompson, I gained a bit of hope. If, by any chance, though it’s unlikely, but if the day ever comes when Mitchell reveals to the public that he’s gay, I hoped Mitchell could continue acting without major restrictions like Thompson. I hoped fans would continue to like him too.

Of course, given his public image, Mitchell would probably face a much bigger impact than Thompson if he came out…

Although Mitchell’s fans are all my hidden rivals, I dislike seeing Mitchell lose fans and struggle even more.

Mitchell should always be confident, shameless, difficult, half-crazy, manic… anyway, isn’t he best when he’s just being himself like now?

I absolutely refuse to see Mitchell intimidated and struggling because of others.

Time flew by as I was lost in thoughts of Mitchell while simultaneously rushing through filming. Then suddenly, amid some commotion, Mitchell appeared.

He had said he’d drop by the set, but I didn’t expect him to make such a grand entrance.

“I came to support the director’s new work. Also because I owe you a meal from before.”

After casually greeting the surprised staff, Mitchell chatted with Director Angelio, smiling. Director Angelio didn’t seem surprised. He had probably gotten permission to visit the set in advance. Meanwhile, snacks prepared by Mitchell arrived on set.

Staff members who somehow knew about this gathered in small groups. I could see people chatting outside the window, holding macarons, sandwiches, and coffee.

“Mitchell is so generous. That place usually doesn’t take separate orders because of long wait times. It’s really expensive.”

A staff member next to me whispered among themselves. They looked ready to go out right now and get some food.

“Really? As expected of Mitchell, his spending is as beautiful as his looks.”

“My wish is to hold hands with Mitchell. Should I try falling in front of him as he passes by?”

“What if you end up kissing him when you do that?”

“Oh my god!”

Listening to the excited conversation between the two, I flinched. I glanced at Mitchell talking with the director from afar, then quickly approached the staff.

“You’re saying you’ll fall in front of Mitchell? No, that won’t do.”

I offered a brief opinion on ‘that plan’.

“You don’t seem to know how nasty his personality is. It won’t end with just getting cursed at. He’s the type to grab you by the collar and throw you to the ground. That guy.”

I blatantly interfered. It wasn’t something I should say after claiming I didn’t want to see Mitchell lose fans and struggle, but I couldn’t help but eliminate the visible enemies in front of me.

“How do you know, Geon-woo?”

“I’ve experienced it. I fell in front of Mitchell once and got a real scolding. You shouldn’t associate with him if you can help it. Don’t even try to create coincidental situations.”

Then the staff member with a bob cut gave me a strange look.

“Isn’t that just because it was you, Geon-woo?”

This woman didn’t listen to a word I said. Well, I guess how he treats men and women would be different from the start. She seems to think there’s a difference between me falling towards Mitchell and her falling.

But if you don’t know, you should keep quiet.

Mitchell likes men!

I was itching to tell her she was under a grand misconception.

“They say you and Mitchell are close, but you’re teasing too much.”

Now the staff member just dismissed my sincere advice as a joke. I didn’t mind the part about Mitchell and I being close, so I let it slide with a smile. It seemed our frequent closeness had become a rumor even here.

“Is it that obvious?”

I left with a good-natured smile. Then I went straight to Mitchell. I greeted him briefly and joined the conversation between Mitchell and the director. I showed off to the bob-cut staff member that I was close with Mitchell.

That’s right. I’m close with Mitchell. While your wish is to hold Mitchell’s hand, I’ve even grabbed Mitchell’s lower parts. It was warmer than hands.

My shoulders rose to the sky.

After a short break, filming resumed. Mitchell didn’t leave right away but sat in a corner to watch the filming. I knew he had “Racing Instinct” filming today, so I wondered how he had made time.

Thinking I’d ask him later, I focused on my acting for now.

It was a scene where Thomas and Lil exchange subtle emotions after their first meeting. For example, I had to act like Thomas was flirting with Lil and Lil was secretly enjoying it. It wasn’t easy to grasp the emotional line due to the weak script, but I did my best. And so did Thompson. As the filming cue dropped, Thompson began acting, giving me an intense gaze.

“Lil, your smiling face looks just like a cat.”

“A cat?”

“Yes. It’s not easy to approach because you seem prickly, but once we get close, you rub your head against me?”

“That’s a compliment, right?”

“It is a compliment.”

Thompson carefully placed his hand on my shoulder. I showed a slightly shy expression before smiling towards Thompson.

Feeling this wasn’t enough, I took a more active approach. I pressed my cheek against Thompson’s hand. Like a wary cat rubbing its head against a trusted person.

Ah, isn’t this what I did to Mitchell?

“Cut! Well done. It’s better than before. I think we can use this… Just a moment.”

Behind the director monitoring, I saw Mitchell.

“……”

As soon as our eyes met, I turned my head away. Mitchell was looking at me with eyes full of murderous intent, as if he was about to devour me. What’s even scarier is that he was smiling.