The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 80

In the blink of an eye, everything changed.

I found myself standing alone.

In the now-familiar black space.

The old-fashioned hanok and the giggling gangsters were nowhere to be seen.

‘I’m back.’

Even the bandages that had been wrapped around my hand until a moment ago were gone.

I clenched and unclenched my painless hand. It really felt like a dream.

Standing still, I looked up at the sky.

“……When do I get my prize?”

I had answered correctly, after all.

It felt embarrassing to mutter into the air, but it was worth a try.

Soon, I heard laughter.

[Removing the hallucination is the prize… You’re more greedy than you look.]

It felt like a voice floating around me, as if it had a shape.

[If you want, I can give you more. Is there anything you desire?]

“Do you know where Mist is? If you do, can you call him for me?”

I didn’t know what was going on, but I had a rough idea.

The gangsters pretending in front of me just now and all…

There was a high chance they were the same ‘species’ Mist had mentioned on the first day.

Judging by the way they handled hallucinations so freely, they were a higher existence than Mist.

[Is there a reason you’re looking for that kid?]

“Huh? I just wanted to see his face…. Why? Is something wrong?”

An uneasy feeling started to creep up on me.

Surely nothing had happened during that time.

Without realizing it, I frowned, but the voice that returned was so relaxed.

[You’re indeed a fascinating kid, just as I heard. There’s a reason everyone is paying attention to you.]

“Could you answer quickly, please? Is something wrong with Mist? Is he okay?”

[You don’t need to worry about that kid. It’s amusing to see a mere human worrying about a yokai. Just wait.]

A yokai?

Before I could fully process the unexpected word, something flew rapidly towards me.

I caught it reflexively without thinking.

I felt a soft texture in my hand. It was a familiar face.

―Whimper….

[He can’t speak in that state, so just soothe him appropriately.]

A white dog with a black right paw whimpered as it clung to my hand.

Its body was trembling, so I hurriedly adjusted my hold.

“Do you know why he can’t speak in this state?”

[Of course. I know.]

Perhaps because I held him deeply, his moist nose tickled my nape.

It was quite bothersome, but I decided to speak up, thinking it was a chance to solve my pent-up curiosity.

“Then could you explain instead―.”

[Child, the hallucination just now was created by me.]

“Huh?”

[And the extreme confusion you felt before that was also my doing. Do you know why I did that?]

How would I know?

Frustration surged at the slow speech and endless questions.

I consciously unfurrowed my brows.

Patience, they could be Mist’s family.

“I don’t know. Why did you do it?”

[It’s because of your actions. You even did it just now. Foolish human, you keep repeating your mistakes. Do you know what mistake you made?]

“……Sigh.”

A sigh naturally escaped my lips from the frustration rising to my throat.

What was this, a game of twenty questions? What was he trying to do?

“Excuse me.”

I gritted my teeth and spat out my words.

“If you’re intentionally being roundabout, please stop. If you’re not trying to irritate me, you should change your way of speaking. This isn’t helping the conversation at all. Even if we set aside how it makes me feel, there’s a purpose to this conversation, right? If you’re calling me a child, it means you’re an adult. Haven’t you heard such things from people around you?”

[…….]

Only after speaking quickly without a break did I feel the extreme irritation heating my body.

Maybe because I had endured too long in an incomprehensible situation, I felt irritated just breathing.

Mist, perhaps startled by the harsh atmosphere, stopped whimpering and shrank back, so I held back my sighs as much as I could.

“I’m sorry for being rude, but it would be great if you could speak more clearly.”

[……Your mistake was having curiosity.]

“What?”

[Unmanageable curiosity is a sin. Don’t be curious, don’t have questions. I came to warn you.]

‘Don’t have questions.’

While I was chewing over what it meant, Mist, who had been quiet, leaned his head against me.

I came to my senses at the weight on my shoulder. Right, what does it matter.

“Okay. I’ll do that.”

Whether it was a black stone or something sticky, I just shouldn’t be curious.

It would be frustrating, but it wasn’t impossible.

I just had to act like I did before I met Mist.

When there was no one to ask even if I wanted to.

“Can I ask one last thing?”

[What is it?]

“If I don’t get curious, in other words, if I don’t make mistakes, nothing will go wrong, right? Mist won’t disappear like last time—.”

At the continuing question, the other side was silent for a long time.

It was frustrating, but I held back from urging them, thinking it might count as curiosity.

[For now, you could say so. But I can’t guarantee how long it will last.]

Just as I was about to frown at the ambiguous answer, someone appeared in front of me.

I could tell easily that this face wasn’t his true form, even though it was the first time I saw him.

The clear, untainted smile gave off a non-human vibe.

“You’re such a curious child….”

A hand, pale to the point of being transparent, touched my chin.

After a moment, the hand fell gently downward.

I stared blankly at the mesmerizing movement, only to come to my senses at the vibration felt on my nape.

Mist was trembling.

Snap―.

I hurriedly stepped back before the man’s hand could touch Mist.

At the same time, I held Mist more tightly, and the man silently withdrew his hand, smiling.

The smile on his elegant face deepened.

“You’ve found a good owner.”

“…….”

“It’s amazing… You two blend so well.”

His upward-tilted eyes curved into a soft fold.

I felt the intense gaze hidden beneath the delicate eyelids as it swept over us.

“What do you mean―.”

Forgetting not to ask questions, I asked, but no answer came.

He disappeared, and soon everything dispersed.

Without pain or confusion.

Quietly, I opened my eyes.

* * *

“No. Don’t be stubborn.”

“It’s not me who’s being stubborn, it’s you.”

Manager An Jin-bae and I locked eyes intensely.

I could sense Sung Lee-jun and Nam In-hoo glancing at us from the door.

I held back a sigh at Manager An Jin-bae standing firmly, as if he wouldn’t budge.

I thought I’d rather coax him, so I spoke gently.

“Hyung. I’m not saying I won’t go at all, I said I’d go after the shoot. Let’s go together as soon as we finish.”

I thought my tone was quite persuasive, but he remained firm.

“You said you didn’t have time to go to the hospital, yet you have time to argue like this?”

“…….”

I was speechless at the tone I had never heard from Manager An Jin-bae before.

“It’s not like that―. Hyung, touch it yourself.”

I pulled Manager An Jin-bae’s hand and placed it on my forehead.

“See? I don’t have a fever now, do I? If I were really sick, I would’ve told you first. That I can’t go to the shoot.”

“You wouldn’t have said anything.”

“No….”

I felt the words getting stuck in my throat and eventually sighed.

“Promise me. I’ll go right after the shoot. I won’t say a word and will go right away.”

Only after linking our fingers did his stern gaze soften back to normal.

I nodded at his suggestion to eat something before we left and stood up.

“Yeon-jae, are you really okay…?”

“If you tell the director, he might postpone the shoot. Just go to the hospital.”

I thought it was finally over, but was this for real?

I couldn’t sigh at people worrying about me, though.

Especially since I had shown such a scene yesterday.

“I’m really fine. And I’m sorry for startling you yesterday. I sometimes can’t breathe well when I get surprised.”

I paused, wondering how much I should explain, but they both shook their heads simultaneously.

“It’s okay. It happens…!”

“Yeah, don’t worry. Let’s just do well in the shoot today.”

“Right. Let’s do well! …Though I don’t have a shoot….”

As Sung Lee-jun looked dejected, Nam In-hoo joked that he should visit often.

When did those two become so close?

I wondered, but still patted Sung Lee-jun’s back along with them.

After eating the fried rice Manager An Jin-bae made, I headed to the shoot with Nam In-hoo.

Thankfully, today’s scene wasn’t very difficult.

Aside from the retakes due to the wind noise overlapping with the audio, the shoot ended quickly without any NGs.

As promised, I went straight to the hospital after the shoot, but as expected, the test results showed nothing.

They said I had a high fever last night, but I was perfectly fine when I woke up.

When I asked if I could go home, Manager

An Jin-bae hesitated and then asked if I needed psychological counseling.

I thought of the doctor I had seen a couple of times and shook my head.

“We have an appointment this weekend anyway. I don’t think there’s a need to go today.”

“But….”

“Hyung. I’m really fine. I told you, it was just a nightmare.”

There was no point in going today when I couldn’t bring up the misfortune factor or Mist to the doctor.

Besides, I was no longer supposed to be curious.

So that night, when I saw Mist sitting in the black space, I said this.

“Mist. Didn’t you miss me?”

His wet eyes looked up at me.

His small, trembling body and his right hand hidden by a long sleeve were all clear, but I sat beside him as if I couldn’t see them.

“I missed you.”

“…….”

Although the dog form wasn’t bad, I still preferred his human form. We could talk, after all.

But perversely, Mist didn’t open his mouth.

“Why aren’t you talking? Don’t you want to?”

At my gentle words, his small lips trembled.

“……Don’t you hate me…?”

“Why would I?”

Was there something in last night’s events that should make me hate Mist?

No matter how hard I thought, there wasn’t.

Mist mumbled, chewing on his lips, but in the end, didn’t speak as usual.

Instead of pressing for an answer, I muttered about the hard floor.

“…!”

Then, an armchair formed beneath me, and my view lifted at once.

I was momentarily startled by the movement but then laughed when I understood the situation.

When I whispered thanks, the hesitant boy leapt into my arms. Ugh, ease up on the strength.

“Yeon-jae.”

“Yeah?”

“……I’ll protect you from now on.”

His small body was warm as he said that.

I smiled and hugged Mist.

“Okay, thanks.”

For now, this was enough.